UK PM hails growth of Tech City

10 November 2011 Last updated at 08:48 ET

The British Prime Minister has unveiled an interactive map of East London's technology cluster, revealing more than 600 firms in the area.

The Tech City map highlights the expansion of Old Street's "silicon roundabout". By comparison there were around 200 tech firms based there last year.

The government said it was acting to support the area's success.

However, some businesses claimed they did not want the attention.

"One year ago we made a major commitment to helping the tech cluster in East London grow," said David Cameron.

"The successful growth we see today is thanks to the talented, creative entrepreneurs who have decided to set up there.

"As a government, we are determined to continue doing everything we can to help support and accelerate this growth."

Support

Downing Street highlighted a 225% rise in the research and development tax credit offered to small and medium sized enterprises, a doubling of capital gains tax relief to �10m for start-up owners and an "Entrepreneur Visa" to help attract talent.

The government is now asking investors and business leaders to tell it what else can be done to cut red tape.

It hopes the cluster will continue to expand further east to the capital's new district, Olympic Park.

Telecoms equipment maker, Cisco, used the occasion to announce it is partnering with a local university to create a centre to research "smart infrastructure".

Intel also revealed it will create a high performance computing cluster to offer local firms the chance to sample its latest technologies.

'Go Away'

Online music service Songkick tweeted that "Our CTO just met with David Cameron to discuss Tech City, apparently 'he was genuinely engaged in helping tech start-ups'".

However, others expressed reservations about all the interest.

"The cluster has arisen spontaneously. It's at a delicate early stage," Andy Bell, chief creative officer of Mint Digital, wrote in a company blog.

"It takes an arrogance for the government to assume that its heavy hand can help it grow. The best thing the government can do is get out of our hair and use the money to reduce their funding gap or, if they really want, throw a big party."

Other tech firms said that they were concerned local rents were starting to rise as big industry players - such as Google - moved into the area.

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Warcraft suffers subscriber slump

10 November 2011 Last updated at 06:19 ET

Almost a million people have stopped paying for World of Warcraft in the last three months.

The sharp drop in subscribers was revealed by Activision Blizzard during talks with analysts about its latest financial results.

At the end of September, WoW had about 10.3 million subscribers, down from 11.1 million at the end of June.

Experts put the decline down to competition from new titles but said WoW was still very resilient.

Free fight

World of Warcraft's subscriber numbers have been on a steady decline from the peak of 12 million they hit in 2010.

Blizzard's boss, Mike Morhaime, said the biggest decline in player numbers was seen in the Asia Pacific region, with significant falls in China.

He said Blizzard had expected to lose subscribers over the last few months as the keenest players exhausted the fresh content that the Cataclysm expansion added to the game in late 2010.

Despite this, claimed Mr Morhaime, WoW remained the most popular subscription game in the world.

WoW has kept its subscription model even though there has been a general move to free-to-play by its rivals. These include Warhammer, Lord of the Rings Online and DC Universe Online.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Its 10 million plus player-base remains hugely significant"

End Quote John Walker Rock Paper Shotgun

Blizzard has gone some way to embracing this change by letting gamers play for free via an account that limits them to WoW's opening sections, caps how much cash they can accumulate, and restricts what they can do with characters.

The game maker has also unveiled ways to make sure veteran players stay involved. Last month it announced players who commit to a new 12 month subscription would get a free copy of Diablo III, early access to the next expansion for WoW, and a flying horse to ride around in the game.

Despite the decline in players of Wow, Activision Blizzard's results were strong with record third-quarter results up 16% over the same period in 2010.

Games journalist John Walker from gaming site Rock Paper Shotgun said WoW had weathered similar dips in the past when there were other strong titles gamers wanted to play.

At the moment WoW faces competition from games such as Arkham City, Skyrim, Battlefield 3 and Activision's own Modern Warfare 3.

"People tend to only want to give their monthly tithe to one game, and so they'll often slip away to see what's new, before slinking back to Warcraft," he said.

