Zynga wins Scrabble trademark row

1 November 2013 Last updated at 13:54 ET

Zynga's Scramble With Friends word game for mobile devices does not infringe Mattel's Scrabble trademarks, a High Court judge has ruled.

Mattel had argued that Zynga's use of the word "Scramble" was too close to the word "Scrabble".

But Mr Justice Peter Smith disagreed.

However, he did accept that Zynga's use of a curly letter M in the logo "gives the impression that the word is Scrabble when one looks at it quickly and has the propensity to confuse".

This means Zynga will have to change the game's logo, but not the name itself.

'Mattel intends to appeal'

US company Mattel, the world's biggest toy manufacturer, owns brands such as Barbie, Hot Wheels and Fisher-Price Toys, as well as Scrabble.

In response to the ruling, Mattel spokesman Alan Hilowitz said: "We are pleased that the English High Court today affirmed Mattel's request for an injunction against Zynga, finding that the similarities between their Scramble With Friends logo and Mattel's intellectual property likely would confuse the public into thinking they were in fact downloading Scrabble.

"We are, however, disappointed that the court did not rule that Zynga should cease using the Scramble name, which Mattel intends to appeal."

Zynga said it was not prepared to comment on the case.

The ruling will be a relief to Zynga, the online games company that made its stock market debut in December 2011 and was valued at $1bn (£630m).

Since then it has struggled to replicate the success of games such as FarmVille and Words With Friends.

60% share rise

In October, the company reported a net loss of $68,000 for its third quarter, compared with a $57.3m loss for the same period last year.

While the results were better than expected, year-on-year revenues fell 36% to $202.5m and the number of fee-paying players has halved to about 1.6 million.

But chief executive Don Mattrick, who joined Zynga in July from his role as head of interactive entertainment at Microsoft, maintained that a return to profitability was in sight for the company.

Zynga bought OMGPOP, the company behind the popular game Draw Something, for $200m in March 2012, but shut the company less than a year later.

Despite the setbacks, Zynga's share price has risen 60% over the past 52 weeks.

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Rock-paper-scissors bot always wins

4 November 2013 Last updated at 08:23 ET By Matthew Wall Technology reporter, BBC News

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The Janken robot uses high-speed recognition and reaction, rather than prediction

A robot developed by Japanese scientists is so fast it can win the rock-paper-scissors game against a human every single time.

The Janken robot - named after the game's Japanese name - is a faster version of one unveiled by University of Tokyo researchers in June 2012.

Version two completes its chosen hand shape almost at the same time as the human hand.

It uses high-speed recognition and reaction, rather than prediction.

Technically, the robot cheats because it reacts extremely quickly to what the human hand is doing rather than making a premeditated simultaneous action as the rules state.

Taking just one millisecond (ms) - a thousandth of a second - to recognise what shape the human hand is making, it then chooses a winning move and reacts at high speed.

Version one completed its shape 20ms after the human hand; version two finishes almost simultaneously.

The scientists at the Ishikawa Oku Laboratory, part of the University of Tokyo, specialise in a range of technologies, including "sensor fusion", which aims to replicate and improve upon the human senses using high-speed intelligent robots.

But Sethu Vijayakumar, professor of robotics at Edinburgh University, told the BBC: "These robots are really fast at reaction, but there are scenarios where even a millisecond's delay is not acceptable, such as accident avoidance or virtual stock markets.

"In these cases we need to combine high-speed reaction with high-speed prediction, using game theory and behaviour patterning."

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Australia sites 'hacked over spying'

4 November 2013 Last updated at 04:56 ET

A hacking group calling itself Anonymous Indonesia claims to have attacked over 170 Australian sites, following reports of Australian spying.

The sites affected seemed to belong primarily to small businesses.

On Friday, Indonesia summoned Australia's ambassador amid reports that its Jakarta embassy was used as part of a US-led spying network.

The reports were based on a US National Security Agency document leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The allegations caused anger in Indonesia, which is a key ally and trading partner of Australia.

The Australian government has declined to comment on the reports, saying it does not comment on intelligence matters.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told reporters on Monday: "Enough is enough".

