A cool front is heading our way.
Temperatures in South Florida are forecast to dip into the 50s starting Thursday night.
Whoo-hoo!
But before that, highs will rise to the mid- to upper-70s before cooling down overnight to the mid-50s with a breeze.
Friday night will be cool again, with lows in the upper-50s.
A similar patter is predicted through the weekend.
Click here for the full weather forecast.
TOKYO (AP) — Nintendo‘s president Thursday ruled out price cuts for its new Wii U home console as a way to boost sales, vowing to become profitable again in its core businesses as smartphones and tablets increasingly threaten specialized game machines.
Satoru Iwata, speaking at a Tokyo hotel to investors and reporters a day after earnings were released, acknowledged the sales momentum for the Wii U, as well as the 3DS hand-held game machine, had run out of steam during the key year-end shopping season, especially in the U.S.
But he said no price cuts were in the works. Price cuts are common in the gaming industry to woo buyers, but the move can backfire by trimming revenue. The Wii U now sells for about $ 300 in the U.S. and 25,000 yen in Japan.
“We are already offering it at a good price,” he said.
Iwata said he expects operating profit of more than 100 billion yen in the 12 months ending March 2014, promising that as “a commitment.”
But he acknowledged more work was needed to have consumers understand the Wii U, which went on sale globally late last year, as well as producing more game software to draw buyers.
All game machines have suffered in recent years from the advent of smartphones and other mobile devices that have become more sophisticated and offer games and other forms of entertainment.
Nintendo returned to net profit for the April-December period of 2012 from deep losses the previous year, but that was due to a perk from a weaker yen, which helps Japanese exporters such as Nintendo.
Its operating result, which removes currency fluctuations, was a loss of 5.86 billion yen ($ 64 million), and Nintendo expects that to swell to a 20 billion yen ($ 220 million) loss for the full business year ending March 2013 as sales of its game consoles fall short of expectations.
Iwata said Nintendo is preparing more game software, including those developed in-house, for the end of this year.
Kyoto-based Nintendo, which makes Super Mario and Pokemon games, lowered its full year sales forecast Wednesday to 670 billion yen ($ 7.4 billion) from 810 billion yen ($ 8.9 billion). It also said it was going to sell fewer Wii U consoles for the fiscal year through March than its previous projection. The Wii U has a touch-screen tablet controller called GamePad and a TV-watching feature called TVii.
The company forecasts it will sell 4 million Wii U consoles for the current fiscal year, ending March 31, down from its earlier estimate of 5.5 million units. The Wii U, which went on sale late last year, was the first major new game console to arrive in stores in years.
Nintendo, also behind the Donkey Kong and Zelda games, lowered its full year sales forecast for Wii U game software units to 16 million from 24 million.
Iwata said last year holiday sales quickly dissipated in the U.S. and some European nations, including Great Britain, the key market. He said the U.S. home console sales were the worst for Nintendo in nearly a decade.
He said Nintendo needs hit games to push console sales, and the company remains confident Wii U will prove more popular with time.
“The chicken-and-game problem has not been solved,” he said of the need for both game software and machine hardware.
“I feel a deep sense of responsibility for not being able to produce results for our year-end business,” said Iwata.
He declined to say what he would do if the company failed to attain the promised operating profits.
Nintendo sank into a loss the previous fiscal year largely because of price cuts for its hand-held 3DS game machine, which shows three-dimensional imagery without special glasses. That machine is also struggling in most global markets.
Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo’s famed game designer, said what was missing were games for the Wii U that made its appeal clear. The progress in smartphones has also posed a challenge for Nintendo, he said.
“People have to try it to see it is fun,” Miyamoto said of Wii U.
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Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at www.twitter.com/yurikageyama
Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News
There have been a few Barbadian natives and people with Barbadian descent to become stars over the years, but none have reached the cosmic heights of Rihanna. In 2008, the singer soared into the stratosphere with her first Grammy win, which sent her native Barbados into a frenzy.
Barbados has had successful entertainment personalities like musicians Grandmaster Flex and Doug E. Fresh, and also has star lineage if we include the Barbadian descent of LL Cool J, Cuba Gooding Jr., and even Gwyneth Paltrow.
