Minecraft adds OS GB terrain data

23 September 2013 Last updated at 18:25 ET By Matthew Wall Technology reporter, BBC News

Minecraft, the highly popular building and monsters video game, can now incorporate accurate Ordnance Survey terrain data of Great Britain in its blockwork virtual world.

The game's 33 million players can build worlds atop of geographically accurate landscapes representing 224,000 sq km (86,000 sq miles) of Britain.

The GB Minecraft world was created in two weeks by intern Joseph Braybrook working with OS's Innovation Labs team.

It uses free OS OpenData products.

"We think we may have created the largest Minecraft world ever built based on real-world data," said Graham Dunlop, OS Innovation Lab Manager.

"The resulting map shows the massive potential not just for using Minecraft for computer technology and geography purposes in schools, but also the huge scope of applications for OS OpenData too."

Minecraft, created by Swede Markus "Notch" Persson in 2009, is a virtual world made up of cubes of different materials, such as rock, sand and lava.

Players can co-operate in building shelters, making things from raw materials and fending off a variety of monsters.

The OS GB world contains more than 22 billion Minecraft blocks.

Once players have downloaded the map into Minecraft, they enter the 3D virtual world through OS's head office in Southampton and from there can recreate real-life features, such as Stonehenge, or imagined buildings such as Hogwarts castle.

The OS map products - OS Terrain 50 and OS VectorMap - combine to create a 3D model of the earth surface overlaid with features such as water, woodland and roads.

Players can build their own structures on top of the realistic terrain.

As OS is the GB's national mapping authority, its data includes the mainland and surrounding islands but not Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man or Channel Islands.

23.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ebay and Argos in retail tie-up

24 September 2013 Last updated at 05:02 ET

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Selected eBay purchases can be collected from certain Argos stores - bosses from the companies say it means "consumers win"

Shoppers will soon be able to order selected goods from eBay and pick them up from an Argos store.

The "click-and-collect" scheme is being piloted by the e-commerce giant in about 150 shops belonging to the high street chain, which is part of Home Retail Group.

At least 50 eBay merchants are taking part in the scheme but have not been named yet.

The move may help eBay challenge Amazon's Locker delivery.

The Amazon scheme lets people order online then pick up their package from a growing number of secure passcode-protected lockers situated in local shops or other public venues.

Both Amazon, eBay and other online retailers are also involved in the separate Collect+ scheme, which allows parcels to be collected from participating corner shops, avoiding the risk of missing a delivery.

One retail analyst said more of these tie-ups could be expected.

"Pure-play home-delivery e-commerce can actually be profoundly inconvenient," Bryan Roberts, from the consultancy Kantar Research, told the BBC.

"There's nothing convenient about having to queue up at the post office for 30 minutes every Saturday morning.

"Workplace delivery is an option, but an increasing number of employers are getting frustrated with acting as e-retailers' unwilling fulfilment partners.

"So, it makes sense to forge a partnership with national retailers, and we'll see more of this because it marries the benefits of online shopping - competitive prices and massive ranges - with the convenience of the real-world store you can pop into on your way home."

Argos has been expanding its own click-and-collect service, allowing shoppers to have an item held back that might be in short supply or ordered in if not in stock.

There is a risk that the eBay tie-up could cannibalise some of those sales, and Argos noted the tie-up was only a trial set to last about six months.

"Having pioneered check-and-reserve in the year 2000, it now accounts for around a third of our business and continues to grow," said the firm's managing director, John Walden.

"[Ebay] is already a strong partner with Argos and a logical partner for the trial.

"We look forward to assessing the opportunity for Argos to provide fulfilment for eBay's merchants, including the operational requirements, attractiveness to sellers and consumers, and opportunity for increased customer footfall."

In May, Argos reported its first rise in annual sales in five years, largely thanks to online sales and the popularity of its "check and reserve" service.

Ebay also announced it planned to test a one-hour delivery service in London some time in 2014, but said it had no other details to share at this time.

The firm already runs the eBay Now service in New York and San Francisco, allowing shoppers to have goods delivered from ToysRUs, Urban Outfitters, The Home Depot and other local stores within about 60 minutes of completing their order for a $5 (£3.10) fee.

23.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

US law lets teens delete web posts

24 September 2013 Last updated at 12:12 ET

California has passed a law that will enable under-18s to make websites delete their personal information.

