Aldi 'low-cost' tablet sells out

9 December 2013 Last updated at 12:33 ET

A "low-cost" tablet that went on sale at the supermarket chain Aldi over the weekend has already sold out.

It comes after rival chain Tesco launched its own device, which has sold 300,000 units since it went on sale in September.

Both tablets have 7in (18cm) screens and use the Android operating system. Aldi's Medion Lifetab costs just under £80 while Tesco's Hudl sells for £119.

A spokesman for Aldi said the tablet was completely sold out in all stores.

"Specialbuy" promotions such as the one used to advertise the Lifetab were limited "only until stocks last", he added.

Both the Aldi and Tesco devices face competition from several 7in tablets already on the market including Google's Nexus 7 and Apple's iPad mini. These devices are more expensive, ranging from £199 to £350.

Argos also entered the market with its MyTablet, which launched in October.

Customers opting to buy the cheaper tablets available from the supermarkets would be looking for something different than those who bought the more expensive versions on offer from the likes of Google and Apple, said IDC's research director for mobile devices, Francisco Jeronimo.

Growing market

"The biggest selling point here is definitely the price," he said. "Tablets are becoming very popular."

"The larger screen size gives entertainment on the move to users, which is becoming very popular among commuters and children.

"However, most parents don't want to spend £300-£500 on a device that will mainly be used to play games, to watch movies and a few other educational applications," he added.

Aldi's Lifetab has 8GB of built-in storage, and a 1.6GHz quad-core processor. In comparison, the Tesco Hudl has 16GB of built-in storage with a 1.5GHz quad-core processor.

The arrival of the Hudl, the Lifetab and the MyTablet are seen as important in gaining share of the tablet market in the run-up to Christmas.

Almost six million tablets were sold in the first half of 2013.

IDC estimates that 25% of tablets shipped to the UK between July and September were under £120 and it expects this to grow over the next few years.

While this is not seen as a move to position Aldi as a consumer electronics retailer, Tesco's tablet launch has allowed it to utilise services it already owns.

Tesco's Hudl tablet comes loaded with blinkbox, the company's movie-on-demand service. It bought blinkbox in 2011 in an attempt to gain a share of the growing online TV and video streaming market.

23.43 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tech firms seek surveillance reform

9 December 2013 Last updated at 03:59 ET

Leading global technology firms have called for "wide-scale changes" to US government surveillance.

Eight firms, Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, AOL, Microsoft, LinkedIn, and Yahoo, have formed an alliance called Reform Government Surveillance group.

The group has written a letter to the US President and Congress arguing that current surveillance practice "undermines the freedom" of people.

It comes after recent leaks detailed the extent of surveillance programmes.

"We understand that governments have a duty to protect their citizens. But this summer's revelations highlighted the urgent need to reform government surveillance practices worldwide," the group said in an open letter published on its website.

"The balance in many countries has tipped too far in favour of the state and away from the rights of the individual - rights that are enshrined in our Constitution.

Continue reading the main story

The fact that eight technology giants which are normally bitter rivals have united to condemn the extent of government surveillance shows just how strongly they feel.

In part, this reflects the libertarian thinking that permeates Silicon Valley - but there's also a commercial aspect to their concerns.

Around the world, consumers and governments have begun to question how safe it is to use American technology products, and in the words of Microsoft's signatory to the letter "People won't use technology they don't trust."

The companies have prided themselves on the security of their customers' data. Now they have had to concede that governments have wide access to that data - and they are vowing to use strong encryption to repair the holes in their defences.

But don't expect the intelligence agencies to sit back and do nothing - the scene is set for continuing conflict between the spies and Silicon Valley over control of the internet.

"This undermines the freedoms we all cherish. It's time for a change," it added.

Limited surveillance

The move by the eight firms comes after whistle-blower Edward Snowden leaked information about surveillance carried out by the US government.

Mr Snowden, an ex-US intelligence contractor, leaked documents to the media highlighting the various methods used by agencies to gather information.

The leaks have pointed to agencies collecting phone records, tapping fibre-optic cables that carry global communications and hacking networks.

Members of the group said the revelations indicated that the extent of surveillance needed to be controlled.

"Reports about government surveillance have shown there is a real need for greater disclosure and new limits on how governments collect information," said Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Facebook, the world's biggest social networking firm.

