Facebook fights US court over data

27 June 2014 Last updated at 12:37 By Joe Miller Technology reporter

Facebook is fighting a US court order in which it was forced to hand over data belonging to almost 400 people involved in a benefit fraud trial.

The social media site said the request was "by far the largest" it had ever received from a government body.

Photographs, private messages and other information were supplied to a New York court last year, but the process was only made public by a judge this week.

The ruling defined Facebook as a "digital landlord".

A judge said this definition meant the company must comply with search warrants.

The original case investigated fraudulent claimants of US federal disability benefits, whose Facebook accounts apparently showed that they were in fact healthy.

The web giant was ordered to hand over information from the 381 accounts, which the court said contained "evidence of criminality".

'Unconstitutional'

After an appeal was denied, Facebook complied with the request but protested that it violated the Fourth Amendment of the US constitution, which protects against "unreasonable searches and seizures".

Facebook also voiced concerns about the lack of date restrictions on the warrant, which it argued allowed the US government to keep the data indefinitely, and the range of data requested, which it said would contain private material which bore no relation to the trial.

The proceedings have been kept private by the court, but after a fresh appeal by Facebook a New York judge has now made the court filing public.

Facebook said the government had obtained "gag orders", preventing it from telling the account holders that it had been forced to hand over their data.

"This unprecedented request is by far the largest we've ever received - by a magnitude of more than ten - and we have argued that it was unconstitutional from the start," wrote Chris Sonderby, a legal adviser to Facebook.

"Of the 381 people whose accounts were the subject of these warrants, 62 were later charged in a disability fraud case.

"This means that no charges will be brought against more than 300 people whose data was sought by the government without prior notice to the people affected."

'Virtual custodian'

But a spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney defended the court's actions.

"This was a massive scheme involving as many as 1,000 people who defrauded the federal government," said Joan Vollero.

"The defendants in this case repeatedly lied to the government about their mental, physical, and social capabilities. Their Facebook accounts told a different story."

In a summation of the legal justification for the court's decision, the judge wrote: "Facebook could best be described as a digital landlord, a virtual custodian or storage facility for millions of tenant users and their information.

"Hence, the search warrants authorise the search and seizure of digital information contained within the Facebook server."

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Android Wear watches go on sale

25 June 2014 Last updated at 21:22 By Leo Kelion Technology desk editor

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Richard Taylor takes a close-up look at a Samsung Gear Live running Android Wear

Google has announced the first smartwatches powered by its Android Wear operating system are now available for pre-order.

The LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live - both featuring rectangular screens - mark an attempt to standardise the way Android wearable devices function.

Google said that Motorola's circular Moto 360 would not be released until "later this summer".

Analysts say the move to a unified approach could drive sales.

"The problem with smartwatches so far has been that the sector hasn't quite decided what it wants to be - is it a phone on your wrist or an accessory device," Steffen Sorrell, from the Juniper Research consultancy, told the BBC.

"Once you introduce Android Wear, it will hopefully provide a more focused case for what the devices are capable of. And that's a direction that could invigorate the market."

LG said the G Watch costs $229/£159 and would initially be made available to 12 countries including the US, UK, France, Germany and Japan. It is due to ship on 4 July.

Samsung said the Gear Live would cost $199/£169 and ship on 7 July.

Both will require the owner to have a phone running Android 4.3 or above.

Vibrating notifications

Google dedicated an early part of its I/O developer conference presentation in San Francisco to its new wearable OS.

David Singleton, director of engineering in the firm's Android division, said one of its core aims was to be able to "quickly show you relevant information, and make sure you never miss an important message, while letting you stay engaged with the people that you are actually with".

To achieve this, when notifications are received by the user's smartphone they can be set to make the watch vibrate on the user's wrist.

If the owner then dismisses the alert and carries out a follow-up action on the watch, such as scheduling an appointment, the details are "immediately synched across" so that the smartphone also hides the notification and adds the meeting to its diary.

Users can also reject calls to their phone via the watch and select a pre-set text message to explain why, and bring up map navigation.

Voice commands

Much of Android Wear's user interface (UI) relies on the firm's Google Now card-based system. It allows owners to swipe up and down to different types of information, and left and right to find out more about a specific topic.

However, Mr Singleton's demonstrations at the event suggested that his firm expects consumers to carry out many of the watch controls by voice command.

Saying "OK Google" prepares the device to take an instruction - similar to the way its Glass eyewear functions.

Example tasks shown on stage included setting reminders, taking notes, setting an alarm and playing music.

Mr Singleton also highlighted that many of the OS's functions would be triggered by "context", without requiring a human action.

He showed how flight information could be flagged on the day of travel, a restaurant reservation close to the time of the booking, and local bus timetables when travelling abroad.

He added that this functionality was also being made available to third-party developers, giving the example of a place being highlighted when the owner approached if it had been "pinned" by a friend on the Pinterest social network.

Other examples of third-party software included an app that makes it possible to order fast food, and one that allows owners to hail a taxi - both designed to involve few button presses.

The watch does not have access to a special store to download such apps, but instead automatically gets them when the handset version is downloaded to a paired phone.

Analysis: Richard Taylor, North America technology correspondent

Android Wear presents an opportunity for Google to become the provider of the "go-to" platform for smartwatches, stealing a march on Apple.

Until now, smartwatches have not been terribly "smart", in part because of a lack of decent apps.

Making the mobile version of Android easily tweakable by developers to run on your wrist should deliver a huge variety, especially if they can bring a deep integration with your handset.

But much will depend on execution; and for many use-cases, the case has yet to be made for a 2in (5cm) screen to effectively replace the 5in one in your jeans pocket.

'De facto standard'

One industry watcher who has tested a prototype Android Wear device said he expected it to now become the de facto standard for wearable kit with screens.

"What Google is trying to achieve here is a glanceable UI and that's the key to wearables," said Ben Wood, from the CCS Insight tech consultancy.

"Android Wear is not a full operating system, it's merely a smartphone companion, and my view is that's the right starting point for Google at a time when everyone is feeling their way in the dark and trying to find a compelling case for what to do with it beyond the basic stuff.

"I think all the other proprietary efforts with [Samsung's use of] Tizen and other proprietary software will now be pushed to one side because of the public awareness Android Wear will generate, how it will become the focus for developers and the fact that people will have the guarantee that they can use one brand of Android Wear watch with another brand of phone."

He added, however, that the voice commands might prove problematic in crowded, noisy environments, noting that third-party developers including Minuum were already working on Android Wear keyboards to address the issue.

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Bad review couple win compensation

26 June 2014 Last updated at 15:04

Online retailer KlearGear has been ordered to pay $306,750 (£180,000) to a couple it has had a long-running dispute with over a bad review.

Jennifer Palmer posted a review on RipOffReport.com criticising KlearGear customer service, after her husband ordered two items that never arrived.

KlearGear later asked her to remove the post and threatened a $3,500 fine.

The case was resolved in a default judgement after KlearGear failed to respond to the legal action.

The couple's lawyers told technology news site Ars Technica that collecting the money could prove problematic.

"Now we're going to be figuring out where KlearGear's assets are and how we can collect them," they said.

Customer service

The row stretches back to December 2008 when John Palmer ordered two items, worth less than $20, as a gift for his wife.

The items did not arrive and after repeated calls to the company the couple were told that the items had never been paid for and had been cancelled.

In response Mrs Palmer posted a review claiming "there is absolutely no way to get in touch with a physical human being" and describing KlearGear's "horrible customer service practices".

Three years later, Mr Palmer received an email demanding that the review be deleted within 72 hours or a fine of $3,500 would be levied as he was in violation of the firm's "non-disparagement clause".

Although the Palmers never sent the money, KlearGear attempted to get it via a debt collection service, which the couple allege damaged their credit rating.

Commonsense victory?

Ars Technica, which has been following the case in detail, said that Descoteaux Boutiques, KlearGear's Paris-based parent firm had contacted it.

Emails from Vic Mathieu director of corporate communications claimed that Mr Palmer had been "belligerent towards our customer care staff and threatened to defame KlearGear if he did not receive free merchandise".

Partner at law firm Harbottle and Lewis, Andy Millmore said that it was a partial victory for common sense.

"I should be able to say something fair and reasonable about a firm I have bought goods from," he said.

