NEWS:

Cupertino, California (CNN) -- Apple on Tuesday unveiled the iPhone 4S, a faster version of its best-selling smartphone that includes a virtual "personal assistant" you can talk to.

"When you think about it, only Apple could make such amazing software, hardware and services and bring them together into such a powerful yet integrated experience," the company's new CEO Tim Cook said at a press conference Tuesday at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, California.

The next-generation iPhone also will be available on Sprint's wireless network for the first time, in addition to AT&T and Verizon. A model with 16 GB of storage starts at $200 with a two-year wireless contact; the 64 GB model costs $400.

An online presale for the phone begins on Friday, and the phone will become available in stores on October 14.

Steve Jobs, the Apple co-founder who recently resigned as CEO amid health concerns, did not take the stage at the press conference and was not seen by CNN reporters at the event.

The iPhone 4S looks identical to a previous model, but it contains an A5 processor that the company says is up to seven times faster at rendering graphics and twice as fast at processing data.

It has a personal assistant called "Siri," which takes voice commands and can translate speech into text.

Siri also talks back, answering questions and reading calendar events and updates.

Apple CEO Tim Cook's opening speech

Seriously?! The iPhone 4S

Apple unveils iPhone 4S

Siri: Apple's new voice recognition

"I've been in the AI (artificial intelligence) field a long time. This blows me away," Apple's Scott Forstall, a senior vice president for iPhone software, said after he announced the new service, which only works on the iPhone 4S, not on previous models.

In a demo, Forstall asked the phone to "find me a Greek restaurant in Palo Alto." The phone pulled up restaurants from the app Yelp and said: "I have found 14 Greek restaurants; five of them are in Palo Alto. I have listed them according to ranking."

Some people who followed the event online joked that Siri reminded them of the computer HAL from the movie, "2001: A Space Odyssey."

"We are clearly headed to Terminator/HAL territory here. Humans are doomed. Deal with it," wrote Sam Grobart on the New York Times' live blog of the press conference.

The voice feature also pulls data from Wikipedia and search engine WolframAlpha, among other information services.

The iPhone 4S is also a "world phone," meaning it will be able to place calls more easily on wireless networks all over the world, not just in the United States.

Among the other updates:

-- The phone also has "fantastic battery life," allowing people to talk for eight hours before needing to charge it again, said Phil Schiller, Apple's vice-president for product marketing.

-- It features an 8-megapixel camera with a better light sensor, making it as good or better than many point-and-shoot devices.

-- It will shoot high-definition video, and it has a new image stabilization feature to make YouTube videos less shaky.

Despite some new features, however, some market analysts were disappointed that Apple did not release a more radically designed version of its smartphone, as CNNMoney reports. Apple's sharessagged slightly for the day on news of the phone's update.

At the event on Tuesday, Apple also announced updates to its mobile operating system, called iOS5, which will be available for free on October 12.

The new version of the operating system works on the iPhone 4 and 3GS, as well as both versions of the iPad and the iPod Touch.

The iOS 5 system includes several new features, including a cloud service that will sync some photos and files from the iPhone onto Internet servers. A product called iTunes Match will sync music from the iPhone with a database in the cloud, making it possible to play your music on any device or computer instead of just on the one where you purchased it.

The iTunes Match product will be available later this month, the company said, and costs $25 per year.

A new app called Cards will let iPhone owners send paper greeting cards to people for a fee that includes postage. And, finally, a new social networking app called Find My Friends lets users share their current location with close contacts.

In all, Apple says it has sold 250 million gadgets that run on its mobile operating system.

The company finds itself as the top mobile gadget maker.

The iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3GS were the best-selling smartphone models in the United States in the second quarter of this fiscal year, according to data from the NPD Group. Apple says it sold more than 20 million iPhones in the last financial quarter alone, up 142% from that same period of time in 2010.

Cook on Tuesday said the iPhone is the bestselling phone in the world.

We'll have to wait a few weeks to see how well the iPhone 4S continues that success.

