IPad mini already in production in Brazil, says report:

According to a new report, Apple's next iPad -- or at least the smaller version of it -- is already being produced in Brazil.

A smaller version of Apple's iPad is already in production according to a new report.

Citing an anonymous source, Japanese Apple blog Macotakara today says that production of the product is underway in a "Brazilian factory."
No other details on parts of physical form factor or offered, short of that the same source says the unit is missing a microphone on its backside, a rumored design cue currently found in Apple's iPhone 5.

As debate looms, Romney calls Obama weak on foreign policy

(Reuters) - Republican challenger Mitt Romney launched a fresh attempt on Monday to paint President Barack Obama as weak on foreign policy, saying he has let U.S. leadership atrophy, while the two candidates prepared for Wednesday's critical first debate.
Romney's aides said the weak U.S. economy remains his chief priority heading into the November 6 election, but the Democratic president's handling of national security is also fair game.
This line of attack could be tricky for Romney, who drew heavy criticism for a hasty initial reaction to upheaval in Egypt and Libya last month in which the U.S. ambassador to Libya was killed in an attack along with three other Americans.
Romney is under enormous pressure for a good performance at Wednesday night's debate in Denver. His campaign has looked shaky since a leaked video emerged two weeks ago in Romney says 47 percent of Americans are "victims" who depend on government, do not pay federal income taxes and are unlikely to support him.
Seeking to take some of the shine off Obama's national security credentials, which include the 2011 killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the Romney team is aiming to portray Obama as overseeing a period of American decline in the world.
In a Wall Street Journal opinion article, Romney accused Obama of being too timid in responding to the Syrian civil war, the election of an Islamist president in Egypt, the attack on the U.S. mission in Libya, and the threat of Iran developing a nuclear weapon it could use against U.S. ally Israel.
"These developments are not, as President Obama says, mere 'bumps in the road.' They are major issues that put our security at risk," Romney wrote.
"Yet amid this upheaval, our country seems to be at the mercy of events rather than shaping them. ... And that's dangerous. If the Middle East descends into chaos, if Iran moves toward nuclear breakout, or if Israel's security is compromised, America could be pulled into the maelstrom," Romney wrote.
Taking aim at Obama on national security may be an uphill battle for Romney. Reuters/Ipsos poll findings show Americans believe Obama has a better plan to deal with the threat of terrorism by 43 percent to about 30 percent for Romney.
Romney continues to trail Obama in opinion polls five weeks before the election. Obama maintained a lead of 5 percentage points - 46 percent to 41 percent - in a Reuters/Ipsos daily tracking poll released on Monday. Last Thursday, the same poll showed Obama with an advantage of 7 percentage points.
"I think even our opponents will agree right now that this is a closing race," Romney senior adviser Kevin Madden said.
A Washington Post/ABC News poll released on Monday showed Obama leading by 11 percentage points among likely voters in nine battleground states where the election likely will be decided, even as the race is essentially tied nationally.
In his Wall Street Journal piece, Romney told Obama to take a harder line with Iran and to back Israel.
"When we say an Iranian nuclear weapons capability - and the regional instability that comes with it - is unacceptable, the ayatollahs must be made to believe us," Romney wrote.
The White House argues that Western sanctions are having a crippling effect on Iran's economy as reflected by its currency losing a quarter of its value against the dollar in only a week.
As part of the Republican attempt to chip away at Obama's foreign policy record, the pro-Romney group American Crossroads released a video that questioned his reaction to the attack last month on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, in which the U.S. ambassador was killed.
"What did President Obama do on the same day as a terrorist attack on American citizens? He campaigned in Las Vegas. ... President Obama needs to learn: Being president isn't just about being on TV and protecting your job. It's about leadership. It's time for a president who gets it," the video said.
Romney added that Obama "has allowed our leadership to atrophy," has no strategy to encourage a positive outcome from the Arab Spring revolutions, and has alienated Israel.
"By failing to maintain the elements of our influence and by stepping away from our allies, President Obama has heightened the prospect of conflict and instability," he wrote.
Aides said Romney plans to deliver a foreign policy address in the days following the first debate, probably next week.
Wednesday's debate will mark the first time the two candidates will stand on the same stage together in the campaign. Both sides have been working to lower expectations, each calling the other a better debater.
Romney engaged in a session of debate preparation at a Burlington, Massachusetts hotel before flying to Denver for an evening rally. Obama was in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson working on his own preparations for the debate.
"Governor Romney, he's a good debater," Obama told a rally in Las Vegas on Sunday night. "I'm just okay."
Given Obama's tendency to meander, aides said they have been trying to get the president to give snappier answers to questions and limit the professorial nature of his responses.
Romney's aides have been working to make sure he does not come off as scolding and to encourage him not to quibble about the rules as he did in some debates during the Republican presidential primary battle.

(Additional reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Steve Holland; Editing by Alistair Bell)

Original post: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/01/us-usa-campaign-idUSBRE88N13D20121001

Arnold Schwarzenegger's marriage to Maria Shriver was full of secrets:

Arnold Schwarzenegger can keep a secret – and he kept many from his wife of 25 years, Maria Shriver.
[Related: Arnold Schwarzenegger on Affair: 'Worst Thing I've Ever Done']
Appearing on “60 Minutes” Sunday to promote his new book, Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story, Schwarzenegger – who referred to himself as “an expert in living in denial” – said he hid many things from his wife during their marriage. Of course one of those was his affair with the family housekeeper Mildred Baena, which produced a child and ultimately ended his marriage. During the interview, the 65-year-old actually 'fessed up to cheating on Shriver on multiple occasions and keeping other potentially life-changing secrets from her, including having open heart surgery and deciding to run for governor of California.
“That's the way I handle things,” Schwarzenegger said of keeping secrets. “And it always has worked. But, I mean it does not – it's not the best thing for people around me because I sometimes – some information I just keep to myself.”

