Kim Jong-il death: North Korea 'pledge' to Kim Jong-un

North Korean state media have been reporting pledges of loyalty to new leader Kim Jong-un after the death of his father Kim Jong-il.

The body of Kim Jong-il is lying in state in the capital Pyongyang as organised public mourning continues in streets and halls.

State media hailed the new leader, 27, as "the outstanding leader of our party, army and people".

The US has urged North Korea to pursue a "path of peace".

The UK's consul in Pyongyang, Barnaby Jones, said foreign diplomats had been greeted by Kim Jong-un, seeming to confirm that he is indeed now in charge.

But as the choreographed Stalinist-style succession plays out, the still unanswered question is how tight a grip the young untested new leader has on the levers of power, the BBC's John Sudworth reports from the South Korean capital Seoul.

Kim Jong-il died on Saturday of a heart attack caused by overwork and stress at the age of 69, state media said. He will be buried on 28 December.

'Lighthouse of hope'
Kim Jong-un led a solemn procession of mourners on Monday past the body of his father, displayed on a bier under glass in a hall of the mausoleum where the embalmed body of Kim Il-song is kept.

State media heaped praise on the "Great Successor", describing him as a "lighthouse of hope" for a country awash in a "sea of tears and grief."

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At the scene

Rafael Wober
Associated Press correspondent
All over Pyongyang you can see separate, kind of, mourning events. Outside one major meeting hall, hundreds of people are lining up to go and stand in front of the portrait of the deceased Gen Kim Jong-il.

They cry and wail for a few minutes before they are moved along so that the next group can come up.

This kind of thing is going on all over the city and there is also a strong sense of mourning, in that the normal activity of shops and the normal way that people might drink, or eat, or enjoy themselves is basically discouraged during this period.

In pictures: Kim Jong-il in state
Neighbours on alert
Regional concerns
World media review
The strange world of North Korea
"We will look up to the respected Comrade Kim Jong-un as we pledged to do so in front of you," said Lee Jin-Hyang, a worker at the Pyongyang Textile Factory, addressing Kim Jong-il's remains.

Pak Chol Yong, a soldier, was quoted by the state news agency as saying: "We will devotedly safeguard Gen Kim Jong-un with arms, closely rallied as one in mind around him."

Photographs released by North Korean state media showed solemn gatherings in halls and opens spaces in Pyongyang.

At least some of the mass wailing and weeping on the streets of Pyongyang is an expression of genuine grief, our correspondent says.

Rafael Wober, a journalist with the Associated Press, one of the few foreign media organisations to be given access to Pyongyang, described the moment news of the death broke on Monday:

"Well, the announcement came as a complete surprise. I went out, I could see immediately in the corridors hotel staff crying, in the restaurant and the shop downstairs, hotel staff in tears, sobbing."

One defector who now lives in Seoul remembered similar scenes in 1994, following the death of the country's founder, Kim Il-song, and was suspicious of the emotions on display.

"You couldn't not cry in public so people used to pinch themselves to make themselves cry," he said.

Urgent talks
Continue reading the main story
North Korea


Population about 23 million
One million-strong army thought to be world's fifth largest
Manufacturing output mainly geared to military's demands
Daily life strictly controlled by government
Food shortages, power cuts, poor infrastructure
Guide to North Korea
Pavements washed by hand
Inside the North Korean bubble
Kim Jong-il: The cinephile despot
Kim Jong-il had been in the process of formalising Kim Jong-un as his successor when he died.

But the transition had not been completed and analysts fear Mr Kim's death could trigger a period of instability in the internationally isolated nuclear-armed state.

The worry is that Kim Jong-un, less than 30 years old and a completely unknown quantity, may lack the political skill to hang on to power. A power struggle with other family members or the military elite is a worrying possibility, our correspondent says.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the US is ready to help the North Korean people and create lasting security on the Korean peninsula.

Around the region, countries have been holding urgent talks about what the implications of Mr Kim's death might be.

South Korea, whose military has been put on alert in the wake of Mr Kim's death, has sent its condolences to the North Korean people.

Its failure to express condolences after the death of Kim Il-sung in 1994 affected relations between the two states for years.

Launching the Mid-year 2012, the Suzuki GW250 USD 40 Million Sale

In China and Europe was first paved, even in England comes under the name Suzuki Inazuma 250. Then when the sport touring bike will be officially sold in Indonesia?

"If there are no obstacles middle of 2012, the possibility of fitting Pekan Raya Jakarta (PRJ)," whispered speakers from PT Indomobil Suzuki Sales (SIS), ATPM Suzuki in Indonesia.

Being the price fixed will enter the premium segment in the number of Rp 40 million. "The price will not be far from the Ninja 250R and CBR 250R," he explained again.

According to him, this bike had a differentiation when compared with two 250 cc sport bikes that had already been circulated. GW250 not sport fairing, so it is more suitable for travel within the city.

"In addition, two-cylinder engine as well as the CBR 250R is not the only one cylinder," he said'm sure this bike will be busy touring lovers invaded.

These motors carry a two-cylinder engine. Each cylinder head construction has single overhead camshaft (SOHC) and 2 valves. Although the technology is simple, but has adopted fuel injection and water cooled. Suzuki claims its power reached 18 kW at 8500 rpm.
Its wheelbase is 1430 mm long to explain that this bike is more priority to stability when driving away. Telescopic front suspension and monoshock at the rear are expected to make the trip more exciting.

Touchless smartphones and TVs could be on sale in 2012

So you've lost your TV remote control. Again.

Not to worry, says a tiny Israeli start-up company called XTR3D - soon you'll be able to flick through channels and adjust the volume using only... your hand.

You'll just have to turn your palm towards the screen, and zap away without ever getting off the couch.

And no need for under-the-skin electronics or fancy microchips.

Instead, the TV - or rather gesture recognition software installed inside - will "read" your moves and execute appropriate commands, without any need for physically pressing any buttons.

Based in Tel Aviv, XTR3D is one of the developers of such motion capture technology, and it has just received $8m (£5m) investment bound to give "touchless" tech another push - and according to the firm, bring the first motion control smartphone into the market as early as next year.

US electronics giant Texas Instruments is among the investors.
Although the Israeli firm follows in the footsteps of Microsoft's Kinect, the multi-directional gesture control gaming console that was launched last year and has since been selling like hot cakes despite the average $200 price tag, its technology is quite different.

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“
Start Quote

Our target is to penetrate the market, so it will be something for everyone to try out”

Dor Givon
XTR3D
The Kinect has depth sensors, multi-array microphones and RGB cameras that provide the software with the information it needs to track both voice and gestures.

XTR3D, on the other hand, uses ordinary 2D cameras - such as a webcam of a computer or the one in your smartphone - to extract 3D out of a 2D image.

This creates the same three-dimensional effect as on the Kinect.

According to the Tel Aviv start-up's spokesman Roy Ramati, XTR3D's technology has all the advantages of a 3D camera without any of the disadvantages - it can work in broad daylight, is much cheaper and uses a lot less power.

"And it can be installed into any consumer electronics device," adds Mr Ramati.

Dor Givon, XTR3D's founder and chief technical officer, adds that it is even possible to play a proper Kinect game on a regular laptop that has the software, touchlessly controlling the device from a distance of a few centimetres to up to 5m away.


Controlling the TV without a remote would eliminate the need to look for it
And, he says, anyone will be able to afford it.

"Our target is to penetrate the market, so it will be something for everyone to try out," says Mr Givon.

"New devices will have the interface embedded in them, with older ones you will be able to download the software from the app store."

Besides gaming and switching TV channels, the existing prototypes include a PC where it is possible to flip through a PowerPoint presentation just by waving your hand, a tablet and a smartphone that have features such as using gestures to create the effect of a joystick, to click, swipe, zoom in and out with a pinch gesture, and a GPS device that can be controlled touchlessly while driving.

Ultrasound and optical
Despite being at the forefront of gesture-controlled technology, XTR3D is not the only firm aiming to make our world touchless.

Various kinds of motion detection have been around for a while.

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“
Start Quote

Gesture is definitely heating up!”

Francis MacDougall
Qualcomm
For instance, simple gesture recognition such as hovering your hand near a water tap or a toilet flush to activate them are becoming more and more common.

And after Microsoft paved the way with Kinect, bringing new digital dimensions to the gaming world, other companies followed.

Microsoft itself is now actively trying to expand Kinect's use into other industries.

Recently, it announced that it would release a commercial version of the Kinect software development kit in early 2012.

Microsoft has also teamed up with about 200 businesses in more than 20 countries - among them car manufacturer Toyota and digital advertising firm Razorfish - for Kinect to reach well beyond gaming.

"The Kinect can sense your entire body for interaction with the device, and we're only scratching the surface of what can be done because beyond computing there's a lot of scenarios where this kind of natural user interaction could be really powerful, a real paradigm shift," says Shahram Izadi, a researcher from the Microsoft Research Centre in Cambridge, England.

And the creator of the chip that powers the motion-sensing part of the Kinect, an Israeli company called PrimeSense, is now selling a gadget that has the same hardware as Microsoft's device.

Once hooked up to a regular computer, it can provide a Kinect-like experience without the Kinect.

Apple has also filed patents that involve allowing users to touchlessly "throw" content from one device to another, for example from a tablet onto your TV screen.

Another electronics giant, mobile chip maker Qualcomm, has recently bought a small Canadian firm GestureTek.

It targets three devices: tablets (including eReaders), smartphones and TVs, and uses a combination of cameras and ultrasound.
Ultrasound sensors are there for close range "no-look" gesture control - they pick up movements with help of a microphone instead of an optical camera, explains Qualcomm's director of technology Francis MacDougall.

"One issue the Kinect has is an inability to track close to a device. The default design can track no closer than 50cm - great for TVs but not so good for tablets and smartphones," says Mr MacDougall.

"So Qualcomm has placed multiple audio sensors - microphones - into their handset designs to isolate the voice location in 3D space while filtering out everything else.

"This technique is extremely low power and can track the hand within one to 15cm of the phone."

Touchless world
Imagine that you are driving a car and your child is on the back seat watching a movie on a tablet - you don't have to divert your attention from the road, but just by making a gesture near the tablet you would be able to pause it or turn it off.

And such possibilities are endless, says Mr MacDougall.