"While [the US and Australia] are not able to confirm or deny past activities, at least they should be able, and I'm making a public expectation here, I think they should be able to say henceforth they are not going to do it anymore," he said.

"In the absence of assurances that such [spying] activities never took place, then of course we must assume that such activities are taking place, and draw our own conclusion in terms of their view of Indonesia as a partner," he added.

'Stop spying'

Anonymous Indonesia posted a list on Twitter of more than 100 Australian websites it said it had hacked. Sites affected including a bouncy castle company and a dry cleaner.

Affected websites were replaced with the message: "Stop spying on Indonesia", and an image of a Guy Fawkes silhouette on the Indonesia and Australian flags.

Members of the online group wear Guy Fawkes masks when demonstrating in public or in online videos.

The spying allegations were originally published by German newspaper Der Spiegel. The newspaper described a signals intelligence programme called Stateroom which intercepted radio, telecommunications and internet traffic using equipment in US, British, Australian and Canadian diplomatic missions.

Diplomatic posts involved included those in Jakarta, Bangkok, Hanoi, Beijing and Kuala Lumpur, amongst others, the Sydney Morning Herald reported late last week.

The reports are the latest in a series of documents leaked by ex-US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who has been granted temporary asylum in Russia and is wanted in the US in connection with the unauthorised disclosures.

The US is facing growing anger over reports it spied on its allies abroad.

However, correspondents say that in reality most governments conduct surveillance or espionage operations against other countries whose activities matter to them.

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Imax in home cinema deal with China

1 November 2013 Last updated at 10:42 ET

Imax, the cinema technology company specialising in immersive 3D screenings, is to offer home cinemas for China's wealthy elite in a joint venture with Shenzhen's TCL Multimedia.

Each luxury theatre will cost at least $250,000 (£157,000), Reuters reported.

"China now is our second largest market in the world, and our fastest growing market," Imax chief executive Richard Gelfond said.

The company is also targeting Russia, Hong Kong and the Middle East.

China's burgeoning wealthy class is hungry for luxury goods of all kinds, with TCL estimating that the home theatre market will grow 20% a year over the next five years.

Three-D films are also growing in popularity, with more than 80% of audiences for the recent blockbuster film Gravity opting for the 3D format thanks to the film's ground-breaking special effects.

Luxury, immersive home cinemas are now possible - albeit only for the rich - thanks to advancements in 3D and large-screen technology.

Shooting a film with dedicated Imax cameras used to cost more than £6m before the company developed a way of converting standard films to Imax format using algorithms for less than £1m.

Producers started making films specifically for 3D, with James Cameron's Avatar in 2009 proving to be the first mainstream 3D box office success, taking about $250m in Imax theatres.

Imax already earns 16% of its revenue in China, and now has 131 screens installed there.

In July, it announced an agreement with China's Dalian Wanda Group Corp to build up to 120 new cinemas in the country, building on its 2011 deal with the group.

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EBay sorry over Holocaust listings

2 November 2013 Last updated at 22:32 ET

EBay has apologised and removed from sale about 30 items of memorabilia from the Nazi Holocaust, following an investigation by a UK newspaper.

The Mail on Sunday said it had found "dozens" of items related to the Holocaust on the site last week.

Among them was a uniform said to belong to a Polish baker who died at Auschwitz for $18,000 (£11,200), it said.

The online auction site apologised and said it had made a donation of $40,000 (£25,000) to charity.

The Mail on Sunday said other items listed included shoes and a toothbrush said to have belonged to concentration camp victims and Star of David armbands used to mark out Jews for persecution.

'Not allowed'

It said it had alerted eBay and the online auctioneer had removed 30 items from sale.

The newspaper said eBay had been unable to say how long such items may have been for sale on its website.

EBay said: "We are very sorry these items have been listed on eBay and we are removing them.

"We don't allow listings of this nature, and dedicate thousands of staff to policing our site and use the latest technology to detect items that shouldn't be for sale.

"We very much regret that we didn't live up to our own standards. We have made a donation to charity to reflect our concern."

