French journalist killed in Syria on official trip

Syrian President Bashar Assad, center, addresses supporters during a rally at a central square in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012. Assad joined thousands of his supporters Wednesday in an extremely rare public appearance at a rally in the capital Damascus, telling the crowd he wanted to draw strength from them. (AP Photo/Muzaffar Salman)

Syrian President Bashar Assad, center, addresses supporters during a rally at a central square in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012. Assad joined thousands of his supporters Wednesday in an extremely rare public appearance at a rally in the capital Damascus, telling the crowd he wanted to draw strength from them. (AP Photo/Muzaffar Salman)

Syrian President Bashar Assad, center, addresses supporters during a rally at a central square in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012. Assad joined thousands of his supporters Wednesday in an extremely rare public appearance at a rally in the capital Damascus, telling the crowd he wanted to draw strength from them. (AP Photo/Muzaffar Salman)

(AP) ? A French TV cameraman became the first Western journalist killed in the 10-month-old Syrian uprising Wednesday, dying in a barrage of grenades during a government-sponsored trip to the restive city of Homs, officials and a witness said.

The violence came just hours after President Bashar Assad made a surprise appearance at a rally in the capital, Damascus, joining thousands of supporters in a show of confidence as the conflict enters a dangerous and violent new phase.

The killing of Gilles Jacquier, who worked for France-2 Television, was likely to become a rallying cry for both sides, as the regime and the opposition blame each other for a recent spate of mysterious attacks.

The government blamed "terrorists" for Wednesday's attack, which it said also killed eight Syrians.

About 15 journalists were on the government trip when they were hit by several grenades, according to Jens Franssen, who was on the tour. "At some point, three or four (grenade) shells hit, very close to us," Franssen told the Belgian VRT network.

A Dutch freelance journalist was also wounded in Homs Wednesday, although it wasn't immediately clear if he was part of the trip.

Jacquier, 43, was the first foreign journalist to be slain, Reporters Without Borders said. He had reported over the years from Afghanistan, Gaza, Congo, Iraq and Yemen, most recently for the investigative program Special Envoy, his network said.

"It's up to Syrian authorities to ensure the security of international journalists on their territory, and to protect this fundamental liberty which is the freedom of information," French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said.

During the uprising, several Syrian journalists have been killed or tortured as they tried to cover the revolt, which has proven the most serious challenge to the Assad family's 40-year dynasty.

With the U.N. estimate of more than 5,000 dead since March, it is among the bloodiest uprisings of the Arab Spring.

The revolt has become increasingly violent in recent months, but appears far from over. Some 400 people have been reported killed in the last three weeks alone.

At the start of the uprising, much of the violence involved Syrian security forces firing on unarmed, peaceful protesters. In recent months, an increasing number of army defectors and members of the opposition are taking up arms against the government.

Three recent blasts in Damascus, which the government said were suicide attacks, added a new and ominous dimension to a conflict that has brought the country to the brink of civil war.

The government said the explosions backed up its claim that the uprising was the work of terrorists and conspirators. The opposition demanded an independent investigation, saying the regime is likely behind the blasts and using them to tarnish the uprising and scare people into submission.

Neither side has offered evidence for their claims, and it is all but impossible to operate independently in Syria. Syria has banned most foreign journalists except for those on government-escorted trips. Local reporters work under heavy restrictions.

As the conflict grinds on, largely outside the world's gaze, Assad has appeared determined to show strength and confidence. He has made two public appearances in as many days this week ? highly unusual for a leader who has stayed largely behind the scenes since March.

He showed up unexpectedly at the rally Wednesday, telling supporters that the "conspiracy" against his country is in its final stage.

Dressed more casually than usual in a jacket but no tie, the president told the cheering crowd that he wanted to draw strength from them. Television footage showed his smiling wife, Asma, and their two young children in the crowd in Umayyad Square.

"I have faith in the future and we will undoubtedly triumph over this conspiracy," Assad said. "They are in the final stages of their conspiracy."