The law, which will take effect in 2015, only covers content, including photos, generated by the individual.

Companies will not have to remove content posted, or reposted, by others. Nor will they have to remove the information from their servers.

The legislation has been welcomed by Common Sense Media, a charity that promotes children's digital privacy.

"Teens often self-reveal before they self-reflect and may post sensitive personal information about themselves - and about others - without realising the consequences," said chief executive James Steyer in a blog post.

A Pew survey indicated 59% of US youngsters with a social-media profile had deleted or edited something they had posted, and 19% had posted comments, photos or updates they later regretted sharing.

Right to be forgotten

Back in May, Google chairman Eric Schmidt said the internet needed a "delete button".

But not everyone believes it is a good idea.

US think tank the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) is concerned websites will not understand what their legal obligations are.

"Our chief concern is that this legal uncertainty will discourage operators from developing content and services tailored to younger users, and will lead popular sites and services that may appeal to minors to prohibit minors from using their services," said CDT's policy counsel Emma Llanso.

In 2010 the European Commission drew up legislation to allow citizens the "right to be forgotten" but recently a judge ruled websites were not responsible for personal data appearing on their pages. And some experts think the ruling means the legislation is unlikely to go ahead.

23.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

F-16 jet takes off with empty cockpit

24 September 2013 Last updated at 12:58 ET By Leo Kelion Technology reporter

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Test flight of the fighter jet controlled from the ground

Boeing has revealed that it has retrofitted retired fighter jets to turn them into drones.

It said that one of the Lockheed Martin F-16 made a first flight with an empty cockpit last week.

Two US Air Force pilots controlled the plane from the ground as it flew from a Florida base to the Gulf of Mexico.

Boeing suggested that the innovation could ultimately be used to help train pilots, providing an adversary they could practise firing on.

The jet - which had previously sat mothballed at an Arizona site for 15 years - flew at an altitude of 40,000ft (12.2km) and a speed of Mach 1.47 (1,119mph/1,800km/h).

It carried out a series of manoeuvres including a barrel roll and a "split S" - a move in which the aircraft turns upside down before making a half loop so that it flies the right-way-up in the opposite direction. This can be used in combat to evade attack.

Boeing said the unmanned F16 was followed by two chase planes to ensure it stayed in sight, and also contained equipment that would have allowed it to self-destruct if necessary.

The firm added that the flight attained 7Gs of acceleration but was capable of carrying out manoeuvres at 9Gs - something that might cause physical problems for a pilot.

"It flew great, everything worked great, [it] made a beautiful landing - probably one of the best landings I've ever seen," said Paul Cejas, the project's chief engineer.

Lt Col Ryan Inman, Commander of the US Air Force's 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron, also had praise for how the test had gone.

"It was a little different to see it without anyone in it, but it was a great flight all the way around," he said.

Boeing said that it had a total of six modified F-16s, which have been renamed QF-16s, and that the US military now planned to use some of them in live fire tests.

However, a spokesman for the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots warned of the temptation to use them in warfare.

"I'm very concerned these could be used to target people on the ground," said Prof Noel Sharkey.

"I'm particularly worried about the high speed at which they can travel because they might not be able to distinguish their targets very clearly.

"There is every reason to believe that these so-called 'targets' could become a test bed for drone warfare, moving us closer and closer to automated killing."

This is not the first time a jet has been retrofitted to fly without a pilot inside. The US Air Force has previously used adapted F4- Phantoms for target practice.

23.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Nokia admits error in Elop pay-off

24 September 2013 Last updated at 20:54 ET

Nokia's chairman, Risto Siilasmaa, has admitted that he accidently gave misleading information about former chief executive Stephen Elop's pay-off.

Mr Elop's $25.4m (£16m) pay-off, which he will get when Microsoft's deal to buy Nokia's handset business goes through, had sparked angry reactions.

Mr Siilasmaa had tried to calm things by saying that Mr Elop's contract terms were similar to his predecessors.

On Tuesday, he told Finland's Helsingin Sanomat newspaper that he was wrong.

"This is a very unfortunate thing about the case, which, moreover, raises a lot of emotions," Mr Siilasmaa said, according to the report in the Finnish paper.

Pay-off deal

When the deal with Microsoft was signed on 3 September, Mr Elop agreed to step down as Nokia chief executive and take a new job at Microsoft when the deal is completed.

