Google-powered laptops to go on sale June 15

AN FRANCISCO: The first laptops running on a Google-designed software system will go on sale in the US and six other countries next month.
The June 15 release date announced Wednesday means the lightweight laptops will hit the market nearly two years after Google Inc. began working on an operating system based on its Chrome Web browser.
Since then, Apple Inc.’s iPad and other tablet computers have become hot sellers. The growing popularity of tablets has raised questions about how interested consumers will be interested in buying Google-powered laptops specifically tailored for Web surfing.
Samsung Electronics Co. and Acer Inc. are making the first Chromebooks. They will sell for $349 to $499 at Best Buy and Amazon.com Inc. in the US. The cheapest IPad sells for $499.
Acer’s Chromebook, at $349, will have an 11.6-inch screen display and up to six hours of battery life. Samsung’s version, selling for $429 to $499, will have a 12.1-inch screen and up to 8.5 hours of battery life. Both models will have keyboards, but no hard drives for storage. The machines will be like computer terminals dependent on a connection to the Internet. The laptops come with 16 gigabytes of flash memory – the kind found in smartphones, tablet computers and some iPods. They have slots to plug in other storage device you buy separately.
The Chromebooks also will be sold in Britain, France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy and Spain.
Chromebook’s long-awaited debut will intensify Google’s competition with Microsoft Corp., whose Windows operating system remains the foundation of most personal computers.
Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have long felt that Windows computers took too long to power up and were too clunky to operate. They believed that Windows’ drawbacks were discouraging people from spending even more time online, where they could click on ads sold by Google.
To address the perceived problem, Google announced its plans in July 2009 for a Chrome-based operating system that would enable computers to turn on in a matter of seconds and encourage more Web surfing.
”The complexity of managing computers is really frustrating for users out there,” Brin told reporters Wednesday at Google’s conference for software developers. ”It’s a flawed model.”
Besides attacking Microsoft’s Windows franchise, Google’s Chromebook also will represent another challenge to Apple, which makes Mac computers as well as iPads. Google and Apple have been engaged in a fierce competition in the smartphone market for the past two years.

Usama Bin Ladon is Killed in Pakistan

Usama bin Laden is dead, multiple sources confirm . He was killed a week ago by a U.S. bomb.

President Obama is expected to deliver a statement from the White House Sunday night to discuss the major development.

The announcement comes nearly a decade after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks which started a tireless hunt for the terrorist mastermind and Al Qaeda leader.

The U.S. had been waiting for the results of a DNA test to confirm his identity before going public. Sources said the vice president informed congressional leaders late Sunday night that bin Laden had indeed been killed.

Libya: Qadafi must step down

ISLAMABAD:

The US State Department has called on Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Qaddafi to step down, saying he had lost legitimacy when he turned guns on his own people.

US State Department spokesman Mark C Toner spoke to journalists in South Asia via an audio link on Friday, saying an unfolding humanitarian crisis in eastern Libya had been averted by quick and decisive action. “We call on Qaddafi to step down,” Toner said, but added that the current Nato-led air strikes were not to bring about a regime change but to protect Libyan civilians.

“UN Security Council Resolution 1973 is not about Qaddafi leaving power. It is about direct humanitarian assistance and relief and protection of civilians who are under attack in eastern Libya,” Toner stressed, but added: “We are going to seek to bring pressure on Qaddafi and we’ve done that already.”

When asked by The Express Tribune if sanctions or ground troops were on the cards, Toner said an arms embargo was already in place and Nato was allowed to board ships and ensure that Qaddafi’s arms supply was also cut down.

“The goal is to completely isolate him until his only choice is a stark one; that he steps down from power and allows a peaceful transition to take place,” Toner said.

Toner said the situation remained fluid in Libya but an emerging opposition in Libya was increasingly more coherent. “We need to understand their needs and their aspirations,” Toner said, adding that it was up to the Libyans to decide.

He repeatedly stressed that the enforcement of a no-fly zone over eastern Libya had averted a humanitarian crisis, especially in the eastern city of Benghazi, where, Toner said, 700,000 civilians had been warned by Qaddafi in an edict that they would receive “no mercy.”

Toner said he was not aware of any confirmed civilian casualties in the air strikes by coalition forces, adding he was aware of the Libyan regime’s claims in this regard.

The State Department spokesman said the US acted in concert with key allies and a transition to a broader coalition with Arab participation was underway, with the UAE sending in 12 planes to enforce the no-fly zone.

“We have a strong coalition. It’s an international effort in which Nato has command and control capability and has taken control,” Toner said, adding that support for UNSC Resolution 1973 came after a plea from the Arab League. “It’s up to each country what role they want to play,” he said.