Microsoft completes Nokia phone deal

25 April 2014 Last updated at 16:29

Microsoft has completed its purchase of Nokia's mobile phone business for 5.44bn euros ($7.5bn; £4.5bn).

The deal between the two firms should have been completed earlier this year but it was delayed by a hold-up in regulatory approvals.

The sale will see the end of production of mobile phones by Nokia.

"Today we welcome the Nokia devices and services business to our family," said Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella.

"The mobile capabilities and assets they bring will advance our transformation."

The Finnish company will now focus on networks, mapping services and technology development and licences.

Two Nokia plants will remain outside the deal - a manufacturing unit in Chennai, India, subject to an asset freeze by Indian tax authorities, and the Masan plant in South Korea, which it plans to shut down.

Former Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop has become executive vice president of the Microsoft devices group, in charge of Lumia smartphones and tablets, Nokia mobile phones, Xbox hardware, Microsoft Surface, and Perceptive Pixel (PPI) products.

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Panasonic reports return to profit

28 April 2014 Last updated at 11:37

Japanese consumer electronics giant Panasonic has reported its first full-year profit for three years, with the weaker yen helping to boost sales.

The maker of the Lumix camera posted profits of 120.4bn yen ($1.2bn; £710m) for the year to March, compared with a 754bn yen loss a year earlier.

The company also said cost cutting had boosted its profitability.

Panasonic is forecasting a 16% jump in net profit to 140bn yen for the current financial year.

This increase is based on the economic recovery in the US and Europe.

Panasonic has more than 600 business units within the organisation, with interests ranging from home appliances to housing equipment such as ventilation systems, as well as industrial products in the automotive and robotics sectors.

Sales in its appliances division rose by 10% from one year ago, which was mainly driven by a surge in consumer spending in Japan ahead of the rise in the country's consumption tax.

Japan increased the consumption tax rate to 8% from 5% on 1 April.

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Tech firms offer funds to plug bug

25 April 2014 Last updated at 11:21

The world's biggest technology firms will donate money to fund the support of OpenSSL, the software at the centre of the Heartbleed bug.

Heartbleed was one of the worst internet flaws ever uncovered.

The maintenance of the software, which secures around two-thirds of the world's websites, was done by a group of volunteers with very little funding.

The new group set up by the Linux Foundation has a dozen contributors and has so far raised around $3m (£1.7m).

As well as maintaining OpenSSL it will also support development of other crucial open-source software.

Firms supporting the initiative include Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Intel, IBM, Cisco and Amazon. Each will donate $300,000 over the next three years.

Midnight coding

Continue reading the main story

It is kind of weird that such crucial software is run by a group of hobbyists on a shoestring budget"

End Quote Mikko Hypponen F-Secure

The industry has been forced to step up after Heartbleed brought chaos to the tech sector.

Experts estimate that the Heartbleed bug will cost businesses tens of million of dollars in lost productivity as they update systems with safer versions of OpenSSL.

"Sometimes it takes a crisis to do the right thing," Linux Foundation executive director Jim Zemlin told journalists.

The bug exposed more than just people's passwords and credit card details. It also highlighted that the crucial piece of software is maintained by a small group of developers who receive donations averaging about $2,000 a year to support the project.

"It is kind of weird that such crucial software is run by a group of hobbyists on a shoestring budget," said Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer with security firm F-Secure.

"This software was invisible, behind the scenes and there are very few volunteers who have the skill and willingness to work on a project like this. There is no recognition, no money and it is very difficult."

The details that have emerged about how the vulnerability came about speaks volumes about how little the industry has cared about the software that was securing their websites, he added.

"The fact that the code change which caused the bug was done by an individual working at 23:00 on a New Year's Eve says a lot. The code simply wasn't reviewed enough and it went undetected for two years," he added.

"Now there is formal and monetary support from the industry I hope we will see a change not just for OpenSSL but for other crucial open source software."

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Facebook buys fitness app firm

25 April 2014 Last updated at 13:31

Facebook has added a Finnish firm that makes a fitness tracking app to its ever-increasing portfolio of purchases.

Helsinki-based ProtoGeo created the Moves app that uses a smartphone's built-in sensors to track activity and calories burned.

The acquisition offers the social network an entry into the burgeoning health technology market.

Other recent purchases include mobile messaging firm WhatsApp and virtual headset maker Oculus.

Facebook did not reveal how much it paid for ProtoGeo, which has fewer than 10 employees, but it is believed to be a fraction of the price it has paid for more high-profile firms recently.

