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Quick on the heels of last year’s lusty F-Type convertible, Jaguar have just launched the even more seductive fixed-head coupe version. Essentially a road-going version of the 2011 C-X16 concept car unveiled in Frankfurt to much acclaim, the F-Type Coupe is a classy yet authentic sports car that sets out to re-assert Jaguar’s sporting credentials. Hinting at, but not openly aping, the classic 1960s Jaguar E-Type, the F-Type Coupe is lighter, quicker, stiffer and more focused than its convertible sister. Offered with three supercharged engine options including two three-litre V6 sand a five-litre V8, of which the featured mid-range 375BHP V6 F-Type S Coupe delivers the best compromise of performance, price, efficiency and handling finesse.  

Curves in the right places

Built on a light and stiff riveted aluminium frame that keeps weight reasonably light despite a full complement of safety, luxury and infotainment gadgets, the F-Type Coupe’s fixed head roof makes it 20kg lighter but more structurally rigid than the convertible version. Stretched tightly over its frame, the F-Type Coupe’s light aluminium body is an evocatively emotive design that uses few but large panels to reduce gaps for the sake of aesthetics and aerodynamics. With wide track, short overhangs long wheelbase within a compact frame to provide stability and agility, the F-Type Coupe looks hunkered down and ready to lunge forward, and looks particularly athletic with optional black alloy wheels and orange paint, as tested.

Even better looking in coupe form the F-Type’s roof flowingly arcs to a tapered fastback rear, which fluidly complements its muscularly wide shoulders and with short, stubby and ridged deck underlined by slim, horizontally long and moody rear lights, is juxtaposed to and complements the long snouty bonnet. Lusty and toned, the F-Type Coupe’s is athletic and tightly bound, but with curves in all the right places, and strikes the right chord between overtly sporty details and more voluptuous bonnet bulge and Coke-bottle hips. A fluid and sensual design that is both contemporary yet rooted in classic and evocative sports car proportions, the F-Type Coupe is a consistent, flowing and holistically balanced and integrated design.      

Snap, crackle and pop

With wide, low and hungry wire-mesh grille, front air splitter, shark-like bumper gills, side ports and bonnet extractors, the F-Type S Coupe’s powerful supercharged three-litre V6 engine sits low and is set well back in the long low-slung bonnet. With ideal within wheelbase front-mid engine weight distribution, the F-Type S Coupe drives the rear wheels via an 8-speed automatic gearbox and limited-slip differential. Developing 375BHP at 6,500rpm and 339lb/ft torque throughout 3,500-5,000rpm, the 1,594kg S Coupe rips through the 0-100km/h acceleration benchmark in 4.9-seconds and onto an electronically-governed 275km/h top speed. With an efficient direct injection engine and well-distributed gear ratios, the S Coupe returns low combined cycle 9.1L/100km fuel economy and 213g/km Carbon dioxide emissions. 

With mechanically driven Roots-type supercharger providing force induction, the S Coupe launches off-the-line with instant responsiveness and eagerly and progressively lunges through to its 6,500rpm maximum, all the while underwritten by flexibly muscular mid-range torque. Punchy, consistently surging and indefatigable on the move, the S Coupe voraciously tears through revs and dispatches 80-120km/h in just 3.1-seconds. Pulling cleanly and confidently in low revs when cruising, the S Coupe however becomes electrifyingly eager after snapping down a couple of gears and leaning hard on the throttle. With active exhausts amplifying its soundtrack, the S Coupe has a distinctly more snarling, raspy and metallic tinge to its popping, crackling, barking, growling and urgently howling repertoire, than its bassier V8-powered sisters.

Masterful maneuvers

The stiffest production Jaguar ever, the F-Type Coupe structural rigidity translates into enhanced handling precision as suspension and steering operation is less corrupted. With classic front-drive rear-drive balance and direct, quick and connected feeling steering the S Coupe feline grace and crisp nimbleness, while taut and sophisticated double wishbone suspension with intuitively active damping that firms up for corners and becomes supple for straights, the S Coupe carves corners with scalpel precision. Controlled, poised and flat through corners, the ferocious F-Type S Coupe’s big footprint and sticky rear tyres provide tenacious dry weather traction, which can be further exploited by its exacting throttle control to smoothly dial in power by corner apex to slingshot onto a straight.   