"The US government should take this opportunity to lead this reform effort and make things right."

'Essential'

The scandal first came to light in June this year after the UK's Guardian newspaper published the first leaks by Mr Snowden.

Since then, there have been concerns over how much user data firms have been asked to share with the agencies.

In an attempt to allay such fears over data security, companies have called for permission to publish details of data requests.

"Governments should allow companies to publish the number and nature of government demands for user information," they state.

"In addition, governments should also promptly disclose this data publicly."

Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo, Google and Facebook have all confirmed they have complied with orders to hand over data relating to "national security matters" to the US authorities, but have been forbidden from saying exactly how many requests they had received or details about their scope.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Larry Page, chief executive of Google, said that security of users data was "critical" for firms, but added that the same had been "undermined by the apparent wholesale collection of data, in secret and without independent oversight, by many governments around the world".

The group called upon the government to give companies the rights to provide details of any such future data requests to their users,

"Transparency is essential to a debate over governments' surveillance powers and the scope of programs that are administered under those powers," it said.

"Governments should allow companies to publish the number and nature of government demands for user information. In addition, governments should also promptly disclose this data publicly".

23.43 | 0 komentar | Read More

Police crackdown on pirate site ads

9 December 2013 Last updated at 06:27 ET

Websites illegally hosting copyrighted content have been targeted by City of London Police.

In an operation run by the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU), 61 websites were identified as displaying unauthorised material.

They were asked to "correct their behaviour" and "operate legitimately".

Details of those that did not were passed to brands with a request to stop advertising on the sites in an attempt to reduce their revenue.

Forty websites have now been suspended.

A partnership known as Operation Creative, involving City of London Police, advertising bodies and representatives of the music and publishing industries, is designed to tackle internet-enabled crime.

In a pilot lasting three months, websites that had copyrighted material on them without consent were contacted by the police and asked to remove the content and operate within the law.

Brands whose adverts were found on the sites were asked to stop any advertising to reduce funding to the sites.

If the websites continued to ignore warnings, their details were passed by police to domain name registrars explaining that they were "facilitating copyright infringement under UK law".

Criminal industry

This pilot approach lasted three months and during that time PIPCU said the presence of adverts from well-known brands decreased by 12%.

However, there was a significant increase in adverts that led users to explicit content or exposed users to malware as websites tried to replace advertising from those well known brands, PIPCU said.

"Operation Creative is being run... to really get to grips with a criminal industry that is making substantial profits by providing and actively promoting access to illegally obtained and copyrighted material," said Supt Bob Wishart.

The scheme encourages offenders to change their behaviour so that they are operating within the law, he added.

"However, if they refuse to comply we now have the means to persuade businesses to move their advertising to different platforms and, if offending continues, for registrars to suspend the websites," he said.

Geoff Taylor, chief executive of BPI, said that it was important to disrupt funding to illegal websites.

"These sites expose consumers to scams and malware, deny creators their living, and harm brands by associating them with illegal and unsafe content," he said.

It is hoped that the pilot will lead to a full operation starting in 2014.

23.43 | 0 komentar | Read More

Warning over 4Chan Xbox One prank

9 December 2013 Last updated at 07:26 ET

Xbox One owners are being warned about an internet prank message that could wreck their console.

The prank message, originated on the 4Chan website, falsely claims to enable the new console to play games made for its predecessor - the XBox 360.

The Xbox One cannot play those older games and those following the bogus advice could "brick" their console, rendering it inoperable.

Microsoft issued a warning about the prank via social media site Twitter.

Fake advert

"To be clear there is no way to make your Xbox One backwards compatible and performing steps to attempt this could make your console inoperable," wrote Larry Hryb, director of programming for Microsoft's Xbox Live network in a tweet.

The prank originated on a forum on 4Chan - a humour and discussion site known for playing tricks and pranks on the naive and gullible.

A message posted to one of its forums adapted a series of button presses, menu choices and ID details required to turn an Xbox One into a device that can be used by developers who need to test games for the console.

This sequence was independently discovered earlier in December and shared via a YouTube video.

Unfortunately, anyone following this advice who was not an actual Xbox game developer and who did not have a real ID would put their console into an endless start-up loop. Worse, there is no way to undo the damage once the console has been "bricked".