With gesture-controlled interfaces, touching the screen would become unnecessary
For instance, how about answering a phone when you're cooking, eating or driving without touching the screen or even having to look at it? Or turning pages on an eReader with swipe gestures? Or skipping to the next song with a swipe or pausing it with a palm raised?

These touchless features are pretty much what other companies working in the area have been promising to deliver, but one that relates to TV control is quite unique to GestureTek.

"We're working on face recognition that will be used to identify each member of the family and bring up custom interfaces as part of a next generation 'smart TV' interface," says Mr MacDougall.

To achieve that, the firm is turning to optical solutions, similar to those used by XTR3D - the standard forward-facing 2D camera and in some cases a stereo set-up - two standard 2D camera sensors spaced a small distance apart to calculate the 3D location of any features in the scene.

However the companies around the world are doing it - with regular or infrared cameras, or with ultrasound sensors, one thing is certain, says Mr MacDougall.

"Gesture is definitely heating up!"

Man City edge Arsenal to keep United at bay

Manchester City FC restored their two-point Premier League lead after beating Arsenal FC 1-0 to maintain their perfect home record in the top flight this season.

In a pulsating encounter, Sergio Agüero and Mario Balotelli came close early on, while Joe Hart made a fine stop from Gervinho. The hosts took the lead early in the second period through David Silva, and although Robin van Persie was thwarted by Hart, and Thomas Vermaelen twice threatened late on, City might have settled the contest on 66 minutes when Pablo Zabaleta hit a post.

Manchester United FC had briefly returned to the top of the standings after a 2-0 success at Queens Park Rangers FC. Wayne Rooney gave the visitors a first-minute lead with his 12th league goal of the season, while Michael Carrick's effort sealed a 12th win of the campaign for the champions.

Tottenham Hotspur FC are five points behind United in third, with a game in hand over the top two, after overcoming Sunderland AFC 1-0 thanks to Roman Pavlyuchenko's winner (61). Liverpool FC, meanwhile, are sixth thanks to a 2-0 triumph against Sunderland AFC courtesy of Craig Bellamy (11) and Martin Škrtel (15) strikes.

Video: Clamped Bugatti Veyron

With the Bugatti Veyron you are absolutely king of the road. But owning one of the most powerful cars in the world doesn’t make you king of the parking as proven in today’s video.
This video shows that the parking rules in the Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, apply to everyone as the local police clamped the French hypercar. Without a doubt the ‘unlucky’ owner of the Veyron wasn’t impressed by the parking fine, but he surely paid attention whether or not the wheels have been scratched.

Liege attack: Gunman kills four in Belgium

A gunman has opened fire in the centre of the Belgian city of Liege, killing at least four people and wounding 123.

The man also threw grenades into a crowded square from a rooftop before killing himself, reports say.

He was named as Nordine Amrani, aged 33. He was known to police for firearms offences. Officials said the attacker acted alone, ruling out terrorism.

The latest victim to die was an 18-month-old girl whom doctors had fought for several hours to save.

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At the scene

Matt Cole
BBC News, Liege
The central square in front of the Palais de Justice remains cordoned off this evening.

The Christmas market is dark and empty, but it was very different this lunchtime. Scores were enjoying a festive shopping experience when the man now named as Nordine Amrani began shooting and throwing explosives. People began running, screaming, children amongst them.

While the 33-year-old attacker was known to the police, having previously faced drug and weapons charges, officers say they currently don't know why he carried out this terrible act.

Amrani was jailed for 58 months in September 2008 for possessing firearms and drugs, media reports said.

Officials did not confirm this, but said they were aware he had spent some time in prison.

Belgian Prime Minister Elio di Rupo, visiting the scene, described the attack as "horrible".

"There are no words to describe this tragedy," he said.

"We think first and foremost of the innocent victims, their family and friends. We also think of all the people working at the scene and more generally of the people of Liege.

"The whole country shares the pain of the families affected. We share the shock of the population."

Belgium's King Albert and Queen Paola also came to pay their respects.

Weapons in a bag
Amrani had been asked to come for an interview at a police station in connection with charges against him.

A resident of Liege, he left home with a rifle, a pistol and three grenades in a bag, prosecutors said.

Greg Ienco, a journalist at local newspaper La Meuse-Liege, described the scene of the attack.

"We saw four explosions. I was in a building 200m from Saint-Lambert Square," he said.

"It was quite incredible. We saw one man on the roof who tried to kill people. This man killed himself with a grenade."


Liege police hold a news briefing following the attack
Two of the people confirmed dead were boys aged 15 and 17, the third a 75-year-old woman.

A city hospital announced the death of a fourth victim, a 17-month-old girl, at 21:45 GMT.

TV images showed blood splattered across the cobblestones of the square.

Several people are reported to be in a serious condition.

Medical staff at a field hospital at the scene treated 52 of the injured. Some others made their own way to other hospitals.

Roads into the centre of Liege were sealed off but vehicles are now coming back into the city.

Explosives experts were called in to search the area for unexploded grenades. People were initially told to stay in buildings but are now returning to the streets.

Place Saint-Lambert is a busy intersection, served by hundreds of buses daily. It hosts an annual Christmas market which attracts some 1.5 million visitors a year.

Chelsea sink Manchester City, Juve stay unbeaten

Frank Lampard scored a late penalty as Chelsea FC rallied from a goal down to condemn ten-man Manchester City FC to their first defeat of the season at Stamford Bridge, while AS Roma's Francesco Totti missed a spot-kick and the opportunity to end the unbeaten run of Juventus, who earned a 1-1 at the Stadio Olimpico.

On a rainy night in west London, Manchester City got off to the perfect start when Mario Balotelli scored after just two minutes. The Italian international raced on to a fine pass from Sergio Agüero, rode Branislav Ivanović's challenge and beat Petr Čech with a cool finish. But despite dominating the first half City, hitherto unbeaten in 14 league matches, conceded a 34th-minute equaliser, when Raul Meireles converted Paul Sturridge's centre.

Sturridge might have scored himself shortly after the interval, sending a snapshot narrowly wide from the edge of the area, and the impetus swung in the hosts' favour when Gaël Clichy was shown a second yellow card after hauling down Ramires. Lampard, on as a replacement for Meireles, scored from an 82nd-minute spot-kick awarded for a handball by Joleon Lescott. City remain two points clear at the top of the English top-flight, while André Villas-Boas's charges are up to fourth place.

Juventus returned to the top of Serie A, level on points with Udinese Calcio, after coming from behind to draw against Roma. The Giallorossi also took an early lead when Daniele Di Rossi scored after five minutes with a volley from the edge of the area. Marcelo Estigarribia and Arturo Vidal both came close to equalising before half-time but it was Giorgio Chiellini's first goal of the season, early in the second period, that brought Juve back into the match.

Moments later the Bianconeri were also indebted to Gianluigi Buffon for stretching their unbeaten league sequence to 14 matches with a penalty save from Francesco Totti. In an open game there were late chances for Pablo Osvaldo and Totti, while at the other end Fabio Quagliarella was thwarted with two minutes left by the excellent Maarten Stekelenburg.

Motorola wins Apple wireless patent fight in Germany

A German court has ruled in Motorola Mobility's favour in a patents dispute with Apple.

The Android smartphone maker had complained that Apple failed to license one of its wireless intellectual properties.

Apple uses the technology in its iPhones and 3G iPads.

Motorola could now try to force Apple to remove the feature from its devices or halt sales in Germany. However, Apple said it intended to appeal.

Motorola said the ruling validated its "efforts to enforce its patents against Apple's infringement".

Apple responded: "We're going to appeal the court's ruling right away. Holiday shoppers in Germany should have no problem finding the iPad or iPhone they want."

If Motorola does decide to pursue an injunction blocking sales of Apple's products the case could result in a clash between the iPad maker and Google - Motorola's shareholders have approved the search giant's takeover of their company and the deal is due to be completed in 2012.

Fighting times
The case relates to Motorola's patent for a "method for performing a countdown function during a mobile-originated transfer for a packet radio system".

Motorola licenses this patent to others on Frand (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms.

The owner of a Frand-type patent is obligated to license out its technology to third-parties because the invention has been declared to be essential to an industry standard.

Apple had offered to pay a Frand-set fee going forward and was willing to pay a similar rate for past infringements. But it lost the case because it tried to retain the right to contest the validity of the patent with a view to past damages.

It tried to do this because Motorola had defended its right to charge an above-Frand rate for Apple's use of its technology over the past four years. This could have been many times higher than the rate Apple was willing to pay and potentially very expensive.

Motorola will have to post a 100m euro (£85m; $133m) bond if it wishes to enforce a sales injunction against Apple. The cash would cover compensation to Apple if the ruling was later overturned.

Motorola welcomed the ruling.

"We will continue to take all necessary steps to protect our intellectual property, as the company's patent portfolio and licensing agreements with companies both in the US and around the world are critical to our business," said Scott Offer, senior vice-president and general counsel of Motorola Mobility.

"We have been negotiating with Apple and offering them reasonable licensing terms and conditions since 2007, and will continue our efforts to resolve our global patent dispute as soon as practicable."

Appeal details
Patent watchers say it could be years before the case is resolved.

"This is really a given between such large players in high stakes disputes," said Florian Mueller, a patent consultant who revealed the court's verdict on his blog.

"In Germany you get a first ruling by a regional court rather quickly - this litigation started in April this year. Usually between companies of this stature the disputes go to the higher regional court and that could take a couple of years," Mr Mueller told the BBC.

Mr Mueller advises Microsoft and others and has campaigned for patent reform in Europe.

He said Apple could try to revise its products, but noted that Frand-type patents were, by their nature, hard to work around. He added that doing so could run the risk of causing communication problems with the mobile networks' equipment.

Samsung tablet ban
Although Apple is on the receiving end of this lawsuit it has also been very active in the courts suing HTC, Samsung and Motorola among others for claimed patent infringements.

It temporarily managed to have Samsung's tablets banned from sale in Australia, although the restriction was overturned earlier today.

The US International Trade Commission is expected to rule on its dispute with Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC on 14 December. The judgement could lead to shipments of HTC's products being blocked in the US.

Although the targets of Apple's lawsuits are often firms which use Google's Android software, the two firms have avoided suing each other. That is set to change when Google's takeover of Motorola Mobility is completed early next year.

