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News : Vargas Llosa gana el Nobel de Literatura

2010-10-07T11:16:00.000-05:00

ESTOCOLMO (AP) — Mario Vargas Llosa, uno de los escritores latinoamericanos más célebres, fue galardonado con el premio Nobel de Literatura 2010 y se convirtió en el primer ganador de habla hispana desde 1990.

"Ha sido una sorpresa total, una sorpresa agradable", declaró Vargas Llosa la mañana del jueves a la estación radial WQBA 1140 de Miami, en una entrevista telefónica.

"Es un estímulo formidable, supongo que en estos días mi vida se va a complicar un poco ... pero no creo que en lo fundamental cambie nada en lo que se refiere a mi trabajo", añadió el escritor peruano.

La Academia Sueca dijo que le otorgó el galardón al autor de 74 años, "por su cartografía de las estructuras de poder y sus imágenes mordaces de la resistencia, la rebelión y la derrota del individuo".

Vargas Llosa, quien se encuentra en Nueva York dando clases en la Universidad de Princeton, explicó que estaba despierto temprano en la mañana cuando su esposa recibió una llamada que le pasó porque no entendió quién era el que hablaba.

La llamada se cortó, y cuando él volvió a atender se enteró que era el secretario de la academia sueca informándole que había ganado el premio Nobel de Literatura y que en 14 minutos se haría el anuncio público.

"Me quedó en la cabeza la duda, no vaya a ser una broma... Todavía ando un poco sorprendido. La verdad es que no me lo esperaba", relató Vargas Llosa, cuya próxima novela, "El sueño del celta", sale a la venta el 3 de noviembre.

El peruano, nacionalizado español, es el primer ganador de habla hispana del Nobel de Literatura desde que fue otorgado al escritor mexicano Octavio Paz en 1990. El escritor colombiano Gabriel García Márquez lo recibió en 1982. Anteriormente habían sigo galardonados el novelista guatemalteco Miguel Angel Asturias y los poetas chilenos Gabriela Mistral y Pablo Neruda.

El secretario permanente de la academia, Peter Englund, dijo que Vargas Llosa "tiene el don divino de la narrativa... es uno de los grandes autores del mundo de habla hispana".

Añadió que el escritor se encontraba en Nueva York el jueves cuando recibió la noticia por teléfono. Está dictando un curso en la Universidad de Princeton, en Nueva Jersey.

"Estaba muy, muy feliz", dijo Englund. "Y muy conmovido".

El gran éxito internacional llegó a Vargas Llosa con la novela "La ciudad y los perros", de 1960.

Vargas Llosa ha escrito más de 30 novelas, obras de teatro y ensayos, como "Conversación en la Catedral" y "La casa verde". En 1995, fue galardonado con el Premio Cervantes, el galardón literario más distinguido del mundo de habla española. Entre sus obras de teatro se cuentan "La señorita de Tacna", "La Chunga" y "Katy y el hipopótamo".

Vargas Llosa nació en Arequipa, Perú, en 1936. Inició su vida en un entorno familiar que para la época era desalentador. De madre divorciada, en una sociedad peruana conservadora, y que se mantuvo alejado de su padre, al que conoció cuando cumplió 10 años, tuvo una difícil ruta en sus primeros años.

Su madre decidió viajar a Cochabamba, Bolivia, para criar a su hijo alejado de presiones, y en esa ciudad serrana hizo sus estudios básicos.

A su retorno a Perú, en 1946, estudió en el colegio militar Leoncio Prado, lo que le marcó y sirvió de base para una de sus obras más famosas: "La ciudad y los perros", que obtuvo el prestigioso premio Biblioteca Breve de la editorial Seix Barral en 1962.

Otra de sus novelas más célebres, "La tía Julia y el escribidor" (1977), narra también sus experiencias juveniles y de paso a la adultez, como su relación con su tía política Julia Urquidi, de mayor edad que él, y con la que se casó en 1953 cuando tenía 18 años, mientras trataba de subsistir como periodista de radio y prensa, e incluso como encargado de revisar los nombres de las tumbas de un cementerio.

Sus esfuerzos por no desligarse de las letras, le dieron frutos en 1959, cuando su obra "Los jefes" fue premiada y empezó a ser reconocido dentro y fuera de las fronteras de Perú, al tiempo que difundía sus ideas socialistas, como el apoyo a la revolución cubana.

Como reflejo de esta influencia, Vargas Llosa viajó a La Habana en 1962 como enviado especial de la radio-televisión francesa durante la crisis de los misiles que la entonces Unión Soviética instaló en la isla y que provocó una fuerte tensión con el gobierno estadounidense de John F. Kennedy.

En esta época, escribió "Conversación en la Catedral", en 1969, una de sus obras más destacadas, que mezcla un cuento con la realidad de la alta sociedad vinculada con la política peruana; y "La casa verde", mientras alternaba su residencia en Perú y Argentina. Luego viajó a Europa, donde vivió en París, Barcelona, y Londres.

