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Blackberry hits out at Gartner claim

Written By Unknown on Senin, 30 September 2013 | 09.10

30 September 2013 Last updated at 09:06 ET

Blackberry has dismissed an influential recommendation that customers should move to other mobile technologies.

The embattled smartphone maker said that firms using its products did not need to switch.

Blackberry said conclusions drawn about the viability of its business plans were "purely speculative".

Analyst firm Gartner had based its recommendation on Blackberry's financial losses and planned redundancies.

Blackberry said the job losses were part of its strategy to focus on its core enterprise business.

"We recognise and respect external parties' opinions on Blackberry's recent news," the company said in a statement. "However, many of the conclusions by Gartner about the potential impact of a sale or other strategic alternatives, are purely speculative."

Redundancies

Blackberry this month revealed that it would make half its workforce redundant by the end of the year, after losses of $950m (£588m) in the second quarter.

The struggling Canadian firm, which has been hit hard by declining handset sales, has agreed in principle to be bought by a private consortium led by investor Fairfax Financial.

Blackberry products are used by governments and large financial institutions around the world for secure communications.

Gartner, one of the world's major technology analyst firms, said in a report last week that Blackberry customers were becoming increasingly concerned about the company's prospects.

The technology consultancy said Blackberry's hardware group could be sold to a foreign government, "which may be unsettling for some clients".

Businesses have up to six months to make plans to switch from Blackberry to alternatives, Gartner said in its report.

Organisations should move completely away from Blackberry or phase out Blackberry handset use for everyone apart from executives, Gartner recommended.


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Microsoft boss cries at send-off

27 September 2013 Last updated at 09:54 ET

Departing Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer has hosted his last company meeting - bidding a tearful farewell to employees he has worked with for 33 years.

The 57-year-old danced to Michael Jackson's Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', and declared that the company would "change the world again".

More than 13,000 Microsoft employees had queued to be a part of the annual company-wide event.

The firm has not yet announced a replacement chief executive.

Mr Ballmer will retire within the next year and will leave the company in a strategically precarious position as it looks to claw back lost ground in the mobile sector.

While at the helm, he became known for his vigorous and enthusiastic presentations in which he would routinely declare his love for Microsoft and its products.

Dirty Dancing

Microsoft staff took to social media to share details of Mr Ballmer's last appearance as boss at the event described as being more like a "rock concert".

It was held at the 17,000-capacity Key Arena in Seattle, a venue usually used for basketball and ice hockey.

Steve Ballmer

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Steve Ballmer at Microsoft corporate event in 2000: "I love this company"

Service engineer Bob Ulrich posted a picture on Twitter of the snaking queue outside the building.

He added: "Must be the year to go to the @Microsoft company meeting. Insane line."

Charles Naut, a project manager at the company, posted an image of the "very moving" speech on Instagram - it showed Mr Ballmer ending his talk by saying, "I've had the time of my life!" as the famous Dirty Dancing song was played out in the arena.

Too slow

The Verge reported that Mr Ballmer had tears streaming down his face as he made his last remarks, telling employees: "We have unbelievable potential in front of us, we have an unbelievable destiny. Only our company and a handful of others are poised to write the future.

"We're going to think big, we're going to bet big."

He took aim at some of the company's rivals, calling Apple "fashionable" and Amazon "cheap". He said Google was focused on "knowing more", while Microsoft was about "doing more".

But it is those rivals that piled the pressure on Mr Ballmer to depart. In one recent meeting with Wall Street investors and analysts, he admitted the company had been too slow expanding into the smartphone market.

"I regret that there was a period in the early 2000s when we were so focused on what we had to do around Windows that we weren't able to redeploy talent to the new device called the phone," Mr Ballmer said.

"That is the thing I regret the most. It would have been better for Windows and our success in other foreign factors."


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Valve reveals haptic game controller

27 September 2013 Last updated at 14:32 ET By Dave Lee Technology reporter, BBC News

Games developer and publisher Valve has shown off its Steam Controller, the final part of its strategy to bring its PC-based platform to the living room.

The controller offers two trackpads which provide "haptic" feedback capable of delivering various physical sensations to the player.

Valve said it offers a better way to play games that have traditionally been controlled with a keyboard and mouse.

