Verizon Is Said To Offer Nokia Windows 8 Phone This Year

Verizon Wireless plans to sell a new Nokia (NOK1V) Oyj phone with Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)’s Windows 8 software this year, marking the first time it has released a Windows device since May 2011, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

Microsoft and Nokia are holding a press conference on Sept. 5 in New York to discuss Nokia’s Lumia brand of Windows phones. While Verizon isn’t expected to be part of that event, the carrier intends to roll out a Nokia phone later, said the person, who asked not to be named because the plans are private. That would give Nokia a new beachhead at the top U.S. carrier, building on its longstanding relationship with No. 2 AT&T (T) Inc.

Verizon is looking to lessen its dependence on Apple Inc.’s iPhone and devices running Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android software, which dominate the smartphone market. For Microsoft and Nokia, meanwhile, the move would bolster efforts to regain market share. The Nokia phone would also provide fresh ammunition against the latest iPhone, which people familiar with the matter expect to be introduced on Sept. 12.

Brenda Raney, a spokeswoman for Basking Ridge, New Jersey- based Verizon Wireless (VZ), declined to comment, as did Erica Fields at Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft. Christopher Hollis, a U.S. spokesman for Espoo, Finland-based Nokia, also declined to comment.

Verizon released its only current Windows Phone, the Trophy from HTC Corp., more than a year ago, and it hasn’t been a top seller. Microsoft and Verizon also stumbled with the 2010 release of the Kin phone, which was scrapped after less than two months in Verizon stores. While that experience strained relations, the companies have made strides in improving the partnership since then, the person said.

AT&T Relationship

For now, Nokia is more closely tied with AT&T, which introduced the Lumia 900 Windows Phone on April 8. AT&T Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephenson has promoted the device and uses it personally.

Nokia’s first Windows Phone in the U.S. was the Lumia 710, which debuted at T-Mobile USA in January. Both the AT&T and T- Mobile Lumia devices rely on Microsoft’s older-generation Windows Phone 7 software.

Microsoft is releasing the Windows Phone 8 operating system as a companion piece to its new software for personal computers and tablets. The phone software will be able to run on devices with speedier, dual-core chips and high-definition screens, Microsoft has said.

In July, a Nokia vice president told the tech news website Neowin that Nokia’s Lumia Windows phones would soon be available on Verizon.

Microsoft had a 3.5 percent share of the mobile operating system market in the second quarter, with shipments of 5.4 million, according to research firm IDC. That’s dwarfed by Android’s more than 68 percent and Apple’s 16.9 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dina Bass in New York at dbass2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net

from bloomberg.com

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Installing Windows 8 on your old PC could turn it into Greased Lightning

Summary: My ZDNet colleague and long-time friend Steven J. Vaughn-Nichols thinks that old PCs need Microsoft's latest operating system upgrade like a hole in the head. I fervently disagree.

I've known ZDNet columnist Steven J. Vaughn-Nichols going on 16 years now. Along with Mary Jo Foley, who I've known for the same amount of time, he's a writer I have utmost respect for, particuarly when it comes to writing about Open Source and Networking technologies.

In many instances, we agree about a lot of things. But over the years Steven has become shall we say... not particularly enamored with Microsoft. He's focused a lot of his writing in recent years about Linux, and he's the closest thing we have here on ZDNet to being a pure Open Source evangelist.

This is not a bad thing, this is just simply stating what he is. Saying that Steven is an Open Source evangelist and dislikes and distrusts Microsoft is like saying that Seals, which subsist on a diet of fish and crustaceans, have developed an extreme dislike for Great White Sharks. 

Sorry, I spent most of my free time watching the Discovery Channel this weekend.

So when Steven tells you that Windows 8 "belongs on older PCs like a fish needs a bicycle" you should regard this as coming from a position of extreme prejudice.

Be it as it may I also am a Linux advocate. I wrote about it exclusively in print for ten years.

However, I also make my living integrating large scale multi-vendor systems for the largest IT services company in the world, so I can't afford to hate Microsoft. It's not a position I would enjoy being in anyway.

