Google vs Apple a 'defining fight': Eric Schmidt

Eric Schmidt expects more than a billion mobile devices around the world to be running its Android software within a year, intensifying a battle with Apple Inc.

SAN FRANCISCO: Google Inc Executive ChairmanEric Schmidt expects more than a billion mobile devices around the world to be running its Androidsoftware within a year, intensifying a battle with AppleInc that he called a "defining fight" of the industry. Schmidt said there were already four times as many Android mobile gadgets - smartphones and tablets made by the likes of Samsung Electronics - and that the scale of the battle between the two firms was unprecedented.

"We've not seen ... competitive fights on this scale," he said during an interview with tech blog AllThingsDigital at New York's 92nd Street Y on Wednesday. 

Google and Apple were once close partners, with Schmidt serving on Apple's board during part of his tenure as Google CEO. But the ties between the two have been strained by the rise of Google's Android mobile operating system, now the world's leading platform for smartphones and a direct threat to Apple's lucrative iPhone and iPad businesses. 

As competition between the two companies has heated up, Apple has moved to cut its reliance on Google products by dumping YouTube from the new iPhone's pre-loaded selection of apps and replacing Google's mapping software on the iPhone with its own mapping service. 

Apple's foray into mapping has not gone smoothly. Apple CEO Tim Cook was forced to issue a public apology earlier this month amid complaints that the product - based on Dutch navigation equipment maker and digital map maker TomTom NV's data - contained glaring geographic errors and gaps in information. 

"What Apple has learned is that maps are really hard," Schmidt said. "We invested hundreds of millions of dollars in satellite work, airplane work, drive by work, to get the maps accurate." 

But he added that the two technology companies were "always in communication with each other." 

Schmidt also said he did not expect Google to become a significant player in China any time soon, following its 2010 standoff with the government over Web censorship and cyber-attacks that Google said originated in China. 

Google relocated its search engine to Hong Kong in the wake of the episode, allowing Chinese search engine Baidu Inc 

to widen its lead in China, one of the few markets in the world where Google's search engine is not dominant. 

"Baidu will continue to be the Number One player in China for a long time," Schmidt said. He said that he did not expect any mending of ties with the Chinese government, which he said has cut off access to Google's Web services in the past. 

"China has in its power to arbitrarily restrict our access to Chinese citizens to keep us at whatever percentage market share they wish," Schmidt said.

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Messi poses headache for South American rivals

BUENOS AIRES - Stopping Lionel Messi is the primary concern of South American teams facing Argentina in the World Cup qualifiers. This week it is Uruguay's turn.

Argentina defend their lead in the South American group at home to Uruguay in Mendoza on Friday (0100 GMT Saturday). After seven matches they have 14 points, one more than Colombia and Ecuadorand two ahead of Uruguay and Chile.

They will be looking to make amends for a poor performance in their last match, a 1-1 draw with Peru in Lima where Messi, who had scored 10 goals in his previous six internationals, had one of his quietest games for his country.

South American champions Uruguay want a second successive upset over their neighbours after their Copa America quarter-final victory on penalties last year.

Uruguay's coach Oscar Washington Tabarez does not believe in man-marking Messi, but rather in preventing Argentina from functioning in support of the Barcelona ace.

"Messi is a great player, among the best seen in the history of football...so I'm not going to say too much about that because it would be redundant," Tabarez told reporters in Montevideo on Tuesday.

"But Messi has a team around him trying to ensure be shows all his potential.

"So we have to work on and counter everything Argentina does for the ball to get to Messi and after Messi takes it try to mark him."

The Uruguayans, World Cup semi-finalists in 2010, need to recover from a poor September when they lost 4-0 away to Colombia and only managed a 1-1 draw at home to Ecuador.

Captain Diego Lugano believes this double away fixture will be the hardest trip for Uruguay, who play Bolivia at high altitude in La Paz next week, in the 16-match qualifying series.

"These are key (qualifying) points, much more so after the last double-header when we didn't do well," Lugano said.

'MOST DIFFICULT'

"We're facing two matches that are surely the most difficult of the qualifying series. An Argentina-Bolivia sequence (away) is very hard and we're practically obliged to bring back some points," the central defender said.

Uruguay have to manage without left wing back Alvaro Pereyra, who is suspended, and injured midfielders Diego Perez and Gaston Ramirez.

Argentina, who beat Paraguay 3-1 at home then drew 1-1 away to Peru last month, welcome back Sergio Agüero but have lost fellow striker Ezequiel Lavezzi to injury.

