Software piracy suspects arrested

3 September 2014 Last updated at 15:14

Two men have been arrested in Skegness, Lincolnshire, on suspicion of selling counterfeit computer software.

The City of London Police's Intellectual Property Crime Unit (Pipcu), which led the operation, said the men were suspected of selling products from Microsoft, Adobe and others via a dedicated website.

The unnamed pair, aged 48 and 45, were arrested on Tuesday at their home, where computer equipment was seized.

The unit is leading a piracy crackdown.

Earlier this week, Pipcu announced another arrest in Manchester, where a 27-year-old was taken into custody accused of running a series of illegal sport-streaming websites

The squad also recently arrested a 26-year-old in York accused of operating several boxing match streaming sites, and a 20-year-old in Nottingham alleged to have been responsible for proxy sites that allowed users to circumvent blocks on well-known piracy sites.

"It is important that consumers are aware of the risks of buying counterfeit items," said Danny Medlycott, the head of Pipcu, after the latest case.

"Not only is purchasing fake software violating the intellectual rights of software authors, but consumers are also putting their computers and laptops at risk from security threats, such as viruses and malware."

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Uber banned across Germany by court

2 September 2014 Last updated at 11:57 By Kevin Rawlinson BBC News

Car pick-up service Uber has been banned across Germany.

A court in Frankfurt ruled that the firm lacked the necessary legal permits to operate under German law.

It has emerged that the firm was told last week that its "low-cost" UberPop service could no longer take passengers and faced a fine if it continued.

But an Uber spokesman said it had decided not to suspend the service, adding that the ban was not enforceable while an appeal process was ongoing.

"Germany is one of the fastest growing markets for Uber in Europe," he said.

"We will continue to operate in Germany and will appeal the recent lawsuit filed by Taxi Deutschland in Frankfurt.

"You cannot put the brakes on progress. Uber will continue its operations and will offer UberPop ridesharing services via its app throughout Germany."

A check of the firm's software confirms that drivers continue to offer UberPop pick-ups in Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf.

UberPop was launched earlier this year and involves drivers - who are not directly employed by the company - over the age of 21 using their own cars to transport passengers.

Taxi Deutschland suggested that Uber could face up to a 250,000 euro ($327,840; £198,342) fine per trip if the American firm loses the case.

The body described its rival as a "form of locust share-economy" indulging in "anarchy capitalism" that could leave passengers exposed in the case of an accident.

"In Germany there's insurance that applies to private drivers," explained spokeswoman Anja Floetenmeyer.

"But if your insurer learns that you are driving for an app and you want to make money on that, they say this is a multiple risk and refuse to [pay] insurance on that.

"Uber doesn't care because security costs money. We don't believe it has the interests of [German] drivers and citizens at heart."

But Uber's spokesman in Germany, Fabien Nestmann, has previously blogged that safety is one of his firm's key concerns, adding that "all the rides - and thus all travellers - are insured by Uber".

European protests

The summary judgment follows a decision by London's transport authorities not to pursue a case against Uber in June this year.

The San Francisco-based firm allows passengers to summon cars using an app on their smartphones and calculates the fare en route. It is often significantly cheaper than rival taxi companies.

But taxi drivers argue that Uber has fewer regulatory burdens placed upon it than they do, and poses unfair competition.

The company - which is backed by Google and the bank Goldman Sachs, among others - has been the subject of protests by taxi drivers in many European cities, including Berlin, Paris and London.

Only last week, Uber said it was planning to rapidly expand its German operation.

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Samsung reveals virtual reality kit

3 September 2014 Last updated at 16:23 By Leo Kelion Technology desk editor

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WATCH: The VR helmet comes with a 360-degree video filmed with Cirque du Soleil

Samsung has unveiled a virtual reality headset and a smartphone whose screen bends around one of its sides.

The new kit was revealed at the Ifa tech show in Berlin.

