Windows Phone gains momentum, overtakes iOS in Italy

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

Microsoft's Windows Phone is starting to gain popularity in Europe.

Windows Phone now accounts for 10 percent of smartphone sales in Europe's five biggest markets, research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech said Monday. Windows Phone has performed so well in Italy that it's now more popular in that country than Apple's iOS.

"Windows Phone, driven almost entirely by Nokia sales, continues to make rapid progress in Europe and has also shown signs of growth in emerging markets such as Latin America," Kantar said.

Despite the improvements, Windows Phone is still a long ways behind Android. According to Kantar, Android owns 71.9 percent of Europe's mobile market, up 4.2 percentage points compared with last year.

Looking beyond Europe, Kantar reported that Android now holds 81.1 percent of China's smartphone market.

Could this iPhone Air concept take flight?

Would an iPhone Air suck all the remaining air out of the room?

(Credit: Ciccarese Design)

In the world of industrial design for mobile hardware, there are few names that can compete with the likes of Apple and Jony Ive, but Italian designer Federico Ciccarese has no qualms mocking up his own visions of what he'd like to see the Cupertino cabal make next.

Ciccarese's iWatch concepts have probably been the most intriguing smartwatch designs I've seen anywhere (real or imagined), and his latest effort shows how Apple could unify its "Air" product lines in a way that could really take flight -- by adding an "iPhone Air" to the mix.

Ciccarese doesn't provide any details on what might be found inside an iPhone Air, but presumably it would be the lightest and thinnest yet.With light-as-air notebooks and now the iPad Air in the Apple family, there's reason to believe that fanbois would also line up for an iPhone Air, although Tim Cook and friends would certainly give the iPhone 5S and 5C a few more months to sell.

Check out the close-up below and let us know in the comments if you think he's onto something.

Fueling crisis: Delay in LNG import causes $2 billion loss annually

Pakistan is committed to the IP gas pipeline, said Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD: 

Saying that gas import is a solution to the energy crisis, Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has claimed that the country is bearing an annual loss of $2 billion because of delay in import of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

“No one is ready to take a decision on LNG import projects due to courts and media,” he said.

Speaking at a seminar held by the All Pakistan CNG Association here on Monday, Abbasi said the government had planned to import two billion cubic feet of gas per day (bcfd) in the next three years to tackle the energy shortages.

He assured CNG businesses that the government would offer incentives to them to promote the fuel in the country.

“We are focusing on LNG imports, Iran-Pakistan (IP) and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline projects to overcome the energy crisis,” he said and declared Iranian gas was cheaper than LNG.

Pointing to a report prepared by an institute that termed the IP gas pipeline a cause of economic crisis for Pakistan, he said “loyalty of such people who filed the report is questionable.”

Gas import from Turkmenistan under the TAPI pipeline would be cheaper worth $1 billion than the Iranian gas, he said. However, “Pakistan is committed to the IP gas pipeline.”

Talking about the CNG crisis, he acknowledged that CNG benefitted the country and half of the vehicles were running on this fuel.

“The only solution to the woes of CNG industry is imported gas,” he declared, saying LNG import could address energy shortages in Pakistan and the government would unveil incentives for promoting the CNG business.

All Pakistan CNG Association Chairman Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha announced that they were ready to import LNG to resolve the CNG crisis. “CNG is an alternative to 3.5 billion litres of petrol and high speed diesel,” he said.

According to Paracha, the CNG price had gone up Rs4 per kg following a hike in power tariff. However, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) refused to allow recovery of the price increase from the CNG consumers.

He pointed out that the CNG industry had invested Rs450 billion so far, but it was facing financial crisis due to “wrong policies of the past government”. He stressed that uninterrupted gas supply should be ensured to the CNG sector through LNG imports.

“CNG stations may receive gas for the entire week with the help of 400 million cubic feet of LNG per day,” Paracha said, suggesting that LNG import should be exempted from taxes to make it feasible for the consumers

iPhone 6 could have sapphire screen as Apple opens plant

Apple has signalled that sapphire is the future of the iPhone, signing a $578m deal to open a plant in Arizona with US company GT Advanced Technologies, an expert in artificially producing the harder-than-rock material.

Sapphire is currently used in the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the new iPhone 5S, a fiddly bit of kit that's likely to appear in future Apple products, although surprisingly not in the new iPad Airor retina iPad mini. That's perhaps because of limited supply, which the new deal should fix.

But sapphire is increasingly being used as a screen material in prototypes and high-end phones, and having a major supply of the blue stuff could hint at the Californian company using it for iPhone and iPad displays.

What would that be like? Well, in this demo video from earlier this year, my surprisingly strong colleague Jessica Dolcourt smashes a lump of concrete into an iPhone 5 with a thin sheet of sapphire attached to the front:

Synthetically 'grown' from a starter crystal, industrial sapphire is so hard it requires diamond-tipped saws to shape it. It's currently much more expensive than the glass normally used in phones, but increasing demand from the likes of Apple will lead to more efficient processes and costs should fall.

"GT has accelerated the development of its next generation, large capacity ASF (advanced sapphire furnaces) to deliver low cost, high volume manufacturing of sapphire material," the company said in its statement announcing the deal. "Although the agreement does not guarantee volumes, it does require GT to maintain a minimum level of capacity."