Nokia said that due to that change he was entitled to 18 months of his salary and what Nokia described as a "management short term cash incentive" which combined are worth $5.7m.

He is also entitled to share awards worth $19.7m.

The massive amount had sparked angry reactions in Finland, including one from the economy minister, Jan Vapaavuori, who reportedly said: "I find it difficult to understand the merits of this bonus."

Mr Elop moved from Microsoft to run Nokia in September 2010, and will return to his former employer when the deal is completed.

Microsoft agreed a deal to buy Nokia's mobile phone business for $7.2bn earlier this month.

Nokia shareholders are due to vote on the deal on 19 November.

23.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Samsung plans curved-screen phones

25 September 2013 Last updated at 04:55 ET

Samsung Electronics, the world's best-selling smartphone maker, is planning to launch handsets with curved displays.

The new devices will have plastic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels, the company said at a Galaxy Note 3 launch event in Seoul.

"We plan to introduce a smartphone with a curved display in South Korea in October," said DJ Lee, Samsung's head of strategic marketing for mobile.

But he revealed no further details.

Digital display technology is progressing towards curved, bendy and foldable screens.

In January, Samsung exhibited prototype products with bendy and extendable screens, but doubts remain as to how such technology can be mass-produced cheaply and reliably.

"A curved screen isn't going to radically change the user's experience of a smartphone, but it does help Samsung differentiate itself in a crowded market where most phones are homogenous, flat-screen rectangles," Ben Wood, analyst at research company CCS Insight, told the BBC.

"My understanding is that these new phones will form part of Samsung's Active range, so the curved screen is probably to do with making the phone more flexible and rugged," he added.

Curved displays already feature in large-screen TVs, such as those produced by Samsung and its Korean rival, LG Electronics.

On Wednesday, LG launched a 55in (140cm) curved OLED TV in the UK.

Samsung has also been moving into wearable technology, such as its Galaxy Gear wristwatch phone.

Smartphones are now the dominant type of phone, with CCS Insight expecting one billion to be sold in 2013 out of a total of 1.7 billion mobile phones.

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kindle tablet offers pop-up advisers

25 September 2013 Last updated at 06:53 ET By Leo Kelion Technology reporter

Amazon's latest tablets will include the ability to call up round-the-clock tech support via a video box at the press of a button.

The Kindle Fire HDX's Mayday feature will allow one of the firm's employees to explain how to work the machine or take control if necessary.

There is no additional cost involved.

One analyst said the facility should help Amazon to stand out from other tablets, including Google's Nexus and Apple's iPad.

"The new Mayday feature is a clever way to reach out to new tablet users," said Thomas Husson, principal analyst at tech advisers Forrester.

"Coupled with an affordable price for the lower-end Kindle Fire HD and new entertainment content and features, Amazon is clearly willing to appeal to the masses."

In addition to Mayday, Amazon is also introducing the ability to download selected movies and TV shows from its Prime Instant Video so that they can be viewed when the user does not have an internet connection. Rival on-demand services Netflix and Hulu do not offer this facility.

While the new features should help Amazon attract new customers, one expert warned that some might have security concerns about the firm building in software that allowed a third party to take over the tablet.

"With any device that has any kind of remote access on it, there is always going to be that risk that it could be either hacked or abused," said Chris Green, from the Davies Murphy Group consultancy.

"But it's such a small danger that the benefits outweigh the risks, and the average consumer or business user shouldn't be put off from storing useful information because they fear it could be compromised."

Amazon has said that the Mayday feature can be disabled and stressed that it is a one-way video feed, so that the adviser cannot see the tablet owner.

The firm has not revealed how many assistants it had employed, but said it was aiming for a response time of 15 seconds or less. Chief executive Jeff Bezos added that it would be "ready for Christmas morning" - likely to be one of the busiest days.

Mr Bezos previously told the BBC that his company sold its Kindle devices at cost, but one industry-watcher said investing in pop-up advisers still made financial sense.

"Amazon's strategy has always been not to make profits from hardware sales but from selling content on those devices," said Nitin Bhas from Juniper Research, a consultancy.

"Adding round-the-clock tech support is a winning strategy but a long-term one and provides Amazon with a platform to expand further."

Upgraded system

Amazon also announced it was introducing the third version of its Fire operating system, codenamed Mojito.

