Apple 'not tracking' iPhone users

27 April 2011 Last updated at 11:45 ET

Apple has denied that its iPhones and 3G iPads have been secretly recording their owners' movements.

In a website posting, the company said it had never tracked user location and had no plans to do so in future.

Security researchers claimed to have found a hidden file on the devices containing a record of everywhere they had been.

Some users managed to extract the data and plot it on maps.

More than a week after the issue came to public attention, Apple released an online question and answer document.

It said: "The iPhone is not logging your location. Rather, it's maintaining a database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers around your current location, some of which may be located more than one hundred miles away from your iPhone, to help your iPhone rapidly and accurately calculate its location when requested."

Planned fix

The document also addresses the fact - as some users discovered - that data going back months and even years was being stored.

"It shouldn't. This is a bug, which we plan to fix shortly," said Apple.

Ian Fogg, principal analyst at Forrester Research, said that the company was being uncharacteristically open about the functioning of its devices.

"I do not think that that the other [makers of mobile operating systems] have been as black and white about what they are doing with location data," he said.

While Mr Fogg believes that Apple is trying to do the right thing, he said that the company may have inadvertently created a security risk.

The fact that the location data file is stored on users' computers in an unencrypted form made it vulnerable to hackers.

Mr Fogg suggested that owners of Apple devices should go into their iTunes settings and select the option to encrypt their backups.

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7,000 employees to go from Nokia

27 April 2011 Last updated at 06:05 ET

Mobile phone manufacturer Nokia has announced it will shed 7,000 jobs as part of a plan to refocus the company on smartphones.

The firm said 4,000 jobs worldwide would be cut - including a total of 700 jobs from Nokia's UK sites.

Nokia will also transfer a further 3,000 employees to outsourcing and consultancy group Accenture, which will take over Nokia's Symbian software product.

The plan will take effect from 2012.

Nokia is hoping to increase its capacity for smartphone development.

The firm recently confirmed a deal with Microsoft to jointly develop smartphone technology.

Under the terms of that deal, Nokia agreed to start using the Microsoft's operating system on its smartphones instead of its own Symbian platform.

"With this new focus, we also will face reductions in our workforce," said Stephen Elop, Nokia president.

"This is a difficult reality, and we are working closely with our employees and partners to identify long-term re-employment programmes for the talented people of Nokia."

Nokia's response to the smartphone threat from competitors such as Apple's iPhone and phones using Google's Android system has been long been a key investor concern.

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PlayStation hacker took user info

26 April 2011 Last updated at 16:58 ET

Sony has warned users of its PlayStation Network that their personal information, including credit card details, may have been stolen.

The company said that the data might have fallen into the hands of an "unauthorised person" following a hacking attack on its online service.

Access to the network was suspended last Wednesday, but Sony has only now revealed details of what happened.

Users are being warned to look out for telephone and e-mail scams.

In a statement posted on the official PlayStation blog, Nick Caplin, the company's head of communications for Europe, said: "We have discovered that between April 17 and April 19 2011, certain PlayStation Network and Qriocity service user account information was compromised in connection with an illegal and unauthorized intrusion into our network".

The blog posting lists the personal information that Sony believes has been taken.

• Name
• Address (city, state/province, zip or postal code)
• Country
• E-mail address
• Date of birth
• PlayStation Network/Qriocity passwords and login
• Handle/PSN online ID

Mr Caplin added: "It is also possible that your profile data, including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained".

Credit cards

Sony admitted that credit card information, used to purchase games, films and music, may also have been stolen.

"While there is no evidence that credit card data was taken at this time, we cannot rule out the possibility," Mr Caplin said.

"If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, to be on the safe side we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may also have been obtained."

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Sony to launch Android tablets

26 April 2011 Last updated at 06:13 ET

Sony has announced that it plans to launch two tablet computers running Google's Android operating system.

The devices, codenamed S1 and S2, will go on sale towards the end of the year.

Android is currently the fastest growing mobile platform and is expected to claim a 38% market share by 2015.

Sony's entry into the tablet market was much anticipated, but comes relatively late in the day compared to other manufacturers.

Apple launched its first version of the industry-leading iPad in April 2010.

Its iOS system is expected to remain dominant for several years to come, albeit with a diminished share of sales.