And despite the fact I have been known to throw a couple of grenades at Redmond from time to time, I actually enjoy using their products.

So the question remains -- does Windows 8 belong on older PCs? It really depends on what you define as "Old" and what lengths you are willing to go through to gain the benefits from the new operating system.

I want to first discard the notion that the new Windows 8 user interface (that we just got used to calling "Metro" but apparently we can't call it that anymore) is bad. It isn't bad, it's just different.

And yes, it requires a considerable amount of user adjustment in order to be productive with it, even for a veteran PC user like myself.

Whether the new UI will succeed in its current form and what Microsoft may have to do if it doesn't is another discussion entirely. But let's just take that off the table for a moment and return to the subject if upgrading to the new OS is appropriate for an older PC.

So in addition to catching up with Shark Week on my DVR, I decided to install Windows 8 on several older PCs this weekend.

My victims were a 12" Lenovo X200 Centrino 2 ultralight laptop, my primary circa-2009 dual quad-Opteron "Frankenputer" workstation, my wife's Dell Studio 17" laptop (a Vista-certified system that was purchased just prior to Windows 7's release) and a Dell Precision 530 desktop with an Intel Core 2 Quad which I originally purchased from Costco for the express purposes of testing Windows Vista four years ago.

None of these machines are current or state of the art. In fact I would say they are a decent representative sample of the type and vintage of Windows PC that most people actually own.    

Every single one of these machines installed Windows 8's release code without a hitch -- all the devices on the machines were recognized with the exception of two external peripherals -- an Epson wireless MFD Printer/Scanner that needed the usual 3rd-party Windows 7 drivers and a portable Lenovo USB Displaylink 2nd monitor for my laptop which actually had beta drivers avaliable on the Displaylink.org web site.

Even the on-board Authentec fingerprint scanner for biometric login on my Lenovo X200 was automatically recognized.

On every single one of these systems, the performance improvement over Windows 7 is noticeable. Boot up is much, much faster as well as general application and network responsiveness, particularly with the new Internet Explorer 10 browser. And all of my Windows 7-compatible application software is working perfectly.

A Fish with bicycle wheels? Hell, this upgrade is automatic, it's systematic, it's hydromatic. It will turn your old PC into Greased Lightning.

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How to uninstall Windows 8

Return to Windows 7 from Windows 8

By Matt Egan | PC Advisor | 21 August 12

We explain your options if you wish to uninstall Windows 8 after making the upgrade or dual-booting.

Windows 8 is set to launch on October 26 and many PC, tablet and laptop users have already installed the Consumer Preview or the Release Preview. But Windows 8 is a big change from Windows 7, and won't be for everyone: particularly those who wish to continue using only mouse and keyboard.

What happens if you've installed Windows 8, but want to go back to Windows 7, or even Windows XP (we're assuming no-one is keen on returning to Vista)? Here we explain your options if you wish to uninstall Windows 8, in a variety of circumstances.

Before we start it is worth pointing out that Microsoft makes it very clear that rolling back a Windows 8 installation is not a simple task. The upgrade to Windows 8 is made fantastically easy, but the pay-off is that uninstalling takes some doing.

On the download page for the Windows 8 Release Preview Microsoft says: "If you decide to go back to your previous operating system, you'll need to reinstall it from the recovery or installation media that came with your PC, which is typically DVD media.

"If you don’t have recovery media, you might be able to create it from a recovery partition on your PC using software provided by your PC manufacturer. Check the support section of your PC manufacturer's website for more information. After you install Windows 8, you won’t be able to use the recovery partition on your PC to go back to your previous version of Windows."

And although Microsoft hasn't explicitly said so, we expect that the situation will be the same with the final release of Windows 8.

So if you are considering overwriting your Windows 7 install just to try Windows 8, think carefully. If in doubt, install Windows 8 alongside your current operating system, or not at all. And whatever else you do, back up everything on your PC before you make the move. You'll never regret backing up.

