An original Apple 1 computer from 1976 - one of only six still in working order - has sold at auction in Germany for more than 500,000 euros ($650,000).

The Apple 1 was one of the first 50 built by Apple co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in Jobs' parents' garage.

The computer - consisting only of a motherboard, signed by Mr Wozniak - went to an anonymous buyer from Asia.

Last year, an Apple 1 sold for 490,000 euros (£418,000; $633,000).

Only about 200 Apple 1s were ever made. About 46 remain in existence, but only six of those are still in working order.

Bob Luther, author of The First Apple, called the Apple 1 the "holy grail of collectable technology".

The one sold at auction in the German city of Cologne on Saturday was purchased together with an original monitor, tape-player, keyboard. The documentation was signed by Steve Jobs.

Read it from the source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22667353

Mobile World Congress (MWC) has been and gone, giving the mobile community a chance to come together and show off their latest products in Barcelona, while no doubt enjoying the odd tapas or two.

We here at V3 were at the show to see what was announced, grabbing hands-on with numerous devices that were unveiled and hearing what those on stage had to say about their company's plans and their future-gazing for the mobile market.

Now, having returning home and enjoyed some hearty British food again, the V3 team sat down to discuss the key announcements and insights from the show that we think will have an impact on the market in the months ahead.

10. Nokia is seeking salvation in the mid-market

MWC Nokia Lumia 720 home screenNokia used to rule the roost in the smartphone world but these days it has to watch as its rivals running Android, like Samsung, and Apple with its iPhone, dominate the market. However, the firm has a plan to fight back.

With one billion people still to come online with smartphone the firm has moved to flood this market with cheap, but high-quality devices, such as the Lumia 520 and Lumia 720, both unveiled at MWC this year.

While they may be budget smartphones, costing around £150, there's nothing budget about their capabilities, and we were left impressed by their speed and features when we had a play on the show floor.

Certainly, with Apple refusing to go anywhere near the mid and low tier markets, and Samsung preferring to concentrate at the high end, this strategy could work for Nokia.




Source : www.v3.co.uk

Facebook has added a feature in its mobile phone app that allows free calling for US iPhone users.


Users can now make calls to each other via the Facebook Messenger app anywhere they have a wi-fi or a cellular-data connection. The feature could be a boon for heavy talkers as they would avoid carrier call charges. Facebook said it was working on adding the feature to its Messenger app for Android and BlackBerry users. Within the app, all a person needs to do is open a conversation with a partner, tap the "i" icon in the upper right hand corner and select "Free Call". The calls, however, can only be made to another user who has Messenger installed on their iPhone. Users can neither call a Facebook friend who is logged in through the website or call a landline. The latest mobile-to-mobile development was independent of the free video-calling software Skype, which was already integrated into Facebook's website, a spokesman said. The Messenger app is limited to voice calling. The official said Facebook was expected to roll out the feature in its Messenger app for other operating systems and expand it overseas. On Tuesday, Facebook unveiled a smart search engine - called Graph Search - that allows users to make "natural" searches of content shared by their friends.







17 January 2013 Last updated at 11:41
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21059611

Anger over huge phone bills caused by purchases made within mobile applications has grown.

Regulator PhonepayPlus has noted a 300% increase in complaints from consumers faced with an unexpectedly large phone bill. Many apps can be downloaded for free, but users are then encouraged to buy extra items. Other free apps contained malware that tricked users into running up bills, the regulator added. Children's "naivety" on social media was also causing concern among parents, PhonepayPlus said. The regulator said it was working with Facebook to make sure rogue offers and promotions were removed from the site as quickly as possible. In most mobile app stores, it is free games that make their way to the top of the most downloaded charts, so many games makers have opted for the in-app sales business model. Burning holes Many titles, such as the massively popular Angry Birds, give players the chance to progress more quickly in the game by spending small amounts of money. PhonepayPlus said its figures suggested that two in three 11- to 16-year-olds had downloaded their own apps. The regulator warned that parents could see bills of "hundreds or even thousands of pounds" as a result of these in-app purchases. In one of the more extreme cases, it was reported that children had downloaded counterfeit versions of games from Google's Android app store. These games were infected with malware which, whenever opened, billed £15 to the user's phone bill without their knowledge. PhonepayPlus' chief executive Paul Whiteing said parents must be vigilant. "Connected devices will define the age in which today's children live and we are determined to ensure that they can receive the benefits while being protected from the risks," he said. "Smartphones in children's pockets can burn holes in parents' wallets, so we are working with partners across industry and other agencies to prevent this. "This is a real challenge for parents and for us as a regulator, but this plan meets that challenge head on."











16 January 2013 Last updated at 12:11
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21042379

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has decided not to take legal action against Google at the end of a 19-month investigation into the search giant.

 It found Google had not biased its search results to favour its products. Google has agreed to give advertisers access to more information about their campaigns and has agreed not to use other providers' material such as product reviews in its search results. Google is still awaiting a competition ruling from the European Commission. Another key concession applies to how Google uses the patents it bought when it acquired Motorola Mobility last year for $12.5bn (£7.9bn). Google has said it will charge "fair and reasonable" rates to companies that need to use its standard essential patents. Standard essential patents are ones that are critical to industry standards, for example, the technology that allows devices such as smartphones and tablets to connect to the internet over wi-fi. It has agreed not to take out injunctions forcing licensees to remove their products from sale if there are disagreements about how much a fair rate should be. 'Disappointing and premature' Rivals had called for stronger sanctions to be taken against Google. Fairsearch, an organisation representing several of Google's critics such as Microsoft, said in a statement: "The FTC's decision to close its investigation with only voluntary commitments from Google is disappointing and premature, coming just weeks before the company is expected to make a formal and detailed proposal to resolve the four abuses of dominance identified by the European Commission, first among them biased display of its own properties in search results." The FTC was asked to investigate whether Google was favouring its own products in search results. FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz told a press conference that the commission had found no evidence that Google's search engine was biased towards its own services.