Su período de idealista de izquierda terminó en 1971, cuando Vargas Llosa dio un giro intelectual hacia la centro izquierda. En ese año publica "García Márquez: Historia de un Deicidio", obra que destaca el proceso creativo de su entonces amigo, el premio Nobel de Literatura (1982), el colombiano Gabriel García Márquez.

La novela "Pantaleón y las visitadoras", publicada en 1973, fue llevada al cine por él en 1976, con poco éxito, aunque luego fue realizada nuevamente en el 2000 por otro peruano, Francisco Lombardi, con gran acogida del público y la crítica.

En la década de los ochenta, Vargas Llosa intercaló su ininterrumpido trabajo literario con el periodismo, y en 1983 realizó una destacada investigación acerca de la muerte de ocho periodistas a manos de indígenas, que los habían confundieron con guerrilleros.

En esa década, una de las más prolíficas, salen a la luz sus libros "La guerra del fin del mundo", "Contra viento y marea", "Historia de Mayta", y "¿Quién mató a Palomino Molero?".

Aunque hasta ese momento se mantenía alejado de la política, en 1987 mostró su oposición radical al gobierno del presidente Alan García (1985-1990), en ese entonces en su primer mandato presidencial, por las duras posturas nacionalistas y de tinte socialista que había ejecutado.

Vargas Llosa participó como candidato presidencial en las elecciones de 1990 y aparecía como favorito, pero fue derrotado sorpresivamente por las promesas populistas de Alberto Fujimori. Su desenvolvimiento político de ese entonces fue puesto en papel en su obra "El pez en el agua", publicada en 1993.

En ese año retornó a Europa, y sumó la nacionalidad española a la peruana, lo que causó el recelo en su país de origen.

"Jamás he renunciado a mi nacionalidad peruana, la he enriquecido añadiéndole la española", dijo haciendo precisiones a la controversia, en tanto escribía novelas, realizando análisis noticiosos y criticaba fuertemente al gobierno de Fujimori y a otros regímenes autoritarios de la región.

Inició el siglo XXI publicando la novela "La fiesta del chivo", de gran éxito comercial, y que fue llevada al cine en el 2005. La novela está ambientada en la República Dominicana en los últimos años de la dictadura de Trujillo.

News : Apple likely to show off new iPods Sept 1

2010-08-26T11:32:00.001-05:00

SEATTLE/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Apple Inc is expected to show off a snazzier line of iPods on September 1, as speculation mounts the consumer electronics giant may also unveil plans to reinvigorate its long-neglected TV project.
Analysts expect the makers of the iPhone and the iPad, which has always labeled Apple TV a hobby, to showcase a new iPod Touch with dual cameras in time for the holidays.
Its shares climbed 1.2 percent. The company has in recent years used splashy September events to showcase new iPod models for the year-end spending spree. It typically also describes tweaks and new features for its iTunes online media store.
Last year's event marked the return of Steve Jobs to the public eye after a long hiatus, during which he underwent a liver transplant. This year, blogs are afire with talk about a souped-up Apple TV, though analysts deem unlikely a major announcement on that front next week.
Sources have told Reuters Apple is in the throes of negotiations with the major U.S. TV networks from Walt Disney Co's ABC to General Electric Co's NBC, hoping to offer TV shows for rent via iTunes for 99 cents per episode.
But those sources also said it was not a done deal. Apple and the media companies have declined to comment.
"From our checks with supply chain and industry sources, we believe potential changes could turn Apple TV into a bigger hobby and a multimillion unit seller," Shaw Wu of Kaufman Bros wrote.
Apple will hold the event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, where it introduced the iPad in April. This year's invitation carried a prominent picture of a guitar's front, with an Apple logo standing in for the sound hole.
The company's iPods dominate the music- and media-player market, but growth there has moderated in past years and it has turned its attention toward the iPhone and iPad. In the June quarter, Apple said it sold 9.41 million iPods in the June quarter, down from 10.2 million a year earlier.
In contrast, analysts estimate the company sells about 1 million Apple TV units annually.
Still, some analysts expect Apple to eventually revamp -- and enhance -- its long-neglected TV device as the electronics maker continues to merge content with gadgets and ensconce itself in the home.
Wu expects to revamped Apple TVs in stores as early as this holiday, or the first half of 2011.
"In the grander scheme of things, it takes them a step closer" in that effort," Wu said. The device is "perhaps a precursor into a bigger effort to address the home entertainment space down the road."

