This year, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut battled out the longest match in tennis history.

As the end of 2010 is upon us, I thought I'd share with you my top 10 tennis moments of the year. It has been a year of change in the sport, with the women's game more open than ever, while the balance of power has once again swung Rafa Nadal's way in the men's game.

These are my 10 for 2010 - I hope you agree with them!

10. Roger Federer won the Australian Open in January. His crushing victory over Andy Murray extended his record major tally to 16. The Swiss maestro looked set to dominate the year again, but then…

9. The Indo-Pax express did much more than just reach a major doubles final at the U.S. Open for the first time. Rohan Bopanna and Aisam Qureshi hit the headlines for promoting peace between their two rival countries by playing together. There was no "Hollywood" ending though as they were edged out for the title by the record-setting Bryan Brothers. (Mike and Bob have now won an all-time high 62 career doubles titles.)

8. Novak Djokovic saved two match-points against Roger Federer in the U.S. Open semifinal, before coming through in five sets and thereby preventing the first Nadal/Federer final of the year.

7. In her comeback, Justine Henin threatened to "do a Clijsters" as she marched to the final of the Australian Open. Unfortunately for the Belgian, she ran into a familiar foe, Serena Williams –- who also won Wimbledon.

6. Kim Clijsters won her third straight U.S. Open in less than an hour. After clinching the title for the first time in 2006 she was injured the following year and then retired. After returning, she won in New York in 2009 and then again in September. That means she’s on a 21-match winning streak at Flushing Meadows. Not bad for one of the nicest women in tennis!

5. At the tender age of 29, Francesca Schiavone showed us there was life in the old girl yet by lifting the French Open title in Paris in June. She completed a marvellous breakthrough year by also helping Italy to the Fed Cup in November, beating the U.S. in the final for the second year in a row.

4. Serbia's men won the Davis Cup for the first time after a thrilling final against France in Belgrade. Viktor Troicki, my up-and-comer of the year, was the hero. After losing a great doubles rubber along with Nenad Zimonjic which lasted over four and a half hours, he came back the next day and thrashed Michael Llodra in impressive fashion in the deciding rubber to hand Serbia the title.

3. Victoria Azarenka dramatically collapsed on court at the U.S. Open. The Belarusian was touted to go far in the year’s final major, but had to be taken to hospital during the second round. At first the searing weather was given as the reason. Then came the news that the 21-year-old had hit her head in the gym beforehand and had suffered a concussion.

2. Rafael Nadal won the U.S. Open by beating Novak Djokovic in a great final to complete the career grand-slam. The Spaniard changed the grip on his serve just two days before the tournament began, and only dropped serve five times in seven matches. Nadal won the final three majors of 2010 and finished as the undisputed world number one.

1. John Isner beat Nicolas Mahut in a mere 11 hours at Wimbledon. The longest match in tennis history will surely remain in the record books forever. Having said that, though, the two will meet at the Hopman Cup in January. If you’re going to watch, take an overnight bag!

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It’s baaack. We’ve gone well over half a year without hearing a peep from black magic makers LucidLogix, but here on the doorstep of CES 2011, the company has resurfaced just in time to ride on the coattails of Intel’s forthcoming Sandy Bridge platform. Sandy is expected to take over CES when companies start to introduce new PCs in just a few days, and thanks to Lucid’s virtualization software, we wouldn’t be surprised if a few are served with NVIDIA and AMD GPUs. This here technology enables the two to play nice, making the outlandish fantasy of using a multi-GPU, multi-vendor setup a reality. DirectX 11 is also supported, with the only real requirement being to “connect the display screen directly to the motherboard’s Sandy Bridge display output.” We’ll be taking a closer look at the peacemaker once we land in Vegas, but for now, go ahead and prepare yourself for a beta version of ‘Virtu’ — it’ll hit at some point next month.