It is not clear how many people have followed the fake advice but a message crafted to look like it was issued by Microsoft and which listed the instructions was widely shared on games forums and social media networks.

Some tech news sites excerpted messages posted to the original thread on 4Chan, which suggest several people have destroyed their console this way. In the UK the console costs about £429.

The discussion thread on 4Chan where the advice originated has now been deleted.

The Xbox One advice is just one of the latest technologically-themed pranks to emerge from 4Chan. In September, the site was the source of a fake advert purporting to come from Apple, which claimed that iPhones updated to iOS 7 would become waterproof.

23.43 | 0 komentar | Read More

Facebook develops 'sympathise' button

9 December 2013 Last updated at 08:57 ET

Facebook has devised a "sympathise" button as an alternative to the "like" button for use in certain situations.

If a user selected a negative emotion from Facebook's list of feelings in a status update then the "like" button would change to "sympathise".

A Facebook engineer said at a company event that the button had been created as part of an internal project.

But he later went on to say there were no plans to launch it at the moment.

Facebook were holding a "compassion research day" where members of the public and researchers are invited along to "improve [Facebook's] understanding of the driving forces and benefits of compassion".

Hackathon

In a question and answer session an audience member asked if Facebook had thought about changing the "like" button when it felt inappropriate in relation to what a user had posted, for example when someone had written that their parents had died.

Dan Muriello, a software engineer at Facebook, said another engineer had worked on a hackathon project "a while back" to change the "like" button to "sympathise".

It would not work for every post he said but if you tag a status with certain emotions from a fixed list then the "like" button would change.

"A lot of people were very excited. But we made a decision that it was not exactly the right time to launch that product. Yet," he said.

Facebook hackathons are events where the company's engineers get together and brainstorm new ideas.

Facebook Chat and the "friend suggester" facility both were developed from work at these events.

23.43 | 0 komentar | Read More

US and UK 'spy on virtual games'

9 December 2013 Last updated at 17:54 ET

US and British spies have reportedly infiltrated online games such as World of Warcraft in an effort to identify terrorist threats, according to media reports.

The undercover agents reportedly operated in virtual universes to observe messaging and payment systems.

The NSA allegedly warned that such online games could allow intelligence targets to hide in plain sight.

Virtual universe games draw millions of players from around the globe.

News of the operation was broken by the New York Times, the Guardian and ProPublica on Monday using leaked confidential government information obtained by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The media reports allege US and UK spies spent years investigating online games including Second Life for potential terrorist activity.

One leaked document published by the New York Times claims such video games could be used for recruitment or to conduct virtual weapons training.

'Without our knowledge'

The NSA is said to have extracted World of Warcraft account data and attempted to link it to Islamic extremism and arms deals, according to the Guardian.

The popular online fantasy game, which at one point boasted upwards of 12 million subscribers, has reportedly attracted users such as embassy employees, scientists and military and intelligence officials.

At one point during the investigation, so many national security agents were reportedly playing video games that a "deconfliction" group was created to ensure they were not inadvertently spying on one another.

However, the documents obtained by former NSA contractor Mr Snowden and cited by the media did not specify if any terrorist plots had been foiled by the effort.

A spokesman for World of Warcraft's parent company Blizzard Entertainment told the Guardian they were not aware any surveillance had been conducted.

"If it was, it would have been done without our knowledge or permission," the spokesman said.

23.43 | 0 komentar | Read More

Google lets users create Street View

9 December 2013 Last updated at 21:29 ET

Google has unveiled a new tool that allows users to create a Street View - a 360 degree virtual tour - of any place and share it using Google Maps.

These can be created by using photos taken by an Android phone or DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera.

The tool lets users connect various photos and, once published, people can navigate between them on Google Maps.

Google said the move will allow it to expand the reach as well as the uses of its maps service.

"We are excited to see the different types of Street View experiences that everyone will contribute," the firm said in a blog post.

"For example, this feature can now enable environmental non-profits to document and promote the beautiful places they strive to protect.

"It also opens up a new tool for photographers to showcase diversity in a specific location - by times of day, weather conditions or cultural events - in a way that Street View currently doesn't cover," it added.

Growing importance

Digital maps have become a key growth area in recent times, not least because of the surge in popularity of gadgets such as smartphones and tablet PCs.