 "Some may believe the commission should have done more, but for our part we do follow the facts where they lead," he said. "We do it with appropriate rigour. This brings to an end the investigation. It is good for consumers, it is good for competition and it is the right thing to do." One of the biggest changes to be implemented by Google will allow advertisers to copy ad campaign data to other search engines, such as Microsoft's Bing. Google is also promising that it will stop copying content from other websites to use in its summaries, even though the company had insisted the practice was legal under the fair-use provisions of US copyright law. In response to the settlement, Google's chief legal officer David Drummond said in a blog post: "The US Federal Trade Commission today announced it has closed its investigation into Google after an exhaustive 19-month review that covered millions of pages of documents and involved many hours of testimony. "The conclusion is clear: Google's services are good for users and good for competition." Big fine It does not mean that the search giant is out of the woods on the issue of anti-competitive practices. Alongside the FTC investigation, Google is still under scrutiny from the European Union. In December, the EU's Competition Commission gave the search giant a month to address four key areas: the manner in which Google displays "its own vertical search services differently" from other, competing products how Google "copies content" from other websites - such as restaurant reviews - to include within its own services the "exclusivity" Google has to sell advertising around search terms people use restrictions on advertisers from moving their online ad campaigns to rival search engines Google is expected to respond to these concerns shortly. If found guilty of breaching EU anti-trust rules, Google would face a fine of up to $4bn (£2.5bn).












3 January 2013 Last updated at 22:14
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20899032

An ambitious plan to update classic space trading game Elite has hit its funding target.

The game first appeared on the BBC Micro in 1984 but one of the game's original creators wanted to make a modern PC version. David Braben sought £1.25m via crowd-sourcing site Kickstarter to fund the 21st century update. A last minute surge of pledges helped it reach its goal about 48 hours before Friday's funding deadline. Funding squeeze Elite: Dangerous debuted on Kickstarter on 5 November and set itself 60 days to raise £1.25m. In November, Mr Braben said Elite was a game he had wanted to come back to for a "long, long time". Although some early work on the multiplayer title had been done at Mr Braben's game studio Frontier Developments, but needed the cash to turn the code into a finished playable product. If the game did not hit its funding target then development work would stop.

 Getting the cash via Kickstarter was preferable to using an established publisher because it gave Frontier and those who backed it total control over how the final game would turn out, said Mr Braben, The finished game, he said, would keep the central trading, travel and spaceship combat elements of the original but add far better graphics, physics and feature a much larger chunk of the universe for people to play in. Fund tracking site Kicktraq showed that after an initial surge the number of people backing the project tailed off dramatically. On its second day on Kickstarter raised more than £271,000. However, soon after pledge totals rarely got over £10,000. A surge of pledges came forward in the closing few days of Elite's fund-raising drive thanks to an appearance on social news site Reddit by Mr Braben and with the help of comedian Dara O Briain who urged his 1.2 million Twitter followers to back it. "It is really great to have exceeded the goal already," Mr Braben told the BBC. "I was delighted and touched by how many people really want this game to be made, and it was doubly good that it happened on my birthday!" He said the Elite team were now pushing to reach "stretch" goals which would produce a Mac version of the game and add more ships to the game. "It was an ambitious target but that is so that it was set at a realistic level to be able to make the game," he said adding that watching the total pledges get close to the target made for a "tense time".












3 January 2013 Last updated at 11:41
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20897768

Online loans company Wonga has begun offering "buy now, pay later" services directly on retailers' websites.

Until now, loans from Wonga, which have been highly criticised due to an annual interest rate of 4,214%, have been available only through its own site. The company has partnered with furniture firm Cotswold Company to launch its Paylater service. A spokesman for Wonga said it intended to roll out the service to other retailers soon. "Essentially, Paylater is providing an alternative to credit cards," he said. "It takes the cost of your purchase, you pay an upfront fee of 7%, then there are three payments over subsequent months that cover the outstanding costs." It means for an item that costs £100, a buyer will pay an initial fee of £7, followed by three monthly payments of £33.33. 'Legal loan shark' The interest rates on Paylater are considerably lower than on its core business - short-term "pay-day" loans. This side of Wonga's business has been highly criticised, with one MP calling the company a "legal loan shark". Stella Creasy, Labour MP for Walthamstow, also led a campaign to have the firm's advertisements taken off the websites of teams in the Football League. In May, Wonga was criticised by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for using aggressive and misleading debt collection methods.

Speaking on Wonga's latest offering, debt advice charity StepChange told the BBC: "As with any form of credit, StepChange debt charity would urge people to carefully consider whether they absolutely need to use it. "Crucially, consumers should familiarise themselves with exactly how much they may have to pay back in charges, interest and fees, and whether they can afford to make those repayments." US expansion Wonga's move will see it come into direct competition with the likes of Visa, Mastercard and other credit card companies that have taken their services online. The planned expansion comes ahead of speculation that Wonga has its sights set on breaking into the US market as soon as possible. A report in the Times newspaper earlier this month suggested Wonga had made a swoop to buy On Deck Capital, a US specialist online retailer. But a Wonga spokesman dismissed the report as "rumours and speculation". In 2011, Wonga chief executive Errol Damelin signalled his intent to expand the loan service worldwide. "We built a platform that is definitely extendable and over time we will definitely be expanding the reach of the business to bring the service to customers around the world," he said during an interview with financial news service Bloomberg. "The US has very particular regulatory constraints which make it an awkward market at the moment. We continue to look at the space and we will try and find a way to be able to bring the service to US consumers whenever we can."












