News Summary: Apple shares hit $700 for the first time as iPhone 5 orders flood in

             THE MILESTONE: Apple’s stock reached $700 for the first time on Tuesday. The rally in Apple’s stock price puts the company’s market value at $656 billion.

             THE BACKDROP: The all-time high came a day after Apple announced that orders for its iPhone 5 topped 2 million in the first 24 hours, more than doubled          

that for the iPhone 4S over the same period last October.

WHAT IT MEANS: The $700 mark is somewhat of an arbitrary milestone for Apple’s stock, representing little more than a nice round number and a record high                                    

                                               trading level.

Is ‘struggling’ Tendulkar blocking way for youngsters?

                 Sachin Tendulkar getting clean bowled on Indian pitches in a jam- packed stadium is nothing less than a nightmare for Indian fans. But unfortunately, the fans have gone through such a sight thrice now in Tendulkar’s successive innings against New Zealand in the home series.

As Tim Southee rattled Tendulkar’s stumps at the Chinnaswamy stadium in the second innings, the jubilant Kiwi camp got into a huddle and the crowd witnessed one of the rare moments of Tendulkar’s career. It was a similar delivery which had knocked his stumps in the first innings; the ball found its way between the pad and the bat and Tendulkar completed his hat-trick. But it was Tendulkar’s reaction after the dismissal which was worth noticing.

The sound of the ball hitting the timber is one of the most humiliating moments for a batsman. The moment he missed the line, Tendulkar knew he was gone, which meant the end of another struggle at the crease for him. Tendulkar turned and ‘almost’ smashed the cricket ball in absolute frustration, something which we have rarely seen him do before in his phenomenal 23-year-old career.

It was just two days back that former Indian cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Sanjay Manjrekar questioned Tendulkar’s foot work after he perished to a fuller length delivery from Doug Bracewell. One of Sachin’s biggest admirers, Sunil Gavaskar, reckoned that it was age which was taking its toll on Sachin’s footwork, which at one stage bothered the best of the bowlers around the globe. His critics joined in and it fanned the flames of the debate on whether the Master Blaster is blocking the way for the youngsters in the team.

The batting maestro who recently got the monkey off his back by hitting the much-awaited hundredth ton against Bangladesh has once again found himself in one of the toughest phase of his career. As the Kiwis breached through his defence on three successive occasions, his critics have once again questioned whether the Master should call it a day.

The critics aren’t too bothered about the way in which Raina, Gambhir, Sehwag have played throughout the series, but Tendulkar’s struggle on home turf is something they can’t digest. While he scored 19 in Hyderebad, with scores of 17 and 27 at Bangalore, the 39-year-old has disappointed his fans to a great extent.

It was the similar story with Rahul Dravid, who had a horrendous tour in Australia where he was bowled on most of the occasions. ‘The Wall’ hung his boots earlier this year and even the stylish VVS Laxman, who was being criticized for his poor run in Tests, surprisingly retired ahead of the Test series between India and New Zealand.

Tendulkar is 39 years old and now many think it is the right time for him to call it a day and make way for youngsters like Ajinkya Rahane and Manoj Tiwary. India now has Cheteshwara Pujara who is being hailed as the apt replacement for Dravid at the No. 3 position. They have Kohli, who is undoubtedly India’s most prolific batsman in all formats of the game at the moment. And thus, critics, experts and even fans want the Master to draw curtains on his glittering career before its too late.
But keeping in mind the upcoming home series against England and Australia, one might ask whether India can afford to lose someone like Sachin Tendulkar?

India vs New Zealand 1st T20: Yuvraj Singh set to return to international cricket

        Visakhapatnam: After winning his battle against a rare germ cell cancer, India`s World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh would be the cynosure of all eyes when he starts his journey back to international cricket with the first Twenty20 match against New Zealand on Saturday.

Yuvraj was diagnosed with the ailment between his lungs within months of winning the Man of the Tournament award in the 2011 World Cup.

His career looked in jeopardy when the diagnosis was first revealed but the flamboyant all-rounder fought back after undergoing three cycles of chemotherapy.

The 30-year-old left-hander has been training hard at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore and would be looking to make a statement when he returns to the cricket field in tomorrow`s match.

It is something that has never happened on the cricket field and Yuvraj will go on to inspire generations when he wears the Indian colours again after more than nine months.

Behind all the limelight he hogged after he returned home, Yuvraj put in hours sweating out at the NCA to regain the fitness and agility, for which he was known for.

Whether he would make a stupendous comeback on his return tomorrow or not but the fact that he beat cancer will now be a part of cricketing folklore.

"I had played three practice games at NCA. I will get some serious match practice in the two matches against New Zealand scheduled September 8 and 11," he said.