Gamers have been invited to test the device before it goes on sale in 2014.

"Traditional gamepads force us to accept compromises," the company said via its announcement page.

"We've made it a goal to improve upon the resolution and fidelity of input that's possible with those devices.

Continue reading the main story

As innovative and successful a company as Valve certainly is, they're taking some risks here.

Not least their belief that the market they're aiming for is so large. PC games, those distinct to the platform, tend to be focused on more intimate interaction, with the vast complexity of a mouse and keyboard for controls.

It's not a medium that immediately lends itself to a handheld controller from the other side of a room.

It's also worth noting that their idea is not especially novel. Media boxes, and even wheezing PC towers, already sit by a lot of people's televisions, streaming appropriate games from machines in another room, or capable of gaming themselves.

A decent portion of that perceived audience who wants to play PC from afar has likely botched something for themselves. I know I have.

For this to work, Valve is going to have to pitch some really superb tech, running in a small, super-quiet machine, at a very competitive price.

Those are a lot of factors to get right, if they want to seriously compete with the behemoths of sitting room gaming.

"The Steam controller offers a new and, we believe, vastly superior control scheme, all while enabling you to play from the comfort of your sofa."

Research and testing

The controller is the third announcement the company has made this week. On Monday, it outlined plans to create an entire Linux-based operating system for running games, and followed up on Wednesday with details of the Steam Machine, essentially a new type of games console.

The widely-anticipated controller completes what Valve will hope is a strategy that can shift gamers that use traditional PCs - which is seen as a market headed for decline - and coax them into the living room.

However, the biggest challenge the company faces in doing so is in convincing gamers who have spent years playing titles, particularly first-person shooters, by using a combination of keyboard and mouse that a handheld controller can offer a more enjoyable solution.

The company said it had spent a year researching and testing different control methods. It said the haptic feedback offered new possibilities for creating immersive gaming.

"This haptic capability provides a vital channel of information to the player - delivering in-game information about speed, boundaries, thresholds, textures, action confirmations, or any other events about which game designers want players to be aware."

The company is to send out 300 early versions of the controller to people who sign up for beta testing.

Giant owl eyes

Rob Crossley, associate editor of Computer and Video Games, has been following Valve's announcements throughout this week. He has described the latest move as "fearless".

"Controller design standards haven't changed since the first PlayStation... the D-pad, the two sticks... that's evolved only slightly over the last 20 years.

"Sure, it looks a little funny - those two giant owl eyes - but I think that this could lead to a change in the way we look at controllers."

Valve is banking on the trackpads providing the same kind of precision offered by a mouse, Mr Crossley added.

"I think they believe this is their best attempt at trying to map the precision of the mouse onto a gamepad.

"If it does pay off, if they do manage to emulate the mouse on a controller, that opens up whole new genres."

Some had speculated - somewhat hopefully - that Valve would make a surprise announcement about the next instalment in its Half-Life series.

However, there was no mention of the game in any of Valve's announcements - but many now speculate that Half-Life 3 could be a launch title for the new Steam system and controller.

"The natural thinking is surely they will show off Half-Life 3 when SteamOS is launched," said Mr Crossley.

"A lot of people are also saying that it would be exclusive to the Steam Machine - but that would be a very un-Valve-like thing to do. They've always been very open."

Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC


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UK to create cyber defence force

29 September 2013 Last updated at 10:43 ET

The UK is to create a new cyber unit to help defend national security, the defence secretary has announced.

The Ministry of Defence is set to recruit hundreds of reservists as computer experts to work alongside regular forces in the creation of the new Joint Cyber Reserve Unit.

The new unit will also, if necessary, launch strikes in cyber space, Philip Hammond said.

Recruiting for reservists to join the unit will start next month.

The role of the unit is to protect computer networks and safeguard vital data.

Mr Hammond told the Conservative Party conference that "the threat is real".

"Last year, our cyber defences blocked around 400,000 advanced, malicious cyber threats to the government secure intranet alone," he said.

'New frontier'

In a statement, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the "creation of the "Joint Cyber Unit (Reserve) will allow it to draw on individuals' talent, skills and expertise gained from their civilian experience to meet these threats".

