mauritius
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Scientists may have discovered a lost continent
As much as we humans think we know about Earth's ancient composition, it's clear we have a lot to learn. Researchers now say they have evidence of a lost continent, Mauritia. The team found rocks on Mauritius with embedded zircon crystals that were almost 2 billion years old, or far older than the island itself ("just" 9 million years old) -- a hint that there's a continental crust lurking miles underneath. Most likely, the crystals were carried up to the surface by volcanic magma.
iPhone 4S coming to China, Caribbean islands next week
Apple has announced that the iPhone 4S will be making its way to China and 21 other countries beginning next Friday, January 13th. The smartphone will reportedly launch on China Unicom just before the Chinese New Year, which will be celebrated on Monday, January 23rd. Pricing has not been announced in local currencies, but is listed as $199, $299 and $399 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models, respectively. Apple China is clearly the most notable of the bunch, but other countries include Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Guam, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos and Uganda. Jump past the break for the full PR from Apple. Update: Apple got in touch to remind us that Siri will be updated to support Chinese at some point in 2012, along with Japanese, Korean, Italian and Spanish.
Mauritius to Apple: Thanks for the iPhones, can we haz iTunes Store?
Recently, the people of the island republic of Mauritius have been able to purchase the iPhone 3G and 3GS through mobile phone provider Orange, but there's one major problem -- there's no access to an iTunes Store. This brings back memories of the original iPhone, when there was no iTunes Store to tempt iPhone owners with its wares. Can you imagine? No apps, no songs, and no videos for purchase directly from your phone? It boggles the mind. Here at TUAW, we're doing our part for the "Free the iTunes Store" movement in Mauritius. Reader Marc, who works for Mauritian Apple reseller Paoma, notes "Thousands of iPhones, no Apps! We are hoping to get Apple to take notice and include us. A Facebook page has been set up to document the movement and we have already been featured in many leading French-language Apple blogs." Well, Marc, now you have a leading English-language Apple blog taking up the cause as well. If you'd like to help iPhone users in Mauritius get their own iTunes Store, consider visiting the Facebook page and joining their group.
iPhone in 29 new countries; unlocked in Hong Kong
Our sister site Engadget reports that Apple is now offering unlocked iPhones in Hong Kong via its online store. HK$5,500 (≈ US$700) will buy you an 8GB model, HK$6,200 (≈ US$800) gets you 16GB. The Apple Store's terms and conditions limit sales to individuals in Hong Kong only, but who knows what the gray market will bring. Three Russian carriers will also begin selling unlocked iPhones on October 3, with the 8GB model selling for over US$900. In related news, 29 new countries will begin selling the iPhone, some today: Botswana, Brazil, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Madagascar, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Niger, Panama, Qatar, Senegal, South Africa, Turkey and Venezuela. [Via IGM.]
Singapore to have nationwide WiFi by year's end
From the sound of things it would seem the island nation of Singapore will soon be the latest country to get the 802.11 treatment, having all of its near 700 square kilometers blanketed in WiFi. That would make Singapore the third nation that we know of to completely covered, joining Mauritius and Macedonia, with Estonia not far behind. A government report, "Intelligent Nation 2015," already notes that Singapore currently averages one WiFi hotspot for every square kilometer, so combined with upcoming WiMax technology, Singapore is aiming to be one ginormous hotspot by the end of the year. That's a pretty ambitious project, mind you, even for a country as well off as Singapore. Of course, this report also states (no joke), that they'll have 4G cell phones, "Fibre to the Home," the "Semantic World Wide Web," and "Embedded and Wearable Computers" by 2015, which by our estimation would make them among the most advanced civilzations around. If they do manage any of those, we may just have to open up an Engadget Singapore bureau pretty soon since that FIOS certainly ain't getting hooked up in our cribs any time soon.[Via CNET]