But, he added, the fact that millions still regularly played a seven-year-old game showed its resilience.

"If anything, WoW's persistent success with its subscription model is actually bucking any trend that we may be seeing, even if the numbers have dipped slightly," he said.

"While it's offering a sort of faux free-to-play model for its early stages now, there's no doubt that its 10 million plus player-base remains hugely significant."

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ARM unveils new GPU chip design

9 November 2011 Last updated at 20:43 ET By Leo Kelion Technology reporter

British computer chip designer ARM has unveiled its latest graphics processing unit (GPU) for mobile devices.

The Mali-T658 offers up to ten times the performance of its predecessor.

It paves the way for faster games and other more complex software on smartphones and tablet computers.

ARM hopes to expand its share of a rapidly-growing market. Demand for its mobile GPU designs lags behind that for its central processing units (CPUs).

The most high-profile use of its GPU to date is in Samsung's award winning Galaxy 2 handsets. They use chips based on the T658's older brother, the Mali-400 MP.

A recent review by the influential website AnandTech rated the 400 MP the fastest GPU available in a smartphone today.

ARM says manufacturers are likely to have its new design in use in around two years.

"It all comes down to user experience," said Jem Davies at ARM's Media Processing Division.

"Faster graphics performance with snappier, more responsive user interfaces, more immersive game play and a whole range of new applications which are being enabled by the capabilities of GPU computing."

Calculations

GPU cores offer specialised processing capabilities that bolster the power of the main CPU.

A GPU's key function is to take all the polygon co-ordinates described by a piece of graphics software and work out how to draw, colour and shade them. It then uses this information to determine what colour each pixel of the screen should be as the image changes dozens of times every second.

The more powerful the GPU, the more detail is possible. Top of the range games can require millions of polygons on screen at the same time to create 3D-like environments.

To maximise performance, manufacturers can link several GPUs together.

ARM's previous design allowed up to four cores to be connected.

The Mali-T658 doubles the maximum to eight, with each core offering double the arithmetic capability of its forerunner.

"It's all about power," said Mr Davies.

"The idea is that when the full performance is required, you power up all of those cores. But having a multi-core architecture means that when the performance needs are lower, we can power some of those cores down."

This allows ARM to play to one of its strengths - its reputation for lower energy consumption.

Console quality graphics

The firm claims the new technology will offer battery-powered mobile handsets roughly the same graphics performance as Sony's Playstation 3 console.

However, its rival Imagination Technologies has made similar assertions about its upcoming PowerVR designs. Like ARM, the firm is headquartered in the UK. Its current architecture is used by Apple in its iPhone and iPad products.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

More immersive game play and a whole range of new applications... are being enabled by the capabilities of GPU computing"

End Quote Jem Davies ARM Holdings

California-based NVIDIA and Qualcomm also talk up their GeForce and Adreno technologies.

But whatever the firms' claims, customer expectations are hard to beat.

"You have cinema, you have high definition, you have hugely complex CGI movies on HD screens in your lounge," said Ian Smythe, director of marketing at ARM's Media Processing division.

"You expect this high quality experience from every screen that you look at. And so the user experience has to be of that sort of quality.

"Reproducing a CGI movie - which is generated on a server farm where it takes a day to render a frame with 50,000 processors - being able to reproduce that in a mobile experience is clearly a challenge."

Speech recognition

GPUs are particularly good at what are termed "parallisable" tasks - processes that can be broken down into several parts and run simultaneously because the outcome of any one calculation does not determine the input of another.

This is particularly suited for applications offering augmented reality, allowing users to overlay graphical information over live images of whatever their devices' cameras are facing.

Other potential uses include image processing, pattern matching and speech recognition.

Competition among the GPU designers is helping drive computing power to new heights, making possible processes unthinkable on previous generations of handsets.

However, developers need to code their software to take advantage of the graphics processors if they are to make the most of the accelerated performance on offer.

That is a challenge when different devices use different designs.

