Dell raises 3PAR offer, matching HP bid

A man wipes the logo of the Dell IT firm at the CeBIT exhibition centre in Hannover February 28, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Thomas Peter/Files

By Ritsuko Ando and Soyoung Kim

NEW YORK | Fri Aug 27, 2010 6:39pm IST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dell Inc fired back in a bidding war for data storage company 3PAR Inc, matching a $1.8 billion offer by Hewlett-Packard Co and showing it isn't giving up yet against its bigger rival.

Dell said on Friday 3PAR had accepted its new $27-per-share bid, up 10 percent from its previous offer, in line with their agreement that allows Dell to match competing bids.

3PAR shares surged 9.4 percent to $28.50 in premarket trading, reflecting expectations for a higher offer from HP, which many see as the stronger player with $115 billion in annual revenue compared with Dell's $53 billion.

In a newspaper advertisement, placed overnight and appearing on Friday, HP launched a tender offer for all outstanding 3PAR shares at $27 cash each, showing it is prepared to be an aggressive suitor.

Dell's latest bid shows it wants 3PAR at least as much as HP does.

Dell, HP and other large technology vendors like International Business Machines Corp and Cisco Systems Inc have been acquiring companies and expanding into new technologies to offer corporate clients a wider range of products and services.

3PAR specializes in high-end data storage, a key part of "cloud computing" -- an increasingly popular technology that enables computer users to access data and software over the Internet, allowing companies to cut costs.

RISING VALUATIONS

August has been a particularly active month for deals. Intel Corp bid $7.7 billion for security software maker McAfee Inc last week.

But analysts say the bidding war over 3PAR has driven up valuations to unreasonable levels, raising the risk of the buyer overpaying.

Analysts say at current bids, 3PAR is valued at around eight times expected fiscal 2011 sales. Multiples above five are considered lofty in technology acquisitions.

3PAR has barely made a profit since its 1999 founding.

Some say, however, the company may be worth more than traditional metrics suggest, since it could grow exponentially with the massive sales channels of Dell or HP.

"Consistent with its previous rationale for the acquisition, Dell also believes that its global brand and broad global reach will dramatically accelerate 3PAR's revenue growth," Dell said in a statement.

Earlier this week, a survey by Reuters of nine fund managers and analysts found the average final price is expected to be about $29 per share, and that HP would prevail.

The bidding war, a rare occurrence in the tech sector, started earlier this week when HP bid $24 a share for 3PAR, topping Dell's $18-per-share deal.

Dell responded by striking a new deal with 3PAR at $24.30 per share and increasing the termination fee to $72 million from $53.5 million.

That prompted HP to come back with a $27-per-share bid on Thursday.

Intel warns sales shortfall, bodes ill for tech

A sign is shown at the entrance to the headquarters of Intel Corporation in Santa Clara, California, February 2, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Robert Galbraith/Files

By Noel Randewich and Franklin Paul

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK | Sat Aug 28, 2010 4:00am IST

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Intel Corp warned that third-quarter revenue could fall short of its own estimates by more than $1 billion, reinforcing doubts about the strength of a technology sector recovery.

But shares in the industry bellwether, which dominates the market for PC microprocessors, gained 1.05 percent on Friday because investors had braced for bad news and were relieved the downward revision had not been worse.

Global stocks also rose after U.S. economic growth data topped estimates, as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank was ready to counter a softening recovery. A number of fellow tech heavyweights, including International Business Machines Corp, firmed.

Analysts said companies with exposure to a struggling PC industry -- fighting flagging demand from slowing growth in Europe, China and the United States and rising inventory -- may warn of revenue shortfalls in coming weeks.

Baird & Co analyst Tristan Gerra expects weakness to persist over several quarters before demand bounces back in the second half of 2011, but warned of a longer-term threat from tablets like Apple Inc's iPad replacing PCs.

"That trend will continue in Q1 until we fix the inventory issues in the second," he said. But "there's going to be more challenges for Intel next year, even if the market eventually picks up."

Other analysts pointed to a silver lining: Intel said resilient corporate demand was helping prop up average prices even though consumer demand in mature markets was weaker than expected.

"Even though the news is bad, the bad news is already in the valuation. Obviously, business isn't going great there, but the stock is so cheap this doesn't matter," said Stephen Massocca, managing director at Wedbush Morgan.

Intel shares closed 19 cents higher at $18.37 on Nasdaq, after falling to $17.81, their lowest level since July 2009. Shares in the world's largest chip maker have slid 15 percent since mid-July.

The stock was halted earlier on Friday as it appeared to trip a circuit breaker shortly after the company's revenue warning set off a flurry of trading.

BAD NEWS IS GOOD NEWS?

Intel now expects third-quarter revenue of $10.8 billion to $11.2 billion, down from a previous forecast of $11.2 billion to $12.0 billion and below analysts' average expectation of $11.5 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

"People were relieved it was not worse," said Avian securities analyst Dunham Winoto.

Intel now sees gross margins in the period of 65 to 67 percent. It had previously forecast gross margins of 67 percent, plus or minus a couple of points -- near a record high for the company.

"The big news is enterprise and server demand is holding up. And Intel still expects to grow (revenue) and gross margins also," said JMP Securities analyst Alex Gauna.

Longer term, analysts warned that Intel continues to face pressure as Apple's iPad and other tablet computers continue to chip away at demand for notebooks and desktop computers.

And while a still-shaky economic recovery may make families think twice about upgrading their computers, experts say future growth in the microchip industry lies in smartphones and tablets, areas that Intel is far from dominating.

To bolster its stake in the mobile microchip market, Intel is likely to announce a deal this weekend to buy part or all of German chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG's wireless business, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Analysts said such an acquisition was a step in the right direction but it would take time to produce results, and rivals based on ARM chip design -- which is said to be more power-efficient than Intel's offerings -- continue to grab market share.

(Additional reporting by Jennifer Saba, Liana Baker and David Gaffen in New York; Writing by Edwin Chan; Editing by Matthew Lewis, Gerald E. McCormick and Richard Chang)

Muslims in Spain campaign to worship alongside Christians

Muslims, Christians debate sharing mosque

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The former Great Mosque of Cordoba has been a Catholic cathedral since the 13th century
• It was once famed for allowing Christians and Muslims to pray together
• Now there is a movement campaigning to allow Muslims to pray at the cathedral once again

Cordoba, Spain - Muslims in Spain are campaigning to be allowed to worship alongside Christians in Cordoba Cathedral -- formerly the Great Mosque of Cordoba.