Google, a big player in the sector, has been aiming to expand its presence further, analysts say.

In June this year, it bought an Israeli social mapping company, Waze.

As it announced the deal, Google had said it planned to enhance Google Maps with Waze's traffic updates feature.

Rival Apple also launched its own map app in 2012. Earlier this year, Apple bought indoor-mapping specialist Wifislam to expand its maps product in an apparent effort to compete with Google.

Other geo-location apps, such as FourSquare, Tinder and Here On Biz, are also incorporating mapping services of some kind.

Meanwhile, Google has been trying to look at different ways of gathering images for creating its street views.

The firm has usually sent out cars and trikes, a three-wheeled vehicle, to gather the images, which made it difficult to capture locations that were less accessible.

Earlier this year, it created a modified backpack called Trekker, to enable people to walk to remote locations and get the 360 degree images required.

The Trekker has already been used in the Grand Canyon and from the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa.

23.43 | 0 komentar | Read More

Coach crash eye tracker tested

10 December 2013 Last updated at 03:05 ET By Leo Kelion Technology reporter

Coach drivers' eye movements and blinks are to be tracked by computers as part of a test to see whether the tech could be used to prevent accidents on long distance trips.

Five firms have each fitted the product to two coaches as part of a trial taking place across continental Europe.

Seeing Machines' Fatigue Monitoring System is already used by miners.

However, one expert cautioned it was unclear whether it would improve safety in the coach industry.

The Australian firm's product uses special cameras installed inside a vehicle to monitor the driver's gaze.

If it detects they are distracted or taking "microsleeps" - naps that can last less than a second and take place without the person's knowledge - it activates a vibration motor built into their seat.

In addition it triggers an alarm in the co-driver's sleeping compartment to alert them to the fact they should take over control of the vehicle.

The patented technology uses invisible infrared light to detect the driver's eyes in the dark without distracting them, and can be used even if they are wearing glasses.

Seeing Machines' chief executive suggested the system could detect the risk of an accident at an earlier point than alternative products such as lane detection cameras and steering wheel monitoring sensors.

"Coach accidents aren't that frequent, but when they do happen they are so catastrophic that they make the [newspaper] front pages and in a lot of cases it is almost the end of the coach company involved as no-one wants to ride with them anymore," Ken Kroeger told the BBC.

"The way the technology works is that it tracks your head position and your eye aperture.

"If you turn your head beyond a certain angle for a specified duration while moving over a certain speed, it will remind you your eyes should be on the road.

"Then for fatigue it looks at the frequency of blinking, the velocity of the eyelid when it's opening and the duration of the eye closure to determine if it's a microsleep."

Seeing Machines has teamed up with the coach operator Royal Beuk to hold the trial.

The Dutch firm has installed the tech on two of its vehicles and has recruited a further four coach firms to do likewise.

Over the winter months the vehicles will travel from the Netherlands to ski resorts in Austria, Switzerland and Italy. Then, in the summer, they will travel to southern parts of France, Italy and Spain.

"There are competitor products on the market and we evaluated a few of them," Royal Beuk's research manager Marc Beuk said.

"But all of the others required something from the driver. One system required them to wear a special hat, another involved special glasses hooked up to wires.

"This was the only device that we know of that didn't give the driver something to do - once he turns the ignition key the system boots up and it starts monitoring him."

He added that if the nine-month test was a success, his firm intended to install the kit across its 60-vehicle fleet and act as its European distributor.

Coach crashes

In recent years driver fatigue has been blamed for several accidents.

US investigators said it was a factor in a bus crash in which 15 passengers died in New York in 2011, as well as another similar incident which killed four people in Virginia last year.

In the UK, a coroner cited it as the reason a coach veered off the M25 motorway near Slough, Berkshire, in 2003, resulting in the deaths of six people.

However, one expert warned it was unclear exactly how common the problem was.

"Crashes are very rare when measured per kilometre, nevertheless they do occur and some of these may be related to fatigue, although very little is known about the precise numbers," said Prof Pete Thomas, head of the Transport Safety Research Centre at Loughborough University.

"The trial of a driver-fatigue detection system for coach drivers will provide useful further information to help improve coach safety, although it is important the trials are properly scientifically controlled.