(Reporting by Bill Rigby and Edwin Chan; Editing by Richard Chang)

News : Netflix makes available free iPhone, iPod app

2010-08-26T11:29:00.002-05:00

(Reuters) - Web video subscription service Netflix Inc launched on Thursday a free iPhone and iPod application that allows subscribers to watch TV shows and movies on Apple Inc's handheld devices.
Netflix said the app is available on iTunes for subscribers to plans starting at $8.99.
Earlier this month, Netflix struck a $1 billion deal with pay TV channel Epix to become the exclusive web-only distributor of films from Paramount, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and Lions Gate Entertainment.
(Reporting by Jennifer Saba, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

News : Spies behind 2008 cyber attack, U.S. official says

2010-08-26T11:27:00.001-05:00

By Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A foreign spy agency led a 2008 cyber attack on U.S. military computer systems, a top Pentagon official said, shedding light on what he called the most significant breach of American military cyber security.
Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn said the attack took place after an infected flash-drive was inserted into a U.S. military laptop at a base in the Middle East, uploading malicious computer code onto the Central Command network.
"That code spread undetected on both classified and unclassified systems, establishing what amounted to a digital beachhead from which data could be transferred to servers under foreign control," Lynn wrote in an article for Foreign Affairs magazine published on Wednesday.
"This previously classified incident was the most significant breach of U.S. military computers ever."
Lynn did not say which country's spy agency was behind the attack. But he said that more than 100 foreign intelligence organizations were trying to break into U.S. networks.
"Some governments already have the capacity to disrupt elements of the U.S. information infrastructure," he wrote.
Every year, he said, hackers steal enough data from U.S. government agencies, businesses and universities to fill the U.S. Library of Congress many times over.
When it comes to attacks on the military, the difficulty identifying culprits behind attacks make them very hard to respond to and alluring for hostile governments, he said.
"Cyber attacks offer a means for potential adversaries to overcome overwhelming U.S. advantages in conventional military power and to do so in ways that are instantaneous and exceedingly hard to trace," he wrote.
KILL SWITCHES
Counterfeit hardware had already been detected in systems that had been procured by the Defense Department, Lynn said -- a danger since computer chips can be written with remotely operated "kill switches" and hidden backdoors.
"The risk of compromise in the manufacturing process if very real and is perhaps the least understood cyber threat," Lynn wrote.
Rogue code, including so-called "logic bombs" that cause malfunctions, can also be inserted into software as its being developed, he said.
Lynn said the attack was a wake-up call for the Pentagon, which has since launched a Cyber Command and taken measures to bolster defenses.
Policymakers now need to consider whether Pentagon capabilities should be extended to shield civilian infrastructure from attack, Lynn said. He noted that U.S. defense contractors have already been targeted "and sensitive weapons systems have been compromised."
"The U.S. government has only just begun to broach the larger question of whether it is necessary and appropriate to use national resources, such as defenses that now guard military networks, to protect civilian infrastructure," he said.
(Editing Xavier Briand)

News : Mozilla launches Firefox 4 beta 4, rolls in Sync, Panorama tab manager

2010-08-24T23:21:00.000-05:00

Firefox Panorama: How To from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.
Mozilla Tuesday updated Firefox 4 to its fourth beta release, adding two major new features: Firefox Sync and Panorama.
Firefox Sync lets users access browser history, password keychain, bookmarks, and open tabs across their different desktop computers, iOS, or Maemo-based mobile devices. Sync is available as an add-in for Firefox 3.5 and 3.6, but in Firefox 4, it is a built-in feature.

Firefox Panorama was formerly known as Tab Candy, and it debuted in alpha several months ago to critical acclaim. To solve the problem of too many browser tabs being open at once, and turning into a cluttered mess; the feature lets the user arrange their tabs into groups. The result is similar to HTC and Samsung's Android UI layers that let the user zoom out and see all the homescreens at once.

Mozilla's Aza Raskin Tuesday said, "While there are many directions still left to explore...there is a strong set of design principles that have and will continue to guide development. We've already seen activity from extension authors to extend the capabilities of Panorama, which makes now a perfect time to discuss Panorama's design principles."

News : Halo Reach hacked, leaked weeks before anticipated release date

2010-08-23T23:29:00.001-05:00

Halo: Reach, a prequel to Microsoft's billion-dollar Halo first person shooter series was scheduled to launch on September 14 worldwide, but a pre-release version of the game leaked early and has found its way across the Web.
Microsoft put the full version of Halo: Reach on Xbox Live Marketplace for media and reviewers to download with a pricetag of 99,999 Microsoft points to prevent the public from accessing it. A group of users on a game modding site called Game-Tuts.com took credit last week for cracking Halo: Reach.
A user going by the name Joakim posted: "So after alot of .xex cracking etc. Me and my team finally did it, we got Halo: Reach! This is not released for public, and we are not really planning on releasing either."
The file, however, found its way out within 24 hours of that post. The precise source of the leak has not yet been determined.
To play the game, an Xbox 360 hardware modification called JTAG is required. With this, users can install any size hard drive or launch unsigned games through a parallel PC connection.

News : UK students on electric car crusade

2010-08-23T23:21:00.000-05:00

News : China's Tencent buys Google-backed social-networking co

2010-08-23T23:18:00.000-05:00

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's largest Internet company Tencent Holdings Ltd has bought a Google-backed Chinese social networking company for more than $60 million, the China Business News reported on Tuesday.

