Russia, U.S. Still Differ Over Missile Shield

Associated Press
MOSCOW -- Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday that Russia and the U.S. still disagree over a missile shield for central Europe, while Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the system "would not constitute a threat" to Moscow.
After talks with Mr. Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Mr. Lavrov told a news conference that the U.S. remains determined to deploy missile defense facilities in central Europe and that Russia continues to oppose those plans. But both Mr. Lavrov and Ms. Rice voiced confidence that Washington and Moscow can continue to work constructively on this and a wide array of issues.
"When we have differences, we can talk about them in an atmosphere of mutual respect," Ms. Rice said, agreeing with Mr. Lavrov that the two sides do not agree about the positioning of the missile defense system.
Mr. Gates, joining Mr. Lavrov and Ms. Rice at a news conference, said that "we've leaned very far forward in this to provide assurance" that the system is not a threat.
"I would say they listened very carefully," Mr. Gates said. "President Putin took extensive notes last night and there was a lot done during the day today. That said, the full range of what we are now prepared to offer to discuss with the Russians is really just now after the day's talks being put down on paper, so the Russians will not see this until this evening. You have already heard the foreign minister positively characterize the ideas. ... Now they need to study them in greater detail. And I would expect and hope that we would hear back reasonably quickly."
Mr. Lavrov said that the two sides had "discussed contentious issues where we have not reached agreement." He also said the best way to avoid the problem "is to not set up this preferred positioning site at all."
Despite tensions over the missile defense system, Mr. Lavrov had said earlier that Moscow would do what it could to keep relations with the U.S. on an even keel as Russian President Vladimir Putin steps down this spring.
A senior U.S. official traveling with the Cabinet secretaries confirmed that the U.S. presented a document to the Russians on Monday outlining what the U.S. thinks are the main issues that define the relationship between the two nations. The official was not specific but indicated that the issues include those that have troubled the Russians the most, such as the U.S. plan for a missile shield.
During a brief greeting witnessed by reporters Monday, Mr. Putin did not mention U.S. plans for the missile shield system in Poland and the Czech Republic -- a proposition that has stoked Cold War rhetoric about an imperial U.S. meddling at Russia's doorstep.
Mr. Gates and Ms. Rice came into the talks exploring whether U.S. concessions have softened Putin's opposition to the shield system.
Ms. Rice said the two sides did agree during their talks here to set up a "joint strategic framework document" spelling out the various elements of U.S.-Russian relations.
"I, for one, have found the discussions useful. I have found them constructive," she said. Ms. Rice said she was glad the Russian side had agreed to look at the missile shield proposal "more closely."
"We have work to do," she acknowledged.
Although President Bush was expected to see Mr. Putin during a NATO summit next month, the two-day visit closes a chapter in negotiations with Mr. Putin as president.
Greeting Mr. Gates and Ms. Rice in his ornate office on Monday, Mr. Putin recalled that they had held talks last October -- a session dominated by differences over missile defense and marked by sharp rhetoric from the Russian president.
"Six months have passed and we believe that in some of these issues we can probably dot the I's and reach final agreement," Mr. Putin said.
Even before the Americans arrived, Mr. Bush had sent Mr. Putin a letter framing the discussions. Mr. Bush wanted to make sure Mr. Putin stuck to the script, and U.S. participation in the unusual session hinged on Putin's agreement.
"The president wanted to assess whether there was openness to cooperation on some of these issues that have been difficult, like missile defense," Ms. Rice told reporters afterward. "He wanted to see ... whether President Putin is really interested in pursuing progress on a number of fronts."
Copyright © 2008 Associated Press

Sony WALKMAN NWZ-A820

Sony has made a European announcement of its new media players WALKMAN NWZ-A820. They will be available in 4 color solutions (black, silver, gold and pink) and with different memory size onboard: 16 GB (NWZ-A829 can store 62 hours of video or 3800 music tracks), 8GB (NWZ-A828 holds up to 30 hours of video or 1850 music tracks) and 4GB (NWZ-A826 has enough memory for 15 hours of video or 925 tracks).
The NWZ-A820 players are equipped with 2.4” QVGA displays and support video playback at 30 fps. The series delivers extra-long battery life – 10 hours of video and 36 hours of music. There is the support of WMA, AAC, MP3 and Linear PCM audio, JPEG images, AVC (H.264/AVC) and MPEG-4 video, and Bluetooth interface.
Sony WALKMAN NWZ-A820 - NWZ-A829, NWZ-A828 and NWZ-A826 will hit European stores this April.

Duros - rugged Tablet PC supports wide temperature range (-20C to +50C)

Roper Mobile Technology has introduced its rugged Tablet PC. The Duros is built for anywhere use in a harsh environment. It will be of great help for those working in variable environment - heat, frost and rain. The Duros supports wide temperature range (-20C to +50C), being dust and waterproof. It can stand vibration and drops to concrete from 1 meter’s height.
The specs of Roper Duros:
OS - Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Embedded, Linux/DOS
CPU - AMD Geode LX 800 or Intel Celeron M 1 GHz
Display – 8.4” 800x600 pixels touchscreen, 256K colors, 32 nits
Up to 1 GB DDR SODIMM
HDD – up to 120 GB or SSD-drive up to 64 GB
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, WCDMA (optional)
GPS-receiver (optional)
Dimensions – 260x198x43 mm
Weight – 1.9 kg

Palm GSM Centro

Palm’s online store in Europe will soon start sales of a Palm Centro smartphone for GSM networks. Currently the device is available for preorder, however the company does not specify the delivery date. As for the price tag, it will make up ₤199 or €299. The CDMA Centro popped up in the US through Sprint operator last fall, and turned to be the lightest and most compact Palm’s smartphone.
Palm Centro has kept the same specs for Europe except for the cell standard:
Cell networks - GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
OS - Palm OS 5.4.9
Display – touchscreen, 320x320 pixels, 65K colors
Camera – 1.3-megapixel
Bluetooth 1.2
64 MB of user available memory
microSD-slot
Battery – Li-Ion 1150 mAh
Talk time – up to 4 hours
Standby time – up to 300 hours
Dimensions – 107.2x53.6x18.6 mm