Security guards surrounded him as supporters waved his portrait and shouted: "Shabiha forever, for the sake of your eyes, oh Assad." The "shabiha" are feared pro-regime gunmen who have brutally suppressed anti-Assad protests.

Assad, 46, who inherited power from his father in 2000, on Tuesday gave his first speech since June, saying he would strike back with an "iron hand" at those who threaten his rule. Opponents say Assad is dangerously out of touch.

Meanwhile, the Arab League mission to assess whether the government is abiding by a Syrian-Arab agreement to end the crackdown came under fresh scrutiny after a former monitor said he quit in disgust because the regime was committing "war crimes" against its own people.

"The mission was a farce and the observers have been fooled," Anwer Malek told Al-Jazeera.

"The regime orchestrated it and fabricated most of what we saw to stop the Arab League from taking action against the regime," Malek said, still wearing the orange vest used by monitors.

"The regime didn't meet any of our requests. In fact, they were trying to deceive us and steer us away from what was really happening toward insignificant things," he said. Since monitors started work Dec. 27, the violence only appears to have gotten worse.

There was no immediate comment from the Arab League. But Malek's name was on a list of the observers who were sent to Syria last month, identified as working for the Paris-based Arab Committee for Human Rights.

An Arab official said the League has decided not to send any more monitors to Syria until the situation on the ground is clearer and Damascus can protect the monitors. The decision was made after two Kuwaiti monitors were lightly wounded Monday evening.

Opposition groups have been deeply critical of the Arab mission, saying it is giving Assad cover for his ongoing crackdown.

The observer mission's Sudanese chief has raised particular concern because he served in key security positions under Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted for crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Critics also say the mission is far too small ? and too dependent on government escorts ? to be effective. The regime says the escorts are vital to the monitors' personal safety.

___

Keller reported from Paris. AP writers Maggie Michael in Cairo, Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, and Raf Casert in Brussels contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-11-Syria/id-a7673aba9c0c446292d39630282c1355

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Scientists identify gene crucial to normal development of lungs and brain

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 11-Jan-2012
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Contact: Andy Hoang
ahoang@salk.edu
619-861-5811
Salk Institute

Discovery may lead to new ways to replace damaged lung tissues with stem cells

La Jolla ---- Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified a gene that tells cells to develop multiple cilia, tiny hair-like structures that move fluids through the lungs and brain. The finding may help scientists generate new therapies that use stem cells to replace damaged tissues in the lung and other organs.

"Cells with multiple cilia play a number of important roles, including moving fluids through the respiratory tract, brain and spinal cord," says Christopher R. Kintner, a professor in Salk's Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, who led the research. "Knowing the gene that instructs cells to develop multiple cilia helps us understand how we might coax stem cells into developing into this type of cell, which we could then use to repair damaged tissue."

The findings of the research, which was supported by the National Institutes of Health and Salk's Innovation Grants Program, were published in the January 8 online issue of Nature Cell Biology.

Kintner and his collaborator, Jennifer Stubbs, a scientist now at Pathway Genomics, a San Diego biotech company, along with Eszter Vladar, a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Jeffery Axelrod, at the Stanford University School of Medicine, made their discovery by initially studying the embryos of African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis).

Multiciliate cells form on the outside of the embryos, making them easy to study, and the genetic mechanisms that direct the frog cells to develop multiple cilia are likely similar to those of humans.

Humans and other organisms inherited cilia from our single-celled primordial ancestors that used these beating structures as a form of propulsion. Most cells in our body project a single, non-moving cilium used as a tiny antenna for detecting chemical and physical stimuli. But certain specialized tissues require cells with 100 to 200 moving cilia that beat in concert to move fluids through the body.

These cells aid in pushing cerebrospinal fluid through the brain and spinal cord, helping to circulate and replenish this fluid. In the respiratory system, the cilia push mucus that traps dust, pathogens and other foreign matter from the lung up into the trachea, helping prevent infections.