"At the moment many of the speech recognition applications that are out there are solely relying on the CPU," said Mr Davies.

"Very few are taking advantage of the acceleration of the GPU - and that's clearly an area of growth for us."

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.wales domain name wins support

9 November 2011 Last updated at 11:17 ET

A survey of Welsh businesses and consumers suggests a majority of both support the nation getting its own domain name.

The move would offer website owners the chance to end their address with .wales and .cymru, instead of .uk.

Internet regulator ICANN will allow countries and other organisations to apply for the new names from January.

Supporters say it could help with branding, but critics warn it may increase the opportunity for fraud.

The poll was commissioned by the not-for-profit domain registry service Nominet. It suggests 69% of consumers backed the move and 59% of Welsh businesses and other bodies.

The poll used a sample of 1,003 individuals - 21% of whom were Welsh speakers - and 250 senior decision makers in Welsh organisations

However the survey suggested splits over which name to take.

"On the consumer side there was a slightly higher preference for .cymru," Nominet's director of business development, Glenn Hayward, told the BBC.

"Among businesses there was a much stronger preference for .wales to help them market themselves outside of the country."

Costs

Nominet suggests one solution would be for the both name to be registered. Website addresses ending in either suffix could then direct users to the same place.

However, ICANN is charging $185,000 (�116,045) per application and is refusing to let Wales be a special case.

The Welsh business minister, Edwina Hart, said last week that she is not considering paying for either application.

Nominet is in discussions to cover the costs and says it would set up a local office if its efforts succeed.

However, a rival bidder, dotCYM, says giving Nominet control would amount to selling off the country's identity.

Benefits

The London Economics Wales consultancy carried out the poll as part of a wider study.

"A Welsh domain name can play a positive supporting role in activities aimed at raising the brand profile of Wales and encouraging exports and inward investment," the report says.

"It can also provide a constant stream of low level but free advertising."

However the study also warns that such publicity comes at a price.

It says businesses and other brand owners will need to take defensive measures to prevent third parties operating sites with their name. They will also face additional marketing costs to publicise their new addresses.

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Adobe job cuts cloud Flash future

9 November 2011 Last updated at 06:39 ET

Software developer Adobe Systems is cutting 750 jobs, while reports say it is halting development of its Flash Player plug-in for mobile devices.

The firm said the job cuts were being made in Europe and North America and represented more than 7% of the company's workforce.

The firm said it was axing the posts to help it put more focus on digital media and digital marketing.

It had no comment about the Flash Player report.

Flash is used to run movies, games and other applications. The plug-in works on Android devices and Blackberry's Playbook tablet, but Apple has barred it from iPhones and iPads.

Apple's late former chief executive, Steve Jobs, attacked the code for being unreliable, a security threat and a drain on battery life.

Adobe responded by saying the plug-in would "continue to be the dominant tool" for media on the internet.

However, reviewers also criticised its performance on other devices and Microsoft recently announced it would not support the product on the tablet interface of its upcoming Windows 8 browser.

Leak reported

Tech website ZDNet said it had seen an email briefing sent by Adobe to its partners.

"We will no longer adapt Flash Player for mobile devices to new browser, OS version of device configurations," it read.

"Some of our source code licensees may opt to continue working on and releasing their own implementations. We will continue to support the current Android and Playbook configurations with critical bug fixes and security updates."

The report said the firm would now focus on the alternative HTML5 technology and its own AIR product.

A spokeswoman for Adobe was unable to confirm the report.

Adobe is expected to give more details later in the day at its annual analysts' conference.

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More ISPs asked to block Newzbin2

9 November 2011 Last updated at 07:21 ET

Virgin Media, Sky and TalkTalk have been asked to block access to Newzbin2, a members-only group which provides links to pirated films and music.

BT has already barred its customers from accessing the site, following a court case brought by the Motion Picture Association.

The MPA is now extending its net in a UK-wide crackdown on piracy.

