Titanfall launch is hit by problems

12 March 2014 Last updated at 12:20

PC and Xbox One users have reported problems logging on to Microsoft's eagerly-awaited game Titanfall, which launched on Tuesday.

The multiplayer-only title requires people to log into its servers to play.

Some reported they were stuck at a screen that read "initialising", and while the issue was eventually solved after several hours, users dubbed the launch "Titanfail".

The game is published exclusively for Microsoft by Electronic Arts.

It is being seen as an opportunity for Microsoft to boost sales of its Xbox One console in the face of competition from Sony's PlayStation 4.

Electronic Arts (EA) has previously come under fire for the troubled launches of titles SimCity and Battlefield 4.

'Thanks for patience'

One user of EA's forum was frustrated at not being able to connect.

"Should have known EA would fail on release. Before taught me nothing," wrote HammerMcDoogan.

But Larry Hryb from Microsoft's Xbox team took to Twitter to reassure users there were no problems with the game itself.

"If you are having issues signing into Xbox Live, we are aware of it and actively working on the issue. This is not a Titanfall issue," he said.

Some on social news site Reddit seemed to be more accepting of the teething problems, however.

"It's arguably the biggest game of this year, the first day or two will be iffy like this. Calm down," posted one user.

"It's really hard to keep servers up on day one. Not saying they shouldn't have been prepared, but the servers likely just got flooded - nothing they can do about it at this point except wait for traffic to die down," said another.

Almost six hours after Mr Hryb said Microsoft was aware of the issue, a tweet on the official Xbox Support account said the issues had been fixed.

"Thanks for your patience. Xbox Live is good to go!"

Titanfall developer Jon Shiring also tweeted: "Patch is out. Things are starting to recover quickly now."

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Nasa seeks coders to hunt asteroids

11 March 2014 Last updated at 17:27

US space agency Nasa is seeking coders who could help prevent a global catastrophe by identifying asteroids that may crash into Earth.

Its Asteroid Data Hunter contest will offer $35,000 (£21,000) to programmers who can identify asteroids captured by ground-based telescopes.

The winning solution must increase the detection rate and minimise the number of false positives.

Scientists are increasingly calling for help to make sense of vast data sets.

The new improved asteroid hunting code must also be able to ignore imperfections in the data and run on all computer systems.

"Protecting the planet from the threat of asteroid impact means first knowing where they are," said Jenn Gustetic, executive of the programme.

"By opening up the search for asteroids, we are harnessing the potential of innovators and makers and citizen scientists everywhere to solve this global challenge."

Current asteroid detection is only tracking one percent of the estimated objects that orbit the sun, according to asteroid mining firm Planetary Resources, which is partnering with Nasa in the contest.

Human curiosity

Zooniverse is one of the leading online platforms for citizen scientists, working on a range of projects including classifying galaxies.

In February it racked up one million volunteers.

"Nasa takes these detailed pictures but there is a lot of noise out there from stars and other things and we need to write code that can find patterns in the data," said Zooniverse team member Robert Simpson.

"This is not necessarily Nasa's area of expertise. It is a technology problem rather than a space problem."

He thinks that increasingly citizen scientists can contribute to important scientific discoveries and breakthroughs.

"Computers don't have curiosity. People often find things in the data that computers can't," he told the BBC.

"We are creating these huge data sets but we don't have enough scientists to analyse them," he added.

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Candy Crush firm aims to raise $533m

12 March 2014 Last updated at 15:51

King, the games developer behind Candy Crush Saga, is looking to raise as much as $533m (£321m) via a share sale on the New York Stock Exchange.

The firm said it is planning to sell 22.2 million shares, priced between $21 and $24 per share.

That could value the company at almost $7.6bn at the top of its pricing range.

King's portfolio includes more than 180 games, but Candy Crush is its most popular offering and was the most downloaded free mobile app of 2013.

It has been downloaded more than 500 million times since its launch in 2012.

Over-reliance?

Continue reading the main story

A small number of games currently generate a substantial majority of our revenue"

End Quote King

The popularity of Candy Crush has been the biggest driver of growth for King during the past two years.

Before Candy Crush, in 2011, King took $64m in revenue.

Two years later, and after the Candy Crush mania had well and truly taken hold, it had sales of more than $1.8bn

However, there have been concerns that the firm relies too heavily on Candy Crush and that if its popularity faded, the company's revenue and profits may be hit.