In a previous study, published in Nature Genetics, Kintner and Stubbs identified a protein, FoxJ1, that promoted the formation of a single moving cilium. What remained unclear is how certain cells activate FoxJ1 in a way that leads to the formation of hundreds of motile cilia per cell.

In their new study, Kintner and his collaborators identified a gene that produces a second protein, which they dubbed "multicilin," that tells cells to develop multiple cilia. When cells are exposed to multicilin, their genetic mechanisms for developing multiple cilia are activated. In a developing embryo, the protein instructs certain stem cells that will line the lungs, kidney and skin to develop into multiciliate cells.

When the researchers inhibited multicilin's action, the frogs' skin and kidney failed to form multiciliate cells. The scientists also found that multicilin is both necessary and sufficient to instruct the development of multiple cilia in cells that line the airways of mice.

"This means that multicilin directs the development of these cells in a number of different organs," Kintner says. "How multiciliate cells develop had been a mystery, but this fills in a big piece of the puzzle."

Kintner notes that patients with respiratory diseases such as chronic asthma, emphysema and cystic fibrosis often suffer from lung infections, which may result from damage to the ciliated cells that move protective mucus out of the airways. In the future, stem cell therapies might replace those damage cells with new ciliated cells, but first scientists need to know how to guide stem cells along a pathway into multiciliate cells.

"Our findings suggest that multicilin could be central to differentiating stem cells into replacement cells," Kintner says. "It's a necessary step in developing such therapies."

###

About the Salk Institute for Biological Studies:

The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is one of the world's preeminent basic research institutions, where internationally renowned faculty probe fundamental life science questions in a unique, collaborative, and creative environment. Focused both on discovery and on mentoring future generations of researchers, Salk scientists make groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of cancer, aging, Alzheimer's, diabetes and infectious diseases by studying neuroscience, genetics, cell and plant biology, and related disciplines.

Faculty achievements have been recognized with numerous honors, including Nobel Prizes and memberships in the National Academy of Sciences. Founded in 1960 by polio vaccine pioneer Jonas Salk, M.D., the Institute is an independent nonprofit organization and architectural landmark.


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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 11-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Andy Hoang
ahoang@salk.edu
619-861-5811
Salk Institute

Discovery may lead to new ways to replace damaged lung tissues with stem cells

La Jolla ---- Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified a gene that tells cells to develop multiple cilia, tiny hair-like structures that move fluids through the lungs and brain. The finding may help scientists generate new therapies that use stem cells to replace damaged tissues in the lung and other organs.

"Cells with multiple cilia play a number of important roles, including moving fluids through the respiratory tract, brain and spinal cord," says Christopher R. Kintner, a professor in Salk's Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, who led the research. "Knowing the gene that instructs cells to develop multiple cilia helps us understand how we might coax stem cells into developing into this type of cell, which we could then use to repair damaged tissue."

The findings of the research, which was supported by the National Institutes of Health and Salk's Innovation Grants Program, were published in the January 8 online issue of Nature Cell Biology.

Kintner and his collaborator, Jennifer Stubbs, a scientist now at Pathway Genomics, a San Diego biotech company, along with Eszter Vladar, a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Jeffery Axelrod, at the Stanford University School of Medicine, made their discovery by initially studying the embryos of African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis).

Multiciliate cells form on the outside of the embryos, making them easy to study, and the genetic mechanisms that direct the frog cells to develop multiple cilia are likely similar to those of humans.

Humans and other organisms inherited cilia from our single-celled primordial ancestors that used these beating structures as a form of propulsion. Most cells in our body project a single, non-moving cilium used as a tiny antenna for detecting chemical and physical stimuli. But certain specialized tissues require cells with 100 to 200 moving cilia that beat in concert to move fluids through the body.

These cells aid in pushing cerebrospinal fluid through the brain and spinal cord, helping to circulate and replenish this fluid. In the respiratory system, the cilia push mucus that traps dust, pathogens and other foreign matter from the lung up into the trachea, helping prevent infections.