"It shouldn't have taken three or four years at massive legal cost to reach that conclusion."

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UK helps machines talk to each other

26 June 2014 Last updated at 17:22 By Leo Kelion Technology desk editor

A group of 40 UK-based tech firms has developed a way to help apps and machines communicate in a bid to spur on smart cities and smart homes.

Hypercat is a new specification that effectively acts as an address book for data hubs holding information transmitted by net-connected devices.

It would allow an app to ask a hub what types of data it holds and what permissions it needs to access them.

The idea is to reduce the need for human intervention.

At the moment a person needs to write an application programming interface (API) to specify how the software components of one system should interact with another.

A recent example of this is Google's Nest division releasing APIs to allow the software that controls its smart thermostat to interact with the software used by Jawbone's Up wristbands.

But as the number of net-connected objects climbs higher - including everything from lamp posts to washing machines - the consortium behind Hypercat suggests it would be more efficient to allow the systems to have a standard way of consulting each other, rather than requiring new APIs for each case.

Instead of insisting that each company organises its data in the same way - an approach the consortium accepts would be doomed to failure - it decided instead to build a layer on top of the databases the services already hold.

The result, Hypercat, is described as being an open, lightweight hypermedia catalogue format.

Uniform approach

The consortium likens the concept to Sir Tim Berners-Lee's world wide web specifications, which helped unlock the potential of the net after they were widely adopted.

"Today devices are all being connected to the internet in slightly different ways," explained Pilgrim Beart, chief executive of internet-of-things start-up 1248, which is involved in the project.

"They generally have a web interface, which allows applications to come and get data from them and control them.

"But everyone's interface is different and there is no standard way for an application that has not been specially written for that service to come along and find what the devices are and what data they've got. That's the problem that Hypercat solves.

"An example would be if an application understands temperatures, Hypercat would provide a uniform way the application could ask any service if it has temperature data in it and ask to get hold of it."

BT, ARM, Intel, and IBM are among the other firms that have helped develop the specification over the past year.

The effort has also received £6.4m of government funds through the UK's Technology Strategy Board.

However, for Hypercat to succeed other tech companies will have to agree to add it to their systems. Major players, including Google and Apple, have yet to be consulted.

The firms involved also acknowledge that extra software would be required to take account of privacy concerns, to prevent apps exploiting Hypercat to track the behaviour of individuals through all their various interactions with net-connected kit.

Even so, one expert not involved in the project said it typically took many years for such specifications to become adopted as industry standards, and this one might face resistance from firms already selling smart appliances and control systems.

"If a company is leading in a market why on earth would they do anything that would make it easier for their competitors to enter?" asked Dr Ian Brown, from the University of Oxford's Internet Institute.

"Sometimes there will be circumstances that will persuade them that if they open up in this way they can grow the overall market larger. But the hard economics is that they may be reluctant to do that."

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Alibaba chooses NY Stock Exchange

26 June 2014 Last updated at 19:57

The Chinese online retailer, Alibaba, will list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), rather than on the technology focused Nasdaq.

Alibaba, which handles more than 80% of online retail transactions in China, plans to go public in the US this summer.

Some analysts say the public listing could be worth more than $20bn.

The decision to float on the NYSE is a blow to the rival Nasdaq exchange, which had hoped to host the stock.

"We participated in a comprehensive and deliberate exchange selection process, and we are pleased to welcome Alibaba Group to the New York Stock Exchange," an NYSE spokesman said.

Alibaba will be the largest Chinese company to list in the United States.

Founded in 1999 by a former English teacher, Jack Ma, it was reported to have more than 231 million active buyers across its three virtual marketplaces last year.

The NYSE and Nasdaq have been competing to attract technology firms and last year the NYSE recorded an important win by listing Twitter.

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Amazon 'bullying' UK publishers

26 June 2014 Last updated at 23:26 By Joe Miller Technology reporter

Amazon is facing a battle with UK publishers as it seeks to secure more advantageous terms in its latest round of contract negotiations.

The web giant wants the right to print books itself if publishers fail to provide adequate stock, and wants publishers to match any pricing deals it offers to other distributers.

One mid-sized firm accused Amazon of "bullying," and warned that the company was destroying the industry.

Amazon has not commented on the issue.

Trade magazine the Bookseller was first to report that Amazon had introduced a number of new clauses in its recent contract proposals to independent UK publishers.

'Print-on-demand'

Among these were the right for Amazon to print its own copies of a book if a publisher runs out of stock.

The Seattle-based company would do this using its "print-on-demand" equipment, and would require publishers to hand over electronic versions of their titles.

The process, which can print books more quickly than a traditional press, is generally thought to offer an inferior product.

Publishers are concerned that if Amazon used this method to print books, customers would blame them, and not the tech firm, for the quality.

Another clause, known in the industry as a "most favoured nation" (MFN) proposal, asks publishers not to offer promotions to distributors without also offering them to Amazon.

This would include selling books at a discount on the publishers' own websites.

It also demands that publishers inform Amazon before offering e-book deals to other clients, and give the tech firm the same terms.

Unprecedented

The BBC spoke to independent UK publishing companies who were alarmed at the proposals.

One representative of a mid-sized firm said Amazon had become "increasingly ruthless" in its negotiations, while another accused Amazon of "bullying".

One boss added that they believed the MFN clause would cause Amazon to fall foul of competition rules, and should be of concern to regulators.

Publishers also told the BBC that Amazon generally prefers verbal agreements, and rarely documents its negotiations, but had done so in the latest round of talks, with one "mid-tier" firm saying this was the first time it had received correspondence outlining such terms.

One independent publisher, which releases between 80 and 100 titles each year, said it had been approached by Amazon in the past with the above clauses.

'Ryanair moment'

A senior manager told the BBC that if asked to agree to the terms, the firm's answer would be a "simple and monosyllabic no".

They also warned that Amazon was reaching a "Ryanair moment", when customers and suppliers would become uncomfortable with the way that the company operates.

The BBC also approached several of the larger publishers, including Hachette, Penguin and Harper Collins, all of whom refused to provide comment.

The Bookseller's editor, Philip Jones, told the BBC that if Amazon's terms were agreed, it would be a "form of assisted suicide for the industry".

But he added that the negotiations might be a "tactic" by Amazon, and could be dropped before a final deal is struck.

The BBC understands that similar terms were proposed in the past - although without the current forcefulness - but later abandoned by Amazon.

The negotiation process generally takes many months.

Competition investigations

The tech firm is currently involved in a high profile spat with publishers Hachette in the US. The two companies are locked in discussions about how to share profits on e-books - a dispute which has led to price increases and a block on pre-orders of Hachette books.

In a separate development, a German trade association has brought a complaint against Amazon to the country's competition authorities, claiming the firm abused its market dominance.

On Thursday, the Associated Press reported that the French government, in a bid to support the country's small bookshops, has adopted a bill that will prevent Amazon and other online retailers from offering free deliveries of discounted books.

The EU commission confirmed to the BBC that it was monitoring the UK book industry. The EU has investigated MFN clauses in the past, but has never ruled them illegal.

But Mr Jones also emphasised the positive role Amazon has played in the bookselling industry.

"The worst thing that could happen [to book publishers] would be for Amazon to go away," he said.

"The second worst thing would be for it to become more dominant."

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E-voting experiments end in Norway

27 June 2014 Last updated at 12:12

Norway is ending trials of e-voting systems used in national and local elections.

Experiments with voting via the net were carried out during elections held in 2011 and 2013.

But the trials have ended because, said the government, voters' fears about their votes becoming public could undermine democratic processes.

Political controversy and the fact that the trials did not boost turnout also led to the experiment ending.

In a statement, Norway's Office of Modernisation said it was ending the experiments following discussions in the nation's parliament about efforts to update voting systems.

The statement said although there was "broad political desire" to let people vote via the net, the poor results from the last two experiments had convinced the government to stop spending money on more trials.

The 2013 trial was also controversial because immediately prior to the election, criticism was levelled at the encryption scheme used to protect votes being sent across the net. Software experts called for the entire voting system to be rewritten to better protect data.

A report looking into the success of the 2013 trial said about 70,000 Norwegians took the chance to cast an e-vote. This represented about 38% of all the 250,000 people across 12 towns and cities who were eligible to vote online.