"Google with its pending acquisition will be watching this case with great interest as any victory is an endorsement of Motorola's patent portfolio that it is seeking to acquire," said Ben Cross, director of research at the telecoms consultancy CCS Insight.

Five favourite travel apps of 2011

The Apple and Android online stores have pages and pages of creative travel apps, making it overwhelming to figure out which ones are worth your time.
From easy-to-use hotel booking tools to smart ways to book a private car, here are my five
favourite free apps that launched this year:
Evernote Food
Evernote, the note-taking app with 10 million users, recently launched a food-specific spin-off called Evernote Food, to help people "capture, share and re-live" their favourite meals. This app is especially useful for travellers given that meals take pride of place in many people's vacation memories.
Say you visit Milan and stumble into an excellent restaurant like Trattoria Masuelli. Use the app to snap a photo of your risotto (or of the menu); write a note about the tastiness of the Carnaroli rice in the dish (or about the chandeliers on the ceiling); and add to your note the restaurant’s name, location and contact details by searching for the information in the app's database. Then, whenever a friend wants a recommendation of where to eat in Milan, you can search on the words "Milan" or “risotto", find your note and share the information with them easily. Any text in your photos is also searchable, such as the words on a menu that has been photographed. You can also share your notes via Twitter or Facebook.
Expedia Hotels
It took a long time, but Expedia, the site that sells more hotel rooms than any other online travel agency, finally created a hotel booking app this year. The wait was worth it, because the app is a well designed, efficient way to find and reserve a night's stay on the fly. No wonder Expedia Hotels quickly became the most downloaded travel app in dozens of countries. As of today, it's also the only app that has been customised for the iPad and Android tablets.
Best Of…
The "Best Of…" app find recommendations of the best places to drink, eat and sample culture in more than 10,000 spots in 32 US cities. The app was created by owners of New York's Village Voice newspaper, and an independent, youth-oriented edge is noticeable in the reviews. The app also stands out for having "best of" picks that are primarily chosen by professional reviewers, unlike the restaurant and bar recommendations found on user-generated apps like Yelp, Urban Spoon and Zagat.
Uber
Cab-related apps have exploded in popularity this year. But when it comes to booking private cars -- a task that's particularly relevant for travellers heading to airports -- Uber is the most intuitive and helpful app available. Currently covering only a half dozen US cities (NYC, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco/Palo Alto, Seattle, Washington DC), plus Paris, the app should grow quickly next year because it recently won more than $30 million in funding to expand.
Broadcastr
Audio guides have long provided helpful narration of the artwork in museums. New app Broadcastr aspires to do something similar: provide audio guides for walking around outdoors at a destination. The app "crowd-sources" audio stories about the landmarks in popular tourist areas of major cities. Anyone can leave an audio note about an attraction and pin it on an online map that's shared for playback via web or smartphone.
Imagine you've downloaded the app, and you're playing music on your smartphone while you stroll down a street in London's West End theatre district. As you pass a major landmark, your phone may switch off your music and turn on an audio recording of a person describing a landmark you're passing. The recorded material might be from a celebrity, such as comedian Ricky Gervais, or it might be from an ordinary person. To make sure you hear only relevant information, you can set the app's filters to only share audio about your favourite topics, such as food or architecture. Broadcastr also curates audio clips to make sure they're worthy of the general listeners' time. A big drawback to the app is that there are only 14,000 audio recordings so far, mostly in New York City, San Francisco and London. But the app -- and the concept behind it -- is promising.

Brilliant Basel hit heights to knock out United

FC Basel 1893 2-1 Manchester United FC
A goal in each half from Marco Streller and Alexander Frei secured a famous home victory and second place in Group C at their opponents' expense.
FC Basel 1893 reached the UEFA Champions League last 16 for only the second time as Marco Streller and Alexander Frei scored in each half to secure a famous victory over Manchester United FC to end last season's finalists' interest in the competition.

With SL Benfica already assured of progress, Basel and United met with Group C's second qualifying berth at stake. United needed only a point but Xherdan Shaqiri proved a thorn in their side; his cross led to Streller's thumping ninth-opener finish and, as the visitors pressed for an equaliser, the 20-year-old set up Frei to head a second six minutes from time.

Phil Jones halved the deficit, but Basel survived a tense finale to advance from the initial group stage for the first time since 2002/03. United, meanwhile, fail to progress from a group stage for only the third time and, though both teams will be involved in a draw on 16 December, the English club will be in the UEFA Europa League.

Although United started confidently, their early optimism was punctured after they failed to clear Markus Steinhöfer's delivery. Shaqiri collected on the left wing and whipped in a vicious cross that United goalkeeper David de Gea could only deflect into the path of Streller, who fired in convincingly.

That strike put the wind in Basel's sails and they continued to press forward as United struggled to contain Shaqiri. However, Nani was becoming equally influential for the visitors and, just past the half-hour, delivered a dangerous cross that narrowly evaded Wayne Rooney and Park Ji-Sung.

Nani's own effort was bravely smothered by Yann Sommer, and the Basel goalkeeper was also equal to Rooney's drive after the striker was put through by Ryan Giggs. The English side's mounting frustration was obvious, yet they started the second period positively. Rooney sent one effort wide, before the home goal had a fortunate escape when Steinhöfer's attempted volleyed clearance came back off his own crossbar.

Basel had chances of their own, Frei having one kick acrobatically saved as Heiko Vogel's charges looked to put daylight between them and United. On the break they managed to do just that; Shaqiri curled in from the right and Streller cleverly dummied for Frei to steal in at the far post and nod in.

Jones's header after Federico Macheda's shot had come back off the bar gave United hope, but Basel stood strong.

Marseille's late comeback at Dortmund stuns Olympiakos

Marseille scored twice in the last five minutes to win 3-2 at Borussia Dortmund and take second place in Group F ahead of Arsenal's conquerors Olympiakos.

The French side had trailed their German rivals 2-0 but after Andre Ayew levelled things on 85 minutes, Mathieu Valbuena grabbed an unlikely win.

In Group E, Bayer Leverkusen's 1-1 draw at Genk meant Chelsea beat them to top spot with their win over Valencia.

Porto also went out after a goalless draw with Zenit St Petersburg.

With Arsenal already through, Marseille went into the final day in control of their own destiny in Group F, a point ahead of third-placed Olympiakos.

However, Jakub Blaszczykowski opened the scoring for the Germans and Mats Hummels added a second from the spot and, although Loic Remy pulled one back in first-half added time, with the Greek side on their way to a comfortable win over Arsenal, French prospects looked bleak.

But Ayew equalised with five minutes remaining before Valbuena snatched second place away from Olympiakos with a third goal with just two minutes left.

Porto had given themselves a chance of progressing from Group G when they won 2-0 at Shakhtar Donetsk in their previous match.

But the 2004 winners and Europa League holders could not find a way past stubborn Russians Zenit, who held on to second place.

Apoel, who are the first Cypriot team to progress to the knockout phase, qualify as Group G winners despite slipping to a 2-0 home defeat to Shakhtar.

Luiz Adriano, who had earlier missed a penalty, put the Ukranians ahead before Yevgen Seleznev added a second to set up his team's first Champions League win of the season.

Leverkusen knew that a victory in Genk would have been enough to seal top spot in Group E but they fell behind to a first-half goal from Jelle Vossen.

Eren Derdiyok pulled one back for the Germans, but Chelsea's comprehensive win over Valencia meant Bayer had to settle for second place.

BARCA'S KIDS AGAINST BATE
Continue reading the main story
Defender Andreu Fontàs, 22, ninth appearance, born Catalonia, Spain.
Defender Marc Bartra, 20, fourth appearance, born Catalonia.
Defender Martin Montoya, 20, third appearance, born Barcelona.
Midfielder Thiago Alcantara, 20, 32nd appearance, born Italy (joined Barca aged 14).
Midfielder Jonathan Dos Santos, 21, ninth apperance, born Mexico (joined Barca aged 12).
Midfielder Sergi Roberto, 19, third appearance, born Catalonia.
Midfielder Rafinha, 18, first appearance, born Brazil (joined Barca aged 13).
Forward Isaac Cuenco, 20, eighth appearance, born Barcelona.
Group H's top two was already confirmed before the final round of fixtures but first-placed Barcelona's second string played with plenty of style on the way to a comfortable 4-0 victory over BATE Borisov, who knew a win at the Nou Camp would have given them a chance of third place.

Pep Guardiola's outfield players had an average age of just 21.4 years but swept past the Belarus champions.

Sergi Roberto opened the scoring before half-time, before defender Martin Montoya added a second and winger Pedro added two more, one from the spot, after the interval.

Facing Plzen, second-placed AC Milan scored twice in the space of two minutes at the start of the second half through Alexandre Pato and Robinho.

But David Bystron halved the deficit before Michal Duris scored an injury time equaliser for the Czech team, who finish third.

Sarkozy and Merkel kick off week of euro crisis talks

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are to meet to agree on joint proposals aimed at resolving the eurozone debt crisis.

They will take their ideas to an EU summit on Friday that is being seen as crucial for the single currency.

Germany favours strict EU central control while France wishes to preserve more national sovereignty.

Meanwhile, two badly-hit Eurozone countries, Italy and Ireland, are preparing tighter austerity measures.

In Italy, Prime Minister Mario Monti is due to seek approval for his government's plans in parliament.

Taxes on the assets of the wealthy will go up, as will pension ages. There will be a major drive to tackle tax evasion.

And Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has said the population must prepare for a tough budget this week.

Public spending will be cut by 2.2bn euros (£1.9bn) a year and taxes raised by 1.5bn euros, with VAT increasing to 23%.

Treaty talk
Monday's Franco-German meeting in Paris kicks off a week of meetings involving European leaders, the European Central Bank (ECB) and US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, culminating in Brussels on Friday with an EU summit.

With financial markets putting pressure on some of the eurozone's largest - and most highly indebted - nations, President Sarkozy said the stakes were high.

"What will remain of Europe if the euro disappears?" he asked. "Nothing."

France and Germany must play a key role to ensure "a zone of stability", he said last week.

"We must confront those who doubt the stability of the euro and speculate on its break-up with total solidarity."