Continue reading the main story

Our commanders can use cyber weapons alongside conventional weapons in future conflicts"

End Quote Philip Hammond

Mr Hammond told the Mail on Sunday clinical "cyber strikes" could disable enemy communications, nuclear and chemical weapons, planes, ships and other hardware.

He told the newspaper: "People think of military as land, sea and air. We long ago recognised a fourth domain - space. Now there's a fifth - cyber.

"This is the new frontier of defence. For years, we have been building a defensive capability to protect ourselves against these cyber attacks. That is no longer enough.

"You deter people by having an offensive capability. We will build in Britain a cyber strike capability so we can strike back in cyber space against enemies who attack us, putting cyber alongside land, sea, air and space as a mainstream military activity.

"Our commanders can use cyber weapons alongside conventional weapons in future conflicts."

The MoD said the recruitment of reservists will target regular personnel leaving the armed forces, current and former reservists with the required skills and civilians with the appropriate technological skills and knowledge.

Cyber attacks and crime have become more common in recent years.

In July the British intelligence agency, GCHQ, told the BBC the UK had seen about 70 sophisticated cyber espionage operations a month against government or industry networks.

In a written statement in December last year, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said 93% of large corporations and 76% of small businesses had reported a cyber breach in 2012.


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Gambling addict calls for FOBT laws

30 September 2013 Last updated at 01:17 ET
Roger Radler

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Roger Radler lost his job, wife and self respect

A gambling addict who lost a month's salary in a few hours on betting machines at the height of his addiction says stricter laws must be brought in.

Roger Radler, from High Wycombe, says FOBTs (Fixed-Odds Betting Terminals) are as addictive as "crack cocaine".

Mr Radler said he could "bet £100 every 10 seconds" on the roulette games.

Derek Webb, a Derby millionaire who made his money from gambling and inventing Three Card Poker, is funding a campaign to ban FOBTs.

"On table roulette, everyone has their own set of chips, makes their own bets on the live table and it takes a minute or two to get the resolution," said Mr Webb.

"A player on an FOBT machine can bet up to £100 every 20 seconds so that is a totally different experience to live casino tables."

Continue reading the main story
  • Fixed-odds betting terminals first appeared in 1999 after then chancellor Gordon Brown scrapped tax on individual bets in favour of taxing bookmakers' profits
  • High stakes casino-style gambling is banned from high streets but FOBTs used remote servers so that the gaming was not taking place on the premises
  • After the 2005 Gambling Act, FOBTs were given legal backing and put under the same regulatory framework as fruit machines
  • They stopped using remote servers but stakes were limited to £100 and terminals to four per betting shop
  • According to the Gambling Commission there are 33,284 FOBTs across the UK
  • The average weekly profit per FOBT in 2012 was £825, up from £760 in 2011, according to the Gambling Commission
  • The number of betting shops in the UK has increased from 8,500 to 9,100 over the past two years, with hundreds more planned

Unlike fruit machines in pubs, bingo halls and amusement arcades, where stakes are limited to £2, gamblers can bet up to £100 every 20 seconds on FOBTs - more than four times as fast as the rate of play in an actual casino.

The maximum payout is £500.

'Horrendous' experience

"It's the crack cocaine of the gambling industry," said Mr Radler.

"You can get your high every 15 seconds and you are losing huge sums of money. At my worst, I probably lost a month's salary in a couple of hours and that's horrendous."

According to figures from the Gambling Commission, the gross profit from FOBTs in 2012 was £1.4bn.

But the Association of British Bookmakers, which represents major bookmakers such as Ladbrokes, William Hill and Paddy Power, said there was no direct evidence that FOBTs caused gambling addiction and research suggested "problem gambling is about the individual player and not a particular product".

A spokesman said: "A reduction in stakes and prizes would therefore have little, if any, impact on the level of problem gambling.

"Instead, it would automatically put 40,000 jobs and 8,000 shops at risk for an industry that supports approximately 100,000 jobs and pays nearly £1bn in tax in the UK each year."

For more on this story watch Inside Out, broadcast on Monday, 30 September on BBC One East Midlands and East at 19:30 BST and nationwide thereafter on the iPlayer.


