World News | Latest News: October 2011

Monday, October 31, 2011

Chemicals industry hacking attack

31 October 2011 Last updated at 15:56 ET

At least 29 firms involved in the chemicals industry were targeted by a recent series of cyber-attacks traced to China, according to Symantec.

The security company said it had evidence a further 19 companies, including defence specialists, had also been affected.

It said the attacks began in late July and lasted until mid-September.

Symantec said the campaign was focused on intellectual property, including formulas and design processes.

While the report did not reveal the names of any of the companies involved, it did say they included Fortune 100 firms.

It disclosed that at least 12 of the infected companies were based in the US, five in the UK, and two in Denmark.

Several of the firms were also said to have developed materials for military vehicles.

Trojans

Symantec said workers at the organisations were sent emails asking them to open an attachment.

It said in some cases they claimed to be invitations from established business partners, in others a security update.

The firm said if the attachments were opened they installed a piece of code known as a Trojan horse, which allowed the hackers to obtain details of the targets' computer networks. The attackers were then able to use this information to locate and copy files to another part of their targets' systems, from where they were extracted.

"Start Quote

This is unfortunately becoming a new normal behaviour"

End Quote Greg Day CTO, Symantec

Symantec identified the Trojan involved as PoisonIvy, which it said was developed by a Chinese speaker.

The firm also said it had traced the attacks back to a "20-something male located in the Hebei region of China" who funnelled the process through a US computer server.

Symantec said that when prompted, the man provided contact details for someone who would "perform hacking for hire". However, the company was unable to establish whether this was the same person or a different individual.

The incidents are being linked to earlier attacks on carmakers and human rights organisations.

"This is unfortunately becoming a new normal behaviour," Symantec's chief technology officer, Greg Day, told the BBC.

"We had at least a decade of cybercrime which generally targeted anybody. Then we had the emergence of very skilled techniques involving a lot of time and effort to target global organisations.

"What we have now is almost the commercialisation of those techniques, using elements such as advanced persistent threats to pursue espionage and intellectual property theft, whether that is for their own gain or resale."

BT speeds up UK broadband rollout

31 October 2011 Last updated at 06:49 ET

Telecoms provider BT is accelerating its fibre broadband rollout. It now plans to offer "super-fast" internet speeds to two-thirds of UK premises by the end of 2014.

The target is a year ahead of its original plan.

The firm says its main product will offer maximum download speeds about 10 times faster than at present, at 70-100Mbps on average.

That will help it compete against Virgin Media's 100Mbps offer.

BT says it is employing an additional 520 engineers and bringing forward �300m of investment to achieve the goal.

The company says six million premises already have access to its fibre broadband technology, about 25% of the total.

It aims to increase that to about 10 million properties, or about 40% of those in the UK, by the end of next year.

"Our rollout of fibre broadband is one of the fastest in the world and so it is great to be ahead of what was an already challenging schedule," said BT's chief executive Ian Livingston.

Global position

A recent report suggested the UK ranked 25th in the world in terms of average broadband connection speeds.

Akamai's State of the Internet Report said the average UK connection speed was 5Mbps compared to the Netherlands' 8.5Mbps and South Korea's 13.8Mbps.

"For a long time people thought the UK was on a low-fibre diet and it was taking us a long time compared to everyone else," said Matthew Howett, senior analyst at the telecoms consultants Ovum.

"These investments are expensive and risky - especially when you don't know if people even want the faster product. But BT has seen demand for its top speeds and that's encouraging them to roll out the fibre more quickly."

Speeds of up to 100Mbps will allow households to stream multiple high definition television programmes, music and games at the same time.

Experts say most homes will not need such fast speeds for the foreseeable future, however it will help future-proof the network against further developments.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

'Disturbing' cyber attacks on UK

30 October 2011 Last updated at 22:08 ET

The UK has been subject to a "disturbing" number of cyber attacks, the director of communications intelligence agency GCHQ has said.

Sensitive data on government computers has been targeted, along with defence, technology and engineering firms' designs, Iain Lobban said in the Times.

There was a "significant" unsuccessful internet-based attack on Foreign Office computer systems this summer, he added.

On Tuesday, the government hosts a two-day conference over the issue.

Foreign Secretary William Hague convened the London Conference on Cyberspace against a backdrop of the UK treating the threat from cyber warfare as seriously as that from international terrorism.

It aims to bring together political leaders, such as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and EU digital supremo Neelie Kroes, with leading cyber security experts and technology entrepreneurs such as Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and Cisco vice-president Brad Boston.

'Threat to economy'

Mr Hague believes a "global co-ordinated response" is required to forge policy on cyber development.

Writing in the Times, Mr Lobban said such an inclusive approach was vital.

"The volume of e-crime and attacks on government and industry systems continues to be disturbing," he wrote.

"I can attest to attempts to steal British ideas and designs - in the IT, technology, defence, engineering and energy sectors, as well as other industries - to gain commercial advantage or to profit from secret knowledge of contractual arrangements.

"Such intellectual property theft doesn't just cost the companies concerned; it represents an attack on the UK's continued economic wellbeing."

Mr Lobban added that government online taxation and benefits services could be targeted in future and said a black economy had already developed which saw UK citizens' credit card details offered for sale.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Minecraft wins gaming arts award

29 October 2011 Last updated at 16:55 ET By Leo Kelion Technology reporter

Minecraft is the winner of a new arts award for computer games.

The prize was announced at the finale of the GameCity videogame culture festival in Nottingham.

The title is the work of an independent Swedish company, Mojang. Players have to build objects out of blocks in an open environment.

The game was selected over rivals from big name publishers, including Valve and Electronic Arts' Portal 2 and Microsoft's Ilomilo.

"It's a great honour to be compared to those games," said Markus Persson, Mojang's founder.

"Winning this award helps us to try to make Minecraft the best game it can be."

Nearly four million people have already bought the title online, despite the fact it is still in beta. It is scheduled for a formal release next month.

"It just wasn't like anything else... it felt like it had an expanding life of its own. It had an organic nature," one of the judges, Ed Hall, told the BBC.

"Start Quote

I think that technology is a real red herring.... Otherwise we wouldn't cry at Bambi. It's not about photorealism."

End Quote Iain Simons Director, GameCity

"It's simplistic and addictive, and there's an element of beauty in what you are doing."

Culturally confident

GameCity's director, Iain Simons, said he was "delighted" by the choice.

His festival is now in its sixth year. Over that time he says he has seen a rise in the average age of gamers, and more women attracted to the activity.

"There is a much broader constituency of people playing games," he said.

"They have become more normalised, they have been more culturally confident and this prize, and the festival, is very much about exploring that confidence."