However, it said, there was no evidence that the trial led to a rise in the overall number of people voting nor that it mobilised new groups, such as young people, to vote.

The report by Norway's Institute of Social Research also expressed worries about the fact that online voting took place in what it called "uncontrolled environments". This, it said, undermined the need for a vote to be made in secret without anyone influencing the voter as they made their choice.

It said there was also some evidence that a small number of people, 0.75% of all voters, managed to vote twice in 2013. They did this by voting once online then travelling to a polling station to cast a paper ballot.

Norway has made its decision soon after Jenny Watson, head of Britain's Electoral Commission, said the UK should move more swiftly to adopt e-voting as it could help arrest a decline in the numbers of young voters.

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Electric car running costs 'rising'

27 June 2014 Last updated at 12:25 By Samantha Fenwick Radio 4 You and Yours Reporter

It could now cost more to run an electric car than one using fuel owing to the end of UK government subsidies.

The Department for Transport's support for the installation and maintenance of chargers ended in April.

Local councils, left to cover costs, tendered contracts out to private companies - and prices have gone up.

Transport Minister Baroness Kramer told You and Yours £500m was being invested over five years to provide support for electric vehicle drivers.

In the first five months of this year, nearly 2,000 electric cars were sold in the UK - more than double the sales for the same period in 2013.

Continue reading the main story

• Charge points began to appear around the UK in about 2010
• Machines were installed by local authorities at a cost of about £50,000
• The rapid chargers can power up an electric vehicle in 30 minutes

One of the reasons for the increase is the perception that the running costs of an electric vehicle will be cheaper than a fossil fuel car.

There are concerns that increasing the cost of charging will choke market growth just as it begins to take off.

While electric cars are around £8,000 more expensive than a diesel or petrol one, the government offers a £5,000 grant towards the cost of the car, and will help to install a charge system at home.

Until very recently it was free to charge your car at all public power points. Now Charge Master, one of the biggest providers, asks for £7.50 for a half-hour rapid charge.

Andrew Fenwick-Green, marketing secretary of the Electric Vehicle Drivers Association, drives a Nissan Leaf. He said: "A gallon of diesel for most eco-diesels will cost you £6.30 and get you around 60 miles.

"A 30-minute rapid charge in my Nissan Leaf would give you a range of 64 miles. So we're paying an extra £1.20 more to get the same mileage. It's madness... if the rapid chargers go up to £7.50 we're going to kill the market at a stroke".

Support

The Charge Your Car company asks for £5 for a rapid charge, and Transport for London awarded its contract to the French company Bollore, which will introduce an annual fee of £10 for unlimited charging from September.

Charge Master chief executive David Martell has asked for more support.

"Next year the amount of annual expenditure from Government on infrastructure is going to be slashed by two-thirds, which I think is a little too early.

"We need a few years' more support from the Government to allow proper businesses models to arrive for charging."

Lady Kramer said: "The whole point of this is that you charge at home. That leaves you with a cost of about 2p per mile, which is why it's attractive to the people who have been buying these cars.

"The public rapid chargers are intended for occasional use."

She added that the industry could have communicated with customers better but the shift to charging would not stymie the emerging electric vehicle market.

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Anger at secret e-borders legal bill

27 June 2014 Last updated at 16:12 By Brian Wheeler Political reporter

Ministers are facing calls to reveal the cost of a four-year legal battle with the US defence giant they sacked from the aborted e-borders project.

Raytheon was hired by the previous Labour government to set up an electronic system for counting all travellers in and out of the UK.

It was fired by the coalition in 2010 over alleged poor performance and is suing the government for £500m.

MPs are demanding to know why the case has not been settled.

Instead of fighting it in open court, both parties agreed to go to arbitration, meaning hearings were held behind closed doors in a private court.

The outcome has yet to be revealed by the arbitration panel, even though hearings are thought to have ended a year ago.

The Home Office said in June last year it expected a verdict "soon". Raytheon said in April this year it would probably come in the first half of 2014.

'Matter of urgency'

The cost to British taxpayers is likely to run into hundreds of millions of pounds but MPs fear the full details of the dispute will never be revealed.

Conservative MP Mark Reckless, speaking in a Westminster Hall debate on migration statistics on Thursday, asked whether arbitration in private was "really appropriate in terms of public contracts, let alone ones for £750m".

Keith Vaz, chairman of the home affairs select committee, said: "This is about the public knowing. It's public money that's gone into this. We also need to know why it has taken four years.

"We need to know what went wrong so we don't do it again. For all we know, if we don't know what went wrong, this could be happening again and again and it is vital that we get to the problem of e-borders."

E-borders was meant to collate and store on a single database information about all passengers who enter and leave the UK to improve security and identify suspected terrorists and criminals.

The coalition terminated the contract with Raytheon in May 2010 saying it had no confidence in the supplier to address problems with the system.

Raytheon said the government's targets and objectives changed repeatedly through the course of the programme, which covered both Labour and coalition administrations.

At the time, the Home Office said Raytheon would be replaced by a new e-borders supplier "as a matter of urgency".

Exit checks

But in March this year, ministers formally killed off the e-borders name, moving its functions into the Borders System Programme.

This relies on the Home Office Warnings Index, first introduced in 1995, and Semaphore, a pilot system developed by IBM in 2004 that was meant to have been replaced by the Raytheon-led Trusted Borders consortium.

Immigration Minister James Brokenshire told MPs that the aim of counting all passengers in and out of the UK to provide more accurate immigration statistics - one of the original objectives of the e-borders system - had been dropped.

But he said the Office for National Statistics was experimenting with using data from Semaphore to improve the accuracy of its migration figures.

The figures are currently based on a random survey of travellers, a process that has been heavily criticised by the Public Administration Committee for its wide margin of error.

He said the Home Office was still on track to introduce exit checks at international rail, sea and air terminals by April 2015.

'Huge mistake'

And the electronic monitoring system it has been using since 2010 was fulfilling the original mission of e-borders "to target and monitor those seeking to travel to and from the UK who may harm this country's interests".

"It is an extremely valuable tool and, indeed, since 2010 our borders systems have issued alerts resulting in 13,300 arrests, including 60 for murder, 59 for kidnap and 167 for rape," he told MPs.

Keith Vaz said the Labour government he had been a part of had made a "huge mistake" by signing a £750m deal with Raytheon in the first place and the coalition had been right to cancel it.

He said the US multinational, which manufactures missile defence systems and made the computer guidance system for the Apollo 11 moon shot, had been hired because it had delivered similar border security systems in other parts of the world.

But he said the ministers in charge - which did not include himself - had mishandled the contract.

"When they signed the agreement with Raytheon, they did not put benchmarks in that agreement, as a result of that Raytheon was able to turn round and say 'well, we were not told what to do.'

"This is the subject of an arbitration that has been going on, I think, for four years. It could well be the longest arbitration in history. And every time we ask for information, nobody wants to tell the select committee what is going on."

Labour's shadow immigration minister David Hanson backed calls for the full details of the case to be published so it could be held up to public scrutiny.

Mr Brokenshire neglected to address the Raytheon issue in the Westminster Hall debate - but was urged to "take notice" of MPs' concerns by Bernard Jenkin, the Conservative chairman of the Public Administration Committee.

Raytheon executives were quizzed about the e-borders legal battle in April, in a conference call with financial journalists.

Senior vice president and chief financial officer Dave Wajsgras said: "We expect the decision from the panel sometime in the first half of 2014. That's our expectations. But it's behind closed doors and we'll see, you know, when we get a decision. That's all we have."

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BT apologises for broadband problem

28 June 2014 Last updated at 13:19

BT has apologised after "many" users in the UK experienced problems recently connecting to the internet, but says the issue has now been resolved.

Users complained they were unable to connect to some websites - including social media, banking and shopping sites - as a result of the problems.

BT said it was unable to say how many customers had been hit, but issues were reported in various parts of the UK.

"We're sorry for any trouble this may have caused," a BT spokesman said.

The firm, which has about seven million broadband subscribers in the UK, said it was still investigating the incident.

A message posted on Twitter by BTCare said: "Sorry about the issues many of you had accessing the Internet this morning. Problem is now fixed- sorry for any trouble caused."

