A Russian internet investment company has offered $200million (£125million) for a 2 per cent stake in Facebook, in a deal which would value the social networking website at $10 billion.
Digital Sky Technologies (DST), which is controlled by Russian businessman and internet entrepreneur Yuri Milner, also said it would offer to buy at least $100 million of Facebook common stock from existing investors.
The DST offer, for 1.96 per cent, represents Facebook’s first major funding injection since 2007, when Microsoft paid $240 million for a 1.6 per cent stake in the company, valuing it at $15 billion. Since then, some investors have reportedly become frustrated at the social networking site’s reluctance to capitalise on its 200 million worldwide users. In April, the New York Post reported that the company’s private equity investors had informally valued it at only $3 billion.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook chief executive, said in a statement that a number of firms had approached the company, but Digital Sky stood out “because of the global perspective they bring - backed up by the impressive growth and financial achievements of their internet investments.”

“This investment demonstrates Facebook’s ongoing success at creating a global network for people to share and connect,” he said. “We’ve worked hard to bring more than 200 million people – 70 per cent outside of the US – onto Facebook to share with friends, family and co-workers.”
Despite recent public statements from Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, stating that Facebook did not need extra cash, it can now use the money to fund its growing operations, including bandwidth, storage, and engineering costs, analysts said.
DST already owns stakes in Russia’s most popular website, Mail.ru, and has recently bought up large holdings in a host of eastern European internet companies. Based in London and Moscow, DST websites account for over 70 per cent of all page views in the Russian-speaking internet and its social networks are the market leaders in more than 13 countries, with a combined population of more than 350 million.
Contrary to initial reports that DST had demanded a seat on the Facebook board as part of the deal, Facebook said that the Russian vehicle would not be represented. Mr Zuckerberg said he expected Facebook to be cash flow positive in 2010.

NANO SENSORS TO MONITOR SAFETY OF BRIDGES

"It looks like a piece of thin black sheeting, but it can act as a sensor to monitor the strength of structures such as bridges, aircraft and ships," said researcher Cheng Yan.







The polymer nanocomposite contains carbon nanotubes which change the conductivity of the material when cracks appear in structures where it is used. By monitoring the electrical conductivity of the material, early detection of structural faults may be possible.






"Structures like these can be monitored constaantly for cracks, metal fatige and warping," said Yan. "Repairs can be carried out before the damage becomes critical."






The nanocomposite is strong but lightweight since nanotubes are 1,000 times stronger than steel but are extremely light due to their nanoscale dimensions. The composite material could be applied like sheets of fibreglass which conform to the shape of the surface, making them less expensive than alternative active monitors that use conventional sensors, Yan claimed.






Yan's research team is also cooperating with other materials engineers to make other types of polymers using various nano-sized fillers that would increase their conductivity, strength and durability.

The Sidekick II has got some huge improvements over the T-Mobile Sidekick I. The Sidekick II is a tri-band world phone. Flip it open and you’ll be greeted by the big color screen. You can send unlimited emails and the new keyboard is really easy to use. The T-Mobile Sidekick I suffered from a lack of buttons for easy access to basic functions. Not anymore. Dual purpose buttons make it easier to place calls and browse the Net using Sidekick II. You don’t need to search the Settings menu to change the volume or adjust any other details. You’ve got external buttons for that and also to turn the handset on or off. T-Mobile Sidekick II also has an external directional pad that’s a great help if you are one of those avid gamers. The keyboard can be used for all text messaging, emailing, and calendar updates. The 240 x 160 pixels screen on the T-Mobile Sidekick II can support 65,000 colors. The Sidekick II is around 25 per cent thinner that the Sidekick I. It also gives you a comfortable feel when you are using it as a phone. The integrated camera, LED flash unit and self-portrait mirror are on the back of the handset. The T-Mobile Sidekick II comes loaded with the Hiptop OS and the handset has a 48 MB internal memory. Did you run out of memory storing those phone numbers? The phone book of the Sidekick II can accommodate 2000 contacts and multiple entries per contact. You also get the usual menu of recently missed, received, and dialed calls. You’ve got polyphonic ring tones with 16 chords. If you need more you can download some great ring tones from T-Mobile’s t-zones service. You can also assign a picture and ring tone to each caller. Well, the t-zones service can be used to download some great games too. Okay, here’s one more reason you would love to own a Sidekick. T-Mobile has priced it fairly and you can get a Sidekick data plan ($29.99 per month) to use Sidekick II’s e-mail, messaging, and browser functions. Well, that is not the end of the good news though. Another Sidekick avatar is around the corner. T-Mobile Sidekick III will be launching Christmas

T MOBILE.

The T-Mobile Sidekick II, the successor of the famed T-Mobile Sidekick, can be called the ultimate communication gadget. Launched in the US market by leading telephone carrier T-Mobile, the Sidekick II is not only helps you communicate, but has some great features that allow you to have a great time communicating! The T-Mobile Sidekick II has been launched after ironing out some of the problems that plagued the earlier version. Here’s some vital statistics. The Sidekick II is fully loaded and weighs 6.49 ounces. It measures 5.12 x 2.60 x 0.87 inches and comes with a lithium-ion battery that provides up to 4.5 hours of digital talk time and 60 hours of digital standby time. Sidekick Ii runs on the GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900 frequencies and has a one year limited warranty. Enough of what the T-Mobile Sidekick II’s great features. Let us see why it provides real bang for the buck and has reviewers drooling over it.