Faster Internet to the middle of the ocean

This would make for a great Instagram photo.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL) unveiled a long-range broadband system Monday designed to jumpstart Internet connections on its 101 ships.

Passengers have had access to spotty satellite-based Internet for years, but Carnival says the new system will offer smoother connections and the ability to engage in bandwidth-intensive activities like streaming video.

Related: The best time to book your holiday flight is...

Ramon Millan, chief information officer for the company, said Carnival faced a technical challenge similar to that of the airline industry, which has been gradually increasing the in-flight Wi-Fi speeds available to passengers.

"It's a ship, and it's moving in the middle of the ocean where there's no infrastructure, so we have to be creative," he said.

The new system works by toggling between port-based Wi-Fi, satellite Internet, and "long-range" Wi-Fi that uses land-based antennas to establish a connection when ships are within 40 miles of shore. The resulting speeds are 10 times faster than what the cruise line could previously offer.

Related: How much should you tip housekeeping? A travel tipping guide

Millan said Carnival developed the system in part to appeal to younger travelers "who have made connectivity and social media an everyday part of their lives."

"Our guests are looking for different experiences when they cruise -- some are interested in disconnecting, and others are interested in staying in touch with their world back home," he said.

First Published: November 3, 2014: 12:06 AM ET

14.44 | 0 komentar | Read More

Fox cancels experimental reality show 'Utopia'

The cast of Fox's "Utopia" with network executives.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The show -- which was supposed to document the lives of 15 strangers over a full year as they tried to build a perfect society -- was Fox's attempt at TV experimentation.

However, the series was a ratings dystopia for the network, so it's ending 10 months shy of its expected conclusion.

The show opened decently enough on Sept. 7 with 4.6 million viewers, but couldn't gain momentum and went steadily downhill from there.

It was originally shown on Tuesday and Fridays, but the series was sidelined to just Friday, a tough night for TV. Its audience dwindled to fewer than two million viewers on some nights.

Last Friday's episode brought in just 1.5 million viewers.

Fox's head of reality Simon Andreae originally described "Utopia" as "the largest, most ambitious social experiment on television," but the show proved to be a costly gamble that couldn't pay off for the network.

Reports had the series costing Fox upwards of $50 million.

"Utopia" is just one of the struggles that Fox has faced this TV season.

Its Steven Spielberg-produced dramedy "Red Band Society" has rated poorly and the network recently cut the number of episodes of its new comedy "Mulaney."

For the time being, "Utopia" Friday time slot will be filled by repeats of the Gordon Ramsay-led cooking competition "Masterchef Junior."

While a big cancellation for Fox, "Utopia" is not the first casualty of the new season. ABC pulled the plug on the comedy "Manhattan Love Story" last week.

First Published: November 2, 2014: 6:13 PM ET

14.44 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hong Kong has a tycoon problem

HONG KONG (CNNMoney)

Take Asia's richest man, Li Ka-shing, 86, with an estimated net worth of $33 billion. Li controls vast tracts of property, and owns some of the city's biggest supermarket chains, telecoms, major ports and shipping firms, and even energy and utilities companies.

Other tycoons such as Lui Che-woo, 85, and Cheng Yu-tung, 89, also dominate a variety of industries -- construction, casinos, luxury retail, infrastructure, and local transport, from buses to ferries.

Nearly every expense in a Hong Konger's daily life -- picking up groceries, turning on the lights or riding a bus -- ends up lining the pockets of these tycoons.

While they were once revered for their rags to riches success stories, the political and economic influence wielded by the tycoons is now a flashpoint in the ongoing pro-democracy protests that have swept Hong Kong. On the streets, there is little love for the 1%, who many blame for sky-high home prices and the widening wealth gap.

Related: Why I'm protesting in Hong Kong

"Hong Kong is one of the most unequal societies in the world," said Willy Lam, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. "Apart from the political motivation -- pursuit of real Western-style elections -- the students are also venting their frustration at the income inequality ... and less opportunities for upward mobility for a college graduate."

Tycoons are seen as making these issues worse with their grip on industry.

"The dozen or so tycoons at the top are seen as having monopolistic power in the market," Lam said. "Competition is really not free in Hong Kong -- there is a lack of a [level] playing field."

Without any antitrust laws in Hong Kong, many of these multi-billionaire tycoons are believed to game the system in their favor.