COMMENT:

THE FAMOUS AND RICH STORE CALLED APPLE UNVEILS THIER NEWER IPHON WHICH IS REALLY INCREDIBLE, THIS NEW IPHONE IS THE IPHONE 4S AND IS REALLY COOL AND IS FASTER THAN THE LAST ONE.

'X Factor': The good, the bad and the weird
I really didn't think that Fox's "X Factor" could find more interesting people than it did the first week, but then I watched Wednesday's episode. It definitely gets better with time.

It's the second week of auditions, this time in Chicago and Seattle. The best WTH moment took place when a middle-aged lady took the stage and said that she wasn't there to sing. Rather she wanted to audition to be a judge!! The actual judges put up with her for a couple of seconds before they told her "no" and kept the show moving. I do give her credit for finding a unique way to get on stage in front of millions of people when singing was not an option for her.

I'm not quite sure if this show had more qualified singers than last week, but I'm certain it had more diverse singers. Here's who I'm betting will be most likely to succeed:


Brock Wade & McKenna

This interested-but-not-dating couple truly intrigued me. They've been singing together for four years and they say they're best friends. You wouldn't have guessed it from the way they came on stage, but these two harmonize really well together. They came across as a little shy and lacking in confidence, but they really nailed "Colder Weather" by the Zac Brown Band. So much so that the crowd gave them a standing ovation. They got four "Yes" votes from all four judges. I'm sensing an "X Factor" marriage proposal between these two before the end of the season.

Skyelor Anderson

When this guy took the stage I didn't quite know what to make of him, although he did seem like possibly the nicest person you'd ever have the pleasure to meet. His song choice was "Must Be Doin' Something Right" by Billy Currington, but the music stopped just seconds after he began. Everyone looked around in silence, and then out of nowhere Skyelor continued to sing sans music. Perhaps it was his uniqueness, or the fact that very few African-Americans had auditioned belting out country ballads the way Skyelor did. At times, he even sounded like an untrained Tim McGraw. But in the end he won over every single judge.

J-Mark

When people get on stage and say they're different, my gut reaction is to roll my eyes, but J-Mark actually is. A graduate student studying in Europe and getting a degree in Philosophy, he says he doesn't want to be another cookie cutter artist. He sings Radiohead's "Creep," and although he can't really hold a tune that well or for very long, it's what he does with his body that intrigues people.

Before he even sings one word, he starts to do a sideways moonwalk of sorts with his feet, and then while he sings he leans to the left and then far to the right while keeping his balance. It's weird, but still captivating to say the least. The audience and the judges don't know what to make of him. Although the judges stop short of telling him he is a great singer, they are captivated enough to keep him on and push him through to the next level of the competition. I think he will be the best entertainment for the show as it progresses.

Josh

He takes the stage looking like he slept in his car a few days and didn't have a place or time to shower. Simon looks extremely annoyed when Josh says he is going to sing Etta James' "At Last," but then he begins. He sounds like a cross between Joe Cocker and Michael Bolton, if you can imagine that. This robust singing WOWS the audience in the first minute with his high notes hitting ALL the right keys. It's amazing, he manages to hold onto notes longer than anyone should.

Drew Ryniewicz

Drew is interesting, because of all the people who performed she perhaps was the riskiest. She considers herself part of the Bieber nation...so much so that she decided to sing the Justin Bieber song "Baby" and add her own twist to the song. She sang it a capella, but that did show the strength of her voice; she can really hit the high notes! Not surprisingly, she got four "Yes" votes. I can't wait to see what else Drew can do.

Peet Montzingo

Peet, whose back story is way more interesting that his singing, takes the stage to do his version of Bruno Mars' "Billionaire." But it doesn't take long for Simon to stop the music. Almost all of the judges agree that he has that star quality and should be famous, but he just can't sing. Something tells me he might be contacted by a reality TV production company to have his life chronicled. Just saying.

4Shore Quartet

I have to admit I was worried for this teen boy band before they even sang one word. They said they wanted to sing Boyz II Men's "End Of The Road" which is hard to live up to, especially considering the fact that L.A. Reid wrote the song, according to Simon. But in less than a minute we see why they chose that track. I've never heard a quartet wearing skinny jeans sounding that great in a long time. Naturally, the group gets the go ahead.

