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BGRand found it to be a gorgeous smartphone that was being held back by the Windows Phone app ecosystem, or lack thereof. It has been more than six months since the handset launched and sadly things dont seem to have gotten any better. The , while it is a bit thick and heavy, is a beautiful device that can surely hold its own with the iPhone and top Android smartphones on the design level. It is Windows Phones app selection that still ultimately falls short, however.

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Ive spent the last two weeks toying around with the Lumia 920 and the Windows Phone 8 platform. Microsofts Metro user interface is very refreshing and an interesting approach compared with those taken by Android and iOS. The continuously updating Live Tiles notified me when I was mentioned on Twitter or if a friend replied to me on Facebook. Notifications are simple enough,althoughI found myself yearning for a pull down menu and quick settings similar to Android and iOS.

Windows Phone 8 is responsive, even outperforming my aging Galaxy Nexus with day-to-day tasks, and the Lumia 920s PureView camera is to die for. To be honest, I was relatively happy with the platform until it came time to use the device in a more social setting.

One of my friends was excited when he saw that I had a new phone, asking what it was and what it could do. He loved the feel of the device and thought the Live Tiles were really interesting. The trouble came, however, when he asked about apps.

Does it have Instagram, he asked. What about SnapChat or HBO Go?

I told him about some alternative apps but his interest was waning, and it got me questioning about how I felt about Windows Phone. I have this incredible camera but no way of sharing images with friends on Instagram, no way to watch my favorite movies and TV shows on HBO and to share silly pictures onSnapChat.

I slowly began to notice that even more of my favorite apps were missing, such as Dropboxand Seamless, and it became clear to me that the Windows Phone ecosystem has not improved. What does Windows Phone offer that Android or iOS dont? The answer is not much. Sure, the Lumia 920 has an incredible camera but with no apps it becomes impossible to share pictures on a widely used photo platform.

Dont get me wrong, Windows Phone isnt all bad when it comes to apps. Nokias HERE City Lens was extremely helpful when I moved into my new apartment and was looking for nearby business, and HERE Maps is a nice alternative to the Google Maps I have come to know and love. Windows Phone still has potential but until Microsoft gets more developers onboard, the platform is not a viable alternative to Android or the iPhone.

This article was

The credit, a key lifeline for the nascent wind power industry, was caught up in fiscal cliff negotiations in the U.S. Congress at the end of last year, and for a time it was unclear whether it would be renewed. Congress renewed it shortly after the new year began.

The tax break provides an income tax credit of 2.2 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity produced by utility-scale wind turbines, helping it compete with power generated from cheap fossil fuels like coal and natural gas.

One gigawatt of power is enough energy to power 139,000 homes.

The uncertainty of the credit's renewal had weighed heavily on GE's sales, and some customers had curtailed wind projects late last year and in early January.

Weak power demand is also harming wind turbine sales.

GE's competitors in the wind turbine sector include Vestas Wind Systems A/S , Siemens AGand Gamesa Wind Corp.

(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Jets cut quarterback Tim Tebow on Monday, ending his ill-conceived stint in the Big Apple and leaving one of the most hyped players in the National Football League (NFL) facing an uncertain future.

The Jets notified Tebow of their decision to waive him after just one season at a voluntary team workout on Monday morning.

"We have a great deal of respect for Tim Tebow," Jets' head coach Rex Ryan said in a statement. "Unfortunately, things did not work out the way we all had hoped.

"Tim is an extremely hard worker, evident by the shape he came back in this offseason. We wish him the best moving forward."

The decision to release Tebow came just two days after the Jets acquired West Virginia University quarterback Geno Smith at the 78th annual NFL Draft.

The Jets already had five quarterbacks, including former first-round draft pick Mark Sanchez, who struggled so badly last season that he lost his starting spot, prompting speculation that someone had to go.

It was little surprise that it was Tebow, who won the Heisman Trophy as most outstanding U.S. college football player in 2007, that got the chop.

