Samsung unveils world's first Windows 8 phone

Samsung Electronics became the first handset maker to announce a smartphone using Microsoft's latest mobile software, making its surprise, hurried announcement just days before the highly anticipated launch of Nokia's version. Samsung said the ATIV phone would hit stores in the October-November period but did not give an exact start date.

The brief announcement at a Berlin electronics show comes amid expectations that smartphone makers may turn increasingly to Windows devices after a US jury decided many of Samsung's Google Android-based phones infringed Apple Inc patents.

Samsung's ATIV S Windows phone sports a high-end 4.8-inch display, Corning "Gorilla" glass, and an 8-megapixel rear camera and 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera.

The ATIV S features a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, a 4.8-inch high-definition Super AMOLED display, 1GB of RAM, microSDHC support, an 8-megapixel camera, and a 2,300 mAh battery.

Samsung's Windows-based smartphone, introduced on Wednesday, marks the first in a 'big lineup of new hardware' from the South Korean company based on Microsoft's software, Microsoft executive Ben Rudolph said.

Samsung hopes the new device will take the focus away from its loss of the court case. Apple is now seeking speedy bans on the sale of eight Samsung phones, moving swiftly to turn legal victory into tangible business gain.

Nokia, the ailing Finnish mobile firm, once the world's leading producer of phones but now struggling to reverse losses, is due to unveil its new Lumia line of smartphones using Windows Phone 8 in New York on September 5.

Analysts say the introduction of Samsung's Windows phone may be designed to assuage concerns that Microsoft will favor Nokia, whose Chief Executive Stephen Elop -- himself a former senior Microsoft executive -- has staked its future on the Windows platform.

Cars popularity among celebs

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian has bought herself a brand new 2013 Mercedes G63 worth USD 150,000. In the last few years Kardashian has shelled out more than USD 1.2m on a series of customised top of the range motors, reported Daily Mail.

Bipasha Basu shows off her brand new Beetle that she calls 'Brad'

Dia Mirza drives a Lexus LX SUV

Priyanka Chopra owns a Porsche Cayenne and a Mercedes S-Class. Not many own a Cayenne in Bollywood and this choice of Priyanka is really unique. The Porsche Cayenne range starts at Rs. 77 lakhs and goes all the way upto Rs. 1.63 crore.

Kangna Ranaut bought herself a BMW 7 Series on her 21st birthday. She says it's very spacious and comfortable car.

Abhishek Bachchan bought the Audi A8L earlier this month. His customized Audi is powered by a 4.2-litre V8 diesel engine produces 350 BHP and 800 Nm. It costs upwards of Rs. 1 crore.

Salman Khan is a SUV lover too. He owns a Audi Q7, Range Rover and BMW X6. He also owns a Suzuki Hayabusa sports bike, which was once the fastest motorcycle in the world.

Kareena Kapoor owns a Lexus LX470 and Mercedes-Benz S-Class. While the Lexus is imported, the S-Class is the most expensive car to be assembled in India, retailing at a price upwards of Rs. 1 crore.

Sanjay Dutt has the best car collection in Bollywood. He owns a Rolls-Royce Phantom, Audi A8, Audi R8, Audi Q7, Range Rover Sport, Bentley Continental and a Ferrari 599 GTB. He also owns a Harley-Davidson Fat Boy.

Imran Khan might be the latest entrant in Bollywood but has quickly acquired four desirable cars - a Porsche Cayenne, BMW 3-Series, Volkswagen Beetle (his wife drives it) and a Ferrari California.

Saif Ali Khan likes macho vehicles and thus owns two of the most capable SUVs - Toyota Landcruiser and Range Rover Sport. Both these vehicles offer excellent off-road ability.

Shahid Kapoor is a big fan of JLR vehicles. He owns a Range Rover and a Jaguar XK-RS. These vehicles cost more than Rs. 1 crore each. Shahid also owns a Harley-Davidson Fatboy.

Shahrukh Khan is a big BMW fan. While his wife drives a 6-Series, he is usually seen in a 7-Series. The BMW 7-Series costs more than a crore and gives company to King Khan's Audi A6 and Bentley Continental GT.

Amitabh Bachchan owns some of the best luxury cars. He used to have a Bentley Arnage R earlier and now travels in a Rolls-Royce Phantom. The Phantom costs upwards of Rs. 4.5 crore.