Continue reading LucidLogix virtualization tech enables AMD and NVIDIA GPUs to play together with Sandy Bridge

LucidLogix virtualization tech enables AMD and NVIDIA GPUs to play together with Sandy Bridge originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Dec 2010 08:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chinese automobile manufacturer BYD has plans to introduce two new vehicles at the North American International Auto Show. The 23^rd international show is supposed to commence on January 10 and will come to an end on 23 at Detroit, State of Michigan, US.

One among the announced vehicles is the updated version of e6, the e6 Premier. This MPV uses an iron-phosphate battery which enables the Premier to hit a top speed of 140 km/h (87 mph) and travel up to 300 km that is 186 miles on a single charge. No details regarding the powertrain are out yet.

The other vehicle is a dual-mode electric SUV, the S6DM. It is claimed to be the world’s first independent 4WD. It features a 10 kW (13 hp / 14 PS) electric motor that powers the front wheels.

It has got a separate 75 kW (101 hp / 102 PS) electric motor for the rear wheels. The crossover can only travel 60 km (38 miles) on electricity alone. At the same time, a 2.0-liter range-extending petrol engine increases that distance to over 499 km (310 miles).

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We’re guessing we’ll see a more official announcement about these soon enough, but for now we’ll have to make do with some product pages that have quietly turned up on Gigabyte’s website for two new Atom N550-based netbooks: the M1005 and Q2005. As Netbook News notes, the latter of those (pictured above) looks to be remarkably similar to the Jolicloud Jolibook, also based on the same dual-core N550 processor, while the M1005 appears to be a relatively minor update to the company’s M1022 model, right down to the same docking station (check it out after the break). Still no indication of pricing or availability for either of them, but you can find the complete specs for each at the links below.

Continue reading Gigabyte slips out Atom N550-based M1005, Q2005 netbooks

Gigabyte slips out Atom N550-based M1005, Q2005 netbooks originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Dec 2010 02:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has indeed crossed the 1 million Apple TVs sold mark, as it predicted it would shortly before Christmas. I argued that its relative success was mostly due to Neftlix being available on the streaming media device, and a new report from an industry analyst (via AppleInsider) supports that view.

Gleacher & Company’s Brian Marshall said Dec. 29 that according to his estimates, sourced from company reports and additional research, Apple rents around 475,000 movies and TV shows per day through the iTunes store. Netflix, by comparison, rents over 10 times as much, with about 5.1 million rentals per day.

But Apple and Netflix have very different models. Netflix offers a “pay once, watch as much as you can” model, while Apple embraces a fee-per-download way of doing things. Maybe Apple is more successful from a revenue perspective, despite the large discrepancy in daily rentals? Not so, according to Marshall.

According to his estimates, iTunes rentals bring in around $60 million per quarter, while purchases through the media distribution service account for around $50 million, making for a total of approximately $110 million per quarter. Netflix’s reported revenue for just a single month (Sept. 2010) is about $550 million, or five times as much.

It’s by no means bad news for Apple, which is still growing its iTunes rental business. Marshall believes iTunes rental revenue could exceed $1 billion per year within five years, giving it another fairly healthy revenue stream, even after giving movie studios their cut.

The bottom line remains that Netflix has far more traction than iTunes as a means for renting and viewing streamed content, so it’s hard to underestimate its effect on Apple TV sales. Anecdotally, it’s the only thing anyone I know who has one uses it for, and almost none of those I know who bought this model owned a previous generation device.

So is Apple TV just a great Netflix box, or is something else driving sales? The impending potential of apps, maybe?

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

• Connected Consumer 2011: Rise of the Virtual Video Operator
• Report: A Mobile Video Market Overview
• Mobile 2011: Data Consumption Will Explode

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Afghan President Hamid Karzai has supported a proposal to open an office for the Taliban in a third country such as Turkey.  Such a move could help facilitate talks with the  insurgent group on reconciliation and reintegration of members back into society, and Kabul was happy for Turkey to be a venue for such a process, he said last week, following a trilateral summit involving the presidents of Turkey and Pakistan.

