iPhone 5 sales in China surpass 2 million in first weekend

Apple's iPhone 5.

(Credit:
CNET)

It's been just three days since Apple's iPhone 5 launch in China and already 2 million devices have already been sold. The tech giant announced today that this latest model of its popular smartphone is selling faster than ever in the Far East country.

"Customer response to
iPhone 5 in China has been incredible, setting a new record with the best first weekend sales ever in China," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. "China is a very important market for us and customers there cannot wait to get their hands on Apple products."

The iPhone 5 went on sale on Thursday in China and even before people could get their hands on the smartphone, hundreds of thousands of online reservations were already made for the device. The device is available through carriers China Telecom and China Unicom and, as of now, it's still not being offered on China Mobile -- the country's largest carrier.

China is of huge significance for Apple, it is the company's second biggest market -- after the U.S. -- and already accounted for about 15 percent ($23.8 billion) of the company's revenue for its fiscal year that ended in September.

When the iPhone 5 first launched in the U.S. in September, its sales topped 5 million units over first weekend -- which was a million higher than the
iPhone 4S. According to analysts at investment bank Canaccord Genuity, it is expected that Apple will sell 47.5 million iPhones in the current quarter, up from its prior forecast for 45 million. However, estimates for the first quarter of 2013 have been slightly lowered -- now 46 million instead of 47.5 million -- as the earlier-than-expected China launch is most likely pulling sales into this quarter.

Besides China, the iPhone 5 will also be on sale in more than 100 other countries by the end of the month. According to Apple, this makes the iPhone 5 the fastest iPhone rollout ever.

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Space Pictures This Week: Frosty Mars, Mini Nile, More

Photograph by Mike Theiss, National Geographic

The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, illuminates the Arctic sky in a recent picture by National Geographic photographer Mike Theiss.

A storm chaser by trade, Theiss is in the Arctic Circle on an expedition to photograph auroras, which result from collisions between charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere and gaseous particles in Earth's atmosphere.

After one particularly amazing show, he wrote on YouTube, "The lights were dancing, rolling, and twisting, and at times looked like they were close enough to touch!" (Watch his time-lapse video of the northern lights.)

Published December 14, 2012

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Obama Offers Newtown 'Love and Prayers of a Nation'

President Obama told the grieving community of Newtown, Conn., that the nation has wept with them for the loss of 20 children and six teachers and school staff members killed in a senseless massacre.

Grim-faced, Obama took the stage at Newtown High School auditorium to speak at a memorial service for the first graders, teachers, principal and other school staff members killed Friday by 20-year-old Adam Lanza at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.

"I come to offer the love and prayers of a nation," the president said. "I am very mindful that mere words cannot match the depths of your sorrow nor can they heal your wounded hearts. I can only hope it helps to know you are not alone ... and that all across this land we have wept with you."

The memorial service had been delayed nearly an hour as Obama met with families of the victims -- 20 first graders and six adults -- in classrooms of the high school, but the audience sat patiently awaiting the service.

The president walked in shortly before 8 p.m., gave a brief wave to the room full of parents, friends and neighbors, before taking a seat in the first row.

He was greeted with a standing ovation as he the auditorium, and quickly took his seat in the first row to await his turn to speak in the interfaith memorial service.

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

President Obama: 'Newtown You Are Not Alone' Watch Video

Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting: Remembering the Victims Watch Video

"We needed this. We needed to be together, here in this room, in the gymnasium, outside the doors of this school, in living rooms around the world, we needed to be together to show that we are together and united," said Rev. Matt Crebbin, senior minister of the Newtown Congregational Church, who opened the ceremony.

CLICK HERE for full coverage of the tragedy at the elementary school.

"We gather in such a moment of heartbreak for all of us in Newtown," he said. "We gather esp mindful of family and friends and neighbors among us who have lost loved ones by an act of unfathomable violence and destruction.

"These darkest days of our community shall not be the final word heard from us," he said

Tragedy struck the small town Friday when Adam Lanza broke into the elementary school with a semiautomatic rifle and two handguns, and then killed 20 first graders and six school staff members before committing suicide as police arrived on the scene.

CLICK HERE to read about the 'hero teacher,' the principal and 20 children who lost their lives.

The audience showed no signs of impatience, despite the delayed start. They sat quietly until a group of state police arrived at the already packed high school auditorium, but then stood to give the police a standing ovation and hugs.

A short time later more police arrived, and were also greeted with applause and hugs.

Assuming a consoling role that has become all too familiar for this presidency, Obama will also privately meet with some of the families affected by the tragic shooting, as well as local first responders.

The president has witnessed five mass shootings since assuming office in 2009, his reaction to this most recent tragedy in New England being his most publicly emotional. On Friday, tears collected in his eyes as he addressed the nation after the tragedy.

"The majority of those who died today were children, beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old," the president said, pausing to collect himself. "They had their entire lives ahead of them -- birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own."