Tencent, China's No.1 online game operator and its largest instant messaging provider, had bought Comsenz, a Beijing-based social-networking provider, Comsenz said in a statement on its website. Comsenz is backed by Google Inc, Sequoia Capital and Morningside Ventures.
The deal was reportedly worth more than $60 million, the newspaper said, quoting a source familiar with the situation.
Tencent could not be reached for comment.
Tencent, which bought a 10 percent stake in Russian Facebook investor Digital Sky Technologies (DST) for $300 million earlier this year, could be on the look out for more acquisitions as it seeks to expand its dominance beyond China.
China's Internet space is becoming more cut-throat as users become more sophisticated and selective over which products and services they use and companies jostle for attention in an increasingly crowded arena. China is the world's largest Internet market by users with 420 million online.
(Reporting by Melanie Lee; Editing by Chris Lewis)

News: Taiwanese LCD maker files second suit against Sony

2010-08-23T23:15:00.000-05:00

Sony Computer Entertainment's new Play Station 3 (PS3) game console is displayed during a news conference in Tokyo August 19, 2009.

Credit: Reuters/Yuriko Nakao

By Liana B. Baker

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Taiwan's Chimei Innolux Corp sued Japan's Sony Corp for infringing on patents used in PlayStation 3 video game consoles, televisions, computer notebooks and cameras.
Sony engaged in "widespread infringement" of three patents dating back to 1998 Chimei said in its lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Delaware on Monday.
Chimei said the infringement came after it had invested tens of millions of dollars in developing liquid crystal display (LCD) panels and related products.
The complaint was filed a month after Chimei filed a similar lawsuit against Sony in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas.
Chimei is seeking unspecified compensatory damages, which it wants tripled because of what it considers Sony's "willful" misconduct, and other remedies.
Neither company returned calls seeking comment.
Sony, the world's second-largest camera maker and the third-largest flat screen TV maker, posted an operating profit of 67 billion yen ($785 million) in its fiscal quarter ended in June.
Chimei Innolux was formed in a three-way merger in March and overtook AU Optronics as Taiwan's No. 1 LCD maker. It reported a second-quarter net profit of T$9.54 billion (US$298 million) on August 9
The case is: Chimei Innolux Corp v. Sony Corp et al, U.S. District Court, District of Delaware, No. 10-00706.
The case in the Western District of Arkansas is Chimei Innolux Corp v Sony Corp, et al, No. 5:10-cv-05122.
(Reporting by Liana B. Baker; editing by Leslie Gevirtz)

News : Video Intel powers Creators Project

2010-08-22T23:55:00.000-05:00

News : Facebook "Places" lets users track friends and services

2010-08-22T23:40:00.000-05:00

By Alexei Oreskovic

PALO ALTO Calif (Reuters) - Facebook's 500 million-plus users will soon be able to track friends' whereabouts across the United States, as the world's largest Internet social network adds technology to increasingly tie its virtual world to everyday life.
The new "Places" feature -- which begins rolling out on Wednesday to some users and goes nationwide within weeks -- is touted as a tool to help users share where they are, figure out who is in the vicinity, and check out happenings and services within the same locale.
The addition of so-called location services to Facebook -- a move that industry observers have speculated about for months -- opens new revenue opportunities for the company, but also presents it with delicate privacy challenges.
"Places" will be accessible via an Apple iPhone app that Facebook designed from Thursday, or from the social network's own mobile version on touchscreen smartphones.
"This is not about broadcasting your location to the world, it's about sharing where you are with your friends," said Michael Sharon, product manager for "Places."
Users will be able to declare their whereabouts whenever they want, thereby opening themselves up potentially to offers, suggestions or advertisements about nearby businesses. Facebook on Wednesday said it had no immediate plans however to pursue such money-making opportunities.
Users can "check in" from their smartphones, broadcasting their location -- anywhere from a restaurant to a park -- to their own Facebook friends. Their whereabouts are then flashed through the network's popular status updates.
Users can look up the locations of friends who are similarly "checked in" -- either via updates or on a separate Web page -- or tag friends who happen to physically be with them, thus declaring where they are.
But with privacy in mind, Facebook will allow users to block "Places" functions as part of a comprehensive set of privacy controls and other safeguards.
The new services could help Facebook grab a bigger piece of a local advertising market driven by small businesses like restaurants and stores. The vast size of that market -- estimated in the tens of billions of dollars a year in the United States alone -- has attracted online companies like Google and Yelp.
The feature could let Facebook eventually target users with ads based on their location, or offer special coupons when a user nears a certain business, supplementing the $700 million to $800 million that Facebook generated in revenue last year, according to people familiar with the matter.
LOCATION, LOCATION
Location services like Foursquare, Gowalla and Loopt, which allow consumers to use their cell phones to keep track of their friends whereabouts and earn rewards for frequenting brick-and-mortar businesses, have caught on among technology aficionados.
Foursquare and Gowalla executives popped up onstage alongside Facebook on Wednesday, saying they will team up with the social network and tailor their own services to work alongside its "Places" feature.
Foursquare, one of the fastest-growing location services, has amassed 2.7 million users since its March 2009 launch and raised $20 million in venture capital funding in June. Facebook and Yahoo both unsuccessfully sought to acquire Foursquare earlier this year, according to media reports.
Whether location services appeal to the mainstream audience on Facebook however remains to be seen, particularly given the concerns many people may have about a service that reveals their physical location.
Privacy has been a persistently thorny issue for social networking companies, which must balance users' concerns about how much of their personal information is made public with the need to generate revenue by sharing information about users with advertisers.
In May, Facebook introduced tools to give users more control over what personal information is shared on its service, following criticism from many privacy advocates.
Google Buzz, a microblogging service for broadcasting short messages to friends and contacts, was faulted for lax privacy settings as soon as it launched in January, a stumble from which the service never recovered, say analysts.
"They want to make sure they've done their homework, because privacy does become a concern right out of the gate," said Michael Gartenberg, a partner at consulting and analyst firm Altimeter Group. "They don't' want to introduce this and then have to come back and fix it."