His tenure with the Jets was brief and hugely unsuccessful, both for him and the team. One New York newspaper described it as a circus.

Tebow, a devout Christian whose public displays of religiosity polarized public opinion, did not make any public comment about his axing but did post a Bible verse on his Twitter account.

"Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding...in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight," he tweeted.

CULT FIGURE

Tebow had previously been with Denver, taking the Broncos on an improbable run to the 2011 playoffs, despite criticism and reservations about his ability as a passer.

He had quickly become a cult figure. Deeply religious and with a clean-cut image, he became a magnet for sponsors, signing a range of massive endorsement deals, which earned him an estimated $4 million a year.

His jerseys were among the biggest sellers in the NFL and his trademark touchdown celebration, where he kneeled down in prayer, became known as "Tebowing."

In early 2012, the Broncos signed future Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning after he had become a free agent, and traded Tebow to the Jets.

The Jets said they planned to use Tebow on special teams and 'wildcat' plays, as a complement to Sanchez, but the experiment failed and Tebow-Mania never quite took off in the New York.

Tebow, 25, spent most of each game stuck on the bench and the Jets, who missed the playoffs, were ridiculed for acquiring him and not playing him when Sanchez struggled.

Tebow's immediate future remains uncertain. Most NFL pundits said he was unlikely to be claimed in the short term because of his high salary, but once he clears waivers, he would be able to sign with any team as a free agent.

He had previously linked with the Jacksonville Jaguars, his hometown team, but the Jaguars had ruled that out. Other teams have said they might interested in him, in a different position from quarterback.

FINANCIALLY SECURE

Another option could be the Canadian Football League, although he would not be guaranteed a starting spot there either.

"If he wants to come to Canada he would be in the same situation as the one he was in with New York," Jim Popp, the general manager of the CFL's Montreal Alouettes, told TSN.

Financially, Tebow's future looks secure. Of his five corporate sponsors, three did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and two said they were undeterred by the quarterback's departure from the Jets.

" is not based solely on football and Tim exceeds his status as a football player," said Steve Wymer, a spokesperson for TiVo.

"Hopefully he'll have a better season this coming year than he did last year, since this clearly this has been a crazy season with the NY Jets."

Lan Kennedy-Davis, the chief executive of SOUL electronics, said her company was "100 percent behind Tim Tebow regardless of his team."

"We support Tim, we like Tim, and he's our ambassador because he stands for greatness - not just in football but in what he does in his life," she said.

(Additional reporting by Atossa Abrahamian in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue)

In reference to the upcoming elections, President Obiang stated, "We have celebrated the reform of our constitution and successive municipal, legislative, and presidential elections to form political institutions with the participation of all of our citizens. We welcome this historic upcoming election to bring elected voices into our localities and new Senate."

"As I have stated in the past, we have much more to do in terms of electoral reform. We know our task is not easy and we have a long way to go, because this is about developing a country that started from little. It is about changing mindsets rooted in underdevelopment, and banishing habits that are opposed to modern development, such as tribalism, political opportunism. These elections are part of that change and are about building a strong foundation for our developing and proud nation.

"The U.S. Department of State noted our legislative elections of 2008 were 'peaceful, orderly, and improved.' We are building upon this record.

"We are surprised that international non-governmental organizations have criticized us while we work to improve systems and involve more citizens in the electoral process These organizations have challenged us without offering support or assistance for building our civic society. Our most vocal critics have not even bothered to spend time witnessing our progress or working with our people to make positive change.

"The vast growth and change in Equatorial Guinea is for the Guineans who live in and contribute to Guinea. We are making progress for all of our people."

About Equatorial GuineaThe() is the only Spanish-speaking country in Africa, and one of the smallest nations on the continent. In the late-1990s, American companies helped discover the country's oil and natural gas resources, which only within the last five years began contributing to the global energy supply.The country hosted the 2011 Summit of the African Union. For more information, visit .

