Samsung in $290m payout to Apple

21 November 2013 Last updated at 21:47 ET

A Silicon Valley jury has ruled that Samsung must pay $290m (£180m) to Apple for copying iPhone and iPad features in its devices.

This verdict comes after a previous jury found Samsung owed Apple $1.05bn for patent infringement.

However, US District Judge Lucy Koh ordered a retrial because she said that jury miscalculated the amount Samsung must pay.

Samsung is expected to appeal.

Apple said in a statement: "For Apple, this case has always been about more than patents and money. It has been about innovation and the hard work that goes into inventing products that people love.

"While it's impossible to put a price tag on those values, we are grateful to the jury for showing Samsung that copying has a cost."

The jury's ruling covers 13 of the 26 Samsung devices that Apple had argued copied its technology. These are mostly older Samsung tablets and smartphones.

The $290m figure comes on top of the $550m Samsung owes Apple as a result of the initial verdict. In total, Apple has now been awarded close to $930m in the case.

Apple shares traded slightly higher on the news. Samsung closed down slightly earlier in the day.

Continue reading the main story 'Beautiful and sexy'

Samsung had argued that Apple should not have ownership over technology like what Samsung said was the "basic rectangle" shape of smartphones.

"Apple doesn't own beautiful and sexy," Samsung lawyer William Price told the jury during the proceedings.

However, the jury in the courtroom - which is located just 15 minutes away from Apple's headquarters in California - thought otherwise, awarding close to the $380m Apple sought. Samsung said it owed just $52m.

Samsung was found to have infringed Apple patents, including one that allows users to "pinch and zoom" on smartphone and tablet screens.

A separate trial to determine whether or not current Samsung devices violate Apple's patents is scheduled for March 2014.

Apple has also asked Judge Koh to consider a sales ban against all of the older Samsung models that used Apple's technology.

While Judge Koh has previously refused to issue such an injunction, a separate US Appeals Court asked her to reconsider this week.

23.22 | 0 komentar | Read More

US prepares for more online gambling

22 November 2013 Last updated at 09:39 ET By Dave Lee Technology reporter, BBC News

Online gambling has been launched in the state of New Jersey, a sign that the US may slowly be opening up to the multibillion-dollar industry.

Unlike in many countries, online gambling remains prohibited by the US government because of legislation passed in 1961.

Individual states may allow online gambling if it does not cross borders.

A test is under way in New Jersey to make sure only people within the state can play.

Until now, only two of the country's 50 states, Nevada and Delaware, allowed online gambling and heavy restrictions are in place.

Geolocation technology, which checks where a person is logging on, is typically used to lock out gamblers from further afield.

In New Jersey, people taking part in the test have suggested the restrictions have been overbearing.

One user told the Associated Press news agency that he drove 30 miles further into the state to log on, but was still getting locked out because the system failed to recognise he was within New Jersey.

Despite these troubles, gambling in the state is expected to launch in full next week, with 14 websites on offer.

State-to-state

Although the US gave the world the glitz of Las Vegas and the bright lights of Atlantic City, the federal government has for the most part rejected the online gambling industry.

Continue reading the main story

The estimates for the New Jersey [gambling market] alone run somewhere between $250m and $1.2bn"

End Quote Mark Jordan PricewaterhouseCoopers

The 1961 Wire Act means a state can decide to allow online gambling, but only if sites and players are based within its borders.

The gambling industry is pressing for the federal government to greatly relax its stance, bringing it into line with other markets, such as the UK.

"A federal law, should it come in the future, would allow for a customer in California to play poker against a citizen in New Jersey," said Mark Jordan, a director at accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, who has researched the online gaming market extensively.

"At the moment you cannot do that. That's prohibited. What a lot of the operators are hoping is that as the states prove this can be done, and that it's safe, that the federal laws will change to allow state-to-state gaming."

Massive potential

The UK's online gambling industry is far less restricted, Mr Jordan told the BBC, and is envied by those looking to expand into the US.

"The UK gaming industry is one of the market leaders in the world," he said. "We are very well serviced here."

The value of the UK industry is put at around the $2bn (£1.2bn) mark. The US offers staggering possibilities in comparison.