(Editing by Edwin Chan and Valerie Lee)

News : Yahoo begins transition to Bing search, kills SearchMonkey

2010-08-18T10:55:00.000-05:00

Yahoo said Tuesday that it would begin to switch over its search backend to the Microsoft platform in the US and Canada, the cornerstone of an agreement reached between the two companies last July. A "Powered by Bing" graphic would appear at the bottom of its search pages after the transition, the company said.
It would still be some time yet before other markets worldwide transition to Bing, for which Yahoo gave no timeline, although it's expected the full transition wouldn't be complete until 2012. Of course, one notable example would be Japan: that division is switching to a Google backend pending regulatory approval and any legal challenges.
While the innards of Yahoo would change, the search company stressed that most of the functionality around the search would stay the same. Web services product SearchMonkey is a notable exception: that service shutters effective October 1.
"As a result, third party custom result apps, infobar apps, and data services will no longer appear on Yahoo!'s search results," product manager Natasha Fattedad wrote in a blog post announcing the move.
Yahoo would continue to offer its Search BOSS, YQL, and Site Explorer tools, although the company said it was still evaluating others, and would charge for access to some of them.
The fact that Yahoo's development tools will remain should not be too surprising: in essence, the Microsoft deal only really covered the search results portion of Yahoo. Most of Yahoo's other services were unaffected.
Paid search accounts would also begin the transition to Microsoft's adCenter platform this week as well. Current Yahoo Search Marketing customers would be prompted to create adCenter accounts through a transition portal, and Yahoo and Microsoft hope to have this portion of the transition completed by the end of the year.

News : Co-op to make juice from apples that inspired Newton

2010-01-04T11:09:00.001-05:00

The Co-op has bought 1,000 varieties of rare and endangered British apples for use in a new “heritage drink”

By Chris Farnell

The rare apples were purchased from the Brogdale Horticultural Trust. The Trust is in the process of moving its National Fruit Collection to Reading University, and decided to sell three identical collections of its rarer apples in a bid to ensure their survival.

The Co-operative bought one of the three collections 18 months ago, and went to grow and harvest the apples on its own fruit farm in Tillington, Herefordshire.

The collection includes one variety of apple which is identical to, and originated from, the same tree that legendarily dropped its fruit on Isaac Newton’s head, inspiring the theory of gravity.

Juice from these apples, and other rare and endangered species, will be used in The Co-operative Farms Truly Irresistable Tillington 1,000 pressed apple juice, 10,000 bottles of which will be available in selected stores.

Christine Tacon, Managing Director of The Co-operative Farms, said: "These apples offer a real taste of British history, and many of them, like ‘Isaac Newton's Tree', have stories behind them.

"The apples were in danger of disappearing forever, so to be able to turn them into a delicious and unique drink is very exciting. It is a great example of what The Co-operative can achieve, as both the UK's largest farming business and as a major food retailer."

Truly Irresistible Tillington 1,000 apple juice will be sold as part of The Co-operative's "Grown by Us" range, which sells food and drink grown by The Co-operative Farms, or made using ingredients grown by the business.

Today marks the 366th birthday of Isaac Newton.

Edited by Ellie Duncan

News : Freescale takes aim at tablet computer market

2010-01-04T11:06:00.002-05:00

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Chipmaker Freescale Semiconductor Inc is staking its claim on the tablet computer market, an emerging product category that will generate plenty of interest in 2010.

Although next-generation tablet PCs are scarcely evident on the market, the technology world is abuzz about their potential, as Apple Inc is expected to unveil its offering in 2010.

Freescale's announcement comes ahead of this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where rival chipmakers are expected to show off new so-called smartbooks, which aim to bridge the gap between laptops and smartphones.

