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Apple's rumored plans to launch a TV service could be more than just a move to compete with cable companies, according to Piper Jaffray analysts Gene Munster and Douglas J. Clinton.

It could give Apple the foundation to finally launch the television set both analysts and the media have been talking about for years.

"We expect this offering to lay the groundwork for an actual Apple television, potentially announced in 2016," Munster and Clinton wrote in the firm's most recent note.

On Monday night, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple is working on its own television service that would "offer a slimmed down bundle of TV networks." It could include 25 channels and may cost between $30 and $40 per month, according to the report.

Apple currently offers apps such as Netflix and Hulu through its own set-top box, but it doesn't have a standalone app or service under its own branding. A service like this would be crucial to the development of an Apple TV, according to Piper Jaffray, since it would give Apple control over the content that works on its TV.

It's worth noting, however, that Apple has been rumored to be making its own television set for years — and there's no telling whether or not the firm's predictions will turn out to be accurate.  For the past three years, Munster has been insisting that Apple will launch its own TV the following year, and we have yet to see such a release.  

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NOW WATCH: Steve Jobs' biographer reveals the childhood moment that defined the Apple founder

Tesla is easily the most successful new car company to come along in decades. You have to go back to Henry Ford and his little enterprise, a century ago, to find anything comparable.

And Elon Musk's electric car maker is moving fast. In less than 10 years, Tesla has captivated both the technology and automotive worlds. Its market cap is $25 billion, and yet the company produces — so far — only one car at one factory.

At the end of 2014, a bunch of questions arose about whether Tesla's lofty stock price, up more than 1,000% from the 2010 IPO, is sustainable. Can the company grow into its valuation? Some on Wall Street think so. Some don't.

The bumps that the company endured last year were due largely to production challenges and a debate about whether seemingly ample demand for the Model S sedan was real. But those factors are a distraction from Tesla's actual problem.

The company is currently building the wrong car.

It's building the right car for the early adopter, love-the-company-love-the-mission crowd. Everyone in Silicon Valley wants a Model S.

But at the moment, the best segment to be in if you're an automaker is SUVs. Even better — luxury SUVs.

Consumers are feeling better about the economy, and gas prices are relatively low (compared to previous years). The US auto market is booming, and the car makers that are selling SUVs are printing profits.

But Tesla is selling a 4-door luxury sedan. 

Later this year, an SUV will come online, but Tesla isn't expected to sell a huge number of them (although demand, unsurprisingly, for the vehicle is reported to be robust). The Model X should be able to catch some of the SUV wave. But if the X follows the pattern of S, it could be a year or two before Tesla works out all the kinks. 

There haven't been very many flaws in Tesla's execution. The hot, hot, hot Roadster, Tesla's first car, proclaimed that electric cars didn't have to be glorified golf carts. It made sense to ramp up in the direction of luxury, high-performance sedans from Mercedes and BMW. Thus, the Model S.

But Mercedes and BMW have large portfolios of vehicles, including SUVs, so when the market swung back toward these vehicles, especially in the US, Mercedes and BMW (as well as Audi) had them to sell.

Tesla didn't.

I'll grant you that this is asking a bit much of a visionary automotive startup. It would have been difficult to ditch the Model S to focus on speeding up the Model X, particularly given that Tesla only introduced an all-wheel-drive system last year.

And besides, if you can sell 35,000 of a $100,000 car, you're doing something right. It's also not clear that Tesla would have higher demand for an SUV than a sedan. But the company is playing a bit of catchup on the SUV front. That's why it created an AWD version of the Model S — the "D"— and started delivering it last year. It had to plug its SUV gap, in regions such as the US Northeast.

That said, in Tesla's biggest market — the US — consumers have shown that they really, really like the versatility that SUVs provide. In fact, there could be a structural change afoot in the US: sedans could be relegated to niche status, as SUVs and so-called "crossovers"— SUVs with car-like features — of varying shapes and sizes become the driving population's favorites rides.

It won't be long before Tesla is selling an SUV. Let's just hope it isn't too late.

SEE ALSO: This tiny red switch reminds Ferrari owners that they're driving a car inspired by racing

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NOW WATCH: Watch this eagle with a camera take off from the top of the world's tallest building

The tool IBM developed with Twitter is officially open for business today, and IBM announced it's already being used by 100 companies who have been testing it.

