Lewis Hamilton is leaving McLaren for Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton is leaving McLaren for Mercedes -- in a move that could mean Michael Schumacher is leaving Formula 1, this time for good.

Mercedes announced Friday that Hamilton will join its team next season, replacing seven-time champion Schumacher in a major shakeup that also sees Sergio Perez going to McLaren.

It marks a big change for both F1 and Hamilton, who has been at McLaren throughout his career but was lured over by a lucrative offer from Mercedes, which the British team was unwilling to match. He will team up with Nico Rosberg next season on a three-year contract.

For Schumacher, it could mark the end of the greatest career the sport has seen -- and a three-year comeback that has seen him fail to duplicate the successes of his prime -- although there is speculation that the 43-year-old German driver could replace Perez at Sauber next season.

Hamilton's move, which had been rumoured for weeks, was confirmed by Mercedes on Friday shortly after McLaren announced its signing of Perez.

"It is now time for me to take on a fresh challenge and I am very excited to begin a new chapter," Hamilton said. "Mercedes-Benz has such an incredible heritage in motorsport, along with a passion for winning which I share.

"Together, we can grow and rise to this new challenge," the 27-year-old added. "I believe that I can help steer the Silver Arrows to the top and achieve our joint ambitions of winning the world championships."

Hamilton won his only title with McLaren in 2008, but the past two seasons have featured a mixture of brilliant driving, clashes with other drivers and controversial moments.

Hamilton angered team management by posting a photo of a telemetry sheet showing data from his and teammate Jenson Button's car on his Twitter page at the Belgian Grand Prix recently. Button publicly criticized Hamilton for the incident, increasing speculation that a change was imminent.

Although Hamilton was expected to leave, team principal Martin Whitmarsh thinks he has made a mistake.

"I wouldn't advise anyone to leave McLaren if they want to win, but I've got to respect Lewis' decision and really wish him well," Whitmarsh said.

Rosberg, who won the Chinese Grand Prix in April for his first career win, is looking forward to working with Hamilton.

"Very cool that lewis will be my new teamate! Gonna be another great challenge!" the German driver said on his Twitter page.

Schumacher has struggled for consistency since coming out of retirement in 2010 to join Mercedes. Now in his third season with Mercedes, the German has managed only one podium finish -- third place -- during that time. This season, he has retired from seven races.

"I have had three nice years with the team which, unfortunately, did not go as well as we all would have wanted on the sporting side," Schumacher said. 

He did not say whether he will try to find a new team for next season.

Team chief Ross Brawn thanked Schumacher "for the important contribution he has made to the growth of our team over the past three seasons" and sad he is excited about challenging for the title with Hamilton.

"The arrival of a driver of Lewis' calibre is a testament to the standing of Mercedes-Benz in Formula 1 and I am proud that Lewis shares our vision and ambition," Brawn said. "I believe that the combination of Lewis and Nico will be the most dynamic and exciting pairing on the grid next year, and I am looking forward to what we can achieve together."

Brawn acknowledged that Schumacher had not lived up to the team's hopes.

"His energy and commitment have never wavered, even when results have not matched our own expectations," Brawn said. "We are determined to finish the 2012 season together on a high."

Microsoft fixes security bug in Internet Explorer

Microsoft is releasing an update to its Internet Explorer browser to fix a security problem that could expose personal computers to hacking attacks.

A permanent repair to the security flaw will be released on Friday. Microsoft Corp began offering a temporary patch for the problem Wednesday on a part of its website set up for technical issues.

The permanent solution to the problem will be automatically installed on PCs running on Microsoft’s Windows operating system if the machine is set up to receive important updates. The temporary repair requires clicking on a link.

Microsoft Corp which is based in Redmond, Washington, is urging PC users who haven’t enabled their machines for automatic updates to retrieve and install the permanent patch as soon as possible on Friday.

Although Microsoft says “the vast majority” of users have not been bit by the security bug, the potential for trouble prompted a German technology agency to advise using other Web browsers besides Internet Explorer.