For more on the changes in Windows 8 and how to use them visit Windows 8 Advisor. For detailed advice on installing Windows 8 Release Preview, read our article: How to install Windows 8.

Delete Windows 8 from a second drive partition

Congratulations if you took notice of this warning, and created a second partition in order to install Windows 8 on that partition. This dualboot option means your original installation of Windows 7 or XP remains on the primary drive and you can play at using Windows 8 without committing. If that is the case it is pretty easy to uninstall Windows 8 while retaining your old operating system and data. (For more, see: How to dual boot Windows 8.)

First of all, back up your entire PC (see: How to back up your PC and laptop). Be especially careful to copy off any files and folders that you need to keep, and any that are in your Windows 8 partition.

Once you are done boot into the OS you want to keep - we're assuming it is Windows 7. Go to Start, Run, msconfig (or search 'msconfig' in the search bar, and click the .exe that appears). Navigate to the Boot tab, and highlight the Windows 8 boot option. Click 'Delete'. Then highlight the Windows 7 boot option. Click 'Set As Default'. You can now close msconfig.

Now you have deleted Windows 8 from your PC's Boot process, you can delete the Windows 8 data. Go to Start, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Computer Management. Find 'Disk Management' in the lefthand pane, and click it.

Find the partition you created for the Windows 8 install. Right-click on it and select 'Delete Volume'. Once this is done, if you right-click on the empty volume and select 'Shrink Volume'. Close the module, and reboot the system. Your Windows 8 partition is now no more.

Uninstall Windows 8 if you installed it over Windows 7

If you installed Windows 8 after formatting or deleting your Windows 7 installation, the only way to go back is to wipe over the Windows 8 install. You need to do a clean install of Windows 7, which will wipe your PC. So you will need Windows 7 installation media (and a product key). And you need to back up all your files to a separate drive. Your PC will be wiped clean in the move.

Boot using the Windows 7 DVD or USB drive. Then format the Windows 8 partition, and install your copy of Windows.

Read our How to install Windows 7 from a USB flash drive for detailed instructions on creating, booting from and installing an OS from a Windows 7 USB stick.

from pcadvisor.co.uk

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Apple-Samsung patent battle nears end

Apple-Samsung patent battle nears end

They're done. Apple and Samsung have each given their closing arguments in the epic patent trial over whether the South Korean mobile maker infringed on Cupertino's iPhone patents. For the nine members of the jury, however, the next phase of the ordeal has only just begun.
Weighing the three weeks of testimony to decide whether Samsung truly infringed patents and what damages, if any, it owes Apple will be no easy matter, as the court proceedings on Tuesday demonstrated.
Judge Lucy Koh began the morning in her San Jose courtroom by reading her instructions to the jury aloud for the record, the San Jose Mercury News reports – all 109 pages of them.
Reading through the 84 instructions took just over two hours, during which time Judge Koh repeatedly gave the jurors short "stand up" breaks, as she said, "to make sure we're alive."
The first sections of the list were devoted to basic instructions for jury conduct, such as how to deliberate, how to communicate with the court, how to judge the credibility of witnesses, and the burden of proof by a preponderance of evidence.
Judge Koh then moved on to more specific matters related to the case, such as when the jury should consider that a patent claim has been infringed, and the difference between "utility" and "design" patents (both are involved in Apple v. Samsung).
She adjourned the court for lunch at 11:40am, leaving the bewildered jurors to ponder the 20-pageverdict form they would have to confront in their deliberations, which Judge Koh said she expected to begin on Wednesday.
The form, which asks jurors to fill out multiple tables with information on precisely which Samsung divisions or Samsung products may or may not have infringed on which specific models of iPhone or iPad, looks roughly four times as complicated as your average passport application.

Just one of 33 questions on the jury verdict form. (Click to see full form)

Perhaps the most straightforward item on the verdict form is Question 22: "What is the total dollar amount that Apple is entitled to receive from Samsung on the claims on which you have ruled in favor of Apple?"
On that seemingly simple question hangs much of the trial, however. The nine jurors will have to agree on exactly "the amount of damages that Apple has proven at trial with reasonable certainty," according to Judge Koh's instructions. Some observers fear a hung jury, which could bring the proceedings back to square one.