Eager through corners, the S Coupe is a masterful instrument on winding switchbacks, where its mechanical limited-slip rear differential aids traction and grip by apportioning power to the driven wheel best able to put it down. Textured and nuanced, the S Coupe’s chassis well communicates position and limits, and while wet conditions reduce grip, the S Coupe is nevertheless undaunting and rewarding — one does need smoother and more measured throttle application and a taller gear to ward off waywardness and stability control intervention. Using a traditional torque converter for smoothness early gear changes, the F-Type’s gearbox also uses locking clutches for subsequent gears for seamlessly swift shifts. Gearbox and throttle responsiveness sharpen up in ‘dynamic’ modes.

Thrilling thoroughbred

Through relentless rain and heady winds in the Spanish Aragon region, the low-slung F-Type S Coupe was unfazed, ever-ready to overtake slow traffic and faithfully stable, with automatically rising rear spoiler providing down force to keep it pinned down. With a connected driving experience, intimate cabin and evocative soundtrack, the S Coupe had a certain old world charm at the core of its high tech package. Smooth but firm riding, the S Coupe settled more concisely on rebounds from sudden crests, dips and expansion joints when in its suspension’s firmer damping sport mode during brisk drives. However, at lower urban speeds, its more default damper settings were more forgiving and pliant over lumps, bumps and cracks.

Glamorous and athletic, the F-Type S Coupe is a thoroughbred and luxurious sports car. With its fixed-head roof increasing its rigidity and reducing body flex, the S-Type Coupe benefits from excellent noise, vibration and harshness isolation, while another upshot of its fastback body is that luggage space doubles to 407 litres. With an extensive adjustable chunky contoured sports steering wheel and supportively body-hugging sports seats, driving position is relaxed and alert. While head, leg and shoulder space are comfortable, the added versatility of adjustable headrests would have been welcome. Finished with quality leathers with contrasting stitching and real metals, the classy and extensively kitted F-Type S Coupe also features ergonomic and stylishly presented dials, controls and infotainment unit. 

Specifications

Engine: 3-litre, aluminum block/head, supercharged, V6-cylinders

Bore x stroke: 84.5 x 89mm

Compression ratio: 10.5:1

Valve-train: 32-valve, DOHC, continuously variable valve timing, direct injection

Gearbox: 8-speed automatic, rear-wheel-drive, electronic limited-slip differential

Ratios: 1^st 4.714; 2^nd 3.143; 3^rd 2.106; 4^th 1.667; 5^th 1.285; 6^th 1.0; 7^th 0.839; 8^th 0.667

Final drive: 3.31

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 375 (380) [280] @ 6,500rpm

Specific power: 125.2BHP/litre

Power -to-weight ratio: 235.2BHP/tonne

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 339 (460) @ 3,500-5,000rpm

Specific torque: 153.6Nm/litre

Torque-to-weight ratio: 289Nm/tonne

0-100 km/h: 4.9 seconds

80-120km/h: 3.1 seconds

Top speed: 275km/h (electronically governed)

Fuel economy, combined: 9.1 litres/100km

Combined Carbon dioxide emissions: 213g/km

Fuel capacity: 72 litres

Length: 4,470mm

Width: 1,923mm

Height: 1,309mm

Wheelbase: 2,622mm

Track, F/R: 1,597 / 1,649mm

Boot capacity: 407 litres

Kerb weight: 1,594kg

Suspension, F&R: Double wishbone, coil springs, active dampers, stabiliser bars

Steering: Variable power assistance, hydraulic rack & pinion

Brakes, F/R: Ventilated discs, 380 / 376mm

Tyres, F/R: 255/35R20 / 295/30R20

PARIS – Young blood may hold the long-sought cure for the decline of the ageing brain, according to research which showed injections of juvenile mouse blood boosting learning and memory in older rodents, scientists said Sunday.

Multiple blood transfusions from three-month-old mice, the equivalent age of 20 to 30 years old in humans, yielded improvements in the brain structure and function of 18-month-old rodents –– about 56 to 69 in human years, a team wrote in the journal Nature Medicine.

“I think there is definitely something special within young blood that can improve many aspects of ageing,” study co-author Saul Villeda of the University of California School of Medicine in San Francisco told AFP.

“I think it is most warranted to now extend studies to ageing humans.”

Villeda and a team tested the older mice before and after the injections to compare their results in tests of learning and memory, governed by the hippocampus region of the brain.

One test measured their ability to remember cues indicating the position of hidden platforms in water, similar to having to recall physical landmarks to remember where you left your car in a parking lot –– a function that declines with age.

