Boeing 737

Boeing [NYSE: BA] on July 17 delivered the second production P-8A Poseidon aircraft to the U.S. Navy. The P-8A is one of 13 low rate initial production (LRIP) maritime patrol aircraft that Boeing is building for the Navy as part of two contracts awarded in 2011.

Navy pilots flew the P-8A from Seattle to Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., where the first LRIP P-8A is being used for aircrew training.

“We’re proud to be able to meet our commitment and deliver another Poseidon to the fleet,” said Chuck Dabundo, Boeing vice president and P-8 program manager. “Navy crews have had a couple of months of training with the first plane, and their feedback has been positive.”

Three P-8As currently are undergoing mission systems installation and checkout in Seattle, and three are in final assembly in Renton, Wash. In order to efficiently design and build P-8A aircraft for the Navy and P-8I aircraft for India, the Boeing-led team is using a first-in-industry, in-line production process that draws on the company’s Next-Generation 737 production system. All aircraft modifications are made in sequence during fabrication and assembly.

Overall, the Navy plans to purchase 117 of the Boeing 737-based P-8A anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft to replace its P-3 fleet.

As part of the two LRIP contracts, Boeing is providing aircrew and maintenance training for the Navy, in addition to logistics support, spares, support equipment and tools. Separate from the LRIP contracts, Boeing was awarded a System Development and Demonstration contract in 2004 to build and test six flight-test and two ground-test P-8A aircraft. The flight test aircraft have completed more than 600 sorties and 2,800 flight hours, mainly at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md.

Facebook Phone

Mark Zuckerberg is working on putting a Facebook phone into the hands of the 350 million users who access the social network via their mobiles each month.

Days after its $16bn (£10.2bn) roller-coaster share sale, Facebook is preparing to take on Google and Apple by creating its own handset and the software to operate it, according to a string of reports from Silicon Valley to Taiwan.

The social network has hired former Apple software and hardware engineers, and one who worked on the iPad, the New York Timesreported. Employees and engineers approached by recruiters say the company hopes to release its own smartphone next year.

Facebook chief technology officer Bret Taylor is said to be leading the project, and the new recruits will expand a group working with Taiwanese phone manufacturer HTC on a project codenamed Buffy – a reference to the vampire slayer TV series.

News of the Buffy phone first emerged in November. It is expected, like Amazon's Kindle reader, to run on a customised version of Android, according to Digitimes.

Facebook could be looking to stake Google, which dominates the budget end of the smartphone market with its Android software. Google last week won approval for a $12.5bn takeover of Motorola Mobility, which could see the software company designing its own handsets.

Zuckerberg is worried that if he does not create a mobile phone soon Facebook will simply become an app on other mobile platforms, a Facebook employee said.

Facebook has been assembling the elements needed to create a phone. Besides its alliance with HTC, it is to launch its own app store, where phone versions of Pinterest, Spotify and other websites with links to Facebook will be spotlighted, rated and available for download.

Facebook already has a camera app and is about to own another, once its $1bn purchase of the 18-month-old photo sharing site Instagram is complete. It also has an instant messaging service, like Apple's iMessage and BlackBerry's BBM. The company was reported on Friday to be in talks to acquire a web browser. Gadget site Pocket-lint said Facebook had set its sights on the Norwegian firm Opera Software, which has developed internet browsers for mobile phones and desktop computers.

"They are not doing a phone to enter the devices market," said Carolina Milanesi at research firm Gartner. "If they do a phone they will have to embed Facebook and Instagram at the core of the device, learning from every click the users does."

Motorola and HTC have already made phones with a Facebook button. The HTC ChaCha, a BlackBerry style handset, lets users share music, photos and updates by pressing the keyboard's F button.

A phone would allow Zuckerberg more control over customers and make for less dependence on Google and Apple.

While Microsoft has integrated Facebook features, Apple has been less welcoming. A Facebook spokeswoman referred to a statement on the company's mobile strategy: "We're working across the entire mobile industry; with operators, hardware manufacturers, OS providers, and application developers."

London Eye is going to see Olympic Flame

i wish i was there when Olympiic Flame reach London Eye.The Olympic Flame spends its 2nd day in london on Sunday 22nd  July, 

Before the Relay gets underway, the Flame will pay a visit to the EDF Energy London Eye where Amelia Hempleman-Adams, who at the age of 16 became the youngest person to ski to the South Pole, will hold it on top of a capsule on the London Eye.The Relay will then begin from Redbridge Cycling Centre, carried by Luke Benjafield, 20 from South woodford, nominated for his dedication to the Air Training Corps 241 squadron.Traveling through the London Boroughs of Redbridge, Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Bexley, Torchbearers will include Olympic Rower Ben Hunt-Davies, world heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis and 17 year old Aimee Sell nominated for her dedication to her sport of karate despite losing her sight at the age of eight. Lewis ,as the final Torchbearer of the day,  will carry the Olympic Flame on to the stage to light the celebration cauldron at the Evening Celebration in Danson Park in Bexley.The Evening Celebration will feature a variety of entertainment staged by LOCOG and the three Presenting Partners of the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay – Coca-Cola, Lloyds TSB and Samsung – with support from the London Borough of Bexley. it will be fun in London Olympics.