iPad 2: Thin, Not Picture Perfect

Just as most of its competitors are rolling out their first multitouch tablets to compete with its game-changing iPad, Apple on Friday will start selling a second-generation model, the iPad 2.
The new iPad 2 is about a third thinner and over 10% lighter, yet speedier and more powerful than the original version, which sold a whopping 15 million units in its first nine months and, for many users, challenged their laptops as a digital tool. And it costs the same as the original.
I've been testing an iPad 2 for about a week and I like it a lot. While it's evolutionary rather than revolutionary like the first model, the changes Apple has made are generally pleasing and positive, and the device worked very well for me.

Its improvements, including front and rear cameras, outweigh the few drawbacks and feature omissions I found. For most average, nontechie users, I would recommend it over the handful of tablet competitors I've tested so far, especially given that the entry price remains attractive.

Dozens of tablet competitors are coming this year and I haven't had a chance to test them. But the iPad 2, in my view, offers an excellent balance of size, functionality and price, and keeps Apple ahead in the tablet race, at least for now.

However, unless you are desperate for the cameras or feel you are laboring under the greater bulk of the original model, I don't advise that iPad owners race to get the new version.

The first iPad, which can be upgraded to Apple's latest iOS operating system, is selling for $399 while supplies last.

Chile’s Concha y Toro acquires California’s Fetzer Vineyard

Chile’s Concha y Toro, Latin America’s largest wine producer, sealed a deal this week with Brown-Forman’s Fetzer Vineyards in a transaction worth 238 million US dollars to purchase its portfolio of American wine brands. The sale is expected to close in April 2011.

The acquisition includes the bottling facility and brands Fetzer, Bonterra, Five Rivers, Jekel, Sanctuary and Little Black Dress, as well as 1,060 acres of vineyards in Mendocino County, and wineries with production capacity of 9.5 million gallons in Hopland and 1.58 million gallons in Paso Robles, California.
Brown-Forman is one of the world’s leading producers and distributors of premium alcoholic beverages. Its Fetzer wine is one of the top ten brands by volume in the U.S. market with sales of 2.2 million cases per year.
Bonterra, its premium organic wine, sells 300,000 cases annually, three times more than the nearest competitor in the organic-wine field.
Altogether, Brown-Forman’s wine brands represented volumes of 3.1 million cases and net sales of 156 million USD in 2010.
According to Eduardo Guilisasti, chief executive officer of Viña Concha y Toro, “The Fetzer acquisition is the largest transaction of this type in the company’s history. It represents a continuation of our business strategy, which has been carried out successfully over time and enabled us to enjoy steady growth. We believe that this transaction opens additional growth opportunities globally, as well as in the American market.”
Concha y Toro’s exports of bottled wine in 2010 totalled 592 million USD, an increase of 3.8% from a year before. Exports primarily went to Europe (51.5%), the U.S. (16.2%) and South America (8.3%).
The acquisition follows the publication Monday of reports by stockbrokers Celfin and Banchile that wine prices in the local Chilean market rose approximately 20% in the last 12 months. Price increases were attributed to the strengthening of the Chilean peso versus the U.S. dollar, and the growing cost of supplies, primarily grapes, in 2010.
Concha y Toro increased the domestic price of wines by 20.2% in the last quarter of 2010. Local consumers also had to pay 17.8% more for wines produced by Chilean competitor Santa Rita in the same period.
By Juanita Chacón-Snow – Santiago Times

Piden reconstruir el crimen del militante del Partido Obrero

Lo solicitará la defensa de Cristian Favale y del ferroviario Gabriel Sánchez. Se hará en base a la pericia efectuada por el polémico especialista Roberto Locles, quien aseguró que la bala que mató a Mariano Ferreyra primero rebotó en el piso

Los abogados defensores de dos de los acusados pedirán la reconstrucción del asesinato del militante del Partido Obrero, ya que hasta el momento sólo se habían realizado inspecciones oculares.

Los letrados que harán la solicitud son los de Cristian Favale y del ferroviario Gabriel Sánchez, quienes se basaron en la pericia efectuada por el polémico especialista Roberto Locles.
Locles aseguró que la muerte de Mariano Ferreyra se produjo luego de que la bala rebotara en el piso, lo que haría cambiar la carátula por el hecho.
En caso de prosperar el pedido, se estima que los defensores de los demás detenidos, incluido el del titular del gremio Ferroviario, José Pedraza, procedan de la misma manera, publicó hoy el diario Clarín.
La pericia de la Policía Federal concluyó que las deformaciones encontradas en la bala que mató a Ferreyra fueron por el roce con un hueso de la víctima, lo que significaría que le tiraron directamente a matar.
Sin embargo, los análisis de Gendarmería determinaron que el roce existente fue contra una superficie dura.
Por lo tanto, si los acusados logran demostrar que no se tiró a matar, podrían recibir una pena más leve cuando se lleve a cabo el juicio oral.