A security guard stands next to an Apple retail store during the release of the iPhone 5 in Shanghai December 14, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Carlos Barria
SAN JOSE, California | Thu Feb 14, 2013 4:10pm EST
SAN JOSE, California (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday asked Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd whether an Apple patent lawsuit over search technology should be put on hold for several months until after an appeals court resolves a separate lawsuit between the two companies.
Apple won a $1.05 billion verdict last year against Samsung in a California trial court, but U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh rejected Apple's request for a permanent sales ban against several Samsung phones. Apple has appealed and a ruling is not expected until September at the earliest.
Apple also accused Samsung in a second lawsuit of violating a separate batch of patents, including the rights to search technology that is part of the iPhone Siri voice feature. That case is scheduled for trial in March 2014.
At a hearing on Thursday in a San Jose, California, federal court, Koh told attorneys for both companies that a potential resolution of the Apple versus Samsung legal war would cover both lawsuits. Koh asked if the second case should be suspended until after the appeals court ruled on the first.
"I just don't know if we really need two cases on this," Koh said.
Apple attorney William Lee said the cases should proceed in parallel as they involve different patents. However, Samsung attorney Victoria Maroulis said there was substantial "overlap" between the two proceedings.
Koh ordered attorneys for both sides to discuss the idea and report back on their positions by March 7.
"I assume there have been no further settlement discussions," Koh asked, "or at least none that have gone anywhere?"
"The answer to the last question is, that's correct," Lee said.
The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California is Apple Inc. vs Samsung Electronics Co Ltd et al, 12-630.
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Leading Chinese companies are looking for investments in Israeli technology to help boost their growth and development, similar to what U.S. companies have done in the past two decades.
A delegation of senior Chinese business leaders visited Israel last month in search of opportunities, pressing ahead with the trip despite rockets that fell in the commercial centre of the country during fighting with Gaza militants.
The delegation, led by Ronnie Chan, chairman of investment holding company Hang Lung Group, included the heads of Lenovo Group, China's top grains trader COFCO, investment banking and private equity firm Hina Group, China Merchants Bank and JP Morgan Chase in China.
Chan noted that many technologies in applications and products from companies such as Google and Intel originated in Israel, and Chinese companies would like to explore similar ventures.
"The sky is the limit," Chan told Reuters. "Some companies can set up research and development centers here, some can bring Israeli companies to China, some can open up the Chinese market for Israeli companies. I have no idea where this will lead."
Chan, a property magnate, said his family business owns technology companies around the world but has no investments in Israel.
Lenovo's operations in Israel had been limited to sales and support, but the company recently made its first technology investment, for an undisclosed amount, in venture capital firm Vertex.
"Definitely we are interested in Israel's technology, to grow our company, to grow our business," Chief Executive Yang Yuanqing said, adding that the investment in Vertex was just a first step.
Lenovo, which is on track to become the world's No. 1 PC maker, is interested in information and mobile technology.
Bilateral trade between China and Israel totaled $8 billion in 2011, according to Israel's Foreign Ministry.
Chinese have invested $3 billion in Israeli companies to date. The biggest investment was the $1.4 billion acquisition of 60 percent of MA Industries, the world's largest maker of generic crop protection chemicals, by China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) in late 2011.
"Since 2010, we saw for the first time significant Chinese investments in the real economy in Israel - in traditional industries like MA Industries and also in the high-tech sector, in biotechnology and agrotechnology," Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz told Reuters.
Edouard Cukierman, managing partner of private equity funds Catalyst Investments, which organized the delegation's trip to Israel with the Foreign Ministry, said the visit by the Chinese companies could lead to acquisitions, investments in research and development centers and even the establishment of their own local operations.
"We are following up with each one of them, preparing specific action plans for each one of them," Cukierman said. "They believe they can benefit from innovation in Israel more than the Americans did."
Catalyst Partners is establishing a $100 million China-Israel technology fund that is expected to close in the first half of 2013. Cukierman hopes to eventually reach $200 million.
