CES show to see changing of guard in tech sector

WASHINGTON: The inexorable push for mobility in gadgets has reshaped the electronics industry, a shift that reflects a changing of the guard at the world's biggest consumer technology show.

Gone from the 2013 International CES, to be held January 8-11 in Las Vegas, are giants such as Microsoft, and longtime tech stalwarts such as Intel and Hewlett-Packard are taking a back seat to firms focused on more portable, or even wearable, devices.

There will of course be big, dazzling displays of televisions that are smarter and bolder. However, a key focus is likely to be on devices that are mobile but can remain connected via the Internet cloud, from tablets to wrist watches, to Wi-Fi ski goggles.

"There is a changing of the guard," said Danielle Levitas, a consumer tech analyst at the research firm IDC.

"The shift we've seen over the past years has been on the mobile aspects of technology versus home entertainment. This continues to accelerate."

Emblematic of the shift is the choice of the main keynote speaker -- Qualcomm chief executive Paul Jacobs.

"Most people have never heard of Qualcomm. People might know they have a stadium with that name somewhere," said Roger Kay, a technology analyst and consultant with Endpoint Technologies.

Semiconductor firm Qualcomm quietly overtook Intel in market value in 2012, a sign of the growing importance of mobile chips that reduce battery drag and are popular on smartphones and tablets, mostly using ARM technology licensed by British-based ARM Holdings.

"Qualcomm is the opposite of Intel," said Kay, who points out Qualcomm's reluctance to follow its rival's strategy of branding devices with "Intel Inside."

"It has been shy of the limelight and wants its partners to get all that credit. They are a reluctant hero. So important, and yet so unknown."

With mobile devices gaining ground, "folks are interested in the services that are attached to consumer electronics at the show," said Kevin Spain of Emergence Capital Partners, among the venture capital firms attending.

Spain said delivery of video over mobile devices is just starting, opening up possibilities for new ventures.

"Everything that is cloud is obviously white-hot in the venture community," Spain said.

"People are interested in sharing content across a variety of devices and the cloud plays an integral role in that. Consumers expect to have a variety of content be available on demand: video, music, anytime, anywhere."

Another focus at CES will be improving batteries and charging for all those mobile devices, according to Stu Lipoff, fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

"One of the major limitations of portable devices is they are getting smaller and asked to do more, so people are finding innovative and creative ways of charging," he said.

CES will feature a range of power pads on which a device can be placed for charging, Lipoff said, but other firms are eyeing technologies "where you can put a transmitter in the room and it will charge the device" from several feet away.

James McQuivey at Forrester Research said CES has evolved from a show in which manufacturers would sell their wares to a branding event.

"It is shifting to a more abstract or long-term vision of technology," he said.

"It's about branding, demonstrating you are innovating for the future."

McQuivey said old guard firms like Hewlett-Packard and Dell, which have been struggling amid a move to mobile devices must demonstrate they are still part of the future.

"It's a challenge to get back in the innovation game," he said.

McQuivey said CES is different than in the past because the industry now revolves around a handful of big companies whose platforms are a key.

"Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Apple are creating platforms on which everyone is innovating," he said. "CES is living in the shadow of these large platforms."

The 2013 CES features a record 1.87 million square feet (170,000 square meters) of exhibit space, with some 3,000 exhibitors displaying gadgets for digital health, connected cars, smart home devices and a broad array of communications and entertainment gear. Attendance is expected to be in line with last year's record 156,000.

Eight automakers will exhibit at the 2013 CES, the largest number ever, showing off "infotainment" technology, crash avoidance and other "smart" vehicle technologies.

Tech giant Apple is not a participant but 440 exhibitors will showcase accessories for Apple devices in the "iLounge."

"With the largest show floor in history, more innovative technologies and services will launch at the 2013 CES than anywhere else in the world," said Gary Shapiro, president and chief executive of the Consumer Electronics Association, which hosts the show.

The CES will also showcase areas such as sustainable technologies, the $90 billion "Mommy Tech" market for functional products from house cleaning to wearable fashions, fitness and health, mobile wallets, advances in using the Internet "cloud," gaming hardware and software, high-tech toys and devices for education.