King has acknowledged this in its filing with the US securities regulator.

"A small number of games currently generate a substantial majority of our revenue," it said.

According to the firm, its top three games - Candy Crush Saga, Pet Rescue Saga and Farm Heroes Saga - accounted for 95% of its total revenue in the fourth quarter of 2013.

King said that if these games become less popular, and it is unable to offset that with sales from other games, it will not be able to maintain or grow its revenue and "our financial results could be adversely affected".

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New-look iPlayer unveiled by BBC

11 March 2014 Last updated at 11:56

The BBC has unveiled an update to its on-demand iPlayer service, which will include new online-only shows for "a BBC Three audience".

The BBC has been under fire over plans to move BBC Three, a channel aimed at a younger audience, entirely online.

Almost 200,000 people have signed a petition calling for the BBC Three plans to be scrapped.

But BBC director general Tony Hall said the iPlayer would instead become the starting point for new talent.

He told a news conference the service would allow programmes to be made in "new interesting, creative ways that we can only imagine at the moment".

Director of BBC Television Danny Cohen said that despite the petition, the changes to BBC Three would go ahead if approved by the BBC Trust.

Recommendations

The new iPlayer features responsive design - meaning the look of the page, and some functionality, adapts depending on what kind of device is being used.

The service will recommend more programmes to visitors, due to a growing number - currently 42% - of people who visit iPlayer without any particular programme in mind.

The Collections section will highlight archive content and will group together programmes around particular themes or events.

The first of these will be a selection of 14 interviews with World War One veterans.

Paolo Pescatore, an analyst at CCS Insight said the move was intended to make the iPlayer more like popular on-demand service Netflix.

"The aim of this move is to ensure that the BBC's own offering stands out from the crowd and to provide a more simple user experience to discover and access its content," he said.

"It also reflects the growing traffic driven to iPlayer from mobile devices.

"We believe that it won't be long before requests from mobile devices will exceed those from other devices such as computers and other connected devices."

The service will also host exclusive comedy content from Frankie Boyle, Bob Mortimer, Meera Syal, Morgana Robinson, Micky Flanagan, Matt Berry and Stewart Lee.

Film-maker Adam Curtis is producing three projects that will be available from July.

"[iPlayer] frees one from the constraints of scheduling and format on the traditional TV channels - and I think that may allow stories to become far more emotionally involving and complicated," he said.

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Google faces in-app purchase action

11 March 2014 Last updated at 15:29

Google is facing legal action from parents in the US angry over purchases their children have made in games without their consent.

The case is being filed by a New York mother on behalf of other parents.

She was furious that her five-year-old son was able to spend $66 (£39) within five minutes of downloading a free game called Marvel Run Jump Smash.

Last year, Apple agreed to refund customers to the tune of $32.5m over similar purchases.

In order to download apps from the Google Play store, users need to enter a password to make a purchase.

There is then a 30-minute window where the game can offer users the opportunity to buy extras without re-entering the password.

In this case, while playing Marvel Run Jump Smash, the child bought digital crystals.

A statement from law firm Berger & Montague, which is representing parents, said: "Google has unfairly profited by marketing free or low-cost games to children and by permitting them to easily rack up charges for worthless in-game currency, by failing to incorporate reasonable controls such has requiring the entry of a password."

Google has not yet responded to the news of the legal action.

Informed consent

The Apple case put the issue of in-app purchases - which can range in price from 99 cents to $100 or more - firmly on the agenda of governments and regulators around the world.

Apple received tens of thousands of complaints from parents about unauthorised in-app purchases by children.

One woman said that her daughter had spent $2,600 in one app.

As a result of the action, Apple agreed to change its billing process so that consent must be obtained before in-app charges are applied. This needs to be in place by the end of March, said the Federal Trade Commission.

Consumer protection officials from the EU have also met a number of technology firms to discuss the issue and agree guidelines.

The UK's Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has given creators of mobile apps that promote in-app purchases until the end of March to comply with new guidelines.

They include providing up-front information about the costs and only taking payment if the account holder provides "informed consent".

"We will have to wait until the beginning of April to see how the industry falls into line," said a spokesman for the OFT.

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NY plans 'regulated' Bitcoin exchanges

11 March 2014 Last updated at 21:39

New York's financial regulator has called on firms to submit proposals to set up "regulated" exchanges for digital currencies like Bitcoin.