Today, at the original Cordoba mosque in Spain, there is no call to prayer, only the ringing of church bells. That's because the former mosque is now a working Catholic cathedral, performing a daily mass.

It's been a Cathedral since Spain's Christian monarchy conquered Cordoba in the 13th century and more than a million visitors walk through its doors every year.

Depictions of Jesus' crucifixion hang underneath the distinctive red-and-white arches of what was once the Muslim prayer hall. Cordoba's dazzling "mihrab" -- the sacred alcove from where Muslim prayer is lead -- still stands as a separate part of the site and is one of the main attractions for tourists.

Gallery: Can this holy site be shared?

In fact, the site remains significant for Muslims as a symbol of Islam's golden age of learning and religious tolerance. The Mosque of Cordoba was once famed for allowing both Christians and Muslims to pray together under the same roof.

Now, some Muslims are trying to repeat that history. Mansur Escudero, a Spanish convert to Islam, is leading the movement that is pushing for the right of Muslims to pray at the Cordoba Cathedral.

"I don't think it's important for Muslims. I think it's important for humankind," Escudero says. "We think this is a beautiful paradigm of tolerance, knowledge, culture. People of different religions living together."

We think this is a beautiful paradigm of tolerance, knowledge, culture. People of different religions living together.
--Mansur Escudero, a Spanish convert to Islam.

Spain has more than a million Muslims, little more than two percent of the population. Most of that growth is made up of migrants from countries such as Morocco. But the southern European country has a significant community of Muslim converts inspired by its Islamic history.

In April, more than one hundred Muslim visitors staged a protest by unrolling their prayer rugs inside the site and beginning to pray. When security tried to remove them, the protest got violent and two were arrested.

According to Cordoba's Bishop, Demetrio Fernandes, this incident shows it is impossible to share a house of worship. It would be like sharing a wife between two husbands, he told CNN.

"Would they be happy to do the same in any of their mosques?" he asked. "Absolutely not. Because I understand their religious feeling and they have to understand ours as well. The religious feeling is the deepest one in the human heart, so it is not possible to share."

Bishop Fernandes points to the basilica of San Juan in Damascus as an example of a Christian site that has been converted into a mosque.

"We wouldn't think of asking for the Damascus mosque, because it belongs to the Muslims and for them it is an emblematic place.

"It is [the same] for [Christians] because the San Juan's basilica is very important to us, but we understand that history doesn't go back. It only goes forward. So, it doesn't make sense to ask for the Cordoba [cathedral] to convert it into a mosque, it doesn't make sense because history is irreversible," he said.

Escudero insists this is not about winning a victory for one religion or the other.

He said: "They pretend that we are trying to conquer the mosque again. That's not the intention at all. We want it to be a place where anyone -- whether Muslim, Christian or Jew -- can do his meditation or his internal way of worshipping, or praying or whatever he wants to call it."

Venezuela defends controversial flights to Iran and Syria

Report: Flight a source of concern

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• U.S. officials are concerned about flights to countries deemed sponsors of terrorism
• Venezuela's ambassador says there is "nothing untoward" about the flights
• An official says passengers go through normal customs and immigrations checks

Washington -- Venezuela's ambassador to the United States is defending his country's controversial airline service to the capitals of Syria and Iran -- both countries that are designated by the U.S. as state sponsors of terrorism.

The scheduled flights to Damascus and Tehran were cited by the U.S. State Department this month as a cause for concern, and U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel, D-New York, raised questions about the flights in an interview last week with Voice of America.

According to the State Department's latest country report on terrorism, which covers 2009, "President [Hugo] Chavez continued to strengthen Venezuela's relationship with state sponsor of terrorism Iran. Iran and Venezuela continued weekly Iran Airlines flights connecting Tehran and Damascus with Caracas."

A 2007 report went further, raising concerns about the travelers from Syria and Iran who might be onboard. It said in part, "Passengers on these flights were not subject to immigration and customs controls at Simon Bolivar International Airport" in Caracas.

It also noted that one passenger who bought a ticket on the route that year was Abdul Kadir, who was convicted this month of plotting a 2007 attack on fuel pipelines for New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. He was arrested on a plane bound for Caracas and never made his connection for the flight to Iran.

Engel, the chairman of the Western Hemisphere subcommittee, told Voice of America last week, "I am very troubled about the flights into Damascus and Caracas. I believe that Iran is the largest supporter of terrorism of any country on the face of the earth."

In a written response to the concerns raised by Engel, Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez Herrera defended the state-owned airline, Conviasa.

"There is absolutely nothing untoward about these flights -- which take place between two countries that have shared diplomatic relations for over 50 years," Herrera wrote in the letter dated August 13. "One can also fly to Tehran from Frankfurt, Germany, amongst other cities, so I still remain confused as to why this should be of any concern. Should you or your staff want to see for yourself, I greatly encourage you to take one of the flights."

Contacted by CNN about the flight and its passengers, former CIA director Michael Hayden said, "The concerns are not just in the abstract. We saw people traveling who made us wonder."

Peter Brookes, a former deputy assistant defense secretary now with conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, said passengers on the flight from Iran and Syria could include "people who probably ... are intelligence agents, probably Islamic Revolutionary Guards forces, Quds force, even Hezbollah terrorists."

Brookes pointed to Venezuela's proximity to U.S. interests in the Western Hemisphere and said, "I think the greatest concern is, there might be individuals -- terrorists, operatives, soldiers -- who might attack American interests, if the Iranian nuclear drive comes to a head."

An Iranian official did not reply to phone or e-mail messages requesting comment.

A Venezuelan official said passengers arriving from Iran and Syria go through normal customs and immigration checks, and there has never been any evidence that flights have carried suspected militants. He described it is a legitimate commercial route, whose passengers include businessmen and other civilian passengers.

When CNN tried to book a trip on the flight, it was unclear whether seats were available to the general public -- or whether the flight, which began in 2007, was even running at all.

An agent at Conviasa said a round-trip would cost $1,450, and the flights depart from Tehran on Thursdays and depart from Caracas on Tuesdays. But he then said, his computer showed no seats available for the next four Thursdays -- and after that, the flight was not offered.