Part of the phenomenon is linked to the rise of smartphones. Today's handsets helped popularise the kind of sophisticated games that used to be restricted to dedicated mobile games machines, and larger home consoles.

Advances in computer processors and graphics chips undoubtedly offer developers a bigger palette to choose from. However, Mr Simon does not think the developments make any difference to the designers' status as artists.

"I think that technology is a real red herring. What technology is driving forward is the ability for games to look more real. To look like what a triple-A blockbuster would look like," he said.

"I don't think that is in itself something that makes them art. Otherwise we wouldn't cry at Bambi. It's not about photorealism."

The contest's judges appear to agree, admitting they picked the most basic looking title on offer.

The diverse 13-person jury included Dr Who actress Frances Barber, Labour MP Tom Watson and the artistic director of London's Southbank centre, Jude Kelly.

Enhancing life

Not everyone was convinced of Minecraft's merits at first. The composer, Nitin Sawhney, who was also on the panel, was critical of its soundtrack.

But ultimately neither the look of the game nor its music proved fatal to its chances.

"[We asked] was there one that we felt was head and shoulder above the rest? Was there merit in the game enhancing life and enjoyment beyond just playing the game itself? Could it make your view of the world better?" said Mr Hall.

"Could a computer game be viewed as something that wouldn't be sneered at in the future?"

Minecraft does involve traditional staples of gaming, including night-roaming monsters and the chance to fight multiplayer battles online.

However, it was ultimately selected on the basis of its mood and ability to encourage gamers to become creative.

"It's the broadest definition of art that you can have," said Mr Hall.

"But computer games are definitely artistic. There are images and storylines that engage you, ideas that confuse your mind for hours and a whole package that keeps you coming back for days."

Friday, October 28, 2011

Google Street View heads indoors

28 October 2011 Last updated at 10:57 ET

Google has started a pilot project allowing the public to look inside shops and other businesses found on its maps.

The feature is an extension of the firm's Street View technology, which already lets users view 360-degree exterior images.

The existing service prompted some privacy complaints from people who claimed the technology was intrusive.

However, Google said the new scheme was completely on a volunteer basis.

"Building on the Google Art Project, which took Street View technology inside 17 acclaimed museums, this project is another creative implementation of Street View technology, to help businesses as they build their online presence," said a company spokesman.

"We hope to enable businesses to highlight the qualities that make their locations stand out through professional, high-quality imagery."

First steps

Initially the roll-out is limited to select locations including London, Paris and a number of cities in Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the US.

The US company said it was beginning the process by inviting the most searched types of businesses to request a visit by its photographers.

Google said these included restaurants, hotels, shops, gyms and vehicle repair workshops.

However, it has ruled out big-brand chains for the time being. Hospitals and lawyers' offices have also been excluded.

Business owners are told they must warn their customers and employees about the photoshoot before it begins. Google has promised it will blur out or refuse to publish any images that include bystanders.

The photoshoots will produce 360-degree images using fish-eye and wide-angle lenses as well as stills. Business owners are also invited to upload their own pictures.

The search site notes that all photographs taken will become its property and that they may be used for other applications. Business owners may request their removal, but the terms and conditions do not include a commitment to comply.

"Retail is always a competitive sector, but this is particularly true at a time of falling disposable incomes," said Sarah Cordey, spokeswoman for the British Retail Consortium.

"Many retailers are increasing their online presence and use of technological innovations, so this is a development some businesses will no doubt consider with interest."

The touchless control patent race

28 October 2011 Last updated at 10:30 ET

Apple and Microsoft are involved in a new patent race over touchless gesture-controls.

Recently released patent filings reveal new ways to control devices that do not involve physical contact.

Microsoft describes waving one's hands to "draw" three-dimensional objects on a computer, while Apple's designs involve allowing users to "throw" content from one device to another.

Securing patent rights allows the firms to claim ownership of the technologies.

They could then prevent others from using the same gesture controls, or charge them a licence.

The two technology firms are not the only ones exploring the area. Less well known companies, including Qualcomm and Extreme Reality 3D, have also acted to secure touchless control patent rights.

"It's interesting that so many companies are actually investing some very serious time and money into it," said Chris Green, a technology analyst at Davies Murphy Group.

"But the jury is still out on whether this whole waving-your-hands-in-the-air will have a long term future outside computer games, and it's still very much a work in progress."

"Start Quote

No longer would users have to fiddle with complex remotes for DVD players and cable channels"

End Quote Steve Jobs Former Apple CEO

'Throwing' video

The patent applications have been made public by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Apple's filing, entitled "Real Time Video Process Control Using Gestures", describes controlling images on a device, such as an iPhone, without touching it, and the ability to transfer the pictures to one of the firm's other products using contact-free hand movements.

It suggests infrared, optical and other sensors would be used to detect the movements.

One use could be to transfer a video from a mobile phone by "flicking" it to a television.

"Say you're browsing a TV app on your phone and you found a programme you wanted to record, you could literally - just with a wave - take that programme and throw it to the other device using a gesture rather than using a Bluetooth or cable connection," said Mr Green.

Apple TV

The patent application's release coincides with renewed speculation about Apple branded television sets.

The firm's former chief executive, Steve Jobs, appears to have hinted at the prospect to his biographer.

Walter Issacson wrote: "He very much wanted to do for television sets what he had done for computers, music players, and phones: make them simple and elegant".

Mr Isaacson quoted Mr Jobs as saying: "It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it."

The book was published following Mr Jobs' death, earlier this month.

Business applications

Microsoft has already put touchless gesture technology into practice with the popular Kinect motion sensing device for its Xbox games console.

"Microsoft's Kinect system has been widely praised for its accuracy and clarity, and even university research departments are using the Kinect devices, hacking them and using them for their projects," said Mr Green.

"Start Quote

You no longer have to use a mouse to draw a shape - you can just wave your hands in the air and it'll appear"

End Quote Chris Green Davies Murphy Group

"But it is still fairly large, and if you'd like to apply it to a smartphone, you'd need to compress the Kinect down into something the size of your thumb."

Microsoft's recent filing details potential business applications for the technology.

It says it would be possible to make a gesture near a device's surface to "draw" and manipulate virtual 3D objects.

One possible use would be for someone giving a presentation to draw a square in the air and then have it appear behind them on a screen or mid-air from a 3D projector.

"You no longer have to use a mouse to draw a shape - you can just wave your hands in the air and it'll appear," Mr Green explained.

"That aspect potentially has some enterprise applications in terms of computer-aided design.... but it's still very expensive."

Samsung beats Apple smartphones

28 October 2011 Last updated at 03:37 ET

Samsung overtook Apple to become the world's biggest seller of smartphones between July and September.