Midfielder Javier Mascherano said good results against Uruguay and then Chile away in Santiago four days later would put Argentina well on course for a berth in the 2014 finals in Brazil.

"If we can get six out of six points it would be ideal and we would be well on track to qualifying, not certain but on the right track," Mascherano said at Argentina's training base outside Buenos Aires.

"For us, the match against Uruguay is a classic. The last ones we have played against them were very tight (and) if we win we'd go with more confidence to Chile."

The Chileans, whose coach Claudio Borghi is serving a four-match suspension for dissent, first travel to play Ecuador in the rarefied air of Quito nearly 3,000 metres above sea level on Friday (2100 GMT).

Colombia, with striker Falcao in red-hot scoring form, are at home to bottom team Paraguay in their favourite Caribbean cauldron in Barranquilla (2030 GMT) and Bolivia, at home in both fixtures, host Peru in La Paz (2000 GMT).

Venezuela, in sixth place with 11 points having already played eight matches, have a bye at the halfway stage in the competition.

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Germany's Goetze and Podolski fit despite minor injuries

BERLIN - Germany's Mario Goetze and Lukas Podolski are nursing minor injuries but will be fit for Friday's World Cup soccer qualifier against Ireland in Dublin, assistant coach Hansi Flick said on Wednesday.

Borussia Dortmund midfielder Goetze was rested towards the end of training on Wednesday, feeling the effects of a minor muscle injury. Arsenal winger Podolski is recovering from an ankle injury and both players missed training on Tuesday.

"Today was the first day that every player was there," Flick told reporters.

"Yesterday Lukas and Mario received treatment. Lukas Podolski had some problems with his ankle, Mario with some muscle problems. We decided to spare him towards the end of training today when it became a bit more intensive.

"Goetze did individual training."

Flick said the depth of Germany's squad allowed them to easily adapt to any changes.

The Germans are already without injured defender Mats Hummels, midfielders Ilkay Guendogan and Lars Bender while captain Philipp Lahm is suspended.

"Even despite the missing players we can handle any absence because of our team's strength."

Germany are looking to make it three wins in three qualifiers in Dublin before heading back to Berlin for a match against Sweden next Tuesday.

Flick said his team has been practising defensive plays, knowing that the Irish would be looking for chances of a quick break.

"Our focus is absolutely the defence. We have been working on the basics which at times have not worked that well in the past," said Flick.

"Defence starts from attack and we need to be compact. We need to have order and move well. Our offensive players will also need to do a lot of defensive work and we have been training in that."

Germany top qualifying Group C with six points, three ahead of Sweden and Ireland.

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F1 title race turning into Alonso v Vettel

SUZUKA, Japan (Reuters) - The Formula One title battle is turning into a straight duel between Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel for the honour of becoming the youngest triple world champion.

By winning Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix after Alonso had spun off at the start, 25-year-old Vettel slashed the 31-year-old Spaniard's lead to four points with five races - a maximum 125 points - remaining.

Finland's 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen is third for Lotus but 37 points off the lead and has yet to win a race this season while McLaren's Lewis Hamilton is fourth a further five points adrift.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner refused to rule out McLaren, winners of five races this year, and Lotus but he also spelled out where the real challenge lay for the champions.

"Luck tends to balance itself out over a 20-race season and it will be down to what the two of them do on track now and the relative performances of the cars over the remaining five races," he told reporters.

Vettel has suffered two alternator failures and not scored on three of his races, while Alonso has twice drawn a blank - both coming in the last four outings and due to first lap incidents beyond his control.

Raikkonen is where he is because of consistency - 12 races in a row in the points - while 2008 champion Hamilton and his car have been quick but erratic.

"The championship now is effectively a battle of five races between Fernando and Sebastian," said Horner. "You can't rule out the others but whoever does the best job over the next five races will ultimately prevail."

FERRARI PRESSURE

After the first seven races of the season were won by an unprecedented seven different drivers, the championship has settled into a familiar pattern with the focus on Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull.

Vettel's commanding pole-to-flag triumph, with the fastest lap thrown in as well, at Suzuka made him the first driver this season to chalk up back-to-back wins and he joined Alonso and Hamilton as a three-times winner in 2012.

As in 2010, when the German became the youngest champion, the season appears to be coming good for Vettel at just the right time.

