Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/558086
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 19 AUGUST 2015 11 Business Today www.creditinfo.com.mt info@creditinfo.com.mt Tel: 2131 2344 Your Local Partner for Credit Risk Management Solutions Supporting you all the way Google's modular Ara phone delayed Google has delayed its plans to tri- al its modular smartphone concept, codenam ed Project Ara. Back in January, Google announced that Project Ara would be released in a test market, Puerto Rico, later this year. At the same time, it released a "Moto Maker" type customisation app that would allow those interested to get a feel for just what could be done with the hardware and its myriad number of swappable components. The new trial will take place in a new location in the US, the Project Ara team said via a series of tweets. The team blamed "lots of iterations" in the design, which was first shown off in 2013, for the delay. Project Ara is, in no small way, a revolution of sorts for the mobile market. As things stand now, consumers buy a finished product, none of which offer very much in terms of after-sale customisation save for interchangeable battery door covers and whatnot. Project Ara is Google's intriguing attempt at creating a smartphone that comes in bits. It means certain components can be added or taken away without the need for intricate alterations to the phone. It would potentially mean smashed screens or worn batteries would be less costly to replace – as well as allowing others to create bespoke hardware for specific tasks. In theory, this would mean that a smartphone would never be out of date. Instead of having to buy an entirely new product just because you wanted more RAM or storage or a faster CPU, Ara would allow for simply removing the unit that contains the outdated part and inserting the updated or upgraded component. Google had planned to offer around 20 to 30 different modules for the Puerto Rico trial. Writing on a forum for developers interested in working on Project Ara, San Francisco based designer Garrett Kinsman said he felt a "sense of overwhelming sadness" at the delay. Google plans to pilot a modular phone, on which components can be swapped China blasts: carmakers' production affected Toyota and John Deere have said they will halt work at plants near China's port of Tianjin where huge explosions last week killed more than 100 peo- ple. Toyota's production lines will be closed until the end of Wednesday while John Deere suspended work indefinitely. Renault also said its car deliveries in China may fall in August and September after the blast burned 1,500 of its imported cars. And Volkswagen said 2,700 of its cars were damaged. Evacuation advisories have been issued for the area around the blast site. The site is likely to have housed hundreds of tonnes of highly toxic chemicals. Toyota said more than 50 of its staff were injured. At least 114 people died in the explosions, officials said, and more than 700 have needed hospital treatment. The blasts last Wednesday came during holidays for Toyota workers, so there has been no impact on production so far at its three lines near the affected area, the Japanese carmaker said in a statement. "However, due to ongoing evacuation advisories, none of the three lines at Tianjin FAW Toyota Motor Co Ltd" will be in operation between 17 and 19 August, Toyota said. US company John Deere also suspended operations near Tianjin after some of its workers were injured and several buildings were damaged. The maker of tractors and agricultural machinery said it was halting work indefinitely. A small number of employees were injured, and windows and doors at some of the company's plant had been blown out, a spokesman said. The full scope of the damage is not yet established as the evacuation has blocked staff from returning to assess the plant. The John Deere plant in Tianjin primarily manufactures agricultural and construction equipment as well as engines for the Asian market. Money Market Report for the week ending August 14, 2015 ECB Monetary Operations On Monday, August 10, the Eu- ropean Central Bank (ECB) an- nounced its weekly main refi- nancing operation (MRO). The auction was conducted on Tues- day, August 11, and attracted bids from euro area eligible counter- parties of €69.67 billion, €1.33 billion lower than the bid amount of the previous week. The amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate equivalent to the prevailing MRO rate of 0.05%, in accordance with current ECB policy. On Wednesday, August 12, the ECB conducted a seven- day US dollar funding operation through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. This operation attracted bids of $0.13 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 0.63%. Domestic Treasury Bill Market In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 90-day bills maturing on November 12, 2015. Bids of €38.00 million were sub- mitted, with the Treasury accept- ing €10.00 million. Since €10.50 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstand- ing balance of Treasury bills de- creased by €0.50 million, to stand at €246.05 million. The yield from the 90-day bill auction was -0.048%, down by 0.1 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on August 7, 2015, representing a bid price of 100.0120 per 100 nominal. During the week under review, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange. On Tuesday the Treasury invited tenders for 90-day bills maturing on November 19, 2015.