Opening up about having heart surgery in 1997, Schwarzenegger recounted telling his doctor that he would be keeping the operation a secret from his then-pregnant wife. “I said, ‘Now here's the plan. … I'm going to have the heart surgery. You do it quietly. No one knows about it,” the “Expendables 2” star said. “We’ll do it at six in the morning, and then four days later I'm outta here and I go down to Mexico. And I'll tell Maria, I'll say, ‘Look I'm down here. Little busy. And I'm on vacation.’ And when I come back I will be tanned. No one will know. He said, ‘Arnold, are you outta your mind? … You're going to have a big scar here on the chest. What do you mean your wife is not going to see the scar?"
[Related: Arnold Schwarzenegger talks about his affair with housekeeper in '60 Minutes' interview]
Schwarzenegger took a similar approach when it came to running for governor. He said he waited to tell Shriver until just a few days before he made the announcement and she was shaken by the news. “I was thinking that she would say, ‘Wow, that is amazing, welcome to the club. We finally convinced you to be a public servant, just like my entire family,’” said Schwarzenegger. “None of that. So all of a sudden it came to a grinding halt and I had to now deal with the drama.” It was his mother-in-law, Eunice Shriver, who convinced her daughter to support her husband during his run.
Shriver later gave up her career as a TV news journalist, and started campaigning for her husband. She also publicly defended him when he was accused of groping more than a dozen women earlier in his career. When asked if he regretted having her vouch for him – at that point, Schwarzenegger had already secretly impregnated their housekeeper Mildred Baena – the actor said no. “No, she vouched – she says, ‘Look. I know Arnold. He doesn't do those things that you have read. And I am his wife, I know him better than that.’ You know, end of story.”
Schwarzenegger spoke more about Baena, most notably the fact that he and the woman never had a conversation about the obvious fact that Joseph was the actor’s son. He said seven or eight years after their affair, he noticed the boy resembled him and he just started sending Baena money to support the child. “It just appeared to me there was something off, that he started looking like me,” Schwarzenegger said. “So that's when I kind of got it. It was never discussed. … I gave [money] to her and she knew what it was about.”

As we previously reported, during the interview Schwarzenegger also talked about the moment Shriver confronted him about Joseph. The day after he left office in 2011, Shriver asked to meet him with their marriage counselor. “That particular visit that you're talking about was the visit where she then said, ‘Hey, I think that Joseph is your kid. And, am I off here on this or – or not?’” he recalled. “I said, ‘You're absolutely right, and I am sorry.’ It was very painful for her. She was very disappointed.”
That wasn’t her only disappointment. Asked if it was his only affair, Schwarzenegger – who also spoke about a “hot affair” with Brigitte Nielsen – said, “No. I had others. But I mean, ah, but you know, it’s something that’s obviously between Maria and me.”
[Related: Arnold Schwarzenegger confirms 'hot affair' with Brigitte Nielsen]
Although he knows he hurt his wife, Schwarzenegger said he’s not hung up on the failure of his marriage – or anything else. “Dwelling on it, like some people do, you know, years later, say, ‘Oh, yeah, I lost this, and I will never forget that. I'm still suffering.’ No, that's not me,” he said. “I don't suffer over anything that I've lost.”

Original post : http://tv.yahoo.com/news/arnold-schwarzenegger%E2%80%99s-marriage-to-maria-shriver-was-full-of-secrets.html

Max Payne 3

Publisher: Rockstar

Release: Autumn

Circumstances once again conspire to see Max Payne thrust sideways in slow-motion through the windows of life. Everyone’s favourite action-detective runs, guns and shaves his way through Sao Paulo in a Rockstar developed sequel to Remedy’s shoooter. The team responsible are making a big deal of the way Max moves naturally through the city.

Metal Gear Solid: Rising

Publisher: Konami

Release: 2012

As big-haired, sharp-cheekboned cyber ninja Raiden, you’re hunting baddies in the near-ish future. The emphasis is on quick, offensive swordplay, using the dev’s terrifying attention to how bodies are sliced and diced. The series is perhaps best known for its fourth-wall-shattering plot devices and inventive game mechanics: we’re always happy to see more of that on the PC.

Grand Theft Auto V

Publisher: Rockstar
Release: TBA 2012
Being a numbered GTA title is a big deal. We know GTA V is set in Los Santos, Rockstar’s take on Los Angeles, and that it may have multiple protagonists. What we don’t know is whether it’s a continuation of GTA IV or a return to the pop culture of Vice City and San Andreas. The golden hues and gloss of the trailer suggests the latter, but, hey: that could just be California.
Where GTA V does seem to offer something new is in the promise of expansive outdoor environments. With the series traditionally tied to urban areas, the possibility of a little more freedom is intriguing, as is the suggestion that the main character’s hobbies include hiking. That said, Rockstar would do well to focus on fundamentals: bringing GTA’s combat up to scratch, allowing us to interact with the environment more meaningful ways, and moving from the one-employer-at-a-time structure.

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