17 December 2012 Last updated at 12:57
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20754976

Nasa is to test colour-changing lights on the International Space Station (ISS) as part of efforts to help astronauts on board sleep.

The US space agency will initially swap a fluorescent panel with a solid-state lighting module (SSLM) containing LEDs which produces a blue, whitish or red-coloured light depending on the time. It says the move may help combat insomnia which can make depression, sickness and mistakes more likely. The test is due to take place in 2016. News site Space.com reported that the equipment is being made by Boeing and the project has a $11.2m (£6.9m) budget. Body clock Studies on Earth suggest humans and other creatures follow what is known as a circadian rhythm - a 24-hour biological cycle involving cell regeneration, urine production and other functions critical to health. Research indicates that it is regulated by a group of cells in a portion of the brain called the hypothalamus which respond to light information sent by the eye's optic nerve, which in turn controls hormones, body temperature and other functions than influence whether people feel sleepy or wide awake. The aim of the experiment is to simulate a night-day cycle to minimise sleep disruption caused by the loss of its natural equivalent on the station. When the SSLMs are coloured blue the aim is to stimulate melanopsin - a pigment found in cells in the eye's retina which send nerve impulses to parts of the brain thought to make a person feel alert. Blue light is also believed to suppress melatonin - a hormone made by the brain's pineal gland which makes a person feel sleepy when its levels rise in their blood. By switching from blue to red light - via an intermediary white stage - this process should be reversed, encouraging a feeling of sleepiness.

 Nasa has previously warned sleep problems among its crews on other missions were also common. "On some space shuttle missions up to 50% of the crew take sleeping pills, and, over all, nearly half of all medication used in orbit is intended to help astronauts sleep," it said in 2001. "Even so, space travellers average about two hours sleep less each night in space than they do on the ground." Evidence from Earth Derk-Jan Dijk, professor of sleep and physiology at the University of Surrey, said Nasa's test reflects the latest findings closer to home. "It hasn't been until recently that we started to realise that artificial light, as we see it or are exposed to it in the evening, will have an effect on our alertness and subsequent sleep. "It turns out there are receptors in the eye which are tuned toward blue light. Adding blue light to artificial lights visible during the day can actually help us to be alert, but if there is too much blue light in the artificial lights at night that may disrupt sleep. "So, varying the spectral composition of light does make sense from a circadian perspective, and better regulating artificial sleep-wake cycles may indeed benefit astronauts' sleep in space." Nasa adds there could be spin-off benefits for the population at large. "A significant proportion of the global population suffers from chronic sleep loss," said Daniel Shultz at the Kennedy Space Center. "By refining multipurpose lights for astronauts safety, health and well-being in spaceflight, the door is opened for new lighting strategies that can be evolved for use on Earth."










17 December 2012 Last updated at 13:01
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20753888

International governments are set to agree a new information and communications treaty next month.

 Reports in the Russian press have suggested the Kremlin and others wanted control of key internet systems passed to a UN agency. Internet control currently lies largely with US-based groups such as Icann, which regulates the web address system. The European Parliament has said the UN's International Telecommunications Union (ITU) was "not the appropriate body" to have authority. The ITU has said a new treaty was needed to ensure "the free flow of information around the world, promoting affordable and equitable access for all and laying the foundation for ongoing innovation and market growth". The UN agency is hosting the conference to draw up the treaty between 3 and 14 December in Dubai. Members of the European Parliament backed a resolution which urged member states to reject changes to the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITR) which would "negatively impact the internet, its architecture, operations, content and security, business relations, internet governance and the free flow of information online". 'Equal rights' The ITRs are designed to ensure interoperability of telecoms equipment and services across the world.

 The last major revision was in 1988. The negotiation process surrounding a new treaty has been criticised for being conducted largely out of the public's eye. However, a site called Wcitleaks, run by researchers at George Mason University, has published several document's relating to the new treaty. Among them was a proposal from Russia suggesting that the US should have less control over the internet's operation. "Member states shall have equal rights to manage the internet, including in regard to the allotment, assignment and reclamation of internet numbering, naming, addressing and identification resources and to support for the operation and development of basic internet infrastructure," it said in a document submitted on 17 November. 'Limited access' The European Parliament's objection follows loud opposition from search giant Google, which has invited concerned internet users to sign a petition. "The International Telecommunication Union is bringing together regulators from around the world to renegotiate a decades-old communications treaty," the company wrote. "Some proposals could permit governments to censor legitimate speech - or even allow them to cut off internet access. "Other proposals would require services like YouTube, Facebook, and Skype to pay new tolls in order to reach people across borders. This could limit access to information - particularly in emerging markets." ITU secretary-general Dr Hamadoun Toure has signalled that if there were any serious disagreements he would try to avoid putting an issue to a majority vote. "We never vote because voting means winners and losers and you can't afford that," he told the BBC in July. "Whatever one single country does not accept will not pass."













 22 November 2012 Last updated at 18:26
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20445637

In an email to all members, Facebook said it wanted a "more meaningful" way for users to give feedback. The site has also proposed combining information across its other services, such as photo-sharing app Instagram. Facebook said a vote into the changes could take place, but more than 300m users would need to participate. Under the site's rules, votes have an effect only if 30% of the user base has taken part. The site recently announced its one billionth sign-up. A campaign opposing the changes and calling for more transparency has been launched. The Our-Policy.org website is urging users to comment on the announcement in order to trigger a user vote on Facebook's plans. Under current rules, if there are 7,000 comments on an issue it will be voted upon. At the time of writing, 3,000 members had commented. 'Accountable' In explaining the changes, Facebook said it was looking for ways to more "effectively engage" with its users over changes to the network. "That commitment guided our decision in 2009 to launch an unprecedented process for user feedback," wrote Elliot Schrage, a vice-president of communications. "When we held our second global site governance vote in June, we indicated that we would review our site governance process in light of the growth of both our community - to over one billion users - and our company, which is now publicly traded and accountable to regulators around the world.