'Wildfire'

Customers complained of problems in parts of Cornwall, as well as in Eastbourne, Preston, Tunbridge Wells and several other areas.

David Black, from St Austell, told the BBC: "It started with eBay at 09:30 BST and is spreading like wildfire.

"Amazon, Netflix, most forums, Facebook and Twitter are all blocked, with more being blocked all the time."

He added: "No-one can get through to the BT help pages as, ironically, they are also affected."

Another BT customer, Peter Clayton, added: "It seems to be all the major sites that don't work. HSBC, eBay, Amazon.

"My plumbing website seems also to be down and I'm a small business so this really does affect me as I have people in my office just twiddling their thumbs."

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Android and Windows add 'kill switch'

20 June 2014 Last updated at 09:56

Google and Microsoft will add a "kill-switch" feature to their Android and Windows phone operating systems.

The feature is a method of making a handset completely useless if it is stolen, rendering a theft pointless.

Authorities have been urging tech firms to take steps to help curb phone theft and argued that a kill-switch feature can help resolve the problem.

Apple and Samsung, two of the biggest phone makers, offer a similar feature on some of their devices.

The move by Google and Microsoft means that kill switches will now be a part of the three most popular phone operating systems in the world.

Growing problem

Continue reading the main story

An activated kill switch converts an easy-to-sell, high-value multimedia device into a jumble of plastic and glass"

End Quote New York State Attorney General

Smartphone theft has become a big problem across the world. According to a report by US authorities:

• Some 3.1 million mobile devices were stolen in the US in 2013, nearly double the number of devices stolen in 2012
• One in three Europeans experienced the theft or loss of a mobile device in 2013
• In South Korea mobile device theft increased five-fold between 2009 and 2012
• In Colombia criminals stole over one million devices in 2013

In an attempt to tackle the issue, policymakers have launched an initiative called Secure our Smartphones.

As part of it, they have urged technology firms to take steps to make it less attractive for robbers to steal mobile devices.

"An activated kill switch converts an easy-to-sell, high-value multimedia device into a jumble of plastic and glass, drastically reducing its street value," the report by New York Attorney General said.

Explainer: How a kill switch works

• A "hard" kill switch would render a stolen device permanently unusable and is favoured by legislators who want to give stolen devices the "value of a paperweight"
• A "soft" kill switch only make a phone unusable to "an unauthorised user"
• Some argue that the only way to permanently disable a phone is to physically damage it
• Experts worry that hackers could find a way to hijack a kill signal and turn off phones
• If a phone is turned off or put into aeroplane mode, it might not receive the kill signal at all, warn experts

Authorities claim that Apple's feature - dubbed Activation Lock - which it introduced on all iPhones running the iOS 7 operating system in September last year, has helped reduce theft substantially.

According to a report by the New York State Attorney General, in the first five months of 2014 the theft of Apple devices fell by 17% in New York City.

Meanwhile iPhone robberies fell 24% in London and 38% in San Francisco in the six months after Apple introduced the feature, compared to the previous six months.

"During the same period, thefts of other popular mobile devices increased," the report says.

Manoj Menon, managing director of consulting firm Frost & Sullivan said the move was a step in the right direction.

"This is a fantastic move and will go a long way in helping authorities come one step closer to realising a vision of zero theft of mobile phone," he told the BBC.

But he added that it was "not a foolproof system" as thieves "will find a way to monetise the accessories and parts of a phone".

However, he said the market for parts and accessories was relatively small and the kill switch "does substantially reduce the financial incentive of stealing a device".

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Phishing gangs target dating sites

19 June 2014 Last updated at 13:44

Fraudsters are stepping up phishing campaigns that target people who use dating websites, suggests research.

Members of Match.com, eHarmony, Zoosk, Christian Mingle and many others had received emails seeking to steal login details for the sites, said Netcraft.

The net monitoring firm said the emails had been sent from other websites, hacked to hide the senders' identity.

Stolen data would be used to befriend other users in an attempt to trick them into handing over cash, it said.

The phishing campaign against dating sites marked a departure for fraudsters, who typically preferred to target banks, said Paul Mutton, a security analyst at Netcraft who investigated the attacks.

The attacks were "massive", he said, adding that in the past week Netcraft had seen more than 100 compromised sites targeting Match.com alone.

So far, he said, it was not clear how sites were being compromised to host the scripts. Websites and servers run by individuals, small businesses, construction firms and telecom suppliers had all become unwitting hosts of the phishing tools, he added.

Mr Mutton said just one compromised site he had seen was home to about 800 short programs or scripts that targeted many different dating sites. Each script looked like it had been generated by a "kit" bought online.

"Anyone with a very basic knowledge of programming could make use of the kit," he said.

Extract cash

The scripts are used to craft phishing emails that are spammed out to potential victims.

The mails seek to trick people into entering their login names for the dating sites.

If successful, the details are passed on to the legitimate login page of a dating website and are also sent to one of 300 email addresses used by the phishing gang.

Fraudsters were keen to steal login details for accounts so they could avoid paying the charges dating sites levied before users could swap messages with other members, said Mr Mutton.

Using on-site messages the fraudsters hope to befriend others and then try to extract cash to help pay for a non-existent medical condition or to aid fictitious relatives.

Significant amounts of cash could be stolen this way, said Mr Mutton, pointing to the case of Karen and Tracy Vasseur, of Colorado, who were jailed in 2013 for stealing more than $1m (£590,000) from 374 people using dating-site scams.

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Rural broadband winners revealed

19 June 2014 Last updated at 14:41

The UK government has revealed the winners of a £10m fund aimed at finding new ways to get superfast broadband to very remote areas of Britain.

Eight schemes have been shortlisted, using a variety of technologies including fixed wireless and satellite.

Proposed locations to test the technologies include Scotland, Wales, Devon, Somerset and Northumberland.

The government said it would use the trials to work out the best way to get superfast broadband to the final 5%.

The schemes include:

• In Wales, AB Internet is planning a hybrid fixed line and wireless network that will deliver speeds of up to 50Mbps

• In North Yorkshire, Airwave plans to deploy four next-generation wireless systems, including making use of TV white space

• Satellite provider Avanti wants to pilot a satellite broadband platform in Northern Ireland and Scotland

• MLL plans to aggregate small wireless networks in Kent

• In Northumberland, Cybermoor wants to develop a fibre to the home network using a financial model that gets investment from the local community

Rural Affairs Minister Dan Rogerson said: "Fast and reliable broadband revolutionises everything from how we work and how our children learn, to how we spend our leisure time and engage with public services.

"It is critical that we explore how to get superfast broadband out to these hard-to-reach areas to allow business to be more productive, innovative and competitive, which is crucial for building a stronger rural economy and fairer society."

Several of the winning bidders are members of the Independent Networks Co-operative Association (Inca).

Chief executive Malcolm Corbett said he hoped the trials would help inform local councils currently looking to spend their rural broadband funds.

"It will help local authorities make decisions about where to invest and can hopefully make the process a bit more competitive," he said.

There has been criticism that, to date, BT has won all the contracts to roll out rural broadband.

"The simple fact that BT has not directly won any of these projects will please many people, but it needs to be remembered that this £10m of funding is just for the pilot projects and is not a full commitment yet," said Andrew Ferguson, from ThinkBroadband.

But, he added, the major stumbling block for ensuring that the vast majority of the UK was served by superfast broadband would be identifying the areas that needed it most.

"The pilots are focused on the most rural parts of the UK, but we see enough people in towns and cities that have missed out on the commercial rollouts of superfast services, or are considered served by an existing BDUK [Broadband Delivery UK] project, but have slipped through the cracks caused when councils have used postcodes rather than individual addresses to assess coverage."

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Harley-Davidson tests electric bike

20 June 2014 Last updated at 08:23

Iconic motorbike manufacturer Harley-Davidson has revealed its first electric motorcycle.

The bike will not go on general sale, instead the firm will select customers from the US to ride it and provide feedback

The bike - dubbed Project LiveWire - will travel down the US's Route 66 visiting more than 30 Harley-Davidson dealerships between now and the end of the year.

Fans had a mixed reaction to the bike.

"Project LiveWire is more like the first electric guitar - not an electric car," said Mark-Hans Richer, senior vice president at Harley-Davidson Motor Company.