Research from Strategy Analytics showed that Samsung sold 27.8 million smartphones in the three month period, compared with 17.1 million from Apple and 16.8 million from Nokia.

The consultancy said Apple's growth was hindered by customers waiting for the launch of the new iPhone 4S.

Apple's number four slot in total handset sales was taken by China's ZTE.

Nokia was the top handset seller with a 27.3% market share, followed by Samsung with 22.6% and LG with 5.4%.

ZTE took 4.7%, pushing Apple into fifth place with 4.4%.

The report came shortly after the release of Samsung's third-quarter results, which showed profits falling 23% as strong growth in its mobile phone business was overshadowed by a poor performance in the memory chip arm.

Handset profits more than doubled to 2.52tn won ($2.3bn; �1.4bn) on strong sales from its Galaxy smartphones.

"Samsung's rise has been driven by a blend of elegant hardware designs, popular Android services, memorable sub-brands and extensive global distribution," said Alex Spektor from Strategy Analytics.

"Samsung has demonstrated that it is possible, at least in the short term, to differentiate and grow by using the Android ecosystem."

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Hewlett U-turn on selling PC arm

27 October 2011 Last updated at 17:48 ET

Hewlett Packard (HP) says it will now keep its personal computer division after reviewing a plan by its former chief executive to sell it.

The decision to retain the personal systems group (PSG) was made by HP's new head, Meg Whitman, who said HP would be a "stronger" firm as a result.

Her predecessor, Leo Apotheker, said earlier this year the company would look to spin-off the hardware arm.

PSG is the world's biggest maker of personal computers.

Ms Whitman said in a statement: "Keeping PSG within HP is right. HP objectively evaluated the strategic, financial and operational impact of spinning off PSG.

"HP is committed to PSG, and together we are stronger," said Ms Whitman, a former eBay executive who took over in September.

She added: "It's clear after our analysis that keeping PSG within HP is right for customers and partners, right for shareholders, and right for employees."

The plan to sell PSG was part of Mr Apotheker's strategy to refocus HP on software and cloud services.

But within months of being appointed in November last year, shareholders and analysts became uneasy about his planned changes.

HP shares fell 20% the day after Mr Apotheker announced the possible spin-off of the PC arm, and lost 40% of their value during his tenure.

Shares in the company rose 4.8% on Thursday.

Amazon's patent troubles spiral

27 October 2011 Last updated at 13:50 ET

Amazon has revealed that 11 companies have filed patent lawsuits against it since the start of the year - more than three times as many as in all of 2010.

The online store made the declaration in a filing to US financial regulators.

The complaints include claims that Amazon's sales systems infringe another firm's intellectual property, and that its Kindle ebook devices use technologies owned by two others.

Amazon says it disputes the claims and intends to "vigorously defend" itself.

The US firm's filing reveals that it has been accused of infringing a total of 30 patents since January.

Of those two have been dismissed, including a claim by MasterObjects, a Dutch developer specialising in search result software.

The software firm had claimed that Amazon's drop-down search suggestions infringed one of its US patents. However, the case was thrown out in August.

One of the active lawsuits involves a company named LVL Patent Group. It claims Amazon's mobile applications and other technologies breach four of its innovations.

The Virginia based litigator also launched claims against Apple, Siemens, Hewlett-Packard and Nokia, among others, in September.

Legal activity

The lawsuits mark an upswing in legal activity.

Over the whole of 2010, Amazon's filing suggests it was sued by three claimants over a total of four patents. Amazon settled one of the cases and still disputes the others.

"It is quite common in the technology industry to have aggressive patent litigation," said Andrea Matwyshyn, assistant professor of legal studies at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

"In fact, the volume against Amazon pales compared to other industries such as the mobile phone sector, which is involved in a series of patent wars."

However, Amazon's legal troubles may mount following the launch of its first tablet computer.

"These lawsuits can only continue to increase, especially as Amazon makes more hardware," said Colin Gillis, senior technology analyst at BGC Partners.

"The field is clogged with lawsuits, particularly with products that run on Google's Android software, which its new Kindle Fire tablet uses."

Amazon's best defence may be to secure patents of its own. Its most recent filing involves a gift card which allows the buyer to restrict what products the recipient can choose.

RIM facing lawsuits over outage

27 October 2011 Last updated at 06:53 ET

Blackberry customers in the US and Canada are suing Research in Motion over the recent global outage which left millions without email, instant messaging and net access.

A Canadian lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, was brought on behalf of all Blackberry owners in the country, and accuses RIM of breach of contract.

A similar complaint has been filed in the US.

When contacted by the BBC, RIM had no comment on the news.

The lawsuit claims that RIM "is responsible for Blackberry users' loss of email, BB, and/or internet service for approximately one and a half days".

"It has not compensated consumers on a prorated basis for such loss of use, while knowing full well that Blackberry users pay a monthly fee to their wireless service providers for data services and that they were deprived thereof."

The outage, caused by a system failure and compounded by the failure of its back-up system, began on October 10 and lasted four days.

Snowball effect

RIM co-founder Mike Lazaridis apologised for the outage and offered all customers a package of free software.

The apps, which RIM claims are worth more than $100 (�63), are available until the end of December.

Malik Saadi, principal analyst with Informa Telecom & Media thinks action suits like these could be just the beginning.

"If the consumer forums get involved they could mobilise individuals into seeking compensation and there will be a snowball effect," he said.

Informa has estimated that RIM could find itself faced with a $25m (�16m) compensation bill.

"That is not big money compared to revenues. The biggest damage is to its brand and that could take years to cure. If I was RIM I would just compensate users quickly," said Mr Saadi.

So far no operators have pursued compensation from RIM and Mr Saadi thinks it is "unlikely" any will. However, some have suggested they will offer their own packages to customers.

"In the Middle East, two operators are talking about compensating customers although there are no details about how it will work," he said.

Communication

The four day crash could not have come at a worse time for Blackberry, which has seen profits fall in recent months.

Sales of its flagship tablet, the PlayBook, are not going as well as expected and earlier this week the firm announced that it was delaying a software update to the device.

RIM was criticised for not responding quickly enough to customers when the crash occurred.

Thousands of people turned to Twitter and other social media networks to voice frustration with the company and its efforts to fix the problems.

The firm noticeably stepped up its communication activities as the outage dragged on.

Sony buys whole of Sony Ericsson

27 October 2011 Last updated at 03:12 ET

Japanese technology giant Sony has bought full control of mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson from Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson.

Sony has agreed to buy 50% of the firm for 1.1bn euros ($1.5bn; �964m), making the mobile handset business a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony.

Ericsson said that the "synergies" between telecoms equipment and mobile phones were decreasing.