Apple's and Samsung's last words

When Judge Koh returned from lunch, the closing arguments began in earnest, with Apple lawyer Harold McElhinny leading the charge for the fruity firm.
McElhinny described the iPhone as "possibly the most famous product in the world," explaning that original iPhones are on display in the Smithsonian Museum and showing the jury a photo of the Jesus Phone on the cover of Time magazine.
He said the iPhone "shocked the world" and repeated a claim, lifted from Samsung internal documents, that the South Korean firm had experienced a "crisis of design" upon beholding it.
The Apple attorney held no punches throughout his argument, describing Samsung phones as "knockoffs" and saying that the mobile maker "sat with the iPhone and copied every detail, feature by feature."
He said that Apple execs tried to contact top Samsung people about the problem, but the Samsung higher-ups wouldn't take their calls. "Instead they sent you lawyers," McElhinny said, indicating his opponents in the courtroom.
McElhinny concluded his arguments by saying that Samsung had sold 22 million "infringing" devices, netting itself $8bn in revenue – and that therefore the damages awarded Apple should be large, in the realm of $2.75bn.
Samsung attorney Charles Verhoeven then took the floor to try to knock down Apple's claims, calling the fruity firm's damages estimate "ridiculous" and noting that Apple did not produce a single witness who claimed to have been deceived or confused by Samsung's marketing or the design of its handsets.
"The reason Apple didn't provide any evidence of deception or confusion is because there isn't any," Verhoeven told the court.
Pointing out the numerous reporters in the court to the jury, Verhoeven asked them to consider why the press was covering the case so closely. "Your decision, if it goes Apple's way, could change the way competition works in this country," he said.
Verhoeven characterized the similarities between Apple's and Samsung's products as to be expected, saying all smartphones are rectangular, all have rounded corners, and so on. "There is no bad intent, there is no copying," he said, adding that Apple did not truly invent the technologies and design features it is now claiming to own.
Apple attorney Bill Lee – he who does not smoke crack – next took the floor to rebut Samsung's claims. According to Lee, the question was not whether Samsung infringed Apple's patents, but "whether they get a get-out-of-jail-free card."
"Apple took five years to bring this revolution to us," Lee said, referring to the smartphone market that began with the iPhone launch. "Samsung took three months to copy it."
Lee reiterated Apple's claims of patent infringement and said that Samsung's patent counter-claims were invalid, because the handset maker had asserted them in ways that violate antitrust law.
In his own rebuttal, Samsung's Verhoeven insisted that the South Korean firm did indeed "play by the rules," contrary to Apple's claims, and that all Samsung wants is to compete freely in the marketplace, without interference from Apple's lawyers. "Let the innovators compete," he said.
And with that, the final arguments in the nearly month-long patent trial came to a close. The jury will be sequestered beginning on Wednesday at 9am PST, but given the many claims and issues in the case, deliberations are likely to be anything but swift. ®

from .theregister.co.uk

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Dell expects slow Windows 8 demand in enterprise

Dell expects slow Windows 8 demand in enterprise

Surface won’t be more than 2% of market

Microsoft is betting big that Windows 8 will revive its flagging fortunes, but the feedback from Dell is that the new operating system will be a consumer release, and it's not expecting too much impact from Redmond's Surface tablets either.

In the earnings call to discuss its latest financial results, Dell's CFO Brian Gladden said the introduction of Windows 8 in October would have a limited effect on Dell's results at first, since the company is really focusing on enterprise systems, and he expects the new OS to have limited appeal early on in that sector.

"We still feel to feel good about the refresh opportunity and only see about 50 per cent of the Windows 7 transition is complete," he said. "That's going to continue over the next several quarters here before anybody really thinks about Windows 8 on the commercial side."