In a previous study, published in Nature Genetics, Kintner and Stubbs identified a protein, FoxJ1, that promoted the formation of a single moving cilium. What remained unclear is how certain cells activate FoxJ1 in a way that leads to the formation of hundreds of motile cilia per cell.

In their new study, Kintner and his collaborators identified a gene that produces a second protein, which they dubbed "multicilin," that tells cells to develop multiple cilia. When cells are exposed to multicilin, their genetic mechanisms for developing multiple cilia are activated. In a developing embryo, the protein instructs certain stem cells that will line the lungs, kidney and skin to develop into multiciliate cells.

When the researchers inhibited multicilin's action, the frogs' skin and kidney failed to form multiciliate cells. The scientists also found that multicilin is both necessary and sufficient to instruct the development of multiple cilia in cells that line the airways of mice.

"This means that multicilin directs the development of these cells in a number of different organs," Kintner says. "How multiciliate cells develop had been a mystery, but this fills in a big piece of the puzzle."

Kintner notes that patients with respiratory diseases such as chronic asthma, emphysema and cystic fibrosis often suffer from lung infections, which may result from damage to the ciliated cells that move protective mucus out of the airways. In the future, stem cell therapies might replace those damage cells with new ciliated cells, but first scientists need to know how to guide stem cells along a pathway into multiciliate cells.

"Our findings suggest that multicilin could be central to differentiating stem cells into replacement cells," Kintner says. "It's a necessary step in developing such therapies."

###

About the Salk Institute for Biological Studies:

The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is one of the world's preeminent basic research institutions, where internationally renowned faculty probe fundamental life science questions in a unique, collaborative, and creative environment. Focused both on discovery and on mentoring future generations of researchers, Salk scientists make groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of cancer, aging, Alzheimer's, diabetes and infectious diseases by studying neuroscience, genetics, cell and plant biology, and related disciplines.

Faculty achievements have been recognized with numerous honors, including Nobel Prizes and memberships in the National Academy of Sciences. Founded in 1960 by polio vaccine pioneer Jonas Salk, M.D., the Institute is an independent nonprofit organization and architectural landmark.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/si-sig011112.php

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Void Lock Secures Your Android Phone by Making It Appear Turned Off [Security]

Void Lock Secures Your Android Phone by Making It Appear Turned OffAndroid: Void Lock keeps your phone secure by turning off your screen, as if the phone weren't on at all, and letting you unlock with a gesture.

If you really want to keep someone out of your phone, Void Lock has a very cool method for doing so: instead of presenting you with a gesture unlock screen, the screen stays turned off. Even if you press the power button on your phone or try and turn it off, your phone will appear as if its dead, until you swipe your gesture on the seemingly-off screen. It's a very clever lock, and works remarkably well on the phones it supports. You can even set other gestures to launch apps, change settings (like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or vibration) and set a failsafe button combination (like Power, Volume Up, Volume Down, Volume Up) in case something goes wrong.

Void lock is available as a free, ad-supported app or for $3.99 without ads. Right now, it only works on non-Ice Cream Sandwich phones, and has issues on phones with AMOLED screens (though the developer is working on both issues for the next release). Hit the link below to check it out.

Void Lock | Android Market via AddictiveTips

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/excerpts/~3/yutycDhjktc/void-lock-secures-your-android-phone-by-making-it-appear-turned-off

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Young Cancer Patients Need Information on Fertility ? Even if It's ...

Young Cancer Patients Need Information on Fertility ? Even if It's Bad NewsYoung people with cancer have a lot to contend with, and one major issue is the potential effect of treatment on their fertility. But young female patients say doctors are failing to discuss potential fertility problems with them.