The state's Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) said it wanted to better protect consumers, and prevent money-laundering.

It comes as a top Bitcoin exchange, Mt Gox, filed for bankruptcy last month.

Bitcoins have been gaining in popularity recently, but they are not governed by any financial regulator.

"The fact is that virtual currencies are unlikely to disappear entirely," said Benjamin Lawsky, New York's superintendent of financial services.

Continue reading the main story

The recent problems at Mt Gox and other firms further demonstrate the urgent need for stronger oversight of virtual currency exchanges"

End Quote Benjamin Lawsky Superintendent of Financial Services, New York

"As such, turning a blind eye and failing to put in place guardrails for virtual currency firms while consumers use that product is simply not a tenable strategy for regulators."

'Stronger oversight'

The lack of any regulatory control or oversight of Bitcoins has triggered concerns on various fronts.

It is difficult to trace transactions carried out using Bitcoins - one of the factors behind their popularity - and the currency has been linked to illegal activity online.

Bitcoins are also seen by some as a route for tax evasion and money laundering.

Russia has declared transactions using the digital currency illegal, China has banned its banks from handling Bitcoin trades, and there have been calls for the US to do the same.

Singapore has imposed a tax on Bitcoin trading and using it to pay for services, after classifying it as goods, rather than a currency.

Earlier this month, the Japanese government also said Bitcoin is not a currency and that some transactions using the virtual unit should be taxed.

The collapse of Mt Gox has only added to the concerns.

The firm filed for bankruptcy in Japan in February after losing about $473m (£284m) worth of customers' bitcoins to what it says was a hacking attack.

"The recent problems at Mt Gox and other firms further demonstrate the urgent need for stronger oversight of virtual currency exchanges," said Mr Lawsky.

"Consumers should understand and receive appropriate disclosures about the potential risks associated with using virtual currencies or any other financial product."

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Berners-Lee seeks web 'Magna Carta'

12 March 2014 Last updated at 05:52

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Sir Tim Berners-Lee wants more rights for users of the web

The inventor of the world wide web has marked the 25th anniversary of his creation by calling for a 'Magna Carta' bill of rights to protect its users.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee told BBC Breakfast the issue could be compared to the importance of human rights.

He has been an outspoken critic of government surveillance following a series of leaks from ex-US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

Sir Tim called on people to take action and protest against surveillance.

'Communal decision'

He told BBC Breakfast the online community has now reached a crossroads.

"It's time for us to make a big communal decision," he said. "In front of us are two roads - which way are we going to go?

"Are we going to continue on the road and just allow the governments to do more and more and more control - more and more surveillance?

"Or are we going to set up a bunch of values? Are we going to set up something like a Magna Carta for the world wide web and say, actually, now it's so important, so much part of our lives, that it becomes on a level with human rights?"

Sir Tim said the internet should be a "neutral" medium that can be used without feeling "somebody's looking over our shoulder".

He called for vigilance against surveillance by its users, adding: "The people of the world have to be constantly aware, constantly looking out for it - constantly making sure through action, protest, that it doesn't happen."

Sir Tim has previously warned that surveillance could threaten the democratic nature of the web.

He has also spoken out in support of Mr Snowden, saying his actions were "in the public interest".

Continue reading the main story

• The BBC website and Facebook are the UK's most popular sites, according to a survey of 2,001 adults
• The poll for internet registry firm Nominet, found 24% of people chose Facebook as their favourite website
• The BBC was second, with 20% choosing the site
• Amazon was third with 9%
• Gmail and Yahoo were both chosen by 5% of those polled

Source: Nominet

The idea that the world wide web would end up playing such a huge role in people's lives would have seemed "crazy" 25 years ago, said Sir Tim.

He admitted that the web represented "humanity connected", involving both the "wonderful" and the "ghastly".

But he added: "I don't have a lot of sympathy with people who say: 'There's so much rubbish on the web.'

"Well, if there's so much rubbish, if it's rubbish, don't read it. Go read something else."

The web we want campaign has been set up by Sir Tim's World Wide Web Foundation to coincide with the 25th anniversary and aims to protect human rights online.

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Patient has pioneering 3D face op

12 March 2014 Last updated at 10:09 By Hywel Griffith BBC Wales correspondent

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Stephen Power says the operation was 'totally life changing'

A survivor of a serious motorbike accident has had pioneering surgery to reconstruct his face using a series of 3D printed parts.