The question is while a legitimate calling card for the Taliban would be a step forward, the insurgent group itself shows no signs yet of stepping out of the shadows, despite the best entreaties of  and some of his European backers. The Taliban remain steadfast in their stand that they won’t talk to the Afghan government unless foreign troops leave the country. More so at the present time when U.S. commander General David Petraeus has intensified the battle against them and the Taliban have responded in equal measure.

Perhaps some elements of the Taliban may not be averse to the idea of a parallel engagement to the battlefield but then so amorphous and diffused is the nature of the group that it only complicates the picture further, as The Nation wrote in an editorial.

 Nevertheless, the idea of a representative office for the Taliban is a major step forward in efforts to seek a negotiated settlement of the Afghan conflict, says Strafor’s Kamran Bokhari. First, it gives the Taliban the political legitimacy they have been demanding for years, he says. Second with Turkey jumping into the fray, the idea may not be that far fetched. While Pakistan may not be most credible partner in seeking a settlement given its close ties to the Afghan Taliban and other militant groups, Turkey carries enough weight both in the United States and the Islamic world to be able to nudge the different players along.

It has already played a similar role with respect to Iran.

 But of course there is a lot of ground to cover before any of this can materialise including the act of setting up an office for the Taliban. They do not represent an organisation in the classic sense of the word and you can’t really tell who speaks for them.

Secondly and perhaps most importantly, the Taliban’s ties to al Qaeda are the biggest stumbling block to any rapprochement. The Taliban’s connections to al Qaeda date back to before their ouster from power in 2001 following the Sept 11 attacks, and many of the senior leaders continue to have that kind of relationship with the global group, Bokhari says. That makes it difficult for the international community to accept them as a legitimate political entity.

(Photograph: Taliban fighters pose with weapons in an undisclosed location in Nangarhar province/Reuters)

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The following squad lists have been announced for the upcoming 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar. Squads will be added as they are announced:

Group A: Qatar, Kuwait, China, Uzbekistan
Group B: Saudi Arabia, Japan, Jordan, Syria
Group C: South Korea, Australia, India, Bahrain
Group D: Iraq, North Korea, United Arab Emirates, Iran

Australia Squad

Goalkeepers: Mark Schwarzer (Fulham), Brad Jones (Liverpool), Nathan Coe (SønderjyskE)
Defenders: Lucas Neill (Galatasaray), David Carney (Blackpool), Saša Ognenovski (Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma), Luke Wilkshire (Dynamo Moscow), Jonathan McKain (Al-Nassr), Jade North (Wellington Phoenix), Matthew Špiranović (Urawa Red Diamonds)
Midfielders: Tim Cahill (Everton), Jason Čulina (Gold Coast United), Brett Emerton (Blackburn), Harry Kewell (Galatasaray), Brett Holman (AZ Alkmaar), Mile Jedinak (Gençlerbirliği), Carl Valeri (Sassuolo), Matt McKay (Brisbane Roar), Neil Kilkenny (Leeds United)
Forwards: Scott McDonald (Middlesbrough), Robbie Kruse (Melbourne Victory), Nathan Burns (AEK Athens)

Bahrain Squad

Not yet announced

China Squad

Goalkeepers: Yang Zhi (Beijing Guoan), Guan Zhen (Jiangsu Sainty), Zeng Cheng (Henan Construction)
Defenders: Wang Qiang (Changsha Ginde), Zhao Peng (Henan Construction), Du Wei (Hangzhou Greentown), Liu Jianye (Changsha Ginde), Zhang Linpeng (Guangzhou Evergrande), Rong Hao (Hangahou Greentown), Li Jianbin (Chengdu Blades)
Midfielders: Zhou Haibin (Shandong Luneng), Zhao Xuri (Shaanxi Zhongjian), Hao Junmin (Schalke 04), Deng Zhuoxiang (Shandong Luneng), Wang Song (Hangzhou Greentown), Yu Tao (Shanghai Shenhua), Huang Bowen (Beijing Guoan), Yang Hao (Beijing Guoan), Yu Hai (Shaanxi Zhongjian)
Forwards: Yang Xu (Liaoning Whowin), Qu Bo (Shaanxi Zhongjian), Gao Lin (Guangzhou Evergrande)