SOURCE Republic of Equatorial Guinea

Over the weekend, the Syrian Electronic Army, a mysterious collection of hackers who support embattled President Bashar al-Assad, took control of several Twitter accounts belonging to The Guardian and its staffers.

— The Guardian (@guardian)

"We will keep hacking #Twitter accounts and cause for you problems if you keep suspending our accounts #SEA," one tweet from a Guardian account, since deleted, .

The BBC, NPR, CBS, and the Associated Press have all been  in recent weeks. Most notably, the SAE claimed credit for sending alast week that claimed President Obama had been wounded in an attack on the White House. That tweet sent stock markets tumbling, albeit briefly, as investors scrambled to verify whether bombs had, in fact, erupted in the White House.

Formed in 2011, the SAE has a nebulous relationship with the Assad regime. The SAEas "a group of enthusiastic Syrian youths who could not stay passive towards the massive distortion of facts about the recent uprising in Syria."

However, there's little hard evidence to tie the group directly to Assad. One researcher who has followed the SAE since its inceptionit clearly seemed like the two had some link, though he cautioned that the relationship was mostly one of "tacit support." 

While social media has increasingly played a role as unrest continues in the Middle East, the SAE is unique in that it is working to defend the government, not to topple it.

From the :

But unlike Tunisia, Egypt and Libya — whose former regimes were caught badly off guard — Assad's government has been fighting back. It has created an increasingly rambunctious group of counter-revolutionary hackers. These hackers have a twin function: To punish western news organizations seen as critical of Syria's regime, and to spread Damascus's alternative narrative. This says that the war in Syria isn't a popular uprising against a brutal, despotic family-military dynasty but rather an attempt by Islamist terrorists to turn Syria into a crazy al Qaeda fiefdom. []

And as The Guardian itselfin acknowledging it had been hacked, reporters there have frequently covered alleged crimes committed by the Assad regime, and even published leaked e-mails from his close advisers.

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"I'm devastated in a way because of Tony. I wanted to be the brightest student in the class," Wynonna told Access Hollywood's Shaun Robinson following the elimination show in Los Angeles on Tuesday. "So, it's a real roller coaster ride."

Adding, "Everybody was nervous today and Andy [Dick] was beside himself. I think we all were and that's part of the game."

While many fans were shocked by the pair's elimination, the 48-year-old artist said she had an inkling it was coming.

"I had a feeling called an intuition. I just did, I don't know how to explain it," she said. "Just when a woman knows... I think we just both kind of knew.

"I accept it," she continued. "I know that I was in over my head, in some ways. But I tried and I faced one of my biggest fears -- and that has to matter somewhere."

Tony said he and Wynonna have become great friends throughout their short time together and will stay in touch.

"The most important thing is our journey together, the fact we became extremely close friends," Tony told Shaun. "Her family means a lot to me and my family means a lot to her now. And this is awesome."

"Dancing with the Stars" continues on Monday at 8/7c on ABC.

Copyright 2013 by . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Leather, fur and kimono-like draped fabric met in bold fusion on Thursday as designer Hiroko Koshino showed off skills honed through decades of rivalry with her two sisters, both also designers in a fashion family spanning several generations.

Koshino's collection, "Floral Memories," was a highlight of the final days of Japan Fashion Week, showing the autumn and winter collections of 2013-14, which ends this week.

Koshino, at 76 one of Japan's more enduring internationally known designers, featured flowers and combined her characteristic look of draped and folded fabrics recalling traditional kimonos and centuries-old textile patterns with accents of sequins and pink.

Short, sheath-like dresses in bright colors were paired with quilting, leather and touches of fur. She accentuated loose gray dresses with elbow-length leather gloves and epaulets.

"I wanted to consider what's beautiful in the world, and that's flowers. My version of flowers isn't romantic but rather a vision of art," she said in an interview.

"I wanted to give the clothing the suggestion of flower buds swelling, draping and rounded at the shoulders."