The OS is a variant of Google's Android system, but is designed to highlight recently downloaded items on the home screen as well as other Amazon-specific services.

These include:

• X-Ray ,which offers access to synchronised lyrics for songs, details of music played during films, and background information about characters in books
• Whispersync, which keeps content on the tablet synchronised with other Amazon products owned by the same user
• Hardware-enhanced data encryption, which it markets as a facility to encourage sales to business customers
• The new Mayday button

The US firm said that developers would be able to offer software already developed for Google's system with "little to no [additional] work".

But experts warn there may still be snags.

"We know there have been some instances of compatibility problems with apps that wouldn't run on the existing Kindle Fire devices because they were taking advantage of functionality and shortcuts that are in the standard Google build that weren't present or were broken in the Amazon version," said Mr Green.

"It sounds like Amazon has tried to do its best to mitigate the number of instances where this is likely to occur, but the simple fact is that the Android software has forked.

"There will still be issues where applications written for 'normal' Android will be expecting features, functions and more importantly other apps to be on the system that are simply not there and that is going to cause some issues."

The Kindle HDX - which comes with either a 7in (17.8cm) or 8.9in (22.6cm) display - will be released in the US on 18 October.

It is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor, which Amazon said was three times as powerful as the Texas Instruments chip in its earlier model.

It will cost between $229 (£143) and $579 (£362) depending on the amount of storage, screen size and whether or not a 4G data chip is included.

Amazon has not announced when it will become available in other markets.

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More

Popular Science site kills comments

25 September 2013 Last updated at 08:25 ET

Popular Science, the science and technology news website, has shut off the ability to leave comments on its site, blaming "trolls" and "spambots".

"Comments can be bad for science," wrote online content director Suzanne LaBarre.

Insulting comments and marketing spam had diminished the site's ability to foster "lively, intellectual debate," she added.

The move comes as Google rolls out comment moderation for YouTube users.

Citing research from the University of Wisconsin, which suggests intemperate comments can polarise readers and skew their interpretation of a news story, Ms LaBarre said Popsci.com had concluded comments had to be shut off.

The consensus surrounding scientifically validated topics, from climate change to evolution, had been "eroded" thanks to a "politically motivated, decades-long war on expertise", she added.

Moderation

Trolls - rude and uncivil online commentators - have been a growing problem for online publishers.

Google's YouTube video service has long been a magnet for vicious comments left by anonymous viewers, so Google is now allowing some video uploaders to moderate the comments section on their videos using Google+ tools.

Comments would be listed according to their conversational relevance, not just their time stamp, and would also take into account the reputation of the commenter, YouTube announced.

Video creators will also be given the power to moderate comments and make conversations private or restricted to their Google+ contacts.

Micro-blogging site Twitter has come in for criticism for not doing more to combat trolls using its service.

Last week, the Metropolitan Police warned that cases of online abuse were on the rise.

The number of incidents reported to London police relating to online harassment and bullying now approached 2,000 each year, it said.

Earlier this year Caroline Criado-Perez faced abuse and threats of rape from emailers and Twitter trolls after successfully campaigning for a woman to be featured on UK banknotes.

Twitter has recently introduced a "report tweet" button to try to combat trolling.

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More

Apple Maps flaw causes runway alerts

25 September 2013 Last updated at 08:54 ET By Leo Kelion Technology reporter

An Alaskan airport has closed an aircraft access route because of a flaw with Apple's Maps app.

Fairbanks International Airport told a local newspaper that in the past three weeks two motorists had driven along the taxiway and across one of its runways.

Apple's app directs users along the taxiway but does not specifically tell them to drive on to the runway.

A spokesman for Apple was unable to provide comment.

The airport said it had complained to the phone-maker through the local attorney general's office.

"We asked them to disable the map for Fairbanks until they could correct it, thinking it would be better to have nothing show up than to take the chance that one more person would do this," Melissa Osborn, chief of operations at the airport, told the Alaska Dispatch newspaper.

She added that barricades had since been erected to block access to the final stretch of the taxiway and that they would not be removed until Apple had updated its directions.

The airport said it had been told the problem would be fixed by Wednesday.

However the BBC still experienced the issue when it tested the app, asking for directions to the site from a property to the east of the airport.

By contrast the Google Maps app provided a different, longer route which takes drivers to the property's car park.

