Borussia Dortmund star Robert Lewandowski has confirmed that he has decided who he will be playing for next season.
The Polish star has long been linked to Bayern Munich and he is widely expected to move to the Allianz Arena next summer.
Last month, Lewandowski stated he still has a desire to play in England and that he was yet to choose his next club, but he now says that his decision has been made.
"I will reveal my future next year. No one needs to get in touch with me anymore," he told Sport-BILD weekly.
"I have decided what I am to do. I simply want to have a new challenge next season, despite the fact I am feeling very, very happy being at Borussia Dortmund."
The 25-year-old joined Borussia in 2010, but he is out of contract at the end of the season, meaning he is able to leave on a free transfer in the summer.
Iker Casillas' lack of activity in la Liga, as decreed by his coach, Carlo Ancelotti, did not show in Turin in the game against Juventus. The Champions League gave us a glimpse of a perfectly charismatic and agile goalkeeper. It is true that he conceded goals, but looking at the actions, Madrid's goalkeeper comes out very well.
He correctly guessed the direction of Arturo Vidal's shot in the penalty, but the Chilean launched the kick with a lift that made it impossible for Casillas to stop. The second was a close-range shot, with Llorente only a metre from the goal following Varane's failure to mark him.
Casillas left the Juventus stadium having made seven saves. The most memorable were those attempts made by Tevez (2), Marchisio (2) and Pogba.
If you are still not ready for an ultra high-definition home theater projector, perhaps the new VPL-HW55ES may be a more attractive option. Based on Sony's proprietary SXRD display technology and with a native full-HD resolution, this beamer can output a high 120,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and 1,700 lumens to reproduce richer and brighter visuals.
With 1.6x optical zoom and wide lens shift support, the VPL-HW55ES is also much easier to install than its DLP counterparts. Other key highlights include active 3D technology and dual HDMI inputs. Meanwhile, an optional wireless HDMI adapter is also available. The Sony VPL-HW55ES will be launched in Asia Pacific this month, but pricing hasn't been announced yet
Lenovo attempts to leverage its Yoga brand with new 8- and 10-inch Android 4.2.2 tablets. The tablets hit stores on Wednesday at US$249 for the 8-incher and US$299 for the 10.
Though aesthetically unique, the tablets' specs prove less than exciting. The Lenovo Yoga Tablet 8 and Tablet 10 feature quad-core 1.2GHz MT8125 Mediatek CPUs. MediaTek isn't known for making powerful tablet processors, and although I've yet to delve deeply into this one's capabilities, based on past performance, I'll be keeping my expectations low.
The tablet designs are also reminiscent of the Sony Tablet S and Xperia Tablet S with a cylindrical edge at one end.
Lenovo says it also moved most of the tablet's heavier internal components to the cylinder side of the tablet, giving it better balance and encouraging users to hold it by the cylinder where it's easier and more comfortable to hang onto.
The metal kickstand remains hidden until it's time to use it. (Credit: James Martin/CNET)
The tablets do feel well-balanced and light when held this way -- especially true with the lighter 8-incher -- and the cylinder gives your hands something smooth and easy to grip.
There's an aluminum kickstand that allows you to stand the tablets up or lay them down at an angle, making them more comfortable to type on. The back is polycarbonate, and overall the tablets feel pretty well-built
The Yoga Tablet's refreshing take on a power button. (Credit: James Martin/CNET)
The power button is large and easy to find, but also flush to reduce the chance you'll accidentally press it.
There's a Micro-USB port for charging, a 1.6-megapixel front camera, and a 5-megapixel back camera. Also included are a microSD storage expansion slot, a headphone jack, and a volume rocker.
Both tablets feature thin profiles and are pretty light. (Credit: James Martin/CNET)
The 1,280x800-pixel-resolution screens are backed by IPS panels and are frankly low by today's standards, especially on the 10-incher. We've moved on to expect at least 1,920x1,200 resolutions, even on smaller tablets. That said, while the Tablet 10 looked dismal compared with most tablets on the market, the Tablet 8 was fairly sharp.
The Dolby Digital plus DS1 front-facing speakers sounded fine after only listening for a brief time, so it still remains to be seen if they're truly anything special.
Lenovo makes a big deal about the Dolby Digital front-facing speakers, but it remains to be seen if they hold up under scrutiny. (Credit: James Martin/CNET)
Lenovo says the batteries in each tablet should last 50 percent longer than any other tablet on the market, which is saying something, as tablets on the market can last up to 13 hours.
Lenovo outfitted the Yoga Tablets with batteries usually intended for laptops -- 6000mAh for the 8-inch and 9,000mAh for the 10-incher -- so it'll be interesting to see how long they actually last.
The Yoga Tablet's US$70 keyboard accessory. (Credit: James Martin/CNET)
And in order to further differentiate the tablets from others, Lenovo's added a media shortcut menu, called Smart Bar, that pretty much does just what you'd imagine a media shortcut button does: allow you to shortcut directly to your stored videos and music.