PICS: Stars Set to Perform at Grammys
For some perspective, the island in The Lesser Antilles has a population of less than 288,000 (roughly the same as St. Paul, Minn.) and is a mere 166 square miles, which is small enough to fit nearly three times over in the city of Los Angeles alone.
Therefore, it's a collective celebration when triumph comes to Barbadian stars.
Only one Barbadian musician had won a Grammy prior to Rihanna (Jimmy Senya Haynes, Steel Pulse), so when she won for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Umbrella," Barbados erupted and then-Prime Minister David Thompson gave the singer a phone call to applaud her achievement.
VIDEO: Grammys Flashback '05: Kanye Wins First of Many
"Everybody's excited. The Prime Minister just called and congratulated me," she tells ET's former correspondent Mark Steines backstage. "It's so awesome. Everybody at home was just screaming. I cannot believe we did it."
Barbados would have plenty of reasons for celebration in the years to come, as Rihanna has won the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration award twice more ("Run This Town," "All of the Lights") and also won Best Dance Recording for "Only Girl (In the World)."
VIDEO: Grammys Flashback '10: Taylor Swift Makes History
Now with four Grammys and a streak of three consecutive years with an award, the Barbadian singer has another opportunity to bring celebration back to her native island with nominations for Best Pop Solo Performance ("Where Have You Been"), Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ("Talk That Talk") and Best Short Form Music Video ("We Found Love").
WireImage
Miss America Mallory Hagan sings the national anthem before the Brooklyn Nets game at Barclays Center Wednesday.
No lip sync needed.
Newly crowned Miss America Mallory Hagan belted out the National Anthem at the packed Barclays Center last night before the Nets game.
The former Brooklynite drew cheers and once again promised her adopted borough that she’ll be moving back after her Miss America reign ends.
“Once I came here, I never wanted to leave,” Hagan saidbefore her big performance..
Despite Hagan’s boost, the Nets were hammered by the reigning NBA champion Miami Heat, 105-85.
It all started with a 4 a.m. email nearly a year ago: “Do you think a baby bib could change the world? I do...”
Then Susie Taylor included a link to her website, bibbitec.com, and off it went to Shark Tank, the popular ABC television show where entrepreneurs pitch their companies to investors on the show — and by extension, 7 million viewers.
Four months later, as the “mompreneur” was leaving her Biscayne Park home to pick up her kids from school, she got a call from the show asking her to pitch on the spot. Driving with her phone on her shoulder, she told the Bibbitec story.
Shark Tank bit. After a few more back and forths, her segment was filmed last summer.
Friday night, Taylor is scheduled to be on the show pitching Bibbitec’s main product, “The Ultimate Bib,” a patented generously sized, stain-resistant and fast-drying child’s bib made in the USA — Hialeah, to be exact. Bibbitec’s $30 bib can be a burp cloth, changing pad, breast feeding shield, full body bib, place mat, art smock and more, Taylor says.
We won’t be getting any details on what happens Friday night when she and her husband, Stephen Taylor, get into the tank with Daymond John, Mark Cuban and the other celebrity sharks; Taylor has been contractually sworn to secrecy. But whatever the outcome, she believes it will be worth it for the marketing pop.
Taylor was inspired to create her bib after a long and very messy plane ride with two young sons and started her company in 2008. She and her team — her husband is CFO, her sister, Heather McCabe, handles sales and marketing, her uncle, Richard Page, is in charge of production, and her aunt, Marcia Kreitman, advises on design — have expanded the line to include The Ultimate Smock for older children and the Ultimate Mini for babies. Coming soon: a smock for adults.
Taylor already got a taste of what a national TV show appearance can do for sales. In September, Bibbitec’s sales jumped 40 percent after she was on an ABC World News "Made in America" segment. “Within 30 seconds, we started getting sales from all over the country and they didn’t even mention our name on the air,” Taylor says. She said that confirmed her belief that a Shark Tank appearance would be worth it.
Plus, Taylor has been hooked on Shark Tank since the first time she watched it in 2008 as she was developing her product. Trained in theater, she admits she didn’t know much about business and learned from the show. She would practice how she would answer the questions.