John Abraham owns a Audi Q7 too but is more of a biker. He rides a Yamaha R1 super bike, which produces 180 BHP of power from its 1000 cc engine. It costs Rs. 13 lakhs.

Katrina Kaif owns a Audi Q7, which is the favorite of many in Bollywood. The Audi Q7 costs around Rs. 70 lakhs and is powered by 3.0-litre and 4.2-litre diesel engines, which produce 236 BHP and 362 BHP respectively.

Hrithik Roshan drives a Porsche 911 Carrera. This super car produces 350 BHP of power and 390 Nm of torque from its 3434cc, 6-cylinder engine. It retails at a price of Rs. 1.22 crore.

Aamir Khan owns a Rolls-Royce Ghost. The Ghost costs upwards of Rs. 3 crore and is powered by a 6.6-litre V12 engine which produces 563 BHP and 780 Nm.

Rajinikanth is one of the biggest super hero in India and you would imagine he must be driving a Bugatti Veyron. However he owns and drives the humble Premier Padmini. He also turned down a BMW 7-Series which Shahrukh Khan gifted him.

Innovative concept cars from Tata

Tata Aria Roadster - Tata showcased in the year 2000 the concept of an exceedingly good looking roadster - a two seater coupe convertible - called the Tata Aria. The then Ms. World Yukta Mookhey, along with the Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata did the honour of unveiling the Aria to the international press. Built on the same platform as the Tata Indica, The Tata Aria, proposed to be powered by a 140 hp engine

Tata Pixel - The Tata Pixel's ability to manoeuvre and park in the tightest of spaces is made possible by its Zero Turn toroidal traction-drive Infinitely Variable Transmission (IVT), which assists rotation of the outer rear wheel forwards and the inner rear wheel backwards, while the front wheels turn at acute angles. The result is a turning circle radius of just 2.6 metres. The 'scissor' doors rotate upwards from the front to allow passengers to effortlessly enter or exit the Tata Pixel, even in the tightest of spaces.

 

Tata Elegante - Tata Motors unveiled the Tata Elegante, a Sedan Concept based on all new platform, at the 77th Geneva Auto Show in the year 2007. The Tata Elegante, larger than the current Tata Indigo Sedan, is conceptualized to incorporate 4 cylinder transverse petrol and diesel engines from 1.4 litres through to 2 litres and a compact V6 petrol power unit. Common rail direct injection turbo diesel engines with variable valve timing and capabilities to comply with Euro V emissions norms will also be available. Power varies from 90 to 200 PS with torque of upto 280 Nm. Transmission options include 6 speed manual and automatic gearboxes.

 

Tata Aria Coupe - This car is built on the Tata Aria roadster concept that Tata had unveiled at year 2000 Geneva Auto Show. The Tata Aria coupe and roadster are on the same platform as Tata's B-segment 5-door hatchback car offering - the 1.4 litre Tata Indica. The Tata Aria Coupe has been conceptualised to be powered by a high performance 1.6 litre - 2.0 litre petrol engines, and has been styled in Italy.

Tata Aria Coupe - This car is built on the Tata Aria roadster concept that Tata had unveiled at year 2000 Geneva Auto Show. The Tata Aria coupe and roadster are on the same platform as Tata's B-segment 5-door hatchback car offering - the 1.4 litre Tata Indica. The Tata Aria Coupe has been conceptualised to be powered by a high performance 1.6 litre - 2.0 litre petrol engines, and has been styled in Italy.

Apple seeks quick bans on eight Samsung phones

REUTERS - Apple Inc is seeking speedy bans on the sale of eight Samsung phones, moving swiftly to translate its resounding court victory over its rival into a tangible business benefit.

The world's most valuable company wasted no time in identifying its targets on Monday: eight older-model smartphones, including the Galaxy S2 and Droid Charge. While Apple's lawsuit encompassed 28 devices, many of those accused products are no longer widely available in the world's largest mobile market.

Although Samsung's flagship Galaxy S III phone was not included in the trial, the jury validated Apple's patents on features and design elements that the U.S. company could then try to wield against that device. Apple may not have to seek a new trial over the S III, but can include it in a "contempt proceeding" that moves much faster, according to legal experts.

Many on Wall Street believe Apple now has momentum behind it in the wake of its near-complete triumph over the South Korean company on Friday.

"The evidence and weight of the case are heavily in Apple's favor," said Jefferies & Co analyst Peter Misek. "We expect there's a two-thirds chance of an injunction against Samsung products."

