Webinews

Katie Price has announced she is getting divorced with her third husband Kieran Hayler

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi Panjwani) — Thu, 8 May 2014 13:18:00 +0530

Katie Price has announced she is getting divorced with her third husband Kieran Hayler after condemning him of having an affair.

The reality TV celebrity and model posted her tweet officially on her Twitter account.

"Sorry to say me and kieran are divorcing him and my best friend jane pountney bee having a full blown sexual affair for 7 months," she wrote.

Sexy Katie Price has announced she is getting divorced with her third husband Kieran Hayler

She tweeted: "No human being deserves this especially being 6 months pregnant.

"Worse pain in the world.

Afterwards Price declared a statement on her website, clarifying her messages on social media.

"I appreciate most people will have seen my tweets on the subject of my marriage to Kieran," she wrote.

"I make no apologies for them though it will be appreciated that, sending them immediately after Kieran confirmed to me what he had been doing for the last 7 months, those tweets were a sign of my heart breaking. That he was doing it with a close friend of nearly 20 years is hard to understand."

It continued: "This statement however is from my head, not my heart. I am appalled that someone I loved, trusted and believed in has behaved in this way. If he had so little respect for our relationship I would have hoped he would have thought about our child or the one that we have on the way.”

"That he did not means he will no longer be part of my life. I will do all I can to ensure he maintains a relationship with his children should he want that.”

"I am so grateful for the love of my children and family at this time."

Couple got married in March 2013. Hayler describes himself as a constructor and a part-time model.

Price, 35, has one child with Hayler, a son, Jett, who is nine months old.

She also has two children from her marriage with Peter Andre - Princess, 6 and Junior, 8, - and a 12-year-old son, Harvey.

Earlier this week Price revealed she was pregnant with her fifth child and said it was a surprise for both her and Hayler.

"I was in shock, he was in shock - even the doctor was in shock," she said in her column in Now magazine.

"I was still in size 6-8 trousers and I always balloon when I'm pregnant. I put on 4st with Jett."

She added: "I was already about six months gone. None of us could actually believe it."

Both Hayler and Jane Pountney are yet to release a statement about Price's claims.

Biggest IPO ever coming, but what is actually Alibaba?

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi Panjwani) — Thu, 8 May 2014 12:49:00 +0530

Open Sesame! Having plundered the secret treasure of the Forty Thieves Alibaba will now try his luck on Wall Street. It could very well be the biggest IPO ever be. The Chinese WebReus is hardly known in the West, but is true in China almost as absolute ruler. High time for a closer acquaintance.

You must be knowing about Yahoo, Amazon, eBay and PayPal, but most probably Alibaba does ring a bell, which may affect U.S. IPO. China's largest ecommerce (estimated value between 130 and 235 billion dollars - less than Facebook or Amazon, but more than eBay) comes out with the IPO emphatically with the capitalist vanguard. Chinese Marketplace in China is Alibaba Group, the three largest Internet companies. Besides the big website Alibaba.com (mainly intended to Chinese manufacturers to overseas buyers associate), the group also owns Taobao, a consumer auction site similar to eBay and Amazon, and the derived Tmall.com (say Chinese Marketplace). Through the latter site selling include Disney, Apple and Nike their products directly to consumers. Alibaba Group owns more cloud computing services and a PayPal-like payment service. The company currently serves 79 million members worldwide spread across dozens of different countries. In the Netherlands, there is now a purchase and sales site Alibaba Active: AliExpress.websites and services of Alibaba jointly handle more business than eBay and Amazon together. Two years ago it was 18 billion dollars, two percent of the Chinese economy. If you look at the e-commerce alone, the Alibaba Group even 80 percent of China's pocket. But still there are lots of potential in China: many Chinese people have never been online, let alone that they have ever ordered a product online. That does not stop the group from there to look beyond national borders. It has long been negotiating with the Hong Kong stock market. But because the requirements there are much stricter than those in the United States, which calls go a lot more difficult. Magic passwords Alibaba will not help you this time.

Mitchell Starc vs Kieron Pollard, Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi Panjwani) — Wed, 7 May 2014 21:17:00 +0530

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is becoming house of controversy season after season. The Kieron Pollard-Mitchell Starc conflict during the IPL 2014 match came as a impolite surprise to many cricket fans as things became insane on the field. It was the first time when players could come to setbacks with each another. Even in past, we have seen controversies on the field of play as well.

This can be said as one of the worst conflict in the history of IPL where temperatures never soared to such a point where there could have been offending physical harm to some player. As Mumbai Indians were struggling to build a good score, Starc came back to bowl to the hazardous Pollard in the hike overs. He first bowled a short one that was difficult for Pollard to play. Then they had a small argument following a shocking scene. As Starc was running to bowl, Pollard took few steps down the pitch and at the very last minute, he backed away and was heading towards square-leg. However, Starc continued to bowl a full-paced delivery towards Pollard. As it went towards Pollard, the West Indian lost his anger and raised his bat and threw it in Starc’s direction. While the whole episode cast a shadow on the game, one may say that we were fortunate that the bat landed in front of Pollard. It could have well flown near Starc and possibly hurt him.

Hrithik Roshan - Sussanne splitted - Fans Disappointed

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi Panjwani) — Sun, 15 Dec 2013 02:10:00 +0530

The news of Hrithik Roshan's split with wife Sussanne after a relationship of 17 years didn't go down well with the actor's fans. To some, the end of their "fairytale romance" was a disappointment, while several hoped that they would reconcile for their children's sake.

Several people took to social networking sites to share their sentiments following Hrithik's announcement that Sussanne had decided to call off their 13-year-old marriage. The two had dated for four years before tying the knot.

"The news is really bad. You guys were the ultimate couple. I am really upset, I really wish that you guys get back together soon," a certain Sanya Grover posted on Hrithik's Facebook page.

Controversial model Poonam Pandey tweeted: "Hrithik Roshan and Sussanne Roshan splitting up. Such a terrible news! Need to reinstate my faith in TRUE love."

"Don't want to know the reason, but I am deeply dishearted. Leave the past and get back with bang," posted one fan, with a Mauritius-based Sunnee Hauradhur adding: "Absolutely heartbreaking to see Hrithik Roshan separates with his wife. Sad to see them throw away 17 years."

For many young girls, the news came as a rude shock and a jolt to their teenage memories of the couple's union on Dec 20, 2000.

Back then, Hrithik had emerged fresh from the stardom of his debut film Kaho Naa...Pyaar Hai, and even before young female fans got a chance to drool over his machismo and dance skills, he had announced his wedding with Sussanne, with whom he had fallen in love at first sight at a traffic signal in 1996.

Together, the couple has two sons - Hrehaan, seven and Hridhaan, five.

Now the star, son of actor-filmmaker Rakesh Roshan, is fresh from the success of his superhero film Krrish 3.

A joke doing the rounds following the news of Hrithik-Sussanne's split is - "Moral: Even a superhero like Krrish cannot handle a wife."

On a serious note, Hrithik, a day after he officially announced the separation, took to Facebook to share an emotional update.

"Sussanne is and always will be the love of my life for the rest of my life. If her smiles are brighter without me, my love for her must accomplish that. Unconditional," posted the 39-year-old, who believes this news must not "disempower my fans and the people about the institution of marriage in any way".

They have both requested the media for privacy in their "trying times".

Rumours of their split were rife since the past few months, with reports indicating that Sussanne had been living in a separate house.

Confirming her decision of parting ways from the nation's hearthrob, Sussanne, daughter of veteran actor Sanjay Khan, said in a statement Saturday: "We are two individuals who respect and care for each other and have made our own individual choices."

The separation won't change their love for their children, said Sussanne, who is an interior designer by profession.

"We are parents to two wonderful kids and our responsibility remains to protect and take care of them. Nothing can change that," she said.