Another Conviasa representative, reached the next day, said that while the flight from Caracas to Syria was still running, the continuing leg from Syria to Iran has not been operating for some time.

Gunman in the Philippines ends standoff by killing 8, wounding 7

Police start charging the bus in Manila, Philippines, after a former police officer took a group of tourists hostage.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Hong Kong urges no trips to Philippines after killings
• Manila police say the gunman was a disgruntled ex-cop
• China condemned the "atrocious behavior of the criminal"
• The gunman's brother has been accused of conspiring with him

Hong Kong, China Hong Kong urged its residents to cut short or cancel planned trips to the Philippines on Tuesday in the aftermath of a bloodbath that left eight dead on a Manila tour bus.

Hong Kong's regional government issued its highest level of travel warnings in the aftermath of the killings, urging all residents to avoid traveling to the Philippines.

"Those already there should attend to their personal safety and stay alert," the advisory read. Tour groups were urged to return "as soon as possible," while other groups scheduled to visit were urged to cancel their trips.

Manila police said Rolando Mendoza, a former police officer upset at having lost his job, took hostage a busload of tourists from Hong Kong Monday and killed eight of them before being shot dead. One passenger was critically wounded and six others hospitalized with less serious injuries after the 10-hour standoff erupted into gunfire, Donald Tsang, the chief executive of Hong Kong's semi-autonomous government, told reporters.

And in Beijing, the Chinese government said Tuesday it "severely condemns the atrocious behavior of the criminal" and expressed its "deep sorrow" and "sincerely condolences" to the families of the victims.

Video: Inside the mind of a hostage

Video: Hostage drama in Philippines

Video: Hostage taker sprayed weapons fire

Video: Driver of hostage bus escapes

RELATED TOPICS

• Philippines
• Manila

"The Chinese government has already decided to send working teams to the Philippines and we will keep close contact with both the Philippine as well as Hong Kong government, putting our best effort into rescuing the injured parties in the aftermath," China's Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement on the killings. China has asked the Philippine government "to take concrete action to secure [and] guarantee the protection and safety of Chinese lives and wealth."

The incident began at 10 a.m. Monday (10 p.m. ET Sunday), when Mendoza -- wearing a uniform and carrying a rifle -- flagged down the tourist bus and asked for a ride, police spokesman Erwin Margarejo told reporters.

A tour guide for Hong Thai Travel tried to stop him from boarding the bus, the company's general manager told reporters.

"The gunman said he wanted to have a free lift. Then the tour guide stopped him," General Manager Susanna Lau said. "Eventually, the gunman got on the coach and then asked the driver to lock the door."

Lau said the gunman did not threaten people on the bus.

Twenty-five people, including 22 foreigners, were on the bus when Mendoza boarded it, Manila District Police Chief Rodolfo Magtibay said.

Mendoza wrote his demand that he get his job back on a board and displayed it in the bus windshield.

Inside, the hostages appeared calm but confused, Margarejo said.

Police cordoned off the area around the bus as they tried to negotiate, and sharpshooters were stationed nearby. Food was delivered to the hostages on board.

Manila police official Leocadio Santiago told CNN that Mendoza's family members spoke with him early in the standoff and that he appeared "very reasonable and very psychologically stable."

The gunman released nine of the hostages, including a mother and her three children, a man with diabetes, and two photographers. The bus driver also escaped.

Around 2 p.m., the Philippine news channel ANC showed images of signs posted on the bus windshield saying, "Big deal will start after 3 p.m. today" and "3 p.m. today dead lock."

But two hours later, there were no signs that the situation had changed.

ANC showed passengers peeking out from behind curtains of the parked bus and a sign posted on the bus door saying, "Big mistake to correct a big wrong decision."

Mendoza was dismissed a year ago, Margarejo said.

Manila Vice Mayor Ikso Moreno told CNNI that Mendoza's dismissal was for extortion and that he wanted his motion for reconsideration to be heard.

"He felt that it was being neglected," Moreno said. "So he went on hostaging a bus full of foreign individuals. So when we talked to him this afternoon, that's what he wanted."

Moreno said that Mendoza's brother was arrested because he was "guilty of conspiring with his brother" and allegedly helped instigate the shooting.

Moreno said when he arrived near the site of the standoff in the company of Mendoza's brother and the chief hostage negotiator, "All of a sudden, he kept on shouting, 'Don't let go until they give my gun back! Don't let go! Don't let go!' He just shout, one moment -- Captain Mendoza just fired his gun."

Mendoza sprayed machine gun fire at the hostages, a police spokesman told CNN. At 8 p.m. Monday, police stormed the bus, which held 15 hostages, killing Mendoza.

In Manila, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said he had ordered an investigation, and would wait until it is completed before deciding whether anyone should lose his or her job.

"As the president, my opinion might already sway the investigative panel, which might hamper them in ferreting out the truth, so I will not do that at this time," he said.

Aquino said the news media may have worsened the situation by giving the shooter "a bird's-eye view of the entire situation," but said he had little choice but to let it play out the way it did. "If we ordered a news blackout, you would tell us we were guilty of censoring news," he said. "We did vow transparency."

Hell hath no fury like a man who is no longer dating Jennifer Aniston. Just ask the Huffington Post. It appears that a recent story on their site has struck a bad chord with the singer.

On Thursday, HuffPo wondered if the soulful singer and his ex Jennifer Aniston were back on, quoting a London newspaper’s account of statements he reportedly made at his Hollywood Bowl show on Sunday.

“You can still start over again from home base,” Mayer reportedly said. “Next time you get a text from the one you love just text back 'come over' - no matter what happened in the past. If you really love someone, just tell them and be with them.”

But in a posting on his blog last night, Mayer claimed the Huffington Post’s story is bunk, and chided the site for publishing the tale in the first place.

“Huffington Post, this is reporting? How do you pay your writers now, in Silly Bandz? Do you meet your sources in a malt shoppe? This is equal parts fabricated, cobbled together, and misleading,” wrote the 32-year-old crooner, who explained that two of his statements referred to song lyrics and were said at different points at his concert.

“The reason I’m calling you out instead of all the other magazines that make stories up out of thin air is that In Touch and Star Magazine aren’t concurrently writing pieces about Pat Tillman or WikiLeaks,” he noted. “Those other rags know who they are, and even if theyre obnoxious, I’d rather have to live with them because they (and the rest of the world) know where they stand, which doesnt make them one tenth as dangerous as you are. You’re a stripper wearing reading glasses.”