-AFP/ac

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New locks as Newtown students return

By David Ariosto, CNN

updated 5:25 PM EST, Thu January 3, 2013

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Gov. Dannel Malloy forms commission to examine state's guns laws, mental health policies


• Panel has March deadline for report expected to be addressed in legislative session


• Sandy Hook students resume classes for first time since December 14 shooting

(CNN) -- As Sandy Hook Elementary School students returned to class Thursday for the first time since last month's massacre, Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy set a two-month deadline for a commission to address the state's gun laws, mental health policies and public security issues.

"We don't know the underlying cause of this tragedy, and we probably never will," said Malloy, who added that that is "no reason for inaction."

Malloy appointed Hamden, Connecticut, Mayor Scott Jackson to lead a special advisory commission and set a March 15 deadline for an initial report that is expected to be addressed during the next legislative session.

"We can work together to make our state a model for the rest of the nation," said Malloy, who also called on Congress to enact stricter national gun control laws.

The move comes just weeks after a gunman killed 26 people at the Newtown elementary school, including 20 children, ages 6 and 7.

The shooter, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, also killed his mother before breaking into the school with an AR-15 assault rifle.

On Thursday, Sandy Hook parents accompanied their children to an emotional first day back in school.

"There was a little bit of anxiety, but everybody was happy to be back in the swing of things," said Sarah Swansiger, the mother of a kindergarten student.

Students from Sandy Hook attended Chalk Hill Middle School in the nearby town of Monroe because the Sandy Hook building remains part of an active investigation.

Newtown Public Schools Superintendent Janet Robinson has said that part of the Chalk Hill building had been transformed to resemble an elementary school and that security had also been increased, incorporating an upgraded system of new cameras and locks.

"(We want) to have as much (of) a normal routine as possible," said Robinson. "(Thursday) is a regular schedule, and we will do the kinds of things that we know are good for kids."

Counselors were also on hand to help parents, students, teachers and administrators in coping with the emotional toll of returning to class.

Swansiger said that while there were "some emotional moments in the beginning of the day ... you couldn't walk around the corner without someone asking if you were OK."

More: Lawsuit petition withdrawn

More: Map of gun permit holders causes outcry

More: FBI background checks set record

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Venezuela's Chavez fighting severe lung infection

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez speaks during Brazilian Foreign Minister's official visit at Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, on Nov.1, 2012. / LEO RAMIREZ/AFP/Getty Images

Updated 10:35 PM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela Venezuela's government says President Hugo Chavez is being treated for "respiratory deficiency" after complications from a severe lung infection.

Information Minister Ernesto Villegas provided the update on Chavez's condition Thursday night. He read from a statement saying that Chavez's lung infection had led to "respiratory deficiency" and required strict compliance with his medical treatment.

The government expressed confidence in Chavez's medical team and condemned what it called a "psychological war" in international media surrounding the president's condition.

Chavez hasn't been seen or heard from since his Dec. 11 operation in Cuba. Venezuela's opposition has demanded more specific information from the government about his health.

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Ex-USC Player: Painkiller Injections Caused Heart Attack

Despite stated label risks of possible fatal heart attack, stroke or organ failure, college football players across the country are still being given injections of a powerful painkiller on game days so they can play while injured, an ABC News investigation has found.

The drug, a generic version of Toradol, is recommended for the short-term treatment of post-operative pain in hospitals but has increasingly been used in college and professional sports, and its use is not monitored by the NCAA, the governing body of college sports.

Only two of the country's top football programs, Oklahoma and the University of Nebraska, reported to ABC News that they have limited or stopped the use of the drug in the wake of growing concern about its risks.

Which Top-Ranked College Football Teams Use Toradol?

Oklahoma said it stopped using the painkillers in 2012 after using them repeatedly in 2010 and 2011.

Nebraska said its doctors now restrict its use.

SEND TIPS About Painkiller Use in College Sports to Our Tipline

"While team physicians reserve the option to use injectable Toradol, it is rarely prescribed, and its use has been avoided this season following reports of heightened concern of potential adverse effects," Nebraska said in a statement to ABC News.

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

Despite Risks, College Football Still Uses Powerful Painkiller Watch Video

The top two college football programs, Notre Dame and Alabama, refused to answer questions from ABC News about the painkiller. They play for the national college championship on Jan. 7.