“Old mice administered young plasma could locate the hidden platform easier,” Villeda told AFP by e-mail.

The team also found changes in the structure of the brain –– an increase in the number of sites where neurons make connections.

“Our data demonstrate that exposure to young blood counteracts ageing at the molecular, structural, functional and cognitive levels in the aged hippocampus,” the study said.

It was not clear how long the benefits last.

Don’t try at home

The team claimed to be the first to show an effect of young blood on cognition, though other studies have demonstrated rejuvenating effects on adult stem cells.

For anyone tempted to experiment on their own, Villeda stressed the studies should be extended to humans in “a controlled” way.

“We still don’t know what doses or regimens might be needed,” he said.

“Studies to look for any potential risks are still under way and will be a consideration in moving forward in humans.”

Ageing is associated with a progressive decline in cognitive function and physical changes in the brain.

In humans and in mice, the hippocampus is particularly vulnerable to ageing.

“Considering the increase in the proportion of elderly humans, it is important to identify a means for maintaining cognitive integrity by protecting against, or even counteracting, the ageing process,” said the study.

LOS ANGELES — Many of today’s smartphones share similar features, from responsive touchscreens that let users unlock the phone with a flick of a finger, to pop-up animations that offer a shortcut to dialing a number or storing it in a digital address book.

Those similarities are at the centre of an array of patent disputes as Apple and Samsung Electronics sue each other in courts and trade offices around the world.

The companies’ most recent legal fight all but concluded on Friday, when a California jury found that Samsung copied some of Apple’s smartphone features. The panel also concluded that Apple illegally used one of Samsung’s patents in creating the iPhone 4 and 5.

All told, the jury awarded Samsung $158,400 and Apple $119 million, far less than the $2.2 billion the company sought.

Jurors were ordered to return to court Monday to continue deliberations on a minor matter that could result in a higher award for Apple.

Before determining whether the companies copied phone technologies, jurors had to consider several patents. Here’s a look at select patents and the jury’s conclusions:

Patent 5,946,647

— Official description: System and method for performing an action on a structure in computer-generated data.

— What it really means: In a mobile device, the technology described in this patent is used to display a pop-up menu of options. One example: When you highlight a phone number on the touchscreen and the software gives you a prompt of options.

The jury’s verdict: The jury found that Apple proved Samsung infringed on the patent across several mobile devices, including the Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy S III and Stratosphere.

Patent 6,847,959

— Official description: Universal interface for retrieval of information in a computer system.

— What it really means: This patent covers a process that’s similar to the function of a search engine. It enables the mobile device to access information from a variety of locations, while only listing relevant data for the user.

One of the features in the patent is a graphic interface showing a “Go-To” menu option in a text input window.

The jury’s verdict: Apple failed to prove Samsung infringed on this patent.

Patent 7,761,414

— Official description: Asynchronous data synchronisation among devices.

— What it really means: This patent involves a way to synchronise data across computers and mobile devices. In the case of a smartphone, this could apply to synchronising address books on your phone with online storage.

The jury’s verdict: Samsung did not infringe on Apple’s patent.

Patent 8,046,721

— Official description: Unlocking a device by performing gestures on an unlock image.

— What it really means: This patent refers to a way of controlling an electronic device with a touch-sensitive display. Specifically, Apple claimed Samsung infringed on a feature of the patent that describes the swipe-and-unlock feature on iPhones.

The jury’s verdict: Apple made its case that certain Samsung devices, including the Admire, Stratosphere and Galaxy Nexus, violated patents. But the panel rejected claims pertaining to Samsung’s Galaxy S II, Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch and Galaxy S II Skyrocket.

Patent 5,579,239

— Official description: Remote video transmission system.

— What it really means: Samsung’s patent describes a system for digitising, compressing and transmitting audio and visual signals and then reversing the process for broadcast.

The jury’s verdict: Apple did not infringe on a section of Samsung’s patent that covers transmitting video in real time over a cellular frequency.

Patent 6,226,449

— Official description: Apparatus for recording and reproducing digital image and speech.

— What it really means: This Samsung patent refers to the kind of dual digital camera that’s become standard in many smartphones. As described in the patent, the user is able to change the direction of the camera.

The jury’s decision: Apple infringed on Samsung’s patent on several versions of the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Kafka on the Shore 

Haruki Murakami

Translated by Philip Gabriel

New York: Vintage Books, 2006, 467 pp, $15.95

In "Kafka on the Shore", Japanese writer Haruki Murakami crisscrosses a number of genres. 