Warnings ignored

Apple faced criticism after it ditched Google's service as its default maps option last year.

Complaints of inaccuracies followed, including placing Dublin Airport about 17km (11 miles) away from its true location after apparently confusing the site with a farm named Airfield.

The Australian police went so far as to warn that Apple's software was "life threatening" after motorists became stranded in a national park after being given the wrong directions to the city of Mildura, Victoria.

Chief executive Tim Cook posted a letter to the firm's website apologising for the "frustration" caused and promised "we are doing everything we can to make Maps better".

The company has since taken over several other mapping software developers including Locationary, Hopstop and Embark.

Reviews of its latest operating system, iOS 7, noted that its Maps product had improved, with the Guardian newspaper reporting that Apple's "POI (points of interest) database is getting better".

However, the latest mishap indicates problems remain.

Fairbanks Airport said the drivers involved in the 6 September and 20 September incidents had both been from out of town and had ignored signposts warning them that they should not be driving along the taxiway.

"They must have been persistent," the airport's assistant manager Angie Spear told the BBC.

"They had to enter the airport property via a motion-activated gate, and afterwards there are many signs, lights and painted markings, first warning that aircraft may share the road and then that drivers should not be there at all.

"They needed to drive over a mile with all this before reaching the runway. But the drivers disregarded all that because they were following the directions given on their iPhones."

The runway the motorists crossed was used by 737 jets among other aircraft. No one was injured.

"All these types of mapping software have flaws but the problem for Apple is that because it's such a high-profile brand, it gets a lot of attention," said Neil McCartney from the McCartney Media and Telecoms consultancy.

"It's very important for a company in that sort of situation to acknowledge a problem when it is reported and then put it right as fast as possible."

Nick Dillon, senior device analyst at research house Ovum, added that Fairbanks Airport's complaint illustrated how hard the mapping business was to get right.

"With Apple Maps the firm has made a rare misstep by releasing a product which has not lived up to its own high standards.

"Apple evidently did not fully grasp the complexity involved in deploying a mapping service and its continuing woes show that it is not an easy thing to fix."

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More

Labour urges ID theft crackdown

25 September 2013 Last updated at 10:37 ET

Labour has promised to make it easier to prosecute identity thieves as part of an online crime crackdown.

The number of tech-savvy scams is rising "exponentially", shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said.

In her speech to the party's annual conference she pledged to create a specific offence of identity theft.

A Labour government would also make lessons about online pornography compulsory in schools, she told delegates in Brighton.

"Fraud is up 30%," she said. "But we know that's the tip of the iceberg because most online crime like credit card and identity fraud goes unreported."

'Higher charges'

Ms Cooper has herself been a victim of credit card fraud, she told the BBC News website, when "like a lot of people" she discovered payments on her bank statement "from strange places" that she had not made.

She reported the problem to her bank, who "immediately sorted it out", but she said the experience highlighted how much card fraud is not properly investigated.

"It became clear that they (the bank) did not expect me to report it to the police, they were not going to report it to the police themselves, and when I did report to the police they were really surprised to have somebody complain.

"And it's clear that most of these credit card cases - a lot of them - are never reported at all and also that the teams that investigate it in the police are still really limited.

"And yet this is a kind of crime that's growing, it's massively escalating, and of course we all pay for it in the end through higher charges, and businesses and banks lose out too."

Ms Cooper used her conference speech to propose a fast-track, "police-first" scheme to encourage IT graduates into policing, she added: "The police say it's growing exponentially, but the government hasn't got a grip."

Car theft

The police have identified 1,300 organised crime groups targeting the UK that use fraud as their main means of gaining money. They are believed to be operating out of 25 different countries.

"Alongside reductions in some kinds of crime like car theft, is an increase in online crime," she told BBC Two's Daily Politics programme after her speech.

"That's there we live our lives are now and of course organised crime knows that too."

On the final day of Labour's conference the shadow home secretary also turned her fire on Michael Gove, who she accused of blocking a proposal to update sex education to include lessons about the internet.

The education secretary and the coalition government had not "faced up to the 21st century pressures on our children", she said.

"We need a Labour government to make sure there is updated sex and relationship education for boys and girls - zero tolerance of violence," she told activists.

If the party wins in 2015 such lessons would be "compulsory too", she added.

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More