Alonso had led by 29 points before Suzuka but he could lose his advantage altogether when Formula One re-groups in South Korea for the 16th round of the season this weekend.

"I guess Fernando will be going home more unhappy than most, he is under pressure, more pressure frankly from Sebastian than from us but we have closed that gap and we have five races to go," McLaren principal Martin Whitmarsh told reporters in the Suzuka paddock on Sunday.

"Red Bull were on form here and at the moment Ferrari are under some pressure from us and Red Bull," added the Briton, who had Jenson Button fourth and future Mercedes driver Hamilton fifth on Sunday.

Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemolo expected his team to hold their nerve.

"We know we can count on the strongest driver around at the moment and it's only mistakes from others at Spa and again at Suzuka that have prevented him from having a more comfortable lead over his rivals," he said of Alonso on the team website (www.ferrari.com).

"But for those two collisions, today Fernando would have had at least 30 points more and that's a conservative estimate. In sport, as in life, the wheel turns and we must not forget that."

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British Nobel winner once written off by teacher

London, Oct 9 (IANS) A British researcher who won the 2012 Nobel Prize for Medicine was once dismissed by his school teacher about his ambition to become a scientist as "quite ridiculous", the Guardian reported Tuesday.

Sir John Gurdon, 79, of Cambridge University, Monday shared the prize in physiology or medicine - and 744,000-pound cash - withJapanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka, 50.

Their ground-breaking work has given scientists fresh insights into how cells and organisms develop.

The research may pave the way for radical advances in medicine that allow damaged or diseased tissues to be regenerated in the lab, or even inside patients' bodies.

According to his Eton schoolmaster, Gurdon, at an age of 15, did not stand out as a potential scientist.

Writing in 2006, Gurdon quoted a school report as saying: "I believe Gurdon has ideas about becoming a scientist; on his present showing this is quite ridiculous.

"If he can't learn simple biological facts, he would have no chance of doing the work of a specialist, and it would be a sheer waste of time, both on his part and of those who would have to teach him."

His fellow researcher Yamanaka holds academic posts at Kyoto and San Francisco Universities.

Speaking to reporters in London, Gurdon said it was "very gratifying" to be recognised for what has been his life's work.

Prior to the duo's research, scientists believed adult cells were committed irreversibly to their specialist role, for example, as skin, brain or beating heart cells.

Gurdon showed that essentially all cells contained the same genes, and so held all the information needed to make any tissue.

Building on Gurdon's work, Yamanaka developed a chemical cocktail to reprogramme adult cells into more youthful states, from which they could grow into many other tissue types.

In a statement, the Nobel Assembly at Stockholm's Karolinska Institute in Sweden, said the scientists had "revolutionised our understanding of how cells and organisms develop".

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Samsung to launch Galaxy S3 Mini

South Korean company plans to complete with Apple's iPhone 5 by introducing 4in model of its popular flagship smartphone

Samsung aims to take on Apple’s iPhone 5 with a new 4in version of the Galaxy S III smartphone

Samsung plans to unveil a smaller "mini" version of its popular Galaxy S3 flagship smartphone with a 4in screen in Europe on Thursday, heightening its competition against Apple's new iPhone 5, released last month.

Apple made much in its launch of the iPhone 5 of its longer screen, which measures 4in diagonally, compared to the 3.5in of previous generations.

But now Samsung is aiming for the same market by adding a smaller version of the 4.8in Galaxy S3, which was unveiled in late May.

"There's a lot of demand for a 4in screen device in Europe. Some call it an entry-level device, but we call it 'mini.'," said JK Shin, head of mobile communications, at a press conference in Seoul, Samsung's world headquarters.

There had been widespread speculation that Samsung would launch a stripped-down version of the high-end Galaxy S3 to expand its market share in the mid- to low-end smartphone business. It is already the world's largest supplier of smartphones by analyst estimates, although it has not released formally audited figures since the end of 2011.

Samsung said on Wednesday the Galaxy S3 Mini would not be an entry-level model. Samsung UK declined to comment ahead of the formal launch.

Samsung is beefing up its product line-up with such devices as the latest phone-tablet Galaxy Note 2, as well as ATIV smartphones that run on Microsoft's new Windows Phone 8 system to compete with Nokia's Lumia series.

Samsung plans to introduce its first ATIV Windows 8 tablet next month, and ATIV S smartphone in November.

