PlayStation 3 was the world’s No.1 Netflix streaming device this year

There are dozens of devices that can stream Netflix (NFLX), but only one can machine be crowned the king of the living room. According to Netflix, that device is Sony’s (SNE) PlayStation 3 console. Without revealing any specific figures, Netflix announced on its blog “in the U.S. and globally, PS3 is the largest TV-connected platform in terms of Netflix viewing” and that “at times, PS3 even surpassed the PC in hours of Netflix enjoyment to become our No. 1 platform overall.” 

Netflix’s blog is quick to mention why the PS3 is the most popular streaming device this year, applauding it for being the first console to have 1080p HD video and 5.1-channel Dolby Digital Plus surround sound, post-play, second screen controls, subtitles and easy app updates.

While the Xbox 360 is gaining ground in terms of how many hours users spend watching videos on it, streaming video services such as Netflix requires an Xbox LIVE Gold subscription. One reason why the PlayStation 3 might be leading Netflix streaming is because it doesn’t require a subscription fee to have access to the Netflix app, or any other streaming video app such as Amazon (AMZN) Instant Video.

“The PlayStation and Netflix communities both share a strong passion for high quality entertainment,” Sony Computer Entertainment of America CEO and president Jack Tretton said. “Netflix provides a fantastic experience for watching TV shows and movies on PS3, and our joint development will continue to produce innovations for our customers that further demonstrate PS3 as the true home for entertainment in the living room.”

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“The Message” deemed greatest hip hop song ever

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The 1982 hit “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was named the greatest hip hop song of all time on Wednesday, in the first such list by Rolling Stone magazine to celebrate the young but influential music genre.

“The Message,” which tops a list of 50 influential hip hop songs, was the first track “to tell, with hip hop‘s rhythmic and vocal force, the truth about modern inner-city life in America,” Rolling Stone said.

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, a hip hop collective from the south Bronx in New York, was formed in 1978 and became one of the pioneers of the hip hop genre.

The full list spanned songs ranging from Sugarhill Gang’s 1979 hit “Rapper’s Delight,” which came in at No. 2, to Kanye West‘s 2004 hit “Jesus Walks,” which landed at No. 32.

“It’s a list that would have been a lot harder to do ten or 15 years ago because hip hop is so young,” Nathan Brackett, deputy managing editor of Rolling Stone, told Reuters.

“We’ve reached the point now where hip hop acts are getting into the (Rock and Roll) Hall Of Fame… it just felt like the right time to give this the real Rolling Stone treatment.”

Rolling Stone‘s top 10 featured mostly hip hop veterans, such as Run-D.M.C.’s 1983 track “Sucker M.C.’s,” Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s 1992 hit “Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang,” Public Enemy’s 1990 song “Fight The Power” and Notorious B.I.G’s 1994 hit “Juicy.”

Other influential artists in the top 50 songs included Beastie Boys, who came in at No. 19 with “Paul Revere,” and recordings by Jay-Z, Eminem, Missy Elliot, Outkast, Lauryn Hill, LL Cool J, Nas and the late rapper 2Pac.

The list of 50 songs was compiled by a 33-panel of members comprising Rolling Stone editors and hip hop experts. They included musician Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson of The Roots, who Brackett described as “an incredible encyclopedia” of both old and new hip hop knowledge.

Brackett noted that some songs considered to be one-hit wonders, such as Audio Two’s 1988 hit “Top Billin’,” made the final selection.

“The references in those songs become the building blocks of all these other songs down the road … they become touchstones, really part of the meat of hip hop songs going forward,” Brackett said.

The full list will be released online at RollingStone.com and in the pop culture magazine on newsstands on December7. The issue will feature four different covers of Eminem, Jay-Z, Notorious B.I.G. and 2Pac.