Hrithik shares a strong bond with Sussanne's sister, jewellery designer Farah Khan Ali, and she believes "some bonds transcend everything".

Family will always stick together through thick and thin and I will always love you both Hrithik and Sussanne," Farah posted on micro-blogging platform Twitter.

Hrithik is currently at an undisclosed location abroad for medical treatment. He has been suffering bouts of headache. In July this year, he had undergone brain surgery for removal of a clot at the Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai.

9 Incredibly Disastrous Things That Happened in 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi Panjwani) — Sat, 7 Dec 2013 13:27:00 +0530

Similar to every year, 2013 too had its ups and downs but what set it distant was that it had moments that were so thoroughly disastrous that we won’t be forgetting this year for a while!

1. Miley Cyrus Twerked Her Way To Millions

Oh wait! She also lit a joint on stage, did a NSFW photo-shoot and violated our childhood memories of Teddy Bears and Barbie Dolls.

2. A Meteor Crashed In Russia
A meteor exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, injuring 1,491 people and damaging over 4,300 buildings. It was the most powerful meteor to strike Earth's atmosphere in over a century.

3. Justin Bieber Peed In A Bucket, Hired A Stripper, Did Drugs, Broke Up With Gomez.
He also posted inappropriate selfies and spat on unsuspecting fans. This was the year of the Bieber.

4. Himmatwala Was Released And Has Been Certified As A Weapon Of Mass Destruction
If you haven’t watched the film, save yourself!

5. Selfies Took Over The Internet
From Rihanna and Nicki Minaj to Priyanka Chopra and Sonam Kapoor, everyone got up close and personal!

6. Onions Became A Luxury
A man was beaten up by waiters for asking for onions, mutton do pyaar is now called mutton no pyaaza, we are now onion-less and fancy free.

7. Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan Kissed and Made Up
What was that? Not that everyone’s life depended on their mutual love but it took over our timelines for a month!

8. Poonam Pandey “Leaked” A Private MMS Clip And Was Publicly “Embarrassed”
Fresh out of the oven, Poonam Pandey’s extremely disturbing MMS clip was “leaked” by an incredibly vulgar “friend”. #PoonamKiRaat. Enough Said

India 'expanding its uranium enrichment programme'

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi Panjwani) — Thu, 5 Dec 2013 22:50:00 +0530

Satellite photographs obtained by Institute for Science and International Security suggest India is expanding its uranium enrichment programme

India is expanding its uranium enrichment programme which could allow it to double the size of its nuclear arsenal, a leading US think tank has claimed.

The allegation will intensify fears of nuclear arms race in Asia between India, its neighbouring enemy Pakistan and regional rival China. It will also raise eyebrows ahead of next week's talks in Vienna to finalise an agreement to curb Iran's uranium enrichment programme.

But while Tehran's nuclear ambitions are being reined in, India's capability is undergoing an expansion, the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) has claimed.

Based on satellite photographs, the American think tank said it believes India is stepping up its production of gas centrifuges to enrich uranium to nuclear weapon grade.

The photographs, which were taken in April, show that a building at its secret Rare Metals Plant near Mysore in Karnataka has been extended, it said.

"Commercial satellite imagery shows that the construction is finishing of what appears to be a second gas centrifuge facility at the Rare Materials Plant (RMP), near Mysore. This new facility could significantly increase India's ability to produce highly enriched uranium for military purposes, including more powerful nuclear weapons," the report by David Albright and Serena Kelleher-Vergantini stated.

ISIS has been a long term critic of India's nuclear programme, which it believes was established with "illegal purchases of goods and technology abroad" in defiance of international sanctions.

UN authorises military action in Central African Republic

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi Panjwani) — Thu, 5 Dec 2013 22:44:00 +0530

UN votes to increase military action in Central African Republic to attempt to combat "complete chaos" that has enveloped country

The UN Security Council has authorised increased military action by France and African troops to try to end the crisis in the Central African Republic.

The council unanimously approved a French-sponsored resolution Thursday aimed at restoring security and protecting civilians in the impoverished country.

The authorisation is expected to lead to an increase in troops for an African Union-led force and French troops.

The vote came as French troops continued to pour into the CARamid an outbreak of violence near the capital Bangui's airport and in suburbs in the city's north and east.

At least 105 people and likely many more were killed during Thursday morning’s fighting, the worst day of violence in Bangui, for several months.

Collected in a mosque and strewn in the streets nearby were 80 bodies with gunshot and machete wounds, and Medecins Sans Frontieres reported another 16 in two of the city’s hospitals.

An existing 10pm to 6am curfew was extended by four hours, with Michael Djotodia, the president, ordering the capital’s citizens indoors by 6pm.

Already, the streets were empty except for military patrols including the armoured vehicles of 250 French troops in Bangui as the vanguard of the force that is expected by the weekend to increase to 1,200 soldiers

Rebel gunmen in pick-up trucks toured suburbs that they controlled, as the fighting waned at lunchtime. It had begun before dawn and lasted several hours.

MSF was treating 65 injured people at one Bangui hospital, Sylvain Groulx, its Central African Republic coordinator said.

“The volatile situation in Bangui means it is difficult to report a reliable number of dead and wounded at this time,” the organisation said in a statement.

The fighting appeared to have started with Christian militia and supporters of the ousted president, Francois Bozize, began house-to-house searches for Muslim militants who backed Mr Djotodia, the rebels’ former commander.

Those rebels, named Seleka, or “alliance” in a local language, then began fighting back.

"There has been gunfire all over town," said Amy Martin, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Bangui.

Christian vigilante militia and supporters of ousted president Francois Bozize were reportedly moving through areas recently controlled by Seleka rebels previously allied to the country's new leader, Michael Djotodia.

The clashes appeared to have started in a stronghold of Mr Bozize, who fled the country in March as the Seleka alliance took control of Bangui and installed Mr Djotodia as leader. Home mostly to Christians, the area where the fighting began has been repeatedly raided by Seleka gunmen, who are mostly Muslim.

Mr Djotodia, a former Seleka commander, ordered the disbandment of the rebel group after taking power. But the order was largely ignored and Mr Djotodia now appears to have lost control of his forces, which have been accused of mass murder, rape and looting.

The Central African Republic has descended into what one UN official called "complete chaos" since March, with more than half a million people forced from their homes.

France agreed to send 1,000 troops to help bring order, and allow an African peacekeeping force drawn from the Economic Community of Central African States to assert more control.

The country is rich in gold, diamonds and uranium but decades of instability and spill-over from conflicts in its larger neighbours have kept it mired in crisis.

Western powers are lobbying for decisive international action to prevent the anarchy in Central African Republic leading to major atrocities against the civilian population.

Officials in Paris and Washington have already said the fighting could descend into genocide.

As the Seleka rebels retreat ahead of the French and AU deployment, there are fears of widespread revenge attacks by Christians against Muslims, who make up 15 percent of the 4.6 million population.

"When Seleka entered, there were dead Christians. This time it could be worse...We need the French. The French have to come quickly," Wilfred Koyamba, a resident of Bangui, said as Thursday's fighting continued.

Another resident said he saw a group of about 40 Christian fighters in the Ngaragba neighbourhood, some in military fatigues others in jeans and shorts.

Armed with AK47 assault rifles and rocket launchers, they broke open the doors to the prison. One of the fighters told the resident: "Stay at home. Show us the houses of the Muslims."

Salman Khan Will Host Bigg Boss Season 7

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 31 May 2013 18:19:00 +0530

All you Salman Khan fans ,its a moment of celebrations, your favorite star is once again all set to host the next season of Big Boss.so put your fears to rest that the show will be hosted by Shahrukh khan .

Salman has put an end to all speculations by signing as the host of Big Boss 7.He will shoot for the promo in june and the show will be aired in September.