Koshino is the eldest of three daughters. Her father, a tailor, died in World War Two and she was raised by her mother, who ran a clothing store. Her bent towards fashion was encouraged by her mother, who fostered a competitive atmosphere at home.

All three girls - Hiroko, Junko and Michiko Koshino - became famous in the fashion industry, with Junko developing strong ties with China and Michiko basing herself in London. They were the subject of a TV series on Japanese broadcaster NHK that ran from 2011 to 2012.

Koshino's daughter Yuma is also a designer and will be showing her Yuma Koshino brand on March 22.

ASIAN INFLUENCE

"It's always Asian with me. This is an idiosyncrasy of mine," Koshino said. "But I try for a new fusion of East and West."

Asia has been a key theme of the week, with designers taking aim at Chinese consumers who have become the world's leading buyers of luxury goods, accounting for a quarter of the market globally, according to a report by consulting firm Bain & Co.

Although growth in China slowed last year, Bain is still forecasting growth of 4 percent to 6 percent a year for the global luxury market through 2015. It grew 10 percent in 2012 to about $280 billion, mainly driven by Chinese consumers.

Earlier in the week, Chinese-born Vivienne Tam presented a collection that fused Asian influences with modern styles with lots of reds reminiscent of the vermilion of traditional China.

"I was inspired by the conceptual underpinnings of the punk movement," she said in a statement. "Questioning the status quo and celebrating individuality but also uniting in our cultural identities, embracing paradox and life's essence: yin and yang."

Red dresses with inserts of leather fell straight from the shoulder, while others bore cartoonish prints. Jackets with a hint of a military cut were paired with slender black trousers.

Leather also featured prominently, whether in red or black leather shirts or black leather lines as accents on dresses.

(Editing by Doina Chiacu)

ZURICH (Reuters) - Strong first-quarter results are likely to ensure UBSwins shareholder backing for its pay plans at a meeting on Thursday, though a $26 million signing-on award for investment bank chief Andrea Orcel is bound to attract criticism.

Former Bundesbank president Axel Weber, who has been chairman of the Swiss bank for the past year, will have the job of handling any opposition. And some of it could be personal, after he pocketed 4 million Swiss francs ($4.3 million) for joining, on top of his basic pay and an award of UBS shares.

Fed up with corporate excess, Swiss voters pushed through some of the strictest controls on executive pay this year, including the introduction of binding shareholder votes on compensation from next year.

"Chairman Weber talks of a new corporate culture and that managers should set an example, but he himself is taking eight million Swiss francs," retail investor Brigitta Moser-Harder, who has campaigned against UBS bonuses, told Reuters.

Banker pay and bonuses have become hot topics across Europe since the financial crisis, when a string of major banks including UBS had to be bailed out by taxpayers.

Earlier this month, shareholders at Julius Baerrejected the Swiss private bank's pay plan, while a sizable minority of investors were critical of a move by Credit Suisseto issue new shares to pay staff bonuses.

A $2.3 billion loss due to a rogue-trading scandal and a record $1.5 billion fine for its part in a global interest rate rigging scandal have singled UBS out for opprobrium.

Last year, over a third of shareholders rejected the bank's pay plans and only the thinnest of majorities approved the performance of the board and management.

This time round, opposition is likely to be more muted after first-quarter results signaled UBS's plans to scale back its investment bank and focus on private banking are paying off.

Shareholder advisory group ISS has also recommended backing UBS's pay plan.

However, individual investors are certain to berate the board for what they see as an alarming asymmetry between UBS's 2.51 billion-franc loss for 2012 and its 2.5 billion bonus pool.

ISS has also warned UBS needs to introduce bonus caps for top executives next year, and that if it does not, it will strongly consider a recommendation to vote against its pay plan.

Unlike other European lenders with investment banking divisions such as HSBCand Barclays , UBS does not have a fixed ratio between bonuses and base salary for executive directors and is instead waiting for Europe to finalize rules on banker bonuses before making any changes.

From January 2014, banker bonuses in Europe will be limited to a maximum two-and-a-half times base salary.