"The estimates for New Jersey alone run somewhere between $250m and $1.2bn," Mr Jordan said.

"That market has got a huge broad range - it all depends on customer uptake and the quality of the product."

Illegal sites

Despite the illegality, some websites operating offshore have been able to offer gambling to people in the US.

Technology-savvy users have got around location restrictions by using proxy servers, which can fabricate a user's location.

But difficulties in receiving winnings have meant online gambling with offshore sites is too troublesome for all but a few determined users.

Furthermore, major innovations to create more sophisticated and life-like gaming environments are mostly the preserve of the major companies that do business in the UK.

Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC

23.22 | 0 komentar | Read More

Facebook sues over sex tape spam

21 November 2013 Last updated at 06:42 ET

Facebook launches legal action against an alleged spammer suspected of posting fake links to a supposed sex tape of Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez.

Court papers filed in the US allege Christopher Peter Tarquini was behind the faked Facebook messages.

Users who clicked the link in the posts were redirected to sites that allegedly paid Mr Tarquini for hits.

In addition, clicking led to the posts being automatically shared with users' Facebook friends.

In its legal complaints, Facebook calls Mr Tarquini, of New Jersey, a "recidivist" spammer who has spent much of the past five years crafting computer programs that put "deceptive messages, images and links" on the site's pages.

One of the most notorious of the programs involved faked images purporting to take people to a video of actress Selena Gomez with her partner, singer Justin Bieber. Instead the link led to a pop-up message asking for access to a Facebook account that then let an app take control and spam the message out to a person's friends.

Mr Tarquini persisted in targeting the social network even after he was told that his actions violated Facebook's terms - his account was shut down and he was told never to use the site again, the papers state.

Facebook said it had a confession from Mr Tarquini that he had written the program that took over accounts and posted faked links. Now it says it wants to be reimbursed for the cost of clearing up after Mr Tarquini and for the work it has done to track him down. In addition, it wants him banned from ever using Facebook again.

Mr Tarquini has yet to file any legal response to Facebook's claims.

The action against the alleged spammer is the latest in a series of steps Facebook has taken to stem the flow of junk messages passing through the network.

In September, Facebook won a $3m (£1.8m) settlement against a spam company that sent tens of thousands of messages to users.

In addition, in 2009 Facebook was awarded $711m after winning a lawsuit against spammer Sanford Wallace.

23.22 | 0 komentar | Read More

Banks 'hit by net traffic hijacks'

21 November 2013 Last updated at 11:27 ET

Repeated attacks on the way the net routes data have resulted in huge amounts of traffic being hijacked, a net monitoring company has said.

Renesys said it had uncovered the mass hijackings as part of its day-to-day monitoring of global net links.

Data to and from finance firms, net phone services and governments had been re-routed during the attacks, it said.

On more than 60 days in 2013, Renesys said it had seen large chunks of data go astray from its usual routes.

So far it was unclear who orchestrated the redirecting of the traffic or why it had been done, wrote Renesys technology boss Jim Cowie on a blog about the company's findings.

The companies involved had been told about what had happened to their traffic, he added.

No malice

Unlike other attacks that simply divert all traffic so it never reaches its intended destination, the incidents reported by Renesys simply changed the route the traffic took to its final destination.

In some cases this had involved traffic that should only have taken a short hop across a US city travelling halfway round the world before being delivered to its intended destination, it said.

This meant traffic had been slightly delayed but not so much targets would have noticed it had been re-routed, Renesys said.

"The traffic keeps flowing and everything looks fine to the recipient," wrote Mr Cowie.

This type of diversion is known as a "man-in-the-middle" attack because the perpetrator sits between a target and the entity it is swapping data with in order to spy on the traffic passing back and forth.

Some of the biggest hijacks in 2013 had involved traffic being redirected to net companies in Belarus and Iceland, Renesys said.

The Belarusian company has not commented on Renesys' reports, but one Icelandic internet service provider (ISP) named by the company blamed a software bug for the re-routing and said the incidents it had been involved with had not been malicious.