Six million Jews were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators during the World War Two Holocaust. The Nazis also murdered and imprisoned millions of others, including Romany Gypsies, homosexual people, and disabled people.

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Roller coaster shut as riders hurt

3 November 2013 Last updated at 12:23 ET

A new £18m roller coaster at Alton Towers has closed after wheels fell off and hit four people in the front carriage.

A spokeswoman said some "small guide wheels" came off The Smiler as it was being pulled up an incline.

Kevin Hayes-Heath, who was in the carriage with his partner Wayne, said the incident was "pretty frightening".

Debris hit him on the shoulder and his partner in the face. A teenage girl and her father were also hit, he said.

"You are at the highest point of the ride and you've got all these loops to do and you just think that the carriage is going to come off," Mr Hayes-Heath said.

"We were shouting at them to stop the ride because they were about to send another party off."

'Investigation'

Alton Towers said the ride completed its circuit and no evacuation was required.

A spokeswoman confirmed that plastic guide wheels were flicked onto a teenager and three adults in the front row of the train.

The rest of the guide wheels were caught by safety netting, she added.

The injured people were looked after by park staff and did not need treatment by the ambulance service, the spokeswoman said.

The park said an investigation would be carried out into Saturday's incident to decide when the ride could re-open.

Safety 'absolute priority'

The 14-loop Smiler was shut for four days on 21 July after a piece fell off the track, and 48 people had to be rescued.

It closed again in August for five days due to a "technical issue".

The ride, which opened in May, includes a drop of 30m (98ft).

The spokeswoman said: "We have very stringent safety procedures on all of our rides including CCTV so the ride was stopped immediately by the rides team.

"All of our rides and attractions are expected to meet extremely high standards, technologically, mechanically and in terms of the end experience, and a full investigation is on going before we determine whether to re-open the ride.

"We are sorry for any disappointment the ride's temporary closure caused our visitors but the health and safety of all of our visitors is our absolute priority."

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First YouTube awards honour Eminem

3 November 2013 Last updated at 23:41 ET

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As Catharina Moh reports, the ceremony was streamed live online

The first ever YouTube awards have been held in New York, with actor Jason Schwartzman and musician Reggie Watts presiding over a frenetic ceremony.

As YouTube is a video-sharing site, the event featured Eminem, Lady Gaga and M.I.A making live music videos directed by the awards' creator, Spike Jonze, and others.

Eminem won Artist of the Year, while Taylor Swift's I Knew You Were Trouble took the YouTube Phenomenon award.

The ceremony was streamed live online.

Nominees were chosen by taking into account the YouTube views, likes, comments and subscription figures for different artists.

Indie actress Greta Gerwig kicked off proceedings at the sprawling Pier 36 venue, performing in a live video for Arcade Fire and their new song Afterlife.

Lady Gaga was up next, tears rolling down her cheeks as she performed her single Dope for the first time wearing a baseball cap and flannel shirt.

The coveted Video of the Year award went to South Korean group Girls' Generation for their song I Got A Boy, while Innovation of the Year went to DeStorm Power, the YouTube user whose 250 videos on the website have been watched more than 200 million times.

The inaugural YouTube awards reflect an increasing trend for people to turn to the internet, rather than television and radio, for music and video.

In August last year, the Nielsen rating agency published a survey in which 64% of American adolescents said they listened to music on YouTube, compared with 56% who listened to radio.

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US to build hypersonic spy plane

4 November 2013 Last updated at 06:44 ET

Lockheed Martin has begun work on a successor to the supersonic Blackbird SR-71 spy plane.

The unmanned SR-72 will use an engine that combines a turbine and a ramjet to reach its top speed of Mach 6 - about 3,600mph (5,800km/h).

Like its predecessor, the SR-72 will be designed for high-altitude surveillance but might also be fitted with weapons to strike targets.

Lockheed said the aircraft should be operational by 2030.

Jet engines

The SR-72 is being developed at Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works R&D centre in California that designed and built the original Blackbird.

That aircraft first flew in 1964 and was a mainstay of US Air Force spying and surveillance work until 1998. It typically flew at altitudes of 24,000m (80,000ft) and could reach speeds of Mach 3.