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Zebrafish made to grow pre-hands instead of fins

PERHAPS the little fish embryo shown here is dancing a jig because it has just discovered that it has legs instead of fins. Fossils show that limbs evolved from fins, but a new study shows how it may have happened, live in the lab.

Fernando Casares of the Spanish National Research Council and his colleagues injected zebrafish with the hoxd13 gene from a mouse. The protein that the gene codes for controls the development of autopods, a precursor to hands, feet and paws.

Zebrafish naturally carry hoxd13 but produce less of the protein than tetrapods - all four-limbed vertebrates and birds - do. Casares and his colleagues hoped that by injecting extra copies of the gene into the zebrafish embryos, some of their cells would make more of the protein.

One full day later, all of those fish whose cells had taken up the gene began to develop autopods instead of fins. They carried on growing for four days but then died (Cell, DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2012.10.015).

"Of course, we haven't been able to grow hands," says Casares. He speculates that hundreds of millions of years ago, the ancestors of tetrapods began expressing more hoxd13 for some reason and that this could have allowed them to evolve autopods.

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Body found in Singapore River

SINGAPORE: A man was found dead in the Singapore River along Clarke Quay early Sunday morning.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it received a call at about 1.30am.

Someone was spotted jumping into the river near Block A.

SCDF officers arrived about four minutes later and conducted a search around the area.

Diving at a depth of about 3 metres, rescuers retrieved the body of a man about three-and-a-half hours later.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police are investigating the unnatural death.

- CNA/ir

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Google will alter search to end FTC antitrust inquiry, says report

The Federal Trade Commission may bring its two-year antitrust investigation of Google to a close by allowing the company to make voluntary changes to its search business, according to a report.

The search giant is said to be readying an announcement about changes to its use of "snippets," bits of text culled from sites such as Yelp and TripAdvisor and displayed in search results, Politico reports, citing unnamed sources. Yelp and others had charged Google with using their content without permission.

Google will also makes tweaks that will allow for easier porting of search-ad campaigns from Google to rival search services, Politico's sources said.

Politico suggested on Tuesday that the FTC may leave the search-related case to the European Commission, which has mounted an investigation of its own. Reuters reported on Tuesday that some Google competitors, sensing a possible defeat, are taking the case to the Justice Department.

Google and the FTC also look to be close to a settlement in a case involving so-called frand -- or standard essential -- patents owned by Google.

Politico said the FTC declined to comment on today's report about the search tweaks, and it said Google would provide only the following statement: "We continue to work cooperatively with the Federal Trade Commission and are happy to answer any questions they may have."

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Space Pictures This Week: Frosty Mars, Mini Nile, More

Photograph by Mike Theiss, National Geographic

The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, illuminates the Arctic sky in a recent picture by National Geographic photographer Mike Theiss.

A storm chaser by trade, Theiss is in the Arctic Circle on an expedition to photograph auroras, which result from collisions between charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere and gaseous particles in Earth's atmosphere.

After one particularly amazing show, he wrote on YouTube, "The lights were dancing, rolling, and twisting, and at times looked like they were close enough to touch!" (Watch his time-lapse video of the northern lights.)

Published December 14, 2012

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Conn. Victim's Father Remembers 'Loving' Daughter

(Image credit: Emilie Parker Fund/Facebook)

Emilie Parker, the little girl with the blond hair and bright blue eyes, would have been one of the first to comfort her classmates at Sandy Hook Elementary School, had a gunman’s bullets not claimed her life, her father said.

“My daughter Emilie would be one of the first ones to be standing and giving support to all the victims because that’s the kind of kid she is,” her father, Robbie Parker said as he fought back tears, telling the world about his “bright, creative and loving” daughter who was one of the 20 young victims in the Newtown, Conn., shooting.

“She always had something kind to say about anybody,” her father said.  ”We find comfort reflecting on the incredible person Emilie was and how many lives she was able to touch.”

Emilie, 6, was helping teach her younger sisters to read and make things, and she was the little girls would go to for comfort, he said.

“They looked up to her,” Parker said.

READ: Complete List of Sandy Hook Victims

Parker moved his wife and three daughters to Newtown eight months ago after accepting a job as  a physician’s assistant at Danbury Hospital. He said Emilie, his oldest daughter, seemed to have adjusted well to her new school, and he was very happy with the school, too.

“I love the people at the school. I love Emilie’s teacher and the classmates we were able to get to know,” he said.

      (Image Credit: Alex von Kleydorff/AP Photo)

The family dealt with another tragic loss in October when Emilie lost her grandfather in an accident.

“[This] has been a topic that has been discussed in our family in the past couple of  months,” Parker said. “[My daughters ages 3 and 4] seem to get the idea that there’s somebody who they will miss very much.”

Emilie, a budding artist who carried her markers and pencils everywhere, paid tribute to her grandfather by slipping a special card she had drawn into his casket, Parker said.  It was something she frequently did to lift the spirits of others.