In addition to the Gear VR and Note Edge, the company also showed off the fourth standard version of its large-screened Note smartphone, which introduces an ultraviolet light sensor.

The announcements come at a time when Samsung Electronics is perceived to be on its back foot.

In July the division reported a 20% year-on-year drop in its net profit and dozens of executives voluntarily agreed to return part of their bonuses.

The company's smartphone market share fell from 32.2% in the April-to-June quarter of 2013 to 24.9% in the same period this year, according to research firm IDC, despite the fact it has one of the biggest ranges of handsets.

By contrast, its Android rivals Lenovo, Huawei, Xiaomi and Motorola all made gains.

At Ifa, DJ Lee, Samsung Electronic's marketing chief, said his firm was "focused on accelerating the speed of innovation" and promised to "never slow down".

The virtual reality headset is the result of an alliance with Facebook-owned Oculus and acts as an add-on for the Galaxy Note 4.

It uses the phone's 5.7in (14.5cm) screen and speakers, and adds a focal adjustment lens - allowing it to adjust for near and farsighted eyes - and a variety of sensors to track head movements.

The firm said the machine would offer a 96-degree field of view, giving an experience similar to looking at a giant 175in (4.4m) screen from two metres away.

The Gear VR will be sold with a microSD card containing a small collection of 360-degree videos and virtual reality games.

Curved edge

Samsung said the point of wrapping the screen of the Galaxy Note Edge around its side was to offer a new way to access frequently used apps and alerts, which would be useful at times when the rest of the screen was obscured by a protective cover.

It acts as a kind of scrollable dock or toolbar that can be controlled with a swipe of the thumb.

But one expert suggested the functions offered by the Gear VR and Galaxy Note Edge might take a while to reach their full potential.

"[The headset] is going to be a niche thing, simply because until there are great apps and games to take advantage of it, that kind of experience is not going to be a mainstream one," said Ian Fogg from the consultancy IHS.

"Unlike previous curved screen smartphones, such as the LG Flex, the Galaxy Note Edge screen delivers practical benefits. But to maximise the utility, Samsung will need third-party app developers to support the edge display.

"And because Samsung offers this display on just one handset, few app developers will choose to support it unless Samsung pays app developers to tailor their apps."

New Note

Samsung appears to recognise that of its new devices, the Galaxy Note 4 is likely to be the bestseller, calling it the "hero of the day".

The phone is the same size as its predecessor, but now features a "quad HD" screen with 550 pixels per inch, meaning it should in theory present more detail than most of its rivals.

Boosting screen resolution takes a toll on battery life, but the company was keen to promote that it included "fast charging" technology.

It said the Note 4 would take about 30 minutes to bring its battery up to a 50% charge, versus a 55 minute wait for the Note 3.

The company said other changes included:

• an improved S Pen stylus that provides "a more natural brush effect"
• better noise cancellation to help make calls from loud environments
• an improved fingerprint scanner
• a higher-resolution front camera for selfies that is now 3.7 megapixels

The most unusual feature, however, is the inclusion of what Samsung says is the "world's first UV sensor in a mobile device".

The component provides users with a built-in way to track their exposure to sunlight if they keep the device outside of their pocket or bag.

However, Netatmo's June - a bracelet that wirelessly transmits UV levels to connected smartphones - may offer a more practical solution for consumers wanting this feature.

"I expect the Samsung Note 4 to stand out as an optimised and well-designed product leading in its phablet category, even though it was too early for it to ship with the forthcoming Android L version," commented Thomas Husson, mobile devices analyst at the tech research firm Forrester.

"However, I think this is mostly an incremental change with too much of a focus on the feature and hardware specs. What is missing is a total experience on top of the device to really differentiate it in the interchangeable Android ecosystem."

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Samsung phones to get Nokia maps

1 September 2014 Last updated at 11:23

Nokia's mapping service will soon be appearing on Samsung smartphones.