"Other factors such as speed and alcohol may also be important causes of coach crashes and bus operators should continue to reduce all types of risks."

It currently costs the mining industry about £10,000 to install Seeing Machines' equipment in each vehicle on top of a continuing licence fee.

But the firm said that if the trial was a success it intended to offer coach firms a "less rugged" version that would be about a quarter of the cost.

It added it was also in early-stage talks to introduce its products to the airline industry.

23.43 | 0 komentar | Read More

China hackers 'hit EU ministries'

10 December 2013 Last updated at 07:08 ET By Jane Wakefield Technology reporter

Chinese hackers spied on the computers of five European foreign ministries over the summer, according to research from US security company FireEye.

The hackers sent emails with malware-ridden attachments purporting to detail a possible US intervention in Syria.

The company has not revealed which ministries were targeted but said the malware samples were meant for individuals involved in the G20 talks.

In total nine computers had been compromised, the company told the BBC.

Network reconnaissance

The computers had been targeted in the run-up to the annual summit of the G20 group of nations - which includes China - in St Petersburg, Russia, in September, FireEye said. The talks were dominated by the civil war in Syria.

For a week in August, the researchers said, they had been able to monitor one of the 23 computer servers used by the hackers, which they have dubbed the Ke3chang group after the names of one of the files used in its malicious code.

During the week the malware had been observed in action, no documents had been stolen, they said.

"At that stage it appeared to be about network reconnaissance," senior FireEye researcher Narottama Villeneuve told the BBC.

Carla Bruni

The Ke3chang group has been active since at least 2010, according to the researchers.

Traditionally it has targeted the aerospace, energy and manufacturing industries but they have also delivered malware to hi-tech companies and governments, according to FireEye.

In 2012 it used a London Olympics themed attack and a year earlier used emails purporting to show nude pictures of the then French president's wife, Carla Bruni, researchers said.

But in their latest attack "they appeared to be specifically targeting foreign ministries", Mr Villeneuve told the BBC.

"The hackers were based in China but it is difficult to determine from a technology point of view how or if it is connected to a nation state," he added.

Mr Villeneuve explained how he had gained entry to the hackers' server.

"When they shift infrastructure, the servers are open. I just happened to check the servers when they weren't secured," he said.

However the glimpse into the inner workings of the hackers' command and control centre was short-lived, lasting for just over a week.

Tensions between China and the West over cyber-espionage have been increasing in recent years.

In June the US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel accused Chinese hackers of accessing secret US weapons programmes.

23.43 | 0 komentar | Read More

Snapchat files for restraining order

10 December 2013 Last updated at 07:28 ET

The image-messaging service Snapchat has filed for a restraining order against a man who claims he came up with the idea for the company.

In court documents filed on Friday, Snapchat said that Frank Reginald Brown disclosed confidential information about the company to the media.

Snapchat lets users send photos to eachother on mobile devices which are then erased after a few seconds.

According to the firm, more than 350 million images are sent every day.

The court documents, which were filed in California, state that a restraining order is necessary as "Snapchat will suffer great or irreparable injury if plaintiff [Mr Brown] is permitted to disclose Snapchat's confidential information to the public".

According to the filing, the news publication Business Insider had released what it described as "leaked videos" of depositions that were considered confidential in a continuing court case between Mr Brown and founders of Snapchat, Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy.

In one of the videos Mr Spiegel is asked who came up with the idea for "deleting" picture messages. He said that it was Mr Brown's idea.

Mr Brown's lawyers intend to file a response to the restraining order, reports Reuters.

This the latest stage in the court case brought by Mr Brown against Mr Spiegel and Mr Murphy.

Mr Brown is suing Mr Spiegel and Mr Murphy claiming that he came up with the idea for an instant messaging photo app. He claims he shared it with Mr Spiegel and Mr Murphy when they were all students at Stanford University but was then "excluded from all participation, profit and interest" in the partnership.

Snapchat recently turned down a $3bn (£1.8bn) acquisition offer from Facebook, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Created in 2011, Snapchat raised more then $60m from investors in June 2013, which valued the company at more than $800m.

The app is very popular with teenagers but concerns have been raised over several hacks that allow users to save snaps, posing potential privacy issues.

23.43 | 0 komentar | Read More