Mrs Merkel has promised "concrete steps towards a fiscal union" - in effect close integration of the tax-and-spend polices of individual eurozone countries, with Brussels imposing penalties on members that break the rules.

"We need budget discipline and an effective crisis management mechanism," she said. "So we need to change the treaties or create new treaties."

Mr Sarkozy faces an election early next year and is under pressure not to cede sovereignty to unelected officials in Brussels.

Continue reading the main story
Crisis jargon buster
Use the dropdown for easy-to-understand explanations of key financial terms:
Default
Default
Strictly speaking, a default occurs when a borrower has broken the terms of a loan or other debt, for example if a borrower misses a payment. The term is also loosely used to mean any situation that makes clear that a borrower can no longer repay its debts in full, such as bankruptcy or a debt restructuring.
A default can have a number of important implications. If a borrower is in default on any one debt, then all of its lenders may be able to demand that the borrower immediately repay them. Lenders may also be required to write off their losses on the loans they have made.
Glossary in full
Mrs Merkel and Mr Sarkozy have been working so closely in recent weeks that commentators have taken to calling the two Merkozy.

Treaty change could take many months, but the hope is that a strong, unified expression of intent on Friday could reassure markets enough to lower borrowing costs for Italy, Spain and other countries with high debt and spluttering economies.

If governments can not pay their debts - if they default - the resulting shock could bring down the banks that lend to them and create another global economic crash.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's presence in Europe this week for several meetings with leaders is a measure of US concern that Europe's woes could spread beyond the continent.

On Thursday the ECB holds its monthly policy meeting. It has come under pressure to do more to ease Europe's debt crisis but has ruled out the idea of "eurobonds" backed by all eurozone members.

Germany is against the notion as is the ECB itself because such a move could lessen pressure on governments to control their spending.

However, ECB head Mario Draghi has hinted that the bank could take more aggressive action to help governments.

The ECB has been buying modest amounts of government bonds on the secondary market but could step that up, which would stabilise or lower borrowing costs.

EURO finals schedule confirmed

The finals schedule has been confirmed with Poland starting the tournament against Greece and other opening games including Germany v Portugal, Spain v Italy and England v France.
The schedule for UEFA EURO 2012 in Poland and Ukraine has been confirmed following the draw in Kyiv.

Poland will launch the tournament on Friday 8 June at 18.00CET against Greece in Warsaw followed by the other Group A opener between Russia and the Czech Republic at 20.45CET. The next day the Netherlands face Denmark in Kharkiv and Germany take on Portugal in Lviv to begin Group B, and on 10 June Group C starts as holders Spain play Italy and the Republic of Ireland are matched with Croatia.

Ukraine are involved in the last of the opening set of fixtures, meeting Sweden in Group D in Kyiv after England tackle France in Donetsk. The group stage runs until 19 June, then, after a rest day, the quarter-finals take place over four consecutive nights. The semi-finals are on 29 June in Donetsk and the following evening in Warsaw, before Kyiv stages the 1 July decider.

Match schedule
All kick-offs CET, Ukrainian time is one hour ahead

Friday 8 June 2012
#1: POL v GRE, 18.00CET, Warsaw
#2: RUS v CZE, 20.45CET, Wroclaw

Saturday 9 June 2012
#3: NED v DEN, 18.00CET, Kharkiv
#4: GER v POR, 20.45CET, Lviv

Sunday 10 June 2012
#5: ESP v ITA, 18.00CET, Gdansk
#6: IRL v CRO, 20.45CET, Poznan

Monday 11 June 2012
#7: FRA v ENG, 18.00CET, Donetsk
#8: UKR v SWE, 20.45CET, Kyiv

Tuesday 12 June 2012
#9: GRE v CZE, 18.00CET, Wroclaw
#10: POL v RUS, 20.45CET, Warsaw

Wednesday 13 June 2012
#11: DEN v POR, 18.00CET, Lviv
#12: NED v GER, 20.45CET, Kharkiv

Thursday 14 June 2012
#13: ITA v CRO, 18.00CET, Poznan
#14: ESP v IRL, 20.45CET, Gdansk

Friday 15 June 2012
#15: SWE v ENG, 20.45CET, Kyiv
#16: UKR v FRA, 18.00CET, Donetsk

Saturday 16 June 2012
#17: CZE v POL, 20.45CET, Wroclaw
#18: GRE v RUS, 20.45CET, Warsaw

Sunday 17 June 2012
#19: POR v NED, 20.45CET, Kharkiv
#20: DEN v GER, 20.45CET, Lviv

Monday 18 June 2012
#21: CRO v ESP, 20.45CET, Gdansk
#22: ITA v IRL, 20.45CET, Poznan

Tuesday 19 June 2012
#23: ENG v UKR, 20.45CET, Donetsk
#24: SWE v FRA, 20.45CET, Kyiv

Wednesday 20 June 2012
No matches

Thursday 21 June 2012
#25: 1A v 2B, 20.45CET, Warsaw

Friday 22 June 2012
#26: 1B v 2A, 20.45CET, Gdansk

Saturday 23 June 2012
#27: 1C v 2D, 20.45CET, Donetsk

Sunday 24 June 2012
#28: 1D v 2C, 20.45CET, Kyiv

Monday 25 June 2012
No matches

Tuesday 26 June 2012
No matches

Wednesday 27 June 2012
#29: W#25 v W#27, 20.45CET, Donetsk

Thursday 28 June 2012
#30: W#26 v W#28, 20.45CET, Warsaw

Friday 29 June 2012
No matches

Saturday 30 June 2012
No matches

Sunday 1 July 2012
#31: W#29 v W#30, 20.45CET, Kyiv

Euro 2012: England and Ireland await finals draw

Final preparations are taking place in Ukraine's capital, Kiev, as 16 nations including England and the Republic of Ireland await the Euro 2012 draw.

The ceremony will take place from 1700 GMT on Friday, with countries due to be drawn into four groups of four teams.

World and European champions Spain are in Pot One alongside the Netherlands and co-host nations Poland and Ukraine.

Pot Two consists of England, Germany, Italy and Russia, with the Republic of Ireland in the bottom group.

Giovanni Trapattoni's side sit alongside Denmark, the Czech Republic and France, while Croatia, Greece, Portugal and Sweden, who were recently beaten 1-0 by England in a friendly, make up Pot Three.

ENGLAND
Continue reading the main story
BEST CASE SCENARIO: Poland, Greece, Czech Republic
WORST CASE SCENARIO: Spain, Portugal, France
It throws up the possibility that England and the Republic of Ireland could be drawn together in the same group, though Spain, Germany, Portugal and France are widely regarded to be the strongest teams of their respective pot seedings.

And with the tournament split across two countries, location will be a big consideration for teams when their names are drawn.

England have already chosen the Polish city of Krakow as their base for Euro 2012, so would welcome being drawn in Group A, in which all matches will be staged in either Warsaw or Wroclaw, both of which are approximately 150 miles from England's base.

The other Group based in Poland is C, where matches will be staged in either Poznan (200 miles from Krakow) or Gdansk (300 miles away).

REP OF IRELAND
Continue reading the main story
BEST CASE SCENARIO: Poland, England, Greece
WORST CASE SCENARIO: Spain, Germany, Portugal
The matches in Group B and D will involve longer journeys to Ukraine. The venues for Group B are Kharkiv (700 miles from Krakow) and Lviv (200 miles), while Group D is Kiev (540 miles) and Donetsk (930 miles).

The Republic of Ireland, having qualified through the play-offs, have yet to settle on a finals base.

Seedings for Euro 2012

Pot 1: Spain, Netherlands, Poland*, Ukraine*.

Pot 2: Germany, Italy, England, Russia.

Pot 3: Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Sweden.

Pot 4: Denmark, France, Czech Republic, Republic of Ireland

* As joint hosts, Poland and Ukraine have already been allocated to Groups A and D respectively.

Sarkozy: France Germany ties key to eurozone stability

The French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, has said France and Germany must come together to ensure stability at the heart of Europe.

In a major speech in the port of Toulon, Mr Sarkozy said he and the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, would meet on Monday to propose measures to "guarantee the future of Europe".

He warned that economic convergence would be long and difficult.

But he promised that France would not give up its sovereignty.

He said the euro could not continue to exist unless eurozone economies pulled together.

Europe had to be "refounded" he said, with France and Germany at its heart to ensure "a zone of stability".

"We must confront those who doubt the stability of the euro and speculate on its break-up with total solidarity.

"France is fighting so that Europe can still make its voice heard in the world of tomorrow," he said.

Stricter financial discipline was needed, he added, with more severe sanctions for countries which did not meet their responsibilities.

Mr Sarkozy also made a robust defence of measures he had already introduced to tackle France's debts.

He said the country had to end doubts about its ability to pay, in order to avoid being targeted by speculators.

Continue reading the main story
Key points of Sarkozy speech

France and Germany will announce proposals on Monday to "guarantee the future of Europe"
They agree that there should be a new EU treaty to impose greater financial integration
Convergence is the key to solving the eurozone crisis but it will be a long and difficult process.
France rejects fiscal union where national budgets would be approved in Brussels
The rebuilding of Europe is not a march towards a federal super-state
The European Central Bank will remain independent
France must end doubts about its ability to repay debts
Two-speed Europe
Mr Sarkozy said Europe's response to the debt crisis had not been fast enough.

He said Germany and France had agreed that there should be a new European treaty to govern the relations between countries.

However, he rejected German suggestions that national budgets could be approved and regulated in Brussels.

The BBC Paris correspondent, Christian Fraser, says the French president's speech was a sombre assessment of the eurozone crisis and an acknowledgement that eurozone leaders had not worked quickly enough to solve the problems.

Mr Sarkozy has previously expressed the belief that a two-speed European Union is inevitable, arguing that full economic integration will be impossible as the EU expands to more than 30 members.

In a speech in November he said "there will be a two-speed Europe: one speed that moves toward more integration in the eurozone and one speed for a confederation in the EU."

The French president's speech in Toulon comes amid warnings by analysts that France could lose its triple-A credit rating, due to its exposure to the European debt crisis.

Mr Sarkozy will meet the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, in Paris on Friday.

Britain is concerned about the possible impact of a two-speed Europe in which it could be left on the margins along with other countries outside the euro.