India Squad

Goalkeepers: Subrata Pal (Pune FC), Subhasish Roy Chowdhury (Dempo SC), Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (AIFF XI)
Defenders: Anwar Ali (Dempo SC), Deepak Kumar Mondal (Mohun Bagan), Mahesh Gawli (Dempo SC), Irungbam Surkumar Singh (Mohun Bagan), Gouramangi Singh (Churchill Brothers), Rakesh Masih (Mohun Bagan), Moirangthem Govin Singh (East Bengal), Manju (Mohun Bagan)
Midfielders: Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep (No club), P. Renedy Singh (No club), Clifford Miranda (Dempo SC), Syed Rahim Nabi (East Bengal), Steven Dias (Churchill Brothers), Mehrajuddin Wadoo (East Bengal), Climax Lawrence (Dempo SC), Baldeep Singh Junior (JCT)
Forwards: Sunil Chhetri (Sporting Kansas City), Baichung Bhutia (East Bengal), Abhishek Yadav (Mumbai FC), Sushil Kumar Singh (East Bengal)

Iran Squad

Goalkeepers: Ebrahim Mirzapour (Paykan), Mehdi Rahmati (Sepahan), Alireza Haghighi (Persepolis), Shahab Gordan (Zob Ahan)
Defenders: Mohammad Nosrati (Tractor Sazi), Jalal Hosseini (Sepahan), Hadi Aghili (Sepahan), Ehsan Hajsafi (Sepahan), Khosro Heydari (Sepahan), Pejman Montazeri (Esteghlal), Farshid Talebi (Zob Ahan), Abouzar Rahimi (Rah Ahan)
Midfielders: Javad Nekounam (Osasuna), Iman Mobali (Esteghlal), Andranik Teymourian (Tractor Sazi), Masoud Shojaei (Osasuna), Pejman Nouri (Malavan), Mohammad Nouri (Persepolis), Ghasem Hadadifar (Zob Ahan), Mehdi Kiani (Tractor Sazi)
Forwards: Gholamreza Rezaei (Persepolis), Mohammad Reza Khalatbari (Zob Ahan), Karim Ansarifard (Saipa), Mohammad Gholami (Steel Azin), Hadi Norouzi (Persepolis), Reza Norouzi (Foolad), Arash Afshin (Foolad)

Iraq Squad

Not yet announced

Japan Squad

Japan Squad Analysis
Goalkeepers: Eiji Kawashima (Lierse S.K.), Shusaku Nishikawa (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Shuichi Gonda (F.C. Tokyo)
Defenders: Masahiko Inoha (Kashima Antlers), Daiki Iwamasa (Kashima Antlers), Yasuyuki Konno (F.C. Tokyo), Yuto Nagatomo (A.C. Cesena), Atsuto Uchida (Schalke 04), Gotoku Sakai (Albirex Niigata), Tomoaki Makino (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Maya Yoshida (VVV-Venlo)
Midfielders: Yasuhito Endō (Gamba Osaka), Daisuke Matsui (Tom Tomsk), Shinji Kagawa (Borussia Dortmund), Hajime Hosogai (Augsburg), Jungo Fujimoto (Shimizu S-Pulse), Takuya Honda (Shimizu S-Pulse), Yosuke Kashiwagi (Urawa Red Diamonds), Makoto Hasebe (Wolfsburg), Keisuke Honda (CSKA Moscow)
Forwards: Shinji Okazaki (Shimizu S-Pulse), Ryoichi Maeda (Júbilo Iwata), Tadanari Lee (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)

Jordan Squad

Not yet announced

Kuwait Squad

Not yet announced

North Korea Squad

Not yet announced

Saudi Arabia Squad

Goalkeepers: Abdullah Al-Anzi (Al-Nassr), Waleed Abdullah (Al-Shabab), Hussain Shae’an (Al-Shabab), Mabrouk Zayed (Al-Ittihad)
Defenders: Kamel Al-Mousa (Al-Ahli), Abdullah Shuhail (Al-Shabab), Mohamed Al-Bishi (Al-Nassr), Mishal Al-Said (Al-Ittihad), Osama Al-Muwallad (Al-Ittihad), Hamad Al-Montashari (Al-Ittihad), Osama Hawsawi (Al-Hilal), Hassan Mouath (Al-Shabab)
Midfielders: Mohammed Massad (Al-Ahli), Moataz Al-Musa (Al-Ahli), Mohammad Al-Shalhoub (Al-Hilal), Abdoh Otaif (Al-Shabab), Taisir Al-Jassim (Al-Ahli), Ahmed Al-Fraidi (Al-Hilal), Nawaf Al Abed (Al-Hilal), Abdullaziz Al-Dosari (Al-Hilal), Saud Khariri (Al-Ittihad), Sultan Al-Nemri (Al-Ittihad), Manaf Abushgeer (Al-Ittihad), Ibrahim Ghaleb (Al-Nassr), Ahmed Otaif (Al-Shabab)
Forwards: Nasser Al-Shamrani (Al-Shabab), Naif Hazazi (Al-Ittihad), Mohannad Asseri (Al-Wahda), Mohammad Al-Sahlawi (Al-Nassr), Yasser Al-Qahtani (Al Hilal)

South Korea Squad

Goalkeepers: Jung Sung-Ryong (Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma), Kim Yong-Dae (FC Seoul), Kim Jin-Hyeon (Cerezo Osaka)
Defenders: Choi Hyo-Jin (Sangju Sangmu), Hwang Jae-Won (Suwon Bluewings), Cho Yong-Hyung (Al-Rayyan), Kwak Tae-Hwi (Kyoto Sanga), Lee Yong-Rae (Suwon Bluewings), Lee Young-Pyo (Al-Hilal), Lee Jung-Soo (Al-Sadd), Cha Du-Ri (Celtic)
Midfielders: Park Ji-Sung (Manchester United), Yoon Bit-Garam (Gyeongnam FC), Son Heung-Min (Hamburg), Koo Ja-Cheol (Jeju United), Ki Sung-Yueng (Celtic), Lee Chung-Yong (Bolton), Kim Bo-Kyung (Oita Trinita), Yeom Ki-Hun (Suwon Bluewings)
Forwards: Yoo Byung-Soo (Incheon United), Ji Dong-Won (Chunnam Dragons), Kim Shin-Wook (Ulsan Hyundai)

Syria Squad

Goalkeepers: Mosab Balhous (Al-Karamah), Radwan Al Azhar (Al-Majd), Adnan Al Hafez (Al-Wahda)
Defenders: Belal Abduldaim (Al-Karamah), Ali Diab (Al-Shorta), Jehad Al Baour (Al-Jaish), Nadim Sabagh (Al-Jaish), Ahmad Al Salih (Al-Jaish), Abdulkader Dakka (Al-Ittihad), Bwrhan Sahiwni (Al-Jaish)
Midfielders: Feras Esmaeel (Al-Jaish), Jehad Al Hussain (Al-Qadsia), Abdelrazaq Al Hussain (Al-Karamah), Taha Dyab (Al-Ittihad), Qusay Habib (Al-Shorta), Adel Abdullah (Al-Karamah), Wael Ayan (Al-Faisaly), Louay Chanko (Aalborg)
Forwards: Firas Al Khatib (Al-Qadsia), Mohamed Al Zeno (Al-Karamah), Abdul Fattah Al Agha (Wadi Degla), Senharib Malki (Lokeren)