UBS has halved the immediate cash bonuses to executive board members to $1 million and lengthened the deferral period for bonuses in UBS shares. It can also claw back bonuses.

($1 = 0.9290 Swiss francs)

(Additional reporting by Christopher Vellacott; Editing by Carmel Crimmins and Mark Potter)

Matt Kenseth and Joe Gibbs Racing were no exception, getting hit with one of the largest penalties in NASCAR history Wednesday after the engine from Kenseth's race-winning car at Kansas failed a post-race inspection. The team had nothing to do with the error, and manufacturer Toyota immediately accepted responsibility for one of eight connecting rods failing to meet the minimum weight requirement by 3 grams less than an empty envelope.

"We take full responsibility for this issue with the engine. JGR is not involved in the process of selecting parts or assembling the Cup Series engines," Toyota Racing Development President Lee White said.

It's been a busy season for NASCAR discipline. In February, Nationwide Series driver Jeremy Clements was suspended after an apparently insensitive remark to an MTV blogger and Denny Hamlin was fined $25,000 for criticizing the new Gen-6 race car.

But in the past week, NASCAR has levied more than $450,000 in fines, suspended nearly a dozen crew members for upcoming points races as it punishes teams for rules violations involving the cars themselves.

Kenseth was stripped of everything but the trophy from Sunday's win at Kansas.

"Anything to do with the engine, the fuel or the tires is going to be bad," said rival driver Kevin Harvick, who appeared with Clint Bowyer and Elliott Sadler on Wednesday in a softball game between Dover International Speedway and Pocono Raceway.

"It's always been that way. It's kind of one of those pet peeves of NASCAR."

Kenseth was docked 50 driver points in the standings he earned only 48 points for the victory and NASCAR also erased the three bonus points he earned for the win that would have been applied in seeding for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. In addition, the victory will not be credited toward his eligibility for a wild card berth in the Chase.

So, although Kenseth has two wins on the year, the Kansas win does not count in any form toward Chase eligibility.He lost his pole award, too, which could hurt eligibility for next year's Sprint Unlimited exhibition race.

The penalty to Kenseth, who held off Kasey Kahne of Hendrick Motorsports to earn his second win of the season, dropped him from eighth to 14th in the standings.

NASCAR also suspended crew chief Jason Ratcliff for six races and fined him $200,000. And in a rare move, car owner Joe Gibbs had his owner's license suspended for the next six races and he won't earn car owner points during that time. He also was docked 50 car owner points while Toyota, which supplies the JGR engines through Costa Mesa, Calif.-based TRD, lost five points in the manufacturer standings.

JGR said it would appeal.

"It is our understanding that one of the eight connecting rods on the engine was ruled too light," the statement said. "We are working with our partners at TRD on this issue."

White said Kenseth gained no advantage from the light rod.

"It was a simple oversight on TRD's part and there was no intent to deceive, or to gain any type of competitive advantage," White said. "Toyota is a company that was built on integrity, and that remains one of the guiding principles of the company. The goal of TRD has always been and will continue to be to build high-performance engines that are reliable, durable and powerful, and within the guidelines established by NASCAR."

Elliott Sadler, in his first season driving for JGR's Nationwide Series team, felt for teammate Kenseth.

"It's tough if you're Matt because you don't have anything to do with the motor. That's a TRD deal. It's not a Gibbs deal," Sadler said. "At Gibbs, we don't even touch the motor. TRD brings the motor in and puts it in. We don't even get to touch it. That's a rule. A Gibbs employee doesn't even touch that."

It's the second severe penalty against a Sprint Cup team levied by NASCAR in as many weeks.

It was Penske Racing and defending Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski who were punished last week after NASCAR said it found unapproved parts in the rear suspension of Keselowski and Joey Logano's cars at Texas. NASCAR docked 25 points each the drivers, fined the crew chiefs $100,000 each and suspended seven Penske employees for six races. Penske Racing's appeal is scheduled for May 1.