" Mr Schrage said the review of the procedure highlighted issues which required a restructuring of the feedback process. "We found that the voting mechanism, which is triggered by a specific number of comments, actually resulted in a system that incentivised the quantity of comments over their quality. "Therefore, we're proposing to end the voting component of the process in favour of a system that leads to more meaningful feedback and engagement." Data merge The new proposals also outlined details of Facebook's plans to combine information across various services it owns. This could potentially include Instagram, the photo-sharing app which the social network acquired for £440m ($700m) earlier this year. As well as a vast library of user-uploaded photographs, Instagram also holds location data on its users - a highly valuable resource. The Reuters news agency has speculated that Facebook intended to unify user data profiles in a way similar to Google's controversial policy changes which took place earlier this year. The move made it easier for Google to serve targeted advertising to its users. The search giant was heavily criticised by EU data regulators, and told that it must do more to explain to users how their information was being used. Facebook has told the BBC that there are currently no plans to merge its services in this way - but did not rule it out from happening in the future. Aside from the privacy-related changes, Facebook also told users it plans to: Add new tools for filtering incoming messages, in response to user complaints that messages from friends were being lost in the "Other" folder. Give better indicators of where posts can be viewed - and by whom. Offer more guidance on managing profiles, including how to request deletion of posts a user has been "tagged" in by a friend. As part of a lengthy list of demands, the Our Policy website criticises the proposal as being too vague. "We want Facebook to use clear and understandable language," the group says. "We oppose that Facebook is using 'like', 'may' or 'could' instead of clear statements. This makes it impossible to clearly know what we consent to."
















 22 November 2012 Last updated at 13:26
 By Dave Lee Technology reporter, BBC News http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20444678

Twitter resets 'hacked' passwords after being compromised

 Some accounts had been compromised, but other users had received the emails after Twitter had unintentionally reset unaffected passwords, the company said. The mass email coincided with incidents involving several high-profile accounts, including at least one account belonging to the BBC. Other media organisations, such as the TechCrunch blog, reported being warned. Twitter gave no indication of the cause or source of the compromise, and would not share details of the size of the issue. In a statement, it said: "When we believe an account may have been compromised, we reset the password and send an email letting the account owner know this has happened along with information about creating a new password. This is a routine part of our processes to protect our users. "In this case, we unintentionally reset passwords of a larger number of accounts, beyond those that we believed to have been compromised.

"We apologise for any inconvenience or confusion this may have caused." Deletions and spam Some users who received the email noticed that some of their tweets had been deleted, while others said spam links had been posted without their knowledge - a typical characteristic of a compromised account. The Twitter account belonging to BBC Radio 4's Today programme earlier told followers it was "trying to get to the bottom" of problems relating to their feed. Other BBC accounts have received the warning email - but it is not yet clear if any more were compromised. Comedian David Mitchell tweeted that he had received the email, and that a tweet he had written publicising his column in the Observer newspaper had been removed. Some users criticised Twitter's email, suggesting it looked like a "phishing scam" - a message that impersonates an official email in an attempt to trick users into giving up personal details.










8 November 2012 Last updated at 17:48
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20256682

Software that can translate spoken English into spoken Chinese almost instantly has been demonstrated by Microsoft.

The software preserves intonation and cadence so the translated speech still sounds like the original speaker. Microsoft said research breakthroughs had reduced the number of errors made by the instant translation system. It said it modelled the system on the way brains work to improve its accuracy. Details about the project were given by Microsoft research boss Rick Rashid in a blogpost following a presentation he gave in Tianjin, China, in late October that had, he said, started to "generate a bit of attention". In the final few minutes of that presentation the words of Mr Rashid were almost instantly turned into Chinese by piping the spoken English through Microsoft's translation system. In addition, the machine-generated version of his words maintained some of his spoken style.

'Dramatic change' This translation became possible, he said, thanks to research done in Microsoft labs that built on earlier breakthroughs. That earlier work ditched the pattern matching approach of the first speech translation systems in favour of statistical models that did a better job of capturing the range of human vocal ability. Improvements in computer technology that can crunch data faster had improved this further but error rates were still running at about 20-25%, he said. In 2010, wrote Mr Rashid, Microsoft researchers working with scientists at the University of Toronto improved translation further using deep neural networks that learn to recognise sound in much the same way as brains do. Applying this technology to speech translation cut error rates to about 15%, said Mr Rashid, calling the improvement a "dramatic change". As the networks were trained for longer error rates were likely to fall further, he said. The improved speech recognition system was used by Mr Rashid during his presentation. First, the audio of his speech was translated into English text. Next this was converted this into Chinese and the words reordered so they made sense. Finally, the Chinese characters were piped through a text-to-speech system to emerge sounding like Mr Rashid. "Of course, there are still likely to be errors in both the English text and the translation into Chinese, and the results can sometimes be humorous," said Mr Rashid in the blogpost. "Still, the technology has developed to be quite useful." Many different technology companies, including AT&T and Google, have similar projects under way that are attempting to do simultaneous translation. NTT Docomo has shown off a smartphone app that lets Japanese people call foreigners and lets both speak in their native tongue.










9 November 2012 Last updated at 11:10
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20266427 

The UK's first major fourth generation (4G) mobile service has gone live in 11 cities.


London, Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Glasgow and Southampton will have access to network EE's 4G from Tuesday morning. Other mobile networks will not be able to offer 4G until next year. Critics have questioned the service's affordability - particularly with regard to data usage allowance. Belfast, Derby, Glasgow, Hull, Newcastle and Nottingham will be active by Christmas, the company said. Network EE, formerly known as Everything, Everywhere and which owns Orange and T-Mobile in the UK, has promised speeds of between 8 to 12Mbps - up to five times faster than third generation mobile technology, known as 3G. The extra speed and capacity allows for high-quality streaming of audio, video and other content while on the move. The company said as well as giving customers faster internet, 4G would also be of big benefit to businesses. All-you-can-eat world However, such benefits come at a cost - the entry tariff of £36 per month includes 500MB of data, beyond which an add-on cost must be paid if the user wishes to carry on using the internet on their mobile. An hour of streaming a programme using, for example, the BBC iPlayer mobile app, can use up to 225MB - almost half the entry level tariff's data allowance limit. The add-on costs for extra data begins at £3 for 50MB, and extends to £20 for 4GB.

The company's top tariff for standard customers will cost £56 per month, and has a data allowance of 8GB. EE boss Olaf Swantee has said that the pricing is based on "months of consumer research" and that the tariffs have been priced at "the sweet spot". But Matthew Howett, a regulation analyst at Ovum, said EE has a challenge in convincing consumers their 4G is good value for money. "It's fair to say that EE has attracted a fair degree of criticism not so much for the price of the 4G tariffs, but rather on the amount of data bundled at each level," he said. "EE was always going to have a difficult role to play being the first mover. "However, its peers may be grateful for attempting to move away from an all-you-can-eat world for data to an attempt to monetise it. "Too quickly data became commoditised for operators once smartphones and other connected devices proliferated." User poaching A successful 4G launch is seen as critical for EE if it is to poach customers from other networks. EE was granted its headstart in the 4G market last month when it was given permission to run the next-generation service using its existing bandwidth. Its competitors are unable to offer 4G until the conclusion of a spectrum auction scheduled for early next year. The auction will determine how newly available signal spectrum will be offered to the other networks. The process had been continually delayed by a combination of factors, from a change of government to threats of legal action from operators. On 2 October, O2 and Vodafone agreed not to take legal action against EE, and instead settled for assurances that the process of launching their own 4G services would be sped up. But since EE's 4G announcement, rival networks have sought to undermine the firm's offering. In a statement on its website, Vodafone underlined what it saw as a weakness in EE's 4G - indoor coverage. "Indoor coverage matters," the company wrote. "That's why we've made a commitment to provide 98% indoor coverage. "The reason we can do this is because we intend to use 800MHz frequency. Without getting too technical, this means your signal travels further into your home than any 4G signal that's available now, all things being equal."










 30 October 2012 Last updated at 00:11 GMT
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20121025

Microsoft's chief boss has confirmed he plans to release more devices.


Steve Ballmer told the BBC: "Is it fair to say we're going to do more hardware? Obviously we are... Where we see important opportunities to set a new standard, yeah we'll dive in." The chief executive's comments came ahead of a Windows 8 launch event in New York, following which Microsoft's Surface tablet will go on sale. News other devices are likely to follow may worry some of the firm's partners. Mr Ballmer caused a stir when he revealed in June that his company was making its own family of tablet computers - one offering extended battery-life powered by an Arm-based chip, the other using Intel's technology to offer a deeper Windows experience. Until now Microsoft had focused on software and relied on third-parties to make hardware, with a few exceptions such as its Xbox games consoles and Kinect gesture sensors. The chief executive of Taiwanese PC-maker Acer told the Financial Times in August that the Surface would have "a huge negative impact for the [PC] ecosystem and other brands" adding that he had been in touch with Microsoft to discuss his concerns. But Dell - the world's third largest computer maker - was less bothered by the move. "The announcement of Surface was necessary to have a proof of concept and to get people excited about what was coming to push application development and create some buzz out there," Kirk Schell, vice president of Dell's client and consumer product group, recently told the BBC. "They've invested so much in Windows 8 it was important to make it work, so I felt Surface was the logical thing to do." Touch-controlled tiles Windows 8 is a radical update to Microsoft's core product. The operating system introduces a touchscreen-controlled interface featuring tiles. As well as acting as buttons to launch individual apps, the tiles allow installed software to provide status updates on a computer's home screen. These can include details about the latest emails received, news headlines or social network posts created by friends. Users can also switch into a more traditional desktop mode. Devices running the Windows RT version of the new software will only be allowed to install third-party software from Microsoft's curated Windows Store. But other machines will give users the ability to launch programs sourced from elsewhere. Windows RT is designed to run on machines powered by CPUs (central processing units) based on designs by the British firm ARM, while more fully-featured versions of Windows 8 will run on the x86-based architecture chips used by Intel and AMD. The strategy allows Windows to compete against both iPads and Android-based tablets as well as higher-end laptops and desktop computers. Analysts warn the move carries both risks and rewards. "Buyers craving a Windows tablet, touch laptop, or a touch all-in-one PC will jump for Windows 8, once they work through the processor choice confusion," said Frank Gillett from consultants Forrester Research. "[But] for some the prospect of learning a new interface will cause them to consider alternatives, most likely Apple's Mac; although some will also check out Google's Chrome OS offerings." Other Linux-based competitors are also hoping to gain ground including free-to-use alternatives Ubuntu and Debian. Research In Motion may also attempt to revitalise its own tablet sales when it launches Blackberry 10 next year. Surface phone? Before smartphones arrived Microsoft dominated the market, powering about 95% of personal computing device sales, according to Forrester. It says that figure has now shrunk to 30%. Surface addresses the software's firm's need to jumpstart demand for Windows-powered tablets. There is growing speculation that Mr Ballmer's next step could be to order the launch of Microsoft's own mobile phone. Despite positive reviews, devices running the Windows Phone 7 operating system captured less than a 4% share of global shipments in the July-to-September quarter, according to a study by IDC. Chris Green, principal technology analyst at Davies Murphy Group Europe, is convinced work is already underway on a Surface Phone but added that it might never go on sale. "Microsoft is hedging its bets," he said.