Sony said that its first tablets would come in two form factors: one will have a conventional 9.4 inch touchscreen, while the other will feature dual 5.5 inch displays that fold closed.

In addition to the base Android Honeycomb operating system, Sony will add several of its own features, including the ability to transmit video and music to TVs and stereos using the DLNA wireless streaming standard.

The company suggested that there would also be some form of integration with its PlayStation network and the possibility of gaming functions.

Branding questions

The strength of the Sony name will likely help the electronics giant to gain some traction in the fragmented tablet market.

Faced with scores of similar devices running the same Android software, recognised brands have become an important way of differentiating quality.

However, Gartner tablet analyst Carolina Milanesi expressed surprise at the company's decision to identify the devices as purely Sony.

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"It is interesting that they come in with the Sony brand rather than Sony Ericsson," she told BBC News.

"That raises questions about what they are going to do to link their tablets to their smartphone operating system because tablet users are going to want that same experience."

Ms Milanesi suggested that Sony's tablet success would depend on whether the technical specifications looked as good when the devices eventually launch as they do now.

She said that several manufacturers, including HP, had fallen into the trap of announcing machines that bested their competition, only to find that they looked less than competitive by the time they went on sale.

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Sony takes on Apple in tablet war

26 April 2011 Last updated at 02:14 ET

The Japanese electronics maker Sony has announced its first foray into the popular tablet PC market, unveiling two new devices.

The gadgets will use Google's Android operating system, according to the company's deputy president Kunimasa Suzuki.

Sales of tablet PCs have been booming globally, led by the success of Apple's ipad.

Sony has said it wants to become a leading player in the market.

The success of ipad has seen many consumer electronics companies, like Samsung and HTC, launch their own versions of the tablet PC in an effort to capture a share of the growing market.

'Ambitious goal'

According to research firm Gartner, sales of tablet PCs are likely to quadruple in the next four years to almost 294m units.

Sony aims to become the second largest player in the segment behind Apple within one year.

However, analysts say that the electronics giant will find it tough to achieve that target.

"They don't have the starting advantage," said Manoj Menon of Frost & Sullivan.

"It is going to become an increasingly crowded market place and given the players, it is a fairly ambitious goal," he added.

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Iran &#39;uncovers espionage virus&#39;

25 April 2011 Last updated at 11:23 ET

Officials in Iran say they have found a computer virus designed to target the country's government institutions.

The malicious software - dubbed Stars - was capable of inflicting minor damage, according to the head of Iran's civil defence organisation.

If the reports are accurate, it would be the second major attack in a year.

The recently discovered Stuxnet worm is thought to have been created to take control of equipment used in Iran's nuclear programme.

It would take some time to establish Stars' intended purpose, said Gholam Reza Jalali, military head of the Iranian Passive Defence Organisation.

"The Stars virus has been presented to the laboratory but is still being investigated," he said.

"No definite final conclusions have been reached."

Mr Jalali revealed that the virus could have been "mistaken for executive files of governmental organisations", but gave no indication about who might be behind the attack.

Stuxnet

Last week, the same official suggested that Stuxnet was the work of the United States and warned that it could have caused large-scale accidents and loss of life.

Stuxnet first came to light in July 2010. Analysis by security firm Symantec showed that, while it could be transmitted via the internet, it was designed to infect specific types of industrial controllers.

The machinery in question was used to control centrifuges at Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment facility.

Most experts who have looked at the case agree, given the scale and complexity of Stuxnet, that a foreign state was probably behind its development.

Iranian officials have previously pointed the finger at the US and Israel, although no firm evidence has been produced.

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Nintendo announces Wii 2 console

25 April 2011 Last updated at 07:10 ET

Nintendo has announced it will launch a new version of its Wii console in 2012.

No technical details about the machine have been revealed, but gamers will get an early preview at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles in June.

The original Wii proved a runaway hit for Nintendo when it launched five years ago.

However, sales have been gradually declining in the face of tough competition from PlayStation, XBox 360 and mobile gaming platforms.

Wii was the first console of the current generation to offer motion controlled gameplay.

In the past year, Microsoft has introduced its Kinect system for XBox, while Sony launched PlayStation Move.