It paid $2bn (£1.1bn) for Oculus VR and spent $19bn (£11.3bn) on WhatsApp.

Targeted ads

In a blogpost the fitness firm moved to reassure its users about the purchase.

"For those of you that use the Moves app - the Moves experience will continue to operate as a stand-alone app, and there are no plans to change that or co-mingle data with Facebook."

Meanwhile Facebook said of the purchase: "The Moves team has built an incredible tool for the millions of people who want to better understand their daily fitness activity, and we're looking forward to the app continuing to gain momentum."

The app runs in the background of users' phones, using location data to monitor activities through the day.

The free app has been downloaded more than four million times for both iPhone and Android phones, according to the firm.

Many of the big technology firms are seeing money to be made from health technology. There is a range of fitness bands and smartwatches on the market already.

Apple is rumoured to be on the verge of launching its own smartwatch with fitness features and Google last month launched software for wearables.

But for Facebook, the purchase of a fitness app is likely to be all about new data which will allow it to better target adverts, thinks Alys Woodward, an analyst with research firm IDC.

"They want to know more stuff about what people do and where they are. This is useful information even if they don't tie it back to the individual," she said.

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All of Denmark virtually recreated

25 April 2014 Last updated at 15:56 Continue reading the main story

The whole of Denmark has been recreated, to scale, within the virtual world of Minecraft.

The whole country has been faithfully reproduced in the hugely popular title's building-block style by the Danish government.

Danish residents are urged to "freely move around in Denmark" and "find your own residential area, to build and tear down".

Around 50 million copies of Minecraft have been sold worldwide.

Known as a "sandbox" game, the title allows players to exist in a virtual world, using building blocks to create everything from basic structures to entire worlds.

Minecraft was launched in 2011 by independent Swedish developer Markus "Notch" Persson.

The Danish government said the maps were created to be used as an educational tool - suggesting "virtual field trips" to hard-to-reach parts of the country.

Flat roofs

There are no specific goals to achieve other than continued survival.

Recreating real-world locations is of particular interest for many players.

Last year an intern working with the UK's Ordnance Survey team built geographically accurate landscapes covering 86,000 sq miles (224,000 sq km) of Britain.

The Danish project is more ambitious however, with buildings and towns reproduced in more detail.

The only difference, the team behind it said, was that all roofs were flat.

It has also banned the use of one of the game's typical tools - dynamite.

The full map download of Denmark will be available until 23 October.

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Hillsborough web probe 'challenging'

26 April 2014 Last updated at 03:04

Identifying who made offensive changes to a Wikipedia page about the Hillsborough disaster "may prove challenging", ministers have said.

The government said a full inquiry led by Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary Richard Heaton was under way.

It came after the Liverpool Echo said Whitehall computers on a secure government network were used.

The Cabinet Office said the "sickening" changes were "in complete contravention of the Civil Service Code".

'All relevant material'

A Cabinet Office statement said "important stakeholders" including the Hillsborough Family Support Group, the Hillsborough Justice Campaign and the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Hillsborough Disaster would be kept updated of developments.

Continue reading the main story

• Wikipedia allows any web user to make changes to its pages, but this leaves a trace through the user's internet protocol (IP) address
• Changes are monitored by Wikipedia, but internet trolls have been known to post insulting material, which is usually swiftly removed
• Liverpool Echo reporter Oliver Duggan discovered that insults posted on the website's Hillsborough Disaster page had been made using computers within the government's internal intranet
• He confirmed this after referring to a list of 34 IP addresses used by the government released by former minister Angela Eagle in 2008

A spokesman said Andy Burnham MP, who "has a deserved status as an expert on the disaster", would be given the chance to "view all relevant material from the very outset so that he can assure himself all steps have been taken".

The statement said: "The amendments made to Wikipedia are sickening. The behaviour is in complete contravention of the Civil Service Code. It is entirely unacceptable.

"At this time, we have no reason to suspect that the Hillsborough edits involve any particular department, nor more than one or two individuals in 2009 and 2012.

"As the first incident happened five years ago and there are hundreds of thousands of people on the government's network, it may prove challenging to identify who was involved, but we are exhausting every option."

Mr Burnham said it was "sickening and appalling to think that people in government are aiming this kind of abuse at the Liverpool supporters - particularly the victims and survivors of that tragedy".

He said that "a full and proper inquiry [to] find the name of the individual or individuals responsible" needed to happen, adding that they must then be "held accountable - nothing else will do".