Rihanna ugly today, sexy tomorrow?: Amanda Bynes' cheap Comments

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 31 May 2013 17:42:00 +0530

Bynes posted ridiculous photograph of them on the micro-blogging site with a message in which she called Rihanna "a beauty".

She posted: "This is a mocked up image I found on the Internet that I LOVE! I love @Rihanna! She's such a beauty!"

While Rihanna, 25, dint respond, she tweeted the message to her followers, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

The battle of words between the two stars started over the weekend when Bynes, 27, launched a pungent attack on the singer.

She tweeted: "Chris Brown beat you because you're not pretty enough," before adding: "@Rihanna no one wants to be your lover so you call everyone and their mother that I almost named my new dog Rihanna."

To that Rihanna, who recently ended her relationship with Brown, responded: "Ya see what happens when they cancel Intervention?."

This furthern angered Bynes and she wrote : "@Rihanna unlike ur fugly faced self I don't do drugs! U need the intervention dog! I met ur ugly face in person! U aren't pretty u know it. (sic)"

These tweets have since been deleted.

Apple Iphone 5 Full Specifications

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 May 2013 11:55:00 +0530

GENERAL	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - GSM A1428
		CDMA 800 / 1900 / 2100 - CDMA A1429
	3G Network	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 - GSM A1428
		CDMA2000 1xEV-DO - CDMA A1429
	4G Network	LTE 700 MHz Class 17 / 1700 / 2100 - GSM A1428 or LTE 850 / 1800 / 2100 - GSM A1429
		LTE 700 / 850 / 1800 / 1900 / 2100 - CDMA A1429
	SIM	Nano-SIM
	Announced	2012, September
	Status	Available. Released 2012, September

BODY	Dimensions	123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm (4.87 x 2.31 x 0.30 in)
BODY	Weight	112 g (3.95 oz)

DISPLAY	Type	LED-backlit IPS LCD, capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	640 x 1136 pixels, 4.0 inches (~326 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes
	Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass, oleophobic coating

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration, proprietary ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes

MEMORY	Card slot	No
MEMORY	Internal	16/32/64 GB storage, 1 GB RAM

DATA	GPRS	Yes
	EDGE	Yes
	Speed	DC-HSDPA, 42 Mbps; HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps, LTE, 100 Mbps; EV-DO Rev. A, up to 3.1 Mbps
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi hotspot
	Bluetooth	Yes, v4.0 with A2DP
	USB	Yes, v2.0

CAMERA	Primary	8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash, check quality
	Features	Simultaneous HD video and image recording, touch focus, geo-tagging, face detection, panorama, HDR
	Video	Yes, 1080p@30fps, video stabilization, check quality
	Secondary	Yes, 1.2 MP, 720p@30fps, face detection, FaceTime over Wi-Fi or Cellular

FEATURES	OS	iOS 6, upgradable to iOS 6.1.3
	Chipset	Apple A6
	CPU	Dual-core 1.2 GHz
	GPU	PowerVR SGX 543MP3 (triple-core graphics)
	Sensors	Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
	Messaging	iMessage, SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email
	Browser	HTML (Safari)
	Radio	No
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support and GLONASS
	Java	No
	Colors	Black/Slate, White/Silver
		- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - Siri natural language commands and dictation - iCloud cloud service - Twitter and Facebook integration - TV-out - Maps - iBooks PDF reader - Audio/video player/editor - Organizer - Document viewer - Image viewer/editor - Voice memo/dial/command - Predictive text input

BATTERY		Non-removable Li-Po 1440 mAh battery (5.45 Wh)
	Stand-by	Up to 225 h (2G) / Up to 225 h (3G)
	Talk time	Up to 8 h (2G) / Up to 8 h (3G)
	Music play	Up to 40 h

MISC	SAR US	1.18 W/kg (head) 1.18 W/kg (body)
	SAR EU	0.95 W/kg (head) 0.90 W/kg (body)

TESTS	Display	Contrast ratio: 1320:1 (nominal) / 3.997:1 (sunlight)
	Loudspeaker	Voice 66dB / Noise 66dB / Ring 67dB
	Audio quality	Noise -91.3dB / Crosstalk -76.5dB
	Camera	Photo / Video
	Battery life	Endurance rating 51h

Cricket legend Andrew Flintoff to become a professional heavyweight boxer with debut fight in November

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 6 Sep 2012 18:20:00 +0530

Former England cricketer Andrew Flintoff has announced his intention to become a professional boxer and make his debut in Manchester in November.

The 34-year-old Flintoff is planning to fight in a heavyweight bout at the city's MEN Arena on November 30, although he must first be granted a license by the British Boxing Board of Control.

Flintoff is being trained by former world featherweight champion Barry McGuigan and McGuigan's son Shane, and his preparations are set to be turned into a two-part television documentary.

Flintoff said: "This is an amazing opportunity to try a sport that I love, to be tutored by a man I respect and admire and, at the age of 34, the chance to become a professional sportsman again.

"It's a huge challenge – probably the biggest I have ever undertaken, especially in such a short time-frame.

"I have a long road ahead and a lot of work in front of me. The stakes are high."

McGuigan added: "It is an enormous undertaking to have a professional fight having no experience whatsoever. It is even more demanding when you're a legend in another sport.

"The pressure for Freddie, myself and my son is phenomenal given the little time we have. But I'm convinced Freddie will make a successful pro debut as a boxer."

Robert Smith, the general secretary of the British Boxing Board of Control, said Flintoff had not yet applied for a licence, and the Board had not received an application for the show in question.

However, the license application process normally lasts anything up to six weeks, giving Flintoff enough time to apply in the near future and fight – if his application is successful – on the November date.

Smith said: "Andrew Flintoff has not applied, nor has he been interviewed by anyone from the British Boxing Board of Control.

"An application can take three to four weeks or longer depending on the circumstances. He will have to pass medicals and there are measures in place to see whether an applicant can actually box."

Flintoff's preparations for the fight are to be documented in a two-part programme called 'The Gloves Are Off ...' to be showed on Sky 1 and the bout at will also be shown on boxing channel Box Nation.

Flintoff would not be the first professional sportsman to undertake a boxing career with no experience. Former Sheffield United footballer Curtis Woodhouse made his boxing debut in 2002 and has won 16 of his 20 contests.

Smith added: "It is quite unusual. We haven't had many people apply with no experience at all, but there is a history of footballers and rugby league players taking up boxing, and Curtis Woodhouse has done so very well."

Nokia Lumia 920 - first impressions

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 6 Sep 2012 18:15:00 +0530

Nokia is pinning its hopes on its new Lumia handsets with Windows Phone 8 but how good are they? Matt Warman tries out the Lumia 920.

The fresh Nokia Lumia 920 mobile phone is the most excellent the company has ever made – its 4.5” screen curves round a pleasantly solid body that surround a camera that’s so clever it can even work out when public walked in front of your shot, or add some moving fundamentals to still photographs. Its maps now flawlessly add content from the web to show the street you’re walking down in splendid ‘augmented reality’. Wireless charging means that even your bedside table or desk will look neater thanks to Nokia.

There is, of course, a ‘but’ – the operating system, Windows Phone, is struggling to attract users and Microsoft’s overall market share is still falling. Nokia couldn’t get its act together to release prices or release dates for its latest, lovely handset. That basic blunder is not one that Apple will make when it announces the iPhone 5 next week, or that Samsung makes when it launches important new products.

The Windows Phone 8 software remains excellent – its start screen has been upgraded to use space more effectively, live tiles continue to offer constant updates. Nokia itself has worked hard with partners to build apps that provide real enhancements for the camera, and the package comes together to make sure consumers feel that they’re always using one coherent device rather than a phone that is constantly having new apps bolted uncomfortably onto it.