A typical Classic Maya polity was a small hierarchical state (ajawil, ajawlel, or ajawlil) headed by a hereditary ruler known as an ajaw (later k’uhul ajaw). Such kingdoms were usually no more than a capital city with its neighborhood and several lesser towns, although there were greater kingdoms, which controlled larger territories and extended patronage over smaller polities.[citation needed] Each kingdom had a name that did not necessarily correspond to any locality within its territory. Its identity was that of a political unit associated with a particular ruling dynasty. For instance, the archaeological site of Naranjo was the capital of the kingdom of Saal. The land (chan ch’e’n) of the kingdom and its capital were called Wakab’nal or Maxam and were part of a larger geographical entity known as Huk Tsuk. Interestingly, despite constant warfare and eventual shifts in regional power, most kingdoms never disappeared from the political landscape until the collapse of the whole system in the 9th century AD. In this respect, Classic Maya kingdoms are highly similar to late Post Classic polities encountered by the Spaniards in Yucatán and Central Mexico: some polities could be subordinated to hegemonic rulers through conquests or dynastic unions and yet even then they persisted as distinct entities.[citation needed]
Mayanists have been increasingly accepting a "court paradigm" of Classic Maya societies which puts the emphasis on the centrality of the royal household and especially the person of the king. This approach focuses on Maya monumental spaces as the embodiment of the diverse activities of the royal household. It considers the role of places and spaces (including dwellings of royalty and nobles, throne rooms, temples, halls and plazas for public ceremonies) in establishing power and social hierarchy, and also in projecting aesthetic and moral values to define the wider social realm.
Spanish sources invariably describe even the largest Maya settlements as dispersed collections of dwellings grouped around the temples and palaces of the ruling dynasty and lesser nobles. None of the Classic Maya cities shows evidence of economic specialization and commerce of the scale of Mexican Tenochtitlan. Instead, Maya cities could be seen as enormous royal households, the locales of the administrative and ritual activities of the royal court. They were the places where privileged nobles could approach the holy ruler, where aesthetic values of the high culture were formulated and disseminated and where aesthetic items were consumed. They were the self-proclaimed centers and the sources of social, moral, and cosmic order. The fall of a royal court as in the well-documented cases of Piedras Negras or Copan would cause the inevitable "death" of the associated settlement.
The Maya civilization extended throughout the present-day southern Mexican states of Chiapas, Tabasco, and the Yucatán Peninsula states of Quintana Roo, Campeche and Yucatán. The Maya area also extended throughout the northern Central American region, including the present-day nations of Guatemala, Belize, northern El Salvador and western Honduras.
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This article is about the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. For a discussion of the modern Maya, see Maya peoples. For other meanings of the word Maya, see Maya.
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period (c. 2000 BC to AD 250), according to the Mesoamerican chronology, many Maya cities reached their highest state of development during the Classic period (c. AD 250 to 900), and continued throughout the Post-Classic period until the arrival of the Spanish.
The Maya civilization shares many features with other Mesoamerican civilizations due to the high degree of interaction and cultural diffusion that characterized the region. Advances such as writing, epigraphy, and the calendar did not originate with the Maya; however, their civilization fully developed them. Maya influence can be detected from Honduras, Guatemala, and western El Salvador to as far away as central Mexico, more than 1,000 km (620 mi) from the Maya area. Many outside influences are found in Maya art and architecture, which are thought to result from trade and cultural exchange rather than direct external conquest.
The Maya peoples never disappeared, neither at the time of the Classic period decline nor with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores and the subsequent Spanish colonization of the Americas. Today, the Maya and their descendants form sizable populations throughout the Maya area and maintain a distinctive set of traditions and beliefs that are the result of the merger of pre-Columbian and post-Conquest ideas and cultures. Millions of people speak Mayan languages today; the Rabinal AchÃ, a play written in the Achi language, was declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2005.
Tata Megapixel, a new global car concept, displayed at the 82nd Geneva Motor Show
Geneva, March 6, 2012:
Tata Motors today presented at the 82nd Geneva Motor Show the Tata Megapixel, a new four-seater city-smart global range extended electric vehicle (REEV) concept for the performance-seeking and environment-conscious motorist anywhere in the world. Combining a lithium ion phosphate battery and an on-board petrol engine generator for recharging on the move, the Tata Megapixel offers a range of up to 900 km (with a single tank of fuel), path-breaking CO2 emission of just 22 gm / km and fuel economy of 100 km / litre (under battery only power).
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Prakash M. Telang, Managing Director - India Operations, Tata Motors, said, “The Tata Megapixel, developed by our design centres in India, the UK and Italy, is our idea of a city car for discerning motorists in any megacity of the world. It is a result of the progress we have made on the Tata Pixel, displayed last year, and also denotes the company’s future design direction.”