A deal between the two will see a test or beta version of an Android app for Nokia's Here maps included free on handsets and the Gear S smartwatch.

The move is widely seen as a way to help Samsung distinguish itself from Google which oversees Android.

Formerly known as Nokia maps, Here is also used by Yahoo, Amazon and Garmin and it provides map data for Microsoft's Bing search engine.

The map service covers 190 countries, offers turn-by-turn navigation, tourist information and public transport details. In addition, the maps can be downloaded to a device so they can be used offline.

A version of Nokia's mapping service is being specially prepared for Samsung's Gear S smartwatch. Called Here for Gear it will be a navigation system optimised to use the relatively small display on the wrist-worn gadget.

Writing on Ars Technica, Ron Amadeo said Nokia maps was just one of the apps Samsung was keen to stop relying on Google for. However, he said, Samsung's strategy had some disadvantages.

He said: "For end users it just means a confusing experience with a ridiculous amount of duplicated apps."

Nokia's maps division was one of the parts that Microsoft did not buy when it acquired the phone-making "devices and services" part of Nokia in 2013.

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Google 'discourages' old browser use

1 September 2014 Last updated at 15:28

Google has started showing old versions of its search page to people using out-of-date versions of some web browsers.

At the weekend, many people reported in a Google forum they were seeing 2013 versions of the Google and image search homepages when using older browsers.

The problem was most pronounced among those using variants of Safari 5.1 and Opera 12.

A Google message posted to the forum said the change was made to "encourage" people to upgrade their browser.

'Heavy-handed'

In the forum dedicated to Google's search service, Safari and Opera users from all over the world reported they were suddenly seeing the 2013 version of the main Google search site that lacks some more modern features.

For those affected, search results appeared in a modern format but every search had to be done via the older page.

Many tried clearing cookies and disabling extensions and add-ons for their browser but this had no effect on the Google search homepage they saw.

For some the only way to get to the 2014 search page was to change their browser's basic configuration to make Google think it was more up-to-date than it actually was.

A Google engineer joined the discussion and explained that the change was not the result of a bug.

"It's working as intended," said a Google staffer called "nealem".

She added: "We're continually making improvements to Search, so we can only provide limited support for some outdated browsers."

Nealem also provided a link to the "What Browser" site which tells people which version they are using and provides links to the latest versions.

The move is a continuation of a policy begun in 2011 when Google announced that it was dropping GMail support for older browsers.

Many of the support forum decried the shift saying they wanted to stick with the older versions of the browsers because they had useful features missing from more up-to-date versions. Many criticised the decision saying it was "heavy-handed" and "ridiculous". Some threatened to start using rival search engine Bing if Google did not repeal the change.

Google confirmed an employee had taken part in the online discussion but said it had no other comment to make.

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Gamers take a stand against misogyny

2 September 2014 Last updated at 18:35 By Kevin Rawlinson BBC News

More than 2,000 people have signed an open letter calling for an end to discrimination in the gaming industry.

It came in response to death threats made against the feminist reviewer Anita Sarkeesian after she released the latest in a series of videos on misogyny in gaming.

She said she contacted police and felt compelled to leave her home. She called the threats a "form of terrorism".

The letter called for gamers to report "hateful, harassing speech".

It read: "We believe that everyone, no matter what gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion or disability has the right to play games, criticise games and make games without getting harassed or threatened. It is the diversity of our community that allows games to flourish."

Public stand

The letter, which was written by games developer Andreas Zecher of independent games studio Spaces of Play, encouraged people who witnessed threats of violence on sites such as Twitch, Facebook and Twitter - as well as others - to report them.

"If you see hateful, harassing speech, take a public stand against it and make the gaming community a more enjoyable space to be in," it read.

It was signed by developers from major studios, such as Electronic Arts and Ubisoft, as well as smaller, independent ones.

On 25 August, Sarkeesian, who runs the Feminist Frequency website, released the latest episode in her series on the portrayal of women in video games.

