Cristiano Ronaldo meets Polish boy he roused from three-month coma by scoring in Portugal World Cup play-off

A goal by Cristiano Ronaldo helped to bring a boy out of a three-month coma and the pair had an emotional meeting after Real Madrid’s Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund.

David Pawlaczyk was knocked off of his bicycle by a car and suffered several internal injuries in August.

The 14-year-old was rushed to hospital but slipped into a coma, as reported by Polish newspaper Fakt. 

Real Madrid treat young fan to VIP trip after he woke from coma

Meeting his hero: Cristiano Ronaldo invited Polish fan David Pawlaczyk over to Madrid to watch last week’s Real vs Borussia Dortmund Champions League tie after a goal he scored roused the 14-year-old from a three-month coma

Welcome to Madrid: Ronaldo gives young David a hug as they meet at the Bernabeu. The 14-year-old slipped into a coma after being knocked off his bike by a car back in August

Magic moment: David was roused from his coma by radio commentary of Ronaldo’s hat-trick for Portugal against Sweden in the World Cup play-offs back in November

Souvenir: Ronaldo autographs a Real Madrid shirt for his young visitor from Poland as he walks into the Bernabeu before the match

Read all about it: Ronaldo browses through a book about himself that David had brought with him to the match

Family affair: David and his family travelled over from Poland after Ronaldo heard about the story and invited them to the game

CR7 at his best! The sublime and the funny of Cristiano Ronaldo

His parents were told that sound therapy was the best hope of waking their son and were told that they should play familiar sounds to him.

David was a big Real Madrid fan and his parents played him radio broadcasts of their matches among others.

When Ronaldo scored his third goal during Portugal’s World Cup play-off clash with Sweden in November, David was listening to the commentary and at that moment he was roused from his coma.

The Polish press reported the story and Ronaldo caught wind of it and invited David and his family to Madrid for Real’s clash with Dortmund.

Grand scale: David with his parents right at the top of the Santiago Bernabeu

Tour: David was able to walk up the steps from the Bernabeu tunnel onto the pitch

On the bench: David and family try out the comfortable Bernabeu dug-outs

His mother Isabella said: ‘When I told David that he would fly to Madrid and meet Ronaldo, he could not stop crying. He could not believe it was true.

‘David has asked us to take him to Madrid so many times. You [Ronaldo] have a big heart and we will never forget this.’

After Madrid’s 3-0 victory against the Germans, Ronaldo met David and his family, sharing a hug and offering autographs, a Real Madrid shirt and his best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Suits you! David, a Real Madrid fan, picks out a replica shirt in the club store

Meet the boss: With club President Florentino Perez prior to the big match

Cheer them on: David lends his support to Real Madrid during their 3-0 win over Dortmund

Madrid face Dortmund in the second leg of the quarter-final on Tuesday night.

Ronaldo, who missed their game against Real Sociedad on Saturday with a knee complaint, should be fit to start at the Westfalenstadion.

Quick tip: Get OK Google everywhere right now - CNET

Quick tip: Get OK Google everywhere right now - CNET

Here’s Why You Should Buy Google Stock Now

GOOG stock is a winner in both the short and long term

Google (GOOG) has underperformed so far this year with a 4% return vs. 6% for the S&P 500.

There have also been some disappointing GOOG stock headlines including scrubbing search results in Europe to deal with privacy concerns and disappointing first-quarter earnings.

But Google stock is better than some investors think, particularly as a long-term play on innovative new technology.

Here’s why I like GOOG stock now:

Recent Momentum for Google Stock: Google’s first-quarter earnings were disappointing. However, the shares have quickly added back 15% since the stock’s low in early May. Consider that Deutsche Bank and RBC lowered targets on Google’s stock after the report, the investment banks still remain bullish with targets of $625 and $670, respectively.

Android Domination: Google’s Android OS was present on 79% of worldwide smartphone shipments in 2013, per Strategy Analytics. That’s a massive market share and surely can be platformed into new revenue streams through advertising, content or other applications on Android-powered phones.

Google Is Flush with Cash: With roughly $60 billion in cash and investments on the books and operating cash flow of over $18 billion last year, there are fewer companies on Wall Street more stable than Google. But it’s not just stability that investors should be attracted to. With a history of ambitious acquisitions for both technology and talent, Google is agile and has deep enough pockets to be seen as a serious competitor in almost any field of technology.

7 Bulletproof Stocks to Buy Now: No matter how choppy this market gets, these blue chips will offer double-digit growth AND sleep-well-at-night safety. Get their names (and buy prices!) here.

Innovation: As proof that Google can put its high-tech know-how to work on far more than just smartphone apps and Internet ads, consider its recent health initiatives. Earlier this year, Google announced plans for a smart contact lens that could help diabetics monitor their blood sugar. Also, consider that in past several months, Google has snapped up a host of robotics and artificial-intelligence firms including Deep Mind, humanoid robotics manufacturer Schaft and robotic-arm company Redwood Robotics. Who knows when or how this focus on healthcare or robots will hit the bottom line, but the efforts are proof of just how hard Google is thinking about the future of technology.

“Other” Revenue is Real: Just look at the “other” line on the tech giant’s revenue breakdown and you’ll see that Google isn’t just funding pet projects for fun and games. Sales in this category more than doubled from 2012 to 2013, going from just under $2.4 billion to almost $5 billion. Furthermore, those “other” revenues are more than triple the $1.4 billion from fiscal 2011. That trend should only grow, considering first-quarter “other” revenue totaled over $1.5 billion. Sure, Google is an advertising powerhouse and relies heavily on that arm of the business now, but the company is growing and evolving ambitiously, and many of these projects are starting to deliver material revenue.