For its part, the Huffington Post later acknowledged that they had inadvertently misquoted Mayer, but added, “He does not deny that he and Aniston are dating.”

'Takers' steals from the best

Chris Brown and Michael Ealy co-star in John Luessenhop's "Takers."

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• "Takers" is story of slick thieves played with their own personal problems
• Charity: "Takers" isn't exactly revolutionary but sucks you in
• Director John Luessenhop's action scenes are top-notch, says Charity

June, for the first time, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved a request to trade futures and option contracts against opening weekend box-office returns, and though it's sheer coincidence, "Takers" proves a weirdly appropriate title for this dubious milestone.

It's the story of a group of slick thieves -- Chris Brown, Michael Ealy, Hayden Christensen Paul Walker -- high rolling heist merchants who dress like GQ models, drive sports cars and motorcycles, and who are as comfortable debating investment opportunities as they are casing their next bank job. In other words, they're more like Wall Street traders than "Bonnie and Clyde." They even donate a standard 10 percent of the loot to charity. Anonymously, presumably.

They are led by Idris Elba, Stringer Bell from "The Wire," so we know they mean business -- even if the gang's first master plan hinges on a crazy getaway by a hijacked TV news helicopter. Whoever dreamed that one up must have had an eye for long odds. When they're done, they blow the chopper up. (Wouldn't it have been more discreet to wear gloves?)

"Takers" isn't exactly revolutionary in glorifying flashy criminals -- gangster movies have done that for years. But heist films are more about entrepreneurialism than criminality, which is one reason why the thieves here and in the Danny Ocean movies scarcely seem to need the money. (The cops, Matt Dillon and Jay Hernandez, don't have it so easy.)

Heist movies celebrate a peculiar kind of professionalism: The collective endeavor of a tight-knit group of individuals, each with his own expertise -- not unlike an acting ensemble putting on a show. The pleasure lies in appreciating the perfection of the planning and preparation, and then, more often than not, watching those best laid plans fall apart in the execution.

Michael Mann brought the form to its highest expression in "Heat," and for much of its running time "Takers" feels, well, re-Heated. Elba and Dillon aren't exactly DeNiro and Pacino, but like Mann's antagonists, they come fitted with irritating personal crises that threaten to cramp their style. For the criminal, it's a crack-addict sister he's trying to help through rehab (Marianne Jean-Baptiste). For the cop, it's a marital crisis and a young daughter he takes on surveillance with him.

But it sucks you in. Co-writer-director John Luessenhop keeps things flowing, cutting smartly between Dillon's dogged investigation and the gang's next job. The visuals are a digital blur propelled by a barrage of rap and rock. There is nothing original here but at least he is stealing from the best. Fans of macho-romantic thrillers by the likes of Jean Pierre Melville, Walter Hill, John Woo and Johnnie To will be in their element.

It helps that the action scenes are top-notch: A relentless, parkour-inflected chase through Los Angeles traffic is as good as the comparable scene in "Salt." And the set-piece armored car robbery combines suspense, surprise, and bone-crunching crashes in generous portions.

Not all the Luessenhop's flourishes pay off, but TI Harris's enigmatic "Ghost" sure does: He's the wild card in this pack, a founding member of the gang they left for dead back in 04. Now he's out of prison. But what's driving that rush to make the biggest score of their lives? The clues are to be found in fleeting gestures, feints and glances, the way men speak when they're not saying anything.

"When the time is right, everyone will know -- even [my publicist] Cindi Berger," Mariah Carey said.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• "I appreciate everyone's well wishes. But I am very superstitious," Carey says
  
• Publicist: All will become clear "when the time is right for her ... to announce something"
  
• Carey was spotted in Brazil wearing a maternity maxi dress

Mariah Carey isn't sharing whether she's pregnant or not -- but she is shedding some light on why she might keep mum on the subject.

"I appreciate everyone's well wishes. But I am very superstitious," she reportedly wrote on her Web site Wednesday. "When the time is right, everyone will know -- even [my publicist] Cindi Berger."

Berger echoed the sentiment earlier this week after Carey was spotted leaving a steakhouse in Sao Paulo, Brazil, wearing A Pea in the Pod's Spaghetti Strap Halter Maternity Maxi Dress ($140). All will become clear, Berger said, "when the time is right for her and Nick to announce something."

Mariah Carey is 'superstitious' about pregnancy

"When the time is right, everyone will know -- even [my publicist] Cindi Berger," Mariah Carey said.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• "I appreciate everyone's well wishes. But I am very superstitious," Carey says
  
• Publicist: All will become clear "when the time is right for her ... to announce something"
  
• Carey was spotted in Brazil wearing a maternity maxi dress

RELATED TOPICS

• Mariah Carey
• Nick Cannon
• Celebrity News

(PEOPLE.com) -- Mariah Carey isn't sharing whether she's pregnant or not -- but she is shedding some light on why she might keep mum on the subject.

"I appreciate everyone's well wishes. But I am very superstitious," she reportedly wrote on her Web site Wednesday. "When the time is right, everyone will know -- even [my publicist] Cindi Berger."

Berger echoed the sentiment earlier this week after Carey was spotted leaving a steakhouse in Sao Paulo, Brazil, wearing A Pea in the Pod's Spaghetti Strap Halter Maternity Maxi Dress ($140). All will become clear, Berger said, "when the time is right for her and Nick to announce something."

Tina Fey's Emmy message to Betty White: Mention me

When she was nominated for outstanding guest star for "SNL," she received a congratulations from Tina Fey.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• "Please try to mention my name in your acceptance speech," Fey wrote to White
  
• "I've won six Emmys and you never get used to it," White said
  
• White got nominated again this year for outstanding guest star for "SNL"

RELATED TOPICS

• Betty White
• Tina Fey
• Emmy Awards

(PEOPLE.com) -- Now that she's sealed a deal for two books to be published next year, Betty White is already polishing up her byline with a signed piece in the Hollywood Reporter, reminiscing about her first Emmy win -- in 1952.

"The Emmys weren't a big thing back then -- more like a little local awards show," writes White, 88. Compared to current ceremony -- the 62nd annual Emmys will air live on NBC Sunday at 8 p.m. ET -- in the early days, "There were no photographers and no red carpet. You just got out of your car and walked into the dinner. It wasn't even an event where people mingled and partied. You came for the awards and left."