There is an unusual, haunting love story intertwined with a coming-of-age novel, both infused with elements of myth, science fiction, philosophy and multiple cultural references. 

Into a plot that alternates between fast-paced action and graduated unfolding of the key characters' consciousness, Murakami injects numerous themes and sub-themes. 

Some of these were explored by the German-language writer, Franz Kafka, whose name appears in the title: alienation, brutality, parent-child conflict, mystical transformations and characters launched on daunting quests, but others are particular to this novel. 

All have a special Murakamian, post-modern twist, such a naming two pivotal characters Johnny Walker and Colonel Saunders—perhaps a negative reference to the Americanisation of Japan. Still, while Kafka's works mainly dwell on the dark side, this novel ends on an upbeat note.

The plot shifts between two seemingly very different characters, and it takes a while before one knows what connects them. 

The first is a highly intelligent boy for whom the world of books is often more real, and certainly more desirable, than his real life. 

On his fifteenth birthday, he assumes the pseudonym, Kafka, and decides to run away from his home in Tokyo, which has been rendered loveless by his mother's and sister's departure a decade before, but he is haunted by his father's dire Oedipal prediction that the boy will murder him, and sleep with his mother and sister. 

When Kafka finds refuge and a job of sorts at a private library in another town, recurring dreams keep his apprehension alive, although he cherishes the rekindled memories of his mother they bring. 

As Miss Saeki, the library director, says, "Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart." (p. 389) Kafka is horrified that he will be implicated by what he dreams, referring to the words of Yeats: "In dreams begin responsibilities." (p. 204) A main theme in the novel is Kafka learning to conquer his fears and be himself. 

Part of Murakami's art lies in not revealing everything at once. Kafka doesn't know why his mother left; nor does he explain why he must escape from his father's domain. 

It is only later on, from the other strain of the plot, the story of the old man, Nakata, that the reader understands why. 

In contrast to Kafka, Nakata cannot read or engage in abstract thinking. Once a bright child, Nakata's memory was totally erased in a bizarre incident towards the end of World War II. 

But he has other skills; he can talk to cats, and his self-appointed task of finding people's lost cats leads him to Kafka's father and reveals the man's true nature. Unwittingly, Nakata embarks on a daring mission that feeds into an even greater one. 

He succeeds with the help of a truck driver, Hoshino. Bored with his life, Hoshino initially pities Nakata, but he becomes fascinated by his unique qualities, and sticks with him to the very end. 

Kafka's running away and Nakata's undertaking are parallel quests that never intersect physically but interlock on a metaphysical and moral level. If one has read other of Murakami's novels, it will come as no surprise that "Kafka on the Shore" contains parallel worlds and many bizarre occurrences. 

These fantasy devices are not just for show but most often convey major themes — fate vs. free will, the drive for freedom, and the role of memory and imagination in assigning human responsibility. 

Underneath all the enchanting, surreal trappings, this is a story about very basic, if complex, human needs—the need for love and acceptance, for meaning in life, for freedom to be oneself. 

The whole story could be reduced to a treatise on causality and the interconnection between all things, but who would want to reduce it? The specific details, locations and characters are mesmerising.

With an uncanny ability to draw the reader into the characters' minds, Murakami subtly packs many messages into this complex novel. 

Nakata's situation serves to highlight that the skills required to cope in the modern world are not the only important ones. It also blurs the distinction between the human and animal kingdoms, and posits the former as the more aggressive of the two. 

The reader sees Hoshino acquiring a taste for classical music, suggesting that all people, not just intellectuals, have cultural propensities. 

Finally, many events in the story add up to a powerful indictment of violence of all forms. 

Sally Bland

PARIS — Curbing smoking and drinking, salt intake, high blood pressure, high blood sugar and obesity can prevent more than 37 million premature deaths by 2025, according to an analysis published on Saturday.

If globally adopted targets for reducing these risk factors are met, the risk of dying prematurely from heart or lung disease, stroke, cancer or diabetes will fall by 22 per cent in men and 19 per cent for women in 2025, compared with 2010, a team of researchers wrote in The Lancet medical journal.

“Worldwide, this improvement is equivalent to delaying or preventing at least 16 million deaths in people aged 30-70 years and 21 million in those aged 70 years or older over 15 years,” they said.

