Tag: Bloomberg

  • Apple set to release new iPad Pro, MacBook Air, and more

    Apple set to release new iPad Pro, MacBook Air, and more

    Apple is set to make significant announcements this week, as confirmed by a reliable source familiar with the matter, shared with MacRumors.

    While the specific products remain undisclosed, speculations hint at new iPads, Macs, and accessories. Notably, Beats Solo 4 headphones are also on Apple’s agenda.

    According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the tech giant plans to unveil new iPad Pro, iPad Air, and MacBook Air models, accompanied by fresh Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil accessories.

    Gurman suggests that Apple will forgo a traditional event, opting to announce these innovations on its website through a series of online videos and marketing campaigns, expected in March or April.

    Anticipated releases include two iPad Pro models featuring the M3 chip, OLED displays, a thinner build, a landscape-oriented front camera, a redesigned rear camera bump, and the possibility of MagSafe wireless charging. Additionally, two new iPad Air models with the M2 chip, including a 12.9-inch variant, are expected. 

    A revamped Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro with a larger trackpad and other design enhancements is in the pipeline, along with new MacBook Air models sporting the M3 chip, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3 support.

    Further potential announcements encompass a new colour option for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, new colour choices for iPhone cases, and Apple Watch bands. 

    While rumours circulate about a new Apple TV and a screen-equipped HomePod in early 2024, their readiness remains uncertain.

    Speculations about a fourth-generation iPhone SE are also afoot, with a rumoured release timeframe of 2025.

  • ‘Pakistan’s economy performed best under Nawaz Sharif’: Bloomberg

    ‘Pakistan’s economy performed best under Nawaz Sharif’: Bloomberg

    An analysis by Bloomberg Economics reveals that Pakistan’s economy witnessed its best performance in the past three decades under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif, who served as Prime Minister thrice.

    The report compares economic indicators during Sharif’s tenure with those of his rivals, including Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), using a misery index that combines inflation and unemployment rates.

    According to Bloomberg Economics, the analysis utilized an average of the misery index values over the years when each major political party ruled Pakistan since 1990.

    The results indicate that Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) outperformed both PTI and PPP in managing economic challenges.

    With general elections scheduled for February 8, Bloomberg suggests that Nawaz Sharif seems poised to return to power for the fourth time, especially as Imran Khan faces legal issues and incarceration.

    Despite Khan’s popularity, with a 57% approval rating according to a recent Gallup poll, Sharif has experienced a surge in popularity from 36% to 52% in the past six months.

    The past three decades saw the PML-N rule Pakistan four times under Sharif and his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif. The PPP under the Bhutto dynasty has held power three times, while Khan was in office for a four-year term ending in April 2022 when he was ousted from power in a parliamentary no-trust vote.

    “Bloomberg Economics used an average of the index values over the respective years when each of the major political parties ruled the country since 1990. A higher value indicates more economic hardship for citizens,” the publication said, explaining its conclusions.

    Bloomberg Economics Misery Index Results for Pakistan showed the Pakistan Muslim League scored 14.5 percent, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf 16.1 percent, and the Pakistan Peoples Party 17.2 percent.

    Pakistan is currently grappling with economic challenges, including seeking a financial bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

    Inflation is close to 30 percent in Pakistan, the currency was Asia’s worst performer last year and foreign exchange reserves have slumped.

    The incoming government, as per IMF conditions, will need to implement potentially unpopular policies such as withdrawing subsidies and raising taxes. The IMF forecasts a 2% growth in Pakistan’s economy for the current fiscal year after experiencing a contraction in the previous year.

    Despite the positive economic indicators during Sharif’s governance, the report underscores the formidable tasks awaiting the new government in addressing the country’s economic hardships.

  • Apple is not replacing iPhone 15 Pro Max with iPhone 15 Ultra: Leaks

    Apple is not replacing iPhone 15 Pro Max with iPhone 15 Ultra: Leaks

    According to a recent report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple’s flagship smartphone for this year is expected to be named the iPhone 15 Pro Max rather than the previously speculated iPhone 15 Ultra. The upcoming iPhone lineup will also comprise the standard iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, and iPhone 15 Pro models.

    Gurman had previously hinted at the possibility of Apple using the Ultra branding for its highest-tier iPhone, akin to the Apple Watch Ultra. However, this nomenclature shift is more likely to be reserved for the anticipated iPhone 16 Ultra, featuring a larger 6.9-inch display, slated for next year. 

    For the time being, it seems that the Pro Max branding will persist for at least another year.

    As for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, it is rumoured to introduce several notable enhancements, including an advanced telephoto lens offering up to 6x optical zoom, a substantial upgrade from the 3x limit seen in the iPhone 14 Pro models. 

    Additionally, the device is expected to feature a titanium frame, a customizable action button, a speedier A17 Bionic chip, slimmer bezels, support for Wi-Fi 6E, and more. Pricing for the iPhone 15 Pro Max is rumoured to begin at $1,199 in the United States, marking a $100 increase compared to its predecessor, the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

    Apple is scheduled to unveil its iPhone 15 series during the “Wonderlust” event on Tuesday, September 12, commencing at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. Stay tuned for comprehensive coverage of Apple’s announcements, including on-site reporting from the iconic Steve Jobs Theatre.

  • ‘Unless we get substantial relief how can the world expect from us to stand on our own feet? It is simply impossible’: PM Shehbaz

    ‘Unless we get substantial relief how can the world expect from us to stand on our own feet? It is simply impossible’: PM Shehbaz

    In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif highlighted the damage caused by floods and urged that the world to pay more attention to the crisis.

    The premier said, “What the world has done is commendable but it is far from meeting our needs. We can’t do it alone”. He stressed that flood losses are estimated to be at $30 billion.