Controversy surrounding the drug has grown this year following claims by former USC lineman Armond Armstead that he suffered a heart attack after the 2010 season, at age 20, following shots of generic Toradol administered over the course of the season by the team doctor and USC personnel.

"I thought, you know, can't be me, you know? This doesn't happen to kids like me," Armstead told ABC News.

The manufacturers' warning label for generic Toradol (ketorolac tromethamine) says the drug is not intended for prolonged periods or for chronic pain and cites gastrointestinal bleeding and kidney failure as possible side effects of the drug.

In addition, like other drugs in its class, the generic Toradol label warns "may cause an increased risk of serious cardiovascular thrombotic events, myocardial infarction (heart attack), and stroke, which can be fatal."

"This risk may increase with duration of use," the so-called black box warning reads.

In a lawsuit against the school and the doctor, Dr. James Tibone, Armstead claims the school ignored the stated risks of the drug and never told him about them.

"He was a race horse, a prize race horse that needed to be on that field no matter what," said Armstead's mother Christa. "Whether that was a risk to him or not."

Armstead says he and many other USC players would receive injections of what was known only as "the shot" in a specific training room before big games and again at half-time.

"No discussion, just go in. He would give the shot and I would be on my way," Armstead told ABC News.

Armstead said the shot made him feel "super human" despite severe ankle, and later shoulder pain, and that without it, he never could have played in big USC games against Notre Dame and UCLA.

"You can't feel any pain, you just feel amazing," the former star player said.

USC declined to comment on Armstead's claims, or the use of Toradol to treat Trojan players.

An ABC News crew and reporter were ordered off the practice field when they tried to question USC coach Lane Kiffin about the use of the painkiller. USC says the ABC News crew was told to leave because they had not submitted the appropriate paperwork in advance to attend the practice session.

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Humble coin toss thrust to heart of multiverse debate

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Delhi gang-rape suspects to be charged in court

NEW DELHI: Five men accused of gang-raping a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in New Delhi in a deadly crime that repulsed the nation are to be formally charged in court on Thursday.

Police will lay out evidence against them of rape, kidnapping and murder after the woman died at the weekend from the horrific injuries inflicted on her during an ordeal that has galvanised disgust over rising sex crimes in India.

The men, mostly residents of New Delhi slums, will face the death penalty if convicted, India's Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde has said, amid public clamour for their execution.

"It is compulsory for all the accused to present themselves before the magistrate," explained Rana Dasgupta, a legal officer at the Saket district court complex where armed police maintained tight security on Thursday morning.

The magistrate, working from a small room with 30 chairs, "will admit the charge sheet presented by the police and then give a copy of the charge sheet to all the accused," Dasgupta added.

This document -- reportedly 1,000 pages long -- will detail the evidence collected, the most powerful of which is expected to be a statement from the victim after the attack and an account from her boyfriend who was with her at the time.

He was beaten during his attempts to save the medical student after the couple were lured onto the private bus by the reportedly drunk gang after watching a film at night.

A sixth suspect in the case who is believed to be a minor aged 17 will not be charged in the Saket court on Thursday, a Delhi police spokesman told AFP. Detectives are awaiting the results of a bone test to verify his age.

The trial of the suspects has been fast-tracked and Altamas Kabir, the chief justice of India, has cautioned against letting public anger overwhelm the due process of the law.

Lawyers at the district court in New Delhi have decided they will not defend the suspects, meaning that the government will have to appoint advocates for them.

"Let us not get carried away. A swift trial should not be at the cost of a fair trial," chief justice Kabir was quoted as saying in the local media on Thursday.

Protesters have massed in Indian cities daily since the December 16 assault demanding the government do more to combat crime against women, with tougher penalties for offenders and even chemical castration being considered.

The latest incident, though far from rare in a country where gang rapes are commonplace, has led to deep soul-searching in the media and the country's political class about the treatment of Indian women.

Analysis has focused on the deeply patriarchal Indian society, in which misogyny and sexism run deep and women are often second-class citizens, as well as the difficulty of rape victims in dealing with social stigma and the police.

On December 28, it emerged that a 17-year-old girl had committed suicide after police allegedly tried to persuade her to drop a complaint of gang-rape and instead either accept a cash settlement or even marry one of her attackers.