• Separately, South Korean news agency Yonhap quoted Shin as saying that Samsung did not plan to use its 4G LTE patents to attack its rivals, suggesting it was not considering expanding its legal battle with Apple to 4G technologies. However at the end of September Samsung filed a note in a US court indicating it would add the iPhone 5 to a list of alleged patent-infringing products – though those patents may not include 4G.

Samsung is under investigation by the European Commission and international bodies over its use of "standards-essential" patents for technologies such as 3G in court cases against Apple: such patents are required to be licensed to all comers who are prepared to pay a universal fee.

A Samsung spokesman was not immediately available to confirm Shin's comments.

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Depression a key cause for suicides

The underlying cause of 70 per cent of suicides is depression. For every suicide, around ten more attempted suicides would have occurred.

M. Chandrasekharan Nair, city-based psychiatrist, speaking to The Hindu, said that a government directive on treating a patient jointly by a general physician and a psychiatrist for every attempted suicide case could perhaps help in detecting depression and bringing down cases of suicides.

The stigma of getting treated by a psychiatrist continues to be the hurdle in people reaching out for support and care for better mental health, said Dr. Nair.

Depression is a worldwide phenomenon and about 30 per cent of patients reaching for primary care and specialty care have this problem, he said. However, the patients never realise it nor are the treating physicians oriented towards understanding depression in patients.

Intervention at the right time can help morbidity and mortality of attempted suicides.

The attempt is actually a call for help which goes unnoticed, Dr. Nair said.

There are various socially accepted reasons that people attach for suicides — like failure in examinations or broken relationships. Depression hides behind a mask of bodily symptoms like abdominal pain or other body pains and when investigated they reveal nothing, he said.

He said that it is purely lack of awareness on the part of the primary care physician that depression goes undetected at these stages.

The Indian Psychiatric Association had been asking the Medical Council of India to include an examination paper in psychiatry in the MBBS curriculum, said the president of the Association, Roy Abraham Kallivayalil.

The World Health Organisation has said that the treatment of mental health should begin at primary care, he said. Unfortunately, the primary care physicians are not trained to recognise such symptoms, he added.

Depression is a disease that can be treated, said Dr. Nair. Expression of depression comes through the brain. Recognising it early and treating it would help prevent suicides.

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Google releases Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean update

SOFTWARE DEVELOPER Google has released Android 4.1.2 for its Nexus 7 tablet.

"We're releasing Android 4.1.2 to AOSP today, which is a minor update on top of 4.1.1," said Jean-Baptiste M. "JBQ" Queru, technical lead for the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) at Google.

"As a note to maintainers of community builds running on Nexus 7: please update to 4.1.2 at the first opportunity."

"Future variants of the grouper hardware will have a minor change in one of the components (the power management chip) that will not be compatible with 4.1.1," he added, hinting once again that a new Nexus tablet is in the works.

In terms of new features, there are not all that many. However, the update does finally bring landscape mode to the Google Nexus 7 enabling users to use the device horizontally, a feature previously unavailable on the Android tablet. Google also says that the update brings a handful of bug fixes and stability improvements.

Don't get too excited though. We checked for software updates on our Asus branded Nexus 7 tablet and were told that there's nothing for us to download yet. It's likely that Google has released the update in the US first with a UK release to follow soon, but the company hadn't responded to our request for comment at the time of publication.

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Microsoft Surface tablets are coming to China

A 'deal' with the Suning company means that the leading Chinese retailer will be able to sell Microsoft's Surface tablets through its network of gadget stores. It looks as though the upcoming launch of Microsoft's much-publicized Surface tablet will not be confined to the US. 

Chinese 

consumers will also be able to get their hands on the device and decide if it's as good as an iPad or an Android device. Analysts and experts initially believed that though the Windows 8 operating system would get a worldwide roll out, Microsoft's latest tablet would only be available to US customers, via its temporary pop-up and permanent Microsoft stores (Amazon chose a similar path with its first Kindle Fire tablet, limiting its sales to North America via its website).

However, according to WPDang, the company has signed a deal with the Suning company in China to sell its tablets in the country via its leading gadget stores. The two companies have a strong relationship: Suning is already the official distributor of Windows Phone devices for the region. And rumour has it that Zhang Jindong, Suning's chairman, and its president, Zhang Yaqin, flew into Redmond to discuss ongoing cooperation with Microsot's CEO, Steve Ballmer, in May.