The transaction also includes a patent deal.

Sony will get the five sets of patents that are essential to making the phones and a licensing agreement on any other intellectual property.

Many observers expected this deal because Sony wanted to integrate its phone division with its mobile games machine and tablet computer units.

"This acquisition makes sense for Sony and Ericsson, and it will make the difference for consumers, who want to connect with content wherever they are, whenever they want," said Sony's chairman Sir Howard Stringer.

Earlier this month, Sony Ericsson broke even in its third quarter and announced it would focus on smartphones from 2012.

The company said its Xperia smartphones accounted for 80% of its sales. The handsets run Google's Android operating system.

Analysts said Sony had proved resistant to sharing its brands and other assets with the joint venture, explaining why it took until this year for PlayStation games to be offered on any of its handsets.

Call for tougher data abuse laws

27 October 2011 Last updated at 04:36 ET

Courts should have the power to jail people who breach the Data Protection Act, MPs on the justice select committee have said.

They say fines - usually about �150 per breach - are an "inadequate" deterrent when the financial rewards can be considerable.

Their report also warns the information commissioner lacks the powers to fully investigate personal data abuses.

The government said the issue of prison sentences would be kept under review.

'Great harm'

Sir Alan Beith, the Lib Dem chairman of the justice committee, said using deception to obtain personal information - known as blagging - or selling it on without permission were "serious offences that can cause great harm".

"Magistrates and judges need to be able to hand out custodial sentences when serious misuses of personal information come to light.

"Parliament has provided that power, but ministers have not yet brought it into force - they must do so."

The move would require the government to enact section 77 and 78 of the 2008 Criminal Justice and Immigration Act.

Currently, magistrates can impose fines of up to �5,000, and the crown court an unlimited fine. But, in practice, fines are much lower because judges have to take into account the defendant's ability to pay, the report says.

The report highlighted several cases in which the financial gain from data protection breaches had exceeded the penalty, including a nurse who passed on patient details to her partner who worked for an accident management company.

She was fined �150 per offence, but accident management companies pay up to �900 for a client's details.

It also noted a 2008 case in which two former BNP members posted the party membership list on the internet, after which a district judge at Nottingham Magistrates' Court said: "It came as a surprise to me, as it will to many members of the party, that to do something as foolish and criminally dangerous as you did will only incur a financial penalty."

Press behaviour

The Information Commissioner Christopher Graham has long called for the courts to be given the power to impose custodial sentences.

However last month, he told the committee he feared any effort to increase the punishments would be delayed by the Leveson inquiry into press behaviour.

He said routine hacking and blagging of personal data by financial services, debt collection and claims management companies was going untackled, and he expected the inquiry into phone hacking by newspapers to distract even more attention away from the problem.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has suggested that jail sentences for people found guilty of "blagging" should be looked at - in cases where information was clearly not obtained in the public interest.

Gordon Brown attempted to introduce prison terms of up to two years for the offence when he was in power but the law was never enacted amid concerns from newspaper bosses.

Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre said at the time that this would "have a truly chilling effect on good journalism".

The Ministry of Justice said it was keeping the issue "under review" and would study the committee's report with interest.

Data audits

The MPs' report also warned possible misuses of personal data were not being fully investigated because the information commissioner lacked sufficient powers.

Currently, he offers free data protection audits, but many organisations decline and not one insurance company has agreed to an audit, the report said.

Sir Alan urged ministers to examine how the commissioner could investigate cases of data abuse properly without increasing the regulatory burden on businesses.

The Data Protection Act 1998 gives people the right to know what information is held about them and to correct wrong information.

It also protects individuals' interests by obliging organisations to manage personal information appropriately.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Nokia bets on Windows Phone

26 October 2011 Last updated at 05:29 ET

By Tim Weber Business editor, BBC News website, at Nokia World

Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia has launched two new smartphones based on Microsoft's new Windows Phone 7.5 operating system.

The Lumia 800 and the Lumia 710 mark the beginning of Nokia's fightback against Apple's iPhone and rivals using Google's Android software.

Nokia's new boss, Stephen Elop, had previously warned that the company was stuck on a "burning platform".

Today he said the launch marked the "rebirth" of Nokia.

In an unusual move for the company, it will start shipping the Lumia 800 range almost immediately and hit the shops in France, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain and the Netherlands in November.

The firm also announced four new basic phones.

The brightly coloured handsets are pitched at developing countries.

Mr Elop said the phones would blur the boundaries between feature phones and smart phones, bringing the internet "to the next billion people".

The new range will be called Asha, a name that clearly identifies Nokia's target market: the name is derived from the Hindi word for "hope".

Although the phones will be relatively cheap, they will sport features like touch screens, 5 mega pixel cameras, bright screens, 32GB storage for music and long battery life.

Smartphone fightback

However, profit margins in the market for basic phones are razor thin, and so Nokia's main focus will be on its new smartphones.

Until recently, the company was the world's largest maker of smartphones.

However, its market share has been falling rapidly, and in one of his first moves after taking over at Nokia a year ago, Mr Elop ditched Nokia's two operating systems for phones - the venerable Symbian and the Linux-based MeeGo - and struck a broad alliance with Microsoft.

Now Microsoft's new Windows Phone 7.5 operating system, also dubbed Mango, will power all Nokia's smartphones.

Mr Elop acknowledged that the Lumia 800 was a design development of a previous Nokia phone, the Symbian-based N9.

Mr Elop said the "Lumia is the first real Windows phone" and predicted the company would be the leader in "smartphone design and craftsmanship".

The Lumia 710, which comes in a range of funky colours, will be pitched as the "affordable" Windows phone.

The phone's product manager, Kevin Shiels, said the new phones would have integrated cameras with high-end Carl Zeiss lenses.

In an explicit dig at Apple's iPhones, he demonstrated how Windows Phone shows information and updates directly on the first screen, without having to tap into applications.

Speaking at the Nokia World congress, Mr Elop said Nokia had "some tough decisions to make, but [we] have started to deliver some early results".

Nokia had been seen as "reliable, trustworthy", like a mother that will "comb your hair... but that's not good enough," he said.

"We expect people to see something special when they hear Nokia," said Mr Elop.

Nokia services

To distinguish itself from other makers of Windows phones like HTC, Samsung and LG, Nokia is betting on a range of services.

Key among them is the integration of location-based services like Nokia Maps, real-time navigation software Nokia Drive, a live-streaming music service Mix Radio and Liveview, an augmented reality service.

Nokia's navigation service Drive will be free. It will not run in an app but will use HTML 5 technology, and will be updated with traffic information in real-time.

Nokia will also deliver its phones with the ESPN sports hub, which will provide free access to text and video news from ESPN.