"It's an expression of individuality and iconic style that just happens to be electric. Project LiveWire is a bold statement for us as a company and a brand."

The bike can go 130 miles before it needs charging and will offer riders a top speed of 92mph (148km/h). Recharges will take between 30 minutes to an hour.

Silent bike

Initial feedback from the Harley-Davidson Riders Club of Great Britain suggested a degree of cynicism.

Dave Scott said: "It looks ok but I'd need a real engine in it."

While member Dazzlin asked how safe it would be: "For an electric bike it has a good look, but I can't help think a silent bike is a recipe for disaster on our ever increasingly busy roads".

In a teaser video released by the firm a motorcycle is seen driving down Route 66 almost without noise.

Purpose-built electric bicycles are becoming hugely popular. In China 25 million are sold each year, according to Prof Peter Wells, co-director of the automotive industry research group at Cardiff Business School.

The market for an electric Harley will be more "niche" he said but it is unsurprising that the firm is jumping on the bandwagon.

"We are moving toward zero emissions cities and motorbike manufacturers, like car manufacturers have to go that way," he said.

"In an ideal world I expect that they want it to go faster and further than it will."

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Chopper sent to downed wi-fi balloon

20 June 2014 Last updated at 11:42

An emergency helicopter has been mistakenly scrambled after a Google wi-fi balloon ditched in the sea near Christchurch in New Zealand.

The plummeting balloon, measuring 12m (39ft) in height, was spotted by a pedestrian who thought a light aircraft was in trouble and contacted police.

Google said it would repay the cost of sending the helicopter to the scene.

In June 2013, 30 balloons were launched by Google in New Zealand to provide wi-fi in remote areas.

The call to the emergency services initially led to the launch of a lifeboat off the South Island's east coast.

The helicopter was called in when the rescuers could not recover the balloon because of rough conditions.

"We will get in touch with the Westpac rescue helicopter crew to reimburse them for the mistaken rescue flight," Google spokesman Johnny Luu told news site Stuff New Zealand.

Last year's launch marked the start of Google's Project Loon, which will eventually employ up to 400 balloons encircling the Earth to give people wireless net access.

The balloons will float in the stratosphere around the Earth's 40th parallel, providing wi-fi to buildings fitted with a special antenna.

They are designed to stay up for about 100 days, and when they descend, co-ordinators try to guide them down on to land.

Most balloons were recovered after landing, Mr Luu added.

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Coalition bust-up over IT overhaul

20 June 2014 Last updated at 14:31 By Brian Wheeler Political reporter

A coalition row has erupted after Lib Dem minister Vince Cable criticised the Tories' flagship IT policy, claiming it had nearly paralysed his department.

Vince Cable and Ed Davey complained to David Cameron at a recent Cabinet meeting over slow emails and other IT problems at their departments.

The two ministers blamed Conservative Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude's IT procurement policy.

The Cabinet Office has said the ministers' own officials were to blame.

Business Secretary Mr Cable and Energy and Climate Change Secretary Mr Davey were reported in the Financial Times to be angry about slow and intermittent emails and network problems at their departments since they started migrating to new systems in May.

The problems, which included data loss, lost emails and frozen screens, are said to have nearly brought their two departments to a standstill.

'Messed up'

The departments share an IT system, which was previously provided by Japanese computer giant Fujitsu under a 15-year PFI deal worth £19m a year.

Under new Whitehall procurement procedures, they are using several different suppliers on shorter contracts.

Francis Maude is attempting to end the dominance of IT giants at Whitehall - and hand a bigger share of contracts to small and medium sized companies (SMEs).

The business and climate change departments were the first to implement the new initiative - one of the Conservative Party's flagship policies to boost small business.

Mr Cable is calling for it to be halted until lessons can be learned about what went wrong.

But Cabinet Office sources suggested the energy and business departments had "messed up" the procurement of the new contracts and were trying to shift the blame to Mr Maude's team.

'Outdated contracts'

A Conservative government source told BBC News: "It is rather strange that the secretary of state for business seems to be against small business."

Mr Maude's officials have pointed out that the new IT system at the two departments is not, in fact, being solely provided by small companies and some of the contractors are large IT companies.

They say officials are taking time to get used to new ways of working, with several contractors handling IT instead of one big supplier. They also point out that the new IT contracts at the two departments are 40% cheaper.

A Cabinet Office spokesman said: "Civil servants need modern technology to do their jobs so we are replacing the expensive, inflexible and outdated contracts which we inherited in 2010.

"Our government IT reforms are saving taxpayers' money and ensuring SMEs can compete alongside bigger providers.

"Departments remain responsible for their own technology and services."

A spokesman for the business department said they were "working hard" to resolve the IT problems and "minimise disruption" and "much progress has now been made".

"BIS and DECC were the first government departments to implement the Cabinet Office's new ICT strategy and lessons learned will help other departments when they renew their IT in the future," the spokesman added.

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Lego fuses real and virtual worlds

20 June 2014 Last updated at 14:52

Construction toy firm Lego has blended the real and the virtual with bricks that can be built and then transferred to online games.

It is part of a trend among toy manufacturers to straddle the two realms and appeal to children immersed in the digital world.

Users can choose to build four game sets which come with a special plate to build them on.

The creations can be photographed and imported into free games.

Zombie gaze

"Children have always imagined their Lego creations as immersive worlds which come to life for hours of role-play and adventure," said Ditte Bruun Pedersen, senior design manager at Lego Future Lab.

"Recently, smartphones and tablets have become a popular platform for empowering game mechanisms that kids love. Lego Fusion brings these two favourite play patterns together."

Once a child's creation has been imported into a game there are a series of challenges that require them to build new things to move the game forward.

"In our research, we heard repeatedly from parents that they are constantly battling 'zombie gaze', the experience when their children are immersed in their device screens for large blocks of time," said Ms Pedersen.

"We developed Lego Fusion with this challenge in mind, creating a play experience that keeps children entertained with the kind of app gameplay they love while giving real reasons to return to the brick pile to creatively build."

So, for example in the town-building game Town Master children can add extra facilities to keep inhabitants happy or in the Battle Towers game, if a castle is damaged in the game it can be repaired in the real world.

Increasingly toy manufacturers are aiming to fuse the two realms.

Video games maker Activision found a hit with Skylanders, a game which came with add-on toys which offer new content when placed into a RFID (radio-frequency identification) reader attached to a console.

Lego Fusion will be launched in September and will initially be available in the US online.

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Unlikely hit app Yo is 'hacked'

20 June 2014 Last updated at 16:00 By Dave Lee Technology reporter, BBC News

Messaging app Yo, which in the past week has rocketed to the top of the app download charts, has been hit by a hack.

Creator Or Arbel told technology news site TechCrunch the app was having "security issues".

The app allows users to send a message saying "yo" to friends - and nothing else.

It has been branded "pointless", but has nonetheless raised $1m (£600,000) in investment.

TechCrunch said it was contacted by three college students who said they had uncovered a flaw in the app.

"We can get any Yo user's phone number (I actually texted the founder, and he called me back)," the students told TechCrunch.

"We can spoof yos from any users, and we can spam any user... We could also send any Yo user a push notification with any text we want (though we decided not to do that)."

Other developers have been able to recreate the flaw.

Similar problems have hit apps such as Snapchat and Tinder in the past few months.

'Decline of civilisation'

Mr Arbel told TechCrunch he was dealing with the issue, but would not elaborate further.

"Some of the stuff has been fixed and some we are still working on," he said, adding that he had hired a specialist security team.

"We are taking this very seriously."

Despite the app's apparent pointlessness, it has quickly attracted hundreds of thousands of users. Mr Arbel said more than four million "yo" messages had been sent.

A service that sends a "yo" to a user every time a goal is scored in the World Cup has already been launched - with other similar services planned.

The app, which took eight hours to create, has the technology community divided - with some seeing the app, and its seven-figure investment, as a sign of increasing hysteria in Silicon Valley for offbeat ideas.

"We have decided this is an idea with great potential," Mr Arbel told the Financial Times.

One reader of The Verge technology news site said the app, and its sudden mainstream coverage, was "accelerating the decline of civilisation".

Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC

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MI5 focus on tracking Syria fighters

20 June 2014 Last updated at 22:41

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

This footage purports to show Reyaad Khan (c) Nasser Muthana (r) from Wales

Tracking British jihadists fighting in Syria is now the top priority for MI5, the BBC has learned.

It comes after a video appeared to show UK jihadis in Syria trying to recruit people to join them there and in Iraq.

The Home Office said counter-terror police were working to get the video - posted by internet accounts linked to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) militants - taken off line.

The father of one of the men in the video said it made him "want to cry".

Nasser Muthana, 20, from the Cardiff area - who has been offered places to study medicine by four universities - appears in the footage using the name Abu Muthanna al-Yemen.

Isis has made rapid advances through Iraq in recent weeks.

Prime Minister David Cameron has said its fighters are plotting terror attacks on the UK.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said MI5 was having to prioritise the greatest amount of its casework on tracking British jihadists in Syria.

An estimated 400-500 UK fighters have been recruited by Isis, which has a presence in Syria and is engaged in fierce fighting with Iraqi government forces.

'Propaganda'

The video footage features six armed men, sitting in front of the black flag of Isis.

One of them, a Briton identified as Abu Dujana al Hindi, says he has a "message to the brothers who have stayed behind".

The video cannot be verified, but BBC correspondent Paul Adams said it came from social media accounts with known links to Isis and had probably been filmed in Syria.

"It appears to show British jihadis intent on joining the fight in Iraq," he said.

Isis in Iraq

Isis grew out of an al-Qaeda-linked organisation in Iraq

• Estimated 10,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria
• Joined in its offensives by other Sunni militant groups, including Saddam-era officers and soldiers, and disaffected Sunni tribal fighters
• Exploits standoff between Iraqi government and the minority Sunni Arab community, which complains that Shia Prime Minister Nouri Maliki is monopolising power
• Led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, an obscure figure regarded as a battlefield commander and tactician

Jihadi groups around the world

Ahmed Muthana, Nasser's father, told the BBC his son had "disappeared" without saying where he was going.

Asked about the video, he said: "I don't think that's Nasser talking, it's someone else is teaching him to talk like this because the attitude of Nasser is 100% completely different, and I think they're calling for wrong things."

Asked whether his son had been radicalised, he said: "I think so."

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Ahmed Muthana, father of Nasser: "Somebody is driving those kids to do this"

It comes a day after the UK government "proscribed" Isis, making it a criminal offence to associate with it or give it financial backing. Four other groups with links to Syria were proscribed at the same time.

Alongside its military advances, Isis has mounted a parallel social media campaign.

Sasha Havlicek, who co-chairs a European Union working group on internet radicalisation, said Isis was using social media to compete with other radical groups.

"I think the strategy that they're putting in play right now is about brand recognition," she told the BBC.

"The point really I think for Isis is about claiming a piece of the market, and they've done that incredibly successfully."

Analysis

Sebastian Usher, BBC Arab affairs editor

In the video, six men sit cross-legged in a semi-circle, with their Kalashnikovs beside them and the black flag of Isis behind. It is unclear where they are. But their message is very clear.

It is a recruitment call for Western Muslims to join their battle, not at home but in Iraq and Syria. One says that jihad is the best cure for the depression which he says Muslims feel in the West.

Isis has established itself as a sophisticated manipulator of social media. The image portrayed is often brutal, intended to sow fear and submission. This is different - the fighters speak softly and smile. It seems aimed at widening the group's appeal.

The Home Office said: "We do not tolerate the existence of online terrorist and extremist propaganda, which directly influences people who are vulnerable to radicalisation.

"We already work closely with the internet industry to remove terrorist material hosted in the UK or overseas."

The Home Office said it wanted to "further restrict access to terrorist material" and use "family-friendly filters" to block other extremist content.

A report by the government's extremism taskforce, carried out after the murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby in Woolwich, said it would work with internet companies to "restrict access to terrorist material online which is hosted overseas but illegal under UK law".

A spokesman for the Internet Services Providers' Association, which describes itself as the trade body for the UK's internet industry, told the BBC this was "a very tricky area".

There would be two ways to remove the video, he said - either by asking every company hosting it to take it down, or by asking filtering companies to add it to their web filters.

The spokesman added: "We know the Home Office has been looking at this for a while now, and has not really put forward any concrete plans, which may point to the fact that it's quite difficult."

Twitter said it had guidelines for authorities to request information about individual accounts, as well as rules on "potentially sensitive content".

Meanwhile, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR) said it did not believe there were British fighters in Iraq.

The ICSR, which uses social media to track jihadists' movements, said so far the only European jihadists fighting with Isis in Iraq were from the Balkans.

The Muslim Council of Britain has condemned the violence of Isis and warned young Britons that travelling to Iraq or Syria "will not help the people of those countries".

Mr Cameron has warned of a threat to the UK if an "extreme Islamist regime" is created in central Iraq, while Downing Street said 65 people had been arrested in the past 18 months for Syria-related jihadist activities.

Meanwhile, Baiji, Iraq's biggest refinery, is surrounded by the rebels, who say they have seized most of Tal Afar airport.

The US has said it will send some 300 military advisers to help the fight against the insurgents.

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Plan to tackle phone blackspots

21 June 2014 Last updated at 13:11

Mobile phone operators could be made to share their networks in rural areas of the UK where signals are weak under plans being considered by ministers.

Some parts of rural Britain have just one or two of the main mobile phone networks available, or none at all, leaving some people without any signal.

It is hoped so-called national roaming could be used to plug blackspots.

However, mobile phone companies say this would remove their incentive to build more masts to improve coverage.

New Culture Secretary Sajid Javid wants mobile phone companies to introduce national roaming which would allow customers to switch to an alternative network if their own was not available, as happens when they are abroad.

A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which oversees telecommunications, said the government was already spending £150m in areas with no coverage and was looking at doing more.

'World-class coverage'

A mobile phone industry source told the BBC the government might be able to force the big operators to share their networks using existing legislation.

But the companies are likely to argue that national roaming will be a brake on their investment because there will not be an incentive to build new phone masts in remote areas if the service has to be shared.

They have also warned there would be costs involved in such a scheme which could result in higher charges for consumers.

Mobile operator Three insisted it was widening its coverage.

A spokesman said: "We've invested heavily to bring coverage to around 98% of the population.

"We support the principle of expanding coverage to address areas less well served and are in discussions with government about the most effective means to deliver that."

A DCMS spokesman said: "The government has made clear it wants to ensure the UK has world-class mobile phone coverage as part of our investment in infrastructure for the long-term economic plan.

"We are investing up to £150m to improve mobile coverage in areas where there is currently no coverage from any of the Mobile Network Operators.

"Of course we want to look at what more can be done in areas with poor coverage."

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Apple swaps 'overheating' chargers

13 June 2014 Last updated at 14:40

A European USB iPhone charger sold between October 2009 and September 2012 "may overheat and pose a safety risk", says manufacturer, Apple.

The US firm is offering to exchange the defective items free of charge.

In an advice note, the company urges those who own the adapter to stop using it, although it says the malfunction only occurs in "rare cases".

The model was sold in 37 countries, including some countries in Africa and Asia, but not in the UK.

The item was shipped with iPhone 3GS, 4 and 4S models, and was also sold as a separate accessory.

Its model number is A1300 and it features the letters "CE" in solid grey.

It was sold in the following countries:

• Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Vietnam

This is not the first time Apple has exchanged USB adapters. In 2008, the company offered to exchange defective iPhone 3G chargers in the US, Japan, Canada and several Latin American countries.

Apple has also offered to replace counterfeit or third-party iPhone chargers sold to customers in China, amid concerns over safety.

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Mainstream media lead in online news

12 June 2014 Last updated at 00:16

Traditional media organisations remain the dominant source of online news in the UK, according to a new report.

More than half of those polled said they followed the news through an established brand, with just 16% using digital-only sites, such as Buzzfeed and Huffington Post.

However, new media companies were found to be very popular in the US and Japan.

The study also found that just over one in ten people paid for online news content in the past year.

The research, carried out by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University, is based on a YouGov survey of more than 18,000 people across 10 countries.

Consumers in the US, UK, Germany, France, Denmark, Finland, Spain, Italy, Japan and urban Brazil were questioned about their news habits.