In a new study published in the Journal of Cancer Survivorship, researchers talked to 22 female cancer survivors between 18 and 34. Many of the women hoped to have children one day, but they were frustrated at the lack of information they'd been given about their options. Several said their doctors had never addressed the issue of fertility with them, despite the fact that chemotherapy can destroy eggs and cancer treatment as a whole "can add 10 years to a woman's reproductive age," according to Dr. Michelle Peate, an oncologist not involved in the study. The young cancer survivors recognized that their doctors were trying to keep from overwhelming them by not injecting fertility decisions into an already difficult situation, but they still wished that someone had informed them or their parents about fertility preservation options, including freezing their eggs. They also wished that their different doctors, including those who specialized in fertility or reproductive health, had been more coordinated throughout the treatment process. And several of them felt that any young cancer patient who had passed puberty was old enough for a frank discussion of fertility.

This study jibes with previous research by Dr. Peate, showing that young breast cancer survivors felt insufficiently informed about family planning. Peate found that these women typically wanted all the facts about their fertility ? good and bad ? when they were diagnosed. And the fact that they didn't always get them gave rise to "feelings of conflict and uncertainty about the decisions they should be making." Peate said, "There are strong arguments, which this research points to, for giving young women fertility related information as part of their cancer treatment to help them make treatment decisions." The new study offers another such argument.

Cancer And Fertility ? Young Women Speak Up [Medical Xpress]

Image via Lukiyanova Natalia / frenta/Shutterstock.com

Source: http://jezebel.com/5874338/young-cancer-patients-need-information-on-fertility--even-if-its-bad-news

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MetroPCS LG Connect 4G hands-on (video)

MetroPCS has had LTE longer than any other carrier in the US, and it's still rolling. At this year's Pepcom Digital Experience, the regional service provider had a couple new devices, one of which being the LG Connect 4G. The second LG handset on MetroPCS to offer the next-gen service (after the Esteem), the Connect is certainly less bulky and much more light to hold, with a 4-inch NOVA display in tow. Clocking in at 1.2GHz, it's also the first handset on the carrier's lineup that contains a dual-core CPU. Amongst these specs, the Connect 4G also sports a 5MP rear camera with LED flash and 720p HD video capture, and has a VGA front-facing cam. As much as we begged and begged, the reps wouldn't budge on pricing or an exact date, but we do know that it's going to be coming out sometime in February. And if MetroPCS isn't for you -- or if don't live in one of their areas of coverage -- you'll see the Connect as the LG Viper on Sprint as well. Check out the full gallery of images below and a hands-on video after the break.
Dante Cesa contributed to that post.

Continue reading MetroPCS LG Connect 4G hands-on (video)

MetroPCS LG Connect 4G hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/09/metropcs-lg-connect-4g-hands-on-video/

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Mars-bound NASA rover aiming for an August landing (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? A NASA spacecraft hurtling toward Mars prepared to fire its thrusters Wednesday to put itself on course for an August landing.

Engineers closely tracked the one-ton rover nicknamed Curiosity, which has been cruising along since rocketing from Earth last November.

The firing of its eight thruster engines is the most important task Curiosity will perform during its 352-million-mile flight to the red planet, but it's not unprecedented. Previous robotic explorers have had to adjust their paths several times en route to landing.

"Just because this is a well-traveled road to Mars given the number of trips we've made, I'm very careful to not let that experience cause us to be complacent," said Arthur Amador of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the $2.5 billion mission.

At the time of the course correction, Curiosity will have racked up 80 million miles and will be traveling at 10,200 mph relative to the Earth.

The day before, the team uploaded commands calling for the spacecraft to fire its eight thrusters for nearly three hours Wednesday afternoon, redirecting it closer to its target. Though it will execute the move without human interference, engineers will be on standby in the off chance that they have to abort.

"We should be very, very close to our desired aim point at the top of the Martian atmosphere" after the maneuver, Amador said.

If Curiosity did not tweak its position, it will miss Mars altogether. Engineers did this by design to prevent the rocket's upper stage that hoisted the spacecraft from hitting the red planet. Once Curiosity separated from the upper stage and was on its way, the team has several chances to fine-tune its trajectory before touchdown.