Tiger Budbill

This guy didn't win the judges over unanimously. His only saving grace while singing Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" was the fact that he held a very high note for a while towards the end. But I'm not quite sure that makes a great singer. L.A. Reid held out because he didn't feel Tiger was truly exceptional, but Tiger still managed to capture the approval of the other three judges.

Phillip Lomax

At a time when the show was dragging a bit, Phillip woke me up. He came on stage with the hat and the swagger of a Hollywood veteran and it was refreshing. His song choice was "Fly Me to the Moon," and he carried it off well. Simon warned him that his voice is off the mark right now and encouraged him to work on it, but in the end he makes it to the next level.

Tiah Tolliver

This is the reason I love "X Factor," because they saved the drama for the end of the show. How long did you think it would take before the judges had their first big fallout? It was bound to happen, and it did over Tiah Tolliver. This teen might have made an enemy out of Nicole right off the bat when she told them she wanted to wanted to go platinum, double platinum and diamond. Nicole seemed to roll her eyes, while the other three judges praised her look and confidence before singing.

But then she chose to do a rendition of Shontelle's "Impossible" a capella. The problem with this is of course we hear the good, the bad and the ugly with her voice. She has talent, but she's pitchy.

L.A. Reid and Simon were willing to work with her, but Nicole wanted another song. Tiah takes a few minutes and then sings again. Paula was still unconvinced, so Simon literally begged Nicole to change her mind, which she eventually did. I couldn't believe the panel of judges was seriously a house divided over this singer. I'm waiting to see if she will truly live up to her potential.

What do you think of the judges' choices?

COMMENT:

SO THE FAMOUS TV SHOW OF FOX CHANNEL IT COMES EVERY YEAR OR NEW SERIES REALLY INTERESTING, BECAUSE THE PEOPLE THAT IS ENTERING THE TOURNAMENT IS REALLY GOOD THIS SHOW IS GETTING BETTER WITH TIME

Apple unveils the faster iPhone 4S

Apple on Tuesday unveiled the iPhone 4S, a faster version of its best-selling smartphone that includes a virtual "personal assistant" you can talk to. "When you think about it, only Apple could make such amazing software, hardware and services and bring them together into such a powerful yet integrated experience," the company's new CEO Tim Cook said at a press conference Tuesday at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, California.
The next-generation iPhone also will be available on Sprint's wireless network for the first time, in addition to AT&T and Verizon. A model with 16 GB of storage starts at $200 with a two-year wireless contact; the 64 GB model costs $400.
An online presale for the phone begins on Friday, and the phone will become available in stores on October 14.
Steve Jobs, the Apple co-founder who recently resigned as CEO amid health concerns, did not take the stage at the press conference and was not seen by CNN reporters at the event.
The iPhone 4S looks identical to a previous model, but it contains an A5 processor that the company says is up to seven times faster at rendering graphics and twice as fast at processing data.
It has a personal assistant called "Siri," which takes voice commands and can translate speech into text.
Siri also talks back, answering questions and reading calendar events and updates.

