Samsung said on Sunday its annual mobile handset sales this year had exceeded 300 million units for the first time in the company’s history.

The world’s second largest handset maker by volume said in a statement it had broken its sales record by the end of last month. Handset sales in 2010 were about 280 million.

“We look forward to extending this success going into 2012,” JK Shin, President and Head of Samsung’s Mobile Communications Business, was quoted as saying.

Samsung said the company’s flagship Galaxy S smartphone series — Galaxy S and Galaxy S II — contributed significantly to the results.

The Galaxy S II, launched in April, set a new sales record for Samsung, generating 10 million-unit sales worldwide.

According to its own scores, Futuremark claims that Chrome still holds the performance crown on a Windows PC with an Intel Core i7-2600K processor.

Futuremark said that Peacekeeper has been “rebuilt” to evaluate the “latest” HTML5 standards and now supports PCs, tablets as well as smartphones. Chrome 15 scored 4720 points on the Futuremark test system, followed by Opera 11.5 with 4318, Firefox 8 with 2554, IE9 with 2471 and Safari 5 with 1752. There are also some scores for a Macbook Pro with a Core i7-2720QM processor, which also sees Chrome in front, followed by Opera, Firefox and Safari.

While Safari does not look that great on a PC, Apple shines on the iPad 2, which leads the benchmark results on tablets, followed by the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, the Acer Iconia W500, the iPhone 4S and the Samsung Galaxy S2.

Like the previous version, the Peacekeeper test requires about 5 minutes to complete and now includes a rendering test, a WebGL test, HTML5 video, canvas and web worker tests, data manipulation tests, DOM operations test and text parsing tests.

The rumors have been swirling for the better part of six years and now Acura has confirmed that the next generation NSX is finally on its way. The Detroit Auto Show will play host to three new Acura models, with the centre ring occupied by a concept version of Acura’s next-gen supercar.

Playing second and third fiddle will be the automaker’s interpretation of a compact luxury sedan, dubbed the ILX and competing in the same class as the BMW 1 Series, new Mercedes A-Class and Lexus CT200h. Power will be sent to the front wheels by either a 2.0-liter inline four or an optional hybrid drivetrain, with pricing somewhere south of $30k thanks to its Civic roots. Finally, Acura will show off a prototype version of the 2013 Acura RDX that gives current owners more of what their after, including fuel efficiency.

There isn’t much in the way of hints or details from Honda, but we do know that the NSX will take aim at the Audi R8 with a V6 hybrid powerplant mounted amidships and sending power to all four wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. The exterior will most certainly be inspired by the concept playing beside actor Robert Downey Jr. in the third Ironman instalment and pricing won’t be anywhere near that of the Lexus LFA – Honda wants this to be obtainable, and if C/D is to be believed, it’s already been approved for 2013 production.

SOURCE via Autoblog

In Germany, having a reliable car is almost a rite of passage. That is, you won’t be granted passage onto the roadways if you’re car hasn’t passed the government’s strict testing regime.

Called the Technischer Überwachungsverei and generally shortened to TÜV, the organization first gets its hands and diagnostic equipment on your new car after its third year of service, and then again every two years after that. If your car fails its first go-round at the TÜV, it gets sent to a repair shop. If it fails again, it’s off to the great junkyard in the sky.

No wonder, then, that consumers are eager to see the results of the TÜV’s checkups year after year. And for 2011, after 7,779,312 million inspections, the Toyota Prius and Porsche 911 have taken home golden trophies in two different classes.

Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Germany’s iconic sports car was found to be so reliable, even after 10 or more years of ownership – after all, we’d imagine that most owners take extremely good care of their pride and joy. Plus, the 911 employs a design that practically dates back to the dawn of the German automobile itself, which means Porsche has had plenty of time to refine its mechanicals.

If you’re looking for something a bit newer, it seems the Toyota Prius is your best bet. For the second year in a row, the Japanese hybrid hatchback earned top marks in the three-year-old category, beating out the Toyota Auris and Mazda2.

And the worst? The Ford Ka. After 10 years, Ford’s mini-mobile fails its TÜV certification a whopping 38.9 percent of the time. As for the three-year-olds, the Dacia Logan’s 12.7-percent failure rate puts it in last spot. Now we know why Proton isn’t sold in Germany.

Ever since its inception, Google’s Android operating system has been used for very big things such as tablets, smartphones, cutting edge applications and now to add to the list- bartending. Meet iZac, he’s the Motorola Xoom powered bartender that cuts the chit-chat and heads straight to drink mixing. Like his cousin, the typewriter drink machine, he will serve you drinks until you are too intoxicated to press a button.

Designed by Nick Johnson, iZac utilizes a custom Android app along with a Motorola Xoom to control two rotating platforms that are filled with several questionable liquids. Combined with an aquarium pump, multiple valves, tubes and a digital weighing scale, iZac delivers exact proportions of fluids making the perfectly mixed drink every time without fail.

All you have to do is punch in your order using the Xoom’s app followed by placing a glass on the scale between the two rotating platforms, sit back and enjoy the magic. For the adventurous alcoholic, Johnson even included the “I’m feeling lucky” option which will randomly mix three ingredients for a mystery beverage.

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