The targets are to reduce tobacco use by 30 per cent, alcohol consumption by 10 per cent, salt intake by 30 per cent, high blood pressure by 25 per cent, and to halt the rise in the prevalence of obesity and diabetes.

A more ambitious 50 per cent reduction in smoking by 2025 would reduce the risk by more than 24 per cent in men and by 20 per cent in women, wrote the team.

They used national population data and epidemiological models for their calculations.

“Most of the benefits will be seen in low-income and middle-income countries where as many as 31 million deaths could be prevented,” said co-author Majid Ezzati from Imperial College London.

Not reaching the targets would result in 38.8 million premature deaths in 2025 alone — 10.5 million more than in 2010, the team said.

Premature mortality is defined for the purposes of the study as the probability of dying between the ages of 30 and 70.

The United Nations is targeting a 25-per cent reduction in premature death from non-communicable diseases from 2010 to 2025.

This group of diseases is caused in large part by unhealthy lifestyles, including tobacco use, physical inactivity, the harmful use of alcohol and unhealthy diets.

SAN MATEO, United States — While major videogame makers place sure bets on sequels to blockbuster titles, Sony is working with independent studios to bring sassy new titles to the PlayStation platform.

Sony excitedly showed off nearly two dozen new “indie” games including “nidhogg” and “The Witness” last week at its PlayStation campus in the Silicon Valley city of San Mateo.

“For us it is a big thing to cherish and help the crazy ideas and risky stuff flourish,” PlayStation vice president of developer relations Adam Boyes told AFP during the advance peak at the games.

“It is like science experiments; new ideas with clever themes and solid game mechanics.”

Some of the entertainingly zany spins that independent developers put on play grab the interest of major studios behind blockbuster franchises, with each side influencing the other, according to Boyes.

Independent games tend to be the work of small teams, sometimes as lean as a single developer working on a project in spare time.

The creations often play into modern lifestyles that seize on bite-sized games that can be enjoyed in short bursts during breaks in a day instead of the hours-long immersion sought in blockbuster video games.

“It’s new, fresh stuff,” Boyes said. “If we were only limited to what big publishers made, there would be fewer games.”

Games are consistently the most popular applications on smartphones and tablets.

A proud home cook, Boyes lovingly compared the boom in independent games to the food truck movement in which entrepreneurial chefs put gourmet spins on street cuisine.

“A food truck allows someone with a three-person team to make great meals in ways that are more scrappy and agile than restaurants,” Boyes said.

There are more than a thousand independent game studios signed up to put their creations on the PlayStation platform as part of a self-publishing programme launched about two years ago.

There are more than 100 independent games in development for new-generation PlayStation 4 consoles, which Sony has sold more than seven million of since they launched in November.

“Sony Computer Entertainment is an immense supporter of the indie movement within the game industry and is constantly collecting feedback on how to make things easier for developers,” SCE president Andrew House said last month while rolling out a new set of tools for developers.

Independent horror survival game “Outlast” has been downloaded more than 1.8 million times for play on PS 4 consoles, and a “Don’t Starve” title has seen a million downloads in what Boyes touted as the tremendous success small studios are having on the platform.

Independent developers are also putting their creative energies to work on titles for play on Sony’s Vita handheld devices.

Sony in 2009 launched a publishers fund to support promising independent game makers and has not disclosed how much it has spent on the programme.

There have been 21 self-published titles on PS4, and the games have generated eight million “spectating” sessions in which fans watched people play, according to Sony.

WASHINGTON — As club sandwiches go, this undoubtedly is the biggest one in the solar system.

Scientists said on Friday that Jupiter’s moon Ganymede may possess ice and liquid oceans stacked up in several layers much like the popular multilayered sandwich. They added that this arrangement may raise the chances that this distant icy world harbours life.

NASA’s Galileo spacecraft flew by Ganymede in the 1990s and confirmed the presence of an interior ocean, also finding evidence for salty water perhaps from the salt known as magnesium sulphate.

Ganymede, which with its diameter of about 5,300km, is the largest moon in the solar system and is bigger than the planet Mercury.

A team of scientists performed computer modelling of Ganymede’s ocean, taking into account for the first time how salt increases the density of liquids under the type of extreme conditions present inside Ganymede. 

Their work followed experiments in the laboratory that simulated such salty seas.

While earlier research suggested a routine “sandwich” arrangement in which there is ice at the surface, then a layer of liquid water and another layer of ice on the bottom, this new study indicated there might be more layers than that.