The class-leading ‘Zero Turn’ drive system of the Tata Pixel (shown at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show) has been taken to an even higher level of manoeuvrability in the Tata Megapixel. The car’s electric drive has four independent electric motors, one at each wheel. When parking, the electric hub motors drive the wheels in opposite directions, while the front wheels are turned at an acute angle, enabling an exceptional 2.8 metre turning radius. The at-home charging system is an as innovative induction charging system. The car has simply to be parked over the induction pad for charging to begin.
The Tata Megapixel is as distinctive in elegantly melding Indian uniqueness – in colours, graphic themes or materials – with global styling preferences. The integrated lamp and grille graphics sweep back over the front wheel arches to render a dynamic front end. It is echoed on the panoramic roof, creating a harmony between sun & shade and sense of interior space. The floating C-pillar and wrap-around belt line finisher integrate perfectly with the sculpted body surface, flowing freely to the rear and encapsulating the 5-spoke wheel design.
A double-sliding door system and the car’s B-pillar less design make entry/exit easy, besides superb visibility. The battery layout and hub motors maximize the interior package. So, the Tata Megapixel comfortably accommodates four adults with luggage. The front seats are cantilevered on the central tunnel, releasing floor space for additional storage. Light leather trims and rose metal details accentuate the joyous marriage of richness of tradition and innovativeness of technology.
This fusion is heightened by an advanced human machine interface (HMI). The console docking point can connect a smart phone with the car. The built-in large touchscreen HMI, at the centre of the instrument panel, thus becomes a common access point for the repertoire of the smart device and for controlling the functions of the car, like temperature, ventilation, driving modes and performance.
Tata Motors’ displays also include the new generation Tata Safari Storme SUV, the Tata Aria crossover, the Tata Indigo Manza sedan and the Tata Indica Vista hatchback.
About Tata Motors Tata Motors is India's largest automobile company, with consolidated revenues of Rs. 1,23,133 crores ($ 27 billion) in 2010-11. Through subsidiaries and associate companies, Tata Motors has operations in the UK, South Korea, Thailand, Spain and South Africa. Among them is Jaguar Land Rover, the business comprising the two iconic British brands. It also distributes Fiat cars in India, and has an industrial joint venture with Fiat in India. With over 6.5 million Tata vehicles plying in India, Tata Motors is the country’s market leader in commercial vehicles and among the top three in passenger vehicles. It is also the world's fourth largest truck manufacturer and the third largest bus manufacturer. Tata cars, buses and trucks are being marketed in several countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia and South America. (www.tatamotors.com)
TECHNOLOGY
OVERVIEW
Range Extended Electric Vehicle - enabling a combined range of up to 900 km.
CO2 emissions of just 22 g/km and fuel economy of 100 km/litre under a combined driving mode (as per ECE R101).
‘Zero Turn’drive maximizes manoeuvrability when parking.
The Tata Megapixel, a range extended electric vehicle (REEV), is a new four-seater city-smart global car concept for the performance-seeking and environment-conscious motorist anywhere in the world.
Combining a lithium ion phosphate battery and an on-board petrol engine generator for recharging on the move, the Tata Megapixel offers a range of up to 900 km (with a single tank of fuel), path-breaking CO2 emissions of just 22 g/km and fuel economy of 100 km/litre under a combined driving mode (as per ECE R101). At home charging is via an innovative inductive charging system. The car has simply to be parked over the induction pad for charging to begin.
The class-leading ‘Zero Turn’ drive system of the Tata Pixel (shown at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show) has been taken to an even higher level of manoeuvrability in the Tata Megapixel. The car’s electric drive has four independent electric motors, one at each wheel. When parking, the electric hub motors drive the wheels in opposite directions, while the front wheels are turned at an acute angle, enabling an exceptional 2.8 metre turning radius.
The Tata Megapixel is as distinctive in elegantly melding Indian uniqueness – in colours, graphic themes or materials – with global styling preferences. The integrated lamp and grille graphics sweep back over the front wheel arches to render a dynamic front end. It is echoed on the panoramic roof, creating a harmony between sun & shade and sense of interior space. The floating C-pillar and wrap-around belt line finisher integrate perfectly with the sculpted body surface, flowing freely to the rear and encapsulating the 5-spoke wheel design.