IBM and Twitter announced their big partnership in October. They are writing enterprise apps that helps companies use tweets to help them better understand their customers, predict business trends, and uncover other useful insights.

While there are countless Twitter analytics and sentiment tools already out there (including one that IBM has sold for years), this partnership is a bit different.

Twitter data is now being added directly into IBM's big data analytics cloud like Watson Analytics. Plus, tweets have been added as a service to IBM's cloud that hosts apps (called BlueMix) so developers can write apps that use tweets or rely on an analysis of tweets.

IBM is also developing such apps itself and is hoping companies will hire it to write custom apps. In October, it promised to train 10,000 consultants to write tweet-related business apps, and as of Tuesday, had 4,000 of them ready to go, it says.

This new partnership with Twitter is crucial one for the company, along with its big partnership with Apple. Such deals are how IBM CEO Ginni Rometty is trying to turn IBM around and get back to growth.

Last months, she vowed to invest $4 billion into growth areas like cloud, social, mobile and analytics, and to grow these businesses from $25 billion in revenue last year (27% of of the company's revenue) to $40 billion in by 2018, or about promised 40% of revenue.

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NOW WATCH: 14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do

Passwords are terrible.

They're hard for people to remember and relatively easy for computerized programs to guess — which is why a lot of companies make you change them every 90 days and use a bunch of characters and symbols and capital letters and numbers, which makes them even harder to remember.

Because they're so hard to remember, people often write them down on pieces of paper or send them to themselves via email, making them even less secure.

But if Microsoft has its way, the days of entering a password to log into your computer, applications, or favorite web sites may soon come to an end.

Windows 10 will include a feature called Windows Hello, and Microsoft says it "introduces system-level support for biometric authentication." In plain English, that means that you'll be able to log into Windows using your fingerprint or by having the computer take a picture of your face or iris. 

Obviously, Microsoft isn't the first and only company trying to rid the world of passwords. Apple's iPhones have had the Touch ID fingerprint scanner since the iPhone 6. And PC makers like Lenovo have tinkered with face recognition instead of passwords for years too.

So, not surprisingly, to work with Windows 10, the PC will have to be equipped with a fingerprint scanner or special infrared sensors, both of which are pretty rare today. But assuming the hardware is there, Windows 10 will do the difficult software work. It can be used not only to log on to your PC, but can also identify you to applications and web sites — assuming that the creators of those apps and sites want to support Windows Hello.

Microsoft is also introducing a technology for businesses code-named Passport, which would allow employees to log on to company networks using a biometric sensor or a PIN (like you use on your phone). No password is ever stored on the PC or server, making it harder for hackers to get into networks.

Biometrics aren't new for Microsoft either — Windows has supported them for years, and many companies already use things like fingerprint readers. The barrier has always been the ubiquity of the hardware more than the software. But with Windows 10, Microsoft is taking another shot at making them even easier. Given the high-profile hacks of the last couple years, the time may finally be ripe for mass adoption. 

Here's a video Microsoft used to introduce the features:

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NOW WATCH: Here's The Trailer For 'The Interview' — The Movie The Hackers Don't Want You To See

Civil servants in the UK could be fired if they speak with journalists without first asking for permission from a government minister, the Telegraph reports. 

The new measure is contained in the Civil Service Code, which regulates the jobs of about 400,000 public employees across the country. The Code was updated with the new language on March 16.

According to The Telegraph's Ben Riley-Smith, the measure "effectively bans any communication with journalists unless a senior member of the government has given explicit approval."

A source in the Cabinet Office said that the move was an attempt to increase ministerial accountability of civil servants in their department, the Telegraph reports.

The move raises some doubts about the government's commitment to transparency. The Civil Service is a public body created to support the government, but they are politically neutral employees.

Here's a screenshot of the new Civil Service Code, where we've underlined the new rule.

The move has already attracted the critics from the FDA, the workers' union for the employees in the public service.

"The announcement of a blanket ban on media contact for civil servants - just 51 days before a General Election - is an unnecessary, unworkable and unjustified restriction on the work of the civil service," FDA General Secretary Dave Penman said in a statement. 

