Blackberry maker Research in Motion (RIM) has said it will delay the launch of its new phone operating system Blackberry 10 and is to cut 5,000 jobs.

The confirmation of job losses, which RIM had warned of last month, came as the firm reported a $518m (£334m) net loss in the three months to 2 June. That compared with a $695m profit in the same period a year earlier. Analysts said the results were worse than expected and the Blackberry 10 delay spelt more bad news for RIM. Revenue in the first quarter dropped 43% to $2.8bn as sales of its Blackberry smartphones fell sharply for a second straight quarter. 'Not satisfied' RIM has struggled to keep up with rivals in the smartphone market, such as Apple's iPhone and handsets running on Google's Android operating system. It has also struggled to gain a foothold in the tablet market. The Canadian firm had been pinning its hopes for a comeback on Blackberry 10. The first phone with Blackberry 10 was expected later this year, but will now ship in the first quarter of 2013. "Our first quarter results reflect the market challenges I have outlined since my appointment as CEO at the end of January," said RIM boss Thorsten Heins.

 "I am not satisfied with these results and continue to work aggressively with all areas of the organisation and the board to implement meaningful changes to address the challenges, including a thoughtful realignment of resources and honing focus within the company on areas that have the greatest opportunities. "Our top priority going forward is the successful launch of our first Blackberry 10 device, which we now anticipate will occur in the first quarter of calendar 2013." 'Brutal' Shares in RIM have fallen about 70% over the past year. After the release of the first quarter results, its shares plunged 18% to $7.47 in extended trading in New York. RIM also said it expected to make an operating loss in the current quarter. "These [results] are brutal and it looks like it's going to continue to get worse before it gets better with this new wrinkle of the delay of BB10," said Eric Jackson, hedge fund manager at Ironfire Capital in Toronto. "The company [is] now losing money. For a long time it's been able to say it's solidly profitable. And yet now it's starting to dip in the red and that's going to continue for several quarters. "And there's really no guarantee that once they come out on the other side of BB10 that it's going to be something that people will want." He also said that he thought the company would have to cut more jobs in the future.













28 June 2012 Last updated at 22:57
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18631702

Zynga has unveiled a sequel to its most successful video game to date.

Farmville 2 builds on the original real-time farming simulation adding "3D graphics" which allow players to view the world from different angles. Users cannot carry over items from the original game, adding an incentive to buy virtual goods to speed up progress. Investors will hope it proves popular. The firm's stock has traded below its flotation price since April because of fears of waning interest in its titles. Some analysts have pointed to Facebook users shifting to mobile devices. Although Zynga offers "express" versions of some of its games via the mobile Facebook app, these have not proved popular. It has acted to counter this trend by offering a selection of titles as separate app downloads, although it has not announced plans to do this with Farmville 2. Added 'pop' The new game was announced at Zynga's Unleashed press event at its San Francisco headquarters, where it was also developed. "One of the things that people will notice right away is that it's our first 3D game," the firm's chief technology officer Cadir Lee told the BBC. "All the buildings, crops and animals are shown in 3D. You can see them from multiple directions, they can rotate, you can see them more richly - so it provides a certain pop in the game itself. "The game also has more social elements and a lot more crafting: the crops that you harvest are what you use in the game to make things which you then use to make other things, like on a natural farm."

Money earner According to independent traffic tracking service Appdata the original Farmville peaked with about 82 million users playing it at least once a month in March 2010. More than two years later Zynga revealed the title was still its biggest earner, accounting for 29% of its revenue over the first three months of 2012. The latest Appdata data suggests 21.7 million users still log on at least once a month to tend to their crops, trees and animals. Other titles unveiled at the event included The Ville, another revamp of an earlier game. Based on Yoville, players are tasked with building a house and developing relationships with other players. It also showed off Zynga Elite Slots, an "adventure" title featuring different fruit machines, and Chefville, a restaurant simulation in which players can entertain their friends. Expanding the platform Third-party developers were wooed with the announcement of API (application programming interface) tools to make it easier for them to create games based on Zynga's software. Resulting titles are then be offered on the firm's own website. Participants must also offer their creations via Facebook - something that may prevent the move from causing tension with the social network. Zynga said Atari had confirmed it would now join its network with an as yet undisclosed game.










26 June 2012 Last updated at 20:08
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18602270

Web users in India are once again able to access video and file-sharing sites, including The Pirate Bay.