Apple CEO Tim Cook's opening speech

"I've been in the AI (artificial intelligence) field a long time. This blows me away," Apple's Scott Forstall, a senior vice president for iPhone software, said after he announced the new service, which only works on the iPhone 4S, not on previous models.
In a demo, Forstall asked the phone to "find me a Greek restaurant in Palo Alto." The phone pulled up restaurants from the app Yelp and said: "I have found 14 Greek restaurants; five of them are in Palo Alto. I have listed them according to ranking."
Some people who followed the event online joked that Siri reminded them of the computer HAL from the movie, "2001: A Space Odyssey."
"We are clearly headed to Terminator/HAL territory here. Humans are doomed. Deal with it," wrote Sam Grobart on the New York Times' live blog of the press conference.
The voice feature also pulls data from Wikipedia and search engine WolframAlpha, among other information services.
The iPhone 4S is also a "world phone," meaning it will be able to place calls more easily on wireless networks all over the world, not just in the United States.
Among the other updates:
-- The phone also has "fantastic battery life," allowing people to talk for eight hours before needing to charge it again, said Phil Schiller, Apple's vice-president for product marketing.
-- It features an 8-megapixel camera with a better light sensor, making it as good or better than many point-and-shoot devices.
-- It will shoot high-definition video, and it has a new image stabilization feature to make YouTube videos less shaky.
Despite some new features, however, some market analysts were disappointed that Apple did not release a more radically designed version of its smartphone, as CNNMoney reports. Apple's shares sagged slightly for the day on news of the phone's update.
At the event on Tuesday, Apple also announced updates to its mobile operating system, called iOS5, which will be available for free on October 12.
The new version of the operating system works on the iPhone 4 and 3GS, as well as both versions of the iPad and the iPod Touch.
The iOS 5 system includes several new features, including a cloud service that will sync some photos and files from the iPhone onto Internet servers. A product called iTunes Match will sync music from the iPhone with a database in the cloud, making it possible to play your music on any device or computer instead of just on the one where you purchased it.
The iTunes Match product will be available later this month, the company said, and costs $25 per year.
A new app called Cards will let iPhone owners send paper greeting cards to people for a fee that includes postage. And, finally, a new social networking app called Find My Friends lets users share their current location with close contacts.
In all, Apple says it has sold 250 million gadgets that run on its mobile operating system.
The company finds itself as the top mobile gadget maker.
The iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3GS were the best-selling smartphone models in the United States in the second quarter of this fiscal year, according to data from the NPD Group. Apple says it sold more than 20 million iPhones in the last financial quarter alone, up 142% from that same period of time in 2010.
Cook on Tuesday said the iPhone is the bestselling phone in the world.
We'll have to wait a few weeks to see how well the iPhone 4S continues that success.

COMMENT: I think this is a very nice new product from apple because they are introducing new qualities for cellphones, and people is in love with them, they are the best phones from all and  I think they are over blackberry and over android that is some things have copy apple ideas.

NEWS:

Atlanta (CNN) -- Rapper T.I. was released from an Atlanta halfway house Thursday morning, his lawyer said.

The performer spent the last 14 days in the halfway house to complete his 11-month prison sentence for a parole violation. He now begins a year-long probation, according to the lawyer, Steve Sadow.

T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr., spent seven months in an Arkansas prison in 2009 as part of a sentence negotiated to resolve federal gun charges. Those charges followed his attempt to buy three machine guns in the parking lot of an Atlanta grocery store.

His latest time behind bars was triggered by his arrest, along with his wife, after a motorcycle officer stopped their car on Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California, a year ago.

A police report said suspected drugs were found in the couple's car and they were both arrested on drug charges. The charge against the rapper was later dropped, but he failed a drug test given by his parole officer.

COMMENT:

SO THE FAMOUS RAP SINGER T.I WAS ON A HALFWAY HOUSE BUT KNOW HE IS THAT HALFWAY HOUSE, WHAT IS REALLY GOOD FOR THE SINGER BECAUSE NOW HE CAN STAR AGAIN MAKING MORE GOOD MUSIC LIKE IN HIS OLD TIME.

South Pacific islands running out of water

(CNN) -- Two idyllic South Pacific islands are facing a water crisis; they're running out of it, and fast.

The island nations Tuvalu and Tokelau have declared states of emergency after six months of little or no rainfall.

It's estimated that at the current rate of consumption the Tuvaluan atoll of Funafuti, home to 5,000 people, will run out of drinking water in two weeks. Tokelau, a territory of New Zealand with a population of 1,500, could run dry in just one.

"We are all working in line with the fact that we recognize this national emergency situation," Jo Suveinakama, the general manager of the Tokelau government told Radio New Zealand.

The New Zealand Red Cross flew emergency supplies to Tuvalu Monday on a New Zealand Defense Force flight along with two aid workers and two foreign ministry staff.

"We have mobilized 2,000 collapsible water containers, hand sanitizers, tarpaulins to be used to capture rain (and) two emergency desalination units," Andrew McKie, New Zealand Red Cross International Operations and Emergency Manager said in a statement Tuesday.

