HOUSE OF THE DAY: For Just $12 Million, Own One Of The Most Beautiful Homes In New Zealand

$11.79 million new zealand home

An absolutely gorgeous home in New Zealand is on the market for $11.75 million. 

In the Queenstown area sits a five-bedroom, four-bathroom home that spans 7,530 feet.

The home sits above Lake Hayes, has views of Wakatipu Basin, a pool, and a waterfall on his property.

Welcome to Wilding Road.

The home's architecture is quirky, yet stunning.

No view is spared in the home.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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Here Are All The Most Important New Features Coming To Windows Phone 8 This Year (MSFT)

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Microsoft announced its new mobile operating system, Windows Phone 8, to a group of developers Monday.

While the company's announcement was developer-centric, we still have a good idea of some of the consumer-facing features Windows Phone 8 devices will have when they launch later this year. 

We collected the most important new stuff for you here.

Windows Phone 8 will run on the same core as Windows 8 for tablets and PCs

What does that mean in English? 

Windows Phone 8 software will be very similar to Windows 8. That means developers will easily be able to bring apps from Windows 8 to Windows Phone 8 and vice versa. It'll be very similar to the experience of getting the same app on your iPhone and iPad.

Windows Phone 8 will support more powerful hardware

Windows Phones have been criticized for running hardware that's relatively weak compared to other top-of-the-line phones. 

Windows Phone 8 will fix that, adding support for phones with powerful dual-core chips. It won't be long before you see Windows Phones matching Android phones and the iPhone on hardware specs.

Windows Phone 8 will also support removable storage with Micro SD cards.

Support for high-resolution screens

Windows Phone 8 will support crisp displays capable of showing 720p HD video. Get ready for Windows Phones with brilliant displays like you see on Android phones and the iPhone.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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Why Are These Insiders Buying?

Ali is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinions of our bloggers and are not formally edited.

In these unnerving times (for that matter all the time), finding ways to outperform the market is much easier said than done. However, one screening tool that has proven to be effective in determining whether a stock is moving higher is insider buying due to one simple reason: they buy stocks, just like us, to make more money. In addition, they arguably have the best view of the company being a part of the day-to-day operations and/or have a large investment of their own which they like to see increase in value. Below are a couple stocks with strong insider buying.

Mattress and home furnishing maker Tempur Pedic

has some great products to help people get a better night?s sleep, which investors unfortunately need as the stock  has lost a heart-wrenching 75% in the past two months.  Undeterred though, Chairman Andrews McLane bought an impressive 112,000 shares equating to approximately $2.8 million worth of stock.  This is even more noteworthy as it marks the biggest purchase by an insider since 2004, indicating that the big drop in TPX has created some value at least in the eyes of this insider. I think TPX is worth keeping on the radar as the company has been badly beaten and still has a great product that many people use. While I?d like for it to pay a dividend, it?s worth noting that it trades at a relatively cheap .65x price-to-expected growth rate and 7x trailing and forward price-to-earnings.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store is a major restaurant operator with over 600 company-owned locations in 42 states. The company had some sizeable insider buying from June 7-11 by major shareholder Sardar Biglari?s investment vehicle, Biglari Holdings (NYSE: BH)

, accumulating collectively 46,800 shares equating to just under $2.8 million worth of stock. This is a strong vote of confidence by Biglari, however, recently CBRL management just initiated a poison pill to prevent any shareholders from accumulating more than a 20% stake, so at least for the moment, shareholders should put less of a chance towards a take-over premium. However, the company still has a very nice 2.7% dividend yield, impressive returns on equity nearing 29% the past twelve months, and an outstanding activist investor clearly seeing value in the shares. I think CBRL is worth a look or investors can indirectly benefit by putting money into BH.

As always, respectful comments and questions are welcome below on the message board.

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REVIEWED: Samsung's New Flagship Android Phone, The Galaxy S III (GOOG)

samsung galaxy s iii in bushes

Overall, I think Samsung makes the best Android phones. 

That's part of the reason why it sells more than anyone else. 

It's also why when Samsung launches its new flagship "Galaxy" phone every year, it's a very big deal. 

This year, we have the Galaxy S III, the third-generation of Samsung's popular Android line. Like its predecessors, the Galaxy S III sets the standard for what an Android phone can and should do. Everyone else seems to be playing catch up.

The Galaxy S III launches this month on all four carriers. I've been testing one for a few days now, and I really, really like it. Keep reading for the full review.

You can also click here for photos, specs, and more on the Galaxy S III >

Design

After years of releasing one blocky Android clone after another, it's refreshing to see Samsung pay more attention to design this time around. 

