Just Economic Info

Google's digital mapping service will get several new features in hopes of becoming more convenient, comprehensive and compelling as it braces for a potential loss in traffic from Apple's hot-selling mobile devices.

Wednesday's preview of the mapping service's coming attractions seemed timed to blunt the blow from the loss of a prized perch as the built-in navigation service on Apple's iPhone and iPad. Apple Inc. intends to end its five-year partnership with Google's mobile maps next week when it will unveil its own service, according to recent reports in The Wall Street Journal and the technology blog 9to5.

Brian McClendon, a Google Inc. vice president who oversees the mapping service, wouldn't directly address reporters' questions about the possible Apple setback. "We will continue to make GoogleMaps available as widely as possible," he said.

Apple Inc. spokeswoman Trudy Muller declined comment Wednesday.

If Apple ousts Google Maps from the prominent spot on the iPhone and iPad, it would be the latest fissure between two former allies. Their relationship has been degenerating into a bitter rivalry sinceGoogle's 2008 release of Android to compete the iPhone. Since then, both companies have increasingly been encroaching on each other's turf.

Processing the mobile mapping requests from users of Apple's devices has provided Google with valuable insights into people's whereabouts and preferences. That, in turn, has helped Google sell more ads to local businesses.

None of the new features touted Wednesday by Google will be available for at least several more weeks. The upcoming options include maps that can be downloaded on mobile devices for offline access and more three-dimensional imagery — the latter coming from its own fleet of planes.

Google devoted much of Wednesday's presentation to a dissertation on all the technological wizardry that it has poured into its maps during the past seven years. The service now attracts more than 1 billion users around the world.

Without directly saying so, Google seemed to be trying to convey how difficult it will be for Apple or any other newcomer to build maps that include as many useful tools.

Besides providing 26 million miles of driving directions, Google's maps now include imagery of most of the world's neighborhoods. McClendon bragged that 75 percent of the global population can now call up a high-resolution image of their home on Google's maps, up from 37 percent six years ago.

Google also has traversed 5 million miles to take ground-level photos of communities for a feature called Street View. The company has raised privacy concerns by posting photographs that include people in unflattering situations and, at one point, including equipment that vacuumed up personal emails sent over wireless networks that weren't protected with a password.

Google plans to embellish its maps with even more photos from remote areas, such as hiking trails in the Grand Canyon, with new equipment showcased Wednesday. The photos will be taken from specially designed equipment attached to a hiker's backpack. This gear will supplement photo-snapping bicycles that Google already has been dispatching to areas that can't be easily accessed by cars.

The company also disclosed that its planes will photograph swaths of major cities to conjure more realistic three-dimensional views of metropolitan landscapes in the Google Earth version of its maps. The photos taken by the planes are automatically converted into 3-D replicas using technology thatGoogle developed for the project.

San Francisco will be one of the first cities to feature the more vivid 3-D imagery. Google didn't identify other cities on its 3-D list, but said the improvements will span communities with a combined population of about 300 million.

"We are trying to create magic here," said Peter Birch, a Google Earth product manager. "We are trying to create the illusion that you are flying over the city, almost as if you are in your own personal helicopter."

The option to download mobile maps for specific cities so they can be reviewed offline later initially will only be available on smartphones and tablet computers running on Google's Android software.

Google's maps have typically offered more tools on Android devices, including turn-by-turn directions spoken aloud. According to published reports, the bias contributed to Apple's decision to try to come up with a better alternative for its mobile platform.

Marck Acres, who drives a London cab bearing the Department of Tourism’s (DOT) “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” slogan, said the digital ad has caught the attention of some of his passengers.

"Passengers ask about it,” Acres told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in an interview at the parking lot of a London hotel on Tuesday.

Acres said the 30-second digital advertisement, peppered with faces of smiling children, has even got him interested in visiting the country "because it speaks of lots of sunshine and happy people,” he added.

Acres’ taxi was one of 50 London cabs and 25 double-decked buses fitted with the “more-fun” slogan in time for the Queen’s Jubilee celebration, London Olympics and the 2012-2013 season of the Fulham Football Club of the English Premier League.

President Benigno Aquino, who was visiting the United Kingdom, gave the campaign a boost by posing in front of one such double-decker and with some of the cabs called in for a photo shoot at the Intercontinental London Park Lane Hotel on Tuesday.

Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, who was beside Mr. Aquino and other Cabinet members waving more-fun flags during the shoot, said the UK is the country’s largest Philippine market for European tourists.

Eddie Read, driver of a double-decker which also bears the DOT ad, said he had in fact visited the Philippines and tells his passengers about it.

"I tell them about how I enjoyed the karaoke and that I intend to go back there to go to Boracay,” the bus driver said.

Jimenez, in an interview at the sidelines of a Filipino community gathering Tuesday, said the President’s visit certainly boosts the tourism campaign which was timed for big events to generate more awareness of the Philippines as a top destination in Asia,” Jimenez said

Aquino, in his speech at that gathering, said he was confident that tourist arrivals (numbering about 400,000 a month since the start of the year) would be sustained. With the campaign in place, it is expected to reach 4.8 million in 12 months.

The president was also hopeful that with every tourist arrival, a job for every Filipino would also be created.

The intensive tourism campaign, Jimenez said, shows the seriousness of the government about it.

"The world will now start to see that ‘It’s more fun in the Philippines’ is not just words on a streamer,” Jimenez said.

The campaign is expected to enhance the country’s image as a top destination in Asia.

With London’s population of about 7.5 million and 1.5 million international visitors every year, “the Philippines is certainly generating awareness not only among the British population, but also among visitors to UK,” Jimenez said.