TalkTalk said it was "considering its response". Sky and Virgin Media signalled they would obey court orders.

Legal battle

"There are some elements of the order, for instance that we have to pay the costs of implementing it, that we think are inappropriate," Andrew Heaney, head of regulatory affairs at TalkTalk, told the BBC.

BT has estimated that the block against Newzbin cost it around �5,000 to set up.

"In a sense it wouldn't be worth having a legal battle over that but it the costs get a lot more we may reserve the right to contest it in the future," Mr Heaney said.

The MPA confirmed that it had written to the major ISPs.

"We are involved in constructive discussions but we are not going to comment in detail at this stage," said an MPA spokesman.

Virgin Media acknowledged that it had also received a letter as a preliminary step towards a formal court order.

"The recent Newzbin2 ruling clarifies the legal process for content owners to challenge alleged copyright infringement," said a Virgin Media spokesman.

"As a responsible ISP, we will comply with any court order addressed to us but strongly believe such deterrents need to be accompanied by compelling legal alternatives."

Sky also indicated that it was likely to comply with any court order.

"When presented with undisputed and legally robust evidence of copyright breaches, we will take appropriate action in respect to site blocking," said a spokesman.

Workaround

The MPA has hailed the Newzbin block as a victory in its ongoing fight against piracy which it estimates costs the industry billions of pounds each year.

It has vowed to implement similar blocks against other sites offering links to pirated movies.

Newzbin said on the day that BT's block began that it was "unaffected" because it had issued a software workaround. It claimed the code was being used by over 90% of its members.

In response, the MPA said that despite ways to get around the block, it was hopeful that the move would deter the "vast majority of customers".

Web blocking appears to be the new weapon of choice for the creative industries. On 4 November BT received a letter from the BPI, the UK's music industry trade body, asking it to block access to BitTorrent file-sharing website The Pirate Bay.

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Facebook rape joke pages removed

8 November 2011 Last updated at 16:45 ET

Facebook has removed several rape joke pages from its social network.

The group pages, which included "You know she's playing hard to get when your chasing her down an alleyway" had been criticised by victim support groups.

The network said: "There is no place on Facebook for content that is hateful, threatening, or incites violence."

However, controversial postings may remain if administrators add a tag stating they are humorous or satire.

Facebook said it took the action because the pages broke its terms and conditions.

"We take reports of questionable and offensive content very seriously," the network told the BBC.

"However, we also want Facebook to be a place where people can openly discuss issues and express their views, while respecting the rights and feelings of others.

"Groups or pages that express an opinion on a state, institution, or set of beliefs - even if that opinion is outrageous or offensive to some - do not by themselves violate our policies.

"These online discussions are a reflection of those happening offline, where conversations happen freely."

Pub joke

The statement's formal language contrasts with the firm's previous comments.

In August it said: "Just as telling a rude joke won't get you thrown out of your local pub, it won't get you thrown off Facebook."

Facebook's initial reluctance to intervene prompted criticism from campaign groups. Businesses also expressed concern that their adverts were appearing on the pages.

Campaigners said they were "delighted" that the postings had been taken down. However, they said the network needed to do more.

"Simply removing the pages does not go far enough," said Jane Osmond, from the advocacy website Women's Views On News.

"The public need to know that Facebook have revised their position, rather than just removed the pages to protect their public image."

Untagged

Some of the joke pages attracted more than 190,000 "like" clicks from the website's members.

Although several postings are now offline, a search for "You know she's playing hard to get when..." still reveals many untagged pages remain.

That may change once the company decides it has given administrators enough notice to implement its rules.

"It's a tricky line for Facebook to walk," said Theresa Wise, a media consultant.

"The risk is that it becomes associated with such acts as the US government taking down Wikileaks or the Chinese restricting Google.

"On the other hand its commercial revenues depend on it not being linked to publicly odious sentiments."

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LG signs deal with patent giant

8 November 2011 Last updated at 14:43 ET

LG Electronics has become the latest smartphone maker to sign a deal with the patent house Intellectual Ventures.