The biggest innovation, though, could be Nokia Pulse, a service that combines elements of social networking with location services. It allows users to share with friends and family experiences - from pictures to whereabouts to activities, integrated with Nokia's mapping service

Cold water

Shortly before Mr Elop announced the switch to Microsoft Windows Phone, he sent an email to his staff, in which he compared the company to a man on a burning platform, who had the choice of burning to death or jumping into the icy waters below.

The launch of the new phones is Nokia's splash landing. Mr Elop will hope that the new hardware and software offering will be popular enough with consumers to allow the company to swim.

But it is not just Nokia that has a lot riding on the launch of these phones.

Software giant Microsoft has been struggling for years to break into the mobile phone market. Its most recent offering, the Windows Phone 7 software, has been well received but gained little traction in the market.

The company will hope that Nokia's close relationship with mobile phone network operators around the world will give it the access to consumers that has been lacking so far.

IBM names female chief executive

26 October 2011 Last updated at 02:41 ET

Technology giant IBM has appointed its first ever female chief executive.

Virginia Rometty, currently a senior vice president, will take over from the current chief executive, Sam Palmisano, in January.

Mr Palmisano, who took the top job in 2002, will step aside whilst remaining chairman of IBM.

Both executives helped steer the company from mainly selling personal computers to selling software and services.

Ms Rometty, 54, is also widely known as Ginni.

"Given Ginni's experience running the largest portion of the business by revenue, she was a logical choice," said Macquarie Securities analyst Brad Zelnick.

She joins a relatively small circle of top female chief executives, including Pepsi's Indra Nooyi, Xerox's Ursula Burns, Kraft Foods' Irene Rosenfeld and DuPont's Ellen Kullman.

Hewlett-Packard - a longtime rival to IBM - recently appointed Meg Whitman as its boss.

Kindle sparks Amazon profit fall

25 October 2011 Last updated at 18:40 ET

Profits at the online retailer Amazon have dropped 73% after the company invested heavily in the Kindle tablet computer.

The company, the world's largest online internet retailer, said third quarter net income was $63m (�40m, 45m euros).

During the period it launched the Kindle "Fire" model, which runs apps and streams films and other non-text content.

The results left Amazon shares down 12% in after hours trading.

The company said that sales had grown by 44% and that last month, on 28 September, it had its "biggest order day ever for Kindle, even bigger than previous holiday peak days".

It now offers four Kindle devices, including a 3G model.

Lower margins

Jeff Bezos, the founder and chief executive of Amazon, said: "In the three weeks since launch, orders for electronic ink Kindles are double the previous launch. And based on what we're seeing with Kindle Fire pre-orders, we're increasing capacity and building millions more than we'd already planned."

Amazon also forecast lower-than-expected sales for the next quarter, which includes the crucial Christmas period, and said it could even see an operating loss as it continues to invest in the Kindle Fire.

Amazon's profit margins have generally been lower than other technology firms, a situation that analysts say is now catching up with them.

"Investors have always given Amazon a hallpass to invest and it looks like they may have had their patience exhausted," Lawrence Haverty from Gamco Investors told the BBC.

"Its operating margin is only 4%. Most technology companies need an operating margin of over 20% so I think investors are asking themselves if the business will ever really be profitable," he said.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

AI computing pioneer dies aged 84

25 October 2011 Last updated at 06:57 ET

Artificial intelligence researcher, John McCarthy, has died. He was 84.

The American scientist invented the computer language LISP.

It went on to become the programming language of choice for the AI community, and is still used today.

Professor McCarthy is also credited with coining the term "Artificial Intelligence" in 1955 when he detailed plans for the first Dartmouth conference. The brainstorming sessions helped focus early AI research.

Prof McCarthy's proposal for the event put forward the idea that "every aspect of learning or any other feature of intelligence can in principle be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it".

The conference, which took place in the summer of 1956, brought together experts in language, sensory input, learning machines and other fields to discuss the potential of information technology.

Other AI experts describe it as a landmark moment.

"John McCarthy was foundational in the creation of the discipline Artificial Intelligence," said Noel Sharkey, Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Sheffield.

"His contribution in naming the subject and organising the Dartmouth conference still resonates today."

LISP

Prof McCarthy devised LISP at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which he detailed in a landmark paper in 1960.

The computer language used symbolic expressions, rather than numbers, and was widely adopted by other researchers because it gave them the ability to be more creative.

In 1971 Prof McCarthy was awarded the Turing Award from the Association for Computing Machinery in recognition of his importance to the field.

He later admitted that the lecture he gave to mark the occasion was "over-ambitious" when he tried to put forward new ideas on how to code commonsense knowledge into a computer programme.

He later went on to win the National Medal of Science in 1991.

"When I spoke to him two years ago he said that he was a little disappointed in the direction of AI today," said Prof Sharkey.

"He was unremitting in his dedication to the idea of building a truly intelligent machine."

Prof Sharkey added that Prof McCarthy wished he had called the discipline Computational Intelligence, rather than AI. However, he said he recognised his choice had probably attracted more people to the subject.

After retiring in 2000, Prof McCarthy remained Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at Stanford University, and maintained a website where he gathered his ideas about the future of robots, the sustainability of human progress and some of his science fiction writing.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Wikileaks halts file publishing

24 October 2011 Last updated at 13:13 ET

The whistle-blowing website Wikileaks is suspending its publication of classified files.

Wikileaks said that it would focus instead on raising funds to ensure its future survival.

The announcement came after what the group called a blockade by US-based finance companies.

This followed its disclosure on the internet of hundreds of thousands of secret US government files and diplomatic cables.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said that since last December an "arbitrary and unlawful financial blockade" had been imposed by Bank of America, Visa, MasterCard, PayPal and Western Union.

"The attack has destroyed 95% of our revenue," he said.

The former computer hacker said the organisation had lost "tens of millions of dollars in lost donations at a time of unprecedented operational costs".

"A handful of US finance companies cannot be allowed to decide how the whole world votes with its pocket," he added.

Mr Assange said Wikileaks must "aggressively fundraise in order to fight back against this blockade and its proponents".

He said the group was taking pre-litigation action against the blockade in Iceland, Denmark, the UK, Brussels, the United States and Australia and had lodged an anti-trust complaint at the European Commission.

A Wikileaks spokesman, Kristinn Hrafnsson said its website would reopen for submissions of confidential documents on 28 November.

Norfolk farmhouse

Mr Assange is in Britain awaiting a decision by the High Court on the appeal against his extradition to Sweden to face sex assault charges.

After the hearing in July, judges did not give a date for their decision on Mr Assange's bid to overturn a judgment made in February.

