China prepares for space launch

Chinese officials says that China will launch a unmanned spacecraft on Tuesday that will dock with a capsule already orbiting the Earth.

A rocket carrying Shenzhou 8 will blast off early in the morning from the Gobi Desert and rendezvous with the Tiangong 1.

The space capsule was launched in late September and has already been manoeuvred into position.

China is practising docking in order to build a space station by 2020.

Shenzhou 8 is due to be launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Gansu province at 05:58 (21:58 GMT).

The docking - which will take place 343km above the Earth - will happen within two days of the launch.

There should be two other attempts to dock with the capsule in cumming year, at least one of which will be manned.

Astronauts - called taikonauts in China - are already being trained for that mission, according to the manned space programme's spokeswoman Wu Ping.

China is confident to built and launch a space station by the end of the decade and these docking missions are part of that process.

Minecraft awarded GameCity videogame arts prize

Minecraft is the winner of a new arts award for computer games.

The prize was awarded at the finale of the GameCity videogame culture festival in Nottingham U.K.

The winning title is the work of an independent Swedish company, Mojang. Players have to build objects out of blocks in an open environment.

The game was selected over rivals from big name publishers, including Valve and Electronic Arts' Portal 2 and Microsoft's Ilomilo.

"It's a big honour to be compared to those games," said Markus Persson, Mojang's founder.

"Winning this award provides us to try to make Minecraft the best game it can be."

Four million customers have already bought the title online, despite the fact it is still in beta. It is scheduled for a formal release next month.

"It just wasn't like anything else... it felt like it had an expanding life of its own. It had an organic nature," one of the judges.

Samsung overtakes Apple in smartphone shipments

Samsung beat Apple to become the world's largest shipper of smartphones between July and September.

Analytics report showed that Samsung shipped 27.8 million smartphones in the last quarter as compared with 17.1 million from Apple and 16.8 million from Nokia.

The consultancy said Apple's growth was stopped because customers waiting for the launch of the new iPhone 4S.

Apple's number four slot in total handsets was taken by China's ZTE.

Nokia was the leading handset shipper with a 27.3% market share, followed by Samsung with 22.6% and LG with 5.4%.

ZTE took 4.7%, pushing Apple into fifth place with 4.4%.

This research came shortly after the announcement of Samsung's third-quarter results, which showed profit decreasing 23% as strong growth in its mobile phone business was overshadowed by a poor performance in the memory chip arm.

Handset profits more than doubled to 2.52tn won ($2.3bn; £1.4bn) on strong sales from its Galaxy smartphones.

"Samsung's rise has been driven by a blend of elegant hardware designs, popular Android services, memorable sub-brands and extensive global distribution," said Alex Spektor from Strategy Analytics.

"Samsung has demonstrated that it is possible, at least in the short term, to differentiate and grow by using the Android ecosystem."

A total of 117 million smartphones were shipped in the third quarter, up 44% from the same period last year.

Nokia's market share for smartphones decrease from 33% in the third quarter of 2010 to to 14% this time round.

"The transition from Symbian to Microsoft as Nokia's main smartphone platform has clearly been a very challenging process this year," said Tom Kang from Strategy Analytics.

"The recent launch of the new Microsoft Lumia portfolio has helped to increase Nokia's profile."

Demarco Murray

Rookie DeMarco Murray rushed for a franchise-record 253 yards and one touchdown to lead the Dallas Cowboys over the winless St. Louis Rams 34-7 Sunday afternoon in front of 80,086 at Cowboys Stadium.

Murray, who was playing with Felix Jones sidelined by an ankle injury, make new record record of 237 yards set by Emmitt Smith on October 31, 1993 at Philadelphia.

"When you run well into the 200s, that’s hard to do in the NFL," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. "DeMarco had a great day.

"It was certainly reminiscent of some of those Emmitt games."

The Cowboys beginning was to good when Murray ran 91 yards for a touchdown. Although Tashard Choice started the game, it closed was Murray who carrying the load. On the third play of the game after a pair of penalties, Murray broke free for the touchdown and a 7-0 Cowboys win.

Dallas pushed its lead to 14-0 when Tony Romo threw a 1-yard touchdown to a wide-open tight end Jason Witten.

The struggling St. Louis offense finally got in rhythm. The Rams drove 85 yards in eight plays for a touchdown. The big play on the drive was a 40-yard run by Stephen Jackson, who also scored the touchdown on a 6-yard off-tackle run to make it 14-7 at the 7:58 mark.

Dallas countered with the help of a Mike Jenkins interception at the Rams’ 30.

However, the Cowboys stalled after having a first-and-goal at the 9 and had to settle for Dan Bailey’s 30-yard field goal at a 17-7 halftime lead.