IV licenses out its huge library of innovation rights rather than using them to build products of its own.

LG will be able to access IV's patents to threaten counter-attacks against any firm planning an intellectual property lawsuit.

Industry watchers say other businesses are likely to strike similar deals over the coming years.

"With companies claiming breach of patent across the board, firms can either defend every case that comes in or try to limit their exposure," said Chris Green, technology analyst at Davies Murphy Group Europe.

"Doing deals with big patent houses allows them to do the latter."

Lawsuit

The South Korean electronics firm was wounded in a previous patent battle. It had to pay Kodak $414m (�257m) in 2009 for infringing the camera maker's digital imaging rights.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

It acquires patents and does some R&D of its own. But the vast majority of its patents are bought on the secondary market"

End Quote Florian Mueller Patent consultant

"Our alliance with IV gives us access to patents outside our core and allows us the freedom to focus on what's important in our industry - innovation," said Jeong Hwan Lee, head of LG's intellectual property centre.

Patent experts say the deal may allow the firm to become more adventurous.

"LG now has the opportunity to leverage IV's large patent portfolio and more aggressively expand product offerings in novel directions," said Andrea Matwyshyn from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

Legal Rights Library

Intellectual Ventures' was set up by Nathan Myhrvold, former chief technology officer at Microsoft.

Over the past 11 years it has built up a portfolio of more than 35,000 patents covering areas such as text messaging and internet security.

The firm has signed licensing deals with HTC, RIM and Samsung among others.

However, it has also filed lawsuits against Motorola, HP, Dell and Hynix Semiconductor alleging they have infringed its rights.

"Its business model is that of an aggregator," said Florian Mueller, a patent consultant whose clients include Microsoft.

"It acquires patents and does some R&D of its own. But the vast majority of its patents are bought on the secondary market, and its business model is to license them.

"But that's not necessarily a bad thing if the technology involved is a legitimate innovation deserving patent protection."

'Trolls'

However, others are more critical of patent owners who sue others but do not produce their own goods, describing them as "patent trolls".

A Boston University study recently claimed such organisations add over $30bn in costs to industry each year and contribute little in return.

However IV defends its business model.

"Our goal is to reach productive licence agreements that give our customers access to the patents that will help them minimise risk and stay competitive," said Andy Elder, the firm's executive vice president of global licensing.

"That's especially important in crowded markets like the mobile industry. Litigation is an option we have, but we prefer to negotiate a licence that's beneficial for both companies."

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Apple store hit by malicious app

8 November 2011 Last updated at 10:07 ET

A malicious piece of software designed for iPhones and iPads has been created to show that Apple's app store is not immune to malware.

The code was designed to look like a stock price tracker, but was also able to steal data.

Experts said that the proof-of-concept program was a "significant threat" to the app store.

Apple declined to comment. It also removed the app and barred the developer from its store.

The software was created by security expert and hacker Charlie Miller to demonstrate Apple's vulnerabilities.

The firm accepted the program to its iTunes app store in September. Two months later Mr Miller revealed that it contained malware that could remotely download pictures and contacts.

"Until now you could just download everything from the app store and not worry about it being malicious. Now you have no idea what an app might do," he said.

The InstaStock app took advantage of a recent update to Apple's mobile operating system which allowed non-approved code to be added to installed apps for the first time.

A few hours after Mr Miller disclosed the flaw, he received an email from Apple which said he was barred from the iOS developer program for violating its terms and conditions.

He wrote on Twitter: "First they give researchers access to developer programs, (although I paid for mine) then they kick them out.. for doing research. Me angry."

Mr Miller has made something of a habit of exposing Apple's security flaws.

In 2009 he identified a bug in the iPhone's text-messaging system that allowed attackers to gain remote control over the devices.

He has since exposed other vulnerabilities in Apple's Mac and mobile platforms.

Mr Miller plans to present his research at a security conference in Taiwan on 17 November.