Privately held Freescale unveiled its reference design for a 7-inch, touchscreen tablet running on the company's low-power ARM-based processor and priced at less than $200.

The company said such a device will be able to run either Google Inc's Android mobile software or Linux, with Wi-Fi and 3G capability.

Although Freescale declined to name any potential vendors for its tablet design, it said devices could hit retail shelves as soon as this summer. The company expects to show prototypes at CES.

Freescale makes chips for a variety of products, including the automotive market. Its application processor is used in Amazon.com Inc's Kindle.

Henri Richard, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Freescale, called a smartbook tablet the "missing link" between PCs and smartphones.

"The PC has been stale in terms of its ability to innovate. Smartphones have been making progress ... but they have limitations," he said.

Qualcomm Inc and Nvidia Corp are also expected to unveil smartbooks based on their chips at CES.

The devices will seek to break Intel Corp's stranglehold on stripped-down, low-cost PCs. Intel's Atom processor dominates the fast-growing netbook market.

Austin, Texas-based Freescale was spun off from Motorola Inc in 2004. The company was taken private in a $17.6 billion leveraged buyout in 2006. Sales in 2008 totaled $5.2 billion.

(Reporting by Gabriel Madway; Editing by Andre Grenon and Jan Paschal)

News : Robot festival in Tokyo

2009-11-30T11:15:00.000-05:00

An international robot exhibition in Tokyo showcases the changing face of robotics.

Chris Meyers reports.

News : British Library's new time machine

2009-11-30T11:11:00.000-05:00

Reuters Television has an exclusive first look at the high-density, oxygen-controlled facility built to house seven million items from the UK's national library's collection.

SOUNDBITES: Steve Morris, Director of Finance and Corporate Services, British Library

Alison Stephenson, Library worker

Matt Cowan, Reuters

News : Weird, wild creatures of the deep

2009-11-30T11:07:00.000-05:00

A far-reaching global marine census is shining a light on the previously undiscovered life inhabiting the darkest and most remote regions of Earth - the oceans.

Ben Gruber reports.

News : "Big Bang" collider sets particle beam record

2009-11-30T11:04:00.001-05:00

By Robert Evans

GENEVA (Reuters) - The "Big Bang" experiment at CERN near Geneva scored a world record on Monday by accelerating beams to the highest energy ever achieved in a particle collider, the research center announced.

Scientists at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, said the achievement marked a major milestone on the way to tests next year which they hope will unlock secrets of the origins and make-up of the universe.

The energy of the twin beams circulated around 27-km tunnels deep underground went, at 1.18 trillion electric volts (TeV), well past the previous highest -- just under 1 TeV -- in a collider at the U.S. Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.

The achievement in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) came 10 days after the world's largest scientific experiment was restarted following an accident soon after its launch in September 2008.

"We are still coming to terms with just how smooth the LHC commissioning is going," said CERN Director General Rolf Heuer as the record was announced. "It is fantastic."

The beam energy now achieved in the LHC -- a vast complex of huge magnets, electronics and computers costing some $10 billion underground on the Franco-Swiss border -- leaves some way to go before the real "Big Bang" experiments can begin.

The object of these is to smash particles together at a force of some 7 TeV and create conditions one billionth of a second after the explosion 13.7 billion years ago that shaped the universe and everything in it.

Data gathered when those collisions occur will be recorded and analyzed by a network of 10,000 researchers not just at CERN at the foot of the French Jura mountains but also in some 30 countries around the world.

Scientists hope to learn how matter, and what is called anti-matter, was created and whether the so-called "Higgs Boson" -- which Scottish physicist Peter Higgs suggests helped matter come together -- actually exists.

But despite the rapid and seamless progress since the first beams were injected into the repaired LHC on November 20, leaders of the project remained cautious about the moment when they will start what they call "first physics."

Said Heuer: "We are continuing to take it step by step, and there is a lot to do before we start physics in 2010. I'm keeping my champagne on ice until then."

Over the next few weeks, scientists will move into a commissioning phase aimed at slowly increasing the beam intensity and producing good quality collision data that the monitoring machines can test their capacities on.

The first major collisions at 7 TeV are due to take place some time in the first quarter of next year, CERN says.

(Editing by Janet Lawrence)

News : Shoppers already whetting holiday appetite online

2009-11-30T11:01:00.002-05:00

By Alexandria Sage

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Holiday shopping online hit a record for Black Friday, several days before the retail industry-coined Cyber Monday gets underway, as more consumers said they used the web to seek deals.

The strong start for web retailers should continue into what is otherwise expected to be a lackluster holiday season, benefiting Amazon.com, Wal-Mart Stores Inc's online unit and Google Inc, analysts said.

Analytics firm comScore said Sunday that U.S. online spending on Black Friday was the strongest it has ever been, up 11 percent over the prior year, with $595 million spent online.

Sales at retail stores rose 0.5 percent to $10.66 billion on that day, the official kick-off to holiday shopping, according to ShopperTrak.