The Galaxy S III's design is dominated by its 4.8-inch display. That may sound too big compared to the iPhone's 3.5-inch screen, but Samsung was able to keep the phone's bezel super thin so its body is still a reasonable, pocketable size.

It feels like the screen is floating in your hand when you're holding the Galaxy S III. And like all Samsung displays, the photos, text, video, and graphics look super crisp and bright. It's tough going back to a phone with a tiny screen after using the Galaxy S III. It's that good.

Other than that, the overall design is sleek and smooth. You won't find a straight edge on the Galaxy S III, which makes it a delight to hold.

And best of all, Samsung finally broke with tradition and released the Galaxy S III with the same design on all carriers. (In past Galaxy phone releases, each carrier sold a variation of the base model with different screen sizes and other hardware.) 

samsung galaxy s iii customized home screen

Now for the downside: I'm disappointed that Samsung still covers its high-end phones in plastic. You can tell the phone's designers tried to mask the cheap materials by giving the phone a glossy finish, but as soon as you grip the Galaxy S III you know it's not built with the same quality and care as the iPhone or even the BlackBerry Bold.

Using It

The Galaxy S III is Samsung's first smartphone to launch with the latest version of Android, "Ice Cream Sandwich," out of the box. That makes it the only Samsung phone you can buy right now with the best features Google's mobile operating has to offer. 

But Samsung made some additions of its own to Android. The Galaxy S III has a bunch of special Samsung-only services, but I'm going to go over the most important ones.

First up is S-Voice, a voice-controlled assistant that is a blatant ripoff of Apple's Siri on the iPhone 4S. Except it's worse than Siri. And that's saying a lot, since I already think Siri is pretty bad.

With a double tap of the Galaxy S III's home button, the S-Voice app launches. The interface is nearly identical to Siri's. You can ask it for the weather, to send a text, find nearby restaurants, launch apps, and a bunch of other tasks. These actions appear in little speech bubbles, and you can handle most actions without opening another app. (For some reason, S-Voice doesn't let you compose emails.) More detailed questions will either pull up a Wolfram Alpha search or direct you to a Google.

Like Siri, S-Voice only works if you're connected to the web. But I still ran into a few problems where S-Voice couldn't contact Samsung's servers to complete my requests. If Samsung's servers are down, you're out of luck, no matter how strong your connection is.

S-Voice isn't as smart as Siri either. Whereas Siri can usually understand context and make a good guess at the answer you're looking for, S-Voice needs you to be very clear and tell it exactly what you want. I did several side-by-side tests asking Siri and S-Voice to perform the same tasks or answer the same questions. Overall, Siri understood me better and got stuff done more quickly than S-Voice. But neither app is a perfect solution. At the end of the day, you're still better off being your own assistant.

samsung galaxy s iii lock screen

Next, Samsung added a bunch of nifty content-sharing options to the Galaxy S III. The phone has a near field communications (NFC) chip that lets it talk to other nearby phones. Samsung uses this technology to power something called S Share. S Share lets you tap your phone against another so you can swap videos, photos, music files, and just about anything else over Wi-Fi. Transfers are incredibly fast, and I was able to swap a minute-long video to another Galaxy S III in just a few seconds.

There are other sharing options too. For example, you can pair your Galaxy S III with several others and opt to share photos taken with your camera. If a friend snaps a photo on his Galaxy S III, it'll beam to everyone else's he paired with over Wi-Fi. The drawback is that this process can take awhile depending on the photo size and the number of people sharing at once. It also only works on the Galaxy S III, but Samsung says the feature will appear in future smartphones and tablets.

Speaking of the camera, it's packed with a ton of cool features too. Unlike the iPhone, you won't have to pay for a separate app to take better photos. The built-in camera app has everything you need. One of my favorite features is called Burst Shot, which lets you hold down the shutter button and take several photos in rapid succession. The phone then automatically selects the best photo of the bunch. (You can also manually select your favorite photo if you want.) 

Photo quality is pretty good too:

samsung galaxy s iii camera test flowers

Performance

The Galaxy S III will be available on all four major carriers (plus U.S. Cellular), but each network has its own quirks. I tested the AT&T model, which runs on the carrier's 4G LTE network, the fastest wireless standard available. The Verizon model also has LTE. Sprint's model will have LTE, but the carrier's network isn't live yet. Finally, T-Mobile's 4G network is plenty fast, and even rivals LTE speeds in certain cities.

Bottom line: Although speeds can vary wildly, just know that the Galaxy S III will give you fastest connection possible in your area and on your carrier. You'll be happy.

samsung galaxy s iii hbo go app

Battery life, at least on the AT&T model, was atrocious. I barely made it through a day of normal use. One day, I didn't have much time to look at my Galaxy S III, so it was in standby almost the entire time I was at work. When I checked it before going home, I was already at 50% battery life. I was down to 30% by 9 p.m. The back of the phone also gets super warm, even if you're just checking your email or browsing the web. 