An injunction hearing has been set for September 20. If U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh grants sales bans, Samsung will likely seek to put them on hold pending the outcome of its appeal.

Samsung said it will take all necessary measures to ensure the availability of its products in the U.S. market. A source familiar with the situation said Samsung has already started working with U.S. carriers about modifying infringing features to keep products on the market should injunctions be granted.

Apple's win on Friday strengthens its position ahead of the iPhone 5's expected September 12 launch and could cement its market dominance as companies using Google Inc's Android operating system - two-thirds of the global market - may be forced to consider design changes, analysts say.

Apple was awarded $1.05 billion in damages after a U.S. jury found Samsung had copied critical features of the iPhone and iPad. The verdict could lead to an outright ban on sales of key Samsung products.

Apple's stock scored another record high on Monday.

While the victory does not cover new Samsung products including the Galaxy S III, Apple will push its case on these products in the near-term, Evercore Partners analyst Mark McKechnie said.
"While a ban would likely increase Apple's leading smartphone share in the U.S. market, we believe this verdict could lead to Samsung also delaying near-term product launches as it attempts to design around Apple's patents," Canaccord Genuity analysts said in a note.
TOOTH-AND-NAIL

Apple's shares gained 1.9 percent to close at $675.68, tacking on another $12 billion-plus to its already historically leading market value. Samsung lost about the same amount in market capitalization as its shares slid 7.5 percent in Seoul.

Samsung shares rebounded 1.8 percent on Tuesday.

"The ruling marks an important victory for Apple against Android. Competitors may now think twice about how they compete in smart mobility devices with the industry's clear innovator," Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes wrote on Monday. "If Apple forces competitors to innovate more, it could take longer for competitive products to come to market, and make it more expensive to develop them."

The victory for Apple - which upended the smartphone industry in 2007 with the iPhone - is a big blow to Google, whose Android software powers the Samsung products found to have infringed on patents. Google and its hardware partners, including the company's own Motorola unit, could now face legal hurdles in their effort to compete with the Apple juggernaut.

Google shares closed 1.4 percent lower at $669.22. Microsoft Corp , a potential beneficiary if smartphone makers begin to seek out Android alternatives, ended up 0.4 percent. Nokia , which has staked its future on Windows phones, gained 7.7 percent.
Even Research in Motion - which has hemorrhaged market share to Apple and Google - climbed more than 5 percent, before ending 2 percent higher.
"The mobile industry is moving fast and all players, including newcomers, are building upon ideas that have been around for decades," Google responded in a Sunday statement. "We work with our partners to give consumers innovative and affordable products, and we don't want anything to limit that."

The verdict came as competition in the device industry is intensifying, with Google jumping into hardware for the first time with the Nexus 7 and Microsoft's touchscreen-friendly Windows 8 coming in October, led by its "Surface" tablet.

Samsung, which sold around 50 million phones between April and June - almost twice the number of iPhones - will have to pay damages equivalent to just 1.5 percent of the annual revenue from its telecoms business.

"The verdict does not come as a surprise," wrote William Blair & Co analysts. "From Apple's perspective, Samsung's market position and its leadership in the handset world was something the company could no longer overlook, and viewing this as another 'imitation is a form of flattery' was not possible."

"Companies such as Samsung, who we categorize as fast followers, have been viewed by the industry for their ability to quickly adopt the latest handset trends ... rather than their ability to introduce fundamental innovation."

(Reporting by Sayantani Ghosh and Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bangalore, Jennifer Saba in New York; Additional reporting by Miyoung Kim in SEOUL; editing by Joyjeet Das, Matthew Lewis, Richard Chang and Ian Geoghegan)

The future of flight : Next generation of air travel

An unmanned experimental aircraft known as the Waverider or X-51A designed to fly six times the speed of sound broke apart over the Pacific Ocean seconds into a military test flight due to a faulty control fin.The problem with the fin on the craft was identified in a test flight on Tuesday, 16 seconds after a rocket booster on the remotely monitored craft was ignited to propel it forward, the Air Force said in a statement.

   

Even if the test had been a success, the aircraft would have crashed at the end of the flight in any case and was not considered retrievable.The Waverider was designed to reach speeds of Mach 6 or above, six times the speed of sound and fast enough to zoom from New York to London in less than an hour. The military has its eye on using the Waverider program to develop missiles with non-nuclear explosives that could strike anywhere in the world ...