“I’m all about empowering women who are sitting on the couch watching, because that’s what I was four years ago,” says Taylor. “All I wanted to do was to be on Shark Tank because I believed if I got on Shark Tank the world will see what I am trying to do and that’s all I need. I know it’s a great product.”
Will that theater training come in handy Friday night? Stay tuned. Shark Tank airs at 9 p.m. on ABC and Taylor hopes viewers will join in on Twitter using the hashtag #sharkbib.
A man in a wheelchair was robbed of his “man-purse” outside of a Southwest Florida store late Tuesday.
The 53-year-old victim, whose name was not released, was leaving a Dollar General Store in Bradenton when a man approached him from behind and attempted to snatch his man-purse, which was wrapped around his right arm, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
During a struggle, the suspect pulled the victim out of the wheelchair and onto the ground. The suspect grabbed the purse and got into the backseat of a waiting car, according to the sheriff's office. The vehicle then took off from the shopping center.
The victim went home and called police about 40 minutes after the robbery.
NEW YORK, N.Y. – Following several delays and much anticipation, the new BlackBerry smartphones will be unveiled this morning in New York.
Research In Motion (TSX:RIM), the company behind the once dominant smartphones, is holding a splashy event in Manhattan to usher in the new devices, which were originally due for release last year.
The debut is expected to showcase the device as well as provide key launch details.
That will likely include its release date, which is expected in the next four to six weeks, the phone’s features and how much it will cost.
The company says the new BlackBerry will be released first in a touchscreen version, while a keypad alternative will follow in the weeks or months afterward.
The new phone launch is RIM’s attempt to regain its position in the highly competitive North American and European smartphone markets, which are now dominated by iPhone and Android devices.
While the first hurdles to overcome are the opinions of tech analysts and investor reaction, the true measure of success — actual sales of the phones — is still weeks away.
The BlackBerry has dramatically lost marketshare in recent years after a series of blunders.
Several network outages left customers without the use of the smartphones they had come to rely on, while the BlackBerry’s hardware hasn’t received a significant upgrade in years.
RIM chief executive Thorsten Heins has already offered a glimpse of some features on the new devices. They include BlackBerry Balance technology, which allows one phone to operate as both a business and personal device entirely separate from each other.
The new BlackBerry will also let users seamlessly shift between the phone’s applications like they’re flipping between pages on a desk.
In the coming weeks, RIM will launch an advertising blitz to promote the phones, including aggressive social media campaigning, which includes plugs from celebrities on their Twitter accounts, and a 30-second advertisement on the Super Bowl, the most watched television program of the year.
Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News
The boys are coming back!
Warner Brothers has officially given the go-ahead to the feature film sequel of HBO's hit-series Entourage, Deadline reports.
Pics: TV's 10 Most Divisive Love Triangles
According to the site, the show's creator, Doug Ellin, has already written the screenplay and will direct the movie. The studio is reportedly in the process of making deals with principal cast members Adrian Grenier, Jeremy Piven, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara and Kevin Connolly.
As of yet, there is no date set for filming to begin.
Video-- Emmy Flashback: Jeremy Piven '07
Entourage ran for eight seasons (2004-2011), earning six Primetime Emmys and one Golden Globe.
The voice of the Second Avenue Subway might have an Australian accent.
The MTA named six finalists in its search for narrators of the Second Avenue Subway video, a motley mix of Upper East Siders that includes native New Yorkers, a transplanted Midwesterner and one Aussie.
The six finalists were chosen from dozens of applicants who hoped to narrate the informational video, which will be broadcast in an exhibit at the Community Information Center on Second Avenue.
No voice-over experience was necessary, but not everyone could apply.
All applicants had to live or work in the construction zone — First and Third avenues between 63rd and 105th streets — to be eligible for the part.
This being New York, plenty of actors did apply for the gig, including two of the finalists.
But the vast majority of the dozens of respondents were amateurs.
“If you ever see the beginning auditions for American Idol, it was kind of like that,” joked Richard Mulieri, of MTA capital construction.