He fears extradition to Sweden may lead to him being sent to the United States to face separate charges relating to Wikileaks, for which he could face the death penalty.

The Australian won bail in December and has been staying at Ellingham Hall, a 10-bedroom Norfolk farmhouse owned by Vaughan Smith, director of the Frontline media club.

His bail conditions include wearing an electronic tag and daily appearances at a nearby police station.

Mr Assange describes the allegations as "without basis".

Bank of America and Mastercard have refused to comment to the BBC.

PayPal referred the BBC to a statement issued last December which said that Wikileaks had violated its "Acceptable Use Policy", specifically alleging that WikiLeaks was encouraging sources to release classified material, which was likely to be a violation of US law.

Visa Europe also said that merchants wanting to accept Visa payment must abide by its operating regulations and also the applicable laws in the country or countries where the cardholder and the merchant were based.

Fund 'would boost games industry'

23 October 2011 Last updated at 19:39 ET

The UK games industry has called on the Scottish government to establish a fund to boost the video games sector north of the border.

Games industry association Tiga has proposed a creative content fund (CCF) to encourage new studio production.

It also wants to stimulate the creation of new intellectual property.

Under the proposal, the CCF would provide funding of up to �100,000 to game developers and operate on a commercial basis.

Tiga said the measure could help put Scotland on the global map as a centre for video games development.

It claimed the country was losing out after the UK coalition government failed to introduce games tax relief, with investment and jobs going overseas to countries which have tax relief.

Tiga chief executive Richard Wilson said: "The Westminster coalition government is failing to invest in the Scottish and UK game development sector.

'Decisive leadership'

"The Scottish government now has the chance to show decisive leadership in support of the video games industry by adopting Tiga's proposal for a creative content fund.

"Tiga's proposed CCF would improve developers' access to finance, stimulate original IP (intellectual property) generation and promote studio growth.

"It would enhance the independence of developers and strengthen the prospects for the expansion of the Scottish video games industry."

He added: "In the long term it would establish Scotland as one of the best places in the UK to develop games. It would give a really powerful signal to the UK and global games industry that it's open for business."

The proposed CCF would make investment available on a matched-funding basis.

It would be entitled to recoup the money from recipients out of successful sales of the games once they had generated a certain amount of revenue and over an agreed time period, together with a defined share of the additional profits.

These profits could then be used to augment the CCF and be applied to future projects.

'Significant support'

The Scottish government said it already provided "significant support" for the games sector in Scotland, handing out more than �6.75m last year.

That figure included direct support to computer games companies from Scottish Enterprise and Creative Scotland.

A spokeswoman said: "We will continue to put pressure on the UK government to implement tax breaks, which we believe is the best way enhance the competitive edge of our computer games industry on the international stage.

"Giving Scotland control of these tax levers would be the best way of ensuring we support all our key industries."

A UK Treasury spokeswoman said the government was committed to making the UK "the best place to start, finance and grow a business" and making it an attractive location for innovative industries.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

German satellite to fall from sky

22 October 2011 Last updated at 09:59 ET

By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News

A big German spacecraft is about to make an uncontrolled fall from the sky.

The Roentgen Satellite (Rosat) is due to come back to Earth at some stage over the weekend - possibly Sunday.

Just as for Nasa's UARS satellite, which plunged into the atmosphere in September, no-one can say precisely when and where Rosat will come in.

What makes the redundant German craft's return interesting is that much more debris this time is likely to survive all the way to the Earth's surface.

Experts calculate that perhaps as much as 1.6 tonnes of wreckage - more than half the spacecraft's launch mass - could ride out the destructive forces of re-entry and hit the planet.

In the case of UARS, the probable mass of surviving material was put at only half a tonne (out of a launch mass of more than six tonnes).

The difference is due to some more robust components on the German space agency (DLR) satellite.

Rosat was an X-ray telescope mission and had a mirror system made of a reinforced carbon composite material. This mirror complex and its support structure are expected to form the largest single fragment in what could be a shower of some 30 pieces of debris to make it through to the surface.

But again, as was the case with UARS, any Rosat wreckage is strongly tipped to hit the ocean, given that so much of the Earth's surface is covered by water.

Destructive design

UARS' final resting place was tracked to a remote region of the Pacific, north-east of the Samoan islands.

Rosat could come down anywhere between 53 degrees North and South latitude - a zone that encompasses the UK in the north and the tip of South America in the south.

Future spacecraft sent into orbit may have to meet stricter guidelines that limit the amount of debris likely to fall back on to the planet, but these rules are still some way from being introduced said Prof Richard Crowther, an expert on space debris and adviser to the UK Space Agency.

"Up until now we've designed satellites to survive the harsh environment of space, and we haven't given much thought to designing them for destructive re-entry," he told BBC News.

"But in future, we will have to consider whether we have got this balance right, and perhaps satellites should be designed in such a way that we can ensure more of what comes down is destroyed in the atmosphere and doesn't hit the surface.

"Unfortunately, there is a whole legacy of spacecraft - 50 years of satellites - and we are going to have to put up with this situation for quite some time, I'm afraid."

Science success

Rosat was launched in 1990 to survey the X-ray sky. It mapped more than 100,000 sources of this high-energy radiation. X-rays tend to come from the hottest and most violent parts of the cosmos, such as the regions around exploded stars and the "edges" of black holes.

The spacecraft worked for eight-and-a-half years before its star tracker failed and it could no-longer work out its position and point correctly. It was shut down in February 1999, and has been in descent ever since. Controllers do not have any contact with the craft; all they know is its altitude and path across the sky through radar tracking.

The fall to Earth has accelerated in recent months and weeks as the spacecraft has experienced increased drag as a result of its passage through residual air molecules still found more than 200km above the planet.

The deeper it reaches, the faster Rosat will be pulled in. But without a propulsion system, the precise timing and location of its impact cannot be influenced by controllers.

Tough materials

Rosat will start to tumble rapidly when it engages the thicker parts of the atmosphere, about 80km up.

Mechanical forces will first rip off its flimsiest structures, such as its solar arrays and antennas.

The heating the satellite then experiences as it plunges downwards will deform and melt low-temperature materials and vaporise them.

Only high-temperature metals such as stainless steel and titanium will put up much resistance.

Tracking stations will typically witness the uncontrolled return of at least one piece of space debris every day; and on average, one intact defunct spacecraft or old rocket body will come back into the atmosphere every week.

Something the size of Nasa's UARS satellite is seen to enter uncontrolled perhaps once a year.

Much larger objects such as space station cargo ships return from orbit several times a year, but they are equipped with thrusters capable of guiding their dive into a remote part of the Southern Ocean.

Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

Friday, October 21, 2011

Galileo sat-nav rides into orbit

21 October 2011 Last updated at 06:31 ET

By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News

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The Soyuz rocket carrying the first two satellites lifts off from the base in French Guiana

Europe's first satellite-navigation spacecraft are heading into orbit.

The two Galileo satellites were launched by a Russian Soyuz rocket from its new base in French Guiana at 07:30 local time (10:30 GMT; 11:30 BST).

The European Commission (EC) is investing billions of euros in its own version of the American GPS system.

It expects Galileo to bring significant returns to EU nations in the form of new businesses that can exploit precise space-borne timing and location data.

The Soyuz mission is a long one - it will be several hours before confirmation is received that the satellite pair have been put in their correct orbit 23,000km above the Earth.

The spacecraft are pathfinders for the Galileo system as a whole.

Together with another pair of satellites to be lofted next year, they will prove that Galileo works as designed, from the spacecraft in the sky to all the control and management operations on the ground.

"This phase is called in-orbit validation - IOV," said Javier Benedicto, the Galileo project manager at the European Space Agency (Esa), the EC's technical agent on the project.

"The intention is to test and verify the various system functionalities and the ultimate system performance," he told BBC News.

Deployment of the full Galileo system is likely to take most of the decade.

A large antenna will transmit signals to users on the ground
Distress signals are picked up by a search and rescue antenna
Another antenna receives information on the status of Galileo
The spacecraft is controlled from the ground via telecommands
Sensors make sure the satellite is always pointing at Earth
Further sensors keep an eye on where the Sun is in the sky
A laser retroreflector can determine the satellite's exact height
Radiators expel excess heat to protect electronics from overheating

Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

Jobs vowed to 'destroy' Android

21 October 2011 Last updated at 05:40 ET

Steve Jobs said he wanted to destroy Android and would spend all of Apple's money and his dying breath if that is what it took to do so.

The full extent of his animosity towards Google's mobile operating system is revealed in a forthcoming authorised biography.

Mr Jobs told author Walter Isaacson that he viewed Android's similarity to iOS as "grand theft".

Apple is suing several smartphone makers which use the Android software.

According to extracts of Mr Isaacson's book, obtained by the Associated Press, Mr Jobs said: "I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this."

He is also quoted as saying: "I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong."

Sour times

Apple enjoyed a close relationship with Google prior to the launch of the Android system. Google products, including maps and search formed a key part of the iPhone's ecosystem.

"Start Quote

I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this."

End Quote Steve Jobs Apple co-founder

At that time, Google's chief executive, now chairman, Eric Schmidt also sat on the board of Apple.

However, relations began to sour when Google unveiled Android in November 2007, 10 months after the iPhone first appeared.

In subsequent years Apple rejected a number of Google programs from its App store, forcing the company to create less-integrated web app versions.

Android has subsequently enjoyed rapid adoption and now accounts for around 48% of global smartphone shipments, compared to 19% for Apple.

But its growth has not gone uncontested. Apple has waged an aggressive proxy-war against Android, suing a number of the hardware manufacturers which have adopted it for their tablets and smartphones.

Motorola was one of the first to be targeted, although it is Samsung that has borne the brunt of Mr Jobs' ire.

The South Korean firm is currently banned from selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia and Germany because of a combination of patent infringements and "look and feel" similarities. A smartphone ban is also pending in the Netherlands.

Samsung it counter-suing Apple for infringing, it claims, several wireless technology patents which it holds the rights to.

Defence mechanism

Patents blogger Florian Mueller, who has been following the court cases closely, said Apple would be conscious of its past, where other companies exploited some of its early ideas.

"If Apple doesn't want the iPhone and iPad to be marginalized the way it happened to the Macintosh at the hands of the Wintel duopoly, it has to use the full force of its intellectual property to fend off the commoditization threat that Android represents," he told BBC News.

Mr Mueller was also critical of Eric Schmidt's dual role at the time: "The fact that Eric Schmidt stayed on Apple's board while he was preparing an iOS clone was an inexcusable betrayal of Steve Jobs' trust."

Mr Schmidt resigned from the Apple board in August 2009. He was later quoted by Bloomberg as saying: "I was on the board until I couldn't stay on the board anymore."

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Mobile phone cancer link rejected

20 October 2011 Last updated at 21:11 ET By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News

Further research has been published suggesting there is no link between mobile phones and an brain cancer.

The risk mobiles present has been much debated over the past 20 years as use of the phones has soared.

The latest study led by the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology in Denmark looked at more than 350,000 people with mobile phones over an 18-year period.

Researchers concluded users were at no greater risk than anyone else of developing brain cancer.

The findings, published on the British Medical Journal website, come after a series of studies have come to similar conclusions.

'Reassuring'

But there has also been some research casting doubt on mobile phone safety, prompting the World Health Organization to warn that they could still be carcinogenic.

In doing so, the WHO put mobile phones in the same category as coffee, meaning a link could not be ruled out but could not be proved either.

The Department of Health continue to advise that anyone under the age of 16 should use mobile phones only for essential purposes and keep all calls short.

"Start Quote

These results are the strongest evidence yet that using a mobile phone does not seem to increase the risk of cancers of the brain or central nervous system in adults"

End Quote Hazel Nunn Cancer Research UK

The Danish study, which built on previous research that has already been published by carrying out a longer follow-up, found there was no significant difference in rates of brain or central nervous system cancers among those who had mobiles and those that did not.

Of the 358,403 mobile phone owners looked at, 356 gliomas (a type of brain cancer) and 846 cancers of the central nervous system were seen - both in line with incidence rates among those who did not own a mobile.

Even among those who had had mobiles the longest - 13 years or more - the risk was no higher, the researchers concluded.

But they still said mobile phone use warranted continued follow up to ensure cancers were not developing over the longer term, and to see what the effect was in children.

Hazel Nunn, head of evidence and health information at Cancer Research UK, said: "These results are the strongest evidence yet that using a mobile phone does not seem to increase the risk of cancers of the brain or central nervous system in adults."

Prof Anders Ahlbom, from Sweden's Karolinska Institute, praised the way the study was conducted, adding the findings were "reassuring".

Prof David Spiegelhalter, an expert specialising in the understanding of risk who is based at the University of Cambridge, said: "The mobile phone records only go up to 1995 and so the comparison is mainly between early and late adopters, but the lack of any effect on brain tumours is still very important evidence."

And Prof Malcolm Sperrin, director of medical physics at Royal Berkshire Hospital, said: "The findings clearly reveal that there is no additional overall risk of developing a cancer in the brain although there does seem to be some minor, and not statistically significant, variations in the type of cancer."