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy, editing by Jill Serjeant)

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Lundbeck anticipates new drug “feast”

LONDON (Reuters) – Danish group Lundbeck is looking forward to a “feast” of new drugs to refresh its product line-up, kicking off next week with a possible European Union green light for a novel medicine to treat alcohol abuse.

In all, there is scope for regulatory approval of three medicines in 2013 – an impressive tally for a small company focused on brain disorders – as well as a potential partnership deal for a drug to fight the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

“Sometimes people say it is feast or famine for this industry and we are in a feast phase, especially considering our size,” chief executive Ulf Wiinberg told Reuters.

Lundbeck needs these new drugs to replace lost sales from antidepressant Cipralex, sold as Lexapro in the United States, which is now coming off patent.

Doubts about the company’s ability to make the transition from reliance on Cipralex has taken its toll on the stock in recent months, with the shares underperforming the European drugs sector by 23 percent this year.

There have even been suggestions the Lundbeck Foundation, which owns a 70 percent stake, might delist the drugmaker.

Wiinberg said this option had not be discussed. “If we were working on it I would say something, but I have nothing to say.”

While Wiinberg has already said earnings will stall until 2015 as a result of patent losses, he is increasingly confident the pieces are in place to lift sales in the medium term.

The next catalyst could come as early as December 13 or 14, when Lundbeck expects the European Medicines Agency to decide whether or not to recommend Selincro for alcohol dependence. A positive decision would lead to approval early next year.

The drug is breaking new ground in an uncertain market, and Wiinberg said it was “a bit of a joker in our portfolio”. Analysts currently pencil in only modest sales.

More important will be the verdict from regulators in North America and Europe later next year on a new antidepressant being developed with Japanese partner Takeda Pharmaceutical that analysts see as a potential $ 1-$ 2 billion-a-year seller.

Developing new treatments for depression has proved an uphill battle for drugmakers in recent times but vortioxetine has produced encouraging clinical trial results and its unique mode of action and flexible dosing could make it a winner.

The third approval prospect for next year is Abilify Maintena, a once-monthly version of schizophrenia drug Abilify that Lundbeck is working on with Otsuka.

Further out, Lundbeck is developing a drug for the symptoms of Alzheimer’s – a more modest ambition than that of disease-modifying treatments which have so far failed to gain much traction in tackling the underlying causes of the disorder.

That drug will be ready to go into final-stage clinical testing next year and Wiinberg said he would look to strike a partnership deal for the product, known as LuAE58054, at the same time as preparing for Phase III trials.

(Editing by Dan Lalor)

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Irish budget sees property tax

5 December 2012 Last updated at 12:20 ET

The Irish government has announced a fresh package of spending cuts and tax rises worth billions of euros in its budget for 2013.

These include a new property tax of 0.18% of the value of a home up to 1m euros ($ 1.3m; £800,000).

These are the latest in a long line of austerity measures imposed on Ireland by international lenders that bailed out the country in 2010.

The government said it would meet its deficit reduction target for this year.

It projected a budget deficit of 8.2%, compared with a target of 8.6%. The deficit would fall steadily to 2.9% by 2015, it added.

These forecasts were based on economic growth of 1.5% next year, rising to 2.9% in 2015.

“There are manifest signs that the country is emerging from the worst of the crisis and that the efforts of the Irish people, despite the hardship, are leading to success,” said Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan.

Tax exemptions

He added that 2012 had seen the “first signs of stability in both the residential and commercial property markets in six years”.

To help “maintain momentum” in the domestic property market, any new or previously unoccupied homes bought between the beginning of next year and the end of 2016 will be exempt from the new property tax. Equally, any homes bought by first-time buyers in 2013 will be exempt.

For all other homes, the Local Property Tax will be introduced in July next year, and will include a higher rate of 0.25% that kicks in on the balance of any property over and above 1m euros.

However, local authorities will be able to vary the rates by 15% above or below the national rates “to better match their funding needs”.

The government also increased tax on alcohol and cigarettes, and announced that maternity benefit would become a taxable income in July 2013.