Gladden said there was some interest in Windows 8 among customers who are considering tablets in the enterprise, particularly given the security features Microsoft is touting. This could be a catalyst for greater enterprise adoption, and some resellers are drawing down stock in preparation, but Dell isn't expecting the earth to move when the new OS comes online.
Nor is it particularly worried by Microsoft's entry into the hardware market with the Surface. CEO Michael Dell said that he had been in consultations with Redmond over this and was satisfied that a diverse market wouldn't hurt Dell's revenues.
"The number of [Surface] units will be a relatively small percentage, probably one or two per cent of PC units to the middle of next year," he said.
It's not all bad news for Redmond, however. Dell said that the release of Windows Server 2012 would give a boost to the second half of the company's year and it was "feeling good" about the new OS. ®

from theregister.co.uk

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Samsung CEO Said To Speak With Apple Today About Suit

Samsung Electronics Co. (005930)’s chief executive officer will talk with his counterpart at Apple Inc. to see whether they can resolve their smartphone patent dispute before a U.S. jury begins deliberating, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The companies’ lawyers will report to U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in federal court in San Jose,California, on the outcome of today’s telephone discussion between Apple’s Tim Cook and Samsung’s Kwon Oh Hyun, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, sued Samsung in April 2011, accusing it of copying patented designs for mobile devices, and Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung countersued. The case is the first to go before a federal jury in a battle being waged on four continents for dominance in a smartphone market valued by Bloomberg Industries at $219.1 billion.

As testimony in the trial drew to a close, Koh asked that the CEOs talk, and said she was “pathologically optimistic” they could settle claims over patents for smartphones and tablet computers. Heads of the two companies met before the trial began and were unable to reach a settlement. The two sides reported Aug. 18 that they had made no progress in narrowing the claims in the suit. The two sides are still filing motions with the court about jury instructions and exhibits.

Damages Sought

Samsung is seeking as much as $399 million in royalties from Apple for infringing its patents, according to court testimony. Apple presented testimony that Samsung owed it $2.5 billion to $2.75 billion in damages.

Deliberations could begin as soon as tomorrow, the judge has said.

Nam Ki Yung, a Seoul-based spokesman for Samsung, declined to comment on talks. Steve Dowling, a spokesman at Apple, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment outside of regular business hours.

The case is Apple Inc. (AAPL) v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., 11- cv-01846, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose).

To contact the reporters on this story: Jun Yang in Seoul at jyang180@bloomberg.net; Joel Rosenblatt in San Francisco at jrosenblatt@bloomberg.net

from bloomberg.com

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One Spacewalk Down, One to Go

The six Expedition 32 crew members living and working aboard the International Space Station began their day Tuesday four hours later than usual following Monday’s spacewalk, the first of two planned for this Expedition crew.

During that 5-hour, 51-minute excursion, Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko moved the Strela-2 cargo boom from the Pirs docking compartment to the Zarya module to prepare Pirs for its eventual replacement with a new Russian multipurpose laboratory module. The two spacewalking cosmonauts also installed micrometeoroid debris shields on the exterior of the Zvezda service module and deployed a small science satellite.

Padalka and Malenchenko spent much of their day Tuesday drying out their Orlan spacesuits and stowing spacewalk equipment. They also reopened the hatch to the Automated Transfer Vehicle-3, which had been closed since Sunday as a contingency because the spacewalkers were working on the exterior of Zvezda where the European Space Agency cargo ship is docked.

In the Japanese Kibo laboratory, Flight Engineers Joe Acaba and Aki Hoshide spent their morning assembling the Multi-Purpose Experiment Platform and later transferred it into the module’s airlock in preparation for deployment of a small satellite.

Acaba and Hoshide also worked on activating the Aquatic Habitat, which provides a new facility option for the study of small, freshwater fish on orbit. Scientists have multiple studies planned to look at the impacts of radiation, bone degradation, muscle atrophy, and developmental biology.