European Union leaders will hold a summit in Brussels next week, which is seen by many analysts as a crucial moment in efforts to tackle the debt crisis.

Ten-man PAOK advance thanks to Tottenham win

Tottenham Hotspur FC 1-2 PAOK FC
Despite being reduced to ten men, the Greek side confirmed their place in the last 32 with goals from Dimitris Salpingidis and Stefanos Athanasiadis.
Ten-man PAOK FC secured their place in the round of 32 with a narrow victory at Tottenham Hotspur FC in UEFA Europa League Group A.

The visitors made a lightning start, racing into a 2-0 lead inside 14 minutes courtesy of Dimitris Salpingidis and Stefanos Athanasiadis. Kostas Stafylidis was dismissed for handball before the break and though Luka Modrić scored the resulting penalty, the visitors held firm to extend their unbeaten run in Europe to seven games.

PAOK started brightly and, knowing victory would guarantee a place in the knockout stage, took the lead on six minutes. William Gallas gave the ball away on the halfway line and Giorgos Georgiadis broke clear down the left before delivering a pinpoint cross that Salpingidis headed past Heurelho Gomes for PAOK's 150th goal in UEFA club competition.

PAOK's dream start then got even better, Georgiadis again the provider down the left and Athanasiadis sliding in at the back post to send the noisy visiting fans into raptures. They did not have it all their own way, though, and Jermain Defoe set about trying to maintain Tottenham's three-game unbeaten home record in the competition with a fierce strike which brought the best out of Kostas Chalkias.

From the resulting corner, the hosts were back in the match. Vedran Ćorluka rose highest and, having blocked the first effort on the line, Stafylidis was sent off for stopping Harry Kane's follow-up with a hand. Modrić kept his cool from the spot, sending Chalkias the wrong way.

Tottenham began the second half on the front foot and started to make their numerical advantage count, with Kane and Steven Pienaar spurning opportunities to equalise. Substitute Iago Falqué had an effort cleared off the line by Pablo Contreras but PAOK defended resolutely and held on to qualify.

Spurs need a sizeable victory against Shamrock Rovers FC on 15 December and for PAOK to win at FC Rubin Kazan, a result which would wrap up first place for the Greek side.

British Museum celebrates $1.5m Picasso etchings gift

London (CNN) -- A complete set of 100 etchings by Pablo Picasso -- never before seen in public -- is to go on display at the British Museum after an "extraordinary" $1.5 million gift.
Businessman Hamish Parker -- a long-term fan of the London museum -- donated the entire Vollard Suite in memory of his father, Major Horace Parker, who died last year.
The Vollard Suite -- one of the 20th century's most highly prized collections of etchings -- was created by Picasso between 1930 and 1937.
It features pictures of the artist's young lover, Marie-Therese Walter, depictions of the Minotaur, the half-man-half-beast from classical myth who would become a regular feature in Picasso's works, and also a number of portraits of art collector Ambroise Vollard, for whom the collection is named.
A spokeswoman for the museum said Parker -- a friend of the prints and drawings room -- had learned of the museum's hopes of acquiring the suite of etchings at an event there last year.
We hoped to be able to add to the collection piece by piece over time. Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine it would happen so quickly.
British Museum spokeswoman
"We already owned a few individual plates from the collection, five or so out of the 100, and one of those was on display," she told CNN.
"Stephen Coppel, the prints and drawings curator, had placed a note beside it explaining that it was a long-term ambition of the British Museum to own the complete set.
"But it was pie-in-the-sky stuff really -- we hoped to be able to add to the collection piece by piece over time. Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine it would happen so quickly."
After his father died, Parker surprised museum bosses by telling them he planned to offer them the money to buy the full set, in memory of the Major.
"It was very unexpected, and incredibly generous," the spokeswoman said. "We are delighted."
The Vollard Suite will go on display at the British Museum in London from May 3 to September 2, 2012, the first time a complete set of the etchings has been shown in the UK for half a century.
The collection will be shown alongside examples of the classical sculpture, Rembrandt etchings and Goya prints which inspired Picasso in creating it..
The suite was commissioned by Parisian collector Ambroise Vollard, who planned to print and sell editions of it; however he died in a car accident in 1939 before the task was completed.
After his death most of the prints were sold to fellow art dealer Henri Petiet. The British Museum's set, which has never been shown in public before and is in pristine condition, was bought from the Petiet family.

Chelsea 0 - 2 Liverpool

Chelsea were again struck down by the curse of Kenny Dalglish as Liverpool increased the pressure on manager Andre Villas-Boas with a comfortable Carling Cup quarter-final victory at Stamford Bridge.

Maxi Rodriguez and Martin Kelly both scored in a five-minute spell after the break to maintain Dalglish's unbeaten record against Chelsea in 13 matches as Liverpool manager.

Liverpool's win was fully deserved, even with the inspirational Luis Suarez rested, as they were able to recover from the setback of Andy Carroll's missed first-half penalty to secure their third straight victory at Stamford Bridge.

It was a fully deserved win, following hard on the heels of the Premier League triumph here 10 days ago and confirming a renaissance that has seen Liverpool go undefeated in their last eleven games.


Chelsea are not passed it - Villas-Boas
And as his side closed in on the semi-final, Dalglish showed special appreciation for the contribution of Craig Bellamy when he was substituted late on.

He was withdrawn from Sunday's game against Manchester City at Anfield following the death of his mentor and Wales manager Gary Speed, but returned in style at Stamford Bridge to create both goals.

Liverpool can now contemplate their first semi-final in this competition since 2005, when they reached the final only to be defeated by Jose Mourinho's Chelsea.

The only cloud over Liverpool's night was a knee injury that saw midfield man Lucas stretchered off. He will now undergo a scan to determine the extent of the problem.

In contrast to Dalglish's obvious delight, Villas-Boas cut a dejected figure as the momentum built by the victory against Wolves on Saturday was snuffed out by an impressive Liverpool display.

The 34-year-old Portuguese coach insists he has the full backing of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and there is no doubt he is currently presiding over a squad in need of major repair.

But this result only makes next Tuesday's defining Champions League meeting with Valencia at Stamford Bridge an even more crucial moment for Villas-Boas, despite his managerial career at Chelsea being in its infancy.


Dalglish proud of Liverpool youngsters
And it was another disappointing night for Chelsea's £50m British record signing Fernando Torres, who cut an almost apologetic figure against his former club as he laboured in vain on the margins.

Carroll and Torres were both given chances to impress as both managers made changes - but it was referee Phil Dowd who was the central figure early on as he ignored two penalty appeals.

He booked David Luiz for diving when he was clearly felled by Sebastian Coates as he raced into the area - but the Chelsea defender was then lucky to escape punishment for a push on Carroll.

Dowd did award a penalty, albeit after a lengthy delay, at the third time of asking in the 22nd minute when Alex handled needlessly. Carroll claimed the penalty with some confidence only to drill it straight at Chelsea keeper Ross Turnbull.

The official was not enjoying his finest night, as he proved when he booked Ryan Bertrand for a dangerous tackle on Jordan Henderson - by Romelu Lukaku.

Chelsea at least posed a whiff of danger early in the second half when Florent Malouda's downward header looped up on to the bar, but this was only the signal for Liverpool to put the game out of their reach.

Liverpool went ahead just before the hour when Bellamy broke clear down the right and crossed perfectly for Maxi, who also scored in the recent league win at Chelsea, to beat Turnbull comfortably at the far post.

Villas-Boas immediately prepared the introduction of Juan Mata and Nicolas Anelka, but he was not able to make the change before Liverpool extended their lead.

Bellamy's free-kick found Kelly unmarked in the area and the defender took advantage to head past the exposed Turnbull.

Mata and Anelka came on, but Liverpool cruised to victory untroubled to move a step closer to Wembley.

Discount BlackBerry uproar, the government uncomfortable

JAKARTA - riot consumers in purchasing a BlackBerry with a 50 percent discount helped make the government uncomfortable. Organizers considered to have failed to anticipate the purchase order so that even a riot occurred.

Head of Information and Public Relations Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (Kemenkominfo) RI Gatot S Dewa Broto explained, consumers in the country are always tempted by the offer of discounted products, including the latest product Bellagio 9790 BlackBerry made ​​by Research in Motion (RIM).

"Consumer behavior it is sufficient to make us uncomfortable. Every time a new item, the public tends to consumer," said Billy to Kompas.com, Monday (28/11/2011).

Billy the organizers regret that only restrict the purchase of a BlackBerry discounts of 1,000 units, but provide opportunities to the community exceeds the capacity. As a result, prospective buyers were membeludak and can not be anticipated.

The plan, implementation activities will be conducted over three days starting from 25 November 2011. However, in a single day organizing discount the BlackBerry is to be discontinued for fear of casualties.

"We're just trying to protect consumers. At the very least, RIM is not just the lure of a discount, but also pay attention to RIM's deal with the government which has not been executed," he added.

So far, RIM still has three agreements called the government has not executed. The agreement is tapping on a BlackBerry, after sales service, and construction of a server or database / datacenter or network aggregator. The government set a deadline until December 31, 2011.

MATERI TIK KELAS 7 (BAG.2)

B. Sejarah Perkembangan Teknologi Informasi dan Komunikasi

1. Masa Pra Sejarah (.......... s.d. 3000 SM)

Pada masa pra sejarah, manusia berkomunikasi dengan menggambarkan informasi pada dinding-dinding gua tentang berburu dan binatang buruannya. Manusia mulai mengenal berbagai benda yang ada disekitarnya dan melukiskan benda tersebut pada dinding-dinding gua untuk mewakilinya. Kemampuan bahasa mereka saat itupun hanya terbatas pada dengusan, bahasa isyarat dan gerakan tangan. Perkembangan selanjutnya adalah diciptakan dan digunakannya alat-alat yang menghasilkan bunyi dan isyarat, seperti gendang, terompet yang terbuat dari tanduk binatang, isyarat asap sebagai alat pemberi peringatan terhadap bahaya.