Renesys' discovery meant route hijacking had moved on from being a theoretical threat to a phenomenon seen "fairly regularly", said Mr Cowie, adding the "potential for traffic interception was very real."

He said the discovery was "troubling" and should prompt action by banks, credit card companies and government agencies to start monitoring their view of global net traffic to spot when hijacks occurred.

23.22 | 0 komentar | Read More

LG promises fix for 'spying' TVs

21 November 2013 Last updated at 12:49 ET By Jane Wakefield Technology reporter

LG has admitted it continued collecting data on viewing habits even after users had activated a privacy setting designed to prevent it.

The television maker has apologised to its customers and told the BBC it would issue an update to correct the problem.

UK-based IT consultant Jason Huntley, who raised the issue in a blog, welcomed the "positive step".

Viewing information helps manufacturers deliver relevant advertising and programme recommendations.

"I hope that their future products will reflect this decision and keep customers clearly informed as to their data collection practices before they take place," he said.

LG launched an investigation in the wake of his blog, which was reported widely in the media.

'Not personal data'

"We have verified that even when this function is turned off by the viewers, it continues to transmit viewing information, although the data is not retained by the server," LG said in a statement.

"A firmware update is being prepared for immediate rollout that will correct this problem on all affected LG Smart TVs so when this feature is disabled, no data will be transmitted," it added.

Since the issue became public it has emerged that Sony's PlayStation also collects data from every Blu-ray disc that is played.

Samsung, the world's largest TV maker, is yet to respond to questions about its operations.

LG stressed that the information gathered was not personal but viewing information.

"This information is collected as part of the Smart TV platform to deliver more relevant advertisements and to offer recommendations to viewers based on what other LG Smart TV owners are watching," the firm said.

23.22 | 0 komentar | Read More

Global launch for Microsoft Xbox One

21 November 2013 Last updated at 19:22 ET

Microsoft's Xbox One game console went on sale in the UK at midnight.

About 300 game shops and 100 Tesco stores across the UK stayed open so gamers could buy the device.

Microsoft held launch events in London, New York and Los Angeles to mark the arrival of the successor to the Xbox 360.

The launch comes a week after the US launch of Sony's PlayStation 4 and sees the two start their fight for dominance during the key Christmas season.

Continue reading the main story

Both consoles seem destined to do well - but neither is likely to replace all the other boxes under the TV in most homes. Whatever the industry may tell you about the ever widening audience for games in all their forms, many people just won't want an Xbox or Playstation controller to be their route into a night in front of the telly. And having tried the Xbox One's voice control, it is clever, but in my view not quite intuitive enough to persuade an older person like me to throw away the remote control.

No advantage

Although the PS4 launched first in the US, it will not go on sale in the UK and Europe until 29 November. By contrast the Xbox One went on sale in 13 countries on Friday, 22 November. Neither console is set to be available in Japan until 2014.

Marc Whitten - and chief producer officer, Xbox One, told the BBC Microsoft had experienced an unprecedented number of pre-orders for the Xbox, far exceeding those of the Xbox 360. "I feel very very good about where we are. Today's launch is just the beginning of an amazing journey."

Launches are typically staggered so console makers keep manufacturing costs down, to give makers time to translate content into different languages, and to ensure deals covering what media can be seen on the gadget are in place.

In the UK the Xbox One is expected to cost about £429 (514 euros) and the PlayStation 4 £349 (418 euros).

The more expensive Xbox includes a bundled Kinect sensor that does a better job of spotting movement and hearing sounds than the first generation of the device.

Microsoft also has ambitions for its console to act as a hub for anything seen on a TV, and the device can act as a controller for cable and satellite set-top boxes. Microsoft's Skype net calling system is also integrated into the device.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Xbox One chief producer officer Marc Whitten says the console is just at the beginning of its journey

The technical specifications of the two devices are broadly similar and the graphics on games are much improved on the preceding generation of consoles. Experts suggest that Sony's PS4 has the edge on graphics and early reports revealed that two games - Battlefield 4 and Call of Duty: Ghosts - would play in higher resolution on the PS4.

Both consoles attempt to round out the social side of gaming, giving owners tools and services that let them play with or against friends or find opponents online.