The union fears that the "knee-jerk decision seems to have only been made to sate unfounded and misguided ministerial mistrust,"according to the statement from the FDA.

Cabinet Office spokesperson commented on the new measure saying: “Civil servants must clear material for publication in advance, and [the new measure] brings the obligations on civil servants to obtain ministerial clearance in line with the existing obligations on special advisers.”

A footnote to the new rule in the Civil Service code notes that civil servants may be protected by the Public Interest Disclosure Act (the so-called whistleblowers' law) if they leak information to the press. 

Nevertheless, journalists and civil servants took to Twitter to complain against the new regulation with a mix of irony and frustration:

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NOW WATCH: Incredible video inside Hang Son Doong — the largest cave in the world

Meerkat's latest update delivers on Meerkat CEO Ben Rubin's promises to introduce new features to the live-streaming app, and they go a long way in making it easier for people to connect with their friends.

Meerkat, which makes it extremely easy to broadcast live video of what you're doing via Twitter, used to be able to plug into Twitter's user data in order to make it easier for new users to find their friends. But after Twitter acquired an unreleased Meerkat competitor called Periscope, Twitter shut off Meerkat's access, which left Meerkat users without an easy way to discover other users.

"We need to provide users a way to discover more people and search more people," Rubin told Yahoo's David Pogue, according to The Wall Street Journal, adding that Twitter had "escalated our decision-making a little bit forward."

Meerkat has since delivered on those promises, adding the ability to manually search for other Meerkat users and implementing a news feed that shows Meerkat streams that are live or scheduled for later.

There's also a new way to invite other people to follow you, which allows you to create your own Meerkat page by combining your Twitter handle with Meerkat's domain. All you need to do is insert your Twitter handle at the end "meerkatapp.co/" and you'll be all set.

By creating your own Meerkat follow page, you can share the web page with your friends on social media sites outside of Twitter, who can then click on the image to automatically follow you on Meerkat.

There's no doubt that Twitter's limitations have crippled Meerkat for now, but thanks to a team that's cranking out updates at lightning speed, Meerkat is proving it's willing to work quickly to make a comeback.

You can download Meerkat over at the App Store, or read our interview with Meerkat CEO Ben Rubin right here.

SEE ALSO: Meet the Japanese gaming giant that's going to save Nintendo

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NOW WATCH: Everything you need to know before buying a 4K TV

On Farnoosh Torabi's So Money podcast, entrepreneur and author Tim Ferriss shared the one purchase that makes his life easier or better:

"Paying for wash-and-fold laundry and housecleaning," he said.

Torabi then pointed out that many listeners of her show ask her about whether it's worth outsourcing certain tasks, and Ferriss provided his formula to help answer the question:

If you assume that you work 40 hours a week roughly, you can take your annual income, let's say it's $50,000, you chop the last three zeroes off so you end up with 50. You cut that in half, that's 25. That's how much you make per hour. You make $25 an hour.

So, if you can hire someone for you know, $5 an hour or $10 an hour to do something you hate or that consumes a ton of your time or half of your weekend, then that is very oftentimes a very smart decision ... if you look at it is almost impossible to find anyone who has made millions of dollars who doesn't delegate at least a handful of time-consuming things in some fashion.

He also adds that since the word "outsourcing" conjures up visions of a call center for many people, he prefers to think of these expenses as "delegating"— and sometimes, it's very worth it.

Find out what other successful people buy to make their lives easier or better.

Listen to the interview with Tim Ferriss.

SEE ALSO: 7 stupid beliefs even the smartest people have about money

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NOW WATCH: A lawyer in Florida has come up with an ingenious way for drivers to evade drunken-driving checkpoints

The West Africa Ebola outbreak has killed more than 10,000 people since fall 2014, but in a new research paper, Bill Gates warns that the next epidemic will probably be much worse, especially if we don't invest in better ways to stop disease from spreading. 

Ebola can only travel through physical contact with people already showing symptoms — other diseases are much more infectious because they can spread through the air. 

"Even if the system we have today had worked perfectly for Ebola, it would fail to contain a more infectious disease," Gates writes.

