Hasta La Gadget!

Mister Donut, a popular doughnut chain in Japan, started selling “Sushido Delight” in its stores in Thailand. It’s a set of 10 different flavored doughnuts that each look surprisingly like different kinds of sushi.

For the fillings and toppings for those doughnuts, plenty of tropical fruits such as lychees, coconuts, and passion fruits are used, and that sounds really good. However, I am not sure if they look very appetizing to me since they look like sushi…

A Samsung official who spoke to The Korea Times revealed that Samsung has plans to build five new Research and Development centers in South Korea, a project that will cost approximately $4.5 billion. The centers will each focus on their own aspects of R&D, with one being used for maximizing creativity, another for study and development of different components and materials.

Such a move is the by-product of belief that research and development is necessary for continuing success in the technology industry as time moves on. The Samsung official went on to state that “heated competition” in the market influences its preparation and how it “copes”. The company has been ramping up its R&D spending in recent years, having increased last year to 11.9 trillion won over 2011′s 10.3 trillion in spending.

Of the five new centers, one will be the R5 building, an 800 billion won investment that will be used for developing smart devices and will be located in Suwon. Near this building with be another center for developing parts for the purpose of studying next-gen components and materials that will potentially be implemented in the company’s future devices.

A 1.2 trillion won center will be located in southern Seoul within Woomyeon-dong, this one said to be “cutting-edge” and slated for operation in June of 2014. A reported 10,000 designers, strategists, and developers will be located at this facility. And finally, there are two centers slated for construction in Pyeongtaek and Hwaseong, both of which will be used for flat-screen and chipset research.

Said one Samsung researcher: “R&D may not generate tangible results in the short term. But the key point is that Samsung can’t survive, if it fails to develop products that can give value to customers. Much of the remarkable progress in fields such as mobile computing and medicine has been possible thanks to the advancement of information technology backed increased spending on research.”

SOURCE: Torrent Freak

Samsung unveils plans to build five new research and development centers is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

A former NBA star who once declared “I hate gay people” became the first person to sign a new petition seeking to legalize gay marriage in Florida.

Tim Hardaway signed the first petition Wednesday night for Equal Marriage Florida, a fresh effort to repeal a 2008 state amendment banning same-sex unions. He added his name while leaning over a pool table in a public ceremony at Sully’s Tavern in Miami alonside Equal Marriage Florida organizer Vanessa Brito.

Hardaway, whose killer crossover served teams including Golden State and Miami, has been working for years to undo the damage caused by a hateful tirade on South Florida sports radio in 2007. Asked to respond to the coming out of retired player John Amaechi, he admitted to being homophobic and said he would distance himself from a gay colleague:

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For the second time in little more than two years the Egyptian military has overthrown its county’s leader in response to massive nationwide protests. Only this time they deposed a democratically elected president, Mohammad Morsi, who had failed to live up to his promises and who had installed an authoritarian government.

Egyptian General Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi announced Wednesday evening that the Morsi government was dissolved, the constitution was suspended, and that an interim government would be installed headed by a senior jurist. Military officers and a group of political and religious leaders joined el-Sisi at his announcement. The announcement set off a jubilant celebration in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, where tens of thousands of anti Morsi demonstrators had gathered. Meanwhile, a few blocks away, a large gathering of pro Morsi supporters protested the coup. The Egyptian army had been deployed to maintain peace, but violence may not be avoided.

Former President Mohammad Morsi is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, a decades old Islamic and political group founded on the belief that Islam is not just a religion, but a way of life. Last November, Morsi granted himself unlimited powers, including the ability to legislate without judicial oversight. His moves toward an Islamic state were unpopular with many Egyptians who took to the streets to express their unhappiness.

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The former president of Microsoft’s Windows division, Steven Sinofsky, has struck a retirement deal with the company. We reported back in November that he was on the way out, with sources surfacing soon after claiming that his sudden departure was over refusal to name him CEO Ballmer’s successor. Reportedly, the retirement agreement has been in deliberation since late last year.

The information was given by Microsoft, which published a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. According to the agreement, Sinofsky will receive approximately $14.2 million in stocks that were previously issued while being required to certain obligations to Microsoft, with legal aid being specified as one of them.

Likewise, per the retirement deal, Sinofsky is not allowed to enter in competition with his former employer, nor can he encourage any current employees to leave the company for a different one. There are other provisions said to have been previously agreed to, as well, but Microsoft did not reveal what provisions are.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Microsoft stated: “This agreement provides a number of important considerations for Microsoft, including a commitment that Steven will continue assisting with intellectual property litigation until January 1, 2017.” In addition, according to the spokesperson, Sinofsky’s retirement deal is similar to what employees who worked for a minimum of 15 years and retire after 55 years of age receive.

Back in December, Sinofsky took on a teaching job with Harvard’s Business School, an announcement the former Windows boss made on Twitter with a hashtag referring to it as a sabbatical. His work there dealt with product development. In addition, he’s worked at penning journal pieces on the same topic. His non-compete agreement with Microsoft is over at the end of 2013.

SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal

Microsoft forms retirement deal with former Windows president Steven Sinofsky is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.