Offline maps, too, work so well that the satnav is even more redundant than it was before, because they’re built in properly to the phone. In the short time I had hands-on with the phone, all the camera features worked effectively, and the wireless charging is a neat addition, but of course still relies on users being near to a charger, albeit one that is now wireless in its connection to the phone.

The biggest challenge Nokia faces in the UK is not that there aren’t many users who will soon be buying their first smartphone and could be tempted by a Windows Phone. In an objective world, it would probably be the most tempting on the market. The real problem is that to attain the critical mass Windows Phone needs, it must, led by Nokia, steal users from Android and Apple. While that ought to be perfectly possible, it’s hard to see anybody managing, even with pockets as deep as Microsoft’s. The Windows maker can’t afford to fail, but it will need many more devices at least as good as the 920 to reach its goal.

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew handed two-match touchline ban for pushing assistant referee

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 4 Sep 2012 13:17:00 +0530

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has been given a two-match ban and fined £20,000 after accepting a charge of improper conduct for shoving assistant referee Peter Kirkup on the opening day of the season, the Football Association have confirmed.

Pardew was immediately contrite after he shoved Kirk up for missing what he believed to be a throw-in to Newcastle during the side’s 2-1 win over Tottenham at the Sport Direct Arena.

Spurs’ Aaron Lennon went on to have a shot at goal as play continued, prompting Pardew’s impulsive reaction.

Referee Martin Atkinson missed the incident but sent Pardew to the stands after being alerted by fourth official Lee Mason, who was stood behind Kirkup and Pardew at the time before briefly stepping in to separate the two.

Pardew shook Mason’s hand before heading for the director’s box for the remaining 30 minutes of the match and apologized to Kirk up after the game, but the FA have acted upon Atkinson’s match report.

"Following an Independent Regulatory Commission held today (Monday 3 September 2012), Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has been given a two match touchline suspension and fined £20,000 after he accepted an FA charge of improper conduct.

"Pardew, who requested a personal hearing, was charged following an incident which occurred during his side's match against Tottenham Hotspur on 18 August 2012.

"The suspension will take place with immediate effect."

Pardew will be banned for Newcastle's league games against Everton on September 17 and Norwich City on September 22.

Speaking at the time, Pardew admitted: "We're overjoyed about the result but I hold my head in shame.

"I was just saying to the players about the great Olympics and how to set an example and there's me pushing the linesman over. It was comical, he just happened to be right in front of me.”

Pardew apologized to Kirkup immediately after the match.

"I went in and said I'm sorry and said I would have to apologies publicly too because it was ridiculous."

Smartphones 2012: the big players

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 4 Sep 2012 13:13:00 +0530

As a frantic round of smartphone launches begins, Matt Warman and Shane Richmond assess the runners and riders.

Last week, at IFA in Berlin, Samsung dominated with a string of announcements, including a new and improved Galaxy Note. In the weeks that follow, many of the Korean firm's competitors are expected to announce their latest entrants into a mobile market that is increasingly competitive. How will the Smartphone landscape look when the dust settles? We can make a few guesses. At the top of the market, it is a three-horse race - for the time being at least. Here are the big three.

Samsung
Korean electronics giant Samsung was once a manufacturer that simply made products that were cheaper than its rivals, such as Sony and Panasonic. Now, however, the manufacturer is reaping the rewards of a serious focus on much higher quality. While it continues to make some 60 phones each year, it now has the flagship models to cater for every market and the scale to make sure that innovative features quickly show up in cheaper models.

Its success has seen it quickly embroiled in a host of lawsuits over patents, most famously last month when it lost a $1bn case to Apple. But Samsung is also Apple’s supplier for many of its chips, and it makes televisions, excellent audio equipment and much more besides. In that sense it’s an example of the mega-corporations that we are seeing more and more of – it’s grown rapidly while Sony, Panasonic and HTC have struggled and often failed to stay profitable. For now, Samsung is Apple’s biggest rival.

Galaxy S3
The Galaxy S3 is the best phone on the market to use the most popular operating system, Google’s Android. It’s also the first phone to come close to generating the level of excitement that Apple enjoys.

Key to the S3’s appeal is a combination of lovely design, a beautiful 4.8” screen and a fast processor. Highlights include ‘Smart Stay’, which uses the front-facing camera to track your eyes as you look at the phone - as long as you're looking, the display won't go to sleep. As yet, it’s not quite consistent, but this seems like a feature that will be standard soon.

The camera offers decent quality, a burst mode and integrates with Facebook to automatically recognize the people in your pictures. And the huge battery (2,100mAh) will get most users easily through the day.

Fans of the iPhone dislike the size of the S3 – the screen is enormous, even if the device is thin – and for feeling plasticky compared to the iPhone’s glass-and-steel solidity. But the sales figures speak for themselves. Though when the new iPhone comes out users will have a proper point of comparison

Samsung Galaxy Note 2
It’s hard to say quite whether that Samsung Galaxy Note is a big phone or a small tablet – either way this unusual device has carved out a niche of loyal users despite considerable press skepticism at its debut. The idea is that this is a highly portable device, with a 5” screen that is better for web browsing, games or watching films than a mobile phone, but also very portable.

Uniquely, however, Samsung has focused on how to make the Note a useable substituter for pen and paper; its Pen allows users to annotate web pages easily then send their thoughts to other users, as well as to write notes directly on the screen and use handwriting recognition software to convert them into text.

A new version of the note, announced at the end of August, provides substantial improvements – users will still need to get used to writing on the very smooth glass surface, but it is probably a glimpse of the future.

Apple
Critics of Apple will be quick to tell you that the company did not invent the Smartphone or the touchscreen but there is little doubt that the iPhone set a standard that the competition has been trying to reach ever since. If you want evidence of Apple's influence, just take a look at the flagship handsets of the mobile manufacturers in early 2007, before the release of the iPhone, and compare them with today's handsets. Then, physical keyboards took up half the device or slid-out from underneath, and now all of the top handsets are touch screens, with minimal buttons on the face.

Apple has innovated plenty of smartphone features but they've borrowed some, too. The addition of Notification Centre to iOS last year was seen by many as a lift from Android. The operating system is acquiring a degree of tweeness, too, with fake leather and 'torn' pages adorning almost every new official app. In industrial design, however, the company remains light years beyond Samsung in delivering handsets that feel meticulously crafted, with enormous attention to detail. Their biggest threat in this area is not Samsung, but Nokia.

The new iPhone
It won't be called the iPhone 5 because, among other reasons, it isn't the fifth iPhone. Apple's sixth iPhone model, which we expect to be called simply 'the new iPhone', is likely to be significantly redesigned, with a thinner, metal, case and a taller, but not wider, screen. Part of the reason the phone is expected to be thinner is a new screen design that integrates the touch layer of the phone with the display itself. In a move that is likely to exasperate those with a lot of docks, chargers and other accessories, Apple is also thought to be ditching the familiar dock connector from this handset, in favour of a smaller version.

Of course, none of this is official because Apple does not announce specifications for its new iPhone outside of its special events. We don't even know when the launch is happening but the smart money is on a September 12 announcement with the release of the new handset following a week or two later.

Nokia
For years Nokia was the largest phone manufacturer in the world. Even as it slipped behind the technological curve, customer loyalty and huge sales of cheap devices, especially in the developing world, sustained it and even saw it grow. But no longer. The company is struggling as never before, with its title as largest manufacturer snatched by Samsung and its reputation for innovation in tatters.

New chief executive Stephen Elop, however, has a strategy that nails Nokia’s future to Microsoft’s Windows operating system and it may just work. The idea of the Nokia-Microsoft tie-up is that it gives the Finnish mobile phone giant access to Windows Phone ahead of other manufacturers, and they also benefit from Microsoft’s huge marketing budget for the operating system overall. Microsoft has begun to use mapping technology that Nokia developed, too, so it’s a two way thing.