The country's Madras High Court has changed its earlier censorship order which centred on the issue of internet copyright. The original ruling made Indian internet service providers (ISPs) block access to entire sites to prevent a single film from being shared online. The new order was issued following an appeal filed by a consortium of ISPs. It states that only specific web addresses - URLs - carrying the pirated content should be blocked, but not the entire website. "The order of interim injunction dated 25/04/2012 is hereby clarified that the interim injunction is granted only in respect of a particular URL where the infringing movie is kept and not in respect of the entire website," reads the updated decision. "Further, the applicant is directed to inform about the particulars of URL where the interim movie is kept within 48 hours.

" Hacking attacks In late March, Chennai-based Copyrightlabs, an Indian anti-piracy firm, won a court order that made Indian ISPs and phone firms stop their customers reaching websites that were illegally sharing copies of certain Bollywood films. The Ashok Kumar order - similar to a "John Doe" order in the United States and designed to protect the copyright of music, films and other content - allowed copyright holders to request a website be taken down to prevent users from downloading content illegally. The ruling led to a series of cyber-attacks by the hacker group Anonymous, which targeted a number of Indian websites, including those for government departments and India's Supreme Court. Anonymous said the attacks were carried out in retaliation against blocks imposed on video and file-sharing sites. The internet hacking group then staged numerous protests against "internet censorship" in India.













 22 June 2012 Last updated at 12:22
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18551471

Microsoft has unveiled Surface - its own-brand family of tablets.  

The touchscreen computers will be powered by its upcoming Windows 8 system and contain a choice of an Intel or ARM-based processor. It allows the firm to challenge Apple's bestselling iPad with a device that can run standard applications such as its own Office programs and Photoshop. But it puts Microsoft in competition with other manufacturers planning to release tablets designed for Windows 8. The company's chief executive, Steve Ballmer, said he had wanted to give the software "its own companion hardware". The devices have 10.6 inch (26.9cm) displays, built-in kickstands and are housed in magnesium cases - which the company described as the first of their kind. The ARM-based tablets are 9.3mm (0.4 inches) thick - slightly less than the iPad - and run the Windows RT version of the new system. The Verge reported that the chipset will be built by Nvidia. Third-party developers must rewrite programs from scratch to run on the system's Metro interface to work on these devices. The versions using Intel's x86 technology run Windows 8 Pro and are 13.5mm (0.5 inches) thick. These can run Metro and an updated version of the "classic" desktop meaning they can use software designed for earlier editions of Windows, although some programs will need to be updated to be compatible. The specifications mean the Surface tablets have bigger screens than the iPad but are heavier. Pen input A variety of accompanying covers can be attached using built-in magnets. They double as keyboards with trackpads. One version is flat while the other offers keys that can be depressed. The devices are also designed to work with a pen accessory using what the firm dubbed "digital ink". When the stylus is held close to the screen of the tablet it ignores touch-input from the users' hands and "samples" the ink at 600dpi (dots per inch). The ARM-based version will be available with either 32GB (gigabytes) or 64GB of storage. Microsoft said they would be priced at a similar rate to other tablets using the same type of processor built by other firms.

 It added that the Intel-based versions would be offered with either 64GB or 128GB of storage and would have price tags comparable to ultrabook laptops. Different chipsets One tech analyst told the BBC that other hardware makers were likely to feel aggrieved by the news. "Microsoft can offer a competitive price for these specifications as it doesn't need to pay itself a licence for the Windows 8 software which other manufacturers will have to do, and that might make its PC and tablet-making partners unhappy," said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at the technology consultants Gartner. She added that the firm appeared to have focused on a specific part of the market which wanted a more powerful device than the iPad. "They seem to be be targeting a professional audience," she said. "So they are going head-to-head with Apple within the corporate sector. Price will be key - these devices won't be at the bottom end of the market. They will probably let other manufacturers fight over that space." By contrast the tech research firm Forrester said it thought the focus for ARM-based Surface tablets would be consumers, rather than the enterprise sector. But one of its analysts warned there was a risk customers would shy away if they found it confusing distinguishing between the two types of Windows 8 experience. This will be the first time Microsoft will offer a version of its PC system designed for chips based on ARM's architecture. "Microsoft will be its own worst enemy in this market," blogged Sarah Rotman Epps. "Consumers aren't used to thinking about chipsets. Choice is a key tenet of Windows, but too much choice is overwhelming for consumers. Apple gets this, and limits iPad options to connectivity, storage, and black… or white." ARM's ambitions Despite the potential for confusion, British chip designer ARM said it was "excited" by the news. The firm's designs have already proved popular with smartphone makers, but Microsoft's support for its technology in Windows 8 offers it the potential to expand into a market dominated until now by Intel and AMD. "This represents a significant milestone in Microsoft's journey to expand the support of the Windows operating system and embrace the ARM architecture," said Lance Howarth, the firm's vice president of marketing. "With the Surface for Windows RT announcement we are delighted to see yet another example of this partnership in action which follows on from various Windows RT devices demonstrated at Taiwan's Computex show recently."