Mr Burnham, during his time as Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, was instrumental in a campaign to have classified documents about the disaster released, which led to the formation of the Hillsborough Independent Panel.

Liverpool anthem

Oliver Duggan, the Liverpool Echo reporter who broke the story, said the paper used a list of 34 internet protocol (IP) addresses for Whitehall computers.

These were released in 2008 by Angela Eagle MP following a parliamentary question to "match up" the addresses with those used to edit the Wikipedia page about the disaster.

The newspaper said the alterations to the page included the Liverpool anthem You'll Never Walk Alone being altered to You'll Never Walk Again and the phrase "Blame Liverpool Fans" being added to a paragraph.

Steve Rotheram, the MP for Liverpool Walton, echoed Mr Burnham's remarks and said he and a group of Merseyside MPs would be writing to the government to ask that any inquiry "be swift".

Sheila Coleman, spokeswoman for the Hillsborough Justice Campaign, said the group would be talking to its legal team about "how to proceed".

Ms Eagle, the MP for Wallasey, said the claims were "pretty shocking" and were "another problem for [the families] having to deal with the grief".

Entries in Wikipedia, an online encyclopaedia, can be edited by anyone with access to the internet.

Jon Davies, chief executive of Wikimedia UK, said it was "appalled by such vandalism".

Ninety-six Liverpool football fans died after a crush at an FA Cup semi-final at the Sheffield ground on 15 April 1989.

New inquests, which are ongoing, were ordered after fresh evidence revealed by the Hillsborough Independent Panel led to the original inquest verdicts being quashed.

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Microsoft warns of Explorer security

28 April 2014 Last updated at 08:11

Microsoft has warned consumers that a vulnerability in its Internet Explorer browser could let hackers gain access and user rights to their computer.

The flaw affects Internet Explorer (IE) versions 6 to 11 and Microsoft said it was aware of "limited, targeted attacks" to exploit it.

According to NetMarket Share, the IE versions account for more than 50% of global browser market.

Microsoft says it is investigating the flaw and will take "appropriate" steps.

The firm, which issued a security advisory over the weekend, said the steps "may include providing a solution through our monthly security update release process, or an out-of-cycle security update, depending on customer needs".

Continue reading the main story

If the current user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system"

End Quote Microsoft

XP impact

However, the issue may be of special concern to people still using the Windows XP operating system.

That is because Microsoft ended official support for that system earlier this month.

It means there will be no more official security updates and bug fixes for XP from the firm.

Cyber security firm Symantec said it had carried out tests which confirmed that "the vulnerability crashes Internet Explorer on Windows XP".

"This will be the first zero day vulnerability that will not be patched for Windows XP users," it added.

About 30% of all desktops are thought to be still running Windows XP and analysts have previously warned that those users would be vulnerable to attacks from cyber-thieves.

Microsoft has suggested businesses and consumers still using the system should upgrade to a newer alternative.

'Complete control'

Microsoft said that hackers looking to exploit the flaw could host a "specially crafted website" containing content that can help them do so.

However, they would still need to convince users to view the website for them to be able to gain access to their computer.

They could do this by getting them to click on a link sent via an email or instant messenger, or by opening an attachment sent through an email.

However, a hacker would have "no way to force users" to view the content.

If successful, a hacker could gain the same rights as the computer's current user.

"If the current user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system," the firm warned.

"An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights."

But the firm added that Internet Explorer on Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2 runs in a restricted mode, which "mitigates this vulnerability".

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Desert dig unearths Atari games dump

28 April 2014 Last updated at 11:34

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Xbox Live's Larry Hryb said the games were dumped out of "shame"

Video game archaeologists have found a cache of Atari games that were buried in the New Mexico desert 30 years ago.

Before now reports Atari had dumped millions of game cartridges were widely believed to be an urban myth.

But a three-hour dig at a landfill site turned up many Atari cartridges, including copies of the game ET: The Extra Terrestrial.

Atari made millions of copies of the ET game, but it sold poorly and helped to contribute to the demise of the firm.

"For a lot of people, it's something that they've wondered about and it's been rumoured and talked about for 30 years, and they just want an answer," said Zak Penn, director of a documentary being made about the search for the site and its uncovering.

The documentary by Fuel Entertainment is being prepared for Microsoft's Xbox TV channel.

Cash crunch

Atari was thought to have dumped truckloads of unsold games in the landfill site on the outskirts of Alamogordo in 1983 as the company was winding down.