Steve Vance, an astrobiologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, said the arrangement might be like this: at the top, a layer of ice on the moon’s surface, with a layer of water below that, then a second layer of ice, another layer of water underneath that, then a third layer of ice, with a final layer of water at the bottom above the rocky seafloor.

“That would make it the largest club sandwich in the solar system,” Vance said in a telephone interview. 

Ganymede boasts a lot of water, perhaps 25 times the volume of Earth’s oceans. Its oceans are estimated to be about 800km deep.

With enough salt, liquid water on Ganymede could become so dense that it sinks to the very bottom, the researchers said. That means water may be sloshing on top of rock, a situation that may foster conditions suitable for the development of microbial life.

Some scientists suspect that life first formed on Earth in bubbling thermal vents on the ocean floor.

“Our understanding of how life came about on Earth involves the interaction between water and rock. This [research] provides a stronger possibility for those kinds of interactions to take place on Ganymede,” added Vance, whose study was published in the journal Planetary and Space Science.

Ganymede is one of five moons in the solar system thought to have oceans hidden below icy surfaces. Two other moons, Europa and Callisto, orbit the big gas planet Jupiter. The moons Titan and Enceladus circle the ringed gas planet Saturn.

“We’re providing a more realistic view into ocean structure in Ganymede’s interior. We’re showing that the salinity has a tangible effect on the ocean,” Vance said.

WASHINGTON – In the online world of sharing and “likes”, the recommendations of friends, family and even strangers turn out to have real, measurable value.

Positive online recommendations can boost the price consumers are willing to pay by an average 9.5 per cent, found a study released Tuesday claiming to be the first of its kind.

Negative recommendations meanwhile can reduce the likelihood of purchasing a product or service by up to 11 per cent, said the study commissioned by the social data company ShareThis and The Paley Centre for Media.

The study highlights the theoretical value of sharing on social media instead of the actual impact on prices.

Kurt Abrahamson, chief executive of ShareThis, said the findings are nonetheless significant in measuring the value of online sharing –– such as clicking the “like” button on Facebook, sharing a link to a product or posting a review on rating websites.

“This is the first time someone has tried to quantify the value of recommendations and sharing,” Abrahamson told AFP.

“If you are able to generate positive buzz, it does have a significant value.”

The study, to be released at a conference in New York on Wednesday, indicates that online recommendations influence consumer purchases more than price and brand, and carry nearly as much weight as face-to-face recommendations.

“There’s no question consumers are actively looking online for recommendations and content to help them decide what to buy,” said Abrahamson.

“We’ve all known that social sharing is important, but it’s been difficult to measure its impact on consumer spending –– until now.”

A key finding is that positive online recommendations enable manufacturers and retailers to charge more.

The impact can range from less than a dollar for grocery items to around $30 for technology products and upwards of $9,000 for an automobile.

The report examined several types of online sharing, including personal recommendations via e-mail or social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn; recommendations of websites like Yelp; in-person or face-to-face recommendations; and professional reviews.

Abrahamson said the message from the study is that brands and marketers should make it easy to share online, and draw from the social world to help promote their products.

But he added that companies should be cautious about trying to manipulate reviews and shared content. 

“The voice still needs to be authentic,” he said.

“You need to provide the channels for consumers to share, but if you try to manipulate it too much, it runs the risk of creating a backlash.”

SAN JOSE, California — It was Apple versus Samsung but Google loomed large Tuesday during closing arguments at the month-long federal trial involving claims of patent infringement exchanged by the world’s two largest smartphone makers.

A lawyer for Apple accused Samsung of “slavishly” copying key features of its iPhone and iPad products and demanded $2.2 billion in damages.

An attorney for Samsung denied the allegations and argued that its Google-developed software differs from Apple’s operating system.

In his closing argument, lawyer William Price referred to an email from Apple founder Steve Jobs indicating that he had ordered employees to wage a “holy war” against Google and its Android system, believing it was a rip-off of Apple’s operating system.

Price said that was the sole reason Apple filed the lawsuit against Samsung.

“We don’t think we owe Apple a nickel,” added John Quinn, one of four Samsung lawyers involved in the company’s closing argument.

Quinn also said Apple wants to monopolize the industry.

“They want to attack Google and Android by attacking the most successful Android maker,” he said.