It appears that giant, power-hungry screen and super fast LTE come at a price. Not good.

But overall, the Galaxy S III has the hardware to back up its impressive software features. It's powered by a dual-core processor, which is a bit slower than the special quad-core processor the international version of the phone has. But it does the job. The GSIII never choked on me, even when I was streaming HD video or playing games.

Should You Buy It?

I hate saying this every time I test a new Android phone, but the Galaxy S III really is the best one you can buy today. (The HTC One X is still a very close second. It's going to be a tough decision if you're an AT&T customer.)

Prices vary a bit from carrier to carrier, but just about everyone is selling the Galaxy S III at a $200 starting price with a two-year contract. It goes on sale starting this week, but the launch date varies on each carrier. You'll have to check with your provider for more details.

Here's the box. The Galaxy S III comes in white or blue. I got to test both.

Unboxed! Let's take a closer look...

The phone is huge. But as you can see, most of it is screen. Nice.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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How To Get The Best Airline Elite Status Perks Without Spending Your Life On Planes

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I’ve had elite status for so long, that it’s sometimes hard to remember what life was like before being showered with endless perks.

While pre-elite life is a distant memory, I do recall it being a lot less enjoyable. While some airlines are scaling back on elite benefits, like United recently did with stripping lower-level elites of some valuable perks, it’s still undeniable that having elite status can be a lifesaver on multiple fronts.

While it was hard to keep this list to 10, here are my picks on the best airline elite status perks.

1. Free checked bags. Even if you pack light, there will come a time when you need to check a bag – especially if you have children in tow and your travel burden increases exponentially. Most airlines these days charge around $25 for the first bag and $35 for the second.

Workaround without elite status: Fly Southwest which still provides two free checked bags per passenger or get an airline co-branded credit card like the Gold Delta American Express which entitles cardholders to the first checked bag free.

2. Priority Boarding. Most airlines board in zones these days, with the first being first class and second being elite status members. Even though these pre-boarding zones are swelling these days due to airlines selling advanced boarding, it still beats being the last on the plane and inevitably having to gate-check your bag, which could easily mean missing your connection.
Workaround without elite status: Get a co-branded credit card, like the United Explorer card or simply purchase it.

3. Complimentary upgrades. Delta, United and US Airways give complimentary domestic upgrades to first class to all elites and American allows their Gold and Platinum members to earn upgrades for every 10,000 miles flown. Upgrades automatically process starting at a week ahead of a flight for top-tier elites and continue to be processed up until departure. While domestic first class isn’t as nice as the international experience, it sure beats coach.
Workaround without elite status: Fly with an elite friend and get listed for a companion upgrade (though this will generally drag down your friend in the upgrade queue) or simply use miles to upgrade. United even gives preference to those using miles vs. their own elites.

4. Systemwide Upgrades. International upgrades to business and first class are among the hardest to score since most airlines don’t give them out for free. However, if you reach top-tier status with the major North American airlines, you will get systemwide upgrades. But note not all are made the same. Here’s my ranking:
American AirlinesExecutive Platinum (100,000 elite miles) members get 8 one-way systemwide upgrades, eligible on any paid coach or business class fare and are transferable (so you can sponsor someone else, even if you aren’t flying with them).
United:  Premier 1K (100,000 elite miles) members earn 6 one-way systemwide upgrades at hitting 100,000 EQMs, and then 2 more for each additional 50,000 elite miles earned. These are not eligible on the cheapest coach fares- Z, P, S, T, K, L, G and N fare classes are excluded, but these are transferable to others and eligible on Copa flights as well.
US Airways: Chairman’s Preferred (100,000 elite miles) members get 2 one-way systemwide upgrades, eligible on any paid coach fare class, but they are not transferable, though you can sponsor a companion on the same reservation as you.
Air Canada: Has a convoluted system of ecredit upgrades as optional select privileges for their top-tier members. Elites (35,000 elite miles) and Super Elites (100,000 elite miles) can choose upgrades that are eligible on international flights and the amount you need to use is based on the fare class and destination. A Super Elite can choose 60 ecredits, which would be enough for 4 one-way upgrades to business class from North America to Europe.
Delta: Upon achieving Platinum (75,000 elite miles) members can choose 4 systemwide upgrades, which are only applicable on flexible Y,B,M international fares and Y,B,M,H,Q,K on domestic/Hawaii/Caribbean itineraries. Upon achieving Diamond Medallion (125,000 elite miles),  6 more certificates can be selected. Perhaps the best redemption is on Air France flights purchased in Premium Economy (S,W fares) and upgraded to business class. These are not transferable, though you can sponsor a companion on the same reservation.
Workaround without elite status: Have a top-tier elite friend sponsor you or use miles to upgrade, though get ready to shell out cash since most airlines require hefty co-pays for international upgrades these days.