The lack of competition is perhaps most evident in the city's real estate sector, where three companies account for 72% of the residential property market, according to CLSA. Home prices have doubled over the last decade, while wage growth has largely remained stagnant.

Related: This is why Hong Kong matters

Adding to frustration is a seeming lack of interest in reform by city leaders, many of whom are influenced by pro-business interests.

As it stands, the business sector controls roughly 700 votes of a 1,200-member electoral committee in charge of selecting Hong Kong's city leader, called the chief executive, said Ma Ngok, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Mainland China prefers to keep it this way -- the central government can exert influence on Hong Kong through the tycoons, because they all have multi-billion dollar investments in China to protect, Ma said.

The clock is ticking on how things are run in Hong Kong -- many of the richest tycoons are now in their 80s, and how their successors operate could change circumstances.

But for now, they will remain "part of the fabric of Hong Kong culture," said Ben Cavender of China Market Research. "You can't ignore them, because they're always there -- in the news, or you're dealing with one of their brands."

Read next: $547,000 for a parking space in Hong Kong

First Published: November 2, 2014: 9:10 PM ET

14.44 | 0 komentar | Read More

How I taught my kids to invest

The Ellerbroek family.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

That's the message Angie Ellerbroek is instilling in her three children. They are all under 12-years-old, but they already own stock.

"We're middle class of the middle class," Angie, who lives in the Midwest, told CNNMoney. "We live within our means. We don't buy new vehicles."

Angie and her husband were frustrated that their childrens' saving accounts were making a mere 0.17% a year in the bank. In other words, nothing.

They had worked hard to save up a bit of money for their kids -- about $1,500 for each child. In the fall of 2011, Angie had an epiphany: It was time to put the savings in the stock market.

"I explained everything to the kids before investing their savings, and they were on board," she said.

Related: Who's getting rich off the stock market?

Each child started by putting money into one stock -- something they had a connection to.

"I bought Apple (AAPL, Tech30) for my son because he loves computers. I bought Disney (DIS) for one daughter because she loves Disney movies. And for my youngest I bought Honeywell (HON)because she was sick and taking spoons of honey for her cough, and we have a Honeywell thermometer," she explained.

Angie also got into the action, purchasing shares of Toyota (TM) since she believed it was a strong brand in 2011 and the recall crisis seemed to be behind it.

Related: Is Apple the perfect stock?

Investing is now dinner table conversation -- and a fun game as the entire family follows the market. While the Ellerbroeks have a friendly competition going to see who has gained the most each week, the reality is everyone is doing very well -- certainly better than they would have if they kept their money in the bank.

The daughter invested in Disney has the most bragging rights. She is up over 140%. The son in Apple is up 85% and even got to experience a stock split earlier this year. The youngest daughter is up close to 70% -- roughly on par with the S&P 500 return since her initial investment.

Bringing up the rear is mom, although Angie isn't complaining about her 67% return either.

"Regardless of our unrealized gains, it's been a good lesson for the kids to watch their investments," Angie said.

The family has since diversified the investment portfolios somewhat, although they don't see the kids' funds as particularly risky since the plan is to keep the money in the market for a long time.

Angie knows the benefits only too well. An aunt who worked hard for UPS (UPS) and didn't have any children of her own would occasionally gift her nieces and nephews stocks. Angie received her first one when she around age 10 or 12.

"When I grew up and used it, I had about $80,000 that had accrued and split so many times. That helped us buy our first house," Angie said.

It was a better lesson about money -- and the power of investing over time -- than any she has learned in the classroom. Now her kids are learning too.

First Published: November 1, 2014: 8:08 AM ET

14.44 | 0 komentar | Read More

Branson: The dream of space tourism lives on

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

"We are determined to know what went wrong and are working closely with authorities to get that information," Branson said Saturday at a press conference in the Mojave Desert, near the site of the accident.

From CNN: 1 dead, 1 injured in SpaceShipTwo test flight failure

Branson continued to express sorrow for the loss of life. But he also addressed a question on many people's mind: Will Virgin continue its space tourism business?

"We're going to learn what went wrong, discover how we can improve safety and performance and then move forward together," Branson said. "Four hundred engineers who work here and most people in the world would love to see the dream living on."

Commercial flights were set to start in 2015.

The Virgin Galactic spaceship that exploded Friday cost nearly $500 million to develop.