The emergency desalinators are being sent south on a patrol boat at midnight Tuesday to the small atoll of Nukulaelae, part of Tuvalu, whose population of 330 is reported to be down to its last 60 liters of water. Schools have closed as residents conserve what little water they have and pray for rain.

"It's a pretty dire situation there," Gareth Smith, New Zealand High Commissioner to Tuvalu told Radio New Zealand. Smith is one of the two foreign ministry staff sent to Tuvalu this week.

In Nukulaelae, water is being rationed. Families - some with as many as 10 people - are forced to live on just 40 liters a day, according to Dave Hebblethwaite, a water management adviser from the Applied Geoscience and Technology Division of Secretariat of the Pacific Community.

It's a pretty dire situation here
Gareth Smith, New Zealand High Commissioner to Tuvalu

"Families are getting by washing in the sea and only having a short wash in fresh water if at all," he said, adding that most of the fresh water is being reserved for drinking and cooking.

The Tuvalu government briefed a group known as the "Diplomatic Corps" Tuesday in the Fijian capital of Suva on the type of aid that might be needed. Delegates included head of foreign missions, international agencies and regional organizations. Parts for desalination units and fuel top the list, Hebblethwaite said.

Tuvalu, the world's fourth smallest country, is a nation of four reef islands and five atolls covering 26 square kilometers in the Pacific Ocean halfway between Hawaii and Australia.

The island nation relies almost exclusively on rainwater collected from the roofs of homes and government buildings to supply a population of 10,000. However, three dry spells over the last three years has gradually drained the community's water supplies.

"Communities in Tuvalu are pretty used to doing it tough," Hebblethwaite said. "Atoll environments are really hard environments to live in and when you're just relying on rainfall for all of your water, you find yourself in situations where you do need to make the most of every small amount.

"For these communities to be asking for external assistance, it shows that the situation is quite serious," he said.

New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully has warned the water crisis could lead to food shortages as crops fail.

"We're now doing an assessment, not just in Tuvalu but also in other areas of the Pacific that are affected by the shortage of rainfall, making sure we deal with the drinking water issue most urgently," he told Radio New Zealand.

Tuvalu imports the bulk of its food but its people also grow their own crops, mostly taro. The root vegetable is grown in pits filled with organic matter due to the lack of soil available on the atoll.

"We know that on some of the islands, particularly on Nukalaelae, many pits are suffering damage from either drying out or getting saline from the water table. So there's certainly an impact on food security," Hebblethwaite said.

"We're even finding that some fruit trees are suffering, even coconuts, which is unusual. Coconut palms on Nukalaelae are starting to lose their fronds," he said.

Tuvalu has been very vocal in its calls for international help to mitigate the effects of climate change. It has warned that it is in danger of "sinking" as sea water levels rise.

"The information we have about climate change and rainfall patterns is getting better and better every month," Hebblethwaite said. However he added that assessing long term trends on the islands was difficult to due the lack of rain gauges.

"One thing's for sure, water will be the main mechanism by which climate change impacts on these island communities, whether it be by droughts or by storms or floods," he said. "So building their resistance to today's climate variability that they're experiencing will be a key defense they can employ against the future impacts of climate change, and I think people are recognizing that."

COMMENT: WHEN I FIRST SAW THIS NEWS I DIDNT BELIEVE IT, BECAUSE ITS LIKE ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO THOSE ISLANDS TO BE WITHOUT WATER, BUT THIS IS WHY IT IS IMPORTANT THE RAIN ( THE ONE WE COMPLAIN ALOT ABOUT)

Cupertino, California (CNN) -- Apple on Tuesday unveiled the iPhone 4S, a faster version of its best-selling smartphone that includes a virtual "personal assistant" you can talk to.

"When you think about it, only Apple could make such amazing software, hardware and services and bring them together into such a powerful yet integrated experience," the company's new CEO Tim Cook said at a press conference Tuesday at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, California.

The next-generation iPhone also will be available on Sprint's wireless network for the first time, in addition to AT&T and Verizon. A model with 16 GB of storage starts at $200 with a two-year wireless contact; the 64 GB model costs $400.