 "The firm is heavily invested in Nokia succeeding with its Windows Phone handsets but can't allow for its failure to torpedo the platform." Nokia, HTC and Samsung have announced they will sell new handsets based on Microsoft's upcoming Windows Phone 8 operating system which launches next week. The product resembles and is based on the same kernel - or software core - as its PC equivalent. "At the very least Microsoft will be developing its own handset to go to market in case Nokia and others don't do better," Mr Green added. 'Whatever is required' Nokia's own chief executive Stephen Elop appears fairly relaxed about the prospect of competing with his former employer. "[It would be] a stimulant to the ecosystem," he told analysts on a recent conference call transcribed by news site Seeking Alpha. "We're encouraging HTC, and Samsung, and Microsoft or whomever, to have devices in the market and to be making whatever investments that help spur the ecosystem on." Mr Ballmer would not be drawn on the exact nature of his future plans. "We have committed ourselves on a path where we will do whatever is required from both a hardware and a software innovation perspective and the cloud innovation perspective in order to propel the vision that we have," was all he would tell the BBC. For now the only confirmed hardware on the horizon is a Pro version of the Surface tablet, set to go on sale in January.













25 October 2012 Last updated at 05:01
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20072497

A US International Trade Commission judge, in a preliminary ruling, said Samsung infringed four of Apple's intellectual property patents.

 The patents include one that relates to the front face of the iPhone and one for touch-screen technology. It is another win for Apple, after it was awarded $1.05bn (£652m) in damages by a jury in a separate case in August. The ITC can block the import of products into the US. The judge's ruling will go in front of a full commission, which is scheduled to conclude its investigation in February. Legal battles Judge Thomas Pender agreed that Samsung violated four of Apple's patents, but was not in violation of two others listed by Apple in the complaint. Three of the patents are related to software features, while one covers Apple's hardware. However, the Samsung products in this case do not include its latest devices, limiting the impact of a potential import ban into the US. Samsung has repeatedly argued that any sales ban would limit choice and raise prices for consumers in the US. Apple and Samsung have bought legal cases against each other in more than 10 countries, each accusing the other of violating patents, as the two battle for market share in the hugely lucrative mobile industry.









25 October 2012 Last updated at 04:59
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20077735

Microsoft has reported a 22% fall in quarterly profits, after deferring some revenue ahead of the upcoming releases of its Windows 8 operating system and its latest version of Office.






Net profit for the three months to September fell to $4.47bn (£2.79bn), from $5.74bn a year earlier, and missed expectations. Total revenues fell 8% to $16bn. PC sales fell as consumers either put off new purchases in a tight economy or opted for tablet devices instead. Microsoft deferred a total of $1.36bn of revenue, which it will regain in the following quarter. This included $783m in licence fees for PCs pre-loaded with Windows 8, because it cannot recognise the revenue until the units go on sale on 26 October. It also deferred $384m for PCs that shipped with Windows 7 but are eligible for a $15 upgrade to Windows 8, and $189m for PCs that shipped with the new version of Office or are eligible for an upgrade. Microsoft shares fell 3% in extended trading.










18 October 2012 Last updated at 23:22
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19999901

HTC and Sharp have unveiled devices featuring next-generation screens.

 HTC's J Butterfly phone has a 5in (12.7cm) display offering an industry-leading 440 pixels per inch. This offers 25-40% higher resolution - meaning more detail - than comparable devices from Samsung, Apple, Nokia and LG. Sharp's new Aquos Pad tablet is the first to use its new Igzo technology which promises sharper images while using less power. Sharp has previously said at least one of its customers also planned to incorporate the innovation in its devices. Several device makers have signalled plans to announce new tablets over the coming weeks. HD phablet HTC's Android-based device is set to go on sale in Japan in December. Its size places it somewhere between a typical smartphone and tablet in a category some term a "phablet". The Taiwanese firm is marketing both the size and resolution of its screen as being ideal to watch 1080p movies. Smaller, densely packed pixels mean users can hold a device to their face without being able to distinguish the individual blocks of colour used to make up an image. HTC's 440ppi - pixels per inch - resolution offers a performance-boost over rival flagship devices including Samsung's similarly-sized Galaxy Note 2 with a 267ppi screen. Apple's iPhone 5 offers 326ppi, Nokia's upcoming Lumia 920 332ppi and LG's Optimus G 318ppi. To support the facility, HTC has included Qualcomm's top-end Snapdragon S4 Pro processor. However, it has not yet disclosed what toll supporting the feature will have on its battery. Longer lasting Sharp's new tablet takes a more radical approach by being the first device if its kind to incorporate a new kind of LCD (liquid crystal display) technology. Igzo (indium gallium zinc oxide) screens have higher translucency than standard TFT (thin film transistor) LCDs, meaning they are better at letting light pass through them.

As a result devices that use them need fewer LEDs (light-emitting diodes) to provide backlighting, allowing the screen to take up less room and use less power. Sharp boasts its new Aquos Pad SHT 21 tablet can last two and a half times longer than its predecessor. The company also suggests it has better touch accuracy than rivals, making it easier to write notes with a stylus. The product has a 7in screen, but Sharp has said that it would also make panels in 10in and 32in varieties, suggesting its use in other tablets and desktop computers. The firm said its new tablet would launch in Japan in December, but has not released details of plans elsewhere. Battery drain The announcements come ahead of a flurry of new releases. Over the next fortnight Microsoft, Apple and Google have all scheduled major product launches. Several Windows 8 tablets - including Microsoft's own Surface - have already been unveiled and will go on sale next week. There is also the expectation of an "iPad Mini" and new Nexus-branded devices. One analyst said that with so many competing products on offer, display quality was become a deciding factor for some consumers. "Screen resolution has become a differential point for many manufacturers," Chris Green, principal technology analyst at Davies Murphy Group Europe, told the BBC. "Given that many people now use their devices to stream video, having a high-resolution that can best show off HD video is far more important than it was two years ago. "There is still a trade-off though as some of these displays consume more power as a result, and battery technologies have not kept pace with other advances. Since screens are the biggest power drain on mobile devices, that's why a lot of research is going into how to reduce their energy needs."