Virgin has sold more than 700 tickets to space already, each costing more than $250,000, for future flights. Several celebrities have already signed up, including Justin Bieber, Ashton Kutcher, Leonardo DiCaprio and Stephen Hawking.

Anyone who has bought a ticket and is now nervous about space flight will be able to get a full refund, Branson assured. The company has received more than $80 million from bookings.

The special plane is called SpaceShipTwo, and it was designed to carry six passengers.

Virgin Galactic has planned for years to sell trips to transport passengers about 62 miles above Earth -- the beginning of outer space -- and let them experience a few minutes of weightlessness before returning.

Friday's mission was SpaceShipTwo's solo flight number 35, according to the company. A specialized jet carried it into the air and then the crafts separated at 50,000 feet.

They disconnected normally, but within minutes, the spaceship experienced "an in-flight anomaly," Virgin Galactic said.

The plane was designed and built by Mojave-based Scaled Composites, a subsidiary of defense contractor Northrop Grumman (NOC).

The project operates under the wing of The Spaceship Company, a venture that's jointly owned by Branson and Abu Dhabi's Aabar Investments PJS.

"Space is hard and today was a rough day," Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides said Friday.

The deadly accident marked the second time in a week that a private U.S. space company suffered a major loss. On Tuesday, a NASA contractor -- the Orbital Sciences Corporation (ORB) -- blew up its own unmanned Antares rocket when it started to malfunction. It was bound for the International Space Station with 5,000 pounds of supplies and experiments.

The space community showed signs of solidarity after Friday's explosion.

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, sent his sympathies over Twitter to the families of the pilots and the Virgin Galactic team.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden also offered condolences.

"Space flight is incredibly difficult, and we commend the passion of all in the space community who take on risk to push the boundaries of human achievement," he said.

--CNN's Jason Hanna and CNNMoney's Octavio Blanco, Katie Lobosco and Jose Pagliery contributed to this report.

First Published: November 1, 2014: 2:38 PM ET

14.44 | 0 komentar | Read More

NBC is developing a reality show with Virgin Galactic

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The network declined to comment. But according to Deadline, NBC is now "gathering information on the situation" regarding the reality series.

During a test flight, a "serious anomaly" caused Virgin's commercial space craft to explode over the Mojave Desert, killing one and seriously injuring another.

The show -- which was announced last year -- is an exclusive series between NBC, Virgin founder Richard Branson and reality TV super-producer Mark Burnett.

NBC described the show as an elimination competition in which normal people would compete with one another for "the ultimate prize" -- a flight into space on Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo.

The series would also have "unprecedented access" to Virgin Galactic's Spaceport America facilities in New Mexico, where contestants would train for their winning flight, according to a press release issued last year.

Related: Virgin Galactic spaceship explodes

Virgin Galactic's plan for the $500 million spaceship is to transport passengers 62 miles above Earth where the planet meets the onset of space.

The flight reportedly would cost guests upward of $250,000 and celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and Stephen Hawking have signed up for tickets.

For Burnett -- the producer behind reality hits like "Survivor" -- "Space Race" is another attempt to accomplish his dream of using a TV show to send everyday people into space.

"I am thrilled to be part of a series that will give the everyday person a chance to see space," Burnett said last year. "NBC has come on board ... so that viewers at home will have a first class seat."

First Published: October 31, 2014: 6:40 PM ET

14.44 | 0 komentar | Read More

Chipotle gives costumed customers $3 burritos

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The chain is giving $3 burritos, tacos, salads and bowls to anyone who comes to one of its stores wearing a costume this Halloween.

Related: Treat not trick for stock market with record close

Chipotle is also giving $2,500 to three customers it deems to have the best costumes on its #chipotlebooritocontest Twitter (TWTR, Tech30) and Instagram hashtags. The next five best costumes get free catering from Chipotle for 20 people apiece.

Related: 'Frozen' costumes are this year's most popular

This isn't the first year that Chipotle has had a Halloween costume deal. In the past the food was free for those who dressed up, but not even fun giveaways are immune from rising food prices. Instead, wrote a company spokesman in an email, the occasion has become a fundraiser.

Related: Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin is still a hit

The first $1 million the company raises is going to its Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, which focuses on developing sustainable farming practices. Anything after that goes to the company to offset the promotion's costs.

First Published: October 31, 2014: 4:56 PM ET

14.45 | 0 komentar | Read More

Americans pay more for slower Internet

South Koreans benefit from the world's most cost-effective high-speed Internet.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

That's one of the conclusions from a new report by the Open Technology Institute at the New America Foundation, which looked at the cost and speed of Internet access in two dozen cities around the world.