A slow-paced third quarter yielded a 51-yard field goal by Dan Bailey that helped the Cowboys lead to 20-7.

In the fourth quarter, Dallas turned the game over to its run game.

Murray continued to gash the lifeless Rams along with third-team back Phillip Tanner, Tanner scored on a 6-yard run.

Tanner’s touchdown was set up by a 43-yard run by Murray, who looked to fall down at the end of the run as two Rams closed in.

"I was a little gassed. I just wanted to protect the ball," Murray said.

His record run came on a 8-yard gain on the next series.

"It’s unbelievable. It’s a humbling experience," Murray said. "It’s a big win. From the tight closed to the fullback and the offensive line," I wasn’t getting touched until the secondary. They definitely deserve the record as well."

Steve Jobs vowed to 'destroy' Android

Steve Jobs said he was willing to destroy Android and would spend all of Apple's money and his dying breath if that is what it took to do so.

His attention towards Google's mobile operating system is revealed in a forthcoming authorised biography.
Mr Jobs told to author Walter Isaacson that according his viewed Android's similarity to iOS as "grand theft".
Apple is suing various smartphone makers, these smartphone makers use the Android software.
According to extracts of Mr Isaacson's book, obtained by the Associated Press, Mr Jobs said: "I want to destroy Android, because android product are stolen product. I'm willing to announce war on this."
He is also quoted as saying: "I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's fund $40 billion [£25bn] in the bank, to right this wrong."

Blackberry services down in Europe, Middle East and Africa

Millions of Blackberry owners unable to avail Blackberry services due to server clash across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Blackberry user were unable to browse the web, send email or instant messages.

Fault has been discovered in a datacentre in Slough which handles Blackberry services for the affected regions.

Blackberry UK said it knew about the fault and was "investigating".

In a tweet sent around 14:42 BST, the company said: "Some users in EMEA are experiencing issues."

A subsequent statement said Blackberry was: "working to solve an issue currently impacting some Blackberry subscribers in Europe Middle East and Africa."

company apologised for the inconvenience that the ongoing problem was causing its customers.

Earlier on 10 October mobile operators in the UK, Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar and other nations pointed the finger at Blackberry owner RIM when answering to tweets from customers complaining about the disconnecting of Blackberry services.

The first signs of trouble emerged about 11:00 BST but seemed to have escalated with tags about Blackberry and its BBM service trending on Twitter.

The only functioning service on Blackberry seemed to be text messaging, prompting many users to voice their frustration online.

In an early report, one Twitter user as facing "serious Blackberry outrage".

Others lamented the loss of the free BBM network saying they did not know what to do without Blackberry services.

Samsung issues better-than-expected profit forecast

Samsung Electronics has forecast that company will earn better in third quarter as its handset business helped to offset falling demand for TVs and computer chips.

Samsung expecting to earn operating profit of 4.2tn won ($3.5bn; £2.3bn) a 14% dip from a year earlier, but it is very handsome profit figure than market projections of 3.5tn won.

As compared with the previous quarter, the projected profit would be increased upto 12%.

Samsung is the world's second-largest maker of mobile phones.

"Its telecommunications business is seen very positive as shipments of smartphones and other high-end handsets expanded," said Park Jong-Min of ING Investment Management.

Steve Jobs

King of information technology industry and Apple co-founder Steve Job has been died at the age of 56 from pancreatic cancer.He was legend and world famous business leader.

US President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev said about Mr Jobs, he had changed the world.
Microsoft's Bill Gates said it had been "an insanely great honour" to work with him. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg remembered his "mentor and friend".
The Twitter microblog site struggled to cope with the traffic of tributes.
Mr Jobs had been "the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve quality of life" and had made the world "immeasurably better".
Thousands of celebrities and ordinary people went on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to record their comments,tributes and memories about steve Jobs and his products such as the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad.

The death of Mr Jobs could create a record for Twitter traffic.

Lot of people all over the world have also been attending Apple stores to leave flowers, notes, and apples with a bite taken from them to mimic the company's logo.
Apple's leading rivals such as Microsoft, Google, Sony and Samsung all chipped in with glowing tributes.
GS Choi, chief executive of Samsung, which is embroiled in a major court cases with Apple on patents war, said Mr Jobs was an "innovative spirit" who " make numerous revolutionary changes to the IT industry".
In his statement, Bill Gates said: "The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honour."
Mr Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook: "Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you."
His comments were more than 200,000 people within hours.
In his own tweet, Barack Obama wrote: "There may be no greater tribute to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented."
Internet user in China have reportedly posted almost 35 million online tributes.
Tim Cook, who joined as Apple's CEO after Mr Jobs stood down in August, said his predecessor had left behind "a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple".
UK Prime Minister David Cameron said: "Steve Jobs transformed the way we work and play; a creative genius who will be sorely missed."
News Corp's Rupert Murdoch said: "Steve Jobs was simply the greatest CEO of his generation."
People also gathered outside Mr Jobs's home in California's Silicon Valley to lay floral wreaths, while flags were flown at half mast outside the Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California.