Nintendo's chief executive, Satoru Iwata suggested that his company was preparing a fresh innovation.

"It will offer a new way of playing games within the home," he said.

Gameplay

Some observers had speculated that the Wii 2 would simply update the existing machine, adding a handful of features such as high definition graphics.

However Johnny Minkley, an editor at Eurogamer.net, believes that Nintendo could be planning a broader redesign.

"The talk was about Wii HD, but I do not see Nintendo doing that. It will do something more innovative," he told BBC News.

Mr Minkley noted that Nintendo marketed the original Wii around its motion-sensing handset, rather than technical specifications - something he expects to see repeated.

"PlayStation 3 and XBox 360 were part of the graphics arms race.

"Nintendo would never launch a console based on the strength of hardware. Theirs has to have a gameplay point to it," he said.

Sales slump

The Wii took an early lead in the battle of the consoles soon after it launched in late 2006.

A combination of its relatively low price and its appeal to non-traditional gamers - including women and older players - helped the company sell 20m units in the first year.

In the financial year 2009/10, Nintendo shipped 20.1m Wii consoles. However, that fell to 15.1m in 2010/11.

Market data suggested that Wii's share of new console sales had slipped to second place behind Sony's PS3

In the first three months of 2011, PS3 held a 36% share, compared with 32% for the Wii and 31% for XBox 360.

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Sony&#39;s &#39;father of CD&#39; dies at 81

23 April 2011 Last updated at 14:56 ET

The former president and chairman of Sony, Norio Ohga, who was credited with developing the compact disc, has died aged 81, the company has said.

Ohga, who led the company from 1982 to 1995, died of multiple organ failure in the Japanese capital, Tokyo.

Sony's chairman, Sir Howard Stringer, said his predecessor's foresight and vision had transformed the company into a global entertainment leader.

Ohga was still a senior adviser to the company at the time of his death.

In 1953, Sony's co-founders recruited Ohga while he was still studying at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and hoping to pursue a career as an opera singer. They sensed his knowledge of sound and electrical engineering would benefit the firm.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

By redefining Sony as a company encompassing both hardware and software, Ohga-san succeeded where other Japanese companies failed"

End Quote Sir Howard Stringer Chairman, Sony

He was an executive by his 30s - a rarity in a Japanese company - becoming the president of CBS Sony Records (now Sony Music Entertainment) in 1970s.

From the start, he recognised the potential of the compact disc, and personally drove Sony's initiatives to introduce the format.

During the development of the CD, it was Ohga who pushed for a disc that was 12cm (4.8in) in diameter, because it provided sufficient capacity at 75 minutes to store all of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

Sony sold the world's first CD in 1982 and CDs overtook LP record sales in Japan five years later. Ohga's specifications are still used today, and have shaped formats developed since, including MiniDisc and DVD.

In 1989, he oversaw the $3.4bn purchase of Hollywood studios Colombia Pictures, which was criticised as unwise and costly at the time.

Ohga also presided over the launch of Sony's game business, which went on to develop the successful "PlayStation" console.

"By redefining Sony as a company encompassing both hardware and software, Ohga-san succeeded where other Japanese companies failed," said Sony Chairman Howard Stringer, using the Japanese honorific.

"It is no exaggeration to attribute Sony's evolution beyond audio and video products into music, movies and game, and subsequent transformation into a global entertainment leader to Ohga-san's foresight and vision," he added.

Ohga stepped down as Sony's president in 1995 and continued to serve as chairman and representative director until 2000.

He was also the chairman of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.

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Outage hits Playstation Network

22 April 2011 Last updated at 09:27 ET

Millions of gamers are unable to play online as the Playstation Network continues to suffer a major outage.

In a blog post, makers Sony thanked users for their patience but warned the downtime - which has so far lasted more than 20 hours - could continue for "a day or two".

Users are seeing error messages stating the network is "undergoing maintenance" or is "suspended".

In recent weeks, Playstation has been targeted by hackers group Anonymous.

The network has more than 70 million users worldwide, but Sony were unable clarify how many players had been affected.

However, Twitter messages and blog posts have been posted from all over the world.

This outage is the latest in a series of problems for the network which has suffered extended periods of downtime over the past few weeks.

In response, angry gamers have flooded blogs, forums and Twitter with complaints.