Valuation: Based on 2014 earnings forecasts, Google stock is trading for a forward price-to-earnings ratio of about 21 right now. That’s a bit high, but taken in context, it seems, at worst, fairly valued. Consider, for instance, that Google traded for a forward P/E of around 20 for much of 2011 and 2012 — and that a decade ago, its valuation regularly skewed higher. When you throw in the fact that the forward P/E of the S&P 500 is over 16 and the Nasdaq is pushing 18, Google doesn’t look pricey at all.

All in all, Google stock is quite attractive both with the short-term momentum for shares as well as the long-term innovation going on at GOOG.

Jeff Reeves is the editor of InvestorPlace.com and the author of The Frugal Investor’s Guide to Finding Great Stocks. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Write him at editor@investorplace.com or follow him on Twitter at @JeffReevesIP.

Here’s why Google bought Songza

BY GAIL SULLIVAN
We’re way past the days of messy, anything-you-get-for-free downloading on Napster. People want their music the way museums want their collections and sommeliers want their wine cellars: curated.

Any not by just anyone — by experts. That’s why major tech companies are snapping up digital music services that offer the ability to create playlists suited to users’ changing moods, activities, even the weather.

On Tuesday, Google confirmed rumors it is buying Songza, a music app that makes customized playlists – including ones inspired by current weather conditions thanks to a partnership with the Weather Channel. The free, ad-supported app also offers sounds for a range of moods – cocky, lush, visceral and rowdy, to name a few, and for activities such as “dirt road driving” or “shopping at a vintage store.”

Songza song choice for announcing the deal with Google? “Walking on Sunshine.”

Google paid more than $39 million for Songza, a person familiar with the deal who was not authorized to speak about its terms told the New York Times. Representatives of Google and Songza declined to confirm that number. If accurate, that’s far less than the $3 billion Apple paid for Beats, a company that makes popular headphones and offers a curated music subscription service.

Google said in an announcement that it’s not “planning any immediate changes to Songza” but will “explore ways to bring what you love about Songza to Google Play Music” and “look for opportunities to bring their great work to the music experience on YouTube and other Google products.”

A Google spokesman told Mashable that Google’s Play Music is getting more interest from users, particularly the radio features that allow users to control what is coming next as well as take stations offline. “We view the Songza acquisition as a way to further enhance our radio feature by adding their expertise on context,” the spokesperson said.

So why did Google buy Songza, which has a fraction of the users that market leaders Pandora and Spotify have? It’s not about boosting the number of subscribers, according to Forbes contributor Bobby Owsinksi: “The company’s Music Play All Access service doesn’t have the kind of subscriber numbers it wants, but that could be just a matter of time, considering that YouTube (which it owns) is the number one online source for music discovery and access already. And the company already has a large catalog of licensed songs, so a purchase with that in mind is redundant.”

So what’s the attraction? Curation, of course. “While Google may be the king of the algorithm, it’s been proven time and again that computer generated playlists can’t come close to the musical taste of human,” Owsinski said.

As Business Insider pointed out back in June, when rumors of the deal were circulating, Pandora’s Music Genome Project “represents over 10 years of music analysis. Collecting the data for a single song can take 20 minutes. A decade. That’s how far behind Google is, in theory, in terms of music streaming — and why it will pounce on Songza if it gets the right price.”

Google Lunar Xprize: The next great race to the moon

The Google Lunar Xprize is racing ahead as 18 teams across the world compete to become the first among them to land on the moon. The payoff: a $30 million prize and international glory. Here's a preview of our upcoming coverage.

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Rumor: Apple's 'iPhone 6' to launch on Sept. 25, larger 5.5" version dubbed 'iPhone Air'

By AppleInsider Staff

Another questionable rumor out of China on Thursday claims Apple will announce its next-gen iPhone on Sept. 15 ahead of a Sept. 25 launch date, while mention is made of a 16GB 5.5-inch version that will supposedly be called "iPhone Air."

"iPhone 6" and "iPhone 6c" concepts by Martin Hajek.

According to Chinese language website China.com, industry sources are telling various media outlets in the region that Apple is planning to start sales of its next iPhone on Sept. 25, with China expected to be in the first group of countries to get the device. 

The report, spotted by GforGames is highly suspect, as Apple historically starts sales of new iPhone models on Fridays, and Sept. 25 is a Thursday. Last year, Apple performed a simultaneous launch with the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c on Friday, Sept. 20. 

Perhaps more believable, though by no means verifiable, is a rumor from May saying that Apple plans to launch the device or devices on Sept. 19, a date echoed in a follow-up report last week.

Insiders also said a 5.5-inch "phablet" version of the next-gen "iPhone 6" will be called "iPhone Air," though such a move would likely confuse the "Air" naming convention. As it stands, the MacBook Air represents the Apple's smallest and lightest laptops, while the "Air" moniker is assigned to the company's largest iPad. 

As for pricing, Thursday's report is exactly in line with prior claims that the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 will cost 5,288 yuan (about $850) when it hits store shelves. While last week's rumor failed to mention a 16GB variant of an anticipated 5.5-inch iPhone, today's report cites insiders as saying the device does exist and expects it to run 5,998 yuan (about $965). 

Finally, sources claim Apple's partner carriers in the region, China Mobile and China Unicom, are already testing prototype iPhone 6 units on their respective 4G networks.

When the next-gen iPhone lineup does launch sometime this fall, many expect the handset to feature a complete redesign relocated sleep/wake button, slimmed-down profile and advanced innards like an "A8" processor. Some analysts believe Apple plans to differentiate the purported 5.5-inch version from its smaller siblings by adding on features like optical image stabilization and higher storage capacities.

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• iPhone 6
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