2. Masa (3000 SM s.d. 1400 M)

Perkembangan cara berkomunikasi semakin maju pada masa sejarah, mulai dari ditemukannya abjad fonetik, kerta sebagai media menulis, sampai pada cara mencetak buku. Berikut perkembangan informasi yang terjadi selama masa sejarah:

3000 SM Bangsa Sumeria menemukan tulisan untuk pertama kalinya. Tulisan tersebut berupa simbol-simbol yang disebut piktograf
2900 SM Bangsa Mesir kuno telah mengembangkan tulisan Hieroglif untuk berkomunikasi.
1775 SM Bangsa Yunani memperkenalkan sistem penulisan dari kiri ke kanan dengan menggunakan abjad fonetik yaitu huruf yang dibuat berdasarkan bunyi ucapan.
1400 SM Bangsa China mulai menuliskan sejarah mereka pada kepingan tulang binatang
1270 SM Bangsa Suriah telah membuat Ensiklopedia untuk pertama kalinya
900 SM Bangsa China membuat sistem pelayanan pos dan kantor pos yang pertama
776 SM Bangsa Yunani mempergunakan burung merpati untuk mengirimkan informasi
530 SM Bangsa Yunani juga membuat perpustakaan untuk pertama kalinya
500 SM Bangsa Mesir kuno menggunakan serat pohon papyrus sebagai kertas
105 SM Bangsa China menemukan kertas. Orang yang menemukan kertas itu bernama Tsai Lun. Kertas tersebut terbuat dari serat pohon bambu yang dihaluskan, disaring, dicuci, diratakan dan kemudian dikeringkan.
14 M Bangsa Romawi secara resmi membuat sistem pelayanan pos
37 M Kaisar Tiberius dari Roma menggunakan cermin sebagai alat mengirim pesan (heliograf).
305 M Bangsa China menciptakan mesin cetak pertama yang terbuat dari lempengan kayu ukir. Sistem pencetakkan dilakukan dengan menggunakan blokm kayu yang ditoreh dan dilumuri oleh tinta.

3. Masa Modern (1400 M s.d. Sekarang)

Pada masa ini terjadi kemajuan yang cukup berarti pada perkembangan teknologi informasi dan komunikasi. Berikut perkembangan yang terjadi selama masa modern:

1450 M Koran pertama di dunia mulai beredar di Eropa meski belum terbit secara harian
1455 M Johann Gutenberg mengembangkan mesin cetak yang menggunakan plat huruf dari besi dan dibingkai dengan kayu yang dapat diganti-ganti
1560 M Kamera foto pertama diciptakan dengan nama Camera Obscure
1650 M Surat kabar pertama beredar di Jerman
1714 M Henry Mill dari Inggris menciptakan mesin ketik modern
1793 M Claude Chappe membuat jalur telegraf optic jarak jauh
1821 M Microfon untuk pertama kalinya ditemukan oleh Charles Whaetstone
1830 M Agusta Lady Byron menulis Program komputer yang
pertama bekerja sama dengan Charles Babbage menggunakan ide mesin Analytical
1831 M Joseph Henry menciptakan jalur listrik pertama di dunia
1837 M Samuel F.B. Morse bersama William Cook dan Charles Whaetstone mengembangkan telegraf dan kode Morse
1843 M Alexander Bain menciptakan mesin Faksimili pertama
1861 M Ditemukannya alat yang bernama Kinematoskop untuk memutar slide
1876 M Thomas Alva Edison menemukan mesin fotocopi pertama, Alexander Graham Bell menyatakan dirinya yang telah menciptakan pesawat telepon. Pada tahun yang sama, Melvyl Dewey mengembangkan sistem pencatatan katalog buku untuk perpustakaan diseluruh dunia yang bernama Sistem Desimal Dewey
1888 M Diciptakannya gulungan film untuk memotret oleh George Eastman
1910 M Thomas Alva Edison menciptakan film bersuara pertama di dunia
1923 M Ditemukannya pesawat televisi pertama oleh Vladimir Kosma Zworykin
1934 M Joseph Begun mengembangkan Tape Recorder
1936 M Komputer pertama di dunia dengan nama Z1 telah diciptakan oleh Konrad Zuse
1945 M Vannevar Bush mengembangkan kode Hypertext
1946 M ENIAC 1 yang merupakan komputer digital pertama dikembangkan
1957 M Uni Soviet (RMusia) meluncurkan Sputnik sebagai satelit bumi buatan pertama, sedangkan di Amerika terbentuk ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency)
1958 M Chester Carlson menciptkakan mesin fotokopi pertama dengan nama Xerox
1963 M Amerika menciptakan sistem kode pos
1969 M Lahirnya ARPANET sebagai cikal bakal adanya Internet
1971 M Diciptakannya Disket pertama di dunia
1972 M Ray Tomlinson menciptakan Program e-mail pertama
1973 M Lahirnya protokol internet TCP/IP
1979 M Jepang mempelopori terciptanya jaringan telepon tanpa kabel pertama di dunia
1980 M Perusahaan Sony, Jepang membuat Walkman pertama di dunia
1985 M Ditemukannya cakram penyimpan data (CD)
1992 M Munculnya WWW oleh CERN (Laboratorium Partikel di Swiss)
1999 M Munculnya raksasa mesin pencari informasi secara gratis di dunia yaitu Google.com Perusahaan telepon Indonesia, Telkom mulai memasarkan produk jaringan internet yang bernama Telkomnet Instan

4. Sejarah Perkembangan Alat Hitung

Perkembangan dan kemajuan berbagai peralatan teknologi informasi dan komunikasi tidak terlepas dari perkembangan alat hitung, mulai dari yang sederhana sampai yang rumit seperti komputer.

■■ Abacus

Alat ini dianggap sebagai awal mula mesin komputasi, muncul 5000 tahun yang lalu dan merupakan alat perhitungan kuno yang digunakan oleh bangsa Romawi kuno dan Yunani kuno. Abacus pada masa ini di pakai oleh para pedagang untuk menghitung transaksi perdagangan. Abacus hingga kini masih digunakan di Cina dan beberapa negara di Asia. Seiring dengan munculnya pensil dan kertas.

■■ Kalkulator Roda Numerik

Pada tahun 1642, Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), yang pada waktu itu berumur 18 tahun, menemukan apa yang ia sebut sebagai kalkulator roda numerik (numerical wheel calculator) untuk membantu ayahnya melakukan perhitungan pajak. Kotak persegi kuningan ini yang dinamakan Pascaline, menggunakan delapan roda putar bergerigi untuk menjumlahkan bilangan hingga delapan digit. Alat ini merupakan alat penghitung bilangan berbasis sepuluh. Kelemahan alat ini adalah hanya terbatas untuk melakukan penjumlahan.

■■ Kalkulator Roda Mekanik 2
Tahun 1694, seorang matematikawan dan filsuf Jerman, Gottfred Wilhem von Leibniz (1646-1716) memperbaiki Pascaline dengan membuat mesin yang dapat mengalikan. Sama seperti pendahulunya, alat mekanik ini bekerja dengan menggunakan roda-roda gerigi. Dengan mempelajari catatan dan gambar-gambar yang dibuat oleh Pascal, Leibniz dapat menyempurnakan alatnya. Barulah pada tahun 1820, kalkulator mekanik mulai populer.

■■ Kalkulator Mekanik
Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar menemukan mesin yang dapat melakukan empat fungsi aritmatik dasar. Kalkulator mekanik Colmar, arithometer, mempresentasikan pendekatan yang lebih praktis dalam kalkulasi karena alat tersebut dapat melakukan penjumlahan, pengurangan, perkalian, dan pembagian. Dengan kemampuannya, arithometer banyak dipergunakan hingga masa Perang Dunia I. Bersama-sama dengan Pascal dan Leibniz, Colmar membantu membangun era komputasi mekanik.

5. Sejarah Perkembangan Komputer

Awal mula komputer yang sebenarnya dibentuk oleh seorang profesor matematika Inggris, Charles Babbage (1791-1871). Tahun 1812, Babbage memperhatikan kesesuaian alam antara mesin mekanik dan matematika. Mesin mekanik sangat baik dalam mengerjakan tugas yang sama berulangkali tanpa kesalahan, sedang matematika membutuhkan repetisi sederhana dari suatu langkah-langkah tertentu.
Masalah tersebut kemudian berkembang hingga menempatkan mesin mekanik sebagai alat untuk menjawab kebutuhan mekanik. Usaha Babbage yang pertama untuk menjawab masalah ini muncul pada tahun 1822 ketika ia mengusulkan suatu mesin untuk melakukan perhitungan persamaan differensil. Mesin tersebut dinamakan Mesin Differensial. Dengan menggunakan tenaga uap, mesin tersebut dapat menyimpan Program dan dapat
melakukan kalkulasi serta mencetak hasilnya secara otomatis.
Setelah bekerja dengan Mesin Differensial selama sepuluh tahun, Babbage tiba-tiba terinspirasi
untuk memulai membuat komputer general-purpose yang pertama, yang disebut Analytical Engine.

Asisten Babbage, Augusta Ada King (1815-1842) memiliki peran penting dalam pembuatan mesin ini. Ia membantu merevisi rencana, mencari pendanaan daripemerintah Inggris, dan mengkomunikasikan spesifikasi Analytical Engine kepada publik. Selain itu, pemahaman Augusta yang baik tentang mesin ini memungkinkannya membuat instruksi untuk dimasukkan ke dalam mesin dan juga membuatnya menjadi Programmer wanita yang pertama. Pada tahun 1980, Departemen Pertahanan Amerika Serikat menamakan sebuah bahasa pemrograman dengan nama ADA sebagai penghormatan kepadanya.
Mesin uap Babbage, walaupun tidak pernah selesai dikerjakan, tampak sangat primitif apabila dibandingkan dengan standar masa kini. Bagaimanapun juga, alat tersebut menggambarkan elemen dasar dari sebuah komputer modern dan juga mengungkapkan sebuah konsep penting.
Terdiri dari sekitar 50.000 komponen, desain dasar dari Analytical Engine menggunakan kartu-kartu perforasi (berlubang-lubang) yang berisi instruksi operasi bagi mesin tersebut.