5. Better customer service/dedicated phone lines. When all hell breaks loose (think severe weather or storms), airlines get inundated and hold times can be obscene. However, the airlines generally prioritize elite members over the general public, so your status can get you to the front of the line when it matters most and get you home, while others are left stranded.
Workaround without elite status: Get lounge access so you can at least use one of the experienced lounge attendants instead of waiting in a mile-long line at a ticketing counter (see: Top 10 List on Ways to Get Lounge Access).

6. Discounted/free lounge access. Elite status members get discounted prices on airline lounge access. Delta discounts SkyClub access 11-33% for elites and even gives it to Diamond Medallions (125,000 elite miles) complimentary as part of their status benefits.
Workaround without elite status: Several credit cards give lounge access, including the American Express PlatinumDelta Reserve and United Club cards. Amex Platinum cardholders can also use the $200 airline fee rebate to purchase lounge access.

7. Mileage earning bonuses. Airlines award elite members with mileage bonuses for every mile they fly, and the bonuses can really increase the amount of miles you rack up. (Note: these bonuses do not count toward elite status qualification – only as redeemable award miles). In my opinion Delta and American are the most generous, giving their 50,000 elite mile flyers a 100% bonus on every mile flown, so a JFK- Los Angeles roundtrip would net an additional 4,950 bonus miles.

Airline: Elite mile level/ mileage bonus %
Air Canada: 25,000/ 25%, 35,000/ 50%, 100,000/ 100%
American: 25,000/ 25%, 50,000/ 100%, 100,000/ 100%
Delta: 25,000/25%, 50,000/ 100%, 75,000/100%, 125,000/ 125%
United: 25,000/25%, 50,000/ 50%, 75,000/75%, 100,000/ 100%
US Airways: 25,000/25%, 50,000/ 50%, 75,000/75%, 100,000/ 100%
Workaround without elite status: Airlines these days will let you buy extra miles when you fly, but they are not generally a good deal, so I don’t recommend purchasing them.

8. Access to preferred seating ahead of time. There’s nothing worse than getting a dreaded middle seat in the back of the plane – it takes you longer to deplane (so you possibly miss a tight connection) and most standard economy seats these days are cramped – especially if you are a tall traveler. Airlines allow most elites to pre-select the best seats on the plane, including coveted exit rows and bulkheads. Note: United recently took away the ability for Premier Silvers to select premium seats in advance – now they can only select at check-in.
Workaround without elite status: Purchase premium seats in advance. Delta and United both offer premium economy products that can be purchased in advance. Other airlines open up premium seats at the 24-hour check-in mark, so if you are in a sub-par seat, keep checking starting at a week before your flight since premium coach seats become available once elite members begin getting upgraded to first class.

Elites often have advanced access to select seating such as United’s Economy Plus.

9. Waived award fees. Creating the perfect award itinerary can be a difficult task, but it gets easier if you have the flexibility to change your award as better options become available closer to departure (as they almost inevitably do). However, most airlines will ding you with a change fee to adjust the dates of your award. Except, of course, if you are top-tier elite.
Workaround without elite status: If your itinerary gets changed by the airline and your flight time is shifted, you may be able to redeposit your mileage or change the award for free. Also, if you have a friend with top-tier status, you can transfer your Amex or Chase points into their account so in case you need to make changes, they will be free. Note: If you need to cancel the award, the miles will stay in their account, so only do this with someone you trust.

10. Free same-day changes. There’s nothing more annoying than getting done with a meeting early, but then having to wait at the airport for 4 hours until your flight. I’d honestly give up a first class upgrade (on certain routes) to get home early, especially after an exhausting trip. Luckily, airlines will prioritize elites for standby and some even allow same day confirmed changes for free. See: How to Use Same Day Flight Changes to Your Advantage.
Workaround without elite status: Be nice to check-in and gate agents. I’ve had gate agents bend the rules for me plenty of times just because I’ve been friendly and succinct with what I need. They are humans too and they deal with a lot of entitled people, so when you are understanding and nice you can often get your way. Gate agents are generally focused on getting flights out on time and not generating revenue, so they may put you on that earlier flight just to get you out of their hair and give them room on the next flight (which might be oversold).

DON'T MISS: 13 health gimmicks you'd be a fool to waste your money on >

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