The government has set up three separate commissions to look into the incident and suggest changes in the law, with one minister suggesting new anti-rape legislation should be named after the victim.

This sparked a controversy as her name has not been disclosed in line with legal protections given to the victims of sex crime and their families, who face social stigma.

The brother of the victim, speaking from the family's home village in northern Uttar Pradesh state, said they would not object if the government wanted to name a new law after her.

"My father feels if they want to name the new law after her, they can go ahead, it will be like a tribute in her memory," he told the Indian Express newspaper.

The brother also pleaded that the family should be left alone to grieve their loss.

"The public anger is justified but my sister's story should not be made into a spectacle," he said.

A recent poll found India to be the worst in the G20 group of nations for women because of child marriage, abuse and female foeticide, which has led to a badly skewed sex ratio in the country of 1.2 billion people.

-AFP/ac

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Fiscal cliff averted, but fights loom

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Boehner undid "everything he promised he would do" in 2010, GOP lawmaker says


• Obama calls for "a little less brinksmanship" next time


• Tuesday night's vote prevents tax increases for more than 98% of Americans


• It also staves off $110 billion in automatic cuts to domestic and military spending

(CNN) -- President Barack Obama has signed into law a bill to avert the fiscal cliff, a day after the House and Senate approved the much-debated legislation.

Obama, who returned to his family vacation in Hawaii after Tuesday's House vote, signed the bill via autopen on Wednesday.

But new battles over taxes and spending await Washington in the next few weeks.

Congress averted that self-built precipice late Tuesday when the House voted to stave off widespread tax increases and deep spending cuts by accepting a brokered Senate compromise. It makes permanent the Bush administration's tax cuts for individuals earning less than $400,000 per year and couples earning less than $450,000.

It raises rates on those who make more than that from 35% to 39.6%, bringing back a top tax bracket from the Clinton administration, and will raise roughly $600 billion in new revenues over 10 years, according to various estimates.

The bill also extends unemployment insurance and delays for two months the threat of sequestration -- a series of automatic, across-the-board cuts in federal spending.

Economists had predicted the combination of those tax increases and spending cuts could have thrown the U.S. economy back into recession and driven unemployment back into the 9% range.

Meanwhile, a new Congress takes office on Thursday, and lawmakers will soon be confronted by the need to raise the federal debt ceiling and what to do about the still-hanging sequester -- a legacy of the last battle over the debt ceiling, in 2011.

Read more: Five things about the fiscal cliff

Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, said the legislation was sent to the White House on Wednesday. Obama said he would sign the bill into law, but he did not say when -- and after the vote, he flew to Hawaii to rejoin his wife and daughters on their winter vacation.

There's no urgency on the president's signature in practical terms. It's up to the Obama administration to implement the budget and tax changes, and since the president has said he will sign the measure, the administration can begin planning for the changes immediately.

"The sum total of all the budget agreements we've reached so far proves that there is a path forward that is possible, if we focus not on our politics but on what's right for the country," Obama told reporters late Tuesday. "And the one thing that I think, hopefully, in the new year, we'll focus on is seeing if we can put a package like this together with a little bit less drama, a little less brinksmanship, not scare the heck out of folks quite as much."

The Bush tax cuts expired at midnight Monday, while sequestration had been scheduled to start when federal offices reopened Wednesday.

World markets rose after the late-night vote. U.S. stocks jumped, too, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising nearly 2% by mid-afternoon.

Rum, electric vehicles and motor sports: Nuggets in the fiscal cliff bill

Tuesday night's 257-167 vote saw Boehner, R-Ohio, and about a third of the GOP majority lining up with Democrats against most of their own caucus, including Majority Leader Eric Cantor and party whip Kevin McCarthy. Rep. Nan Hayworth, an outgoing Republican representative from New York, said she was a "reluctant yes."

"This is the best we can do, given the Senate and the White House sentiment at this point in time, and it is at least a partial victory for the American people," Hayworth said. "I'll take that at this point."

The Senate plan was brokered by Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, and it passed that Democratic-led chamber 89-8. But many House Republicans complained the bill did too little to cut spending while raising taxes for them to support it.