Once the dominant Web browser, Internet Explorer has been losing market share in recent years to Google’s Chrome, Apple Inc’s Safari and Mozilla’s Firefox.

At least one research firm maintains that Chrome eclipsed Internet Explorer as the world’s most popular browser earlier this year. Other measures still rate Internet Explorer as the market leader.

Google Inc one of Microsoft’s fiercest rivals, touts Chrome as a faster and safer alternative to Internet Explorer.

Microsoft, the world’s largest software maker, will release a new version of Internet Explorer along with a dramatic overhaul of Windows on Oct 26.

Sebastian Vettel won Singapore Grand Prix 2012

A disciplined drive from Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel proved enough to win a chaotic Singapore Grand Prix after Lewis Hamilton retired while in the lead with a gearbox problem. 

Vettel’s second win of the season played into the hands of championship leader Fernando Alonso of Ferrari, who was third but extended his lead in the title standings to 39 points. 

Second place went to Hamilton’s McLaren teammate Jenson Button. 

Vettel is now Alonso’s closest rival, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and Hamilton, with six of the 20 races remaining. 

The win makes Vettel the first man to win two Singapore Grands Prix back-to-back. 

 

The safety car came out twice for accidents and the delays resulted in the race being cut to 61 laps to meet the two-hour time limit. 

Michael Schumacher was in line for points before he steamed into the back of Jean-Eric Vergne to bring out the safety car on lap 39 just seconds after the end of the first safety car spell, caused by Narain Karthikeyan bundling his HRT into the barriers. 

Hamilton dominated the early stages of the race before he ground to a halt on lap 23, and is now 52 points behind Alonso. 

Vettel had run second since the start and inherited the lead, facing only minor challenges from Button at the two safety car restarts. 

Paul di Resta earned a career best fourth for Force India, Nico Rosberg was fifth for Mercedes, while Raikkonen battled his way to sixth from 12th on the grid. 

Raikkonen’s Lotus teammate Romain Grosjean was seventh after the team asked him to give way to the Finn, while Felipe Massa rescued eighth for Ferrari. 

Ninth went to Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo, while Mark Webber’s championship hopes took another blow as he finished 10th, leaving the Australian fifth in the standings, 61 points adrift of Alonso. 

Williams had a disappointing afternoon as a hydraulic fault ended Pastor Maldonado's race after the Venezuelan had started second. 

The results: 

1. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) 2:00:26.144, 

2. Jenson Button (McLaren) +00:08.900, 

3. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 00:15.200, 

4. Paul Di Resta (Force India) 00:19.000, 

5. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 00:34.700, 

6. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) 00:35.700, 

7. Romain Grosjean (Lotus) 00:36.600, 

8. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 00:42.800, 

9. Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) 00:45.800, 

10. Mark Webber (Red Bull) 00:47.100.

11. Sergio Perez (Sauber) 00:50.600, 

12. Timo Glock (Marussia) 01:31.900, 

13. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) 01:37.100, 

14. Nico Huelkenberg (Force India) 01:39.400, 

15. Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham) 01:36.100, 

16. Charles Pic (Marussia), 01:47.400, 

17. Pedro de la Rosa (HRT) 1 lap, 

 18. Vitaly Petrov (Caterham) 2 laps; 

Retd: 

Bruno Senna (Williams), 

Michael Schumacher (Mercedes), 

Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso), 

Pastor Maldonado (Williams), 

Narain Karthikeyan (HRT), 

Lewis Hamilton (McLaren).

Murray won his first Grand Slam title

Britain's Andy Murray poses with the trophy after beating Serbia's Novak Djokovic in the championship match 

at the 2012 US Open tennis tournament in New York on Monday. 

Andy Murray rewrote 76 years of British tennis history as he won the first Grand Slam title Monday, defeating Novak Djokovic 7-6 (12-10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2.

Murray took a huge weight off his shoulders as he became the first British man since Fred Perry to lift the trophy at a major.

The victory came 79 years to the day that Perry won his first Grand Slam in 1933 in the US. Perry won the last major for Britain at the US Championships in 1936.

Murray also broke an eight—match loss streak by his compatriots in Grand Slam finals.