The game maker's descent from its position as the dominant force in home gaming in the late 1970s and early 1980s was swift and has been partly blamed on the gamble it took on making a game of Steven Spielberg's 1982 hit film ET.

The game was made from scratch in five weeks for the Atari 2600 console. Even before the game was finished Atari, committed huge amounts of money and resources to it and produced millions of copies when it was done.

The ET game has been described as one of the worst ever created. Its challenging game play and poor graphics put people off buying it and left Atari with huge amounts of unsold inventory.

The search to see if the rumours about the dump were true was given new life by the efforts of one unnamed game enthusiast who did the detective work to narrow down its location.

Red tape surrounding the uncovering of the landfill site held up the start of the dig but once permission was granted excavations began on 26 April.

Three hours of digging with a backhoe uncovered significant amounts of Atari 2600 game cartridges - many of which were still in their original packaging.

Only a limited amount of material could be retrieved from the dump because the dig was only allowed access for one day. The local authority of Alamogordo ordered the dig site to be refilled on 27 April.

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Police crackdown on fake goods sites

28 April 2014 Last updated at 11:53

More than 2,500 websites selling counterfeit goods have been closed down by the City of London Police.

The sites were selling fake designer goods including Ugg boots, GHD hair straighteners, Jack Wills clothing and items from Gucci.

According to the police the websites are estimated to make tens of millions of pounds for organised criminal gangs.

The Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (Pipcu) was set up in 2013 and focuses on crimes committed online.

DCI Andy Fyfe, head of Pipcu, said: "Behind many of these websites lies an organised crime gang funnelling off the money spent by unsuspecting customers on what they think are quality products.

"Consumers also need to be aware that by accessing websites like this they are running the risk of their personal details being compromised and being used for other fraudulent scams, as well as the exposing their computer to malicious malware."

Pipcu urges customers to use common sense when shopping online and advises that legitimate popular technology and designer items are rarely discounted.

It also suggests shoppers type web addresses directly in to a browser, rather than clicking on a link, and always check to make sure it is the correct address.

Customers should check that the web address starts with "https", which indicates any payment would be secure, and should never enter their Pin code, the advice suggests.

The police unit works with brands to identify websites selling fakes. If the brand confirms that a site is selling counterfeit goods, a request is passed to the body responsible for registering domain name addresses to suspend the site.

Jeweller Thomas Sabo is one company who worked with Pipcu.

"This initiative sets a massive strike against fraudulent sellers and ensures consumer protection as well as protection of the UK economy itself," said brand protection manager, Daniela Suss.

Pipcu has also worked with Europol and US authorities in the past in a worldwide operation to reduce online intellectual property crime.

As well as targeting sites that sell counterfeit goods, Pipcu has previously clamped down on websites illegally hosting copyrighted content.

The operators of sites thought to be breaking the law were contacted by the police and asked to remove the content. Those that did not reply had their details passed to domain name registrars also with a request for the site to be suspended.

Pipcu is funded by the Intellectual Property Office, which is part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

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Alerts over Apple and Samsung phones

28 April 2014 Last updated at 12:35

Apple and Samsung have issued alerts about faults on some of their phones.

Apple has begun a replacement programme for some of its iPhone 5 handsets that have a faulty sleep/wake button.

Separately, Samsung has revealed that some of its flagship Galaxy S5 handsets have been shipped with a non-functioning camera.

It said anyone who bought an S5 with a faulty camera should contact Samsung's customer service or their mobile operator to get the phone replaced.

Serial numbers

Samsung said it had found a "very limited" number of handsets had been shipped with the fault. It said it had traced the cause of the problem and had taken steps to ensure it did not re-occur in future production runs.

"We have discovered that the issue has been seen in a very limited portion of early production Galaxy S5 units, and was caused by complications in the Read Only Memory component which stores the information necessary to operate the camera," Samsung said in a statement.

Samsung declined to say how many handsets were affected but did say that the faulty handsets had been reported in the US and several other countries.

Apple said a "small percentage" of iPhone 5 handsets were affected by manufacturing problems that meant its sleep/wake button stopped working or only worked intermittently.

It said it would replace the sleep/wake mechanism in affected phones free of charge. To help customers it has set up a webpage on which they can enter the serial number of their phone to see if it is in the affected batch.

The faulty button is believed to affect iPhone 5 handsets manufactured before May 2013.

The replacement programme begins in the US on 28 April and rolls out worldwide on 2 May. Customers with affected handsets can either post their device to an Apple repair centre or drop it off in person.

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