Nokia 920 and 820
Eager to get out ahead of Apple, Nokia and Microsoft are holding an event in New York tomorrow to announce their new handsets. It is expected that we will see two new Lumia handsets - a larger, more powerful 920 and a smaller, cheaper 820. The Lumia handsets are arguably the most impressive pieces of pure mobile phone design on the market, and the Windows mobile operating system is innovative, intuitive and original.

In terms of the devices themselves, Nokia’s Lumia line runs from the budget 610 to the premium 800 and 900 models. The 820 and 920 are expected to move the series on - bringing the Windows Phone 8 operating system for the first time - and adding new features such as wireless charging.

Nokia also adds its own touches to the software, such as improving the standard mapping services in Widnows Phone with its own, allowing users to get much-improved driving directions. There’s also an attempt to encourage users into listening to music on their phone by providing what are effectively genre-based exclusive radio stations.

Windows Phone
Windows Phone is an operating system that looks like no other; rather than a series of icons or widgets, like Apple or Google, it offers a neatly arranged set of what Microsoft calls ‘Live Tiles’. The idea of these is that they show more information than a simple icon – so the Live Tile for mail shows your latest message, or at least who it is from, while the one for your pictures cycles through your own images and those from social networks. It means that as soon as you log on to your existing services, such as Facebook and Gmail, with a Windows Phone, it instantly feels more personal.

Sales have not been sufficient to really yet turn this into the third ecosystem, but Microsoft’s backing ensures a degree of success. As phones, tablets and laptops increasingly become a way of accessing the same information, the Windows-maker cannot afford to fail in mobile computing.

Premier League transfers – club by club

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 3 Sep 2012 16:45:00 +0530

Top five buys

1. Eden Hazard (Lille to Chelsea) £32m

2. Oscar (Internacional to Chelsea) £25m

3. Robin van Persie (Arsenal to Man Utd) £24m

4. Shinji Kagawa (Dortmund to Man Utd) £17m

5. Javi Garcia (Benfica to Man City) £16m

Biggest spenders
Chelsea – Buys £81m Sales £0

Biggest profit
Fulham – Buys £6m – Sales £21m

Most buys
QPR 10

Total spend
£262.55m

Arsenal

IN: Santi Cazorla (Malaga, £16.5m), Olivier Giroud (Montpelier, £13m), Lukas Podolski (Cologne, £11m)
OUT: Robin van Persie (Man Utd, £24m), Alex Song (Barcelona, £15m), Manuel Almunia (released), Kyle Bartley, (Swansea, £1m), Denilson (Sao Paulo, loan), Henri Lansbury (Nottingham Forest, £1m)

NET SPEND: £500,000

JB's VERDICT – 3/5: Another summer of stress at Arsenal and despite the signing of the excellent Santi Cazorla, there is real fear that Robin van Persie – and his goals – have not been replaced. Two goalless draws have shown a tighter defence – but concern upfront.

Aston Villa

IN: Christian Benteke (Genk, £8m), Matthew Lowton (Sheffield United, £3m), Ron Vlaar (Feyenoord, £3m), Joe Bennett (Middlesbrough, £2.5m)
OUT: James Collins (West Ham, £2.5m), Carlos Cuéllar (Sunderland, free), Emile Heskey (released)

NET SPEND: £14 million

JB's VERDICT – 2/5: Manager Paul Lambert will be relieved to get striker Christian Benteke but it’s a big fee for an unproven player at a club on a tight budget. As fine a manager as Lambert is, there’s an air of desperation at Villa.

Chelsea

IN: Eden Hazard (Lille, £32m), Oscar (Internacional, £25m), Marko Marin (Werder Bremen, £7m), Thorgan Hazard (Lens, £1m), Victor Moses (Wigan, £9m), Cesar Azpilicueta (Marseille, £7m)
OUT: Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Jose Bosingwa (all released) plus 15 players on loan

NET SPEND: £81 million

JB's VERDICT – 4/5: The massive summer spending spree did indeed materialise with exciting, young attacking talent everywhere – but no cash on a new striker which, curiously, leaves Chelsea short upfront. Maybe, as some suggested, they might have been better blowing the cash on Atletico Madrid’s Radomel Falcao?

Everton

IN: Steven Pienaar (Tottenham, £4.5m), Kevin Mirallas (Olympiakos, £5.2m), Bryan Oviedo (Copenhagen, £2m)
OUT: Jack Rodwell (Man City, £12m), Tim Cahill (New York Red Bulls, £1m)

NET SPEND: £1.3 million

JB's VERDICT – 5/5: A brilliant transfer window for David Moyes with shrewd, value for money signings and a big fee for Jack Rodwell who wasn’t central to his plans. Moyes has proved adept time and time again but will be relieved to have held onto Marouanne Fellaini and Leighton Baines, at least for another year.

Fulham

IN: Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United, £4m), Kieran Richardson (Sunderland, £2m) Hugo Rodallega (Wigan, free), Mladen Petric (Hamburg, free), George Williams (MK Dons, free), Sascha Riether (Cologne, loan)
OUT: Moussa Dembele (£15m, Tottenham Hotspur), Clint Dempsey (Spurs, £6m), Danny Murphy (Blackburn, free), Andy Johnson (QPR, free)

NET SPEND: £15 million

JB's VERDICT – 2/5: A bit of a trolley dash for Fulham but, in the cold light of day, the sale of Dembele and Dempsey leaves a big gap in their squad, their two 'biggest’ players gone. Manager Martin Jol was desperate to shore things up and if he can again get the best out of Dimitar Berbatov then he may have saved the day.

Liverpool

IN: Joe Allen (Swansea, £15m), Fabio Borini (Roma, £10m), Oussama Assaidi (Heerenveen, £3m), Nuri Sahin (Real Madrid, loan), Samed Yesil (Bayer Leverkusen, £1m)
OUT: Charlie Adam (Stoke, £4m), Alberto Aquilani (Fiorentina, £6m), Dirk Kuyt (Fenerbahce, £1m), Andy Carroll (West Ham United, loan) Craig Bellamy (Cardiff, free), Maxi Rodriguez (Newell’s Old Boys, free)

NET SPEND: £18 million

JB's VERDICT – 3/5: No new striker. Liverpool will look at their transfer business and the need to balance the books and believe they have bought well but the squad is short of goals and it will be a nervous few months until the January window opens.

Manchester City

In: Javi Garcia (Benfica, £16m), Jack Rodwell (Everton £12m), Scott Sinclair (Swansea City, £6.2m), Maicon (Inter Milan, £3m), Matija Nastasic (Fiorentina, £12m)
OUT: Adam Johnson (Sunderland, £10m), Nigel De Jong (AC Milan, £3.5m), Owen Hargreaves (released), Emmanuel Adebayor (Spurs, £5m), Stefan Savic (Fiorentina, part of Nastasic deal)

NET SPEND: £30.7 million

JB's VERDICT – 2/5: Roberto Mancini got his way with City spending big on the final day of the window – although he didn’t necessarily land his number one targets. Again the problem has been moving players on and the club’s hierarchy may not be happy with the money spent overall.

Manchester United

IN: Robin van Persie (Arsenal, £24m), Shinji Kagawa (Dortmund, £17m), Nick Powell (Crewe, £4m), Alexander Buttner (Vitesse Arnhem, £4m)
OUT: Dimitar Berbatov (Fulham, £4m), Park Ji-Sung (QPR, £1.5m), Michael Owen (released)

NET SPEND: £43.5 million

JB's VERDICT – 4/5: Sir Alex Ferguson spent big and he spent early. A real statement of intent from United as they try to reclaim the Premier League. Kagawa seems the best piece of business and Van Persie, although a coup, is expensive. United still look a little short in midfield, though.