"Philippine tourism is poised to surge forward as we launch more aggressive initiatives to reinvigorate the industry and work towards achieving our 10 million target by 2016,”Jimenez said.

Chinese state media say a domestic manufacturer will sell three regional aircraft to a Ukraine-based airline.

The official Xinhua New Agency reported Saturday that Xi'an Aircraft International Corp. had inked a deal to sell three twin-turboprop MA60 aircraft to Kiev-based MARS. It did not disclose the value of the deal.

Xinhua says this is the first time for China-made civil regional aircraft to enter the European market.

XAIC, a subsidiary of state-owned China Aviation Industry Corporation, calls the deal with the Ukrainian airline a "breakthrough" on its official website.

China's inflation fell further in May, giving Beijing more room to fight a deepening economic slump following this week's interest rate cut.

Consumer prices rose 3 percent, down from April's 3.4 percent rate, while politically volatile food price inflation eased to 6.4 percent from the previous month's 7 percent, data showed Saturday. The government's target is 4 percent for the year.

That reduces the risk Beijing might set off more price spikes as it unveils new measures almost daily to reverse a downturn that raises the threat of job losses and unrest. The slump comes at a sensitive time for the ruling Communist Party, which is preparing to hand power to a younger generation of leaders this year.

"Receding consumer price inflation frees up much-needed space for policymakers to loosen credit and roll out investment plans," IHS Global Insight analyst Alistair Thornton said in a report.

Growth in the world's second-largest economy fell to a nearly three-year low of 8.1 percent in the first quarter. Analysts expect it to decline further before a possible rebound late this year.

In May, growth in factory output reached 9.6 percent, up from April's 9.3 percent — the lowest rate since the 2008 crisis — but well below last year's levels. Growth in spending on factories and other fixed assets edged down.

The government cut interest rates Thursday for the first time in nearly four years and cut gasoline and diesel retail prices on Friday. It has promised to pump money into the economy with spending on low-cost housing, airports and other projects.

Analysts said the rate cut suggested authorities might have been spurred to greater urgency because May trade and industrial data were weak.

Worsening strains in Europe, China's biggest export market, "highlight the significant downside risks to the outlook," said David Lipton, a deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, in a written statement during a visit to Beijing.

"China again has space for a forceful response if necessary," Lipton said.

Communist leaders spent two years tightening lending and investment curbs to cool an overheated economy after its rebound from the 2008 crisis. Inflation climbed to a three-year peak of 6.5 percent last July before declining.

Beijing started to reverse course late last year after a plunge in global demand battered exporters. Communist leaders have moved cautiously after their huge stimulus in response to the 2008 crisis fueled inflation and a wasteful building boom.

The May data still showed signs of price pressures, with the cost of fresh vegetables rising 31.2 percent over a year ago.

May wholesale prices fell for a second month, declining 1.4 percent compared with the same month last year. That suggested factories and other suppliers have a glut of goods and must cut prices charged to retailers.

"China's producers are seeing sharp deflation, pointing to a worrying lack of final demand," said Thornton. "Both should act as a spur for the government to move more aggressively."

Samsung Group’s new corporate strategy office chief Choi Gee-sung is expected to bring a bundle of changes to the country’s largest conglomerate as he is recognized for his aggressive business tactics.

With the appointment considered to be one of the most notable events in the conglomerate’s history, Choi remained calm and modest on his first day of work as the chief of the firm’s de facto control tower on Friday.

He did not say much, only bowed and asked for a warm welcome to reporters who were waiting for him in the company’s lobby at around 7:40 a.m.

Choi, however, has a number of big issues that he needs to tackle as soon as he gets settled in his position. Such issues include chairman of Samsung Electronics Lee Kun-hee’s inheritance suit with his siblings, the ongoing patent battle with U.S.-based tech giant Apple Inc., and the creation of the post-Lee Kun-hee era.

The naming of a new strategic planning chief comes at a time when its chairman Lee pointed to the need for a “revolution change that could open a new business era” following his three-week long business trip in Europe.

The appointment also takes place 19 years after the chairman declared a new business era to overcome the global financial crisis during his meeting with Samsung executives in Frankfurt, Germany on the same day.

“The Samsung Electronics chief executive was picked for his global mindset in devising business tactics, fast decision-making skills and his ability to efficiently run the organization,” said the group’s chief communications officer Rhee In-yong on Thursday.

Considering that Samsung Group is currently facing severe competition from foreign players, with them keeping the Korean firm in check, Choi’s charisma and strong driving force is projected to help the conglomerate gain an upper hand in going forward with its projects and nurturing future growth engines amid the sluggish global economy, especially in Europe, according to industry sources.

The 61-year-old new chief of staff at Samsung, who was hired back in 1977, is known as a “go-getter” who did not hesitate to travel hundreds of miles to sell semiconductor parts to European electronics firms. He was then serving as the head of Samsung Electronics’ one-person European office.

Choi is also known for his close ties with Samsung heir apparent Lee Jay-yong, guiding the only son of chairman Lee through business operations during his time as CEO of the electronics arm. Lee Jay-yong is currently the chief operating officer at Samsung Electronics.

Buoyed by increasing semiconductor sales figures and his experience in the group’s top secretary office, the vice chairman took over the flagship electronics arm’s television business in 2003.

With Sony far outpacing Samsung in the TV sector at the time, the Korean tech firm rolled out the Bordeaux TV in 2006, taking over the world’s No. 1 spot for the first time following the launch.

He then took charge of the firm’s mobile communications business four years later in 2007, once again grabbing the leading positions in handsets as well as monitors for personal computers.

Since being seated as the chief executive of Samsung Electronics in December 2010, he recently was engaged in the first-ever face-to-face meeting with Apple’s CEO Tim Cook to discuss the ongoing patent battle between the two rivals.