    “Unless the world comes up with billions of dollars for relief, rehabilitation, for building resilient infrastructure, things will not come back to normal. And I need to put the economy back on track and put millions of people back in their homes,” he told Bloomberg.

    “Unless we get substantial relief, how can the world expect us to stand on our own feet”, he asked. “It is simply impossible. The world has to stand by us”.

    He reiterated that although Pakistan contributes very little to carbon emission, the country is among the top ten most vulnerable countries to climate change, adding that around 1,500 people had died in the situation.

    Talking about the economic situation of the country, he said that Pakistan recently signed a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under “very tough” conditions, including taxes on petroleum and electricity.

    He went on to say that several world leaders had talked about the devastation in Pakistan.

    Recalling his meetings with the world leaders, he said that he is “very grateful” to United States (US) President Joe Biden for speaking about Pakistan’s plight. He added that Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and France’s Emmanuel Macron had also done the same.

    The premier was of the view that such action from the world shows the intentions and sincerity of global leaders. While saying that, he added that “But I think it should come very fast because time is running out and we are racing against time”.

  • UAE Royals brokering Pak-India peace: Bloomberg

    About 24 hours after military chiefs from Pakistan and India surprised the world last month with a rare joint commitment to respect a 2003 cease-fire agreement, the top diplomat of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) popped over to New Delhi for a quick one-day visit.

    The official UAE readout of the Feb 26 meeting gave few clues of what Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed spoke about with Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, noting they “discussed all regional and international issues of common interest and exchanged views on them.”

    Yet behind closed doors, the Pakistan-India ceasefire marked a milestone in secret talks brokered by the UAE that began months earlier, according to officials aware of the situation who asked not to be identified. The cease-fire, one said, is only the beginning of a larger roadmap to forge a lasting peace between the neighbors, both of which have nuclear weapons and spar regularly over a decades-old territory dispute.

    The next step in the process, the official said, involves both sides reinstating envoys in Islamabad and New Delhi, who were pulled in 2019 after Pakistan protested India’s move to revoke seven decades of autonomy for the disputed Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir.

    The article originally appeared on Bloomberg 

  • New report suggests chances of catching COVID-19 on a flight are low

    New report suggests chances of catching COVID-19 on a flight are low

    A new report published in Bloomberg has said that the chances of catching coronavirus while flying are very low. Despite the known dangers of crowded, enclosed spaces, planes have not been identified as the spots of so-called superspreading events, at least so far.

    Arnold Barnett, a professor of management science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has been trying to calculate the probabilities of catching COVID-19 from flying. 

    He’s factored in a bunch of variables, including the chances of being seated near someone in the infectious stage of the disease, and the odds that the protection of masks that is now mandatory in most flights.

    He accounted for the way air is constantly renewed in airplane cabins, which experts say makes it very unlikely for a passenger to contract the disease from people who aren’t in their immediate area — their row or the person across the aisle, the people sitting in front of them or the people behind.

    What Barnett came up with was that we have about a 1/4300 chance of getting a virus on a full 2-hour flight — that is, about 1 in 4300 passengers will pick up the virus, on average. The odds of getting the virus are about half that, 1/7700 if airlines leave the middle seat empty. Barnett has posted his results as a not-yet-peer-reviewed preprint.

    The odds of dying of a case contracted in flight, he found, are even lower — between 1 in 400,000 and 1 in 600,000 — depending on the age and other risk factors. To put that in perspective, those odds are comparable to the average risk of getting a fatal case in a typical two hours on the ground.

    University of Massachusetts biology professor Erin Bromage says he is flying every week, as he advises federal, state and district courts on how to reopen while minimizing risks. 

    Bromage says that the air exchange system in planes is better than in hospitals, with the air in the cabin being completely replaced 30 times every hour. He agrees with MIT’s Barnett, though, that it’s possible to transmit the disease to or from your close neighbours.

    He and Barnett both suggested that customers should, if possible, choose an airline that promises to keep the middle seat empty. 

  • Govt is grossly under-reporting coronavirus deaths and infections: PM’s task force head

    Govt is grossly under-reporting coronavirus deaths and infections: PM’s task force head

    Pakistan is understating its rate of infections and the death toll from the coronavirus, the head of a government task force has said as the country becomes a hotspot for the pandemic in South Asia, Bloomberg reported.

    “The actual numbers will be two to three times more than what the government is reporting,” Dr Attaur Rahman, chairman of Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s task force on science and technology, said and added that a large number of cases weren’t being reported because of low testing and as reasons other than respiratory failure weren’t being counted in deaths.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Pakistan’s coronavirus cases have increased manifold since the government eased a lockdown in the second week of May after a partial shutdown of about two months. PM Imran has said he is allowing some businesses to open as he fears people will die of poverty and hunger instead of the virus. Alarmed by the rising number of cases, the authorities have again started shutting down residential localities in 20 key cities including the federal capital and Lahore.

    Pakistan is the second most infected nation in Asia after India with over 150,000 cases and about 3,000 deaths. The fatality rate of 2% is less than half of the 5% global average.

    Random testing in Pakistan’s second-largest city, Lahore, by the health department of Punjab in May showed that at least 6 per cent of all tests came back positive for COVID-19 while in some areas the percentage was as high as 14 per cent, Voice of America reported.

    Based on the city’s population and the sampling data, the health department working group, comprised of epidemiologists, public health specialists, applied economists, statisticians and public policy specialists, calculated the number of cases in Lahore to be 670,800 on May 15.

    The rate at which the infection was spreading alarmed those involved.

    “Our calculations said the numbers were doubling every two weeks,” said Dr Waheeduzzaman Tariq, a senior virologist who was part of the group and sits on multiple government committees dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

    According to those numbers, on June 15, the figure should be approximately 2.7 million infected people in Lahore alone.