The New York final, delayed a day by rain for a fifth consecutive year due to the lack of a showcase stadium moveable roof, moves Murray up to third in the world behind Roger Federer and Djokovic.

“I don’t know how I did it,” said an exhausted Murray after winning the second—longest men’s final in Open history. The time of four hours, 54 minutes was only a minute less than the all—time longest, when Murray’s coach Ivan Lendl lost to Mats Wilander in the 1988 final.

“It was incredibly tricky conditions. After the third and fourth sets, it was tough mentally.

“Novak is so strong, he fights to the end in every match. I’ve had some long tough matches in the past with Novak, I just managed to get through it.” Murray also thanked new coach Lendl, who came on board in January.

“He was one of the greatest ever to play. He made eight consecutive finals here. It was great to have his support in the tough moments.” Djokovic was defending the title he won in 2011 over Rafael Nadal, with the Serb having won four Grand Slam titles since the start of 2011.

“It wasn’t meant to be,” said Djokovic. I want to congratulate Andy and his team. He absolutely deserves this.

“I tried my best,” said the world number two, behind Federer, who came back from two sets to love down to force a fifth set.

Murray stared with a double break in the final set but lost one of them for 3—1. The Scot, sensing the finishing line, reached 4—2 with a love game sealed with an ace and got an insurance break of his opponent for 5—2.

Olympic champion Murray served out the biggest win of his life a game later, lifting the honours on his second match point on a Djokovic forehand long.

Murray won with 31 winners and eight breaks of serve from 17 chances.

Djokovic got treatment for a groin injury on court prior to the last game as both players were severely tested in windy conditions.

Murray was playing his second New York final in four years after losing the first of his career in 2008 to Federer. He established himself as a bona fide member of the ATP elite, winning six of his last seven matches against top 10 opponents.

The Scot’s victory ended his summer of success after playing the Wimbledon final against Federer and then beating the Swiss three weeks later in the London Olympic gold medal match.

He is the first man to win the top Games medal and the US Open in the same season.

Hamilton made Italian GP victory

Lewis Hamilton won the Italian Grand Prix from pole for McLaren on Sunday while championship leader Fernando Alonso finished third for hosts Ferrari amid plenty of drama from 10th on the grid.

Alonso got ahead of title holder Sebastian Vettel after being shoved onto the grass by him -- for which Vettel received a drive-through penalty -- and then unsurprisingly moved ahead of team-mate Felipe Massa in the 40th of 53 laps.

Hamilton won his third season race and the third straight for McLaren in 1 hour 19 minutes 41.221 seconds, ahead of Sauber’s Sergio Perez, up from 12th on the grid, and Alonso.

Vettel had to retire with five laps left over what appeared to be an alternator problem and Jenson Button also didn’t see the finish line for McLaren.

Alonso garnered precious championship points after a car problem denied him a better qualifying the previous day, topping the standings with 179 points from Hamilton (142), Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus (141) and Vettel (140).

Mark Webber has 132 after also having to retire and Button appears out of contention with 101 points a week after winning in Belgium.

Hamilton won the start from pole while Massa got past Button and even tried to attack Hamilton into the first chicane, but he failed to take the lead ahead of the McLarens.

Alonso also wasted no time, surging from 10th to seventh after the first lap, and fifth in the seventh lap after getting ahead of former world champions Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher as well.

Jean-Eric Vergne escaped a scare when his Toro Rosso spun ahead of turn one with what could appeared a car problem, flew across the kerbs and sleeping policemen before landing heavily on the grass.

Vergne complained about “pain in my back” on team radio before the car was lifted away by a crane.

Most drivers then pitted between the 15th and 22nd lap, with Vettel getting out just ahead of Alonso.

The championship leaders then provided major drama in the 26th lap when Alonso tried to overtake on the outside but Vettel gave no way which forced the Ferrari onto grass and Alonso to a furious “that’s enough” via team radio.