Boehner's White House F-bomb

Conservative lobbyist Grover Norquist, whose Americans for Tax Reform pushes candidates to sign a pledge never to raise taxes, said the plan preserves most of the Bush tax cuts and won't violate his group's beliefs.

"The Bush tax cuts lapsed at midnight last night," Norquist tweeted Tuesday. "Every (Republican) voting for Senate bill is cutting taxes and keeping his/her pledge."

But Rep. Jeff Landry, R-Louisiana, told CNN's "Early Start" that Obama convinced Boehner "to undo everything he promised he would do" after the 2010 elections that gave the GOP control of the House.

"They did a debt ceiling deal, gave the president $2.1 trillion," Landry said. "They turned that deal off for two months. That's going to be another fight on top of the sequestration, a debt ceiling fight."

iReport: What's your message for Washington?

Other Republicans warned that as they did in 2011, they'll be demanding additional cuts before they agree to raise the federal cap on borrowing.

"The president has maxed out his credit card, and he is not going to get an unlimited credit card," Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, told CNN. "We're going to talk specifically about cuts and specifically focused on tax reform as well as helping to save and strengthen Medicare and Social Security. And that's the next discussion we're going to have in Washington."

The federal government bumped up against its $16.4 trillion debt ceiling on Monday and has about two months before it runs out of ways to shuffle money around to keep Washington within its legal borrowing limit. Obama had sought to resolve the issue as part of the fiscal cliff negotiations, but the issue never made it to a final bill.

Tuesday night, the president warned Congress that he will not tolerate another round of brinksmanship that could have "catastrophic" effects on the global economy.

"While I will negotiate over many things, I will not have another debate with this Congress over whether or not they should pay the bills that they've already racked up through the laws that they've passed," he said.

How they voted: House | Senate

The last debt-ceiling battle led to the sequester, a kind of fiscal doomsday device that Congress was supposed to disarm by agreeing to more than $1 trillion in other cuts over the next decade. They didn't, leaving federal agencies preparing to slash spending by $110 billion by the end of the 2013 budget year.

Before Tuesday night, the Defense Department had been preparing to issue furlough notices for its entire civilian work force of 800,000. Those notices were stayed on Wednesday -- but Pentagon officials say they're worried that unpaid leave may be harder to implement later in the fiscal year.

"We hope Congress can find a way to end sequester once and for all," Pentagon spokesman George Little said.

While the deal gives Obama bragging rights for raising income taxes on the wealthiest Americans -- the first rate increase for any Americans since 1993 -- it also leaves him breaking a promise.

Obama had vowed to raise tax rates for the top-earning 2% of Americans, including those with household income above $250,000 and individuals earning more than $200,000.

Raising the threshold for higher tax rates shrinks the number of Americans affected. While nearly 2% of filers have adjusted gross incomes over $250,000, only 0.6% have incomes above $500,000, according to the Tax Policy Center.

By comparison, Census Bureau figures put the median U.S. household income at just over $50,000.

And despite the last-minute fiscal cliff agreements, Americans are still likely to see their paychecks shrink somewhat because of a separate battle over payroll taxes.

The government temporarily lowered the payroll tax rate in 2011 from 6.2% to 4.2% to put more money in the pockets of Americans. That adjustment, which has cost about $120 billion each year, expired Monday.

Now, Americans earning $30,000 a year will take home $50 less per month. Those earning $113,700 will lose $189.50 a month.

Opinion: Cliff deal hollow victory for American people

The legislation also caps itemized deductions for individuals making $250,000 and for married couples making $300,000. Taxes on inherited estates over $5 million will go up to 40% from 35%, and that threshold will be indexed for inflation.

The alternative minimum tax, a perennial issue, will be permanently adjusted for inflation. Child care, tuition and research and development tax credits will be renewed. The "Doc Fix" -- reimbursements for doctors who take Medicare patients -- will continue, but it won't be paid for out of the Obama administration's signature health care law.

CNN's Dana Bash, Rich Barbieri, Charles Riley, Dana Ford, Holly Yan, Josh Levs, Jessica Yellin, Deirdre Walsh and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.

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Al Jazeera acquires Al Gore's Current TV

LOS ANGELES Al-Jazeera, the Pan-Arab news channel that struggled to win space on American cable television, has acquired Current TV, boosting its reach nearly ninefold to about 40 million homes. With a focus on U.S. news, it plans to rebrand the left-leaning news network that cofounder Al Gore couldn't make relevant.

The former vice president confirmed the sale Wednesday, saying in a statement that Al-Jazeera shares Current TV's mission "to give voice to those who are not typically heard; to speak truth to power; to provide independent and diverse points of view; and to tell the stories that no one else is telling."

The acquisition lifts Al-Jazeera's reach beyond a few large U.S. metropolitan areas including New York and Washington, where about 4.7 million homes can now watch Al-Jazeera English.

Al-Jazeera, owned by the government of Qatar, plans to gradually transform Current into a new channel called Al-Jazeera America by adding five to 10 new U.S. bureaus beyond the five it has now and hiring more journalists.

Al-Jazeera spokesman Stan Collender said there are no rules against foreign ownership of a cable channel — unlike the strict rules limiting foreign ownership of free-to-air TV stations. He said the move is based on demand, adding that 40 percent of viewing traffic on Al-Jazeera English's website is from the U.S.

"This is a pure business decision based on recognized demand," Collender said. "When people watch Al-Jazeera, they tend to like it a great deal."

Al-Jazeera has long struggled to get carriage in the U.S., and the deal suffered an immediate casualty as Time Warner Cable Inc., the nation's second-largest cable TV operator, announced it is dropping Current TV due to the deal.

"Our agreement with Current has been terminated and we will no longer be carrying the service. We are removing the service as quickly as possible," the company said in a statement.

Previous to Al-Jazeera's purchase, Current TV was in 60 million homes.

In 2010, the network's managing director, Tony Burman, blamed a "very aggressive hostility" from the Bush administration for reluctance among cable and satellite companies to show the network.

Even so, Al-Jazeera has garnered respect for its ability to build a serious news product in a short time. But there may be a culture clash at the network. Dave Marash, a former "Nightline" reporter who worked for Al-Jazeera in Washington, said he left the network in 2008 in part because he sensed an anti-American bias there.

Current, meanwhile, began as a groundbreaking effort to promote user-generated content. But it has settled into a more conventional format of political talk television with a liberal bent. Gore worked on-air as an analyst during its recent election night coverage.

Former New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Cenk Uygur are currently its lead personalities. Current signed Keith Olbermann to be its top host in 2011 but his tenure lasted less than a year before it ended in bad blood on both sides.

Current has largely been outflanked by MSNBC in its effort be a liberal alternative to the leading cable news network, Fox News Channel.

Current hired former CNN Washington bureau chief David Bohrman in 2011 to be its president. Bohrman has pushed the network to innovate technologically, with an election night coverage that emphasized social media conversation.

Current TV, founded in 2005 by former vice president Gore and Joel Hyatt, is expected to post $114 million in revenue in 2013, according to research firm SNL Kagan. The firm pegged the network's cash flow at nearly $24 million a year.

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Obama Signs 'Fiscal Cliff' Bill With Autopen

Jan 3, 2013 12:53am

Charles Dharapak/AP Photo

HONOLULU, Hawaii — President Obama has signed the “fiscal cliff” legislation into law via autopen from Hawaii, where he is vacationing with his family.

The bill to avert the “fiscal cliff” arrived at the White House late this afternoon and it was immediately processed, according to a senior White House official. A copy was delivered to the president in Hawaii for review. He then directed the bill to be signed by autopen back in Washington, D.C.

The Bush administration deemed in 2005 that the use of the autopen is constitutional, although President George W. Bush never used the mechanical device to replicate his signature on a bill.

The office of legal counsel found at the time that Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution allows the president to use the autopen to sign legislation, stating “the President need not personally perform the physical act of affixing his signature to a bill to sign it.”

Obama has used the autopen twice in the past to sign legislation, both times while he was overseas.

Use of the autopen has been controversial.  Conservative groups alleged last summer that Obama used an autopen to sign condolence letters to the families of Navy SEALs killed in a Chinook crash in Afghanistan — a charge the White House disputed flatly as false.

In 2004, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was criticized for using an autopen to sign condolence letters to the families of fallen troops.

And in 1992 then-Vice President Dan Quayle even got into some hot water over his use of the autopen on official correspondence during an appearance on “This Week with David Brinkley.”