In it, she addressed the tendency towards "largely insignificant non-playable female characters whose sexuality or victimhood is exploited as a way to infuse edgy, gritty or racy flavoring into game worlds".

Within two days, she said she had received "some very scary threats" against herself and her family on Twitter, adding that she had contacted the police.

'Not giving up'

She also produced a screengrab that suggested the person who threatened her knew where she lived and said she was going to stay with a friend because she no longer felt safe in her own home.

Continue reading the main story

• 55% of UK gamers are male

• 45% female

Source: Ipsos Mori

Later, Sarkeesian tweeted that she was safe. "I'm not giving up. But this harassment of women in tech must stop," she wrote.

And she suggested that the abuse was still going on in a tweet posted on Monday.

She has been subject to misogynist abuse before, most notably in 2012 when a first-person game was published online entitled: Beat Up Anita Sarkeesian.

Earlier this year, Sarkeesian won the Game Developers Choice ambassador award. The accolade is given to a person deemed to have "helped the game industry advance to a better place, either through facilitating a better game community from within, or by reaching outside the industry to be an advocate for video games and help further our art".

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Celebrity leaks 'no breach' - Apple

2 September 2014 Last updated at 20:49

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Apple say that hackers targeted celebrities' passwords, as Rory Cellan-Jones reports

Apple has confirmed that some celebrities' iCloud accounts were broken into, but says it has found no evidence that this was caused by a breach of its security systems.

Instead, the firm suggests perpetrators carried out their thefts by deducing victims' log-in credentials.

The statement follows the online publication of intimate pictures of about 20 personalities.

Actress Jennifer Lawrence has confirmed a leaked topless photo of her was real.

There had been speculation that the images were obtained due to a vulnerability in software that allows users to locate missing iPhones, since it had allowed unlimited password guesses.

But Apple has indicated that this was not the case.

"We wanted to provide an update to our investigation into the theft of photos of certain celebrities," said the firm in a statement.

"When we learned of the theft, we were outraged and immediately mobilised Apple's engineers to discover the source.

"Our customers' privacy and security are of utmost importance to us.

"After more than 40 hours of investigation, we have discovered that certain celebrity accounts were compromised by a very targeted attack on user names, passwords and security questions, a practice that has become all too common on the internet.

"None of the cases we have investigated has resulted from any breach in any of Apple's systems including iCloud or Find my iPhone. We are continuing to work with law enforcement to help identify the criminals involved."

The FBI said earlier that it was looking into the case.

Experts had highlighted that celebrities could be vulnerable to attacks if their passwords or security question answers could be guessed from articles written about them.

But one academic suggested that it would take more than obscure log-ins to shield internet accounts from the risk of theft.

"This isn't the first time photos have been taken off cloud storage and it won't be the last," said Dr Steven Murdoch, an information security researcher at University College London.

"And it's not fair to blame the victims of crime who may have simply been following the instructions websites are giving to protect their accounts.

"Authentication is not cheap to do right at large scale.

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Celebrities who were not targeted talk about the threat from hackers

"If you contrast what Apple and Dropbox and Google are doing with what banks are doing, then you can see the banks are taking significantly more steps to protect their customers. They are sending hardware and letters to customers, and sometimes requesting they come into branches, which gives better security but at a cost."

Dr Murdoch said that users wishing to do more to protect themselves could activate two-factor authentication - which can involve the user having to type in a short code sent via text message to their phone number as an extra security step before they are given access to their uploads.

'Creepy effort'

Images of the celebrities were leaked on image posting website 4Chan.

The user posting them - who defined him or herself as a "collector" rather than "hacker" - said more images of different celebrities would soon be posted.

Copies of the images spread to other services, including Reddit, Imgur and Twitter, from which they were subsequently deleted by administrators.

While some of the celebrities said the images were fake, others have confirmed their authenticity.

Actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead posted on Twitter: "To those of you looking at photos I took with my husband years ago in the privacy of our home, hope you feel great about yourselves.

"Knowing those photos were deleted long ago, I can only imagine the creepy effort that went into this."

Winstead's comments would suggest iCloud was not at play, as pictures on Apple's service are only viewable online for 30 days.

Raj Samani from Intel Security said: "Almost every service used online requires a password, and to ensure your passwords are secure, they must be complex."

But more often than not, it is human weaknesses that give hackers the simplest route to compromising accounts.

"Phishing" people - meaning to trick them into giving up their password - is considered perhaps the simplest and most targeted way hackers gain access to accounts.

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Netflix to make sharing private

3 September 2014 Last updated at 11:53

Netflix is changing its relationship with Facebook so users recommendations are no longer made public.

They're now offering internet video subscribers the option to only share content with their Facebook friends.

Recommendations will no longer be made public and the company hopes it will encourage more people to share what they are watching.

They hope more of their 50 million subscribers will now link their two accounts.

Most people already tell their friends...we're trying to make that experience seamless and quick within Netflix

Cameron Johnson, Netflix's Director of Product Innovation

The man behind new ideas and products on Netflix, Cameron Johnson says they're trying to copy how people interact in real life.

"Most people already tell their friends about TV shows or movies they like, we're trying to make that experience seamless and quick within Netflix."

Johnson also said some users are concerned that linking with Facebook will result in overly aggressive, or spam-like, notices in newsfeeds.

Hey says that the new controls mean Netflix sharing can be done on an individual basis and never appear in a newsfeed.

Netflix has announced changes to their Facebook sharing options

Previously, Netflix subscribers linking the service to their Facebook accounts automatically disclosed everything they were watching and that was made public.

Now, if both you and a friend are Netflix users, the recommendation will be visible on both accounts next to a profile picture.

If only one of you has linked the two accounts, the recommendation will be sent as a Facebook message.

The new controls are available today and are available to those watching on PCs, Apple's mobile devices, web-connected TVs and video-game consoles including Xbox and PlayStation systems.

Netflix say Android-powered devices will be added in a couple months.

Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube

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Home Depot probes possible hack

3 September 2014 Last updated at 11:56

US-based DIY chain Home Depot has said it is investigating "unusual activity" relating to customer data.

The announcement follows a report by prominent security blogger Brian Krebs, who suggested the company might have fallen victim to a credit card breach extending back to April or May.

The retailer confirmed it was working with "banking partners and law enforcement" as part of its inquiry.

Mr Krebs was previously the first to report about Target's breach last year.

The general goods retailer later confirmed that 40 million credit and debit cards belonging to its shoppers had been compromised over a three week period. Its chief executive resigned as a consequence, and the company said last month that the episode had cost it $148m (£90m) to date.

Mr Krebs said a breach at Home Depot had the potential to be "many times larger", bearing in mind the company operates 2,200 stores in the US.

He said that the matter had been brought to his attention after a large number of stolen payment card details were posted to an underground forum.

"Protecting our customers' information is something we take extremely seriously, and we are aggressively gathering facts at this point while working to protect customers," said Paula Drake, a Home Depot spokeswoman.

"If we confirm that a breach has occurred, we will make sure customers are notified immediately. Right now, for security reasons, it would be inappropriate for us to speculate further."

Security experts have suggested that the US is more vulnerable to credit card hacks than many other countries because it still relies on payment terminals that scan the magnetic stripe on the back of cards, giving malware an opportunity to copy the data.

However, US stores will begin using chip-and-pin and chip-and-sign systems next year that will add encryption to safeguard details.

Home Depot's shares fell 2% on Tuesday, making it the worst performing stock in the Dow index.

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Sony phone streams PlayStation games

3 September 2014 Last updated at 15:46 By Leo Kelion Technology desk editor

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WATCH BBC's: Dave Lee tries out the new kit at Ifa

Sony's latest smartphones and tablets can stream PlayStation 4 video games.