"A full day and you guys still have no clue what is causing this," wrote user Slickshoes in response to the company's blog post.

Another user, Max Smith, contacted the BBC to share his frustration over the delay in news surrounding the problem.

"To be honest I think that Sony need to give more updates towards the gamers via their Twitter account. There has been no update in the past 18 hours which is really making the community go crazy."

Anonymous, the group which gained notoriety over Wikileaks-related attacks, strongly criticised the Japan-based entertainment giant over its treatment of George Hotz, an American hacker who unlocked the games console's closed operating system.

Sony filed a lawsuit against the 21-year-old, arguing that his hack had allowed pirated games to be played on the machine.

The case was dropped earlier this month after Mr Hotz agreed to sign an injunction banning him from similar behaviour in future.

A spokesperson for Sony was unavailable for comment.

Are you affected? Send us your comments and experiences.

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Google fined $5m over patent row

22 April 2011 Last updated at 06:37 ET By Maggie Shiels Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley

A judgement by a Texas jury against Google could have major implications for the search giant and the open source world said experts.

The internet titan was found guilty of infringing a patent related to the Linux kernel and fined $5m (�3.2m).

The software is used by Google for its server platforms and could also extend to its Android mobile platform.

The kernel is at the core of the open-source operating system meaning this verdict could be far-reaching.

The case resulted in a victory for a firm called Bedrock Computer Technologies which has also sued Yahoo, MySpace, Amazon, PayPal, Match.com and AOL.

"The amount of the fine is not what makes this an important issue," intellectual property activist Florian Mueller told BBC News.

"This is a modest amount considering Google is probably the largest scale Linux user in the world.

"The implication here is really that there is a huge number of Linux users who will be required to pay royalties if this patent holder knocks on their doors in the US. This is definitely a major impediment to the growth of Linux and makes companies, including Google, that rely on open source code particularly vulnerable to patent threats."

That is also the view of other industry watchers who expect a flood of lawsuits against companies who rely on open source code.

"Those looking to cash in on buried patents need only spend time pouring over code and looking for infringements," said Christopher Dawson of technology blog ZDNet.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Apple is going for the jugular by going after several Android device makers"

End Quote Florian Mueller Intellectual property activist

"It costs a lot less than $5m to hire a team of programmers in India to do code review. This, I'm afraid, is just the beginning and stands to do a fair amount of harm to industry momentum and to the private companies that provide vast incentive for the advancement of open source software."

But Google has said it will continue to defend against such attacks like this one on the open source community.

"The recent explosion in patent litigation is turning the world's information highway into a toll road, forcing companies to spend millions and millions of dollars defending old, questionable patent claims and wasting resources that would be much better spent investing in new technologies for users and creating jobs," said Google.

"Going for the jugular"

The Bedrock case underscores the increasingly bitter battle going on in the mobile space which is expected to grow globally by 58% in the next year.

The research firm Gartner also forecast that Android will account for about 39% of that growth.

Mr Mueller said competitors worried about Android are using any means necessary to thwart their rival.

He has estimated that in the last 14 months there have been 41 patent infringement suits levied at Google's Android platform and its rapidly growing developer ecosystem.

Just this week Apple said it was suing Samsung Electronics for allegedly copying the design of its iPad and iPhone.

Samsung's Galaxy products use Google's Android operating system. Samsung has in turn countersued Apple for violating its patent rights.

Last month Microsoft lodged a suit focusing on the Nook e-reader and Nook Colour tablet which run the Android OS.

Meanwhile a high profile patent trial between tech giants Oracle and Google is expected be held before November said a judge.

Oracle claimed Google's Android technology infringes on its Java patents.

Oracle bought the Java programming language through its acquisition of Sun Microsystems last year.

"Android is clearly being targeted by some of the largest tech companies as its market share grows and it becomes more of a threat to others," said Mr Mueller.

"Apple is going for the jugular by going after several Android device makers. In a way it has to do this to survive. No matter how good its financials are now, in a year or two they could see their iPhone business erode because of the Android threat.

"A Microsoft suit is just about seeking royalty bearing licence deals. And with Oracle that is about making Google pay and about who calls the shots when it comes to the Java programming language," added Mr Mueller.

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