Stephen Power from Cardiff is thought to be one of the first trauma patients in the world to have 3D printing used at every stage of the procedure.

Doctors at Morriston Hospital, Swansea, had to break his cheekbones again before rebuilding his face.

Mr Power said the operation had been "life changing".

The UK has become one of the world's pioneers in using 3D technology in surgery, with advances also being made by teams in London and Newcastle.

Continue reading the main story

I can't remember the accident - I remember five minutes before and then waking up in the hospital a few months later"

End Quote Stephen Power

While printed implants have previously been used to help correct congenital conditions, this operation used custom printed models, guides, plates and implants to repair impact injuries months after they were sustained.

Despite wearing a crash helmet Mr Power, 29, suffered multiple trauma injuries in an accident in 2012, which left him in hospital for four months.

"I broke both cheek bones, top jaw, my nose and fractured my skull," he said.

"I can't remember the accident - I remember five minutes before and then waking up in the hospital a few months later."

In order to try and restore the symmetry of his face, the surgical team used CT scans to create and print a symmetrical 3D model of Mr Power's skull, followed by cutting guides and plates printed to match.

Maxillofacial surgeon Adrian Sugar says the 3D printing took away the guesswork that can be problematic in reconstructive work.

"I think it's incomparable - the results are in a different league from anything we've done before," he said.

"What this does it allows us to be much more precise. Everybody now is starting to think in this way - guesswork is not good enough."

The procedure took eight hours to complete, with the team first having to re-fracture the cheek bones with the cutting guides before remodelling the face.

'Life changing'

A medical-grade titanium implant, printed in Belgium, was then used to hold the bones in their new shape.

Looking at the results of the surgery, Mr Power says he feels transformed - with his face now much closer in shape to how it was before the accident.

"It is totally life changing," he said.

"I could see the difference straight away the day I woke up from the surgery."

Having used a hat and glasses to mask his injuries before the operation, Mr Power has said he already feels more confident.

"I'm hoping I won't have to disguise myself - I won't have to hide away," he said.

"I'll be able to do day-to-day things, go and see people, walk in the street, even go to any public areas."

The project was the work of the Centre of Applied Reconstructive Technologies in Surgery (Cartis), which is a collaboration between the team in Swansea and scientists at Cardiff Metropolitan University.

Design engineer Sean Peel has said the latest advance should encourage greater use of 3D printing within the NHS.

"It tends to be used for individual really complicated cases as it stands - in quite a convoluted, long-winded design process," he said.

"The next victory will be to get this process and technique used more widely as the costs fall and as the design tools improve."

Mr Power's operation is currently being featured in an exhibition at the Science Museum in London, called 3D Printing: The Future.

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Google buys up games controller firm

12 March 2014 Last updated at 15:51

Google has bought up much of Green Throttle Games, a firm that created gaming peripherals, for an undisclosed sum.

While not buying the company outright, Google confirmed to the BBC it had bought "elements" of the firm.

As part of the deal, two of Green Throttle Games' co-founders will reportedly join the search giant.

Industry figures have speculated that the move could pave the way for Google to develop its own set-top TV box.

The box could be used to play games made for Google's mobile operating system, Android, on a large screen.

Green Throttle Games, based in California, produced a games controller that was able to connect to mobile devices wirelessly using Bluetooth.

It was designed to overcome the typical problem of playing games on tablets and smartphones - that without physical buttons, controlling games with precision is difficult.

Strategy

The technology and expertise acquired from the company could be used in the development of a new set-top TV box, a growing area of competition for major tech firms.

Amazon is expected to launch a box before the end of the month, while existing products, such as Apple TV, are already on the market.

Google has made several attempts to make in-roads in the market, but with minimal success.

Its orb-like Nexus Q device never made it to market, while tie-ups with companies such as Sony have not proven a hit with consumers.

More recently, the company announced the low-cost Chromecast dongle. The device allows content from a mobile device to be played out on a television.

Joining Google from Green Throttle Games will be co-founders Matt Crowley and Karl Townsend. Mr Townsend was lead engineer for the Palm Pilot, a pioneering handheld device.

However Charles Huang, also a co-founder, will not move to Google and will retain the rights to the Green Throttle Games brand.

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E-borders scheme is 'terminated'

12 March 2014 Last updated at 16:30 By Gavin Stamp Political reporter, BBC News

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Sir Charles Montgomery tells MPs: "The permanent secretary is aware that the e-Borders programme has been terminated"

The Home Office has denied downgrading plans to check all people entering and leaving the UK.

