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.

Continue reading the main story

"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."

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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.

Continue reading the main story

"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.

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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.

Continue reading the main story

"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.

Continue reading the main story

"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."

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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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Researchers warn of new Stuxnet

19 October 2011 Last updated at 08:25 ET

Researchers have found evidence that the Stuxnet worm, which alarmed governments around the world, could be about to regenerate.

Stuxnet was a highly complex piece of malware created to spy on and disrupt Iran's nuclear programme.

No-one has identified the worm authors but the finger of suspicion fell on the Israeli and US governments.

The new threat, Duqu is, according to those who discovered it, "a precursor to a future Stuxnet-like attack".

Its discovery was made public by security firm Symantec, which in turn was alerted to the threat by one of its customers.

Symantec looked at samples of the threat gathered from computer systems located in Europe.

Initial analysis of the worm found that parts of Duqu are nearly identical to Stuxnet and suggested that it was written by either the same authors or those with access to the Stuxnet source code.

"Unlike Stuxnet, Duqu does not contain any code related to industrial control systems and does not self-replicate," Symantec said in its blog.

"The threat was highly targeted towards a limited number of organisations for their specific assets."

In other words, Duqu is not designed to attack industrial systems, such as Iran's nuclear production facilities, as was the case with Stuxnet, but rather to gather intelligence for a future attack.

The code has, according to Symantec, been found in a "limited number of organisations, including those involved in the manufacturing of industrial control systems".

Symantec's chief technology officer Greg Day told the BBC that the code was highly sophisticated.

"This isn't some hobbyist, it is using bleeding-edge techniques and that generally means it has been created by someone with a specific purpose in mind," he said.

Whether that is state-sponsored and politically motivated is not clear at this stage though.

"If it is the Stuxnet author it could be that they have the same goal as before. But if code has been given to someone else they may have a different motive," Mr Day said.

He added that there was "more than one variant" of Duqu.

"It looks as if they are tweaking and fine-tuning it along the way," he said.

The worm also removes itself from infected computers after 36 days, suggesting that it is designed to remain more hidden than its predecessor.

The code used a "jigsaw" of components including a stolen Symantec digital certificate, said Mr Day.

"We provide digital certificates to validate identity and this certificate was stolen from a customer in Taiwan and reused," said Mr Day.

The certificate in question has since been revoked by Symantec.

Cyber warfare

The discovery of the Stuxnet worm was a game-changer in the world of malware and forced governments around the world to beef up the security behind critical systems such as power and water.

It brought the issues of cyber warfare, government-to-government espionage and cyber terrorism firmly to the top of the agenda.

Experts who have studied the Stuxnet worm say that it was configured to damage motors used in uranium-enrichment centrifuges by sending them spinning out of control.

Iran later admitted that some of its centrifuges had been sabotaged although it downplayed the significance of Stuxnet in that.

Stuxnet is not the only example of malware designed to cause government-level disruption.

In 2009 China was accused of spying on Google and in the summer US defence firm Lockheed Martin was victim of a "significant cyber-attack" although it said that none of its programmes had been compromised.

This week the US Department for Homeland Security warned that politically-motivated hackers such as the Anonymous co-operative could begin to target industrial control systems.

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Android shows Ice Cream Sandwich

19 October 2011 Last updated at 07:26 ET

Google has unveiled the latest version of its industry-leading Android smartphone software.

Ice Cream Sandwich adds a range of new features and a redesigned interface.

The system was launched in partnership with Samsung, whose Galaxy Nexus handset will be the first to use it.

Android's main rival, Apple, released an update to its iOS software last week, although many owners were unable to download it immediately due to overwhelming demand.

Ice Cream Sandwich - also known as Android 4.0 - follows the tradition of naming versions after cakes, confectionary or frozen desserts.

Previous releases have been codenamed Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo and Gingerbread.

Design changes for Android 4.0 include:

• Replacing physical buttons on devices with equivalent on-screen icons.
• New lock screen features - the ability to access camera and notifications.
• Ability to group apps and shortcuts by dragging icons onto each other.
• Redesigned multi-tasking screen. Applications are represented by scrollable tiles.