“I can’t count the number of times Emilie would find someone feeling sad or frustrated and would make people a card,” Parker said. “She was an exceptional artist.”

The girl who was remembered as “always willing to try new things, other than food” was learning Portuguese from her father, who speaks the language.

(Image Credit: Emilie Parker Fund/Facebook)

On Friday morning, Emilie woke up before her father left for his job and exchanged a few sentences with him in the language.

“She told me good morning and asked how I was doing,” Parker said. “She said she loved me, I gave her a kiss and I was out the door.”

Parker found out about the shooting while on lockdown in Danbury Hospital and found a television for the latest news.

“I didn’t think it was that big of deal at first,” he said. “With the first reports coming in, it didn’t sound like it was going to be as tragic as it was. That’s kind of what it was like for us.”

CLICK HERE for full coverage of the Sandy Hook shooting.

Parker said he knows that God can’t take away free will and would have been unable to stop the Sandy Hook shooting. While gunman Adam Lanza used his free agency to take innocent lives, Parker said he plans to use his in a positive way.

“I’m not mad because I have my  [free] agency to use this event to do whatever I can to make sure my family and my wife and my daughters are taken care [of],” he said. “And if there’s anything I can do to help to anyone at any time at anywhere, I’m free to do that.”

(Image credit: Emilie Parker Fund/Facebook)

Friday night, hours after he learned of his daughter’s death, Parker said he spoke at his church.

“I don’t know how to get through something like this. My wife and I don’t understand how to process all of this,” he said today. “We find strength in our religion and in our faith and in our family. ”

“It’s a horrific tragedy and I want everyone to know our hearts and prayers go out to them. This includes the family of the shooter. I can’t imagine how hard this experience must be for you and I want you to know our family … love and support goes out to you as well.”

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CERN becomes first pure physics voice in UN chorus

Lisa Grossman, physical sciences reporter

(Image: UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras)

If CERN observes the proceedings of the United Nations, will it change the outcome?

The international particle physics laboratory, based near Geneva, Switzerland, has been granted observer status in the General Assembly of the United Nations, CERN officials announced today. 

The lab joins environmental groups and public health agencies as the first physical sciences research organization in the ranks of UN observers. Observer status grants the right to speak at meetings, participate in procedural votes, and sign and sponsor resolutions, but not to vote on resolutions.

In some ways, CERN's addition seems a natural move - and a long time coming.

The facility was founded in 1954 under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). Its initial mission was to provide collaborative projects for researchers from Allied countries and former Axis countries after the second World War.

Arguably the lab's most high-profile project, the Large Hadron Collider, made headlines worldwide this year when it revealed detection of a new particle that appears to be the elusive Higgs boson.

"Through its projects, which bring together scientists from all over the world, CERN also promotes dialogue between nations and has become a model for international cooperation," CERN states in a press release. The lab says it may use its new status with the UN to help shore up scientific education and technological capabilities in developing countries, particularly in Africa.

But just as observing a quantum particle can change its state, can CERN's involvement truly collapse the UN's wavefunction and trigger better global science and technology policies? Only time will tell.

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Police hunt man who threatened shooting at US mosque

LOS ANGELES: Police in California are looking for a man who reportedly walked into a California mosque saying he had a gun and threatened to kill everyone, a spokeswoman said Friday.

The man entered the Ibrahim Khalilullah Islamic Center in Fremont, south of San Francisco, during afternoon prayer Wednesday, said mosque leaders, urging official action to track down the man.

According to witnesses, a "white male in his thirties entered the IKI Center Mosque during prayer, and shouted that he had a gun and wanted to kill everyone. When confronted, the male left," said a police spokeswoman.

"We are a little worried because of the situation that happened in Oregon," said Fareed Wardak, a member of the center's board of directors, referring to a shooting in the western US state that left three dead on Tuesday.

"We don't want the same thing to happen," he told KTVU television, in comments made before Friday's shooting at an elementary school in the eastern state of Connecticut that killed 20 children and six adults.

The man left without taking out a gun. Fremont Police Department spokeswoman Geneva Bosques told AFP: "He never displayed a gun, kept his hands in his pockets. We are following up in an attempt to look at video surveillance."

The man possibly drove a 1990s gray Toyota Camry, and officers will be carrying out extra patrols looking for anything suspicious, KTVU reported.

"We do have surveillance cameras. We'll be getting pictures out of that system," said Wardak, adding: "We're not sure what kind of person" the man was.

"It's Christmas, people are going back and forth," said Mohammed Zarabi, president of the board of directors. "Maybe he needs some money. I can't say what his intention was. I just hope it doesn't happen again."

The center has some 500 members, mostly of Afghan descent, and has been in the city for two decades.

This week's shootings in Oregon and Connecticut have revived the perennial debate about gun control in the United States, a country that regularly has to cope with such apparently random killings.

Friday's massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut was the second deadliest US school shooting, after the 2007 campus shootings at Virginia Tech University, which left 32 dead.

- AFP/ck

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