"That's pretty significant in a recessionary environment -- to get a record like that and be that far ahead," said comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni. "I still expect Monday should be a much bigger day online than Black Friday."

Cyber Monday is the day when many consumers head back to work after the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend and use fast Internet connections to make holiday purchases, away from the prying eyes of spouses and children. The day has always spurred a flood of special online offers, but this year more are showing up even earlier, experts said.

Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru said she was not surprised by the online strength over the holiday weekend.

"I anticipate this momentum to continue for the next several weeks," Mulpuru said. "It's a good sign. It shouldn't slow down significantly from here."

Forrester Research has estimated that U.S. online sales in November and December should rise 8 percent this year, up from a 5 percent rise in the year-ago period. ComScore has forecast a 3 percent rise for the period.

AFTER BLACK FRIDAY, THE REST IS ONLINE

Yolanda and Victor Rebagliati were shopping at a San Francisco Old Navy store when it opened Sunday morning for some $5 clothing deals, but said they next planned to head online for an iPod from Apple Inc and a netbook.

"After today, the rest is online!" said Yolanda.

Experts say bargain hunting is driving the online strength. Searches for "Black Friday ads" on Thanksgiving and Black Friday were up 50 percent from the prior year, while those for "Target Black Friday and Walmart Black Friday" were up more than 75 percent in the same period, according to Google Insights for Search.

Online retailers Walmart.com and Amazon have spurred an online price war, and rivals are anxious to keep up, with web deals and free shipping offers advertised from Kohl's Corp, Toys R Us and Best Buy Co Inc.

Jefferies analyst Youssef Squali wrote in a recent note that Amazon and Google are the biggest likely beneficiaries of the online holiday season -- the retailer with its value-priced goods and the search giant that drives traffic to bargains.

Experian Hitwise, which measures traffic to websites, said on Sunday that Amazon was the top visited retail site on Black Friday for the second year in a row -- followed by Wal-Mart and Target Corp.

While retail experts say there is little to inspire a consumer to enter stores in the weeks leading up to Christmas, there is room to rise for online sales.

Fulgoni said he noticed more online deals offered on Black Friday this year than last.

"It looks like the retailers figured out that there is no reason for them to leave these deals to Cyber Monday," he said. "Everyone is well tuned to the fact that there is a consumer strapped for cash and you have to attract their attention."

Last year, online spending on Cyber Monday rose 15 percent to $846 million, according to comScore.

A savvier consumer that recognizes that some doorbuster deals offered by retailers in stores won't last long due to lower inventory levels this year could also be driving sales.

"If you didn't get it at 6 a.m. (in stores) you can probably get it at 9 a.m. on Macys.com," said Amanda Pires, a spokeswoman for eBay Inc online payments unit PayPal, which found that Black Friday payment volume rose 20 percent, with a 25 percent gain on Thanksgiving.

"There were some great Black Friday deals and people were out early to get them," Pires said. "That mentality has spilled over into the online world."

(Reporting by Alexandria Sage; Editing by Diane Craft

News : Black Friday Web shopping up 11 pct

2009-11-30T10:58:00.001-05:00

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Holiday shoppers in the United States spent some $595 million online on Black Friday, up 11 percent from last year, with Amazon.com and Walmart.com the most visited sites, according to analytics firm comScore.

Visits to Amazon.com (AMZN.O) rose 28 percent, followed by the online unit of Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N), which grew 22 percent. The two companies have already engaged in a heated battle for market share this holiday, with each lowering prices on select merchandise.

Since November 1, some $10.57 billion has been spent online in the United States for the holiday season, representing a 3 percent gain, according to comScore (SCOR.O).

"This is a very encouraging start," said comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni in a statement.

Earlier this week, the company said it expects total holiday e-commerce spending to rise 3 percent to $28.8 billion from $28 billion in the previous season when shoppers sharply curtailed spending amid the global financial meltdown.

The robust Web sales on Black Friday speak to retailers' attractive discounts online even on a weekend known for driving shoppers to brick-and-mortar stores, said Fulgoni.

"While this acceleration in spending suggests the online holiday season may be shaping up slightly more optimistically than anticipated, it may also reflect the heavy discounting and creative promotions being put forth by retailers that now encompass the use of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter," said Fulgoni.

Cyber Monday is the day considered the kick-off to the online spending season, when consumers return to work from the long Thanksgiving weekend and use their employers' fast Internet connections to purchase online.

(Reporting by Alexandria Sage, editing by Matthew Lewis)

News : Churchill and Roosevelt chit-chat

2009-11-13T10:47:00.001-05:00

Statues of Sir Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt are brought to life in London's West End to promote the release of 'Night at the Museum 2' on DVD.

Churchill can be heard complaining bitterly about the pigeons, parodying his famous "We shall never surrender" speech before the House of Commons during the Second World War in June 1940.

