In less than two minutes a phishing campaign will ensnare its first victim, found the report
It takes 82 seconds for cyber-thieves to ensnare the first victim of a phishing campaign, a report suggests.
Compiled by Verizon, the report looks at analyses of almost 80,000 security incidents that hit thousands of companies in 2014.
It found that, in many companies, about 25% of those who received a phishing email were likely to open it.
"Training your employees is a critical element of combating this threat," said Bob Rudis, lead author on the report.
Tricking people into opening a booby-trapped message let attackers grab login credentials that could be used to trespass on a network and steal data, the report said.
"They do not have to use complex software exploits, because often they can get hold of legitimate credentials," Mr Rudis said.
Analysis of data breaches found that, in many cases, it had taken less than two minutes for freshly sent phishing emails to catch their first victim. And, said Mr Rudis, half of the victims had clicked on the message within the first hour of it being sent.
Although attackers racked up victims quickly, it took companies far longer to notice they had been compromised, Mr Rudis said.
The report also found companies could take straight-forward steps to defend themselves against well-crafted phishing emails designed to make people open them and their attachments.
Teaching staff to spot bogus messages could reduce the proportion of victims to sent emails from one in four to one in 20, he said.
Showing workers the tell-tale signs of a phishing email could also turn them into another line of defence that could catch messages missed by automatic detection systems.
"They should be treating employees as tools in the fight rather than as lambs to the slaughter," Mr Rudis said.
After phishing, some cyber-thieves relied on companies running un-patched software that was vulnerable to old and well-known exploits, he said.
More than 99% of the vulnerabilities exploited in data breaches had been known about for more than a year, Mr Rudis said. And some had been around for a decade.
"There are some vulnerabilities that just linger out there," he said.
A good patching regime would help companies protect themselves against most of the vulnerabilities cyber-thieves abuse, Mr Rudis added.
Daenerys Targaryen, portrayed by Emilia Clarke, appears in a scene from series four of Game of Thrones
Games of Thrones broadcaster HBO has sent "take down" notices to Periscope, the live-streaming video app owned by Twitter, after users of the app broadcast episodes of the hit show on Sunday night.
HBO also said Saturday's online leaks of four episodes had come from within a group that had received preview DVDs.
Twitter maintains that the Periscope app complies with US copyright law.
But HBO indirectly criticised the video streaming company.
"In general, we feel developers should have tools which proactively prevent mass copyright infringement from occurring on their apps and not be solely reliant upon notifications," HBO said in a statement.
Periscope's terms and conditions make it clear that users should respect intellectual property rights, but the app currently only reacts to copyright infringement allegations rather than trying to prevent them happening in the first place, HBO believes.
The long-awaited series five of Game of Thrones aired in the US on Sunday and in Europe on Monday.
Copyright infringement has been a huge issue for HBO.
Episodes of the first four series of Game of Thrones were illegally downloaded more than seven million times between 5 February and 6 April this year, according to piracy specialist Irdeto, as marketing for the new series ramped up.
This was a 45% increase on the same period last year, the company said.
But over the history of the series, illegal downloads had run into the "hundreds of millions", Ernesto Van der Sar, of the Torrentfreak news website, said.
And the first episode of the new series had been downloaded up to five million times, he said.
"In my view, Periscope is a non-issue [for Game of Thrones] because the show is already posted online at very high quality on several other services," he says.
"But mobile live streaming could be more of an issue for live sporting events like football matches."
Colleagues say the former Hot Lotto security boss was "obsessed" by rootkits
The former security boss of a lottery in the US has been charged with fraud after allegedly hacking the computer that picks the winning numbers.
Eddie Raymond Tipton was the security director for the Multi-State Lottery Association when he was arrested in January by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations.
Prosecutors said he had been caught on CCTV buying the winning ticket. The $14.3m (£9.5m) prize was never claimed.
Mr Tipton denies the charges.
It is alleged the security camera in the lottery room stopped recording
Citing court papers filed by prosecutors in the case, the Des Moines Register said the 51-year-old "may have inserted a thumb drive into a highly locked-down computer that's supposed to generate the random numbers used to determine lottery winners".
The offline computer is housed in a glass room and in theory can only be accessed by two people at the same time. It is also constantly monitored by a video camera.
It is alleged Mr Tipton used his position as security director to change the video camera settings and record only one second in every minute. This would have given him enough time to enter the room and plug a thumb drive into the computer.
On that drive, according to the prosecution, was a rootkit: a stealthy computer program designed to do a specific task and, in this case, then erase itself.
That task was to predetermine the winning lottery numbers for the draw that Mr Tipton was to later buy the winning ticket for.
Mike McLaughlin, senior analyst at computer security company First Base, said the allegation might sound farfetched but was plausible.
He told the BBC: "It is entirely possible to code a rootkit on a USB drive which could interfere with software on a computer then delete itself.
"It would only take a second to run once plugged in.
"However, this can leave traces on the infected machine if you know where to look."
As a member of staff, Mr Tipton was not allowed to win the lottery himself.