Also, expect accessories including a US$70 keyboard dock and a US$30 cover case that comes in four different colors for each tablet.
The Yoga Tablet 8 ships for US$249 with 16GB of storage, and the 10-inch costs US$299 for 16GB of storage.
It's difficult to muster much excitement for these tablets. Each seems to have plenty of useful features, and the design is unique and seems thoughtful, but it's the underwhelming screen resolution and inclusion of a MediaTek CPU that can only inspire indifference in me. I hope to be pleasantly surprised after we've spent some extended amounts of time with these new tablets. Look for full reviews of each tablet soon.
While the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information hinted in March that 4G licenses would be issued in China before December 31, China Mobile, on Wednesday, has already started selling its first two TD-LTE compatible smartphone models. These include the Sony Xperia SP M35t and Samsung Galaxy Note 2, both exclusive to Beijing customers.
China Mobile assured existing China Mobile customers will not be required to change their phone numbers, though existing SIM cards will need to be replaced. At the same time, the 4G connection will be limited to an area within the Third Ring Road (Beijing is encircled by six ring roads) and specific locations including Tsinghua University, the Beijing China World Trade Center, and the city's Central Business District.
Amid a rare decline in quarterly profits of 8.8 percent in Q3, attributed to increasing competition from OTT apps including WeChat, and China Mobile's US$7 billion investment funneled into building the operator's 4G infrastructure, analysts have pinned China Mobile's soon-to-be-approved TD-LTE network to be the answer to its financial woes.
For now, smartphone manufacturers including Samsung, ZTE, Huawei, and Sony, have been awarded 4G permits to sell 4G handsets in China .
However, the news that China Mobile subscribers have been looking forward to is the highly anticipated 4G partnership with Apple to begin the sale of the iPhone 5S and 5C through China Mobile.
Till now, the iPhone and China Mobile's current TD-SCDMA network are not compatible. But a listing on the Web site of Tenaa (China's equivalent of the FCC) suggested that both smartphone models will support TD-LTE and TD-SCDMA. China Mobile has added fuel to the flames with an ad promoting 4G on the company's Web site, and leaked posters scattered around the country (although the authenticity of the posters have not been verified). Then there's a job posting published by Apple explicitly looking for a China Mobile specialist engineer.
These factors could mean 700 million China Mobile subscribers are that much closer to getting their hands on a 4G iPhone, among other 4G smartphones.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer with his company's Surface tablet. (Credit: Josh Lowensohn/CNET)
Microsoft has apparently shortened its list of potential successors to replace CEO Steve Ballmer, according to Reuters.
In this group is Ford CEO Alan Mulally, former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, Microsoft Executive VP Tony Bates, and Microsoft cloud and enterprise chief Satya Nadella. Reuters was unable to get other names, but a source familiar with the matter said there was at least one other internal candidate and a total of more-or-less five contenders.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who has led the company for the past 13 years, announced in August that he would retire within 12 months once a replacement is found who will carry out Microsoft's new vision of offering more devices and services. The company's board has formed a special committee to seek out potential candidates. Meeting with Microsoft's shareholders, the committee has been narrowing down its list of possible successors from an initial 40 people, both internal and external.
The committee has reportedly spoken with Elop, who will rejoin Microsoft when its US$7.2 billion acquisition of the Finnish company's handset division closes. It has also reportedly talked to Mulally, who has been CEO of Ford for seven years. Initially, Mulally expressed disinterest in the position but has reportedly warmed up to the idea in recent weeks. Bates, who is also reportedly on the shortlist, had previously been CEO of Skype.
Names that were floated over the past couple of months but were not mentioned to Reuters are Computer Sciences CEO Mike Lawrie, former Windows Chief Steven Sinofsky, and former Juniper Networks CEO Kevin Johnson.
While Ballmer is expected to leave Microsoft within the next several months, recent reports say the seat change could happen as soon as the end of this year. According to Reuters, however, the process may take longer.
CNET contacted Microsoft for comment. We'll update this story when we get more information.
No, the iPhone, iPad, and Mac maker has not somehow found a way to make the 12-month calendar two months thinner. It's the end of its fiscal year, which wrapped up last month and has just been reported.
The company tallied up US$7.5 billion in profits on US$37.5 billion of sales in its fourth quarter, led once again by the iPhone. Here's how Apple did when stacking up its results for the entire year:
US$170.9 billion in revenue.
US$37 billion in profits.
150.2 million iPhones sold (versus 125 million last year).
71.1 million iPads sold (versus 58.31 million last year).
16.5 million Macs sold (versus 18.15 million last year).
26.4 million iPods sold (versus 35.16 million last year).
US$16 billion in revenue from its iTunes business.
More than 400 million visitors at its retail stores.
49 new or remodeled retail stores.
US$50 million in revenue per store.
15 "strategic acquisitions," according to CEO Tim Cook, who mentioned the metric during the company's earnings call. And, in chart form:
