Amazon Enters The UK Tablet Market With The Kindle Fire HD

After its release a year ago in the USA Amazon have decided to release their Kindle Fire tablet in the UK along with their new Kindle Fire HD tablet.

Both tablets run on a customised Android based platform, with Amazon integrating their own products and services.  Users get the likes of Whispersync, including games and access to a number of apps, music, books, magazines and movies from Amazon. 

The 7-inch touchscreen tablet offers 1280 x 800 pixel resolution display and it will come with 16GB and 32GB internal storage and a front-facing camera with 11 hours of battery life with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor.

The Kindle Fire HD tablet is available at £159 with 16GB storage and £199 with 32GB storage for pre-order right now and will be released before Christmas where it will battle it out with the iPad 3 and the Google Nexus 7 to see which tablet comes out on top in the fall.

Amazon are also releasing an updated version of the Kindle Fire tablet which was released in the USA last year. 

The Kindle Fire tablet offers a 1.2GHz processor and 1GB RAM for 40% faster performance than the original Kindle Fire with a 7-inch 1024 x 600 pixel resolution display. It measures 189 x 120 x 11.5mm and weighs 400g. It has 8GB of internal memory and offers 9 hours of battery life.

The Amazon Kindle Fire tablet will cost £129 and is available for pre-order right now for consumers to reserve to get before Christmas.

Neil Armstrong, The First Man On The Moon Dies At 82

Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon has died aged 82.

The American astronaut had been hospitalised recently with heart surgery and his family said in a statement that he had died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures.

Armstrong became famous around the world in 1969 with the Apollo 11 mission to the moon where he was joined on the mission by Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.

In his greatest act Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon on July 21, 1969 when he stepped off the lunar lander and said "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said: "On behalf of the entire NASA family, I would like to express my deepest condolences to Carol and the rest of the Armstrong family on the passing of Neil Armstrong. As long as there are history books, Neil Armstrong will be included in them, remembered for taking humankind's first step on a world beyond our own."

Besides being one of America's greatest explorers, Neil carried himself with a grace and humanity that was an example to us all. When President Kennedy challenged the nation to send a human to the moon, Neil Armstrong accepted without reservation.

"As we enter the next era of space exploration, we do so standing on the shoulders of Neil Armstrong. We mourn the passing of a friend, fellow astronaut and true American hero."

During his lifetime, Armstrong was awarded with the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Space Medal of Honour along with the historical status of being the first man to walk on the moon.

 

Football Enters The 21st Century With Goal-Line Technology

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) has unanimously approved the use of goal-line technology after months of exhaustive tests were carried out on two systems called Hawk-Eye and GoalRef.

The technology, which has also been signed off by world football's governing body, FIFA, will first be used at December's FIFA Club World Cup and, if successful, at the 2013 Confederations Cup and 2014 World Cup.

The English Premier League, the world's richest football league, welcomed IFAB's decision.

"The Premier League has been a long-term advocate of goal line technology," the EPL said in a statement.

"We will engage in discussions with both Hawk-Eye and GoalRef in the near future with a view to introducing goal-line technology as soon as is practically possible."

Hawk-Eye is already used in other sports such as tennis and cricket. It uses high speed cameras to track the ball on the pitch, then triangulation to pinpoint its exact location. It can report exactly where a ball has landed and create a record of the path it has taken.

GoalRef which was developed by researchers from Germany's Fraunhofer Institute uses antennas to create low intensity magnetic fields in and around the goals. A tiny electronic device is embedded in the ball so whenever it passes the goal line it changes the magnetic field. This is detected and analysed by a processing unit which can precisely locate the ball to see if it fully crossed the line.

Both systems send an encrypted radio signal to alert game officials, with each process taking less than one second to complete.

Pep Guardiola To Leave Barcelona In The Summer

Pep Guardiola is set to leave his post as FC Barcelona manager in the summer after winning 13 trophies in four years.

The former Barcelona player turned manager lost at the Camp Nou to Real Madrid for the first time as manager. Then the club got knocked out of the Champions League Semi-Final to Chelsea three days later meaning the Copa del Rey is the only trophy Barcelona can win when they play Athletic Bilbao in the final on 25th May.

In a press conference held today at the Camp Nou Guardiola explained his decision to leave the club.

"The reason to leave is simple," he said."Four years are long and they wear you down."

"Every day during those four years, the demands are very high, the pressure, the necessary energy to push the players and enjoy it," he said. "I need to rest and move away."

"In  December I told the president and sport director that I saw the end of my stint here, but I had the problem that I couldn't tell my players. That is why I took so long," said Guardiola who's players were present at the press conference. 

Barcelona wasted little time in announcing Guardiola's successor confirming that assistant manager Tito Vilanova will step up from his current position and become the manager next season.

"Why Tito?" sorting director Andoni Zubizarreta asked. "Because he represents the game, the analysis, the preparation. He puts the extra hour into preparation, he has the capacity and the personality to be here, because we know him. We decided to look inside our house and it was easy."

Fabio Capello Resigns As England Manager

Fabio Capello has resigned as England manager.

An FA statement read: "The Football Association can confirm that Fabio Capello has today resigned as England  Manager.

This follows a meeting involving FA chairman David Bernstein, FA General Secretary Alex Horne and Fabio Capello at Wembley Stadium.

The discussions focused on The FA Board's decision to remove the England team captaincy from John Terry, and Fabio Capello's response through an Italian broadcast interview.

In a meeting for over an hour, Fabio's resignation was accepted and he will leave the post of England Manager with immediate effect."