The head of the UK Border Force, Sir Charles Montgomery, told MPs on Tuesday the troubled e-Borders scheme had been "terminated" in its current form.

Officials said the original scheme had been dropped last summer, saying the checks and screening were now incorporated into a new programme.

Home Affairs committee chairman Keith Vaz MP called it a "shambles".

And Labour said ministers needed to "come clean" about what would replace the scheme.

'Full capability'

E-Borders, devised by the Labour government in 2003, was designed to count everyone in and out of the UK by collecting advance passenger information on all scheduled inbound and outbound journeys to and from the UK.

Continue reading the main story

What are E-borders?

• Tony Blair launched the E-borders programme in 2003
• It was originally meant to collect details from passenger lists of all people entering and leaving the UK
• All flights from outside the EU are now part of E-borders
• Ports and railway stations are due to follow by 2014
• EU flights are meant to be covered by 2015
• But that will depend on reaching voluntary agreements with other nations - and solving commercial problems
• The US firm handed a £750m contract by Labour to deliver E-borders, Raytheon, was fired by the coalition in 2010 for "extremely disappointing" performance
• The company is seeking £500m in damages from the government
• The E-borders contract was split in two with IBM and Serco given the job of getting a system in place at nine airports before the Olympics
• The contract for the post-Olympics element of the programme - the biggest part of it - has yet to be awarded

The system, which was expected to cost £536m from 2007 to 2015, has been dogged by problems over the past decade.

It was delayed for several years, its brief changed, and the government has become embroiled in a legal battle with a former contractor, US firm Raytheon, after it was fired in 2010 for what officials said was an "extremely disappointing" performance.

Giving evidence to the Home Affairs Committee, director general of the UK Border Force Sir Charles was asked about the future of e-Borders and the government's goal of re-introducing full exit checks on those leaving the UK by the time of the 2015 election.

"The permanent secretary (of the Home Office) is aware that the E-borders programme has been terminated," he said.

While he said he hoped universal exit checks would be in place by next year, he suggested the "full e-Borders capability" - as originally envisaged - would not be.

In response, the Home Office said more priority, not less, was being given to the issue and all the checks and screening involved in e-borders had been incorporated, since last summer, into the Border Systems Programme.

This programme incorporates information provided by airlines on passengers in advance of their journeys, the operation of the Warnings Index to identify individuals considered a potential threat, security exit checks and other screening.

Exit checks are currently carried out on 80% of people leaving the UK and the Home Office said the commitment to make this universal by the time of the next election remained in place.

The Home Office said the original business plan for e-Borders had been "changed and improved" after the contract with Raytheon was cancelled.

'Debacle'

But Computer Weekly said a report by Chief Inspector of Borders John Vine, published in October, suggested e-Borders had been using two systems known to contain "critical system vulnerabilities", one of which was understood to be 15 years old.

The report also concluded a major rethink on e-Borders was needed because airports were not meeting those with terrorist alerts against them on arrival.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

The ability both to count people in and count them out is vital if we are to secure the borders of the UK"

End Quote David Hanson Shadow immigration minister

Labour MP Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Committee, said the government still had questions to answer.

"The e-Borders project has ended in a shambles," he told the BBC.

"This debacle has cost the taxpayer hundreds of millions of pounds, taken more than a decade and yet we still do not know if the original objectives will ever be achieved."

He added: "Promises have been made that exit checks will be in place by the general election, but given past failures the government need to urgently clarify the timetable for the completion of the rest of the programme and what components of the original e-borders programme have been dropped."

'Best guess'

The Home Office said it had written to Mr Vaz last summer to advise him of the changes to e-Borders and this had been acknowledged in a committee report in November.

Shadow immigration minister David Hanson said the project had been "quietly dropped".

"It is indefensible that ministers have wasted four years in legal battles, hiding details and refusing to answer questions about how secure our borders are," he said.

"The ability both to count people in and count them out is vital if we are to secure the borders of the UK and to have controlled immigration and yet we are further away from that than we have been for a decade."

Business group London First said it threatened the transparency of the immigration system.

"The key question is what has replaced e-Borders? Without a workable alternative, politicians will be making policy based on a best guess, rather than hard fact," said its head of immigration policy Mark Hilton.

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