Owners will be able to attach the new devices to an existing PS4 controller via a special mount to play titles powered by the console's processors.

Until now this "remote play" facility had only been offered to the firm's PlayStation Vita handheld console.

Experts said the feature should help Sony's kit stand out from Android rivals at a time when competition is intensifying.

But despite the popularity of the PS4, they added, the move was likely to have only a slight impact on sales.

The Japanese company also unveiled a new smartwatch and a fitness tracker at a press conference in Berlin, ahead of the start of the Ifa tech show.

The launches come a month after Sony cut its smartphone sales forecast by 14% for this financial year, saying its original figure was too "optimistic".

The firm's global handset market share has slipped from 3.9% to 3.1% over the past year, according to research firm IDC, as Chinese rivals have made gains.

'Best of Sony'

The Z3, Z3 Compact and Z3 Tablet Compact all rely on a wi-fi link to control the PS4 and view the graphics it generates.

The firm suggests the feature will appeal to gamers who have to share use of the living room TV.

"Our promise to the consumer has been to bring the best of Sony - all our consumer electronics experience - into a smartphone," Calum MacDougall, head of Xperia marketing, told the BBC.

"We've consistently delivered that in the Z series with digital imaging capability, with our TV screen technology, with our audio capability. And now this is a big step up to almost complete the set with gaming functionality."

Praise for the move was qualified.

"For the gaming fraternity this is certainly something that would pique their interest when looking across a kind of homogenous set of smartphones that largely look the same and do the same kind of thing," said Ben Wood, head of research at CCS Insight, a telecoms consultancy.

"But I'm not sure it will be a killer feature."

Ryan Reith, mobile devices analyst at IDC, agreed that the facility had appeal to a niche audience, but said at this point the majority of gamers' needs were met by existing tablet and phone apps.

Hard corners

Other features of the Z3 smartphone include:

• A "face in" feature that allows the phone to record the view from the rear 20.7 megapixel camera and superimpose a selfie reaction shot taken simultaneously from the 2.2MP front one
• A multi-cam function that combines the views from up to three connected Xperia devices into a single video recording
• Software to "upscale" the quality of MP3 files to a "near high-resolution" audio
• Durable nylon-based corners to minimise the risk of damage to the phone's aluminium frame
• The ability to create a live video stream broadcast on YouTube

The firm has also taken the relatively unusual step of keeping the phone's 5.2in (13.2cm) screen at 1080p resolution rather than using a higher resolution panel.

While this limits the level of detail displayed, the firm says the benefit is that the handset offers a longer-than-average two days of use between battery charges.

Rejecting round

Sony also updated its wearable tech range with two new products.

The Smartband Talk is a waterproof wristband that tracks the user's physical activity and can last three days between charges. It also acts as a remote microphone and speaker for Bluetooth-connected Android phones, letting owners make calls from their wrist.

The SmartWatch 3 is Sony's first watch to be powered by Google's Android Wear operating system, which is designed for small screens.

It also adds four gigabytes of internal memory, allowing it to offer "offline" music playback at times the owner does not have their phone with them.

Unlike LG and Motorola, Sony only offers its watch in a square design rather than a circular option, which some believe is more fashionable.

"We believe the squarer screen is the better way to go to offer better second-screen functionality," said Mr MacDougall.

"Whether it's looking at your life-log application or notifications, you get a much richer experience in that way."

However, he declined to rule out Sony releasing a circular watch at a later stage.

"Let's see if Sony has a round screen at CES in January," remarked Mr Cross in response.

"All the feedback we're getting is that for wearables to be attractive they need to become more fashionable, and the circular watches have resonated with the consumer and fashion media as to what we want.

"At least Sony now has a stake in the ground with Android Wear, which we believe will become the most pervasive smartwatch operating system outside anything Apple do."

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