Alonso finally moved ahead of the German three laps later and race stewards then punished Vettel with a drive through penalty for “forcing a driver off the track.” That ended the podium ambitions for the 2008 and 2011 Monza winner as Vettel returned in ninth place, and in the same 34th lap Button’s race was ended by a mechanical problem.

Vettel’s agony was complete when he had to stop in the 48th of 53 laps and Webber didn’t see the finish line either, bringing the car back to the pits in the 52nd in a weekend to forget for Red Bull.

Perez, meanwhile, made his one-stop strategy work best, pitting later than all others in the 30th lap and using the fresher tyres to storm past Alonso in the late stages into a second career runner-up finish.

He may have even threatened Hamilton had the race latest a little longer, but the Briton was never under serious threat a week after he and Alonso were taken out in a first-lap crash in Belgium, he made headlines with tweets on car details, and speculation about a move to Mercedes next year.

ISRO scores a centum

 G. Ravikiran

A Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C21) blasted off from here on Sunday and placed two foreign satellites in orbit, accomplishing the Indian Space Research Organisation’s 100th mission, a milestone in the country’s space journey. 

After a 51-hour countdown, the PSLV lifted off at 9.53 a.m., two minutes behind schedule, to avoid any collision with space debris. 

In the textbook launch, it carried SPOT-6, a 712-kg French earth observation satellite and injected it into an orbit of 655-km altitude, inclined at 98.23 degrees to the equator. Proiteres, a 15-kg Japanese microsatellite, was put into orbit as an additional payload. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a host of dignitaries watched the flight path on electronic screens, as the 44-metre tall PSLV accomplished its task, reinforcing the fact that it is the ISRO’s workhorse, with 21 successful missions in a row. 

The four-stage ignition and the injection of the satellites into the orbit took 18 minutes and 37 seconds. As Proiteres separated at the final moment, the scientists erupted into joyous applause. 

SPOT-6, an optical remote-sensing satellite capable of imaging the earth with a 1.5-metre resolution, is built by Astrium SAS, a European space technology company. 

Proiteres is meant to study the powered-flight of a small satellite by an electric thruster and to observe Japan’s Kansai district with a high-resolution camera. 

With Sunday’s mission, the ISRO has launched 62 satellites and 38 rockets. It has so far injected 28 foreign satellites into orbit, beginning with Germany’s 45-kg DLR-TUBSAT aboard the PSLV-C2 in 1999. SPOT-6 is the the PSLV’s biggest commercial lift so far. At a press conference, Dr. Radhakrishnan said the financial matters relating to the launch could not be disclosed, but the cost of the vehicle was recovered. The ISRO also sent its own payload, ‘Mini Resins,’ for demonstration of an instrument called Redundant Strap down Inertial Navigation System.

Serena win US Open

Serena Williams rallied as Victoria Azarenka served for victory, with the American winning her 15th Grand Slam title and fourth at the US Open on Sunday 6-2, 2-6, 7-5.

The struggle gave the 30-year-old Williams a New York trophy 13 years after winning her first.

Azarenka, the Australian Open champion, was denied a second major this season but will remain atop the rankings.

Azarenka was broken while serving for victory leading 5-4 in the final set. Williams fell on her back on the court when she clinched the win on her first match point as her Belarus opponent put a return long.

The final was the first on the women’s side to stretch to three sets since 1995.

Azarenka had not won a set against Williams in more than two-and-a-half years. Williams lost the New York final in 2011 against Samantha Stosur.

Windows 8 hardware makes its debut

Samsung first off the blocks previewing its Windows 8 phone, Nokia to follow later this week

The first glimpses of the much-awaited mobile devices based on Windows 8 operating system have started doing the rounds on technology forums and blogs. 

South Korean electronics giant Samsung last week previewed its first smartphone that is based on Windows 8, at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin. 

Finnish phone manufacturer Nokia, which entered into a strategic partnership with Microsoft last year, is expected to announce its line-up of Windows 8 mobile devices at an event in New York later this week. 

The previews of the next generation Windows mobile phone bear significance not just ahead of the international launch of Windows 8 on October 26, but also against the backdrop of the high-profile patent wars being played out in international courts by key players in the mobile technology space — Apple, Samsung and other manufacturers using Google’s Android operating system. 