Income tax rates, as well as duty on petrol an diesel, were left unchanged.

“The individual measures are modest,” said Mr Noonan. “However, I believe that the combination of the measures will have a significant beneficial impact.”

Analysts highlighted the fact Ireland was taking tough decisions to meet its deficit reduction targets.

“It’s a fairly balanced budget from the market’s point of view,” said Owen Callan at Danske Markets.

“Ireland has gotten this tag that it is willing to do whatever it takes to remain on track, even if some of the measures are unpopular. They are taking a few measures that some other countries have been unwilling to look at.”

BBC News – Business

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Sri Lanka see backlash from Aussie ‘wounded soldiers’

(Reuters) – Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has warned his team to be wary of a backlash from Australia in their three-test series after the hosts were stung by their series defeat to South Africa earlier this week.

Australia’s hopes of snatching the Proteas’ top test ranking ended in a crushing 309-run defeat in the third and final test in Perth on Monday, but Jayawardene took little comfort from the home side’s disappointment.

“I see them as wounded soldiers – they could come back stronger against us,” Jayawardene told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday, on the eve of a three-day tour match against a Chairman’s XI side.

“So we just need to make sure we are ready for that and start well.

“We can’t be complacent – we need to make sure we know from ball one we give them a good go at it.”

Sri Lanka have their own problems coming into the first test at Hobart next week, losing their last test at home to New Zealand by 167 runs to level a two-match series 1-1, with key batsmen out of form.

Kumar Sangakkara scored five, nought and 16 in his three innings against New Zealand, but Jayawardene backed the veteran to bounce back in Sri Lanka’s bid to win their first test Down Under.

“I am happy that he went through a lean phase because he’ll be really hungry for runs – that’s Kumar for you,” Jayawardene said of the 35-year-old stalwart.

Jayawardene also said he would weigh up his future as captain after the series, which includes tests in Melbourne and Sydney, after taking on the role for a second time in the wake of Tillakaratne Dilshan’s sudden resignation in January.

“After this, we get a well-deserved four weeks off, after about three years, so it gives me a bit of time to think (about) what I need to do,” said Jayawardene, who captained the team for more than three years in his first stint from 2006.

“We need to groom another leader as well. It’s very important to have that changeover done smoothly while the senior players are still in the side.”

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Is the iPad Mini as Good as the iPad?

The iPad Mini‘s screen doesn’t have the same “resolutionary” Retina display as its bigger brother, but don’t worry: the Apple snobs appear to have gotten over that. After spending time with his new baby-tablet, The New York Times‘s Nick Bilton gave in, calling the gadget his new “Desert Island Device.” (It replaced his iPhone, by the way.) The inferior screen had worried Bilton like it had others, but no longer: ”I used it for two weeks and my concerns about the screen’s quality are completely irrelevant.” It’s not that Bilton prefers the “fuzzy” screen, as he called it. But the portability of the lightweight Mini outweighs that for him, making this tablet, in his opinion, really the best tablet Apple has ever made.

RELATED: Prepare for an iPad Mini This Month

Considering all the fawning over the Retina display on the iPad proper, it’s pretty amazing to see reviewers toss that upgrade for something that Steve Jobs forbid the company to create. Bilton’s not the only one to prefer the new cousin, even if it is technically worse. Noted Apple-phile Jonathan Gruber said he hadn’t touched the fourth-generation iPad that Apple released this year as well “I’ve gone small and fuzzy,” he wrote. When the Retina display first came out, Gruber called it “pure joy” for his “dream iPad.” But a funny thing happened on the way out of the hype cycle: Apple put out something the masses were supposed to like more than the techies, and that just made everyone like it even more. Call it a holiday miracle, but the Apple snobs may be snobs no more.

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Fleetwood Mac readies tour and new music

NEW YORK (AP) — Fleetwood Mac is heading back on the road, and that means the top-selling group will release new music — sort of.

On its 34-city North American tour, which kicks off April 4 in Columbus, Ohio, the band will perform two new songs, and it could mean a new album will follow. Or not.

Stevie Nicks recently sang on tracks that Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie worked on, calling the sessions “great.” But Nicks also says she’s not sure where the band fits in today’s music industry.

“Whether or not we’re gonna do any more (songs), we don’t know because we’re so completely bummed out with the state of the music industry and the fact that nobody even wants a full record,” she said. “Everybody wants two songs, so we’re going to give them two songs.”

Nicks said depending on the response to the new tracks — which Buckingham calls “the most Fleetwood Mac-y stuff … in a long time” — more material could come next.

“Maybe we’ll get an EP out of it or something,” Buckingham said.

Nicks will continue to record solo albums, though. The group is celebrating the 35th anniversary of the best-selling “Rumours” album, which has moved some 20 million units in the United States. She knows that’s not possible again, despite the success of Adele’s “21,” which has sold 10 million units in America in less than two years.

“This is Adele’s ‘Rumours,’” Nicks said. “She had a baby, she’s going to take a year off to take care of her baby — that’s why I never had any kids. She’s going to go back and start writing again, you never know what the next record’s going to be. Is it going to sell 10 million records? You don’t know,” she said.

Buckingham said he initially wanted to record a new album, but Nicks “wasn’t too into that.” But the guitarist and singer knows that new music isn’t a priority for the band’s fans.

“It wouldn’t matter if they didn’t hear anything new. In a way there’s a freedom to that — it becomes not what you got, but what you do with what you got. Part of the challenge of this tour is figuring out a presentation that has some twists and turns to it without having a full album,” he said.

Fleetwood Mac, which was formed in 1967, last released an album in 2003, though they hit the road in 2009. Nicks and Buckingham — who originally joined the band in 1974 as a couple — both released solo albums and toured last year. Buckingham had suggested that Fleetwood Mac tour last year, but says getting everyone to agree was tough.

“If you look at Fleetwood Mac as a group, you can make the case of saying we’re a bunch of individuals who don’t necessarily belong in the same group together, but it’s the synergy of that that makes us so good. But it also makes the politics a little more tenuous,” he said. “You can say that not only can it be a political minefield, someone’s always causing trouble, right? I caused trouble for years so I can’t point any fingers.”

The tour also includes cities such as New York, Chicago, Boston, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, and will end June 12 in Detroit.

_____

Online:

http://www.fleetwoodmac.com/

You can follow Music Writer Mesfin Fekadu on Twitter at twitter.com/MusicMesfin

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“Fiscal cliff” struggle prompts Republican infighting

(Reuters) – Republicans in the Congress attacked each other on Tuesday over their leadership’s “fiscal cliff” offer to Democratic President Barack Obama as a group of governors visited the White House to voice concern about the impact on the states of the year-end tax-and-spending deadline.

The disarray in Republican ranks over how far to compromise the party’s anti-tax stance could complicate what are expected to be intense negotiations between House Speaker John Boehner and Obama. Each will need the backing of their respective troops in Congress in order to bargain credibly.

The fiscal cliff refers to steep tax increases and deep automatic spending cuts slated to start to take effect on New Year’s Day. If Congress and Obama do not act to stop them, economists have warned the U.S. economy could be thrown back into recession.

The disagreements among Republicans surfaced as negotiations on a deficit reduction plan designed to supplant and avert the automatic cuts and tax hikes got more serious, with both parties having presented opening offers.

Senator Jim DeMint, a South Carolinian with a following among small-government conservatives, lashed out at an offer sent on Monday to Obama by Boehner, a fellow Republican.

“Speaker Boehner‘s $ 800 billion tax hike will destroy American jobs and allow politicians in Washington to spend even more,” DeMint said in a statement.