Clocking in at the top of the list was Seoul, South Korea, where Internet users can get ultra-fast connections of roughly 1000 megabits per second for just $30 a month. The same speeds can be found in Hong Kong and Tokyo for $37 and $39 per month, respectively.

Related: Has Verizon's new tech site banned controversial topics?

For comparison's sake, the average U.S. connection speed stood at 9.8 megabits per second as of late last year, according to Akamai Technologies.

Residents of New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. can get 500-megabit connections thanks to Verizon (VZ, Tech30), though they come at a cost of $300 a month.

There are a few cities in the U.S. where you can find 1000-megabit connections. Chattanooga, Tenn., and Lafayette, La. have community-owned fiber networks, and Google (GOOGL, Tech30) has deployed a fiber network in Kansas City. High-speed Internet users in Chattanooga and Kansas City pay $70, while in Lafayette, it's $110.

The problem with fiber networks is that they're hugely expensive to install and maintain, requiring operators to lay new wiring underground and link it to individual homes. Many smaller countries with higher population density have faster average speeds than the United States.

"[E]specially in the U.S., many of the improved plans are at the higher speed tiers, which generally are the most expensive plans available," the report says. "The lower speed packages---which are often more affordable for the average consumer---have not seen as much of an improvement."

Google is exploring plans to bring high-speed fiber networks to a handful of other cities, and AT&T (T, Tech30) has also built them out in a few places, but it will be a long time before 1000-megabit speeds are an option for most Americans.

Related: FCC calls timeout on Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger

First Published: October 31, 2014: 5:52 PM ET

14.45 | 0 komentar | Read More

NBC is developing a reality show with Virgin Galactic

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The network declined to comment. But according to Deadline, NBC is now "gathering information on the situation" regarding the reality series.

During a test flight, a "serious anomaly" caused Virgin's commercial space craft to explode over the Mojave Desert, killing one and seriously injuring another.

The show -- which was announced last year -- is an exclusive series between NBC, Virgin founder Richard Branson and reality TV super-producer Mark Burnett.

NBC described the show as an elimination competition in which normal people would compete with one another for "the ultimate prize" -- a flight into space on Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo.

The series would also have "unprecedented access" to Virgin Galactic's Spaceport America facilities in New Mexico, where contestants would train for their winning flight, according to a press release issued last year.

Related: Virgin Galactic spaceship explodes

Virgin Galactic's plan for the $500 million spaceship is to transport passengers 62 miles above Earth where the planet meets the onset of space.

The flight reportedly would cost guests upward of $250,000 and celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and Stephen Hawking have signed up for tickets.

For Burnett -- the producer behind reality hits like "Survivor" -- "Space Race" is another attempt to accomplish his dream of using a TV show to send everyday people into space.

"I am thrilled to be part of a series that will give the everyday person a chance to see space," Burnett said last year. "NBC has come on board ... so that viewers at home will have a first class seat."

First Published: October 31, 2014: 6:40 PM ET

14.45 | 0 komentar | Read More

Regulator calls out student loan industry

Graduates cheer during the Bowie State University graduation ceremony in May 2013.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The report, which doesn't name any individual companies that collect on the $1.2 trillion in student debt, was compiled between March and June of this year.

Related: Do any of these practices sound familiar? Tell us about it.

The agency found these companies would charge borrowers late fees on all their loans when payments for one fell short -- even if the rest were paid in full.

The CFPB spotted lots of other little tricks: minimum payments were overstated and late fees got charged to some borrowers even if they made payments within a grace period. Or servicers might fail to provide necessary information borrowers needed to deduct student loan payments from their taxes.

Related: These nine people are drowning in student debt

In more serious cases, some borrowers who fell behind on payments were told they couldn't dismiss their student loans in bankruptcy even though there's a slim possibility in cases of "undue hardship".

Some debt collectors called borrowers at inappropriately early or late times. The CFPB identified 5,000 such calls during its 45-day examination period. One borrower reported got 48 of them.

Related: Abolish my debt too, Occupy Wall Street!

The agency, born of the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill, said in a statement that firms with questionable practices are contacted for corrective measures. In particularly severe cases, it opens investigations.

First Published: October 29, 2014: 7:46 PM ET

14.45 | 0 komentar | Read More