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Toshiba to cut 3,000 jobs in TV unit

30 September 2013 Last updated at 02:28 ET

Japanese electronics firm Toshiba has said it will halve the number of staff in its TV division to 3,000 as it looks to revamp the unit's operations.

The changes will also see the firm close two of its three overseas TV manufacturing facilities.

Toshiba said it would focus on emerging markets including Asia and Africa, and end sales in "unprofitable regions".

Toshiba, like other Japanese TV makers, has been hit by slowing demand, falling prices and increased competition.

The company's digital products division, which includes TV manufacturing, saw its losses widen to 16.3bn yen ($166m; £103m), in the financial year to 31 March, compared with a loss of 3.3bn yen a year earlier.

Toshiba, which makes the Regza brand TV sets, said in a statement that the changes were aimed "toward improving profitability and strengthening foundations of the business".

The firm said it would separate the TV business from its Digital Products & Services Company and merge it with Toshiba Home Appliances Corporation.

Ultra high-definition

Toshiba said that it would move resources towards making large screen ultra high-definition (HD) 4K LCD TVs "where growing demand is expected".

Leading global manufacturers have been looking at this segment, which offers four times the amount of detail as 1080p high-definition TV, as an area of potential growth.

Panasonic and South Korea's LG are among the manufacturers that have launched ultra HD TVs.

Toshiba's move to focus on the technology also comes as Japan is looking to become the the first country to broadcast 4K programming over satellite from 2014, in time for the football World Cup.

Earlier this year, a Japanese telecoms company said that it was carrying out tests to try to prove that 4K-resolution video could be streamed over the internet to television set-top boxes.


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Nasa plans 3D printer space launch

30 September 2013 Last updated at 06:01 ET

US space agency Nasa is planning to launch a 3D printer into space next year to help astronauts manufacture spare parts and tools in zero gravity.

It will be the first time a 3D printer has been used in space and could help reduce the costs of future missions.

The device will have to withstand lift-off vibrations and operate safely in an enclosed space station environment.

Nasa has chosen technology start-up Made in Space to make the microwave-sized printer.

"Imagine an astronaut needing to make a life-or-death repair on the International Space Station," said Aaron Kemmer, the company's chief executive.

"Rather than hoping that the necessary parts and tools are on the station already, what if the parts could be 3D printed when they needed them?"

In 1970, Apollo 13 astronauts had to cobble together a home-made carbon dioxide filter using a plastic bag, a manual cover and gaffer tape.

A 3D printer might have solved the problem in minutes and helped them reach the Moon.

"If you want to be adaptable, you have to be able to design and manufacture on the fly, and that's where 3D printing in space comes in,'' said Dave Korsmeyer, director of engineering at Nasa's Ames Research Center.

Nasa is also experimenting with 3D printing small satellites that could be launched from the International Space Station and then transmit data to earth.

Additive manufacturing, as 3D printing is also known, builds up objects layer by layer, commonly using polymer materials.

But laser-melted titanium and nickel-chromium powders are now being used to build much stronger components.

In August, Nasa successfully tested a metal 3D printed rocket component as part of its drive to reduce the costs of space exploration.


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Reporter charged in computer probe

30 September 2013 Last updated at 07:31 ET

A former Sun newspaper reporter has become the first person to be charged under Operation Tuleta - a police investigation into alleged computer hacking and other privacy breaches.

Ben Ashford has been charged with one offence of possession of criminal property and one of unauthorised access to computer material.

He will appear before Westminster Magistrates' Court on 15 October.

Operation Tuleta began in the wake of the phone hacking scandal.

It is being run by the Metropolitan Police alongside Operation Elveden, which is an investigation into inappropriate payments to public officials, and Operation Weeting, the Met's phone-hacking inquiry.

So far, 21 people have been arrested as part of Tuleta. Two have been told that no further action will be taken against them.

The offences allegedly committed by Mr Ashford are said to have taken place between 11 and 16 October 2009.

The first charge accuses him of possessing "criminal property, namely a mobile telephone... knowing or suspecting it to constitute a person's benefit from criminal conduct".

The second charge alleges that he "caused a computer to perform a function with intent to secure unauthorised access to a program or data held in a computer, knowing that such access was unauthorised".

