Mr Beck worked with London Transport as an engineering draughtsman before he designed the map.

BBC: London's Tube map creator Harry Beck gets blue plaque

In March Vij hired another veteran chip designer, Ravikrishna Cherukuri, to lead MIPS' engineering efforts and to build a three-year road map for new products.

FORBES: Technology

The satellite-borne phone will map the Earth with its 5 megapixel camera and conduct a number of scientific and engineering experiments, the most significant of which will be to hand total control of the spacecraft over to the Nexus.

BBC: Thinking outside the box in space