The world is much more prepared for war than a massive epidemic, he writes. Countries that are part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are frequently running exercises to work out logistics for what to do if a world war breaks out, but the last serious simulation of an epidemic in the United States took place way back in 2001.

Gates recommends that, globally, investments need to be made in health systems and surveillance, human and other resources, and medical and public health tools. 

"I believe that we can solve this problem, just as we’ve solved many others — with ingenuity and innovation," he writes in a New York Times column summarizing his paper. 

The United Nations should "empower and fund a global institution" to coordinate the creation of a warning and response system, disease surveillance database, and more research on drugs, vaccines, and diagnostic tests.  

It's a huge undertaking, but the cost of not making progress is even higher. 

Here is his list of recommendations:

• Be coordinated by a global institution that is given enough authority and funding to be effective.
• Enable fast decision-making at a global level.
• Expand investment in research and development and clarify regulatory pathways for developing new tools and approaches.
• Improve early warning and detection systems, including scalable everyday systems that can be expanded during an epidemic.
• Establish a reserve corps of trained personnel and volunteers.
• Strengthen health systems in low- and middle-income countries.
• Incorporate preparedness exercises to identify areas for improvement.

Read Gates' whole paper here. Read his op-ed in The New York Times here. 

SEE ALSO: 16 crazy-interesting facts about Google you probably didn't know

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NOW WATCH: This 9-year-old makes $1 million a year opening toys

We gathered a sample of popular expressions used around the country that we've never heard from tourists passing through New York's epicenter – Times Square.

Camera by Alana Kakoyiannis. Sound by Justin Gmoser.

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Buried in the announcement that Microsoft will be releasing Windows 10 to the world this summer was an interesting tidbit — Microsoft and Chinese smartphone manufacturing giant Xiaomi are offering a program for power users to install an early version of Windows 10 on Xiaomi's Mi 4 smartphone, which runs Android. 

Microsoft is currently testing Windows 10 with some Mi 4 users, according to TechCrunch. There's no word on exactly when or if such a program would roll out — Xiaomi says it's assisting Microsoft with a trial, and doesn't refer to the program as a partnership. 

If this experimental rollout with Xiaomi pans out, it opens the door for Microsoft to get a whole new crowd of Windows 10 users in the form of people with Android phones. 

As Ars Technica points out, this program apparently means different things to the different companies: Xiaomi sees it as an interesting experiment. Since it already lets users put custom operating systems on its phone, Xiaomi has nothing to lose by opening the door to Microsoft.

But for Microsoft, it's a much more meaningful relationship. If this experiment with Xiaomi turns into a full-fledged business partnership, it would mean getting in the good graces of a tremendously popular Chinese company that's growing sales faster than Samsung and Apple in the region. 

Xiaomi has even been nicknamed the "Apple of China" in the past because of its popularity in the region. In fact, a recent report says that Xiaomi literally can't make phones fast enough for the hungry masses.  

The Redmond company has invested a lot in making sure Windows Phone 8.1 works fine on Android hardware, as seen in flagship phones like the HTC One M8 with Windows.

But even then, Microsoft made the choice for users by installing the Windows Phone operating system ahead of time. This is the first chance for Microsoft to gather data on the willingness and ability of users to install Windows 10 on their own Android phones.

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NOW WATCH: Things That iPhone Users Say That Drive Android Users Crazy

Work meetings are not the time to over share, lose your cool, or show your colleagues you have no idea what you're doing.

Fast Company Studios recently created a hilarious video starring Upright Citizens Brigade actors that reveals 18 things you should never, ever, say in a meeting.

Here's the video: 

SEE ALSO: Here's What You Really Sound Like In Job Interviews

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Starbucks just announced a 2-for-1 stock split.

This will become effective on April 8, 2015, and SBUX will trade on a split-adjusted basis on April 9.

This is the sixth stock split since the company began trading publicly in 1992. The last stock split occured in Oct. 2005.

It's important to note that stock splits do literally nothing to change the financial or operating structures of the company.

All that happens is that one share of stock becomes two shares. The shareholder will continue to hold the same percentage stake in the company.

Companies often do stock splits when the price of a single share of the stock becomes too high. Starbucks is currently trading at around $94 per share.