The offences are contrary to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and Computer Misuse Act 1990 respectively.


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Concern over Facebook edit function

30 September 2013 Last updated at 08:51 ET By Joe Miller BBC News

A new feature allowing Facebook users to edit their status updates may result in "stitch-ups", an expert has warned.

Previously, an update would have to be deleted and reposted with any changes, losing any comments or "likes".

But the new capability, introduced to help users correct spelling and grammatical errors, means posts can be modified, and their content changed.

Facebook users who liked or interacted with the original post are not notified of any changes made.

A spokesman for Facebook was unable to provide comment.

The capability to edit posts is already available on rival social networks, and Facebook has allowed its users to edit photo updates and their comments on other people's updates for some months.

'Real concerns'

However the lack of notifications means that users who may have liked an innocuous post, such as "I love my cat", could find their name beside a post which says something entirely different, or even offensive.

"The latest update from Facebook to allow editing of posts after they have been published raises some real concerns amongst individuals I know and business clients of mine," Kieran Hannon, director of social media consultancy eSocialMedia, told the BBC.

Continue reading the main story

The opportunity to 'stitch up' friends or foes on Facebook has increased dramatically"

End Quote Kieran Hannon Director, eSocialMedia

"A like or a comment made on a previously static piece of content is now open to misinterpretation - a fact that many less informed users are currently unaware of.

"The opportunity to 'stitch up' friends or foes on Facebook has increased dramatically."

Reducing errors

Updates that are modified are marked as edited.

A history of the edits made is available for users to view.

The editing facility comes after Facebook revealed more than half its users accessed the site on mobile phones, which are more prone to typing errors.

"It's unlikely this will have any impact beyond making it easier to correct spelling mistakes," said Matt Owen, of digital business specialists Econsultancy.

"If this update allows people to stay in control of their social profile, ultimately they will be happier with it and use the product more.

"It's a win-win for both Facebook and its users."

The new edit feature does not yet apply to company pages.

But Mr Hannon says he will be advising his business clients to be cautious.

"It is a concern that a brand could like or comment on a post that is later updated to something that undermines or potentially damages the company's brand," he said.


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Rail mobile broadband plan announced

30 September 2013 Last updated at 09:40 ET By Matthew Wall Technology reporter, BBC News

The rail industry plans to roll out "high-speed mobile broadband" across the busiest parts of Britain's rail network, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has announced.

By 2019, 70% of train passengers should have access to the faster technology, the Department for Transport added.

Passengers may be able to watch streamed videos on their mobiles, for example, if the plan to raise data capacity per train 25-fold succeeds.

The programme will be industry funded.

"Today's announcement marks the beginning of the end of poor coverage on our railways," Mr McLoughlin said.

A Network Rail spokesman added: "As an industry, we recognise that the limited availability of mobile communications on Britain's rail network is not good enough.

"If rail is to remain a preferred mode of transport, this must be addressed, which is why today's announcement is good news for the millions of people who travel by train each day."

Spare capacity

Network Rail is in the middle of a £1.9bn digital communications improvement programme that is upgrading both its fixed line and mobile infrastructure.

A new fibre optic network should be capable of handling up to 192,000 gigabit per second (Gbit/s) of data once the upgrade is complete in June 2014.

The Rail Safety and Standards Board has forecast that the telecommunications demand on Britain's railways could rise to 200Gbit/s by 2018, which would still leave plenty of spare capacity on the upgraded system.

"By increasing the number of mobile phone masts to fill gaps in signal coverage, and incorporating signal boosters inside train carriages, passengers will be able to benefit from our surplus data capacity," a Network Rail spokesman told the BBC.

Currently, train operating companies limit what kinds of material can be downloaded on to mobile devices because each vehicle only has access to 2.5 megabit per second (Mbit/s) of data which must be shared among its passengers. As a result the firms block access to video streaming services such as iPlayer and Netflix.

However, this could rise to 50Mbit/s per train after the upgrade, Network Rail said, allowing a change of policy.

The commercial details of how Network Rail, the mobile phone operators and train operating companies would pay for the additional upgrades, and how much passengers would be charged for high-speed mobile broadband, have yet to be thrashed out.


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