Nominated as best comedic actress for her early domestic sitcom, "Life with Elizabeth" -- a sort of "I Love Lucy" wannabe -- White was certain she'd lose to perceived frontrunner Zsa Zsa Gabor, who even took out her compact to freshen up to give her speech. Only White won.

"I almost fainted right there," White recalls. "And, believe me, Zsa Zsa was just as shocked ... but Zsa Zsa was wonderful about it and offered me congratulations."

No Speeches Back Then

At the ceremony, which was held at the now long-gone Coconut Grove nightclub, "There were no speeches then, so I just accepted my award and left," says White.

Since then, "I've won six Emmys and you never get used to it. I got nominated again this year for outstanding guest star for 'Saturday Night Live,' " she says. Better yet, last Saturday at the Creative Arts Emmys ceremony, White, 88, won for her "SNL" turn.

When she was nominated, she also received the congratulations from one of the celebrated alumni of that show (and a nominee in the same category), Tina Fey -- who, White says, "sent me this big bouquet of roses and tulips and a card."

Its message: "Dear Betty, Congratulations on your nomination. Please try to mention my name in your acceptance speech."

George Harrison's son, Ben Harper form a band

Dhani Harrison teams up with Ben Harper and Joseph Arthur to form the band Fistful of Mercy.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• They call themselves Fistful of Mercy, after the track of the same name
  
• The trio had recorded the nine acoustic tracks that make up "As I Call You Down"
  
• The band will hit the road together in October

- In February, when Ben Harper, Joseph Arthur and Dhani Harrison arrived at the Carriage House studio in Los Angeles' Silverlake neighborhood, they had three days booked and zero songs to record.

"I thought I was going there to add some guitars or harmonies on Joseph's album," says Harrison, who was invited to the session by Harper, whom he befriended at a skate park in Santa Monica. "When I got to the studio, I saw Joe and asked, 'What songs are we going to do?' He said we hadn't written them yet."

After three long days, the trio had recorded the nine acoustic tracks that make up "As I Call You Down" -- and called themselves Fistful of Mercy, after the track of the same name. "I never thought we'd pull off an entire album, [I thought] maybe we'd get an EP," says Harper, who credits Arthur as the catalyst who pushed for three songs a day. "The three of us were able to create something we never could have done on our own."

With three acoustic guitars and three microphones, the team worked out musical arrangements, and then retreated to different corners of the studio to write. "We were each others' lyric police," says Arthur. ("It was very 'Wilbury' style," says Harrison, whose late father George was a member of the Travelin' Wilburys.)

Many times, Harrison threw out lyrical themes for inspiration. "Things Go 'Round" is a throwback to John Lennon's "Instant Karma," imagining a world where people are immediately accountable for their actions. When Harrison called for a blues number, the trio quickly drafted "My Father's Son." Says Arthur: "It's really about the three of our voices, and the harmonies. We're basically singing together the whole time."

With nine acoustic and vocal tracks completed, Harrison was determined to ratchet the music up to another level. He instinctively called the legendary session drummer Jim Keltner, an old family friend. "I'd never done anything that I thought was worthy of calling Jim," says Harrison. "We had an emotional conversation on the phone, and he heard some of the stuff we'd done, and he said he'd do it." Keltner overdubbed percussion, Arthur added bass, and Harper (who calls Keltner the "Dalai Lama of the drums") added some slide guitar.

"These guys are so talented," says Harrison of his bandmates, who will all hit the road together in October. "I can't believe I get to call them my musical brothers."

Report: iTunes to rent TV shows for 99 cents

Apple appears to be moving further into the market for online and mobile television.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Apple may offer TV programming for rental through iTunes, according to a report
  
• TV shows would be available soon after they aired; they would cost 99 cents
  
• An announcement about the deal reportedly is set for September 7
  
• People can only buy shows on iTunes now; Apple has not commented on the report

In a move that could further popularize online and mobile video, Apple's iTunes store this fall may begin renting TV programming to viewers for 99 cents per episode, according to a report from Bloomberg News.

The report, which cites three unnamed sources familiar with the situation, said Apple "is in advanced talks" with News Corp. to offer Fox programming for rental through iTunes.

The digital files would be available to renters for 48 hours after they were purchased, and new episodes would go online within 24 hours of airing on television, according to the report.

Apple also is in reported talks with CBS, NBC and Disney, which owns ABC, to offer similar deals, according to Bloomberg.

News Corp. spokesman Jack Horner declined to comment on the situation. An Apple spokesman said the company does not comment on speculation.

Bloomberg said an announcement about the deal will come at an Apple press event to be held in September. Apple on Wednesday afternoon sent out an invitation to the news media for an event in San Francisco, California, on September 1. The invite did not specify the subject of the event.

Currently, people who want to watch TV through iTunes must purchase episodes at a higher rate, usually about $1.99. There are no existing services that allow people to rent individual television episodes soon after airing in the way Apple is reportedly pursuing. Some TV network websites and others such as Hulu.com, however, do offer programming for free with commercials.

The iTunes TV rentals would be commercial-free, according to the report.

The lower rental price may be enough to entice new people to start watching television on their mobile phones or computers, writes Jacqui Cheng of Ars Technica, a CNN.com partner site.

The $1.99 price point is "just high enough to annoy many customers who are used to getting TV for free, but low enough that people pay it," she writes.

"A 99-cent TV rental would obviously be a little closer to free and, if the shows remain commercial-free like the rest of iTunes, would be an upgrade from watching them on the boob tube or Hulu."

Amazon and Netflix are among Apple's other competitors in online TV. Netflix lets subscribers stream some TV programming on computers or onto their TVs with the help of a set-top device such as the Roku or Xbox. Many TV shows are available through Netflix, but they usually aren't available until well after they've aired.

People can rent digital movies from Amazon and can purchase seasons and episodes of TV shows, but they cannot rent television programming.

iTunes TV show rentals could boost Apple's mobile device sales.

"While available on any platform that can run iTunes, the deal would almost certainly be a boon to Apple's iOS stable -- iPad, iPhone and iPod," writes Ryan Singel at Wired.com, another CNN.com content partner. "iOS users already use iTunes as their media hub for buying apps and music, as well as renting movies -- helping to make the iTunes store the world's largest digital music retailer."