FA Chairman David Bernstein said: "I would like to stress that during today's meeting and throughout his time as England Manager, Fabio has conducted himself in an extremely professional manner. We have accepted Fabio's resignation, agreeing this is the right decision. We would like to thank Fabio for his work with the England team and wish him every success in the future."

A media conference with David Bernstein and the Club England Management team will take place at Wembley on Thursday at 12 noon to announce who will be the England Manager for the international friendly against Holland on February 29 at Wembley Stadium.

Golden Oldies Prove Youngsters Are Not Yet Good Enough

With the return of Thierry Henry to Arsenal and Paul Scholes to Manchester United it makes you wonder about the plight of the younger players at not only these two clubs but at clubs around the country.

Henry scored the only goal in 3rd round FA Cup tie against Leeds coming on from the bench replacing teenager Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Paul Scholes scored the first in a 3-0 win for Manchester United against Bolton Wanders at Old Trafford in the Premier League after coming out of retirement to come on as a substitute against Manchester City in the FA Cup a week ago.

Robbie Keane is another player who has come back to the Premier League on loan to Aston Villa where he will play when a chance can be given to England U21 striker Nathan Delfouneso to prove he can score goals in the Premier League.


One reason youngsters would give as to why they are perceived not to be good enough is that they don't get enough chances in the first team. Oxlade-Chamberlain is an example of this as he moved to Arsenal in the summer for £12 million and has not even started two consecutive games for the North London club. Theo Walcott on the other hand is a first team regular and after he has said that he would prefer to play as a striker than a winger he has only scored four goals this season showing he isn't ready to replace Robin Van Persie as Arsenal's first choice striker. Add to that contract negotiations continuing where the England international wants a reported £80,000 a week shows that young players are demanding more than what they are supplying.


This is the case of Manchester United youngsters Paul Pogba and Ravel Morrison who both were instrumental in the club winning the FA Youth Cup last season. Pogba, a French youth international who is similar in playing style to Michael Essien has recently changed his agent to Mino Raiola who's clients include Mario Balotelli and Zlatan Ibrahimovic which isn't a group you want to be a part of since Zlatan has a black belt in taekwondo and Balotelli does fireworks in his bathroom. Both however would make interesting party guests though so you would be sure of a good time off the pitch but on the pitch they are likely to let you down when it matters.


Ravel Morrison who has been lauded as the best player to come out the Manchester United Academy since Paul Scholes has the talent but not the clean life off the pitch which is led by the returning midfielder. The England youth international has already been in court and although the club have stood by him he has rejected a new contract offered by the Manchester club.


"His agent has been working hard to get him another club. We've offered him terms which he has refused. His demands are unrealistic as far as we're concerned." said Ferguson


How can a player like Ravel Morrison demand unrealistic terms when he hasn't done anything at the club who have shown him loyalty? How can Paul Pogba do the same when  like Morrison he hasn't done anything for the first team? How can Walcott demand £80,000 a week when he hasn't helped Arsenal win a trophy since he arrived at the club?


Paul Scholes would never have demands that were deemed unrealistic like Morrison and Pogba. Henry did much more than Walcott had to be rewarded with a £80,000 a week contract. Are the players too greedy or is it there agents who are trying to get their clients a  unrealistic deal or it could be a bit of both.


What young players should realise is that when they get a chance they should take it and if they don't then they should knuckle down and work hard so that next time they will take there chance and they will be rewarded with a new contract which leads to more money and former players remaining as former players.

The F.A. Reveal Reasons For Luis Suarez's Eight Match Ban

The Football Association last night released a 115 word document giving details of why Luis Suarez was given an eight match ban for racist abuse towards Patrice Evra.

The Liverpool striker was given a eight match ban and fined £40,000 after the F.A. claimed he racially abused Evra by calling him a "negro" during the 1-1 draw at Anfield on October 15th 2011.

The report states that, after being tackled by the Uruguayan, Evra asked Suarez why he had kicked him, to which the forward replied in Spanish: "Because you are black."

When Evra challenged him to repeat the answer and said he would "punch him", Suarez said: "I don't speak to blacks."

Suarez is said to have used the term "negro" seven times in around two minutes.

In giving the reasons for the length of the ban, the report said: "Given the number of times that Mr Suarez used the word 'negro', his conduct is significantly more serious than a one-off use of a racially offensive term and amounts to an aggravating factor."

The report states in its summary: "Mr Evra was a credible witness. He gave his evidence in a calm, composed and clear way. It was, for the most part, consistent, although both he and Mr Suarez were understandably unable to remember every detail of the exchanges between them.

"Mr Suarez's evidence was unreliable in relation to matters of critical importance. It was, in part, inconsistent with the contemporaneous evidence, especially the video footage.

"For example, Mr Suarez said that he pinched Mr Evra's skin in an attempt to defuse the situation. He also said that his use of the word 'negro' to address Mr Evra was conciliatory and friendly. We rejected that evidence.

"To describe his own behaviour in that way was unsustainable and simply incredible given that the players were engaged in an acrimonious argument. That this was put forward by Mr Suarez was surprising and seriously undermined the reliability of his evidence on other matters.

"There were also inconsistencies between his accounts given at different times as to what happened."

Liverpool have been strong in their support of Suarez criticising the F.A. and claiming Evra should also face charges after he admitted insulting Suarez during the altercation.

The club's players and Reds boss Kenny Dalglish also wore T-shirts in support of the Uruguayan before their draw with Wigan on 21st December.

The F.A. and Liverpool were given the findings on Friday by the Independent Regulatory Commission. Both parties have the right to an appeal and must reply by 13 January.