   

The Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) is seen above Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey during its first flight, August 7, 2012. The LEMV, like a blimp, is said to be capable of carrying multiple intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance payloads for more than 21 days at altitudes greater than 22,000 feet. REUTERS/U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command

The EADS Atrium aircraft, which will enable space tourists to experience weightlessness briefly outside the earth's atmosphere. The aircraft, about the size of an executive jet, is designed to carry four passengers around 100 kilometres from the earth, where they will be able to experience about three minutes of weightlessness and see the curve of the earth. REUTERS/EADS Atrium/Marc Newson Ltd/NASA

DARPA's Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) in an artist's conception. The unmanned hypersonic glider is capable of flying at 20 times the speed of sound. REUTERS/DARPA

     

It’s raining MPVs in India

HONDA FREED - Though the Honda Freed is currently being sold in other Asian markets like Malaysia under the same name by the Japanese car giant, there’s no denying the fact that it is much awaited in the Indian market. Based on the Jazz platform, the Freed will surely bring along the smart exterior and interior design that the brand is known for, but might do away with sliding doors and may come with regular hinged ones.

Talking of the engine, along with the City’s 1.5-litre iVTEC in a tuned state, the Freed may also come with the option of a diesel mill that the company is reportedly working on.

Expected to be launched by 2014, the Freed is most likely to be priced between Rs 7 and 8 lakh.

NISSAN EVALIA - Another upcoming MPV showcased at the Auto Expo in the capital this year and soon to come into production is the Nissan Evalia. Previously called the NV200, the Evalia is a rather simple looking people-mover, with a tall, upright stance, short bonnet area and sliding doors.

Expected to come with a 1.2-litre turbocharged Kappa petrol engine mated with a six-speed automatic gearbox.

Amazing Space Photos

his NASA image obtained July 11, 2012 shows an artist's rendering which illustrates the evaporation of HD 189733b's atmosphere in response to a powerful eruption from its host star. The exoplanet is a gas giant similar to Jupiter, but about 14 percent larger and more massive. The planet circles its star at a distance of only 3 million miles, or about 30 times closer than Earth's distance from the sun. Its star, named HD 189733A.

n alien world just two-thirds the size of Earth - one of the smallest on record - detected by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope is seen in this NASA artist's illustration released by NASA on July 18, 2012. The exoplanet candidate, known as UCF-1.01, orbits a star called GJ 436, which is located a mere 33 light-years away. UCF-1.01 might be the nearest world to our solar system that is smaller than our home planet. Evidence for UCF-1.01.

This NASA image released July 11, 2012 shows a computer-simulated image of gas from a star that is ripped apart by tidal forces as it falls into a black hole. Some of the gas also is being ejected at high speeds into space. Using observations from telescopes in space and on the ground, astronomers gathered the most direct evidence yet for this violent process: a supermassive black hole shredding a star that wandered too close.

A true color image of Titan's colorful south polar vortex captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft before a distant flyby of Saturn's moon Titan on June 27, 2012, shows a south polar vortex, or a mass of swirling gas, around the pole in the atmosphere of the moon. The south pole of Titan which is 3,200 miles (5,150 km) across is near the center of the view. 

A NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image released on July 7, 2012 shows U Camelopardalis, or U Cam for short, a star nearing the end of its life located in the constellation of Camelopardalis (The Giraffe), near the North Celestial Pole. As it begins to run low on fuel, it is becoming unstable. Every few thousand years, it coughs out a nearly spherical shell of gas as a layer of helium around its core begins to fuse.

Meet the world's smallest production car

At a mere 54 inches long and just 41 inches wide, the legendary Peel P50 currently holds the record for the smallest automobile to go into production.

It has no reverse gear thus proving difficult to maneuver in tight situations.

Having only one headlight, door and powered by a diminutive powerplant, its design stands as a symbol of automotive minimalism.

Originally manufactured in the 1960s on the Isle of Man, the Peel P50 was the Brainchild of serial inventor and Peel Engineering Company’s owner Cyril Cannell.

He envisioned an ultra compact, exceptionally small commuter car capable travelling at 40 mph while comfortably seating one adult carrying a briefcase.

Production ceased in 1964 with only fifty Peel P50s ever being produced. In 2010, production of a replica version was started by a newly formed company, called Peel Engineering Ltd based in England.