Further announcements about Apple TV, Apple's set-top box to bring iTunes movies and videos to home living rooms, also may be coming in September.

There are rumors the product will be renamed iTV, and that its price will be dropped to $99. Bloomberg also reports that a new version of the iPod Touch, with a higher-resolution screen, may be announced next month.

MIT unveils swimming, oil-cleaning robots

Prototypes of the MIT Seaswarm robots have been tested in the ocean, but they're not ready for commercial use.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• MIT develops a seagoing robot that uses a special material to absorb and gather oil
• The robot, called Seaswarm, collects oil from the surface of water autonomously
• The machines would work best in swarms of thousands, researchers say
• The prototype will be unveiled on Saturday; expect them to be commercial in a year

Here's a new way of looking at oil spill clean-up: Forget the big ships, massive work crews and hefty price tags.

Instead, just deploy an army of autonomous, oil-scrubbing robots. They can find the oil on their own. And when they reach the site of an oil spill, they talk to their robot friends to figure out the best way to get the whole thing mopped up.

That's the vision the Massachusetts Institute of Technology put forward on Wednesday as the school announced the development of a prototypical robot called Seaswarm. The $20,000 robots will be unveiled officially to the public on Saturday at an event in Venice, Italy, and will be ready to deal with oil spills in about a year, said Assaf Biderman, who oversaw MIT's research team on the project.

The Seaswarm robots, which were developed by a team from MIT's SENSEable City Lab, look like a treadmill conveyor belt that's been attached to an ice cooler. The conveyor belt piece of the system floats on the surface of the ocean. As it turns, the belt propels the robot forward and lifts oil off the water with the help of a nanomaterial that's engineered to attract oil and repel water.

"You can imagine it like a carpet rolling on the surface of the water," said Biderman, who also is associate director of the SENSEable City Lab.

The material on the robot's conveyer belt, which MIT calls a "paper towel for oil spills," can absorb up to 20 times its weight in oil.

Once it has absorbed the crude from the surface of the ocean, the robot can either burn off the oil on the spot, using a heater on the "ice cooler" part of its body, or it can bag the oil and leave it on the surface of the water for a later pick-up, Biderman said. That oil could be reused or recycled.

The robots are designed to work in a swarm, he said, meaning thousands could be deployed on the same spill at once. They coordinate with each other by using GPS location data. That lets them plot out the most efficient way to tackle a clean-up project.

Biderman said the Seaswarm robots are relatively cheap, quick and effective at cleaning up oil spills.

Had they been deployed on the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, he said, the Seaswarm robots would have cleaned up the oil in two months at a cost of $100 million to $200 million, far less than the actual clean-up bill.

The Seaswarm robots operate on solar energy and require only 100 watts of power, or about that of a bright light bulb. They could stay at sea for months, Biderman said, and could operate around the clock.

The conveyor belts on the robots also are engineered in a way that they hug the water to prevent them from flipping over.

"Because it adheres to the surface of the water, it cannot capsize," he said, "So it can withstand quite severe weather. Imagine this like a leaf that lands on the surface of the water and moves with the waves and the currents and cannot be flipped over."

Traditional oil skimmers are attached to large boats. They must be operated by people, which increases their cost and they are hampered by severe weather.

About 800 skimming boats were deployed in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, which began in April and led to nearly 5 million barrels of oil being released into the ocean, according to government estimates. By comparison, 5,000 to 10,000 of MIT's autonomous robots would have been needed to respond to the spill, Biderman said.

MIT will continue research on the robots for about a year, he said, at which time the robot technology would be ready for commercial production and possibly a buyer.

Other groups are developing oil-spill cleanup technology, too.

Case Western Reserve University has developed another nanotechnology "sponge" material that could be used in response to such disasters.

And a company called Extreme Spill Technology says on its website that it has developed a traditional, boat-based skimming technology that works much more quickly and in rougher waters than the traditional skimmers.

Biderman said MIT's oil-sopping robot would be most effective in situations like the recent oil disaster, where oil is spread out.

"Ideally, when spillage happens, the best thing to do is to contain it right where the spillage occurs," he said. "But quite often the oil goes out of containment, and this is where this technology would be most effective."

But the robots were actually designed with smaller, localized clean-ups in mind, he said.

"We're hoping that spillage like what we've seen with Deepwater Horizon will not occur again, but oil leakage constantly happens and that's really what motivated us," he said. "When you drill offshore, you always have leakage. And you can imagine a team of robots waiting around the corner for a spill."

Google: 1 million Gmail calls on first day

Google's new service, which lets Gmail users make free or cheap calls via their computers, appears to be a hit.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• New service lets Gmail users make free calls to U.S. and Canada and cheap calls overseas
  
• "Over 1,000,000 calls placed from Gmail in just 24 hours!" Google tweeted Thursday
  
• Author had two successes with the service the day it launched, both unplanned

- Google Wave and Google Buzz may have had troubles attracting usage, but the new ability to place calls from Gmail appears to have caught on quickly.

"Over 1,000,000 calls placed from Gmail in just 24 hours!" Google tweeted Thursday, evidently pleased with the number.

For comparison, there are somewhat more than 300 million people in the United States. If the average person makes 10 calls per day--research in 2008 put the number at 208 calls per month--that means about one out of every 3,000 calls in the U.S. went through the service on its first day.

The service lets Gmail users make free calls to U.S. and Canada and inexpensive calls to phones in other countries. It uses Gmail as an interface and optionally can integrate with Google Voice to receive calls as well.

To be sure, a lot of calls are placed daily in the United States, where the new Gmail feature was activated initially. But the figure indicates that a sizable number of the millions of Gmail users at least gave it a whirl even if they didn't decide it was time to stop paying for their other phones.

I had two successes with the service the day it launched, both unplanned. First, somebody called my mobile phone and my computer "rang" as well. I had the pleasure of conducting an interview via headphones and my computer's microphone rather than trying to squeeze my mobile phone between my shoulder and ear for an hour.

I've done plenty of interviews over Skype, but this time the call came in from the phone system without my having to get somebody to sign up for Skype or for me to pay for a SkypeIn phone number.

Second, I came back to my desk to see a missed call announced on my Gmail screen. I clicked the phone number to call back and had a quick chat through my computer. Nothing fancy, but no mobile phone minutes were consumed in this process, and I didn't have to tell anybody anything except my Google Voice phone number.