Flight Engineer Suni Williams focused on an experiment known as Burning And Suppression of Solids, or BASS, which studies how a variety of solid materials burn and extinguish in microgravity. Results from BASS may lead to improvements in spacecraft materials selection, strategies for extinguishing accidental fires aboard spacecraft and improved computational models used in the design of fire detection and suppression systems here on Earth.

Williams, Acaba and Hoshide rounded out their day with a conference call with flight controllers to discuss the second Expedition 32 spacewalk scheduled for Aug. 30. During the 6.5-hour excursion, Williams and Hoshide will replace a faulty power relay unit on the station’s truss, route power cables for the Russian multipurpose module replacing Pirs and replace a failing camera on the Canadarm2 robotic arm.

Sergei Revin, also a flight engineer, worked in the Russian segment of the station, cleaning ventilation screens and performing routine maintenance on the toilets in Zvezda.

from spacefellowship..com

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4G licence agreed for Everything Everywhere

Owner of T-Mobile and Orange mobile phone networks to drop widely criticised name as a consumer brand in marketing makeover this year

Ofcom has granted a 4G licence to Everything Everywhere. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

Everything Everywhere, owner of the T-Mobile and Orange mobile phone networks, is to drop its widely criticised name as a consumer brand in a marketing makeover this year.

In a landmark ruling by regulators Everything Everywhere on Tuesday won the right to launch the UK's first 4G mobile internet service in September, and the company will use the occasion to introduce a third brand to the public.

Standing for fourth generation, 4G technology is supposed to deliver internet download speeds 10 times faster than the 3G service which helped bring the internet to mobile phones a decade ago.

More bandwidth is needed to help networks keep up with the growing demand for data from smartphones. Mobile networks struggle to broadcast video over 3G – most moving images are watched on the small screen using wi-fi connections. It is hoped 4G will make smartphone video streaming an every day experience.

The decision will give the UK a taste of 4G in time for Christmas, allowing it to catch up with other European nations and the United States, which already have dozens of superfast mobile networks up and running. Britain is not due to auction the extra spectrum Vodafone, O2 and Three say they need for 4G until next year. But EE has enough of its own to push the button now, giving it a six to 12-month head-start on rivals.

Telecoms watchdog Ofcom has granted EE permission to flick the switch as soon as 11 September, and while the service may not be ready until a little later, EE has been installing equipment since the beginning of this year in anticipation of early roll-out. It has already covered a number of major population centres.

By coincidence, the date is a day ahead of Apple's rumoured 12 September iPhone 5 unveiling. The latest Apple phone is expected to go on sale in October, although it is far from certain that the device will support 4G on the spectrum 1800MHz band being used by EE for 4G.

It is thought that some of the newest Nokia smartphones, which use Windows software, will be compatible. While there will be very few 4G handsets and tablet computers in time for Christmas, EE will be able to market the service using dongles which plug into laptops to give them a mobile signal.

"This ruling could well provide a springboard for Everything Everywhere in the lucrative customer acquisition stakes," said Stuart Orr at management consultancy Accenture. "This will be especially true if they are then able to offer [a 4G] enabled iPhone 5 ahead of anyone else."

There is speculation the brand name used to plug the service could be 4G Everywhere – it was registered by the company as a trademark in May, alongside 4G Everything and 4GEE.

In a statement the company said: "We are planning to launch a new brand in the UK later this year. This new brand will sit alongside our existing brands Orange and T-Mobile. We will reveal more information on our exciting plans in due course."

Orange, which rose to prominence through its high profile sponsorships of the BAFTA film awards and the Women's Prize for Fiction, may not be permanent fixture in the UK telecoms landscape, however. EE's owners, France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom, are thought to be keen to float their UK joint venture once conditions in the financial markets improve, which could eventually trigger a decision to drop their respective Orange and T-Mobile brands.

EE's head start on 4G provoked a furious reaction from Vodafone, which said it was "shocked" at the Ofcom's decision, while O2 said it was "hugely disppointed". Spectrum acquired in next year's auction, currently occupied by digital TV, will not be freed up for use nationwide before next Autumn.