So, you might interpret a split as a reflection of management's confidence that the price of the stock won't crash.

“This split is a direct reflection of the past seven years of increasing shareholder value, enhancing the liquidity of our shares, and building an attractive share price," CEO Howard Shulz said. "It also takes place at a time when Starbucks shareholders are experiencing an all-time high in value as we continue to deliver world-class customer service and, in turn, record profits and revenue.”

Here's a look at the meteoric rise of SBUX on a split-adjusted basis.

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NOW WATCH: Nationwide's Super Bowl commercial about dead children is about corporate profits ... in a way that we can all appreciate

Malcolm Gladwell is probably the most famous nonfiction author alive. When a new book of his comes out, it takes over airport bookstores. 

Each of his five books have become bestsellers, thanks to his incomparable ability to marry storytelling to social science theory. 

This is an update of an article originally written by Aimee Groth and Elizabeth Bogner.

Social movements are sparked by small sets of influential people.

In Gladwell's debut bestseller "The Tipping Point,"he talks about the Law of the Few, which states that a select few sets of people push ideas, diseases, and fads through social networks.

There are three kinds:

• Connectors: who know everybody

• Mavens: who become experts

• Salespeople: who push ideas on others 

When these people get excited about something, it takes off.

Context shapes behavior.

Gladwell says that "epidemics are sensitive to the conditions and circumstances of the times and places in which they occur."

The most controversial idea cited is the Broken Windows Theory, which posits that crime is an outgrowth of disorder. So if you clean the graffiti off of subways, the trash off the streets, and repair any windows that get broken, it will create an environment where people are less likely to commit crimes.

It's still being debated. 

We make split-second judgment calls all the time.

In "Blink," Gladwell zooms in on "thin slicing," a psychological process in which we're constantly reading people's personalities within seconds of seeing them. 

Examples of thin slicing include: 

• We predict how likely someone is to get a promotion from the clothes they wear.

• We infer whether someone is gay or straight from glancing at their face.

• We think that a woman is promiscuous if she has a visible tattoo.

Former Rep. Aaron Schock's (R-Illinois) has a pretty damning assessment of his son's future one day after he resigned form Congress.

In a Tuesday interview with ABC7, Dr. Richard Schock said of the former congressman will be successful in his future endeavors — if he's not headed to jail.

"Ten years from now, whatever he's doing, he'll be successful at it. I promise you that. Two years from now, he'll be successful ... if he's not in jail," he said.

Schock resigned on Monday amid a series of ethics flaps. Among other things, reports have accused him of misusing taxpayer and campaign funds to maintain a lavish lifestyle. Shock, just 33 years old, had been considered a rising star in his party.

Richard Schock, speaking in somber tones outside of his home in Peoria, Illinois, insisted his son is fundamentally a good person who was simply careless with his paperwork.

"He's had a good run. He's done a lot of good. He's helped a lot of people. He won in this district by 75%. Obviously, a lot of people think he's doing a good job," he said. "And everybody I talk to still supports him and prays for him and hopes he comes through this. He's going through a very tough time right now because in his heart, he has always wanted to do what was right and what was good."

Richard Schock said his son was concerned his supporters could be got up in potential legal drama. According to The Washington Post, the Office of Congressional Ethics has launched an investigation of Schock's spending practices.

The elder Schock also addressed the rumor that his son is gay and suggested it fed into a negative narrative about him.

"Aaron is a little different. He wears stylish clothing, and yet he's not gay. And he's not married. And he's not running around with women. So everyone's throwing up their arms. They can't figure out Aaron so [they think] he must be crooked," he said. 

Watch the full interview below:

SEE ALSO: 'Sloppiness and an oversized ego' derailed 33-year-old rising GOP star Aaron Schock

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NOW WATCH: Animated map of what Earth would look like if all the ice melted

McDonald's is in the process of reinvention. 

The brand is losing US customers to fast-casual options like Chipotle. To win back its clientele, McDonald's has done everything from testing burgers with trendy ingredients to selling chicken nuggets for cheap. 

But in the future, McDonald's will utilize kiosks, smartphones, and wearable devices, Atif Rafiq, chief digital officer at McDonald's, told Fast Company.