In the House of Representatives, two first-term Republican Tea Party stalwarts – Tim Huelskamp of Kansas and Justin Amash of Michigan – were removed by party leadership from the powerful budget committee in what Huelskamp called “a vindictive move.”

The Republican leadership offered no immediate explanation for the unusual action, but Boehner has had problems bringing in line the large Tea Party wing in the House. Elected to Congress in force in 2010, they regard the speaker as too much of a compromiser and tied his hands during talks in 2011 on raising the debt ceiling.

“The GOP leadership might think they have silenced conservatives, but removing me and others from key committees only confirms our conservative convictions,” said Huelskamp.

Washington interest groups are now fully consumed by the cliff, and some are in a bit of a panic about what the talks might bring.

Tensions erupted on Tuesday at a forum convened by a fiscal responsibility group called Fix the Debt, which seeks to reduce the federal government’s debt and includes a range of business, think tank and political leaders.

Audience members stood and repeatedly interrupted Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio as he attempted to make a speech. They urged protections from cuts for the Social Security and Medicare social safety net programs.

Others shouted down the protesters until they marched out of the forum, where Democratic Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus also made remarks.

U.S. stock markets opened slightly higher, with the benchmark Dow Jones industrial average up less than 1 percent after weeks of gyrations tied to the debate on Capitol Hill.

GOP OFFER MADE

In an important step, Boehner on Monday called for steep spending cuts, but gave no ground on Obama’s proposal to raise tax rates on the wealthiest Americans.

The central dispute between the two parties has been what to do about low individual income tax rates that will expire at year-end. The low rates were first signed into law a decade ago by former President George W. Bush.

Obama wants to extend the low rates for 98 percent of taxpayers, but not for the top 2 percent. Republicans have insisted that the low tax rates be extended for the wealthy as well.

The White House dismissed Boehner’s proposal within an hour of its being made public, the same treatment Republicans gave Obama’s deficit reduction plan offered last week.

While the offers and counter-offers between Republicans and Democrats may ultimately create the conditions for actually getting in a room together and bargaining at length, so far the moves have been out in public and mostly for show.

Washington is awash in competing plans to cut the federal deficit. A think tank with ties to the Obama administration laid out another plan on Tuesday, urging the president to go bold and seek more concessions from Republicans on tax hikes.

(Reporting by Thomas Ferraro, David Lawder, Kim Dixon, Fred Barbash, Rachelle Younglai; Editing by Jackie Frank)

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Meet the First Royal Baby Profiteers

Yesterday, St. James’s Palace announced that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor are expecting their first child. Just as the royal wedding produced heaps of Will and Kate-themed tchotchkes, news of the couple’s forthcoming member of the family—who will officially be the third in line for the throne—is sure to inspire its own mountain of merchandise. So who is the first to put something royal baby-themed on the market?

As far as we can tell, it’s the pottery firm Emma Bridgewater, located in Stoke-on-Trent, which is already producing blue, red, and white mugs emblazoned with the words: “A royal baby in 2013.”

Courtesy Emma BridgewaterThe company told the BBC it sold millions of dollars worth of goods for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the royal wedding and expects the babywares to be an equally big hit, even across the pond. “It’s also apparent from the media coverage over the last 24 hours that the American market will be strong too, so we’re hoping this will help us move more sales into the United States,” head of manufacturing Mark Thomas said to the BBC. Emma Bridgewater will make another design with the baby’s name when it is born.

Businessweek.com — Top News

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Officials: NATO to decide on missiles for Turkey

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO foreign ministers are expected to approve Turkey‘s request for Patriot anti-missile systems to bolster its defense against possible strikes from neighboring Syria.

NATO foreign ministers are meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday in Brussels. Parliaments in both nations must approve the deployment, which would also involve several hundred soldiers.

Ankara, which has been highly supportive of the Syrian opposition, wants the Patriots to defend against possible retaliatory attacks by Syrian missiles carrying chemical warheads. NATO leaders have repeatedly said they would provide any assistance Turkey needs.

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