19 June 2012 Last updated at 03:23
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18500954

Game maker Valve has appointed an in-house economist to help manage the virtual economies that have sprung up around its many titles.

The company has signed up economics professor Yanis Varoufakis as their resident expert adviser. Valve contacted Prof Mr Varoufakis as it started to think about linking game economies and hit virtual currency exchange problems. It comes as South Korea attempts to crack down on trading in video games. In a blog explaining how he came to work for Valve, Prof Varoufakis said first contact was made by Gabe Newell, president of the games company. Mr Newell had been reading Prof Varoufakis's blog post about the economic imbalance between Germany and Greece. "We were discussing an issue of linking economies in two virtual environments (creating a shared currency)," wrote Mr Newell, adding that this seemed to have direct parallels with what had happened in the real world. Intrigued, Mr Varoufakis replied and then visited Valve to talk about the issues. This was despite the fact that he was not a gamer and he last played a computer game - space invaders - in 1981. 'Test-bed' Prof Varoufakis said he had decided to sign on with Valve because of the novel applications of economic theory it would lead to. "Also," he said, "Valve's digital economies are a marvellous test-bed for meaningful experimentation." By contrast, he said, such experimentation was impossible in the real world. This situation, he wrote, meant economists often relied on hunches or happy accidents to avoid reaching absurd conclusions about the underlying causes of financial activity. At Valve, Prof Varoufakis said he would be doing a lot of data mining and experimentation to help the company understand what was happening in the online economics springing up around its own titles and the Steam game-playing service. Valve is not the first game firm to employ a professional economist. Space trading and combat game Eve Online signed up Eyjolfur Guomundsson to advise it on in-game economics in 2007. Jail time As Valve steps up its efforts to do more with game economies, South Korea has decided to crack down on the trading of virtual items. Reports suggest that South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will enact a law banning game trading later this year. Online markets have sprung up that let players buy virtual cash to use in games, or trade hard-to-find gear for real money. In a statement, the South Korean authorities said trading of game cash and gear was a "serious hindrance" to a healthy game culture. It estimates that 60% of the items being traded on official and unofficial market places were generated using automated programs that "farm" games for loot. Those who break the law could face large fines or prison terms.













15 June 2012 Last updated at 12:49
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18456171

Activision Blizzard has launched the video game Diablo 3's real-money auction house for players in North and South America.

  The facility allows users to buy and sell objects found in the title using real currency. The publisher takes a cut of each transaction, securing a new source of profits. It has warned that subscribers found guilty of using hacks or other attempts to cheat face a lifetime ban. Diablo 3 takes place in a horror-themed fantasy world in which players team up to save their land from monsters. Its in-game auction houses - in which gold, weapons, armour and other materials can be bought and sold - were originally supposed to have been launched on 22 May. However, the move was delayed following reports that some users had had their accounts hacked, and that items and characters had been stolen. Small steps Blizzard has now opted for a more limited launch. Auctions are initially restricted to equipment - commodities will follow at a later date - and several currencies including the Brazilian real and Argentine peso cannot be used yet. "We are rolling out the elements of the real-money auction house separately to ensure all of our players have the smoothest possible experience," it said on its blog. "We'll have more information on the availability of the European real-money auction house and the remaining American currencies soon."