“You knew right away who wasn’t going to Hollywood.”
One person’s phone audition was a riff on the Twilight Zone, including a spooky over the top voice extolling the virtues of the over $4 billion project.
“It was way beyond what you’d want,” said Rehema Trimiew, an MTA digital medial producer who was one of the judges.
The public will choose one woman and one man from the finalists, whose voices will be broadcast at surveymonkey.com/s/SASIdol.
Voting begins today and will remain open until Feb. 17.
Melbourne native Theresa Ebblewhite doesn’t think her Australian accent will hurt her changes.
“New York is multi-cultural and diverse,” she said.
She decided to audition after a psychic told her she should do voice work.
She thought nothing of it — until the next day when she saw a story in the Post about the MTA’s contest.
“I thought, this is too eerie,” said Ebblewhite, an educational consultant who has lived in New York for nine years.
Scotty Davis — a Screen Actor’s Guild member who has lived in New York since 1970s — drank coffee to warm up her throat before her final audition Monday night at the MTA’s offices in Brooklyn.
She did three takes inside the tiny voice studio, finally nailing it after thinking of her mom.
“I put my mother in my mind, like how would I tell my mother?” she said.
Bill Bunting applied after being urged on by his wife, who had also read about the contest in the Post.
“I know a lot of merchants on Second Avenue [that have been impacted by construction],” he said.
But he is convinced the benefits will some day outweigh the negatives.
“Public transportation is hugely important,” he said.
jennifer.fermino@nypost.com
Screen quality is critical to a great tablet, and in 2012 we saw the quality of tablet screens advance in leaps and bounds, especially in terms of clarity. Here are our favorites.
Barnes & Noble Nook HD
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 (Very good)
The good: A light, comfortable design with a sharp screen and a well-implemented user profiles feature. Books, videos and magazines look great and the microSD slot takes some of the sting out of the lack of internal storage.
The bad: App, movie, TV show and game options are thin and there’s no native music service. It’s missing some typical tablet features and 8GB is low for the price. Fingerprints easily sully the screen.
The cost: $199
The bottom line: The Barnes & Noble Nook HD can’t match competing tablets in media library breadth, but as long as you’re not looking for bells and whistles, its sharp screen and comfortable body make it an ideal tablet choice for books and magazines.
Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700
Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)
The good: High-resolution screen rivals the new iPad’s display in sharpness and clarity. Also, apps launch quickly, GPS works well and its rear camera is the best we’ve seen on any Android tablet. The tablet’s body has the same great thin and light design as the Prime.
The bad: So far, not enough Android apps take advantage of the TF700’s higher pixel count. Also, its battery life isn’t as good as the Prime’s.
The cost: $479.88 to $590.37
The bottom line: The Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 is one of the fastest Android tablets out there, combining an already proven design with a better camera, a faster processor, and a beautiful screen.
Google Nexus 10
Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)
The good: A beautifully sharp screen is light, durable and has the fastest processor of any Android tablet. Photo Sphere is an incredibly cool concept. Google’s content ecosystem is only getting better.
The bad: The included charger isn’t fast enough to power the battery while playing a game; even while idle, it charges painfully slowly. There’s no storage expansion option, and apps that take full advantage of the screen are currently few and far between. Navigation isn’t quite as smooth as on the Nexus 7.
The cost: $399
The bottom line: The Nexus 10’s superior design and swift performance make it one of the best Android tablets to date. We expect post-launch updates from Google to make it even better.
Apple iPad (fourth generation)
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5 (Outstanding)
The good: A6X processor adds extra system speed and graphics power. Improved worldwide cellular compatibility makes the LTE model a more appealing proposition. And the iOS App Store remains best in class, with the widest selection.
The bad: The fourth-gen iPad is otherwise identical to its recent predecessor — same size, weight and Retina Display screen. It’s heavy to hold in one hand, and most older accessories won’t work without investing in a pricey Lightning adapter.
The cost: $499 to $539.99
The bottom line: The latest iPad adds several tweaks and improvements to secure its position at the top of the tablet heap. It’s better all around, but third-gen owners don’t need to upgrade.
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