 18 October 2012 Last updated at 17:23
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19989754

A US court is to consider a case that could determine whether digital media files can be resold.

One-year-old start-up ReDigi is battling music giant EMI over whether digital music can be retraded after it has been legally purchased. ReDigi says that its software is designed to comply with existing United States copyright laws. But EMI argues a legal principle which allows consumers to resell purchased material goods does not apply. A judge at the district court in Manhattan, New York, will hear opening arguments in the case on Friday after EMI sued ReDigi for copyright infringement earlier this year. Legal precedent Launched in October 2011, ReDigi bills itself as the first legal online marketplace for second-hand digital material. The company says thousands of people downloaded its software in the weeks after launch, but it says growth slowed after Capitol Records, a subset of EMI, sued in January. EMI argues that digital music is not the same as CDs or books, meaning that the "first sale doctrine" does not apply. It says that the only way to move music around involves making duplicates, and there is is no way to guarantee all the original owner's copies of the files have been deleted. The lawsuit will be closely watched by the wider media industry as it could set a precedent. Search giant Google has written a letter to the judge arguing that the company had a "specific and vital interest" in the outcome. "I think it could absolutely transform the industry," Benjamin Shiller, a professor in economics at Brandeis University, told the BBC. Switch to digital US digital music sales are set to surpass CD and vinyl sales for the first time ever this year, according to research firm Strategy Analytics. It estimates that digital sales will rise to $3.4bn (£2.1bn), compared to $3.38bn for physical sales. "Most lawful users of music and books have hundreds of dollars of lawfully obtained things on their computers and right now the value of that is zero dollars," said ReDigi's chief executive John Ossenmacher. "ReDigi takes zero dollars and we create billions of dollars in wealth overnight." ReDigi asks users to download proprietary software, which verifies if a file was bought legally. If the song checks out, it is then erased from the seller's hard drive and uploaded to ReDigi's computer servers. ReDigi's software is designed to prevent sellers from reinstalling a sold song to their computer, and offers users the chance to check their libraries for illegal music. Mr Ossenmacher said that with all of the checks in place:

"We were surprised by the lawsuit." Disruptive model EMI's lawyer Richard Mandel, declined to comment on the pending case. In court documents the firm acknowledges that it had held discussions with ReDigi, but adds that it "certainly did not provide any approval of [its] concept". EMI's suit demands ReDigi pay a penalty of $150,000 for each song in EMI's catalogue that was sold via the service since its launch. It may seem like a large sum, but legal experts note that the financial impact of ReDigi's business model could be larger if it is judged to be legal. "What this case points out is that the copyright statutes were written in an era when works of authorship were only available in tangible form," said Jonathan Handel, an entertainment attorney at TroyGould. "The copyright statute looks at the world through a lens of atoms not bits." Europe has already issued a ruling on a related case. In July, a European Union court sided in favour of UsedSoft, a German company that resold Oracle software, arguing that "an author of a software cannot oppose the resale of his 'used' licences". Regardless of the outcome of the US suit, Mr Ossenmacher insists that ReDigi will continue to exist, with or without the record labels' permission. He has already announced plans to expand into the ebook market. It could be a potentially lucrative step bearing in mind that digital books cost more than digital songs, and are likely to be resold sooner after purchase.















By Kim Gittleson BBC News, New York
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19842851

Facebook now has more than one billion people using it every month, the company has said.

The passing of the milestone was announced by founder Mark Zuckerberg on US television on Thursday. The company said that those billion users were to date responsible for 1.13 trillion "likes", 219 billion photos and 17 billion location check-ins. The site, which was launched in 2004, is now looking towards emerging markets to build its user base further. "If you're reading this: thank you for giving me and my little team the honor of serving you," Mr Zuckerberg wrote in a status update. "Helping a billion people connect is amazing, humbling and by far the thing I am most proud of in my life." Statistics released to coincide with the announcement revealed there were now 600 million users accessing the site via a mobile device - up 48 million from 552 million in June this year. Since its early beginnings at Harvard University, Facebook users have befriended each other 140.3 billion times. Sustained growth is seen as crucial if Facebook is to maintain its value - the company has seen its share price drop to about $22 (£17) from a starting price of $38. Investors will expect the company to look at ways to make more from the users it already has as well as seeking to attract new users in areas of the world where it does not yet dominate. "For Facebook the main challenge is not just to grow in terms of numbers, but more importantly to deepen and enrich engagements," said Eden Zoller, principal analyst at tech research firm Ovum. TV chat show Although the service is by far the world's biggest social network, there are key areas, such as China and Russia, where local competitors still remain the online networking tool of choice. Last month, Mr Zuckerberg visited Moscow, where he made his first TV chat show appearance, as well as a highly publicised meeting with the Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev. It was a public-relations exercise designed to unsettle VKontakte - a network that boasts in excess of 300 million members, compared with Facebook's seven million, in the country. In the same trip, Mr Zuckerberg made a "surprise" visit to one of the company's arranged hack-a-thons to meet local developers. Other trips include to China, where the company said it was busy "watching and learning" from other internet firms. Google, which launched in China in 2005, faced fierce criticism when it agreed to allow censorship of search results. It later changed its stance, and now directs all of its traffic through its Hong Kong-based site. Success for Facebook in China would mean unseating RenRen (more than 30 million users) and possibly the Twitter-like service Sina Weibo (more than 300 million users). 'Every phone' In Africa, Facebook has targeted the use of basic phones - known widely as "feature phones" - which are unable to display the full-featured site, but instead can use specially created variations of the network. Specifically, a project called Facebook for Every Phone, which was launched following the company's acquisition of feature-phone specialists Snaptu, is central to its growth strategy in the region. "Facebook is doing very well in Africa," said Erik Hersman, a Kenyan-based blogger. "You even see people using it in the rural areas - often people will ask for a phone with Facebook on it, not caring/knowing about the internet at all." There are considerable monetisation opportunities too. The continent has, at a pace far outstripping the west, adopted mobile payment systems in huge numbers - more than 15 million in Kenya alone. In developed markets, one path to better engagement with users could be through new features that make use of Facebook's vast quantities of personal data about each of its members. In recent weeks, Facebook has been looking to monitor the real-world effects of advertising on the platform. These efforts are key if the company is to convince businesses that investing in the platform is not a waste of money - recent admissions over "fake" users and have dented the site's credibility. It has enlisted the help of US market research firm Datalogix to try to produce evidence that seeing an advert on Facebook - without necessarily clicking on it - is enough of an engagement to get people buying products in shops. Data 'goldmine' However, this vast data bank is tricky to utilise, according to Ovum's Ms Zoller.