A double-sliding door system and the car’s B-pillar less design make entry/exit easy, besides superb visibility. The battery layout and hub motors maximize the interior package. So, the Tata Megapixel comfortably accommodates four adults with luggage. The front seats are cantilevered on the central tunnel, releasing floor space for additional storage. Light leather trims and rose metal details accentuate the joyous marriage of richness of tradition and innovativeness of technology.
This fusion is heightened by an advanced human machine interface (HMI). The console docking point can connect a smart phone with the car. The built-in large touchscreen HMI, at the centre of the instrument panel, thus becomes a common access point for the repertoire of the smart device and for controlling the functions of the car, like temperature, ventilation, driving modes and performance.
The Tata Megapixel denotes Tata Motors’ progression from the Tata Pixel, based on the Tata Nano and a city car concept for Europe, reflecting the company’s future design direction
KEY FEATURES
Design
Unique ‘India Global’ exterior and interior design language
Panoramic roof
Light and spacious, elegant interior
Cantilevered seating system
Comfortable seating for four adults
Ergonomic ‘all in one,’ touch screen command centre
Drive system and performance
Electric drive through four independent in-wheel motors
On-board recharging from auxiliary power unit
Maximum vehicle range of over 900 km, including battery range of 87 km
Optimised weight distribution and All-Wheel-Drive for agile handling
Low rolling resistance tyres
City wise
‘Hands free’ induction battery charging
Advanced double sliding side door system for easy entry and egress in confined spaces
Compact dimensions and good all round visibility
Zero turn manoeuvrability with park assist system
‘Hands on’ connectivity via in-vehicle display and smart phone
In-car access to your online world
Integrated ‘infotainment plus’ system with control over key vehicle functions and entertainment system
The living Earth simulator is a proposed massive computer simulation system intended to simulate the interactions of all aspects of life, human economic activity, climate, and other physical processes on the planet Earth as part of the FuturICT project, in response to the European FP7 "Future and Emerging Technologies Flagship" initiative.
There are over 300 international teams seeking ~€1 billion for the 10-year FuturICT project.
The Interplanetary Internet (based on IPN, also called InterPlaNet) is a conceived computer network in space, consisting of a set of network nodes which can communicate with each other. Communication would be greatly delayed by the great interplanetary distances, so the IPN needs a new set of protocols and technology that are tolerant to large delays and errors. While the Internet as we know it tends to be a busy network of networks with high traffic, negligible delay and errors, and a wired backbone, the Interplanetary Internet is a store-and-forward network of internets that is often disconnected, has a wireless backbone fraught with error-prone links and delays ranging to tens of minutes, even hours, even when there is a connection.
The speed of light, illustrated here by a beam of light travelling from the Earth to the Moon, would limit the speed at which Interplanetary Internet messages would be able to travel. In this example, it takes light 1.26 seconds to travel from the Earth to the Moon. Due to the vast distances involved, much longer delays may be incurred than in the Earth-bound Internet.
Development
Space communication technology has steadily evolved from expensive, one-of-a-kind point-to-point architectures, to the re-use of technology on successive missions, to the development of standard protocols agreed upon by space agencies of many countries. This last phase has gone on since 1982 through the efforts of the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS), a body composed of the major space agencies of the world. It has 11 member agencies, 22 observer agencies, and over 100 industrial associates.
The evolution of space data system standards has gone on in parallel with the evolution of the Internet, with conceptual cross-pollination where fruitful, but largely as a separate evolution. Since the late 1990s, familiar Internet protocols and CCSDS space link protocols have integrated and converged in several ways, for example, the successful FTP file transfer to Earth-orbiting STRV-1b on January 2, 1996, which ran FTP over the CCSDS IPv4-like Space Communications Protocol Specifications (SCPS) protocols. Internet Protocol use without CCSDS has taken place on spacecraft, e.g., demonstrations on the UoSAT-12 satellite, and operationally on the Disaster Monitoring Constellation. Having reached the era where networking and IP on board spacecraft have been shown to be feasible and reliable, a forward-looking study of the bigger picture was the next phase.