Qatar Squad

Not yet announced

United Arab Emirates Squad

Not yet announced

Uzbekistan Squad

Goalkeepers: Ignatiy Nesterov (Bunyodkor), Temur Juraev (FC Pakhtakor Tashkent), Murod Zukhurov (Nasaf Qarshi)
Defenders: Anzur Ismailov (Bunyodkor), Sakhob Juraev (Bunyodkor), Shavkat Mullajanov (Olmaliq), Yaroslav Krushelnitskiy (Shurtan Guzar), Farrukh Nurliboev (Olmaliq FK)
Midfielders: Aziz Ibrohimov (Bohemians 1905), Timur Kapadze (Bunyodkor), Server Djeparov (FC Seoul), Odil Ahmedov (FC Pakhtakor Tashkent), Aziz Haydarov (Bunyodkor), Marat Bikmaev (FC Alania Vladikavkaz), Jasur Hasanov (Lekhwiya), Stanislav Andreev (Pakhtakor Tashkent), Vagiz Galiullin (FC Sibir Novosibirsk), Sanjar Tursunov (FC Volga Nizhny Novgorod)
Forwards: Shavkat Salomov (Nasaf Qarshi), Alexander Geynrikh (Pakhtakor Tashkent), Maksim Shatskikh (FC Arsenal Kyiv), Olim Navkarov (Qizilqum Zarafshon)

View full post on International Football News – World Cup Blog

Got a new Android phone for Christmas?  Here are six utility apps you’ll want to get on it ASAP.

1. LauncherPro.  If you don’t like your default homescreen, this ultra-flexible replacement app can do better.  From the number of panels you want to the style of the app drawer, this has all the customizations you wish the default Android homescreen came with.
2. Astro File Manager.  Eventually, you’ll want to get a folder view of your phone’s contents.  This app gives you that, along with a task killer, attachment sending and files backup.
3. Widgetsoid.  Want to configure your home screen widgets?  Look no further than this app, which can do a whole host of things, from replacing the icons to managing various aspects of the experience.
4. Quick Uninstaller.  There are many ways to get rid of crap apps that you originally thought were cool.  This app is probably the most convenient available.  One tap to choose, another tap to remove and your business is done.
5. AppBrain App Market.  The Android Market is functional, but terrible to navigate.  If you switched sides from the iPhone, you would be very disappointed.  Fortunately, there’s AppBrain, a third-party app that offers a better overall experience, including search, rankings and categories.
6. Apps to SDCard. If you like hoarding apps, your phone’s built-in memory will eventually tap out.  This app lets you move some of them from the phone’s flash storage to your SD card.  Do note that Android 2.2 already has the same capability, so if your smartphone’s running that, you can probably give this one a pass.

View full post on Latest Cell Phones, iPhone Apps, Android Apps, News & Reviews – Phone Blog

It’s no secret that CES is the stage from which camera companies unleash more compact shooters than you can shake a tripod at — and preceding those come a glut of rumors, naturally. 4/3 Rumors has heard Olympus will unveil the XZ-1 (pictured), which boasts the LX5′s 10 megapixel sensor and a none-too-shabby 28-112mm f/1.8-2.5 lens. The site also heard that a few Panasonic model numbers that at this point really don’t tell too grand a story: DMC-S1 and S3, DMC-TS3, FH2, and FH5. Meanwhile at Sony Alpha Rumors, the eponymous company will reportedly launch a number of compact cameras (go figure) including a Cybershot DSC-HX1 successor, some new Bloggies, and new 2D and 3D video recorders… and though no Alpha and no NEX models will be on the show floor, the site is also suggesting the future NEX-7 and Alpha A77 models have 1080p60 AVCHD and a 0.1-second autofocus. Latter tidbit notwithstanding, we’d wager by mid-January everything else here will be either confirmed or forgotten.

Olympus XZ-1 and other pre-CES camera rumors from Sony and Panasonic originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Dec 2010 20:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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