An online presale for the phone begins on Friday, and the phone will become available in stores on October 14.

Steve Jobs, the Apple co-founder who recently resigned as CEO amid health concerns, did not take the stage at the press conference and was not seen by CNN reporters at the event.

The iPhone 4S looks identical to a previous model, but it contains an A5 processor that the company says is up to seven times faster at rendering graphics and twice as fast at processing data.

It has a personal assistant called "Siri," which takes voice commands and can translate speech into text.

Siri also talks back, answering questions and reading calendar events and updates.

Apple CEO Tim Cook's opening speech

"I've been in the AI (artificial intelligence) field a long time. This blows me away," Apple's Scott Forstall, a senior vice president for iPhone software, said after he announced the new service, which only works on the iPhone 4S, not on previous models.

In a demo, Forstall asked the phone to "find me a Greek restaurant in Palo Alto." The phone pulled up restaurants from the app Yelp and said: "I have found 14 Greek restaurants; five of them are in Palo Alto. I have listed them according to ranking."

Some people who followed the event online joked that Siri reminded them of the computer HAL from the movie, "2001: A Space Odyssey."

"We are clearly headed to Terminator/HAL territory here. Humans are doomed. Deal with it," wrote Sam Grobart on the New York Times' live blog of the press conference.

The voice feature also pulls data from Wikipedia and search engine WolframAlpha, among other information services.

The iPhone 4S is also a "world phone," meaning it will be able to place calls more easily on wireless networks all over the world, not just in the United States.

Among the other updates:

-- The phone also has "fantastic battery life," allowing people to talk for eight hours before needing to charge it again, said Phil Schiller, Apple's vice-president for product marketing.

-- It features an 8-megapixel camera with a better light sensor, making it as good or better than many point-and-shoot devices.

-- It will shoot high-definition video, and it has a new image stabilization feature to make YouTube videos less shaky.

Despite some new features, however, some market analysts were disappointed that Apple did not release a more radically designed version of its smartphone, as CNNMoney reports. Apple's sharessagged slightly for the day on news of the phone's update.

At the event on Tuesday, Apple also announced updates to its mobile operating system, called iOS5, which will be available for free on October 12.

The new version of the operating system works on the iPhone 4 and 3GS, as well as both versions of the iPad and the iPod Touch.

The iOS 5 system includes several new features, including a cloud service that will sync some photos and files from the iPhone onto Internet servers. A product called iTunes Match will sync music from the iPhone with a database in the cloud, making it possible to play your music on any device or computer instead of just on the one where you purchased it.

The iTunes Match product will be available later this month, the company said, and costs $25 per year.

A new app called Cards will let iPhone owners send paper greeting cards to people for a fee that includes postage. And, finally, a new social networking app called Find My Friends lets users share their current location with close contacts.

In all, Apple says it has sold 250 million gadgets that run on its mobile operating system.

The company finds itself as the top mobile gadget maker.

The iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3GS were the best-selling smartphone models in the United States in the second quarter of this fiscal year, according to data from the NPD Group. Apple says it sold more than 20 million iPhones in the last financial quarter alone, up 142% from that same period of time in 2010.

Cook on Tuesday said the iPhone is the bestselling phone in the world.

We'll have to wait a few weeks to see how well the iPhone 4S continues that success.

I think that is very good that Apple has now a new cellphone, but i think that it should be the iphone 5, not the iphone 4s that was released, because, ,maybe, the could win more with that.

(CNN) -- A train conductor was killed and 30 others were injured when two trains crashed outside of Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday morning, officials said.

The accident happened in the Valles de Tuys area, about 30 minutes south of Caracas, Vice Minister of Justice Nestor Reverol said.

Both trains were inside a tunnel when one train derailed and the second was forced to engage an emergency stop, though it didn't avoid a collision, he said.

The conductor of the second train died, Reverol said. The 30 injuries that were recorded were minor, he added.

COMMENT: this is a very interesting news brcause is a new that we dont see everyday that two trains out of caracas collide each other and is very rare to happen because now with all the technology that we have everything is synchronized and i dont know what was the problem.