Given the vast number of phone calls made daily, I'm reluctant to draw any grand conclusions. But the fact is that I used the service twice yesterday without actively seeking to do so (granted, I already signed up for Google Voice and installed the required chat plug-in).

That indicates to me that it's a matter those in the voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) realm or more traditional telephony will need to take seriously.

Attorneys general call for Craigslist to get rid of adult services ads

Selling sex?: Confronting Craigslist

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Attorneys general urge Craigslist to drop adult services ads
• Company pledges to prevent 'misuse of our site'
• Fake ad garnered 15 calls soliciting sex in three hours

Attorneys general in 17 states have banded together to call on Craigslist, the online classified ad website, to discontinue its adult services section.

"The increasingly sharp public criticism of Craigslist's Adult Services section reflects a growing recognition that ads for prostitution -- including ads trafficking children -- are rampant on it," the attorneys general said in a Tuesday letter to Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster and founder Craig Newmark.

The letter continued: "We recognize that Craigslist may lose the considerable revenue generated by the Adult Services ads. No amount of money, however, can justify the scourge of illegal prostitution, and the suffering of the women and children who will continue to be victimized, in the market and trafficking provided by Craigslist."

A Craigslist spokeswoman said Wednesday that the site agreed with at least some of the letter.

"We strongly support the attorneys general desire to end trafficking in children and women, through the Internet or by any other means," Susan MacTavish Best, who handles media inquiries for Craigslist, told CNN Wednesday.

"We hope to work closely with them, as we are with experts at nonprofits and in law enforcement, to prevent misuse of our site in facilitation of trafficking, and to combat such crimes wherever they appear, online or offline."

In their letter, the attorneys general highlighted an open letter, which appeared as a Washington Post ad, in which two girls said they were sold for sex on Craigslist.

When the ad came out, Buckmaster wrote a blog post in response that said, "Craigslist is anxious to know that the perpetrators in these girls' cases are behind bars."

The letter also highlighted a report in May by CNN's Amber Lyon, who posted a fake ad in the adult section. She received 15 calls soliciting sex in three hours.

Earlier this month, Lyon interviewed a woman named "Jessica" who sells sex on Craigslist. She told Lyon a Craigslist ad was "the fastest, quickest way you're for sure going to see somebody that day."

In a later blog, Buckmaster said Craigslist implemented manual screening of adult services ads in May 2009. "Since that time, before being posted each individual ad is reviewed by an attorney." He said the attorneys are trained to enforce Craigslist's posting guidelines, "which are stricter than those typically used by yellow pages, newspapers, or any other company that we are aware of."

Attorneys general from Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia made the request a week after accused "Craigslist killer" Philip Markoff committed suicide in jail.

Markoff was charged with the April 2009 killing of Julissa Brisman. Boston Police said that Brisman, a model, advertised as a masseuse on Craigslist, and Markoff might have met her through the website.

In 2008, under pressure from state prosecutors, the website raised the fees for posting adult services ads. In 2009, it started donating portions of the money generated by adult ads to charity.

A CNN investigation of Craigslist's "adult services" section, which replaced "erotic services ads" two years ago, counted more than 7,000 ads in a single day. Many offered thinly veiled "services" for anything from $50 for a half hour to $400 an hour.

Newmark has defended his site, saying it is doing more than any other site that hosts adult ads to help filter out underage prostitutes and report them to police. Best, the Craigslist spokeswoman, said that fewer than one ad in 10,000 meets the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's guidelines for anti-trafficking action.

"Only Craigslist has the power to stop these ads before they are even published, and sadly they are completely unwilling to do so," Kansas Attorney General Steve Six said in a statement.

What's next for 'check-in' apps?

SCVNGR, a check-in-based app, has announced an integration with Facebook Places.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Developers are using the "check in" idea to build new apps
  
• Apps such as Foursquare and Facebook will let developers build on their code
  
• This has resulted in apps for dating, restaurant finding and challenges
  
• An app called SCVNGR announces an integration with Facebook Places

RELATED TOPICS

• Facebook Inc.
• Foursquare Labs Inc.
• Mobile Software

(CNN) -- Seth Priebatsch was at a burrito joint in Boston recently when a message popped up on his smartphone from an app called SCVNGR.

If he opened the foil on the burrito ever so carefully and turned the wrapper into a piece of origami art -- and if he uploaded a picture of his creation to the app, the note said, then he would earn points toward a free burrito.

Priebatsch thought: That might be fun.

"I made a really weak origami crane, because I'm no origami artist myself," he said, but "it got me closer to unlocking a free burrito, which was cool."

SCVNGR, which Priebatsch helped create, is one of the latest apps to build on top of the idea of a "check-in," that emerging term some tech-savvy people use to describe the act of using a GPS-enabled smartphone to share their whereabouts with friends.

Increasingly, app developers are using existing location-based social networks -- such as Foursquare, Gowalla and, most recently, Facebook Places -- to create games, challenges, city guides and dating services.

It seems the "check-in" was just the beginning.

SCVNGR, for example, announced its integration with Facebook Places on Friday. That means people can use that free Android and iPhone app to complete challenges similar to Priebatsch's origami experiment and share that information easily with friends on Facebook. People on SCVNGR (pronounced "scavenger") also will be able to see the locations of their friends who use Facebook Places.

Users also can go onto the app and create their own challenges if they've earned enough points, Priebatsch said.

'Check-in fatigue'

Other location-based apps seek to make the act of checking in easier.

Tim Sears said he developed the Future Checkin iPhone app, for example, to help people combat a phenomenon he calls "check-in fatigue."

The app automatically checks users in through the Foursquare network when they go within a 300-meter radius of one of their favorite locations.

That's a big help if you're the kind of person who checks in all the time and gets sick of pulling your phone out of your pocket constantly to do so, he said. And it also may help cut down on the social awkwardness of checking in if you're with friends who would rather you talk to them than stare at a phone.

"If I'm at my house and I know I'm going to be at P.F. Chang's later to grab Chinese food, I could search for that place [on the app], hit 'add to favorites' and it has it on my favorites list at that point," Sears said, "so when I get with in 300 meters of P.F. Chang's it will automatically check me in and send me a notification message."

Geoloqi

An open-source group called geoloqi is trying to take that idea of an automated check-in radius even further.

The volunteer group of app developers, which is based in Portland, Oregon, is working on a website and app that will help trigger events if and when a person walks up to certain pre-set locations.