"Then, I would be playing two more practice matches. So, you see, I will be having seven games before the World Cup. I will be having enough match practice," he added.

His last International appearance was the Kolkata Test against the West Indies in November last year, while it was more than a year ago when he last played a T20 (against South Africa on January 9, 2011).

The two T20Is against New Zealand will start India`s countdown for the fourth edition the World Twenty20 that will get underway in Sri Lanka on September 18.

As it`s a jam-packed Twenty20 calendar ahead -- World T20 followed by the Champions League in South Africa -- India would be keen for a winning start against the Kiwis.

The hosts could not have started their home season on a better note having routed the visitors 2-0 in the just-concluded two-Test series.

The T20 series against New Zealand will also mark the return of Harbhajan Singh, the star off-spinner who went out of favour after being blanked 0-4 in the disastrous England tour in July-August last year.

Both Yuvraj and Harbhajan were part of India`s successful campaigns in the ODI and Twenty20 World Cup (in 2007 and 2011).

Form-wise, Virat Kohli has been the man of all formats for India in recent past, with many match-winning knocks under his belt.

The youngster will once again form the core of Indian batting, while Suresh Raina, known for his exploits in the shorter formats, will look to give the finishing.

In the middle-order Rohit Sharma will have to prove his worth soon enough or the struggling batsman might end up losing his spot to the talented Manoj Tiwary, who has been waiting in the wings.

The opening duo of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are also yet to fire.

Sehwag is yet to convert his starts and is long due for a big score, while Gambhir too has struggled in the Test series.

But he can draw confidence from the fact that he had a fine outing in India`s 4-1 and 1-0 victory in ODI and T20 series in Sri Lanka.

The very mention of Dr YSR Reddy ACA-VDCA Stadium, perched on the foothills of Simhachalam forests on the outskirts of the city, makes one remember the great knock of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Dhoni had announced his arrival with a magnificent 148 against Pakistan back in 2005 and the Indian skipper would look forward to the belter where India have never lost from four ODIs.
Doug Bracewell and Tim Southee are the Kiwis pace spearhead while 20-year-old Adam Milne will look to impress with his searing pace for the first time in sub-continental conditions.

Sun has been shining bright after last few days of bad weather and the Visakhapatnam T20 is set to enthral the cricket-starved crowd of this coastal port city of Andhra Pradesh.

New Nokia Lumia 920 smartphone to go on sale in November: Operators

HELSINKI: Nokia will start selling its new smartphone, potentially its last chance to break into the most profitable part of mobile phone market and secure its future, in November, sources at European telecoms operators said on Friday.
                                            
The Lumia 920, which uses Microsoft's Windows software, is Nokia's attempt to catch up with Apple'siPhone and a string of popular phones using Google'sAndroid software, like Samsung's Galaxy models.

The new phone, which with its rounded edges and colourful covers look similar to its predecessors, was unveiled on Wednesday and drew a thumbs down from many analysts, who felt it lacked the "wow" factor to make big inroads against rivals.
                                         

                                                              
They were also unsettled by Nokia's refusal to say when the phone, and the smaller Lumia 820 models, would go on sale, or to give details on the price and operator partners.

Once the world's biggest mobile phone maker, Nokia fell behind rivals in the fast-growing smartphone market and has struggled to catch up, racking up more than 3 billion euros in operating losses in the last 18 months and forcing it to cut 10,000 jobs, as well as pursue asset sales.

By going on sale in November, the Lumia 920 will hit stores in time for the key holiday sales season.

But it will probably be more than a month after Apple's new iPhone and will also face stiff competition from Samsung, which last week unveiled the world's first Windows Phone 8 model, as well as new models from HTCand Google's Motorola.

An executive at an eastern European telecoms operator said he would start selling the Lumia 920 - which features a high-quality camera and touch screen that can be used with gloves - in the second half of November, adding larger countries would receive the model earlier that month.

"The problem is that Nokia has temporarily destroyed the market for its own phones. Nobody will buy the old Windows phone and until the new Lumia comes, the market is absolutely dead," the executive said, declining to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media on the subject.

Industry sources said on Thursday that Nokia had cut the prices of its older smartphones.

Analysts expect the Finnish firm to lose another 700 million euros in the July-September quarter and to sell around 3.6 million Windows phones, down from the last quarter.

In comparison, Samsung sold more than 20 million units of its flagship Galaxy S3 smartphone in just 100 days.

Samsung has become the world's largest smartphone maker as Nokia's share of the market has plunged to less than 10 percent from 50 percent during its heyday before the iPhone was launched in 2007.

A Nokia spokesman declined to comment on Friday on when the Lumia 920 would go on sale.