Pada 1889, Herman Hollerith (1860-1929) juga menerapkan prinsip kartu perforasi untuk melakukan penghitungan. Tugas pertamanya adalah menemukan cara yang lebih cepat untuk melakukan perhitungan bagi Biro Sensus Amerika Serikat. Sensus sebelumnya yang
dilakukan di tahun 1880 membutuhkan waktu tujuh tahun untuk menyelesaikan perhitungan.
Dengan berkembangnya populasi, biro tersebut memperkirakan bahwa dibutuhkan waktu sepuluh tahun untuk menyelesaikan perhitungan sensus.
Hollerith menggunakan kartu perforasi untuk memasukkan data sensus yang kemudian diolah oleh alat tersebut secara mekanik. Sebuah kartu dapat menyimpan hingga 80 variabel. Dengan menggunakan alat tersebut, hasil sensus dapat diselesaikan dalam waktu enam minggu.
Selain memiliki keuntungan dalam bidang kecepatan, kartu tersebut berfungsi sebagai media penyimpan data. Tingkat kesalahan perhitungan juga dpat ditekan secara drastis. Hollerith kemudian mengembangkan alat tersebut dan menjualnya ke masyarakat luas. Ia mendirikan Tabulating Machine Company pada tahun 1896 yang kemudian menjadi International Business Machine (IBM) setelah mengalami beberapa kali merger.
Perusahaan lain seperti Remington Rand and Burroghs juga memproduksi alat pembaca kartu perforasi untuk usaha bisnis. Kartu perforasi digunakan oleh kalangan bisnis dan pemerintahan untuk pemrosesan data hingga tahun 1960.

Perkembangan teknologi ilmu komputer pun mengalami banyak kemajuan. Perkembangan tersebut dapat dikelompokkan menjadi 5 generasi sebagai berikut:

■■ Komputer Generasi Pertama (1940 s.d. 1959)
Komputer generasi pertama ini mempunyai ciri menggunakan tabung vakum untuk memproses dan menyimpan data, cepat panas dan mudah terbakar, oleh karena itu beribu-ribu tabung vakum diperlukan untuk menjalankan operasi keseluruhan komputer, dan juga memerlukan daya yang sangat besar. Komputer generasi pertama ini 100% elektronik.

Di Amerika, Howard H. Aiken (1900–1973) seorang insinyur Harvard bekerjasama dengan IBM berhasil mendesain kalkulator elektrik pertama yang diberi nama MARK I, yang memiliki ukuran panjang setengah lapangan bola kaki dan memiliki rentang kabel sepanjang 500 mil. Komputer ini dapat melakukan perhitungan aritmatika dasar dan persamaan-persamaan yang lebih kompleks. Kelemahan dari komputer ini adalah operasinya yang lambat. Komputer ini telah bekerja berdasarkan komponen elektrik dan mekanik.

Tahun 1946 Dr. John Mauchly (1919-1995) dan Presper Eckert berhasil mengembangkan komputer ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator). ENIAC terdiri dari 18.000
vakum, 70.000 resistor dan 5 juta titik solder, membutuhkan daya 175 KW dan sudah dapat menyimpan data yang dikenal sebagai konsep penyimpanan data (stored Program concept) yang dikembangkan oleh John Von Neuman.

Ciri-ciri komputer generasi pertama adalah:
●● Program dibuat dalam bahasa mesin,
●● Menggunakan konsep storage Program,
●● Komponen yang digunakan adalah tabung hampa udara,
●● Ukuran fisiknya besar sehingga membutuhkan daya listrik yang besar, serta
●● Dapat disimpan pada magnetic tape dan magnetig disk.

Contohnya, komputer IBM 701 yang dibuat tahun 1953 merupakan komputer komersial berukuran besar, sedangkan IBM 705 yang dibuat tahun 1959 digunakan dalam industri.

■■ Komputer Generasi Kedua (1959 s.d. 1965)
Pada tahun 1948, penemuan transistor sangat mempengaruhi perkembangan komputer. Transistor menggantikan tube vakum di televisi, radio, dan komputer. Akibatnya, ukuran mesin-mesin elektrik berkurang drastis. Transistor mulai digunakan di dalam komputer mulai pada tahun 1956. Penemuan lain yang berupa pengembangan memori inti-magnetik membantu pengembangan komputer generasi kedua yang lebih kecil, lebih cepat, lebih dapat diandalkan, dan lebih hemat energi dibanding para pendahulunya.
Mesin pertama yang memanfaatkan teknologi baru ini adalah superkomputer. IBM membuat superkomputer bernama Stretch, dan Sprery-Rand membuat komputer bernama LARC. Komputer-komputer ini, yang dikembangkan untuk laboratorium energi atom, dapat menangani sejumlah besar data, sebuah kemampuan yang sangat dibutuhkan oleh peneliti atom.
Mesin tersebut sangat mahal dan cenderung terlalu kompleks untuk kebutuhan komputasi bisnis, sehingga membatasi kepopuleran-nya. Hanya ada dua LARC yang pernah dipasang dan digunakan: satu di Lawrence Radiation Labs di Livermore, California, dan yang lainnya di US Navy Research and Development Center di Washington D.C.
Komputer generasi kedua menggantikan bahasa mesin dengan bahasa assembly. Bahasa assembly adalah bahasa yang menggunakan singkatansingkatan untuk menggantikan kode biner. Pada awal 1960-an, mulai bermunculan komputer generasi kedua yang sukses di bidang bisnis, di universitas, dan di pemerintahan. Komputer-komputer generasi kedua ini merupakan komputer yang sepenuhnya menggunakan transistor. Mereka juga memiliki komponen-komponen yang dapat diasosiasikan dengan komputer pada saat ini seperti: printer, penyimpanan dalam disket, memory, sistem operasi, dan program. Salah satu contoh penting komputer pada masa ini adalah IBM 1401 yang diterima secara luas di kalangan industri. Pada tahun 1965, hampir seluruh bisnis-bisnis besar menggunakan komputer generasi kedua untuk memproses informasi keuangan. Program yang tersimpan di dalam komputer dan bahasa pemrograman yang ada di dalamnya memberikan fleksibilitas kepada komputer.
Fleksibilitas ini meningkatkan kinerja dengan harga yang pantas bagi penggunaan bisnis. Dengan konsep ini, komputer dapat mencetak faktur pembelian konsumen dan kemudian menjalankan desain produk atau menghitung daftar gaji.

Ciri-ciri komputer generasi kedua antara lain:
●● Kapasitas memori utama cukup besar,
●● Komponen yang digunakan adalah transistor yang jauh lebih kecil dibandingkan tabung hampa udara,
●● Menggunakan magnetic tape dan magnetic disk yang berbentuk removable disk,
●● Mempunyai kemampuan proses real-time dan time sharing,
●● Proses operasinya lebih cepat,
●● Orientasinya pada aplikasi bisnis dan teknik.

■■ Komputer Generasi Ketiga (1965 s.d. 1970)
Konsep semakin kecil dan semakin murah dari transistor, akhirnya memacu orang untuk terus melakukan pelbagai penelitian. Ribuan transistor akhirnya berhasil digabung dalam satu bentuk yang sangat kecil. Secuil silicium yag mempunyai ukuran beberapa milimeter berhasil diciptakan, dan inilah yang disebut sebagai Integrated Circuit atau IC-Chip yang merupakan ciri khas komputer generasi ketiga.
Jack Kilby, seorang insinyur di Texas Instrument, mengembangkan sirkuit terintegrasi (IC: integrated circuit) di tahun 1958. IC mengkombinasikan tiga komponen elektronik dalam sebuah piringan silikon kecil yang terbuat dari pasir kuarsa. Pada ilmuwan kemudian berhasil memasukkan lebih banyak komponenkomponen chip tunggal yang disebut semikonduktor. Hasilnya, komputer menjadi semakin kecil karena komponen-komponen dapat dipadatkan dalam chip.
Kemajuan komputer generasi ketiga lainnya adalah penggunaan sistem operasi (operating system) yang memungkinkan mesin untuk menjalankan berbagai program yang berbeda secara serentak dengan sebuah program utama yang memonitor dan mengkoordinasi memori
komputer.

Ciri-ciri komputer generasi ketiga antara lain:
●● Komponen yang dipakai adalah IV (Integrated Circuits) yang terdiri atas ratusan atau ribuan transistor berbentu hybrid integrated circuits dan monolithic intgrated circuits,
●● Proses operasinya jauh lebih cepat dan lebih tepat, kapasitas memori komputer jauh lebih besar,
●● Ukuran fisik jauh lebih kecil sehingga penggunaan listrik lebih hemat,
●● Menggunakan magnetic disk yang sifatnya random access,
●● Dapat melakukan multiprocessing dan multiProgramming,
●● Alat input-output mengalami pengembangan dengan menggunakan visual display terminal, serta
●● Dapat melakukan komunikasi data dari satu komputer dengan komputer lainnya.

Contohnya, komputer IBM S/30. NOVA, CDC 3000, PDP-11, dan lain sebagainya.

■■ Komputer Generasi Keempat (Sejak tahun 1970)
Pada komputer generasi ke-empat ini, ilmuwan berhasil menyusun chip-chip dalam sebuah sirkuit dan berhasil membuat microprocessor. Microprocessor pertama adalah Intel 4004 yang dibuat pada tahun 1971 membawa kemajuan pada IC dengan meletakkan seluruh komponen dari sebuah komputer (central processing unit, memori, dan kendali input/output) dalam sebuah chip yang sangat kecil.
Sebelumnya IC dibuat untuk mengerjakan suatu tugas tertentu yang spesifik. Sekarang, sebuah microprocessor dapat diproduksi dan kemudian diprogram untuk memenuhi seluruh kebutuhan yang diinginkan. Tidak lama kemudian, setiap perangkat rumah tangga seperti microwave oven, televisi, dan mobil dengan electronic fuel injection dilengkapi dengan microprocessor.
Pada generasi ini juga ditandai dengan munculnya: LSI (Large Scale Integration) yang merupakan pemadatan ribuan IC ke dalam sebuah Chip. Istilah chip digunakan untuk menunjukkan suatu lempengan persegi empat yang memuatrangkaian-rangkaian terpadu integreted circuits). LSI kemudian dikembangakan dalam VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration).
Sejak tahun 1970, dunia komputer mengalami dua perkembangan penting, yaitu:
●● Penggunaan LSI (Large Scale Integration) yang disebut juga sebagai Bipolar Large Scale Integration, serta
●● Menggunakan mikroprosesor dan semi konductor yang berbentuk chip untuk
memori komputer

Contohnya, komputer IBM 370 menggunakan Intel 4004 mikroprosesor yang dikembangkan pertama kali pada tahun 1971 oleh perusahaan Intel Corporation dengan menggunakan chip mikroprocessor. Personal computer (PC) mulai berkembang sejak tahun 1977, misalnya komputer Apple II dan komputer dekstop oleh Xerox Corporation. Pada tahun 1981, komputer mulai banyak menggunakan sistem Window dan mouse.

