UAE Blackberry ban threat lifted

8 October 2010 Last updated at 10:12 ET

The United Arab Emirates has said it will not go ahead with plans to ban Blackberry services, following talks with maker Research in Motion.

It had threatened to suspend all services from 11 October.

The UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority confirmed that it is satisfied services on the devices are now compliant with its security needs.

It had said Blackberries posed a risk because the network was encrypted and data stored abroad.

Similar bans

The UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said in a statement: "All Blackberry services in the UAE will continue to operate as normal and no suspension of service will occur on October 11, 2010".

The TRA also acknowledged "the positive engagement and collaboration of Research In Motion (RIM) in reaching this regulatory compliant outcome".

Research in Motion (RIM) has found itself at the centre of a series of rows with countries unhappy with the way data is stored on the device.

India and Saudi Arabia have threatened similar bans.

RIM has always made it clear that it would not change the architecture of its service to placate countries wishing to extend their surveillance powers.

"It is unclear what will have changed in the nature of the RIM service," said Tony Cripps, principal analyst at Ovum.

"As such we can only hypothesise that some kind of workaround has been agreed in terms and conditions between the UAE regulator and local carriers ...to gain access to e-mails sent over the Blackberry service," he said.

RIM said in a statement that it would not discuss the details of the discusisions with the TRA. "RIM confirms that it continues to approach lawful access matters internationally within the framework of core principles that were publicly communicated in August," it said.

In August RIM sought to reassure customers that it would only allow governments to access services "in the strict context of lawful access and national security" and that no greater access than that given by rival firms would be granted.

It also stated that it would make no changes to the security architecture for Blackberry business customers.

At the time it said: "Contrary to any rumours, the security architecture is the same around the world and RIM truly has no ability to provide its customers' encryption keys."

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Smart specs unite world and data

8 October 2010 Last updated at 05:03 ET By Michael Fitzpatrick Technology journalist

A lightweight pair of augmented reality glasses that overlay the world with digital content, such as directions or a travel guide, has debuted in Japan.

The headset, created by Olympus and phone-maker NTT Docomo, uses augmented reality software on an attached phone.

A virtual tour of Kyoto was used as the first demonstration of the technology.

While AR glasses are nothing new, these are among the first to add a miniature projecting display without too causing much encumbrance to the wearer.

Researchers at the two companies said they had managed to whittle an earlier "AV Walker" prototype down from 91g to no more than 20g.

One arm of the spectacles frame holds a tiny retinal display.

The retinal display projects text and images directly into the user's peripheral vision, allowing the wearer to maintain eye contact with whatever they are observing normally.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

the Docomo demo was more circus side-show than cutting edge"

End Quote Steve Nagata Tech analyst

As the glasses are attached to a smartphone with AR software, an acceleration sensor and a direction sensor, the AR Walker knows approximately what you are looking at and provides augmented information relevant to where you may be.

In the mock-up shown off at Japan's annual tech show Ceatec, a virtual Kyoto cityscape was created where a character, not unlike Window's animated paperclip, pops up to guide a person around the city; introducing temples, restaurants and shops as a tourist moves around.

The display can also be used to give directions with arrows and if a person lifts their head up to the sky a weather forecast is automatically protected into their peripheral vision.

Tokyo-based technology analyst Steven Nagata praised the "cool" and light good looks of AV Walker but said he felt the technology needed refinement.

"The promise of a walking, heads up display that would be able to provide important and relevant information about your environment with minimal interaction is the holy grail of mobile technology," he said.

"And while the Docomo demo was more circus side-show than cutting edge technology, it may help inspire real innovation in the future."

Augmented reality apps for smartphones such as Laya and Wikitude are already having some success as guides to our immediate surroundings.

But as this usually involves holding up and pointing the mobile's camera in the direction you are looking AV Walker and its like have the added benefit of accessing information about your surroundings without altering your natural behaviour.

According to the developers a release date for the AR glasses has yet to be determined.

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