In a blogpost about the SR-72, Lockheed Martin said the aircraft would operate at similar altitudes but would fly far faster. At Mach 6 the plane could travel the 3,500 miles (5,500km) from New York to London in less than an hour.

While spy satellites can photograph enemy territory, the relatively long time it takes for them to be moved to a new orbit so they pass over a target can limit their usefulness.

By contrast, wrote Lockheed Martin, the SR-72 "would be so fast, an adversary would have no time to react or hide".

For the SR-72, Lockheed Martin is drawing on work done on the Falcon HTV-2 hypersonic technology vehicle. This is a test-bed for the futuristic technologies needed to support safe hypersonic flight and cope with the extreme conditions encountered by any object flying at such a speed.

For instance, on one test flight of the HTV-2, the aircraft hit a top speed of Mach 20 and its flight surfaces reached 1,927C (3,500F).

To reach Mach 6, the SR-72 will use an engine that acts like a normal jet turbine until speeds of Mach 3 are reached but which then operates like a ramjet to accelerate beyond that.

"Speed is the next aviation advancement to counter emerging threats in the next several decades," said Brad Leland, Lockheed Martin's hypersonic programme manager on the blog. "The technology would be a game-changer in theatre, similar to how stealth is changing the battlespace today."

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Tesco to use face-scan ad targeting

4 November 2013 Last updated at 07:50 ET

Tesco is installing face-scanning technology at its petrol stations to target advertisements to individual customers at the till.

The technology, made by Lord Sugar's digital signage company Amscreen, will use a camera to identify a customer's gender and approximate age.

It will then show an advertisement tailored to that demographic.

Tesco says the screens will be rolled out across all of its 450 forecourts in the UK.

"It's like something out of Minority Report," said Amscreen's chief executive Simon Sugar, Lord Sugar's eldest son.

"But this could change the face of British retail, and our plans are to expand the screens into as many supermarkets as possible."

A Tesco spokeswoman said: "This is not new technology."

"No data or images are collected or stored and the system does not use eyeball scanners or facial-recognition technology", she added.

'Ethically deployed'

The length of someone's hair could be used to work out their gender, she said.

Privacy campaigners said companies had to tell their customers they were using the technology.

Nick Pickles, from Big Brother Watch, said: "If people were told that every time they walked into a supermarket, or a doctor's surgery or a law firm, that the CCTV camera in the corner is trying to find out who they are, I think that will have a huge impact on what buildings people go into."

Systems could only be "ethically deployed" if customers agreed to opt in to having their behaviour tracked, he added.

The screens are expected to reach five million customers.

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Blackberry abandons sell-off plan

4 November 2013 Last updated at 10:57 ET

Blackberry has abandoned a plan to sell itself to its biggest shareholder, Fairfax Financial Holdings.

Instead, the struggling maker of smartphones intends to raise $1bn (£627m) in fresh financing.

Chief executive Thorsten Heins will step down and former Sybase chief executive John Chen will serve as interim chief executive.

Last month, Blackberry reported a second-quarter net loss of $965m.

Those losses were blamed on poor sales of its new smartphone, the Z10.

'Substantial cash'

Fairfax was planning to lead a consortium of firms in a takeover of Blackberry worth $4.7bn.

But that plan, announced last month, has fallen through.

Last week, Reuters reported that Fairfax was struggling to raise the financing needed for the deal.

Instead, Fairfax, which owns a 10% stake in Blackberry, is contributing $250m to the new fund-raising.

"This financing provides an immediate cash injection on terms favourable to Blackberry, enhancing our substantial cash position," said Barbara Stymiest, chair of Blackberry's board of directors.

In September, the company announced a plan to cut 4,500 jobs, or 40% of its workforce, to reverse giant losses.

The interim chief executive, John Chen, acknowledged the challenge ahead: "Blackberry is an iconic brand with enormous potential - but it's going to take time, discipline and tough decisions to reclaim our success."

Some analysts remain sceptical about the firm's prospects.

"Now we're back to the downward spiral," said BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis.

"They've got $1bn more cash that buys them time. The drumbeat of negativity is likely to continue."

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