For example, you would be able to set the app to text you your shopping list when you went within a certain distance of your favorite grocery store.

Or, if you didn't show up to work by 9 a.m., you could set the app automatically to e-mail your boss saying that you're late, said Aaron Parecki, geoloqi's founder.

"We're calling these geonotes," he said, "and these are location-based notes so you can leave yourself a note that is tied to a location and pops up when you're there."

The site and the app should be up and running in about a month, he said. Geoloqi won't be a social network, exactly, but it could be integrated into Foursquare, Gowalla or other location-based networks, he said. The group has one new project up -- it's a Seattle, Washington-based website that can send you a text message, in real time, when a 911 call is placed within a certain radius of you.

Check-in guides

Other add-ons act more like guides to a city.

Foursquare has developed a number of innovative partnerships with corporations that want to advertise through the network, said Marshall Kirkpatrick, the lead writer at the tech blog ReadWriteWeb.

The Independent Film Channel, for example, launched a challenge for its viewers to review theaters, coffee shops and restaurants that exemplify the IFC brand, he said. The company picked its favorites, and people who follow IFC on Foursquare get notifications and reviews if they're nearby.

Bravo, another TV channel, also has a similar integration with Foursquare. The channel's pseudo stars, such as Lynne Curtin from "The Real Housewives of Orange County," submit reviews of their favorite spots on the app.

Yelp, the restaurant and venue review site, also has added check-ins and is expected to integrate soon with Facebook Places. On the wackier side of things, an Android app called Pee*Free collected information from Foursquare users about public toilets to get you a rated guide to free, public commodes near you.

Finally, a website called Where Do You Go takes a person's Foursquare check-ins and plots them on a heat map -- giving you a good idea of which neighborhoods in your city you visit most often and which others you may want to explore.

Location games

Other developers are interested in turning the real world into a game.

Some are using check-ins to do so, although most of these appear to be in the earliest stages, said Brian Crecente, editor-in-chief at the gaming blog Kotaku.

A few games build on top of the Foursquare network. One, called Mayor War, encourages users of that app "to fight each other with virtual weapons in real locations."

"Use eggs, wedgies, wet wellies and many more weapons to fight your friends and fellow mayors on Foursquare venues," a description of that app says.

Another, called Mob Zombies, uses location as part of a zombie fighting game.

Shopkick

Other check-in-based apps try to save people money.

A app called shopkick, for example, is trying to combine some gamelike features with real-world shopping deals.

When you sign into the app, you're shown a list of nearby retail stores. Some of those stores offer you deals if you check in from their location; others may give you a discount or points if you just walk in; and still others require you to complete some sort of challenge -- like taking a photo of merchandise -- before earning points.

Points in shopkick can be redeemed for gift cards and other prizes.

The app only works in certain cities for now, including New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, and Chicago, Illinois, according to the app's website.

Further innovation

These apps may only be the beginning.

For developers to build on top of existing check-in apps, the owners of those apps must open their code for developers to tinker with.

Foursquare did this in November 2009, but others have only opened up recently or may do so in the near future. Gowalla, one of Foursquare's direct competitors, opened its code up for developers this month.

Facebook Places announced it would let a group of select partners, including Foursquare, tinker with its code.

Facebook said it will open up its check-in code to everyone to write on top of in "coming months."

That will give developers a chance to put new check-in-based apps out to Facebook's 500 million users around the globe.

This doesn't ensure the success of check-in-based apps, said Kirkpatrick, from ReadWriteWeb, but he said he hopes it will give this idea a boost.

Real Madrid and AC Milan paired in 'Group of Death'

Group G contained clubs who have won the famous trophy on 20 occasions.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Real Madrid and AC Milan in same Group G in Champions League draw
• Ajax and Auxerre also in 'Group of Death' who have won competition 20 times between them
• Champions Inter Milan to open against Tottenham, Werder Bremen and FC Twente
• Top two from each of eight groups go through to last 16 knockout stage

(CNN) -- Nine-time winners Real Madrid were handed a monumental task as the draw for the group stages of this season's Champions League was made in Monaco on Thursday.

Jose Mourinho's new charges were paired with seven-time winners AC Milan, four-time champions Ajax Amsterdam and French side Auxerre in Group G.

Real have failed to progress beyond the last 16 knock out stages for the past six seasons, but will need to be at their best to reach the second round with only the top two from each of the eight groups going through.

Title holders Inter Milan, coached to their triple triumph by Mourinho before he departed for the Bernabeu, have also been handed a difficult group.

English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur, Bundesliga Werder Bremen and Dutch champions FC Twente will be their opponents in Group A.

It's a group of death, but we'll do what we need to
--Massimiliano Allegri

Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri said the two Milan clubs had been given very tough tests.

"Our group and Inter's are definitely the most difficult," he told AFP.

"It's a group of death, but we'll do what we need to."

The draw has also thrown up another "Battle of Britain" with three-time champions Manchester United in Group C alongside Scottish champions Rangers.

La Liga side Valencia and Champions League new boys Bursaspor of Turkey complete the group.

The 2009 winners Barcelona, one of eight top seeds, have been installed as the early favorites after drawing Greek side Panathinaikos, FC Copenhagen of Denmark and Russian league winners Rubin Kazan in Group D.

The opening set of group games will take place on September 14 and 15, with the final scheduled for England's famous Wembley stadium on May 28, 2011.

Full draw:

Group A

Inter Milan (ITA)

Werder Bremen (GER)

Tottenham (ENG)

Twente (NED)

Group B

Lyon (FRA)

Benfica (POR)

Schalke (GER)

Hapoel Tel-Aviv (ISR)

Group C

Man Utd (ENG)

Valencia (ESP)

Rangers (SCO)

Bursaspor (TUR)

Group D

Barcelona (ESP)

Panathinaikos (GRE)

Copenhagen (DEN)

Rubin Kazan (RUS)

Group E

Bayern Munich (GER)

Roma (ITA)

Basel (SUI)

CFR Cluj (ROM)

Group F

Chelsea (ENG)

Marseille (FRA)

Spartak Moscow (RUS)

Zilina (SVK)

Group G

AC Milan (ITA)

Real Madrid (ESP)

Ajax (NED)

Auxerre (FRA)

Group H

Arsenal (ENG)

Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)

Sporting Braga (POR)

Partizan Belgrade (SRB)