The plant will employ 700 people in Arizona, and is part of Apple's plan to return some of its manufacturing to the US, with the Mac Pro currently assembled in Texas. "We are proud to expand our domestic manufacturing initiative with a new facility in Arizona, creating more than 2,000 jobs in engineering, manufacturing and construction," an Apple spokesperson told AllThingsD.

Would you shell out extra for a sapphire-screened blower? Have you smashed up too many screens to be won over by promises of better displays? Find a diamond in the rough that is our comments section, or head to the crown jewel -- our Facebook page.

Ronaldo challenges Raúl's crown

Cristiano Ronaldo inherited the number 7 shirt from Raúl, along with the affection of the fans. Now the Portuguese player is mounting an assault on his historic 'Los Blancos' goal record.

Judging by CR7'S statistics, it will not be long before he reaches the top spot of Real Madrid's all-time list of goalscorers. His start to the season calls for the calculations to be done to see when that record-breaking day will come.

Ronaldo needs 101 more goals to topple Raúl, with the Portuguese player's current total standing at 222, to the Spaniard's 323. Ronaldo has scored his last 101 goals since February 2012, i.e., over the past 20 calendar months, which is the equivalent to 14 months in sporting terms.

Modric: "Ronaldo is past, present and future of Real"

Luka Modric believes that Juventus "has a great squad with great players and when you play a big game like this you want the best players from the other side to play against you", he said on Bwin website.

The Croat also spoke about his objectives for the present season: "I personally want to play the best I can and help my team win matches and all the trophies we can".

When asked about the best moment of his career, Modric said: "There have been many: my debut for Croatia against Argentina, my move to Real Madrid and my goal at Old Trafford. But I hope the best moment of my career is still to come".

On his experience of playing at the Santiago Bernabéu, he said: "I feel a lot of emotion. The stadium is incredible and the fans too. It's very moving to step out onto the pitch. I enjoy every moment".

Modric said he has always admired the Real Madrid players: "So many great players have played for Real Madrid. You only have to look back and you find Di Stéfano, Puskas. More recently Raúl and Zidane, who is now one of our coaches. Cristiano Ronaldo is the past, present and future of this team. They are the players I admire most, but my childhood idol was Zvonimir Boban, one of the greatest players in the history of Croatia".

Key project: Islamabad approaches World Bank for Dasu Dam

As the WB was more than willing to finance the Dasu project over the 4,500-MW Diamer Bhasha dam, it immediately started the process and an appraisal mission of the WB is already in town, according to sources in WAPDA. DESIGN: TALHA AHMED KHAN

ISLAMABAD: 

Pakistan has put the Diamer Bhasha dam on the back burner and approached the World Bank (WB) to finance the $7.5 billion, 4,320-megawatt (MW) Dasu hydropower project, conceding to a major demand by international lenders who were reluctant to fund the Diamer Bhasha project.

The federal government wrote last month to the Washington-based lending agency to start the process for the approval of a $700 million loan for the Dasu hydropower project, according to sources in the Ministry of Finance.

The letter was sent to the WB by the Economic Affairs Division (EAD), marking the beginning of a departure from the current government’s stated policy of first building Diamer Bhasha and then starting work on Dasu. An official of the EAD confirmed that the government approached the WB to finance the project.

As the WB was more than willing to finance the Dasu project over the 4,500-MW Diamer Bhasha dam, it immediately started the process and an appraisal mission of the WB is already in town, according to sources in Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda). The mission will hold wrap-up meetings in Islamabad this week and decide a date for presenting the project in front of the Board of Directors of the WB to approve a $700million loan, the sources said.

The WB loan is for the upfront cost of the project, compensation for the affected population, resettlement plans and pre-construction activities, the sources said. Usually, such activities are funded through domestic resources as these activities have low or no rate of return at all. This highlights the WB’s eagerness to fund the Dasu project at the expense of Diamer Bhasha.

The site of Dasu power project is 74 kilometers (km) downstream of the Diamer Bhasha dam and 350 km from Islamabad. The feasibility study and detailed engineering designs of the project were already completed and tender documents ready to be issued, the sources said.

Over the past several years, the WB kept refusing to finance the Diamer Bhasha dam, requesting a no-objection certificate from India first. After the WB’s refusal, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) too attached many conditions, including seeking a consensus resolution from the Council of Common Interests before asking for loan for the $14 billion Diamer Bhasha dam. Recently the ADB raised resettlement and environmental issues resulting from the construction of the dam.

The WB country office confirmed that the work on approving the loan for Dasu project was underway.

The international lenders were of the view that it would be difficult for them to finance the Diamer project due to the huge financing required. They argued that work on Dasu could be completed in four phases with initial funding through loans in the first phase, while the rest of the work can be completed by Pakistan.

The Planning Commission has already received a PC-I form for approving the project for land acquisition for the Dasu project, confirmed Planning Commission spokesperson Asif Sheikh. The commission has not yet critically reviewed the PC-I form but the water and power ministry has put the initial land acquisition cost at Rs74 billion.

Rana Assad Amin, spokesman for the Finance Ministry, said that initiating work on Dasu would not mean that the government has abandoned the Diamer Bhasha project. He claimed that the government will implement both projects simultaneously.

To a question on arranging up to $25 billion funds for carrying on activities simultaneously, Amin said the Dasu project will be completed in eight years while Daimer project would take at least 10 to 12 years, allowing Pakistan more time to raise funds.