U.S. jury verdict

 

Samsung had decried the U.S. jury verdict asking it to pay over $ 1 billion as fine to Apple for patent infringements. It said the verdict might lead to a loss of choices to the American consumer. 

With Windows 8 devices, the list of smartphone options and enabling technologies is only bound to increase.

The next generation mobile phones will sport game-changing technologies such as near-field communications that will reinvent the way file-sharing and mobile money transactions are done. 

Samsung’s new ATIV S phone, its first device to run Windows 8, sports a HD Super AMOLED screen, a dual-core 1.5 Ghz processor and has integrated NFC chip, among other. 

Nokia’s launch

 

Nokia too will be counting heavily on Windows 8 to rescue it from its recent predicaments. There is a lot of hype surrounding the event slated for September 5 on what it could mean not just to Nokia but to the Microsoft Windows ecosystem in the mobile space that Apple has been dominating over the past three years with its iPad and iPhone. 

Analysts feel that the recent reverses that Samsung faced in the U.S. courts might eventually lead to a scenario where more innovations would find its way into the smartphone industry. 

It could also lead to a substantial increase in smartphone prices if the companies decide to coexist and pay each other royalties.

TV streaming links site SurfTheChannel was sentenced to four years jail

The owner of TV streaming links site SurfTheChannel was sentenced to four years jail-time at Newcastle Crown Court today. Anton Vickerman was previously found guilty of conspiracy to defraud for “facilitating” copyright infringement . The landmark case follows a sting operation by the MPAA, who partnered with the UK Federation Against Copyright Theft to obtain evidence against the site operator. 

In 2010, SurfTheChannel.com was among the most-visited streaming link websites on the Internet. The site had more than 400,000 visitors a day who were mostly looking for popular TV-shows. 

The website was a thorn in the side of the UK and US entertainment industries who went to extremes to bring the site down. Among other things, the MPAA and FACT hired an undercover agent to gain access to the defendants’ house under false pretenses.

The case eventually went to trial in May and today a judge at Newcastle Crown Court sentenced 38-year old site owner Anton Vickerman to four years imprisonment. Vickerman’s wife faced the same charges but was found not guilty in June. 

Today’s sentencing marks the first time that the owner of a linking website has been found guilty of conspiring to defraud the entertainment industry.

A previous attempt at making the same charge stick against the owner of the OiNK BitTorrent tracker failed during 2010. 

Although SurfTheChannel did not store any copyrighted material itself, the site did organize links to copyrighted streams on third-party sites. According to the prosecution, the website was making at least £35,000 a month.

 

The UK Pirate Party is deeply concerned by the sentencing.

“The way this issue was investigated, prosecuted and the resulting sentence are, deeply concerning, inappropriate and disproportionate given the activities that Anton Vickerman was engaged in. A four year prison sentence is twice the maximum that could have been handed down if Vickers had been charged with online copyright infringement,” party leader Loz Kaye says.

“As we have said before, this was not a case brought using copyright law. The interest groups involved couldn’t present a case of copyright infringement and decided to press for the use of the common law offence of “conspiracy to defraud”. This offence is incredibly controversial in English law as it criminalises conduct by two or more parties that would not be criminal when performed by an individual,” he added.

The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), the local anti-piracy group which played an essential role in the investigation, is delighted on the other hand.

“This case conclusively shows that running a website that deliberately sets out to direct users to illegal copies of films and TV shows will result in a criminal conviction and a long jail sentence,” FACT Director General Kieron Sharp says.

“The sentencing indicates the severity of the offenses committed and the sophistication of [Vickerman's] criminal enterprise and should send a very strong message to those running similar sites that they can be found, arrested and end up in prison.”

The MPAA previously noted that it would use the sentencing of Vickerman to support the extradition process of TVShack owner Richard O’Dwyer. While the two sites were indeed comparable, the crucial difference is that O’Dwyer is not charged with fraud but copyright infringement.

That said, the sentencing today definitely spells trouble for UK-based website owners who operate similar streaming sites.