Don't miss the beautiful @McDonaldsCorp booth powered by @Sprinklr & @Ideacage! #SXSW #McDonalds #AustinConventionCenter

A photo posted by Brittany Flocken, MJ (@brittanyflocken) on Mar 15, 2015 at 6:01pm PDT

McDonald's new innovations would include "kiosks similar or identical to those already on the market," Fast company reports.

Smartphones could also load a customer's past history, similar to e-commerce sites like Amazon.

"You could walk up, tap your phone to it, and sync your account via an app. From there, the screen would not just show a stock menu, but provide your order history, and offer Amazon-like recommendations," according to Fast Company.

It's been a busy week for Ideacage here at #SXSW! #McDonalds #CommandCenter #Hilton #GoldenArches

A video posted by Brittany Flocken, MJ (@brittanyflocken) on Mar 15, 2015 at 5:05pm PDT

The company has been debuting new technology at the South by Southwest festival in Austin.

Starbucks is also taking notes from the e-commerce business.

CEO Howard Schultz called the company's new delivery initiative "e-commerce on steroids."

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NOW WATCH: 14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do

Stocks are lower ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee's policy statement on Wednesday afternoon, followed by Fed chair Janet Yellen's press conference at 2:30 ET.

Near 1:30 p.m., the Dow was down 113 points, the S&P 500 was down 9 points, and the Nasdaq was down 21 points.

Investors are watching whether the FOMC will remove the word "patient" from its statement, signaling that a rate hike may come as soon as June. US treasuries are higher, with the yield on the 10-year note at 2.04%. 

It's another ugly day for oil. West Texas Intermediate crude fell by as much as 2% to around $44.03 per barrel, following the latest data on US crude oil inventories from the Energy Information Administration. According to the EIA, inventories rose by 9.6 million barrels last week, from 4.5 million. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected an increase of 3.8 million barrels. And inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma grew by 2.865 million to hit a record high.

On Tuesday, oil fell below $43 per barrel, its lowest level in six years, after data from the American Petroleum Institute showed that US production is still surging; inventories rose by 10.5 million barrels last week to 450 million, outpacing the expectation for a rise by 3.8 million barrels.

Gold was little changed at around $1151.90 an ounce after touching a four-month low on Tuesday. "The yellow metal, a non-interest yielding asset, has dropped nearly 3 percent this year on expectations of a US rate hike as the dollar goes from strength to strength on speculation that the Fed is becoming impatient," analysts at Accendo Markets wrote.

SEE ALSO: RAY DALIO: This is just like 1937 and the Fed could drive us into a new recession

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NOW WATCH: Here are 8 steps to follow if you want to be a millionaire

Renowned bond king Bill Gross has fallen, but Wall Street's new king is not who you might think.

On Tuesday, Wall Street Journal gave the crown title to Vanguard's Joshua Barrickman, as his bond mutual fund makes strides to overtake the reigning giant Pacific Investment Management Co. in size.

PIMCO and Bill Gross have held the top spot in assets under management for 17 years, but many investors started pulling their money in the past couple years, and Gross left the company for Janus Capital Group in September. 

Now Vanguard's Total Bond Market Index fund has $114.9 billion in assets, only $10 billion short of PIMCO's Total Return fund at $124.7 billion.

Jeff Gundlach, another prominent bond expert, oversees about $60 billion in assets at his firm DoubleLine Capital. He's definitely more famous than Barrickman, but if we're talking about pure assets under management here, Barrickman has him beat.

According to the WSJ article, Barrickman is the opposite of Gross, who made frequent TV appearances and outbursts at work. In contrast, even some of Barrickman's clients haven't heard of him.

Barrickman told the WSJ he had no interest in stepping into Gross' former spotlight. "That's not my style," he said.

Read the full story at the Wall Street Journal >>

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NOW WATCH: If you're not using this data-searching trick in Excel, you're wasting lots of time

Çanakkale (Turkey) (AFP) - Turkey on Wednesday marked 100 years since the start of the Gallipoli Campaign by the Allies in World War I, an event seen now as a glorious victory by Ottoman forces and a crucial moment in the formation of the modern Turkish state.

