Boom expected in mobile app industry

SINGAPORE: The rising use of mobile applications has been a boon for the industry.The mobile appplication industry recorded a 68 per cent rise in global sales last year, from US$8.5 billion to US$14.3 billion. With the growing shipment of tablets and smartphones, experts say sales growth may increase by almost four times by 2017.Cooliris, a photo sharing and browsing application, has become...

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Dropbox rolls out Windows 8 app

Dropbox for Windows 8.(Credit:Screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET)Dropbox users running Windows 8 or Windows RT can now access their online files right from the Start screen.The new and free Dropbox app for Windows 8 displays tiles for all of the folders and files stored in your online account. The app offers the usual touch-friendly approach, so you can swipe and tap your way around the screen to view...

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Shell oil-drilling ship under tow again

ANCHORAGE, Alaska A Shell oil-drilling ship that ran aground near a remote Alaska island is under tow again.The Unified Command for the operation in Anchorage says the Kulluk is being towed at about 5 mph to shelter in Kodiak Island's Kiliuda Bay. Officials won't estimate its arrival because of weather conditions early Monday — winds of about 18 mph and 15-foot ocean swells.There's a salvage crew...

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Hagel Nomination Stirs Bipartisan Opposition

Two weeks before his inauguration, and with more "fiscal cliffs" on the horizon, President Obama is embracing a showdown with Congress over his pick to lead the Pentagon in his second term.Obama will nominate former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel to be the next Secretary of Defense at a formal White House announcement later today, administration officials said.The president will...

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Five accused of rape in India appear in court for charges

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Five men accused of the rape and murder of an Indian student appeared in court on Monday to hear charges against them after two of them offered evidence possibly in return for a lighter sentence in the case that has provoked widespread anger. The five men, along with a teenager, are accused of raping the 23-year-old physiotherapy student after she boarded their bus...

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SJI International attains stellar grades in IB programme

SINGAPORE: St Joseph's Institution (SJI) International has reported its best results for the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme.The school said 99 per cent from the class of 2012 passed the exam, attaining an average score of 36.2 points out of the maximum 45.It added one in four students achieved 40 points.The top student is Monica Layarda, who had a perfect score.The...

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Dropped call: Mobile biggies conspicuous by absence at CES

Escalator up to the South Hall entrance of the Las Vegas Convention Center at CES 2012.(Credit:Sarah Tew/CNET) LAS VEGAS -- Mobile is supposed to be a hot category in tech, right? You'd never know it looking at the announcements that are slated to start pouring in this week.Many of the major companies in the mobile industry have opted to skip or limit their presence at this year's Consumer Electronics...

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Reel life: The mesmerizing saga of "56 Up"

(CBS News) Imagine what it would be like to have your whole life from age seven onwards be part a long running series of documentaries. As it happens, fourteen middle-aged people in Britain don't have to imagine it at all. How their real lives as they actually lived them came to be captured on reels of film is our Sunday Morning Cover Story, reported by Lee Cowan: It looks like any other group of...

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Defiant Assad Vows to Hold Firm in Syria

President Bashar Assad called on Syrians to defend their country against religious extremists seeking to destroy the nation, dismissing any prospect of dialogue with the "murderous criminals" he says are behind the uprising even as he outlined his vision for a peaceful settlement to the civil war.In a one-hour speech to the nation in which he appeared confident and relaxed, Assad...

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Assad "peace plan" greeted with scorn by enemies

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A defiant President Bashar al-Assad presented what he described as a new initiative on Sunday to end the war in Syria but his opponents dismissed it as a ploy to cling to power. Appearing before cheering supporters who packed the Damascus Opera House, it was his first such speech since June and first public appearance of any kind since a television interview in November....

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