Obama, who arrived back in Hawaii early Wednesday morning to continue his family vacation, spent the afternoon golfing with friends at the Marine Corps base at Kaneohe Bay.

Obama is slated to remain in Hawaii through Saturday.

ABC News’ Jonathan Karl contributed to this report

SHOWS: Good Morning America This Week World News

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In-depth 2012: The best long reads of the year

Read more: "2013 Smart Guide: 10 ideas that will shape the year"

Dig deeper, look closer and think harder – these are the goals of New Scientist's in-depth articles. Each one is perfect for saving in your favourite read-it-later app and curling up in front of a glowing tablet for a good long read.

These are our editors' picks of our best features of the year, and all are prime examples of the amazing breadth of big ideas that were ripe for the tackling in 2012. When you have finished digesting these readable meals, visit our in-depth articles archive if you're hungry for more.

Richard Webb: "You might not have heard of the algorithm that runs the world." I certainly hadn't, or that its mathematical foundations are starting to look a little wobbly. An eye-opening examination of how seemingly abstruse mathematics is in fact deeply embedded in modern life: "The algorithm that runs the world"

Sally Adee: Gastric bypass surgery is the best surgery you're not getting, said Dr Oz on his popular medical advice show in the US. Because of enthusiasm from people like him, this operation has become massively popular – but by whimsically hacking at our stomach, might we might be messing with a system far more complicated than anyone really understands? Samantha Murphy had the surgery and began to realise that losing 45 kilograms could come with some profound neurological trade-offs: "Change your stomach, change your brain"

Michael Le Page: Nowadays most people either haven't heard of the 1970 book The Limits to Growth, or believe – wrongly – that the research it was based on has been discredited. But the main message of Limits is perhaps more relevant than ever – that a delayed response to mounting environmental problems leads to catastrophe further down the line: "Boom and doom: Revisiting prophecies of collapse"

Richard Fisher: This is a simple story about a scientific mystery. Strange rumbles, whistles and blasts have been reported all over the world for centuries. In New York state, they are called "Seneca guns"; in the Italian Apennines they are described as brontidi, which means thunder-like; in Japan they are yan; and along the coast of Belgium they are called mistpouffers – or fog belches. Yet the cause is often unexplained – what on Earth could be behind them? "Mystery booms: The source of a worldwide sonic enigma"

Valerie Jamieson: It's been a sensational year for particle physics, but the Higgs boson isn't the only fascinating particle in town. Meet 11 more particles that change our understanding of the subatomic world: "11 particles for 11 physics puzzles"

David Robson: What is the secret of the legendary "flow state" that seems to mark out genius in everyone from piano virtuosos to tennis champions? With the latest brain stimulation techniques, it may soon be within everyone's reach, and Sally Adee writes with panache as she describes her own use of the technology during a terrifying marksmanship training session. This has everything I want to read in a story – drama, a revolutionary idea and some practical advice for anyone to try at home: "Zap your brain into the zone: Fast track to pure focus"

Graham Lawton: The writer of this article, Christopher Kemp, is a self-confessed lover of marginalia – nooks and crannies of science that are often overlooked. But as this beautifully written story reveals, those nooks and crannies often contain rich and fascinating material. Material, in fact, like ambergris: "Heaven scent: The grey gold from a sperm whale's gut"

Ben Crystall: Many people may remember the wonder material Starlite from an episode of BBC TV's Tomorrow's World – it seemed to have a miraculous ability to withstand fire and heat. So what happened to it? In this feature Richard Fisher uncovers the strange tale of Starlite and its eccentric inventor Maurice Ward, and on the way reveals fascinating details about Ward and his creation. And though Ward is dead, the story may not be over – it now looks like Starlite could get a second chance… "The power of cool: Whatever became of Starlite?"

Clare Wilson: I enjoyed working on this feature the most this year because to me it truly represents the future of medicine. New Scientist often predicts that some new medicine or technology will be available in five years' time. When it comes to using gene therapies or stem cell therapies on babies in the womb – the subject of this feature – the timeline is probably more uncertain, yet I don't see how anyone can doubt that some day it will happen: "Fetal healing: Curing congenital diseases in the womb"

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