On March 18, 1915, joint British-French naval forces sought to force their way through the Dardanelles Straits separating Europe from Asia in a bid to take Istanbul, then known as Constantinople.

However the attack was repelled by fierce Ottoman resistance, forcing the Allies to stage a land campaign in April that the Ottoman forces would also defeat in a months-long battle. 

Although the Ottoman Empire, allied with Berlin, was on the losing side in World War I and subsequently collapsed, the Gallipoli Campaign is regarded by Turks as a seminal moment in their history. 

"100 years ago, history changed," declared the headline in the Hurriyet newspaper.

Addressing a ceremony marking the 100 years at the town of Canakkale on the Dardanelles Straits, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu described the battle as a unifying moment in the history of Turkey.

"The heritage of the Ottoman soldiers who sacrificed themselves will always be carried by all Turkey," he said.

In a sometimes fiercely nationalist speech, Davutoglu portrayed Turkey as a force for good in the world, such as its hosting of over 1.7 million Syrian refugees.

"As long as we breathe, the cruel in the world will not be able to sleep peacefully," he said.

In a later speech at the giant 40-metre (130-foot) high Martyrs' Memorial, he paid tribute to the quarter million Ottoman troops who took part in the campaign. 

"The battle showed that there is nothing stronger than a nation ready to die for their homeland and it is impossible to capture such a nation."

- 'Unity, brotherhood and solidarity' -

Turkish warships staged sail-by salutes in the Dardanelles while fighter jets performed aerobatic displays.

The resistance of the Ottoman forces is seen as playing a key role in giving birth to a national conciousness and leading to victory in the War of Independence and the creation of the modern Turkish state in 1923.

Among the commanders at the Battle of Gallipoli was Mustafa Kemal -- later known as Ataturk -- who would lead the creation of the modern state and remains its national icon.

The ceremonies in Canakkale are being backed up by a huge number of television documentaries, press articles and films in a clear government-backed drive to emphasise the Gallipoli Campaign as a heroic victory.

Davutoglu was to watch the premiere of a new Turkish blockbuster film "Son Mektup" ("The Last Letter) about a romance between a Turkish pilot and nurse in the campaign as it goes on nationwide release.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the battle -- which would last nine months with tens of thousands dead on both sides -- as a turning point.

"The unity, brotherhood and solidarity displayed in Canakkale -- in addition to bringing victory -- helped bolster the fighting spirit required especially for our independence war," he said.

The March 18 commemorations kicked off a large programme of events leading up to ceremonies in April, marking when Ottoman forces repelled landings by combined Australian, British, French, New Zealand and Indian troops.

Turkey will host the main ceremony -- expected to be attended by several world leaders -- on April 24 which is a day ahead of the anniversary of the actual landings on April 25, marked in Australia and New Zealand as Anzac Day.

Critics have accused Turkey of cynically shifting the date to overshadow ceremonies expected in Armenia and across the world to remember the 100th anniversary of the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman forces in World War I.

Turkey has always rejected pressure to accept that the killings were a genocide and shows no sign of changing its position in the anniversary year.

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Will the Fed remain "patient" as it waits to start hiking interest rates?

If not, then we should prepare rate hikes to commence in June or perhaps September.

At 2pm ET, the Fed's Open Market Committee will release its statement from its latest monetary policy meeting, held on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.

Wall Street is looking particularly closely for a change in the language regarding the timing of  interest rate hikes. Since December 2014, the statement has read that the Fed "can be patient in beginning to normalize" monetary policy.

Most analysts think the Fed will drop this language in favor of something more data-dependent. A change like that sets up the Fed to hike interest rates sometime later in 2015.

Dropping "patient" today doesn't necessarily imply an interest rate hike in June, particularly because despite fantastic gains in nonfarm payrolls over the last year, other economic indicators in the last couple of months have been weaker than anticipated. 

A Bloomberg roundup of notes from this week suggests that analysts are torn between a June or September rate hike, though slightly more think it won't happen until September — even though most are expecting the Fed to drop the "patient" language today.

At 2:30, Fed chair Janet Yellen will hold a press conference.

SEE ALSO: There's actually a very good chance that 'patient' stays in the FOMC statement

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