"If history has anything to say about it, core gamers tend to favour Sony," said Brian Blau, research director at analyst firm Gartner. "There is nothing I've seen to say that one platform is going to have an advantage over the other."

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

The BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones reports on the gaming battle between PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

Rob Crossley, associate editor of ComputerAndVideoGames.com, called Microsoft's build up to the launch "luckless and calamitous" because it had had to drop features, such as restrictions on used games, that had been widely criticised.

"With Sony's PlayStation 4 being such a similar device and £80 cheaper, Microsoft will face significant challenges convincing shoppers that Xbox One is the smarter investment," he added.

In 2013, Microsoft and Sony face a very different games market than that seen when the Xbox 360 and PS3 were launched. The past few years have seen the rise of indie and casual games, a renaissance in PC gaming and the emergence of rivals such as Valve, which is preparing its own gaming gadget.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Simon and Tim test out the new Sony and Microsoft consoles

23.22 | 0 komentar | Read More

Web inventor in surveillance warning

21 November 2013 Last updated at 19:24 ET

Web creator Sir Tim Berners-Lee has warned that the democratic nature of the net is threatened by a "growing tide of surveillance and censorship".

The warning came as he launched his World Wide Web Foundation's annual web index report, tracking global censorship.

It suggests that 94% of the countries in the index do not adequately monitor government internet interception.

Thirty per cent of countries block or filter political content, it indicates.

The report concludes that the current legal framework on government snooping needs urgent review.

"One of the most encouraging findings of this year's web index is how the web and social media are increasingly spurring people to organise, take action and try to expose wrongdoing in every region of the world," said Sir Tim.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

"But some governments are threatened by this, and a growing tide of surveillance and censorship now threatens the future of democracy.

Bold steps are needed now to protect our fundamental rights to privacy and freedom of opinion and association online," he added.

'Appalling and foolish'

Sir Tim has been an outspoken critic of government surveillance following the revelations from whistle-blower Edward Snowden.

He described attempts by the spy agencies to crack encryption as "appalling and foolish".

He has previously said that the checks and balances to oversee GCHQ and its US counterpart, the National Security Agency (NSA), have failed.

It is a view shared by digital forensic expert Professor Peter Sommer.

"GCHQ is a spying agency. It needs to produce good results. But how far anyone understands the techniques they are using is more unclear."

"The things they are doing need a ministerial warrant but the ministers have a lot of other things to do. Did they have sufficient understanding of the technology? Who is doing the risk analysis?"

A Cabinet Office spokesperson told the BBC: "The success of our intelligence agencies relies on secrecy. But secrecy does not mean lack of accountability. The United Kingdom's intelligence agencies operate under the tightest of controls and oversights.

"Our agencies only act in line with their strict legal mission, above all keeping people safe from harm.

"There is a triple lock to ensure every action is lawful, necessary and proportionate - interception underpinned by Ministerial warrants, world class internal controls and three safety nets of outside scrutiny by the Interception Commissioner, the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament and the Investigatory Powers Tribunal."

Measure of influence

The report compiled by Sir Tim's World Wide Web Foundation ranks countries in terms of the social and political impact of the web.

Sweden tops the annual web index, ahead of Norway, and followed by the UK, US and New Zealand.

It found that in 80% of the countries studied, the web and social media played a role in mobilising the public on a range of issues.

It also found that rich countries did not necessarily rank higher in the index. The Philippines, with a per-capita income of $4,410 per year, is more than 10 places ahead of Qatar, the world's richest country.

Meanwhile Saudi Arabia is outperformed by 10 sub-Saharan African countries, and Switzerland, the third wealthiest nation, is only one place ahead of Estonia.

But in poorer countries the digital divide is growing ever more marked, according to the report.

"Ten years after world leaders committed to harnessing technology to build an inclusive information society, parents in 48% of countries can't use the web to compare school performances and budgets, women in over 60% of countries can't use the web to help them make informed choices about their bodies, and over half the population in developing countries can't use the web at all," said Anne Jellema, the foundation's chief executive.

23.22 | 0 komentar | Read More