The Interplanetary Internet study at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) was started by a team of scientists at JPL led by Vinton Cerf and Adrian Hooke. Cerf is one of the pioneers of the Internet on Earth, and currently holds the position of distinguished visiting scientist at JPL. Hooke is one of the directors of the CCSDS.
ICANN meeting, Los Angeles, USA, 2007. The marquee pays a humorous homage to the Ed Wood film Plan 9 from Outer Space, while namedropping Internet pioneer Vint Cerf.
While IP-like SCPS protocols are feasible for short hops, such as ground station to orbiter, rover-to-lander, lander-to-orbiter, probe-to-flyby, and so on, delay-tolerant networking is needed to get information from one region of the solar system to another. It becomes apparent that the concept of a "region" is a natural architectural factoring of the InterPlanetary Internet.
A "region" is an area where the characteristics of communication are the same. Region characteristics include communications, security, the maintenance of resources, perhaps ownership, and other factors. The Interplanetary Internet is a "network of regional internets."
What is needed then, is a standard way to achieve end-to-end communication through multiple regions in a disconnected, variable-delay environment using a generalized suite of protocols. Examples of regions might include the terrestrial Internet as a region, a region on the surface of the moon or Mars, or a ground-to-orbit region.
The recognition of this requirement led to the concept of a "bundle" as a high-level way to address the generalized Store-and-Forward problem. Bundles are an area of new protocol development in the upper layers of the OSI model, above the Transport Layer with the goal of addressing the issue of bundling store-and-forward information so that it can reliably traverse radically dissimilar environments constituting a "network of regional internets."
Bundle Service Layering, implemented as the Bundling protocol suite for delay-tolerant networking, will provide general purpose delay-tolerant protocol services in support of a range of applications: custody transfer, segmentation and reassembly, end-to-end reliability, end-to-end security, and end-to-end routing among them. The Bundle Protocol was first tested in space on the UK-DMC satellite in 2008.
An example of one of these end-to-end applications flown on a space mission is CFDP, used on the comet mission, Deep Impact. CFDP is the CCSDS File Delivery Protocol an international standard for automatic, reliable file transfer in both directions. CFDP should not be confused with Coherent File Distribution Protocol, which unfortunately has the same acronym and is an IETF-documented experimental protocol for rapidly deploying files to multiple targets in a highly-networked environment.
In addition to reliably copying a file from one entity (such as a spacecraft or ground station) to another entity, the CCSDS CFDP has the capability to reliably transmit arbitrary small messages defined by the user, in the metadata accompanying the file, and to reliably transmit commands relating to file system management that are to be executed automatically on the remote end-point entity (such as a spacecraft) upon successful reception of a file.
Implementation
The dormant InterPlanetary Internet Special Interest Group of the Internet Society has worked on defining protocols and standards that would make the IPN possible. The Delay-Tolerant Networking Research Group (DTNRG) is the primary group researching Delay-tolerant networking. Additional research efforts focus on various uses of the new technology.
As of 2005, NASA has canceled plans to launch the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter in September 2009; it had the goal of supporting future missions to Mars and would have functioned as a possible first definitive Internet hub around another planetary body. It would use optical communications using laser beams for their lower ping rates than radiowaves. "Lasercom sends information using beams of light and optical elements, such as telescopes and optical amplifiers, rather than RF signals, amplifiers, and antennas"
NASA JPL continued to test the DTN protocol with their Deep Impact Networking (DINET) experiment on board the Deep Impact/EPOXI spacecraft in October, 2008.
In May 2009, DTN was deployed to a payload on board the ISS. NASA and BioServe Space Technologies, a research group at the University of Colorado, have been continuously testing DTN on two Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA) payloads. CGBA-4 and CGBA-5 serve as computational and communications platforms which are remotely controlled from BioServe's Payload Operations Control Center (POCC) in Boulder, CO. These initial experiments provide insight into future missions where DTN will enable the extension of networks into deep space to explore other planets and solar system points of interest. Seen as necessary for space exploration, DTN enables timeliness of data return from operating assets which results in reduced risk and cost, increased crew safety, and improved operational awareness and science return for NASA and additional space agencies.
DTN has several major arenas of application, in addition to the Interplanetary Internet, which include sensor networks, military and tactical communications, disaster recovery, hostile environments, mobile devices and remote outposts. As an example of a remote outpost, imagine an isolated Arctic village, or a faraway island, with electricity, one or more computers, but no communication connectivity. With the addition of a simple wireless hotspot in the village, plus DTN-enabled devices on, say, dog sleds or fishing boats, a resident would be able to check their e-mail or click on a Wikipedia article, and have their requests forwarded to the nearest networked location on the sled's or boat's next visit, and get the replies on its return.