Other software changes include:

• Face recognition unlocking. Rather than entering a pattern code as in previous versions, users can opt to look into their camera.
• Enhanced email capability - support for nested subfolders
• Android Beam - users can swap web content or links to apps by touching their phones together.
• Enhanced voice input featuring a continuously open microphone - meaning phones listen out for instructions.

Phoney war

Android - which is owned by Google - and Apple are continually leap-frogging each other in terms of design and functions, as both compete for customers in the fast-growing global smartphone market.

According to figures published by Canalsys in August, Android handsets accounted for 48% of smartphones shipped to retailers, compared to 19% for Apple devices. However, many more Android models are available, from manufacturers such as HTC, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.

The fierce competition has, on occasion, brought the two sides into direct conflict.

Apple and Samsung are currently engaged in a number of legal battles, around the world, some of which involve claims of patent infringement and "copying" of device look and feel.

To date, Apple has obtained injunctions on Samsung Galaxy tablets being sold in Germany and Australia, with a ban on some smartphones due to come into effect in the Netherlands.

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Apple full year profits rise 85%

18 October 2011 Last updated at 17:28 ET

The world's biggest technology company Apple has reported full year results, showing net profit for the year to 25 September at $25.9bn (�16.5bn), up 85% from the previous year.

Even that was not enough to satisfy Wall Street, with the shares falling nearly 5% in after-hours trading.

There was some disappointment with the fourth quarter of the year, when no major new products were released.

It is the first set of results since the death of co-founder Steve Jobs.

In the fourth quarter of the year, Apple sold 17.1 million iPhones, which was a 21% increase on the same period last year, and 11.1 million iPads, which was a 166% increase.

But analysts had been expecting iPhone sales of 20 million in the quarter.

Apple said sales were hurt in September by customers waiting for the new version, the iPhone 4S, which was released on 14 October.

It sold four million of the new models in the first three days after launch.

"The numbers came in weak. They need to set records every time they report to keep up the momentum," said Colin Gillis, analyst at BGC Partners.

Apple sold 4.9 million Mac computers in the quarter - up 27% over the same period last year.

"The numbers are actually quite good. The reason why the stock is off - I think some of the analysts got carried away," said Shaw Wu, analyst at Sterne Agee.

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Warning over web security attack

18 October 2011 Last updated at 06:17 ET

A key web security system is no better defended now than when hackers undermined it earlier this year.

So said Taher Elgamal, creator of the SSL (Secure Socket Layer) technology that is used to keep many different types of web transaction safe.

SSL came under attack in September when hackers stole credentials that let them pose as almost any web firm.

The stolen credentials were used to eavesdrop on the Gmail accounts of about 300,000 people.

Big target

The credentials, known as certificates, were stolen from Dutch security firm DigiNotar. The attack is believed to have been carried out by the same hackers who stole certificates from Comodo in March 2011.

In both cases, the attackers used their fake credentials to get at the web communications of people in Iran. Experts believe the hacks were carried out by the Iranian government to spy on the use of social media to organise protests by citizens.

A similar attack could be used by cyber thieves who wanted to pose as a bank or web shop to steal cash and credit card information from users.

Despite the two incidents and a claim by the hackers that they had access to four other firms that issue SSL certificates, little has been done to defend against these sorts of attacks, said Dr Elgamal, who is now chief technology officer at Axway.

"It could happen again," he said. "There's no back-up plan, which is generally a bad security model."

Dr Elgamal first developed SSL while working at Netscape and its usefulness led to it being adopted as a standard web technology known as Transport Layer Security (TLS) by the Internet Engineering Task Force.

The system guarantees the identity of a website via certificates that are issued by trusted authorities. It is used millions of times every day to re-assure people that they are connecting to the site they think they are.

The problem of what to do when certificate issuers were compromised never came up when the original work was being done on SSL/TLS, said Dr Elgamal.

"Nobody asked the question of what to do if a certificate authority turns out to be bad," he said.