Curiosity, whose formal name is the Mars Science Laboratory, is aiming for a 96-mile-wide crater near the Martian equator that boasts a towering mountain in the center. The six-wheel, nuclear-powered rover planned to drive to the lower flanks and examine the layered deposits to determine whether the area once had conditions capable of supporting microbial life.

Armed with a suite of instruments including a laser to zap into bedrock and a jackhammer, Curiosity is more sophisticated than previous Mars surface spacecraft. Despite its capabilities, it won't be able to detect life. Instead, it will hunt for the chemical building blocks of life during its two-year mission.

Since Curiosity is too heavy to use a cocoon of airbags or rely solely on its parachute to safely reach the planet's surface, NASA will attempt a new type of landing using a so-called sky crane system.

The parachute will detach and a rocket-powered platform will fire its engines, then lower the rover to the ground on a tether similar to the way hovering heavy-lift helicopters lower huge loads at the end of a cable.

Even before arrival, Curiosity has not been idle. Several weeks after launch, Curiosity turned on its radiation detector to monitor high-energy particles streaming from the sun and exploding stars. Once at Mars, it will measure radiation levels on the surface.

Curiosity's voyage contrasts sharply with another space probe targeted at the Mars moon Phobos. Launched weeks earlier than Curiosity, Russia's Phobos-Ground probe got stranded in Earth's orbit and pieces were expected to plunge back through the atmosphere this weekend.

___

Online:

Mission: http://www.nasa.gov/msl

___

Follow Alicia Chang's coverage at http://www.twitter.com/SciWriAlicia

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120111/ap_on_sc/us_sci_mars_science_lab

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PayPal Partners With Point-Of-Sale Software Company AJB To Scale In-Store Payments Option To Big Box Retailers

CajbExclusive: We've received more details on how PayPal will be scaling its in-store payments technology at major retailers. As we reported last week, PayPal is currently testing the mobile payments and point-of-sale integrations at Home Depot on a friends and family basis, in five stores. Today, we've learned that PayPal is partnering with AJB Software, a company that provides point-of-sale software to large brick and mortar retailers, to integrate the online payments giant's technology into their offerings. AJB basically provides a communications gateway that connects a retailer's point-of-sale system with financial institutions. Over 140 large-scale retailers including?Kohl's and BestBuy use AJB's software to manage payments. In a nutshell, the partnership allows an easy way for big box retailers to offer consumers a way to pay via PayPal in their stores.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/0AZ3xY5DISg/

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AT&T to bring out Nokia phone with Windows (AP)

LAS VEGAS ? AT&T on Monday said it will sell a Nokia smartphone running Microsoft's Windows Phone software. The device represents Nokia and Microsoft's best chance yet to break Apple and Google's hold on the U.S. smartphone market, the world's most lucrative.

Nokia Corp. CEO Stephen Elop joined Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer in unveiling the phone a press event in Las Vegas ahead of the International Consumer Electronics Show. The presence of both CEOs was a sign of the importance the companies place on the device.

The phone, the Lumia 900, will use AT&T Inc.'s new "LTE" wireless data network, for faster downloads. It's a slab-like touch-screen phone in the vein Apple Inc.'s iPhone. The companies said it will be available "in coming months." They didn't reveal the price.

Nokia of Finland is betting that it can reverse its sinking fortunes by switching to Microsoft's new phone software, and Microsoft is paying it billions to do so.

For Microsoft, the partnership with Nokia is a chance to break into smartphones, which are dominated by Apple and Google Inc., through its Android software. Other phone makers have also put out Windows phones, but sales have been slow.

T-Mobile USA has said it will sell a more modest Lumia model starting Jan. 11. It's the fourth-largest U.S. carrier. AT&T is the second-largest, after Verizon Wireless.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120110/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_gadget_show_nokia_at_t

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President Ilves sent New Year greetings to the Estonian Defence Force members who are deployed internationally

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30.12.2011

?Your service has taken you far away from your homes and you will have had to stay away during both the Christmas and New Year celebrations. But you can be assured that our thoughts and good wishes will reach you, wherever you are,? wrote the President, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, in his New Year greetings, which were sent to the Estonian Defence Force members who are deployed on international operations.