New iPhone

Latest iPhone 4S might not be looked different from its predecessor, but it is Apple's only model with a sort of robot living inside.

Apple's new phone, which was introduced on Tuesday,  iPhone 4Swill be available in stores on October 14, will have a new function called Siri. The program lets people bark commands or ask questions to the phone, and it will provide an answer or ask follow-up questions in order to perform a given task. Phil Schiller, Apple's marketing executive, called Siri "the latest feature of the new iPhone 4S," and the company has decided to advertise Siri heavily in its sales pitches.

Siri's  has ability to interpret requests and respond. "Do I need a raincoat today?" incites a robo-female voice to reply: "It sure looks like rain today," as Scott Forstall, Apple's mobile software executive, demonstrated.

Ask Siri to remind you to take flowers for your wife at a certain time, and Siri may ask you to identify her in the phone's address book. Siri then remembers who she is for future requests, Forstall said. The software integrates with Yelp and WolframAlpha for relevant queries. latest iPhone could be scheduled  your appointments in the phone's calendar and transcribe through e-mails or text messages.

With Google's Android phones, users can dictate messages, too, which are then transcribed by Google's servers. Other cell phones support voice commands, which is handy when operating a phone while driving, but few people take advantage of the option. Even the preceding iPhones had a basic version of this called Voice Control, which could be activated in the same way as Siri, by holding down the phone's home button.

But Apple's ambitions for Siri are much greater.

The big unveiling of the iPhone 4S on Tuesday was the first time most people learned about Siri, but the voice-assistant software is rooted in many years of extensive technical research.

The project was born at SRI International, a nonprofit research organization. It was a part of an ambitious project called CALO, for Cognitive Assistant that Learns and Organizes. The program was funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the government division responsible for Global Position System (GPS) and developments that led to the creation of the Internet.

Work on Siri began in the summer of 2007, and SRI executives decided to spin out the project as a standalone business in 2008. Apple acquired the company in April 2010.

"The team was so happy when Apple did the acquisition," Norman Winarsky, a Siri co-founder who remained at SRI, said in an interview on Monday. "They have a vision."

Before joining Apple, Siri provided a free app for iOS mobile devices. Apple removed it from the App Store on Tuesday, which means only iPhone 4S owners will be able to access the service starting next week.

The version integrated into the 4S is vastly superior to the now-defunct app based on onstage demos. Apple spokespeople did not respond to CNN's requests to try the product at the event on Tuesday.

Siri's engineers were excited for the opportunity to bake their software deeply into the new iPhone and build features that a third-party developer would not be able to do because of Apple-imposed restrictions, Winarsky said.

"We are going to be very proud," he said. "The world of virtual personal assistants is going to be everywhere."

Siri's specialty is in its ability to interpret so-called natural-language requests. It was originally developed to handle typed queries, Winarsky said. For the voice transcription, Siri uses technology from Nuance Communications, Mike Thompson, an exec for Nuance's mobile division, said in an interview on Tuesday. Apple also licenses Nuance's voice transcription for features on the Mac.

Like Siri, Nuance was spun out from SRI.

Apple is expected that Siri's implementation of that will be a major selling point for the new phone. Despite no apparent technical limitations, the software would only be offered on the iPhone 4S at first.

"Siri is compelling," AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega said in an interview after the introduction of new iPhone. He directed that he expected the feature would be a significant enough reason to spur current iPhone users to purchase the iPhone 4S.

Fifth iPhone expected to be launched by Apple

Apple is expected to introduce the fifth version of its best-selling iPhone today.

Apple  have been invited  media to a "Let's talk iPhone" event at its California campus. People have different views how different the iPhone 5 will be to its predecessor though some do expect major changes.

The launch ceremony will be hosted by Tim Cook, now Apple's full time boss following Steve Jobs' retirement in August.

As ever with Apple introduces, exact details of product features will not be known until the event. According to expert opinion, there could be significant changes in fifth version iPhone.

"We're expecting a flagship, high tier product to cement the iPhone's position as the must-have device," said Ben Wood, director of research at analysts CCS Insight.

Others say the low price model will be launched in Asia, smartphone has room for growth in some features.

Rumours are also circulating that Steve Jobs will make a cameo appearance even though Mr Cook is expected to be the launch compere.

The event is the first since Mr Cook became official head of Apple. Before now he was not official head who oversaw day-to-day running of the company when Mr Jobs was on sick leave.