A team of digital artists spent two months planning the stunt which uses a series of light projections to give the impression that the statues' eyes and mouths were moving

News : Hi-tech holy water controls H1N1

2009-11-13T10:41:00.000-05:00

Italian worshippers use an electronic holy water dispenser to help prevent the spread of swine flu at a church at Capriano Briosco, about 50 kilometres north of Milan.

Matthew Stock reports.

News : FDA tackles gray area of social media

2009-11-13T10:33:00.002-05:00

By Deepa Seetharaman

WASHINGTON (Reuters)- Drug makers, Internet companies and nonprofits called for clarity on what is a gray area for U.S. health regulators: how drug promotion on Twitter, Wikipedia, blogs and other social media can be regulated.

The two-day Food and Drug Administration hearing aims to find out if the agency needs to specifically regulate how drugs and medical devices it oversees are promoted on the Internet.

"The lack of clarity today is creating confusion among the advertising community," said David Zinman, vice president at Yahoo Inc.

The FDA already has strict rules governing what drug makers can say in magazine, newspaper and television advertisements, but the fast-evolving online world is a Wild West when it comes to what is -- and is not -- possible to regulate.

In April, the FDA sent warning letters to 14 companies including Eli Lilly and Co and Merck & Co Inc about their drug marketing online, saying that ads for certain products were misleading and did not contain any risk information.

Since those letters, pharmaceutical companies have changed the way they design their ads and no longer include the brand name, Google Inc and Yahoo representatives said.

Google officials said the click-through rate on these ads "dramatically decreased" after April. They offered another ad design that offers consumers links to risk information.

"Users see all these links and they don't know exactly where they're going until they get there," Zinman said.

TACKLING TRICKY QUESTIONS

More than 800 people tried to register for the event, which was held in a conference room that seats 350. Others followed the speeches online and posted messages about it on Twitter.

The FDA organized about 30 different presentations on Thursday on topics ranging from drug makers' role in monitoring Internet content to data on how consumers get their health news.

Participants were asked to consider a number of questions, including how much responsibility drug makers bear for online content about their products and how to determine when online chats about a medicine are influenced by the manufacturer.

"We don't think companies should be responsible for policing the entire Internet for information about their products," said Johnson & Johnson executive Elizabeth Forminard.

One advocate noted there is a general lack of consistency about the quality of information on frequently-used third-party websites, such as Wikipedia.

"Because the risk of providing inaccurate information on medical products is so high, the FDA needs to establish ongoing relationships with ... websites consumers are relying on," Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Research Center for Women and Families, said in her remarks.

Thomas Abrams, director of FDA's drug marketing arm, is one of a dozen FDA officials who will analyze the public comments to decide what action, if any, the agency needs to take.

The agency is accepting comments through February 2010.

The FDA is webcasting the hearing at: here

(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman; editing by Tim Dobbyn and Andre Grenon)

News : Dell to introduce smartphone based on Android

2009-11-13T10:29:00.002-05:00

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dell Inc said on Friday it will sell smartphones equipped with Google Inc's Android mobile software, as the computer maker enters a market that is growing fast but crowded with competitors.

Dell plans to sell its new Mini 3 smartphones through Claro, part of the America Movil network, and China Mobil.

Details on the phones will be announced when the devices are available in stores late in November for China Mobile and around the end of the year for Claro, it said.

A source had said in October that Dell plans to launch an Android-based smartphone in the United States on AT&T's network.

Dell's announcement on Friday did not mention when the Round Rock, Texas-based company will sell the phones in the United States.

Dell becomes the latest tech manufacturer to bet on the fast-growing market dominated by Apple Inc's iPhone and Research in Motion's BlackBerry.

Worldwide factory shipments of smartphones are expected to rise to 235.6 million units in 2010, up 27.9 percent from 184.2 million in 2009, according to iSuppli.

Dell's phone would also boost Google's fledgling mobile platform, which vies with Apple's and Microsoft's platforms.

Hapoalim Securities USA analyst Kevin Hunt said that it was tough to see how Dell could have any advantage over established phone makers using Android, including HTC Corp, Motorola Inc and Samsung Electronics.

"They could have modest success. I wouldn't see it being a big driver," Hunt said, also noting that Dell is unlikely to make much higher margins in phones than it does in computers.

(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando, Franklin Paul and Sinead Carew; Editing by Derek Caney)

News : Facebook provides alibi for robbery suspect

2009-11-13T10:28:00.001-05:00

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A 19-year-old New York man who was arrested for armed robbery has been exonerated thanks to a status update he posted on social networking site Facebook.

Rodney Bradford was arrested and held for 12 days in connection with an October 17 armed robbery of two people in the Brooklyn housing project where he lives, prosecutors said.

But he insisted he was in Manhattan at the time of the crime -- a claim he backed up by an update he made to his Facebook page from a computer in his father's Manhattan building, prosecutors said.

A spokesman at the Brooklyn District Attorney's office acknowledged that Facebook played a role in the dismissal of charges.

(Reporting by Edith Honan; Editing by Michelle Nichols)