 The firm has also introduced a range of security measures. Players wishing to pay for transactions through its proprietary Battle.net system must either download an identification app to their smartphone or buy an authenticator - a physical device that produces a digital code. Those wishing to buy goods via PayPal must sign up to a separate service that messages a special code to their phones which must be re-entered to complete the transaction. Chinese bots The Tech in Asia blog reports on one of the potential problems facing the title. It says some users there have already created software applications - called bots - which carry out automated tasks in the game. It says one user has uploaded a video showing how thousands of these bots and other scripts can be co-ordinated to generate in-game assets worth about $1,000 every hour. Blizzard has said such activity constitutes a breach of its rules. A recent forum update noted that "several thousand" players had already received account suspensions and bans for "cheating and/or using botting or hacking programs while playing". The firm has invited users noticing suspicious activity to email its teams so it can look into the problem. "Blizzard is legitimising the process of players transacting between themselves within the game," said Ed Barton, director of digital media at Strategy Analytics. "This has been happening for some time in other online games but often it was user-driven and only grudgingly tolerated by the game's operators. "I think it's going to be a little while before the whole process settles down as far as Diablo 3 goes and there may be some odd occurrences such as wildly fluctuating pricing in the meantime. Cautious gamers may wish to wait before getting involved."











13 June 2012 Last updated at 17:29
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18428332

Sword fighting fans could soon be digitally duelling online thanks to the efforts of US author Neal Stephenson.

Mr Stephenson is seeking funds via the Kickstarter website to create a game that will accurately portray hand-to-hand combat with swords. The game will build on years of research he has funded into different weapon types and fighting styles. He hopes the move could grow into a larger project that turns his sci-fi novels into an open online environment. Hands-on hero The pitch for the game, tentatively called Clang, has been put on Kickstarter, with Mr Stephenson seeking $500,000 (£322,000) by 9 July to get development started. Kickstarter works by letting members of the public put funds into ideas and projects they want to succeed. In a video accompanying the pitch page, Mr Stephenson said players of fantasy and historical games that centre on hand-to-hand combat were poorly served by the controls they used. By contrast, he said, players of first person shooters had a vast amount of customisation options at their fingertips that they could use to find their own way to play. A similar suite of options was "glaringly absent" from most hand-to hand games, he said. It is hoped Clang would free gamers from the "prison" of repetitive button mashing currently used to represent duelling with a blade.

 The result, he said, could be described as "guitar hero with swords". In the video, Mr Stephenson said he set up the Subutai Corporation a few years ago to start the detailed work needed to make computerised combat more realistic. "There's a galaxy of real weapon styles and variations just waiting to be incorporated into games," he said. "It's the same story with fighting styles." Using in-house sword makers and martial arts experts Subutai has built up a huge corpus of data about how to translate different weapons and combat moves into digital equivalents. Mr Stephenson is seeking funds to pay developers to create a simple arena-style multi-player game in which people take each other on in sword fights. Early trials have used Razer's Hydra controller to more realistically mimic sword fighting. "We're ready, we've got geeks in suits of armour, we've got geeks in front of computer workstations," said Mr Stephenson. "We've got a lot of people out there who like to play games with sword fighting in them who might be ready to step it up to something a little bit more interesting." If Clang is a success, Mr Stephenson hopes it will help to turn his latest series of novels, The Mongoliad, into an open online world. This, he said, was part of his attempt to find out what will happen to the craft of novel writing in the modern world.










11 June 2012 Last updated at 14:06
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18395724

O2 is set to block its customers from accessing file-sharing site The Pirate Bay from 0001 BST on Friday, the internet service provider has said.
 
The move means customers of Be Broadband, a subsidiary of O2, will also be blocked from the site. The ISP is the latest to fall in line following a High Court order in April. A judge ruled that TPB was facilitating copyright infringement by providing links to download pirated content. 'Obliged to comply' In a statement, O2 said: "The main UK internet providers were ordered by the high court to block access to specific IP addresses and URLs used by The Pirate Bay website. "We have no option but to comply with this order and will be doing so overnight." Be Broadband posted a message about the blocking measures on its company blog. It said: "Our parent company was one of the named ISPs so we are obliged to comply. "We wouldn't chose to do this voluntarily but we need to comply with UK laws just like any UK business. We're aware of the concerns voiced by members about the broader issue." TalkTalk is now the last remaining ISP featured in the court order not to have implemented a block on the Swedish-based site. BT, which was given extra time to make necessary arrangements, told the BBC it would make an announcement regarding TPB in "due course".











 7 June 2012 Last updated at 17:07
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18358483