The problem, he said, was not so much with the technology as it was with the firms issuing the certificates.

"There's way too many of them," he said.

However, said Dr Elgamal, TLS was not a static technology and in fact was regularly updated to tackle some of the shortcomings found by good and bad hackers

"It's a big target," he said. "Of course we could design a new one but I don't see what the point of that is as it would just become the next big target."

He pointed to updates to TLS which, if widely implemented by browser makers, could defend it from another attack.

"The fact that TLS has stood the test of time and there's been problems and the community has worked to fix them tells me it's a reasonable technology," he said.

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Machine vision spots rotten fruit

18 October 2011 Last updated at 10:57 ET By Katia Moskvitch Technology reporter, BBC News

A machine that uses artificial vision and UV rays to scan through citrus fruits and get rid of rotten ones has been developed in Spain.

Usually the inspection is done manually in dark rooms, also using UV light.

But this type of light can harm workers' eyes and skin, so they must wear protective clothing and goggles.

The team from the Valencian Institute of Agrarian Research said that their technology could eliminate these risks.

The researchers describe the study in the journal Food and bioprocess technology.

Health risks

Detecting rotten citrus fruit is tricky, as interior decay is not visible to the naked eye.

That is why traditionally, workers use ultraviolet light - and when the essential oils of the decayed citrus rind react with UV rays, the fruits emit fluorescence.

But although there is usually a good chance that the oranges and mandarins that present spots of fluorescence turn out to be rotten, it is not always the case.

Florescence can be produced by defects other than decay, and thus workers often need to examine the fruit manually as well.

They must wear gloves and special goggles, and should not stay in the dark room too long.

"The biological effect of UV rays is very bad for the health," said Gregory Varennes of Roda Iberica, the company responsible for introducing the technology into the market.

"According to the tolerable radiation limits of the UV light lamps, operators must not remain in the dark room for more than one hour - but often they stay in there for longer periods.

And this labour also represents a considerable cost for the company, added Mr Varennes.

Early detection

So to avoid workers' UV exposure, Professor Jose Blasco of the Valencian Institute of Agrarian Research and his colleagues decided to let a machine do the job.

"Our system captures the images of the fruits inside an inspection chamber illuminated only with black light," he said.

"If the fruit is infected, it will show a spot of fluorescence, which is like a small right circle in the middle of the dark.

"The machine then uses image analysis techniques that are combined with UV to confirm the detection."

He added that fruit decay was one of the main causes of lost profits in the industry - meaning that detecting infected fruits as soon as possible and removing them from the rest of the pack was crucial.

The team has also developed another, similar mechanism that classifies citrus fruits on the production line according to their quality, colouring and the type of damage that the skin presents - at a speed of 15 to 20 pieces of fruit per second.

Thus, first class fruits that are destined for more demanding markets are separated from second class fruits that are perfectly edible despite having some small defects such as visible scratches.

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HTC loses Apple patent case in US

18 October 2011 Last updated at 00:01 ET

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC has been dealt a big blow in its legal battle with Apple involving patent infringement claims.

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has ruled that Apple did not violate patents as claimed by HTC in a complaint lodged last year.

HTC had asked the court to ban imports of several Apple products in to the US citing patent infringements.

HTC's shares fell as much as 6% after the ruling.

The case involved four patents held by HTC related to protecting data, storing contact information and managing the phone's power supply.

'Confident'

The judgement is another setback for HTC which is involved in a long and bitter battle with Apple.

In July this year, the Taiwanese phonemaker was found to have infringed two iPhone patents in a case brought by Apple at the ITC.

However, HTC said that despite the judgement, it was sticking to its claims.

"This is only one step of many in these legal proceedings. We are confident we have a strong case for the ITC appeals process and are fully prepared to protect our intellectual property," said Grace Lei, HTC's general counsel.

"We look forward to resolving this case, so we can continue creating the most innovative mobile experiences for consumers."

A full commission of the ITC is expected to decide in February, whether to uphold or reject the judge's decision.

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