He confirmed that all of our defence force members serving in NATO, the European Union and UN operations will contribute to a more secure future of Estonia and added: ?I am proud of you as a President.?

The Head of State admitted that, once again, the year in Afghanistan has been difficult for Estonian soldiers, even irreparable for the family of Corporal Agris Hutrof and those who were wounded and injured and their families.

?However, I am optimistic, as I look ahead to the coming year. The tactical strategies of the allied forces considerably improved in 2011, which is also reflected by the increased faith of the local population in their government and the ISAF,? President Ilves emphasised. ?Transferring responsibility for the security of Afghanistan has progressed at the expected speed.?

The Pushtu people, who are tired of years of living in fear and insecurity, are turning their backs on violence. Apart from military success, we can also look forward to a breakthrough in the political process, particularly in relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan,? wrote the Estonian head of State to our Defence Force members.

?A Happy New Year and soldier?s luck in the New Year! See you at home!? wished President Ilves.

?

Office of the President
Public Relations Department
Phone +372 631 6229

Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5722977359

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RIM touts PlayBook 2.0, minor BlackBerry upgrade (Reuters)

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) ? Research In Motion showed off a major update to the QNX-based software running its poor-selling PlayBook tablet and unveiled minor improvements to its legacy BlackBerry phone software at the Consumer Electronics Show on Monday.

But the Canadian company's products were left off the list of hot new devices being touted by AT&T, the second-largest U.S. carrier, highlighting the challenges for RIM in reinvigorating its flagging fortunes in that hyper-competitive market.

Instead, AT&T featured high-speed devices from such RIM rivals as Samsung Electronics, Nokia, HTC Corp and Sony at the Las Vegas gadget show.

RIM last month delayed the expected launch of its next-generation phones using QNX software, widely seen as a make-or-break overhaul for a company that once dominated the smartphone market.

At the time it said the delay was necessary so it could make use of more powerful and energy-efficient chipsets expected to arrive in mid-2012. The chipsets would enable the phones to operate on high-speed networks using a technology known as Long Term Evolution (LTE).

The U.S. carriers are racing to build LTE networks and heavily promoting devices that can handle the emerging standard.

RIM's PlayBook 2.0 software adds in-built email, calendar and address book functions and the ability to run Android applications.

RIM's tablet was launched last April to scathing reviews complaining about its inability to handle email and other features associated with the Canadian company's smartphones.

RIM also added a video store in the PlayBook upgrade with thousands of films and television shows available for purchase or rent, and said a BlackBerry smartphone paired to the tablet could act as a remote control or wireless keyboard and trackpad.

RIM did not provide an update on when it would make the free software update publicly available, repeating a planned February launch.

The Android advance - which RIM did not highlight in a statement but did confirm later - may be the most popular feature with consumers wary of a dearth of apps for the next-generation software, which will also run RIM's future phones.

But the integration of core BlackBerry functions is arguably more significant - proving that QNX works with the RIM infrastructure that crunches and encrypts data sent out to its BlackBerry smartphones.

RIM says it will have a QNX phone by the latter part of 2012, after initially saying it would be ready by early in the year. The PlayBook software update was also delayed; it was initially due some time in the summer of 2011.

RIM sold just 850,000 PlayBooks from the tablet's launch in April to the end of November, and took a $485 million hit to write down the value of unsold inventory it has discounted sharply.

The smartphone software upgrade - to version 7.1 - adds a function called BlackBerry Tag that allows two BlackBerry phones equipped with a near-field communications (NFC) chip to share information and content by being tapped together.

The upgrade also means a BlackBerry smartphone can be used as a mobile hotspot to share its Internet connectivity with up to 5 other devices including laptops and tablets.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew in Las Vegas; Additional reporting by Alastair Sharp in Toronto; Editing by Frank McGurty)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120109/tc_nm/us_rim

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