It is thought unlikely that rival networks will seek an injunction to stop EE's launch, although legal experts say they could make complaints at a later date. "Even if there is no reason for challenge today, the other operators will presumably be keeping the situation under review and will be looking for any possible action on the part of Everything Everywhere with their newly acquired monopoly status that could justify a complaint under UK or EU competition law," said Patrick Clark, telecoms expert at law firm Taylor Wessing.

In a separate deal, EE confirmed on Tuesday that it had sold for an undisclosed sum a quarter of its 1800MHz holding to the UK's smallest network Three, owned by Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa. The company was obliged to sell some of its large holding as a condition of its creation through the merger of T-Mobile and Orange. Three will not be able to use the spectrum for 4G immediately, as EE is not obliged to hand it over until September 2013.

from  guardian.co.uk

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Mars rover: Wind sensors damaged on Nasa's Curiosity

Nasa has reported its first setback in the Curiosity rover mission to Mars.

Sensor circuits on the robot's weather station that take wind readings have sustained 

damage.

The mission team stresses this is not a major problem and will merely degrade some measurements - not prevent them.

It is not certain how the damage occurred but engineers suspect surface stones thrown up during Curiosity's rocket-powered landing may have struck the circuits and broken their wiring.

Nasa is describing the news as an isolated "disappointment" in what has otherwise been a spectacular start to the mission.

Javier Gomez-Elvira, the principal investigator on the broken instrumentation - the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (Rems) - said he was hopeful of finding a good way to get past the issue.

"We are working to recover as much functionality as possible," he told reporters.

Curiosity - also known as the Mars Science Laboratory, MSL - touched down in the equatorial Gale Crater two weeks ago.

It will operate on Mars for at least two Earth years, looking for evidence that the planet may once have had the conditions suitable to host microbial life.

Engineers are close to completing their programme of post-landing check-outs on Curiosity.

This has involved powering up all of the machine's instruments, and it was during this testing that the problem was found on Rems.

The weather station is a Spanish contribution to the rover project.

It records air and ground temperature, air pressure and humidity, wind speed and direction, as well the amount of ultraviolet radiation falling on the surface.

These parameters are measured from sensors distributed around the rover, but a number are held on two finger-like mini-booms positioned halfway up the vehicle's camera mast. This is where the wind sensors are located.

The Rems team first noticed there was something wrong when readings from the side-facing boom where being returned saturated at high and low values.

Further investigation suggested small wires exposed on the sensor circuits were open, probably severed. It is permanent damage.

No-one can say for sure how this happened, but engineers are working on the theory that grit thrown on to the rover by the descent crane's exhaust plume cut the small wires.

"It degrades our ability to detect wind speed and direction when the wind is blowing from a particular direction, but we think we can work around that," said Curiosity's deputy project scientist, Ashwin Vasavada.

All the other Rems measurements look good.

Air temperatures in Gale Crater have been up to about 2.7C in the Martian afternoon, and down to minus 90C in the middle of the Martian night.

In general, the rover is in rude health. On Monday, it wiggled its front and back wheels to check its steering capability.

Commands will now be sent up to initiate the first drive. 

"We're going to drive forward a few metres, turn in place about 90 degrees and then back up," said mission manager Mike Watkins. "We should make tracks."

Another major engineering milestone passed this week has been the unpacking of Curiosity's robotic arm.

It was flexed to exercise its joints. The arm holds a 30kg tool turret on its end that includes a drill to take powered samples from rocks.

• (A) Curiosity will trundle around its landing site looking for interesting rock features to study. Its top speed is about 4cm/s
• (B) This mission has 17 cameras. They will identify particular targets, and a laser will zap those rocks to probe their chemistry
• (C) If the signal is significant, Curiosity will swing over instruments on its arm for close-up investigation. These include a microscope
• (D) Samples drilled from rock, or scooped from the soil, can be delivered to two hi-tech analysis labs inside the rover body
• (E) The results are sent to Earth through antennas on the rover deck. Return commands tell the rover where it should drive next

from bbc.co.cc

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