'Free alternatives'

Just 7% of those polled in the UK said they paid for news in the past year - the lowest of all 10 countries - and only 7% said they would be prepared to pay in the future.

"There is a limited pool of people who are sufficiently interested in news to pay for it when there are free alternatives," said Nic Newman, one of the report's editors.

The top subscription sites in the UK were the Times, Telegraph and Sun newspapers.

The number of people using smartphones or tablets to access news grew significantly, while desktop use dropped, but computers still account for well over half of all browsing.

'Smartphone effect'

However, the report found the rise of smartphone use has led to people consuming fewer news sources, with 37% of those polled across all countries saying they accessed just one news brand on their handset.

In the UK, 55% said the same.

"People are short of time on a smartphone," said Mr Newman.

"They come back to the source they rely on most."

He added that there was "limited real estate" on mobile phones and not enough screen space for a variety of brands.

However, in general, consumers overwhelmingly preferred news outlets with a range of views over those with a particular political agenda.

Social media

WhatsApp, the messaging app recently acquired by Facebook for $19bn (£11.3bn), emerges as a key social network, with 26% of those polled in Spain saying they used the service for news, and 15% saying the same in Brazil.

Users can send links to news stories instantly on the app, which also allows group messaging.

Facebook itself remains the dominant force in the sector, with 35% of those polled across all countries saying they use the site to access news content.

Twitter is very popular in the UK and US, less so elsewhere, and is eclipsed in all the countries by YouTube.

David Sillito, BBC Media Correspondent

Why are you reading this? Did you stumble across it, read it on a home page or was it recommended to you?

The new report makes it very clear that the era of a news agenda driven entirely by editors, TV bulletins and front pages is over.

There's a new class of press baron, Facebook Superfriends or Twitterati, who are increasingly playing a role in driving the news agenda. But there's so much more in this report. Here are my favourite nuggets:

• More than 1 in 2 Japanese households still get papers delivered
• The UK is bottom of the table in "interest in politics" with just 33%; Germany is on 60%, the US 55%
• Women are more interested in political news than men (in the UK 44% to 23%)
• Arts and culture stories are least popular in text form but the most popular news videos
• Germany (9%) shows least interest in arts news, Brazil (27%) the most

The report also found that the reputation of individual journalists and columnists is almost as important as well-established brands in attracting people to a news source, especially in Spain, Italy and the US.

People said they would be more likely to pay for content that included work by journalists they knew.

The report's authors highlight the launch of recent news organisations in the US by household names, such as Ezra Klein's Vox Media, Felix Salmon's Fusion and Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish.

Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who became famous for writing about the revelations by Edward Snowden on the extent of US government surveillance, also established his own company, First Look Media.

"Digital and social media seem to be encouraging journalism with a human face," said Mr Newman.

"There is likely to be an economic premium attached to the very best writers."

The report also highlighted the role of Twitter in the UK in bringing readers to news sources. Almost half of all Twitter users in the UK follow at least one journalist. The most influential UK journalists on Twitter were:

1. Caitlin Moran (the Times)
2. Jon Snow (Channel 4)
3. Victoria Coren Mitchell (the Observer, the Guardian)
4. Robert Peston (BBC)
5. Nick Robinson (BBC)

The Guardian was the most dominant news brand on Twitter, followed by BBC News and the Economist.

Perhaps surprisingly, video news was fairly unpopular among those surveyed, accounting for as little as 10% of all traffic in some countries.

Younger users said clips took too long to load, while some did not want to pay for viewing content over their mobile network.

Older users wanted to view video on larger screens, and were generally more keen on the written word.

The report is supported by BBC Global News, Google, Ofcom and others.

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Expedia to accept Bitcoin payments

12 June 2014 Last updated at 11:40

One of the world's largest online travel agencies, Expedia, has become the latest company to accept Bitcoin transactions as a form of payment.

The firm will initially accept the virtual currency for hotel bookings only, and is currently restricting the trial to its US site.

But one Bitcoin watcher told the BBC this was "a big move" for the currency.

Expedia's announcement comes after a turbulent few months for Bitcoin, which has been plagued by security concerns.

Continue reading the main story

Bitcoin is often referred to as a new kind of currency.

But it may be best to think of its units being virtual tokens rather than physical coins or notes.

However, like all currencies its value is determined by how much people are willing to exchange it for.

To process Bitcoin transactions, a procedure called "mining" must take place, which involves a computer solving a difficult mathematical problem with a 64-digit solution.

For each problem solved, one block of bitcoins is processed. In addition the miner is rewarded with new bitcoins. This provides an incentive for people to provide computer processing power to solve the problems.

To compensate for the growing power of computer chips, the difficulty of the puzzles is adjusted to ensure a steady stream of about 3,600 new bitcoins a day.

There are currently about 11 million bitcoins in existence.

To receive a bitcoin a user must have a Bitcoin address - a string of 27-34 letters and numbers - which acts as a kind of virtual post-box to and from which the bitcoins are sent.

Since there is no registry of these addresses, people can use them to protect their anonymity when making a transaction.

These addresses are in turn stored in Bitcoin wallets which are used to manage savings.

They operate like privately run bank accounts - with the proviso that if the data is lost, so are the bitcoins owned.

A number of smaller online travel sites already accept virtual currencies, including Travel Keys and CheapAir, but Expedia is the first company of its size to adopt Bitcoin.

Emily Spaven, managing editor of Bitcoin news site CoinDesk, told the BBC the move was "brilliant news" and it "brings digital currency further into the consciousness of the mainstream".

In a statement, Expedia's global vice-president, Michael Gulmann, said the company was "in a unique position" to "solve travel planning and booking for our customers and partners alike by adopting the latest payment technologies".

'Still volatile'

Expedia will use Bitcoin exchange Coinbase for processing transactions, but Mr Gulmann told the Wall Street Journal that the firm would not hold the currency, but would convert its Bitcoin deposits back into US dollars every 24 hours.

However, as Ms Spaven points out, "that's what most of the big companies are doing, because [the price of] Bitcoin is still massively volatile".

Bitcoin, which is the world's most prominent crypto-currency, has been the subject of much controversy in recent months.

The collapse of Japanese Bitcoin exchange MtGox, following a number of security breaches, harmed the currency's reputation, and there have been several controversies surrounding taxation of transactions made with Bitcoin.

But, the digital currency took another step closer to the mainstream this week, with both Google and Yahoo adding its conversion price to its financial tools.

More than 60,000 online retailers now accept bitcoins worldwide.

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Amazon enters music-streaming market

12 June 2014 Last updated at 14:57

Amazon has launched its own music-streaming service in the US, taking on rivals such as Spotify and Google.

The feature is limited to subscribers of Amazon Prime, the company's premium membership programme.

Customers pay $99 (£59) a year for free shipping, e-books, and access to an online library of films and TV shows.

But Amazon's music collection offers just over a million songs, far fewer than Spotify or Beats Music, which both boast 20 million tracks.

Beats Music was recently acquired by Apple in a deal worth $3bn.

Deezer, another music-streaming service, has a catalogue of 30 million tracks.

Reuters reported that a failure to reach a licensing agreement with Universal, the world's largest record company, was behind Amazon's limited catalogue.

Warner Music and Sony, the two other major labels, had signed a deal, the news agency said.

Amazon says the music library will be available to Prime subscribers without ads or playback restrictions.

Users will also be able to download tracks to their mobile devices, to listen to them without an internet connection.

The service will be available through Amazon apps on Apple and Google Android devices, as well as on PCs and Macs.

Amazon has been under increased scrutiny in recent weeks, as continuing pricing disputes with suppliers Warner Bros and book publishers Hachette affected orders on its site.

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Tesla to open up car patents

12 June 2014 Last updated at 18:29

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Tesla boss Elon Musk: "It is possible to create a compelling electric car"

Electric carmaker Tesla has confirmed it will open up its patents for others to use to speed up electric car development and adoption.

"Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology," wrote chief executive Elon Musk in a blog post.

Mr Musk had hinted about Tesla's plans in an interview with the BBC last week.

Tesla sold 22,500 of its Model S cars in 2013.

"If we clear a path to the creation of compelling electric vehicles, but then lay intellectual property landmines behind us to inhibit others, we are acting in a manner contrary to that goal," wrote Mr Musk.

