Endeavour Orbits Earth Docked To International Space Station

In this handout images provided by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, the International Space Station and the docked space shuttle Endeavour orbit Earth during Endeavour's final sortie on May 23, 2011 in Space. Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli captured the first-ever images of an orbiter docked to the International Space Station from the viewpoint of a departing vessel as he returned to Earth in a Soyuz capsule. (Photo by Paolo Nespoli - ESA/NASA via Getty Images)

Paolo Nespoli, International Space Station, Endeavour, Shuttle, NASA, space

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Live television, new 'Halo' coming to Xbox 360

Don Mattrick, president of Interactive Entertainment Business for Microsoft, speaks at the Microsoft Xbox global media briefing during the E3 gaming convention in Los Angeles, Monday, June 6, 2011. (AP / Matt Sayles)


LOS ANGELES — Live television and another chapter of the "Halo" game are landing on Xbox 360.

Microsoft Corp. announced its plan for the video game console on Monday at a news conference kicking off the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the industry's annual convention.

The company said live TV would be offered by domestic and international broadcasters, but no other details were revealed.

Partnerships with international broadcasters currently bring live TV to Xbox 360 in the United Kingdom, Australia and France, but the service unveiled Monday would be the first such offering available on a gaming console in the United States.

Xbox 360 and Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 already provide the ability to stream and download movies and shows.

Meanwhile, Microsoft hinted that "Halo 4" would be the "dawn of a new trilogy" for the blockbuster, intergalactic shoot-'em-up series. The previous game, "Halo: Reach," earned $200 million on its first day and sold 3.3 million copies in its first month on the market last year, according to Microsoft and industry tracker NPD Group.

The company also announced at the University of Southern California's Galen Center that increased functionality with its Kinect camera system was coming to Xbox 360, including the abilities to fully navigate menus with voice commands, scour for online and hard drive content with Microsoft's Bing search engine, and play games such as "Mass Effect 3" in tandem in the traditional controller.

The feature was demonstrated with the sci-fi role-playing sequel to "Mass Effect 2," as Kinect recognized vocal commands while a player used an analog controller to navigate the virtual landscape and fire a blaster.

Other gaming franchises that will add Kinect functionality include shooter "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Future Soldier" and racer "Forza Motorsport 4."

"Kinect has been wildly successfully, and we want to provide experiences with it for that broad audience but also the core crowd that made Xbox what it is," said Mike Delman, marketing vice president of Microsoft's interactive entertainment division. "For example, in `Forza,' you'll be able to tilt your head to see different angles from the driver's seat."

Other games that utilize Kinect included the virtual theme park explorer "Disneyland Adventures," hands-sweeping magical adventure "Fable: The Journey," gladiatorial sparring game "Ryse," a second season follow-up to "Kinect Sports," and a "Star Wars" game that turns players' movements into the powers of The Force.

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New FT app bypasses iTunes to deal directly with readers

The FT's new iPad app is available via browsers rather than iTunes

The Financial Times has introduced a new browser-based app for tablets, claiming it as "a major first by a news publisher."

The automatically updating app will enable readers to access its editorial content across a broad range of tablet and smartphone devices.

According to an article in today's FT, the app will bypass Apple's iTunes store and Google's android market.

It will therefore overcome the problem posed by Apple's reluctance to share detailed data on the identities and behaviour of users. Publishers have railed against that barrier.

Initially optimised for the iPad and iPhone, the app will be adapted for other tablets, including android-based devices.

John Ridding, the FT's chief executive, said the company was talking to Apple about data-sharing concerns, but he added: "This is not about Apple. It's about our readers and making sure they have a consistent experience."

He went on: "This is an important step in our strategy of providing multi-channel access to our global journalism quickly and simply.

"The FT web app offers our customers flexibility and freedom of choice... with a single login or subscription. In a world of increasingly digital complexity we want to keep our service simple, easy to use and efficient."

Rob Grimshaw, managing director of FT.com, said the FT had no plans to pull out of any apps store, but that it would encourage users to adopt the web app.

For example, as part of the launch, the new FT web app offers free access to content throughout this week.

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Can Apple's iCloud rival Google and Amazon?

With the iCloud the data is stored in Apple's servers and can also be accessed wirelessly by phones, computers and tablets

So Apple has at last got into the cloud, with Steve Jobs unveiling the iCloud service at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference.

What will the iCloud mean for users - and does it really pose a threat to rival services from the likes of Google, Amazon and Spotify? I've been taking a look.

So Apple has at last got into the cloud, with Steve Jobs unveiling the iCloud service at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference.

What will the iCloud mean for users - and does it really pose a threat to rival services from the likes of Google, Amazon and Spotify? I've been taking a look.

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CAMBODIA-THAILAND: Border dispute hits de-mining efforts

Cambodia is littered with landmines (Photo: Sean Sutton/MAG)

BANGKOK, 7 June 2011 (IRIN) - Cambodia's ongoing border dispute with Thailand is undermining mine-clearance activities inside the country, specialists say.

"The lack of clearance along parts of the border stops the removal of mines, leading to more casualties," Cameron Imber, programme manager for the British demining NGO Halo Trust, told IRIN from the northwestern town of Siem Reap.

The heavily mined border area in the country's northwest includes a 1,065km long minefield known as "K5", which runs along the 798km Thai-Cambodian border. Laid by the north Vietnamese in the mid-1980s, K5 runs all the way from Koh Kong Province in the southwest up to Preah Vihear in the northwest.

Packed with up to 2,400 mines per linear km, K5 remains excluded from mine-removal programmes because the two countries have been at loggerheads over ownership of an ancient Hindu temple and UN World Heritage site on the Cambodian side of the border. Thousands were displaced on both sides earlier this year.

"The suspension of operations on K5 stems from the beginning of hostilities over the Preah Vihear temple dating back to the summer of 2009," Imber said.

Heavy contamination

Since 2007, almost 6,500 landmine casualties have been reported nationwide, 90 percent of which occurred in the border areas. Nearly half, 2,925 casualties, were in the untouched K5 minefield, according to the Landmine Cluster Munition Monitor, an initiative providing research for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and the Cluster Munition Coalition.

"K5 is the most densely mine-contaminated area in Cambodia, and one of the most [contaminated] in the world," said Yeshua Moser-Pangsuwan, research coordinator for ICBL, an advocacy network for the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.

Mined areas within, and directly adjacent to, the disputed border areas are not being cleared because the two countries have been unable to agree where the border is located, Moser-Pangsuwan noted.

"Proposals for joint demining cannot commence until Thailand and Cambodia reach a mutual understanding of the border demarcation," he said.

Delay hinders farming

While in recent years landmine deaths have fallen from more than 1,000 in the early 1990s to 141 in 2010, the delay in mine clearance in the northwest, including K5, continues to hinder access to badly needed farmland.

"Land mine contamination is a huge obstacle for people's livelihoods and their ability to work themselves out of poverty," Jamie Franklin, the Cambodia coordinator for Mines Advisory Group, an international organization dedicated to mine clearance and post-conflict recovery, explained.

In recent years, there has been an increase in impoverished farmers encroaching on mine-infested land. "The people who expand farming to contaminated areas do it out of economic necessity," Imber said.

According to a report by the Cambodia Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority earlier this year, nearly half - 45 percent - of all mine accidents occur during livelihood activities, with 62 percent of those affected men.

"People know the dangers but not having enough to eat will [outweigh] the risk of mines," Franklin said.

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