Newcastle United

IN: Vurnon Anita (Ajax, £6.7m), Curtis Good (Melbourne Heart, £400,000)
OUT: Leon Best (Blackburn, £3m), Fraser Forster (Celtic, £2m)

NET SPEND: £2.1 million

JB's VERDICT – 4/5: For Alan Pardew it was more about not losing players than signing them and that’s a sign that Newcastle already have their house in order. A solid, tight squad and a good manager with a well-run business. A sound window.

Norwich City

IN: Sebastian Bassong (Spurs, £3m), Robert Snodgrass (Leeds, £3m), Michael Turner (Sunderland, £1.5m), Alexander Tettey (Rennes, £1m)
OUT: Andrew Crofts (Brighton, nominal, Adam Drury (Leeds, free), Aaron Wilbraham (Crystal Palace, free), Zak Whitbread (Leicester, free)

NET SPEND: £8.5 million

JB's VERDICT – 3/5: The brutal truth is that Norwich’s business looks like the dealings of a Championship club – but then look what happened last season. Still a sizeable amount of money has been spent and Alex Tettey could be a really shrewd acquisition.

Queens Park Rangers

IN: Esteban Granero (Real Madrid, £9m), Stephane Mbia (Marseille, £4.5m), Julio Cesar (Inter Milan, free), Junior Hoilett (Blackburn, tribunal), Park Ji-Sung (Manchester United, £2m), Samba Diakite (Nancy, £4m), Robert Green (West Ham, free), Ryan Nelsen (Tottenham, free), Andrew Johnson (Fulham, free), Jose Bosingwa (Chelsea, free)
OUT: Fifteen players sold for nominal fees or released

NET SPEND: £19 million

JB's VERDICT – 4/5: A huge summer of spending for QPR with wages as well to be accounted for as Mark Hughes acquired a whole new team. Among the experienced big names there’s also some exciting young talent. Can he make his new team gel quickly enough? If he can it could be an amazing season for Rangers.

Reading

IN: Chris Gunter (Nottingham Forest, £2.5m), Adrian Mariappa (Watford, £2.5m), Pavel Pogrebnyak (Fulham, free)
OUT: Fourteen players released or sold for nominal fees

NET SPEND: £5 million

JB's VERDICT – 3/5: Despite the new Russian owner, it wasn’t going to be a big spending spree from Reading and manager Brian McDermott who has taken a similar route to other well-run clubs recently promoted from the Championship. Whether Reading are good enough remains to be seen and the squad could be lacking depth.

Southampton

IN: Gaston Ramirez (Bologna, £11.2m), Maya Yoshida (VVV-Venlo, £2m), Jay Rodriguez (Burnley, £6m), Nathaniel Clyne (Crystal Palace, £2m)
OUT: Eight players sold for nominal fees or released

NET SPEND: £21.2 million

JB's VERDICT – 3/5: Southampton – and their chairman Nicola Cortese – are hugely ambitious and the signing of Gaston Ramirez is not only a big deal but could be real coup if he shows the same form he has for his country, Uruguay. Southampton looked like they needed a bit more star quality and he could give it. They have spent a lot of money and will want a return.

Stoke City

IN: Charlie Adam (Liverpool, £4m), Michael Kightly (Wolves, £2m)
OUT: Eight players sold for nominal fees or released

NET SPEND: £6 million

JB's VERDICT – 3/5: A summer of consolidation for Tony Pulis who had to trim a big squad after last season’s Europa League campaign. The Coates family have backed Stoke with millions but there’s a sense that they don’t want to keep spending. Could be a tricky season but Pulis knows that.

Sunderland

IN: Steven Fletcher (Wolves, £15m), Adam Johnson (Manchester City, £10m) Louis Saha (free), Carlos Cuéllar (Aston Villa, free)
OUT: Asamoah Gyan (Al-Ain, £6m), Kieran Richardson (Fulham, £2m), Michael Turner (Norwich, £1.5m)

NET SPEND: £15.5 million

JB's VERDICT – 3/5: Martin O’Neill has, as ever, bought British or the tried and trusted from the Premier League. He’s also spent big. Again. However, Fletcher and Johnson look decent acquisitions to add to a squad that he is quickly moulding into a solid outfit.

Swansea City

IN: Pablo Hernandez (Valencia, £5.5m), Ki Sung-yueng (Celtic, £5m), Michu (Rayo Vallecano, £2m), Jose Manuel Flores (Genoa, £2m), Kyle Bartley (Arsenal, £1m)
OUT: Joe Allen (Liverpool, £15m), Scott Sinclair (Manchester City, £6.2m)

NET SPEND: £-5.7 million

JB's VERDICT – 5/5: An impressive summer of business at Swansea who have sold well and bought shrewdly and who are suddenly already looking an accomplished Premier League club after just one campaign. No second season syndrome for them and the arrival of Michael Laudrup has attracted players from Spain.

Tottenham Hotspur

IN: Mousa Dembele (Fulham, £15m), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, £6), Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City, £5m), Jan Vertonghen (Ajax, £10m), Gylfi Sigurdsson (Hoffenheim, £8m), Hugo Lloris (Lyon, £12m).
OUT: Luka Modric (Real Madrid, £33m), Rafael Van der Vaart (Hamburg, £10m), Sebastian Bassong (Norwich, £3m), Vedran Corluka (Lokomotiv Moscow, £5m), Steven Pienaar (Everton, £4.5m), Niko Kranjcar (Dynamo Kiev, £2m)

NET SPEND: £1.5 million

JB's VERDICT – 3/5: Despite all the spending and all the sales, the bottom line is that chairman Daniel Levy has wanted to balance the books and has done that. It could have been very different if Joao Moutinho had been signed for £23m and head coach Andre Villas-Boas will regret that as it means Luka Modric has simply not been replaced.

West Bromwich Albion

IN: Ben Foster (Birmingham, £3m), Markus Rosenberg (Werder Bremen, free), Claudio Yacob (Racing Club de Avellaneda, free)
OUT: Simon Cox (Nottingham Forest, £2m) and 10 players sold for nominal fees or released

NET SPEND: £1 million

JB's VERDICT – 4/5: A summer of consolidation for West Brom – peppered with some intriguing, exciting signings such as Claudio Yacob. The books have been balanced and the budget remains intact with praise again for technical director Dan Ashworth.

West Ham

IN: Matt Jarvis (Wolves, £10.75m), Modibo Maiga (Sochaux, £5m), Alou Diarra (Marseille, £2m), James Collins (Aston Villa, £2.5m), Andy Carroll (Liverpool, loan)
OUT: Sam Baldock (Bristol City, £1m), Nicky Maynard (Cardiff City, £1.8m) and 13 other players released or sold for nominal fees

NET SPEND: £17.45 million

JB's VERDICT – 4/5: It’s been a tricky summer for West Ham but there have been some big statements as well with the arrival of Andy Carroll and Matt Jarvis, while the club has moved on many Championship players. The owners have backed the manager and will want a return even if it has been scattergun at times. Minimum requirement is stay in the Premier League.

Wigan Athletic

IN: Arouna Kone (Levante, £2.7m), Ivan Ramis (Real Majorca, £4m)
OUT: Victor Moses (Chelsea, £9m), Connor Sammon (Derby, £1.2m) and 11 players sold for a nominal fee or released

NET SPEND: £-3.5 million

JB's VERDICT – 4/5: Wigan were always going to sell prize asset Victor Moses and pretty much got the price they wanted for him which has allowed manager Roberto Martinez to reshape his squad and even make a transfer market profit to keep the chairman happy. Still they have also spent and will be happy with their business

Samsung Galaxy S3 review

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 3 Sep 2012 16:37:00 +0530

The day before its official announcement, Matt Warman got some time with the new Samsung Galaxy S3. Here are his first impressions.

Specifications:

Screen:
4.8” Super Amoled HD display

Storage:
16/32/64GB depending on model, plus expandable MicroSD card

Cloud storage:
50GB Dropbox for two years

Colour:
Pebble blue or marble white

Battery:
2,100mAh (wireless charging optional extra)

Camera:
8MP rear; 1.9 MP front

Resolution:
720 x 1280 px (306ppi)

RAM:
1GB

Dimensions:
136.6 x 70.6 x 8.55 mm

Weight:
133g

Operating System:
Android 4.0.4

Processor:

Exynos 4 Quad (1.4GHz)

There’s a lot riding on the Samsung Galaxy S3 – it’s the successor to the 20 million selling S2, it’s the Android phone best-placed to take on Apple’s iPhone, and it’s the device that Samsung hopes will cement its reputation as an innovator.

I had less than an hour with the S3, but that’s a lot longer than people were able to grab easily with the device when Samsung announced it at London’s Earl’s Court tonight.

The first impression I came away with was not that the screen was the best on the market, although it has a depth, responsiveness and sharpness that bests, to my mind the HTC One X, although I wasn’t able to compare the two directly. Nor that the huge 4.8” screen was too big, although it’s heading that way. The compelling thing about the S3 is the package it offers. Like the iPhone 4S after the 4, it offers iterative improvements over its predecessor, but the total effect is to create a radically innovative new device.

In among those things is a new sensor that tracks your eyes – so long as you’re looking at the S3’s screen, it won’t dim or lock itself. Yes, you could just set the screen timer to longer, but “Smart Stay” means you don’t have to. In use, the feature seemed to work very well, with a little icon indicating the phone is watching your eyes.

On a similar note, if you’re looking at a contact, or a message from a contact, the S3 automatically dials that person when you put the phone to your face. It’s one less button to press.

An improvement to voice control, called S-Voice, that lets users control their phone using normal, natural language. So it’s like Siri, only it does more – you can say volume up, for instance, and the phone will filter out the noise of the song it’s playing so it can hear you. The S, we assume, stands for Samsung.

Elsewhere, the phone adds useful features that, for instance, can automatically share a photograph you take with people whose faces are recognised, called 'Buddy Photo Share', or display social media profiles directly on a photograph when those face are recognised. These are features that are useful rather than revolutionary, but they feel like they will be obvious standards in the near future. Tagging groups and offering an automatic slideshow zooming into the faces in a picture are also useful additions. Samsung, unless the patent wars cause further upset, is setting new standards.

When it comes to features such as S-Beam, which transfers files quickly between devices by touching them together, or sharing the phone’s screen content with other devices, these are increasingly becoming more widespread industry standards, as indicated on the new Motorola Razr, which offers similar concepts. The Samsung processor is fast enough to allow crystal clear video to play in a window on your homescreens, which again is nifty, but not vital.

Are there areas where the phone disappoints? The camera is just 8MP – good, but not market leading – although it has been upgraded to offer a 20-shot burst mode and the automatic selection of a best picture. The firm insists on pre-loading apps which I don’t see much use for – while Dropbox (including a remarkable 50GB of storage for two years) and Flipboard are useful, the Music, Game and Video Hubs will have to offer remarkable content to outplay the entirety of the app store, Google Play.

I didn’t get long enough with the phone to talk about the battery life – a 2,100mAh battery is big, but this is a demanding phone that users will have on more than ever before, not only thanks to the screen that stays on because you’re looking at it. Samsung assures me that the performance will be better than the SII; it needs to be much better. It’s good to see, however, that one of the range of optional accessories will be wireless charging, via a special back and charging pad ideal for the bedside table.

Overall, the device is in many ways much like its predecessor: does it feel as solid or heavy in the hand as the iPhone? No, although it’s certainly a lot bigger. Is it a different, superb product in its own right? Absolutely. On spending just a short time with the S3, I’m confident in saying that it’s a worthy successor to the globally popular S2. But I also want to see how much all those new features make a real difference in everyday use to form a fuller opinion.

Samsung may sue Apple over LTE technology

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Sep 2012 11:35:00 +0530

Samsung executives plan to sue Apple if it releases any devices with LTE technology, according to reports.

Samsung's continuing argument with Apple shows no signal of reduction with the company reportedly bullying to take lawful action over long-term evolutionary technology (LTE)

According to a report from the Korea Times, Samsung executives plan to instantly sue Apple if it releases products that use the advanced technology, more commonly referred to as 4G.

Nokia holds the greatest amount of the world's LTE patents at 18.9 per cent but Samsung holds more than 12 per cent of the world's LTE patents, according to data from Thomson Reuters.

Apple has already released a 4G capable device, the iPad 3 but there has been rumor that Samsung could be waiting for the company to release a 4G-capable iPhone before proceeding with a legal fight.

Apple's new iPhone is expected to be released within the next few weeks and is predicted to be a 4G device.

There have been reports that Apple has been in talks with Korean carriers about putting the new iPhone in the country on 4G LTE networks.

Samsung, a South Korean based company, may try to place an injunction on the iPhone 5 which could be one of Apple's most successful devices.

This latest development follows Apple's considerable legal victory over Samsung last week in California when a US jury found that Samsung had violated patents used in the iPhone.

Samsung was ordered by the jury to pay $1.05bn (£664m) damages and Apple immediately announced that it wanted to ban eight Samsung devices in the United States.

A court date to decide the outcome of the case has been set for December 6.

Samsung secured a minor legal victory last night when a Tokyo court ruled that Samsung had not infringed on Apple's patent in Japan.

The case addressed only the synchronizing technology that allows media players to share data with personal computers so was not comparable in scope to the California ruling.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 launches at IFA 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 14:55:00 +0530

Popular phone and tablet the Samsung Galaxy Note has been updated with an improved screen and performance, as well as a better stylus.

The original Galaxy Note was launched last year at IFA 2011, and despite muted critical reaction the 5” phone and tablet went on to sell surprisingly well.

The updated version improves the stylus that allows users to write notes and select areas on the screen, and also incorporates the success of design features now found in the Galaxy SIII phone. It also increases the screen size to 5.5" without making the device bigger overall.

With Samsung recently ordered by a US court to pay Apple $1billion for copyright infringement, analysts at CCS Insight said that the announcement of improvements to the device in a category of products that Samsung created were “a timely response to criticism that Samsung is a follower not an innovator”. The firm added that the S-Pen stylus is now of “high strategic importance and the Note 2 offers opportunity to truly differentiate in the smartphone market”.

New features in the Note 2 improve the operating system, upgrading it to Android 4.1, and now include a quad-core 1.6GHz processor and a 5.5” Super HD Amoled screen. Additional S-Pen features allow users to hover over photos or video, as well as emails or calendar entries, to see more information.

The 9.4mm thin, 180g device also allows users to write notes on the ‘back’ of photographs and improves the ease with which notes can be written while a phone call is being made at the same time. Prices will be announced nearer the October launch, and while 3G and 4G models will be offered it is not yet known whether the device will be compatible with the UK’s first 4G service, from Everything Everywhere via Orange, T-Mobile and Three.

Samsung also announced that it would upgrade the Galaxy SIII phone to the latest version of Android "very soon", and followed camera manufacturer Nikon to use Android for a dedicated Android camera, called the Galaxy Camera. It also confirmed that it would make a range of Windows 8 tablets, laptops and smartphones, to be released under the new Ativ sub-brand when Microsoft releases Windows 8 in October.

Also at the IFA electronics fair in Berlin, where Smasung made its announcements, Sony unveiled a new range of phones and a new tablet, along with an improved television that offers an 84" screen with definition four times higher than HD.

First UK Angry Birds theme park opens today

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 23:18:00 +0530

The UK’s first Angry Birds Activity Park has officially opened today at Sundown Adventureland in Nottinghamshire.

The first one in the world opened in April in Finland. Sundown Adventureland, a theme park in Nottinghamshire designed for under-10s only, is the first place to feature Angry Birds playground equipment in the UK.

By playing in the parks, which will feature animal spring riders, swings, sandpits and a range of climbing towers with slides, children and parents will be able to access new features in the mobile game, as the Angry Birds creators try and fuse the digital world with reality.

The Angry Birds Activity Park at Sundown Adventureland includes several large play units, a mixture of themed swings and roundabouts and a giant dummy catapult to replicate the Angry Birds world.

Paul Tomlinson, Park Manager at the family-owned Sundown Adventureland, which is situated near Retford, said: “We’re all tremendously excited about the opening of the Angry Birds Park. There has been a definite buzz about the launch and we’ve been amazed at the response from staff and visitors.

“People of all ages seem to relate to the Angry Birds theme and we are thrilled to be bringing this digital phenomenon to life with the help of Lappset and Rovio. The younger generation is living in a world where technology rules so using that to encourage activity must be a positive move.”

By next Easter the park will also include a series of Angry Birds-themed rides and a rollercoaster by summer 2013.

Peter Vesterbacka, chief marketing officer of Angry Birds parent company Rovio, [officially known as the ‘Mighty Eagle’], speaking at the global launch in March 2012 at the Finnish Embassy in London, said: “There is a big problem with childhood obesity in Western countries with children spending a lot of time playing computer games and watching TV. We have discovered that we can make learning fun [referring to a new range of science textbooks released by the firm] so why not make exercise fun?

“All of the Angry Birds Activity Parks will be ‘Magic Places’ which means that when people go there, they will gain access to additional content, rewards and special features such as the latest bird.

"There will also be local leader boards so there will be a real incentive to go to the park and exercise. Modern mobile phones have many sensors so the more activity a person does, the more they will be rewarded.

“You can create some really cool experiences when you combine the real world with the digital world.”

More Angry Birds activity parks are expected to launch across the UK throughout the next 12 months.

Angry Birds has been downloaded more than 700 million times and its biggest market is the US, closely followed by China.

Last year it was the most popular paid-for app on Apple’s App Store. The game, now also available as a web app, is played by more than 30 million people a day for a total of 300 million minutes.

The 300 million total minutes clocked up each day represents the equivalent of a single gamer spending more than 570 years playing Angry Birds. The game involves catapulting destructive birds at pigs hidden in a series of fortresses.

CAT MAT XAT- all Aptitude test success material

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 17:21:00 +0530

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noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 20:41:00 +0530

Why Bloggers prefer anonymous blogging?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 14:09:00 +0530

Anonymous blogging means writing a blog or diary online in such a way that the writer will hide his/her identity. There can be different reasons why some writers don’t want to disclose their names and style of writing a blog to the public. Since blogging has become popular, some programmers create different tools to make simplifications on the methods of anonymous blogging.
AUTHORS GET INVOLVED IN DIFFERENT BLOGGING FORMS
The traditional weblog is the most commonly known type of anonymous blogging. These are the kinds of blogs which usually run short to moderate length articles created on a daily or weekly basis. However, longer common entries which focus on a specific topic are also available. There are also other writers who chose to pose more concise messages using microblogging such as twitter. Some others will also participate anonymously in multiple user blogs wherein different authors will contribute the same or separate articles which will be posted in the same site.
WHY CHOOSE BEING ANONYMOUS
One of the reasons why people get involved in anonymous blogging is to avoid possible confrontation when gossip or complain arises. Writers with this kind of motive are mostly have negative things to say to a certain individual or institution but will not be considered whistleblowers because they will not be revealing any unethical or illegal behavior. These kinds of blogs are not protected by whistleblowing laws; therefore, if there will be certain false and damaging statements presented by the author in these blogs, he /she may be sued for libel.
HOW TO BECOME ANONYMOUS
There are different kinds of method used by writers to keep anonymous. Bloggers usually chose to be unknown are usually influenced by technical skills and resources from people who aim to discover someone’s identity. In most cases where resources are not available, using a false name would be enough. For some cases a more technically complex solution might be necessary. This includes being always connected to the blogs through an unknown web proxy or using a more advance service like The Onion Writer (TOR). Even if the best advanced technology will be used to protect a writer’s identity, there are still possibilities of accidental revelation of his confidential information. This is the reason why some authors make alterations on the details they post for every article.
PERSONAL VS. BUSINESS MATTERS
Anonymous blogs enables total separation between personal/professional life and blogging life. This can be true to individuals who blog about sensitive topics on adult blogs etc.
With anonymous blogging, the risk of stalkers will be controlled. This type of blogging also provides clarity that the write is just writing for himself, his place of employment and does not have to worry about the possibility that readers may think that the writer is one of the subject of his blogs. Moreover, writing under various names lets bloggers to express a variety of aspects of their personality which include parts that may be not right to be shown at other times. Writing an anonymous blog provides writers the permission to play as they are not dealing with the violence of their established personality.

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noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:23:00 +0530

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Comparison Of Akash Tablet and Pantel Tpad Models

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 6 Mar 2012 18:53:00 +0530

Comparison Of Akash Tablet and Pantel Tpad Models like IS701R, WS704C, WS802C

Features & Specifications of BSNL's Penta IS701R tablet

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 6 Mar 2012 17:48:00 +0530

New Delhi: BSNL recently launched the tremendously low cost tablet packaged with its connection. BSNL tablet, Penta IS701R, is contrived by Noida based Pantel Technologies, is a

Wifi model, and is valued at Rs 3,499.

The Mobile Indian got hold of BSNL's entry level model, Penta IS701R which appears with a packaged data plan of 5 GB for 60 days, after which consumers can renew the same plan for Rs 750.

Penta IS701R is a WiFi-only tablet with Android 2.3 operating system, a 1 GHz processor and 256 MB of RAM. Its 7 inch resistive touchscreen has 800 x 600 pixel resolution and a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Though the review piece which The Mobile Indian got didn't had HDMI port but the company officials said that the tablet which will be available in market will have an HDMI port through which it can be connected to a TV.

The tablet has a 3000 mAh battery and 2 GB internal memory that can be expanded through a micro SD card. It has a VGA front facing camera and a micro USB port that can be used to connect data card and to charge the device.

Look and feel

As compared to other low cost tablets in the market, Penta IS701R looks somewhat better in terms of specification but the foam factor or design looks similar to other tablets available in the market. It has a plastic body and a textured finish for better grip. The tablet has four physical buttons; three on the front panel - refresh, home and menu; and one on side panel for power on and off which doubles up as a screen lock button.

Penta IS701R has a VGA camera on the front panel which can be used for video conferencing, but the quality is average. For connecting the headset it has a 3.5 mm jack and expandable memory slot which can be expanded to 32 GB.

Performance

The device which The Mobile Indian got had an average response to touch. The response to swipe was frustrating as one had to press the finger harder to get the response.

Apart from this, Penta IS701R doesn't have a physical volume rocker button that means if you are using any app and want to control the audio you have to first go to the home screen and access the volume control icon, placed at the top right corner of the tablet. Also, for the short time that we charged the tablet, its back panel (under which the battery unit is placed) heated up a lot.

BSNL Tablet supports popular file formats like .doc, .docx, .pdf, .pptx, MP3, WMA and .RM.

We didn't face any issue while accessing the internet on Wifi mode or touch keyboard. As a matter of fact touch experience with keyboard was quite nice.

Conclusion

At Rs 3,499 Penta IS701R is a decent device for customers who are plunging into the world of tablets for the first time. There is nothing amazing about the device except the HDMI port.