In fiction
The Deep Impact mission
In the Star Trek universe, members of the United Federation of Planets often send messages, in a generally instantaneous manner. Whilst this is evidently a fictional scenario, it depicts in theory what an interplanetary Internet could look like, or at the least how communication between networks and hosts could occur over vast distances. In this particular instance, the system relies on the theory of "subspace", a realm of the universe through which data can pass instantly from any point.
In the Star Wars expanded universe, the Holonet functions much like an interplanetary version of the Internet, with near-instantaneous networking between computing devices over long distances. It is a major source of news and information, and is central to much of Galactic culture and history.
In Firefly/Serenity, the Anglo-Sino Alliance use an internet-like system across their extrasolar system called the cortex, and any transmissions across this net are called "waves."
The "extranet" of the Mass Effect universe is also an example of a fictional interplanetary Internet.
Earth orbit
Earth orbit is sufficiently nearby that conventional protocols can be used. For example, the International Space Station is connected to the terrestrial Internet.
(Company corrects comments on Olympic corporate ticket packages in final paragraphs having originally said that it had a third of the packages left unsold and that about 95 percent of the tickets repackaged for sale to the public had now been sold.)
* Harriet Green says will tap on technology expertise
* Q3 operating loss 26.5 mln stg vs 20.1 mln stg profit yoy
* Sees full-year results broadly in line with expectations
By Brenda Goh
LONDON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Thomas Cook's new chief executive said technology would be the salvation of the struggling British tour operator and gave herself nine months to deliver a turnaround plan to end over a year of poor performance.
The company posted an underlying operating loss of 26.5 million pounds ($41.3 million) in the three months ended June, versus a profit of 20.1 million pounds in the same period last year despite a lift in foreign bookings from Britons exasperated with rainy weather at home.
Harriet Green, who joined the 171-year-old company from electronic parts distributor Premier Farrell in July, told reporters on Thursday she would be able to "bring a fresh pair of eyes" to existing industry problems.
"I don't think moving from one industry (to another) is so much of a challenge ... There are many things that are actually very similar and in my view of business, all roads ultimately lead to technology," she said.
Thomas Cook has been hit hard by tough trading conditions, particularly in Britain where its core customer base of families with young children is suffering in the economic downturn. It has also been affected by unrest in popular destinations such as Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco.
In May it reported half-year pretax loss of 328.3 million pounds and completed the sale and leaseback of 19 of its planes as it struggled to find cash.
"In our view they (new management) face a very difficult turnaround task. We expect early views from the new team in November and a detailed plan to be announced in the Spring," Numis analysts said.
Thomas Cook said foreign holiday bookings had picked up in recent weeks after subdued demand in April and May, as the sodden European summer drove rain-weary Britons, Germans and Russians to seek the sun in Greece and Tunisia.
UK bookings as of July 29 were flat versus the same time last year, while bookings in central Europe were 1 percent higher, boosted by demand from Germany.
In comparison, bookings in west Europe were down 9 percent compared with the same time last year, as trading, particularly in France, stayed tough.
Net debt at June 30 was 1.01 billion pounds, versus 902.5 million pounds at the same time last year. It has striven to pay down its debt through selling its Spanish hotel chain Hotels Y Clubs De Vacaciones and expects to complete the 87 million pound sale of its Indian unit by Aug. 22.
While the outlook remained challenging, the company said its quarterly financial trend was improving and it expects to post a full-year result broadly in line with expectations.
At 0943 GMT shares in Thomas Cook, which have fallen more than 70 percent over the past year, were down 1.5 percent to 16.32 pence, valuing the company at around 148 million pounds.
It also said plans to cash in on the Olympics by selling packages to corporate clients had not gone as well as expected after the implementation of the UK bribery act made corporates nervous about offering or accepting corporate hospitality.
It had originally allocated 25 percent of its tickets to corporate packages but has since repackaged more than half of these to sell to the public a nd said it has now so ld 99 percent of its Olympic tickets. ($1=0.6415 British pounds) (Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Mark Potter and David Cowell)