Those penalties were for alterations to the body of the car, particularly in an area NASCAR has been working the last year to police after teams found a way to manipulate the skew of the cars last season. Team owner Roger Penske has maintained the team was not cheating, but "working in a gray area" of the rule book.

It's not clear if that argument will fly before the three-member appeal board, and the 2013 rule book was specifically tightened this season to add language specific to the rear suspension systems.

In the case of JGR and the engine, illegal is illegal and there is no gray area.

NASCAR has proven that through penalties before. The last violator, Carl Long, was severely punished when he was found to have an illegal engine at the 2009 All-Star Race. Long was docked 200 points which would be about 50 points under the current points system fined $200,000 and suspended for 12 races.

His suspension was reduced to eight races on appeal, but Long has said he is unable to pay the fine and can't work in Sprint Cup until he settles the debt.

"We've always known the engine and tires are sacred ground. You don't mess with the engine or the tires," said former crew chief and current Fox analyst Larry McReynolds, who added that all eight connecting rods would have been light if TRD was trying to cheat.

"This was pure human error," McReynolds said. "But in NASCAR's defense, they can't completely determine intent or non-intent. They absolutely should appeal. I'd primarily appeal Ratcliff's suspension. He was an innocent bystander in this. The engine is a different deal than the rest of the car. If I was Joe Gibbs, I'd be pretty ticked off about losing my crew chief under these circumstances. This was an error but an enormously costly one."

JGR has the means to pay the fine and the personnel to recover from this setback. The appeal would likely be to reduce the penalties on the argument it was TRD that erred and the team had no control or access to assembly of the engine.

Clint Bowyer, a Toyota driver for Michael Waltrip Racing, said it's unfortunate so many employees are punished by NASCAR for one infraction.

"For the governing body, that's a difficult situation knowing that a lot of guys that you're penalizing don't necessarily have anything to do with what's inside those frame rails," Bowyer said. "It's tough. It's unfortunate for Matt. Obviously it was a shock to all of us."

Kenseth is unlikely to get back his bonus points. NASCAR stripped Carl Edwards of his 10 bonus points under an older scoring system for not having a cover on his oil tank after a 2008 win at Las Vegas. The victory stood, but Edwards was not able to carry the 10 bonus points into the Chase. His crew chief was also suspended six races.

___

AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston in Harrisburg, Pa., contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The computer network on the U.S. Navy's newest class of coastal warships showed vulnerabilities in Navy cybersecurity tests, but the issues were not severe enough to prevent an eight-month deployment to Singapore, a Navy official said on Tuesday.

A Navy team of computer hacking experts found some deficiencies when assigned to try to penetrate the network of the USS Freedom, the lead vessel in the $37 billion Littoral Combat Ship program, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Freedom arrived in Singapore last week for an eight-month stay, which its builder, Lockheed Martin Corp., hopes will stimulate Asian demand for the fast, agile and stealthy ships.

"We do these types of inspections across the fleet to find individual vulnerabilities, as well as fleet-wide trends," said the official.

Cybersecurity is a major priority for the Navy, which relies heavily on communications and satellite networks for its weapons systems and situational awareness.

Defense Department spokeswoman Jennifer Elzea said the Pentagon's chief weapons test agency addressed "information assurance vulnerabilities" for the Littoral Combat Ship in an assessment provided to the Navy.

"The details of that assessment are classified," Elzea said.

Lockheed spokesman Keith Little said the company was working with the Navy to ensure that USS Freedom's networks were secure during the deployment.

The Navy plans to buy 52 of the new LCS warships in coming years, including some of Lockheed's steel monohull design and some of an aluminum-hulled LCS trimaran design built by Australia's Austal. The ships are designed for combat and other missions in shallower waters close to shore.

Freedom's first operational deployment was in the Caribbean Sea in 2010, where the ship participated in four drug transport busts and captured a total of five tons of cocaine.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Additional reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Eric Beech and Stephen Coates)