The consumer or 'RT' version of the Surface tablet is expected to launch in the US on October 26, the same day as the new Windows 8 operating system. A higher specification enterprise 'Pro' model featuring an Intel chip and the power to run full desktop versions of applications, including Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Office is expected to launch in early 2013. However, there are currently no details about pricing or when the tablets will be coming to China.

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Micromax tablets beat out Apple, Samsung in India

The Micromax Funbook Infinity

New data has shown that Micromax is the market leader of India’s tablet market which has witnessed a surge in sales mainly due to the entry of new tablet vendors as well as the introduction of offerings from existing vendors at low to medium price points.

Micromax was followed by Samsung and Apple respectively.

India’s overall tablet market recorded sales of 0.55 million units in 2Q 2012 (Quarter ended June 30, 2012). Micromax leads with an 18.4 percent share, followed by Samsung at second position with 13.3 percent and Apple at third position with 12.3 percent, in terms of sales (unit shipments) during the second quarter of 2012.

A statement on behalf of CyberMedia said although India’s tablets market was still at a nascent stage,  it had become competitive due to the entry of new vendors with entry level offerings. The data showed that as of the second quarter of 2012, close to 90 vendors launched new tablets into the market, and the average price of a tablet had dropped to a little above Rs 13,000 from Rs 26,000 in 1Q 2012, as a majority of vendors in early 2012 launched their products in the Rs 5,000-10,000 price range.

Faisal Kawoosa, Lead Analyst, CMR Telecoms Practice said, “During 2Q 2012, 47.4 percent of tablet sales were from new entrants in the market with a strong focus on addressing application areas in the Education and Entertainment segments. This trend demonstrates clearly that vendors are positioning their devices at India’s youth.”

Some of the key trends in terms of specifications of media tablets in India noted in 2Q 2012 are in the table below.

India Quarterly Media Tablets Market Review for 2Q 2012*: Trending

*Source: CyberMedia Research (CMR) India Quarterly Media Tablets Market Review, 2Q 2012, September 2012.

“As Android devices become increasingly popular with users across the world, competition is increasing in the India Tablets market with more and more vendors launching devices based on the Android OS. The share of devices based on other operating systems like Windows, iOS and QNX are expected to rise in future in view of the recent announcement of the Microsoft Windows Surface Tablet, the global launch of the Apple iPad 3 and reduction in BlackBerry Playbook prices,” Kawoosa added.

“Going forward we see vendors launching segments specific segments such as Healthcare, Retail and e-Governance. In terms of tablet use cases, the popular categories are Internet browsing, Email, Entertainment, Gaming, Social Networking, Information (Cricket, Flights etc). Clearly, the Indian user is also taking to the tablet as a content consumption device,” added Tarun Pathak, analyst, CMR Telecoms Practice.

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Assange supporters ordered to pay sureties

Nine friends and supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who stood bail sureties for him, were on Monday ordered by a court to pay thousands of pounds each after police said that he had breached his bail conditions by seeking refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden.

Westminster Chief Magistrate Howard Riddle ruled that they must pay a total of £93,500 by November 6.

They included Steven Vaughan, at whose country home Mr. Assange lived for many months after being released on bail in December 2010; prominent journalist Phillip Knightley; and Mr. Assange’s assistants, 

Joseph Farrell and Sarah Harrison.

Mr. Vaughan, who was ordered to pay £12,000, said he and all those who stood sureties were “convinced that they have done and are doing the right thing”.

Mr. Riddle acknowledged that they acted in good faith but said that they must have known the “risk” they were taking and “failed in their basic duty” to ensure that Mr. Assange honoured his bail conditions which, among other things, required him to stay at a designated address.

Police said that he broke that condition when he moved into the Ecuadorian embassy in June and must surrender himself. He would be arrested as soon as he comes out of the embassy.

Mr. Riddle said he saw no difference between Mr. Assange taking refuge in the embassy and fleeing to Ecuador where he has been given diplomatic asylum..

“Mr. Assange has an obligation to comply with the legal requirements of this country to surrender to the bail granted on terms originally set by the High Court,” he said.

Sweden wants to question Mr. Assange over allegations of sexual assault by two women. He fears that if extradited to Sweden, he might be handed to American authorities who have threatened to prosecute him for publishing secret diplomatic cables.

Britain has refused to grant him safe passage to Ecuador arguing that it is under legal obligation to deport him.

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Life on the Edge - Felix Baumgartner - Red Bull Stratos 2012

Mission delayed due to weather. Target launch now 5AM PT/12PM GMT on October 9! Watch it LIVE 

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