"We believe that Tesla, other companies making electric cars, and the world would all benefit from a common, rapidly-evolving technology platform," he added.

Shares in Tesla rose slightly on the news, and are up more than 36% this year.

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Xbox One ad switches on consoles

13 June 2014 Last updated at 01:13 By Leo Kelion Technology desk editor

Xbox One owners are complaining that a new TV advert is switching their consoles on without their permission.

The ad - featuring Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul - has the actor say "Xbox On" near its start.

The instruction appears to trigger the machine's Kinect voice/motion sensor, activating the console.

A spokesman for the firm said it had no comment at this time, but noted that previous ads had also featured voice commands.

Many people have posted comments about the problem on social media sites.

"Aaron Paul just turned my Xbox One via the Xbox advert. (Which triggered the IR [infrared] blaster to switch my TV off..)" tweeted Qassim Farid, a UK-based tech blogger.

Chesterfield-based Tom Neal wrote: "@Xbox your new TV advert is annoying the hell outta me. Aaron Paul keeps turning my console on… #stooooop"

The effect has also been noted on news discussion site Reddit's Xbox section, with one commentator writing: "Damn commercial keeps turning on my xbox! Lol"

The post reflects the attitude of many console owners who have posted about the matter who appear more bemused than angered by the glitch.

This is not the first time such an effect has been reported.

In November Xbox One owner Tom Kimberl posted a video to YouTube showing that an internet ad that featured the command "Xbox go to Dead Rising 3" launched the game on his system.

Users affected by the issue do have the ability to turn off the Kinect sensor, which prevents the console responding to voice commands.

The issue has parallels with an effect played for laughs in the TV series 30 Rock where a voice-controlled television went haywire when on-screen characters mentioned its trigger words.

Unbundled Kinect

The problem has arisen in the same week that Microsoft began selling a cheaper version of the Xbox One without the Kinect.

It said it made the move - timed to coincide with the E3 video games expo - following feedback from gamers who did not want to pay extra for the accessory.

The decision allows the machine to retail at the same price as Sony's PlayStation 4.

Microsoft's press event at the Los Angeles show was notable for hardly featuring the Kinect.

Only a dancing game, a Disney motion-controlled music rhythm title, and an indie game called Fru - which allows players to control a character by making body shapes - appeared to take advantage of the feature.

However, Microsoft did announce outside the show that a software update would soon allow developers access to more graphics power when the Kinect was not in use. This may help address complaints that several cross-platform games offer higher resolutions and frame rates on the PS4 than their Xbox equivalents.

However, the new ad signals that the US firm intends to keep promoting the Kinect as a feature that distinguishes its machine from its Japanese rival's, even if the price quoted at its end is for the standalone machine.

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Romanian hacker 'Guccifer' indicted

13 June 2014 Last updated at 01:28

A Romanian hacker has been indicted in Virginia on charges he accessed computer accounts of several senior US government officials.

Marcel Lazar, known as Guccifer, faces charges including cyber stalking and aggravated identify theft.

He is accused of hacking into the Facebook and email accounts of former cabinet members and senior military officers, among others.

Mr Lazar has been jailed in Romania, according to media reports.

The names of the alleged victims have not been disclosed in court documents.

Personal details

In the US, Mr Lazar has been linked to the theft of personal emails and photographs belonging to former US President George H W Bush, 90, and his family.

One photograph posted on the internet in 2013 showed the retired Republican in bed in hospital, where he was being treated for bronchitis.

Those stolen emails were reported to include addresses and personal details of several members of the Bush family, as well as a personal note sent by President Barack Obama through an aide.

Among the purloined photos were pictures of former President George W Bush, one showing him posing beside a life-size cardboard cutout of himself with a moustache drawn on it and others showing paintings by him, including self-portraits.

At the time, The Smoking Gun said it had been in contact with Guccifer.

He said he had taken "a lot of stuff" including "interesting mails" about the former president's time in hospital, the website reported.

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Sex apps 'increasing risk of STIs'

13 June 2014 Last updated at 16:47

Using smartphone apps to seek out partners for casual sex poses an increased risk of sexually transmitted infections, researchers warn.

A study in Los Angeles, California, showed gonorrhoea and chlamydia were more common in gay men using apps than in those meeting in clubs or online.

Sexual health experts said technology was creating more opportunities for sex than ever before.

One of the apps, Grindr, said it was committed to promoting safe sex.

The researchers were curious about the impact of apps such as Grindr and Scruff which use a smartphone's location to help find partners.

Continue reading the main story

However good the sex is, it's not worth contracting a long-term condition"

End Quote Justin Harbottle Terrence Higgins Trust

They quizzed 7,184 men attending a sexual health clinic at the LA Gay and Lesbian Centre.

The results showed men were 23% more likely to have gonorrhoea and 35% more likely to be infected with chlamydia than men using other websites or clubs to meet new partners.

There was no difference in the risk of HIV between the groups.

Their report concluded: "Technology is redefining sex on demand.

"Advances which improve the efficiency of meeting anonymous sexual partners may have the unintended effect of creating networks of individuals where users may be more likely to have sexually transmissible infections."

Condoms

Dr Steve Taylor, a consultant in sexual health and HIV medicine at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, told the BBC: "Yes this is definitely something we are seeing in our sexual health and HIV clinics, both among gay men and heterosexuals.

"Without a doubt technology has facilitated rapid partner change and therefore it is a perfect environment for sexually transmitted infections and HIV to spread."

Justin Harbottle, a health promotion specialist at the Terrence Higgins Trust, said: "However good the sex is, it's not worth contracting a long-term condition.

"Gay men today have more opportunities to meet for sex than ever before.

"Part of the problem is that communication on dating apps can be brief, making it easy to cut corners on important discussions like safe sex."

He said condoms were still the best defence against infection.

Grindr told the BBC: "Grindr is highly committed to promoting safe sex within the community and strongly encourages our users to engage in safe sex practices, get tested and know their HIV status."

It added that it collaborated with a range of organisations to raise awareness about safe sex.

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US to sell seized Silk Road Bitcoins

13 June 2014 Last updated at 16:48

The US government will auction $18m (£11m) worth of the virtual currency Bitcoin, which was seized by the FBI when it shut down the Silk Road online marketplace in October last year.

The site, which operated on the so-called "dark net", traded in drugs and other illegal goods.

Payments were made via crypto-currencies, to ensure anonymity.

The Bitcoins were seized during the arrest of Ross Ulbricht, the alleged mastermind behind Silk Road.

Continue reading the main story

Silk Road took its name from the historic trade routes spanning Europe, Asia and parts of Africa.

News reports and other internet chatter helped it become notorious. However, most users would not have been able to stumble upon the site as the service could only be accessed through a service called Tor - a facility that routes traffic through many separate encrypted layers of the net to hide data identifiers.

Tor was invented by the US Naval Research Laboratory and has subsequently been used by journalists and free speech campaigners, among others, to safeguard people's anonymity.

But it has also been used as a means to hide illegal activities, leading it to be dubbed "the dark web".

Payments for goods on Silk Road were made with the virtual currency Bitcoin, which can be hard to monitor.

Court documents from the FBI said the site had just under a million registered users, but investigators said they did not know how many were active.

The 29-year-old, who was known online by the pseudonym Dread Pirate Roberts, or DPR, is currently awaiting trial on narcotics trafficking, computer hacking and money laundering offences.

In a statement, the US Marshals Service, which is conducting the sale, said the 29,656.51306529 Bitcoins up for auction were those that had "resided on Silk Road servers", but did not include the stash on Ross Ulbricht's personal computers.

Ulbricht's "wallets" are thought to be worth more than $85m at current Bitcoin exchange rates. He is contesting the claim that the money was earned illegally.

The Bitcoins offered in this auction have been forfeited to the US government.

The US authority added that it would "not sell to any person who is acting on behalf of or in concert with the Silk Road and/or Ross William Ulbricht, and bidders will be required to so certify".

Last year, Carnegie Mellon University estimated that over $1.22m (£786,183) worth of trading took place on the Silk Road every month.

Prospective bidders will have to put forward a deposit of $200,000, and all offers must be made in cash.

The price of Bitcoin, as measured by CoinDesk, fell following news of the sale, but has since made a modest recovery.

The bidding process will begin on 27 June.

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