But the researchers themselves do accept there were some limitations to the study, including the exclusion of "corporate subscriptions", thereby excluding people who used their phones for business purposes, who could be among the heaviest users.

Libel 'threat' to web anonymity

20 October 2011 Last updated at 03:22 ET By Emma Griffiths Political reporter, BBC News

Websites should have protection from defamation cases if they act quickly to remove anonymous postings which prompt a complaint, a report says.

A joint parliamentary committee says it wants a "cultural shift" so that posts under pseudonyms are not considered "true, reliable or trustworthy".

It says websites which identify authors and publish complaints alongside comments should get legal protection.

But Mumsnet said the proposal could have a "chilling effect" on websites.

The report by the joint committee of MPs and peers who examined the draft defamation bill covers a wide range of defamation issues.

Its recommendations - including more protection for scientists and academics writing in peer-reviewed journals and more work on reducing "unacceptably" high costs of libel cases by encouraging more to be resolved through mediation - have been welcomed by the Libel Reform Campaign.

'Entirely legitimate'

The committee also proposes a new "notice and take-down procedure" for defamatory online comments - aimed at providing a quick remedy for those who are defamed and to give websites which use the procedure more legal protection.

Under the current law, websites are liable for defamatory statements made by their users. If they fail to take down a post when they receive a complaint, they risk being treated as the "primary publisher" of the statement.

"Start Quote

Anonymity may encourage free speech but it also discourages responsibility"

End Quote Draft Defamation Bill Committee

The report says many "entirely legitimate" comments may be removed by websites who are keen to avoid legal liability.

It recommends that where complaints are made about comments from identified authors - the website should promptly publish a notice of the complaint alongside it.

The complainant can then apply to a court for a "take-down" order - which if granted, should result in the comment being removed, if the website is to avoid the risk of a defamation claim.

But where potentially defamatory comments are anonymous, the website should immediately remove them on receipt of a complaint, unless the author agrees to identify themselves, the report says.

'Mischievous and malicious'

The author of the comment can then be sued for defamation but if a website refuses to take down an anonymous remark it "should be treated as its publisher and face the risk of libel proceedings".

The report also says a website could apply to a court for a "leave up" order - if it considers the anonymous comment to be on a matter of "significant" public interest.

"Start Quote

If you think all anonymity is bad you could end up with unintended consequences of removing peer-to-peer support, in particular around sensitive issues"

End Quote Mumsnet spokeswoman

The committee criticises comments made anonymously, which it says "may encourage free speech but it also discourages responsibility" and sets out moves it hopes will lead to a "cultural shift towards a general recognition that unidentified postings are not to be treated as true, reliable or trustworthy".

It says the aim of its proposal is to reduce damage "inflicted by the mischievous and the malicious".

But Mumsnet, a parenting website, says many of its members rely on the ability to ask questions or post comments anonymously.

Many of the women posting messages do so under a "user name", rather than their real name - and the site is worried the proposal will mean more people demanding messages be taken down.

Its co-founder, Justine Roberts said while it was right to stop people from "assassinating the character of others from behind the cloak of anonymity" the report did not recognise how useful anonymous postings were "in allowing people to speak honestly about difficult real-life situations".

"The recommendations could have a chilling effect on sites like Mumsnet where many thousands of people use anonymity to confidentially seek and give advice about sensitive real-life situations."

In 2007, the website settled a libel case with Gina Ford, author of the Contented Little Babies book, over comments posted about her by its users.

A spokeswoman said they received about 10 complaints a month about comments on the site - and "two or three big ones a year" - often from small companies who have been reviewed by its members. It often agrees to take comments down.

But she said anonymous posts were important to the site - for example in its campaign for better care for women who have miscarried, where they have had a midwife and doctor making anonymous contributions.

"What we're really keen to do is to say there is some value in it [anonymous posts] and that is very different to being an anonymous troll and waging war on someone.

"If you think all anonymity is bad you could end up with unintended consequences of removing peer-to-peer support, in particular around sensitive issues."

ARM chip promises cheaper phones

19 October 2011 Last updated at 16:32 ET

UK chip designer ARM has unveiled a new processor, which should allow manufacturers to make cheaper smartphones.

The company hopes the Cortex A7 will enable a mobile computing revolution in developing countries where current technologies are often unaffordable.

Consumers in developed countries should also see a benefit.

The ultra-efficient chip can be paired with more powerful processors in a "hybrid" model to reduce power use.

ARM's designs are used in approximately 95% of the world's smartphones.

A range of big name manufacturers have already signed-up to use the A7 processor along with the company's "big.LITTLE" architecture.

Samsung, LG, NVidia and Texas Instruments were among those to throw their weight behind the technology.

Apple is also known to make use of ARM-designed chips in its mobile devices, although it has historically been reluctant to say so publicly.

Smaller and cheaper

Used as the sole processor in a smartphone, the A7 is said to offer comparable power to current chips at a fraction of the price, while consuming much less battery power.

Its silicon core is only one-fifth of the size of existing technologies, allowing a reduced production price, according to ARM chief executive Warren East.

"You typically make chips on a silicon wafer and it costs roughly the same amount of money for each wafer. If you can get 2,000 devices on a wafer or 1,000 devices on a wafer it makes a huge difference to the cost per device," he told BBC News.

"We can see the developed world moving on and mobile being the nexus for all sort of consumer electronics. In the Bric countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) we are seeing catch-up.

"As we look forward these smartphones are going to be totally ubiquitous and in the much less developed areas, such as Africa, you will see smartphones becoming tools that people use to make their lives easier."

Mr East said that the trend would happen regardless of intervention, but cheaper devices would greatly accelerate that, enabling smartphones to be produced for under $100 (�60) by 2013 or 2014.

Little and large

In countries where price is less of an issue, the Cortex A7 may be combined with high end mobile processors to offer a powerful, yet energy-efficient package, ARM said.

For less demanding tasks such as checking in the background for email and social networking updates, the A7 processor would handle the work.

Using a technology known as big.LITTLE, the phone would instantly switch over to chips such as the Cortex-A15 when more horsepower was needed.

"It's not just trying to solve the issue of doing yet another CPU with higher performance," said Avner Goren, general manager of Omap strategy at Texas Instruments, one of ARM's clients.

"I don't need massive processing all the time, I need it only some of the time, and for the rest I can use A7. This allows me now to continue the path to more and more powerful devices but without sacrificing battery life."

Although ARM currently enjoys a dominant position in the smartphone and tablet markets, the Cambridge-based firm is facing the prospect of stiff competition from Intel, which has recently entered the mobile processor business.

Its Sandy Bridge and forthcoming Ivy Bridge processors are also aimed at the smartphone and tablet markets.

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