Apple lawyer Harold McElhinny told jurors that Samsung’s “illegal strategy has been wildly successful” and insisted that Google had nothing to do with the case.

“Despite all the times Samsung mentioned it, you will not find a single question about Google in your jury form,” McElhinny said. “Google is not a defendant in this case.”

Google spokesman Matt Kallman declined comment on the proceedings.

The four men and four women on the jury began deliberating later in the day.

The case marks the latest legal fight between Samsung and Apple as each tries to dominate the $330 billion annual market for smartphones.

Samsung has captured about 31 per cent of the smartphone market while Apple retains a 15 per cent share.

A different jury in San Jose presiding over a previous trial regarding older technology ordered Samsung to pay Apple $930 million. Samsung has appealed that ruling.

Google may not be a defendant in the current trial, but evidence introduced by Apple attorneys showed the Internet search giant has agreed to reimburse Samsung if the South Korean company is ordered to pay damages on two of the five patents at issue.

In addition, Samsung lawyers called three Google engineers to the witness stand to testify.

The trial involves five Apple patents that the company accuses Samsung of using to create nine newer smartphones and a tablet. The features in question include slide-to-lock, universal searching, quick linking, background syncing and automatic word correction.

Samsung, meanwhile, has alleged that Apple infringed two of its patents related to camera use and video transmission. Samsung is seeking $6.2 million in damages.

Jobs, who died in 2011, is a Silicon Valley legend revered for launching Apple in his family’s garage in 1976. The Cupertino headquarters of the tech giant is a 15-mile (25-kilometre) drive from the San Jose federal courthouse where the patent case is playing.

Prospective jurors were closely questioned before the trial about connections and views about Apple, which employs about 80,000 workers worldwide.

Breaking up is hard to do. Several artists like Paul Anka, Tom Jones, Carpenters and Gloria Estefan have, over the years, sang this Neil Sedaka number that was first released in1962.  At various intervals, it was declared as the “most requested song” of the decade. And more than fifty years down the line, one can understand why. The rhythm, music, lyrics and tune have withstood the test of time. 

Breaking up might be difficult, but making new friends is the easiest thing to do these days. Especially in the virtual world!  The social networking sites have opened the floodgates and suddenly, there is a deluge of acquaintances. People who have known me as a toddler in diapers, a skinny schoolgirl, a rebellious teenager, a young bride, a hyper mother and a reluctant bookclubber, have all, sort of, appeared together. To claim me, that is. 

Virtual world is a most uneasy place. It is not easy to define also because it is so full of contradictions. Look at the definitions of “virtual” provided by the numerous dictionaries. Very close to being something without actually being it, says one of them. Something that has the appearance and behaviour of the real thing but is not actually the real thing, says another.  Existing in essence or effect but not in actual fact, form or name, reiterates yet another one. Present in the mind, as a product of the imagination, offers the thesaurus. 

Going by this explanation, all things virtual, whether friends, conversations or communities, are entirely imaginary.

So, if we know the reality of the unreality, so to speak, why are so many people hooked onto this artificial space? It is like the most philosophical of questions: Day after day countless people die, yet the living beings wish to live forever? Why? And what can be a greater wonder than that? 

These and many such queries plague me every time I get one more friend request on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest or Instagram. Then there is Flickr, ClassMates and Tagged where folks also keep inviting me. I mean, hardly a day goes by when complete strangers do not inundate me with invites or entreaties. 

Where do all these people come from? It is almost as if whomever I have ever met or interacted with, since I was born into this whole wide world, has discovered me on social networking sites.  It’s crazy but true. For a shy and reticent person like me, this is overwhelming stuff. 

People who have resisted joining it do not understand the magnetic pull that it can exercise over even the sanest of us. It is when cyberspace threatens to take over real life that one has to take stock of the situation. 

My husband is not on Facebook and the other day I wanted to show him some pictures our daughter had posted on my wall. 

“You have seven hundred friends!” spouse exclaimed.

“Six hundred and ninety eight actually,” I clarified. 

 “Who is Yun Che?” he asked

“I don’t know, please see the photographs,” I tried to change the subject.

“Is that name for real? And, Happy Kaur?” he continued.

“‘No idea, you want to see the images or not?” I frowned.

“You don’t recognise your own friends?” my husband was zapped.

“Yes, er, no,” I muttered. 

 “What did you say?” he probed. 

 “Breaking up is hard to do,” I sang.

 “You are crazy,” he smiled.

“No, er, yes,” I smiled back.