■■ Komputer Generasi Kelima (Komputer Masa Depan)
Kemajuan yang sangat pesat di bidang desain komputer dan teknologi semakin memungkinkan pembuatan komputer generasi kelima. Komputer generasi kelima kini sedang dalam pengembangan. Komponen yang dipakai adalah VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration). Saat ini sedang dikembangkan oleh Josephson Function yang diramalkan dapat menggantikan keberadaan chip. Negara yang mempelopori perkembangan komputer generasi kelima ini adalah Jepang. Kemungkinan pengembangan komputer lainnya ialah kemampuan komputer memecahkan masalah sendiri dengan bantuan AI (Artificial Intellegence). Lembaga ICOT (Institute for new Computer Technology) juga dibentuk untuk merealisasikannya. Proyek komputer generasi kelima ini akan membawa perubahan pada komputerisasi dunia. Hal ini dapat diterapkan untuk mengoperasikan robot.

Violence mars Black Friday

(CNN) -- Violence marred Black Friday shopping in at least seven states, including California, where police say a woman doused fellow shoppers with pepper spray in a bid to snag a discounted video game console.
The incident happened Thursday night at a Walmart in the Porter Ranch area of Los Angeles, said Officer Robert Chavira, a police spokesman.
Ten people were exposed to the spray. Los Angeles firefighters treated them at the scene and no one required hospitalization, Chavira said.
The woman sprayed the crowd as people were grabbing for Xbox video game consoles, Los Angeles Police Detective Gus Villanueva said.
The suspect was able to pay for her purchases and leave the store before police arrived, Chavira said.
Villanueva described the suspect as a Hispanic woman, 32 to 38 years of age, 5-foot-3, 140 pounds and wearing black pants and a black sweater.
Shooting near Wal-Mart spoils shopping Black Friday shoppers injured Black Friday begins at Macy's
Authorities haven't identified the suspect and will be looking at available video, Villanueva said.
He said charges such as spraying a caustic compound would be determined later, but the action doesn't appear to have been self-defense.
One witness to the incident, Juan Castro, said he and other shoppers were hunting for "deals," when a woman began using pepper spray. He was trying to buy a Wii video game at $20, marked down from a typical $60, he said.
"I don't know if she felt threatened or she felt she had to do that to get what she wanted," Castro told CNN.
"I didn't see her personally, but I sure got the scent of the mace. I got it in my throat. It was burning. I saw people around me, they got it really bad. As you see in the video, some woman was crying 'my eyes, my eyes,'" Castro said.
"I tried to get away as quickly as possible because I didn't think it was worth it. No deal's worth that," he said.
Incidents also occurred in South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, New York, Alabama and Connecticut, with most of the reported incidents happening at or near Walmart stores.
Despite the reports, Walmart said the day's shopping frenzy had been remarkably safe for shoppers at its thousands of stores nationwide.
"There were a few unfortunate incidents but overall we have received very positive feedback from our customers," Walmart spokesman Greg Rossiter said.
In 2008, crowds of frantic Black Friday shoppers trampled a Walmart employee in New York as he and other workers tried to unlock the door at 5 a.m.
While no deaths were reported in this year's shopping, authorities said they handled fights, shootings and other incidents through the morning.
Psychologist Jeff Gardere, in an appearance Friday on CNN, put some of the blame on retailers for staging sales that encourage hyper-competitive behavior among shoppers who may be desperate because of the poor economy.
"They shouldn't be psyching them up so much and using all sorts of psychological tactics to get them to feed into this desperation and competitive spirit," he said.
"I think people are whipped into a frenzy, physically, psychologically," he said.
Black Friday brings out bad behavior Man arrested, Tased at Walmart
In San Leandro, California, police had one man in custody and another was hospitalized after a 1:45 a.m. shooting in a Walmart parking lot.
"It was a robbery gone bad," police Sgt. Mike Sobek told reporters. "The victim's family fought with the robbers. They were able to detain one suspect. We are not sure if that suspect is the shooter, but we do have one person in custody right now."
In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, police said two people suffered injuries in an apparent armed robbery attempt after they left a Walmart store around 1 a.m. Friday, CNN affiliate WMBF reported.
Would-be robbers struck a man on the head and shot a woman in the leg before another shopper displayed a gun and the assailants fled, the station said, citing Myrtle Beach Police Capt. Kevin Heins. The woman was taken to a hospital for treatment, he said.
Sheriff's deputies in Fayetteville, North Carolina, were looking for two men after shots were fired about 2 a.m. at a shopping mall.
And in Kinston, North Carolina, an off-duty officer working security at a Walmart sprayed shoppers with pepper spray in an effort to stop a disturbance there, WITN reported, citing police Sgt. Roland Davis.
Customer Angel Bunting told the station it happened while people were waiting to buy discount cell phones and a man fell into a display. She said she thought security believed there was a fight, according to WITN.
Police arrested a man in a Kissimmee, Florida, Walmart on a resisting arrest charge after an early morning altercation at the jewelry counter, according to the police department.
In Rome, New York, a brawl broke out in the electronics department at a Walmart moments after midnight, CNN affiliate WSTM reported, citing the Oneida County Sheriff's Office. Two people were taken to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries, the station reported.
Police in Florence, Alabama, said they had to use a stun gun -- twice -- on a Walmart customer, CNN affiliate WAFF reported. The 22-year-old man was charged with public intoxication, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest around 11 p.m. Thursday, an hour after the store opened its doors for Black Friday, WAFF reported, citing police.
A picture of the incident distributed on Twitter shows the man lying face down in an aisle, the officer atop him with a knee on his back.
And in Southington, Connecticut, iReporter Ryan Casale said he witnessed police using a stun gun on a man at the Walmart store where he was shopping. He said he wasn't sure what was happening or why, but said the event left an impression on him.
"This was my first Black Friday shopping experience, and I'll never forget what I saw," he said. "You see sides of people that they, themselves didn't even know existed."

Microsoft cuts Black Friday prices on Kinect, laptops, games

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(CNN) -- Microsoft may be a relative newcomer to in-store retailing, but it's getting the hang of this Black Friday thing.
The computing giant, with 14 retail stores across the U.S., is diving into the post-Thanksgiving shopping madness with a slew of substantial new discounts on laptops, phones, software, games and its Kinect gaming system for the Xbox 360 console.
The sale begins online Friday at 12:01 a.m. PT, when most Microsoft stores will open, and lasts through Monday. Some of the deals are just available in stores, while others are offered only at Microsoft's online store.
Among them:
-- Sony S137GX notebook: $599, normally $999 (online only)
-- Samsung RC512 laptop running Windows 7: $499, normally $799
-- Acer Iconia Dual-Screen Touchbook: $599, normally $999
-- Xbox Ultimate Gaming Bundle, which includes accessories, a game and a 90-day Xbox Live membership: up to $200 off
-- Kinect Sensor Holiday Bundle, which includes three games: $100, normally $150 (not available online)
-- A free Windows Phone with a two-year service agreement (the site doesn't specify the carrier)
-- Office Home and Student suite of software: $120, normally $150
Microsoft also is cutting prices -- in many cases by half -- on such recent popular Xbox games as "Assassin's Creed Revelations," "Battlefield 3" and "Madden 2012." See its Facebook page for an entire list.
These discounts are much deeper than those announced Wednesday by rival Apple, which is trimming prices on iPads, iPods and Macs by less than 10%.

India opens doors to supermarket giants

(Financial Times) -- India is to throw open its $450bn retail sector to foreign supermarkets, granting access for the first time to giants such as Walmart, Carrefour and Tesco that have long sought to enter an underserved market of 1.2bn people.
The government of Manmohan Singh, prime minister, decided late on Thursday to allow foreign groups to invest up to 51 per cent in "multi-brand retailers", as supermarkets are known in India, in the most radical pro-liberalisation reform passed by an Indian cabinet in years.
It also increased to 100 per cent from a cap of 51 per cent the level of foreign direct investment allowed in single-brand retailers.
"I think it will have a very deep and long-lasting impact on the Indian landscape," Raj Jain, chief executive of Bharti Walmart, a wholesale cash-and-carry and supply chain management joint venture between the US retailer and India's Bharti Enterprises, told CNBC TV18. "I think it will redefine the way consumers shop in India, but more importantly the way supply chains in India run."
India, Asia's third-largest economy and home to one in every six people on earth, has proved highly lucrative for foreign groups that have managed to negotiate its sometimes unpredictable business climate. Telecoms groups in particular have invested billions.
Walmart, the world's biggest retailer by sales, its French rival Carrefour and others have lobbied for years to relax the 51 per cent cap on foreign supermarket investments.
Only about 8 per cent of urban Indian retail spending takes place in the "organised" sector, according to New Delhi-based Technopak Advisors. But spending in modern retail stores has grown 20 per cent annually over the past four years, a pace expected to accelerate.
The move by the Congress-led coalition government, which has been rocked by corruption scandals, comes ahead of crucial state elections next year.
It is expected to help tame stubbornly high inflation but is likely to be vehemently opposed by millions of small retailers, who see large foreign chains as a threat.
The need to control food price inflation -- averaging double-digit rises over the past 12 months -- prompted the government to open the sector, analysts said.
Hitherto India's food supplies have been controlled by tens of millions of middlemen, a powerful political constituency that stands between farmers and consumers.
Traders add huge mark-ups to farm gate prices, while offering little by way of technical support to help farmers boost their productivity, pushing up retail prices significantly.
Analysts said allowing in big foreign retailers would provide an impetus for them to set up modern supply chains, with refrigerated vans, cold storage and more rational logistics.
"I think foreign chains can also bring in humongous logistical benefits and capital," Chandrajit Banerjee, director-general, Confederation of Indian Industry, told Reuters.
"The biggest beneficiary ... would be the small farmers who will be able to improve their productivity ... by selling directly to large organised players," Mr Banerjee said.