"There's no doubt that Facebook is sitting on a potential goldmine of customer data," she said. "But that goldmine can also be a minefield. We know that Facebook, despite its claims to the contrary, constantly pushes the boundaries of what's seen as acceptable in regards to data privacy." This goldmine could swell further. In the UK, ministers are said to be considering using Facebook, among other services, to act as official identification for accessing public services online. Such advancements are being noted by data regulators. In Europe in particular, Facebook has been faced with increased demands to tighten data privacy practices. The company, which has based its European headquarters in Ireland, was last month told by the Irish Data Protection Commissioner, Billy Hawkes, that it must amend its Phototag feature - a tool powered by facial recognition software. Following an extensive audit, the commission also sought extra assurances from Facebook over issues surrounding account deletion and targeted advertising. As it continues to innovate and evolve, the company would need to get used to finding itself audited and investigated, said Ms Zoller. "They're so high-profile," she said. "They're a bit of a poster boy, but they could be a whipping boy if they're not careful."
















By Dave Lee Technology reporter, BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19816709

US book chain Barnes & Noble plans to launch new Nook tablets alongside its e-readers in the UK later this year.





They will compete against products from Amazon, Kobo, Sony and others. B&N boasts that its smaller tablet - which features a 7in (17.8cm) screen - is the lightest such device to offer a "high definition" experience. The firm has secured distribution deals with some of the country's leading retailers, but may suffer because its brand is less well known. While B&N and Amazon have decided to enter the UK's tablet market at the same time, they are pursuing different strategies: the former has decided to offer its full line-up from the start, while the latter is selling a more limited range. So, while B&N will offer a 9in (22.9cm) tablet called the Nook HD+ in the UK from mid-November, Amazon has opted to limit sales of its 8.9in Kindle Fire HD to the US for the time being. This may help B&N make inroads into the larger-screened tablet market - the Nook HD+ is £100 cheaper than Apple's 9.7in iPad 2, and £70 below Samsung's 10.1in Galaxy Tab2. Competition is likely to be more fierce in the 7in category where the basic £159 Nook HD, featuring 8GB of storage, will compete against similarly priced offerings from Amazon, Kobo and Elonex as well as Asus's £199 Google-branded Nexus 7 tablet. Curated stores The Nook tablets run on an adapted version of Android 4.0, giving them access to an existing wide range of third-party software. B&N is also offering its own curated magazine, newspaper, book and app stores - and plans to add a video service offering movies and television shows by early 2013. These facilities can also be used on other devices allowing users to share material from the tablets to smartphones and PCs. The decision to restrict which apps can be sold provides the firm with an opportunity to limit malware. However, some owners might be frustrated by the fact they are not offered an opportinity to install material from either the Google Play or Amazon Appstore marketplaces unless they hack the machines.

 The Nook tablets do not display adverts, unlike the Kindle Fire which shows "special offers" when put into lock mode. Distribution deals The tablets build on B&N's earlier announcement that it would sell its full range of black-and-white-screened e-book readers in the UK from early-October. These will include a Simple Touch model featuring a built-in light, allowing it to be used in the dark. While Amazon has announced a device with a similar feature for US shoppers - the Kindle Paperwhite - it has not put the model on sale in the UK. However, Kobo does offer the facility with its new e-reader, the Kobo Glo. With a flood of new devices coming onto the market, the various companies' fortunes may be determined by their High Street distribution deals. While B&N does not operate its own stores in the UK, it will sell its products through Sainsbury's and the bookstore Blackwell's. Kobo's partners include WH Smith and Asda, while Amazon has teamed up with Waterstones, Comet, Ryman, Carphone Warehouse and Tesco. John Lewis, Currys, PC World and Argos will sell all three devices as well as other similar products made by Sony, Archos, Delium and others. "A clearer picture of how the market will be divided up should emerge after this Christmas and the shopping period immediately afterwards," Philip Jones, editor of the Bookseller magazine, told the BBC. "Barnes & Noble is an unknown brand in the UK so it will have to work harder to get where Kobo and Kindle are. "But what is still unknown about the tablets on offer is how big the non-iPad market will become, and whether they will appeal to book-readers. "Although they are being sold through bookstores, the evidence suggests that people don't use tablets to read books to the same extent they do on e-ink devices."













26 September 2012 Last updated at 13:05
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19723362