Jail-broken

The app he created was described as "the most significant threat yet to Apple's app store economy", by independent mobile analyst Ian Fogg.

"Apple has been widely criticised for the way in which it limits what code developers can use but this suggests that it was probably right to do that," he added.

To date Apple's biggest security threat has been to the minority of its devices that have been modified.

So-called jail-broken handsets appeal to more tech-savvy users who want to introduce non-Apple approved software to their handsets.

However, many experts believe Apple's app store is still more secure than many of its rivals'.

"The Android marketplace has a supply chain that is rather less controlled and therefore offers more potential to malware writers," said Graham Titterington, an analyst with research firm Ovum.

But he added that this malicious iPhone app could be "the first of many".

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Huawei and Microsoft talk patents

7 November 2011 Last updated at 21:22 ET

Chinese telecoms giant Huawei has confirmed it is in talks with Microsoft about its use of Android software.

Microsoft claims that Google's Android operating system infringes its intellectual property rights. It has already convinced Samsung, HTC and others to pay it patent royalty fees.

Huawei Device's chief marketing officer, Victor Xu, said the discussions are "in progress".

He also revealed that the firm plans to open a new design centre in London.

Huawei has picked the UK as the launch point for its international roll-out of smartphones and tablet computers.

The Shenzhen-based firm says it plans to expand into the US, Japan and India next year, and then other parts of the world in 2013.

"Over the next three years we are aiming to be in the top five smartphone makers, and in the top three in the next five years," said Mr Xu.

"We have established very aggressive targets in the market."

Design hub

To help distinguish itself Huawei is opening three design centres outside of its homeland.

The first, in London, will concentrate on the European smartphone market.

It is being run by Mark Mitchinson, a mobile industry veteran who previously worked for Nokia, Samsung and Carphone Warehouse.

"We are bringing products - more vanilla at the moment - to market, and they are going to be very affordable," he told the BBC.

"Going forward we will be developing products that are much more advanced in their look and feel," he explained. "But that will come as we develop what we are doing in terms of our London design centre."

Huawei's initial line-up includes its Blaze and Vision smartphones and a 7-inch tablet, the MediaPad.

Although the devices do not have the most advanced specifications, they are competitively priced to help deliver Huawei's target 18-34 year old market.

"Our profit margins aren't probably where we would like them to be maybe in a few years down the line," Mr Mitchinson said.

"[But] we will be making a profit on these devices. They are not loss leaders. I think the profit will probably increase as we go through in terms of how we evolve as a brand."

Patents

Huawei's mobile device roll-out could lead it into a clash with Microsoft.

The US company claims that the Android system, which is used by Huawei's devices, exploits some of its innovations.

However, Huawei's marketing chief hinted that his firm is able to defend itself.

"We always respect the intellectual property of key companies," Mr Xu said.

"At the moment we have more than 65,000 patents and we have enough instruments to protect our interests."

Microsoft said it would not comment on the status of "confidential patent licensing discussions".

Suspicion

Huawei built up its patent portfolio as it grew into the world's second-biggest network and telecoms equipment supplier.

Its products are used in 140 countries, and many analysts believe it is only a matter of time before it overtakes Sweden's Ericsson.

Huawei says that its background leaves it well placed to offer cloud-based add-on services for its devices.

However, Huawei's Chinese identity has caused suspicion in some quarters.

The US Department of Commerce barred the company from building a wireless network for its emergency services because of "national security concerns".

Earlier this week the the firm also made headlines when it confirmed it had sold telecoms equipment and a "news delivery platform" to Iran.

But Huawei says it is not worried about an image problem as it tries to become a consumer brand.

"I don't think this is a threat or a challenge," Mr Xu told the BBC. "We are using an open-source-code operating system and an open-source chipset. Everything is open."

Huawei has repeatedly denied links to the Chinese army and stressed that it is a private business.

"Why people can believe it's a threat to national security - it's nonsense," said Mr Xu.

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