The court filings suggest there was an attempt to claim the prize just hours before it was scheduled to expire by a company incorporated in Belize.
If found guilty of the two charges of fraud, Mr Tipton faces up to five years in jail and a fine of up to $7,500.
Segway was founded in 2001 but has since struggled to become profitable
Chinese vehicle maker Ninebot has bought iconic US rival Segway, the company announced on Wednesday.
The Beijing-based firm did not disclose the amount of the acquisition, but did say that it received $80m (£54m) in funding from smartphone maker Xiaomi and investment firm Sequoia Capital.
Ninebot also makes two-wheeled electric vehicles, designed for standing riders, that resemble Segways.
Segway had sought an import ban against Ninebot in the US in September.
The Chinese company was one of several that Segway had accused of infringing on its patents.
In a statement, the companies said that both brands would continue to operate under their existing names.
"It [the acquisition] creates a development opportunity for the short-distance transportation industry, which the combined company will lead by widely applying a series of technologies, such as electric driving, mobile internet and human-computer interaction on future products," said Ninebot chief executive Lufeng Gao.
Segway was founded by Dean Kamen in 2001 with much fanfare, but struggled to become profitable.
It was bought by Summit Strategic Investments for an undisclosed amount in 2013.
Vox Populi says its prices for ".sucks" website names are "well within the rules"
The authority that decides which letters a web address is allowed to finish with says it is concerned at the high charges for the new ".sucks" name.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Number (Icann) has asked the US and Canadian trade authorities to investigate Vox Populi, which secured the rights to sell the name.
The company denies any wrongdoing.
Many companies and celebrities have bought their name with controversial suffixes such as ".porn" or ".xxx".
Predatory selling
The last part of a web address that follows the final dot, such as ".com", ".org", and ".net", is referred to as a generic top level domain (gTLD).
Icann relaxed the rules governing gTLDs in 2012, and the latest to go up for sale is ".sucks".
Many companies and celebrities buy their brand or name with various gTLDs, to avoid any confusion with their official website addresses or to stop others buying them and posting negative content.
Taylorswift.xxx has been reserved but not used, to prevent others from buying it
For example, singer Taylor Swift bought up taylorswift.xxx to prevent anyone else from using it.
Specialist online website Domain Incite reports that actor "Kevin Spacey, Microsoft, Google and Apple have already bought up '.sucks' sites in a bid to protect their reputations".
This practice is known as "defensive registering".
Icann granted Vox Populi permission to sell the ".sucks" names but is now concerned at the price levels the Canadian company has set.
Kevin Murphy, from Domain Incite, told the BBC two key elements of the way Vox Populi was handling the sale were causing concern.
"They are charging a $2,000 'sunrise' premium to those wishing to register '.sucks' addresses early, before the addresses go on sale to the general public [next month]," he said.
"Also they are using a list of words or names that have been defensively registered in the past, for which they are charging the top amount."
Mr Murphy said the company was working from a list of keywords that had been part of web addresses bought up early on in similar new domain web address sales and using that to decide which ".sucks" addresses to charge more for.
The base fee for any ".sucks" web address is $199 a year
New gTLDs such as ".rocks" or ".forsale" typically sell for between $5 (£3.42) and $20 a year.
Beyond jurisdiction
But Murphy said: "They [Vox Populi] are charging a much bigger amount that you'd expect.
"They were considering a fee of $25,000 at one point when we spoke to them.
"I think they are charging as much as they can get away with.
"It [Vox Populi] justified the $2,000 premium price tag [for certain '.sucks' addresses] as being 'a reasonable part of a company's PR budget'.
"It appears they are basing prices on what firms can afford not on the product services they are providing."
In a strongly worded letter to Icann, the authority's own advisory body, the Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC), demanded a "halt" to Vox Populi's "illicit", "predatory" and "coercive" selling scheme.
But even though Icann approved the ".sucks" domain name sale and issued the licence to sell the related website addresses, it appears not to have jurisdiction over how they are sold.
There is no evidence that Vox Populi has done anything wrong, and the company told Domain Incite its pricing and policies were "well within the rules".
Icann has referred Vox Populi to the two bodies it believes may have the regulatory authority to investigate the company's practices: the Federal Trade Commission in the United States and the Canadian Office of Consumer Affairs, as the company is registered in Canada.
But unless the company has broken the law, it is not clear what powers Icann has over Vox Populi's handing of the sale of ".sucks".
Garmin's new action cameras are waterproof without requiring additional casing
Sat-Nav maker Garmin has unveiled two new HD action camera models.
The Virb X and Virb XE will be priced at £239 ($349) and £319 ($466) when they are launched in the summer.
Both models are waterproof to a depth of 50m without a case, and can capture "action data" such as speed and a G-force using bespoke system G-Metrix which can then be overlaid on the footage itself.
The market is currently dominated by top seller GoPro.
Garmin launched its first action cam, Virb, in 2013. Sony, Polaroid, HTC and Xiaomi are among other tech firms offering rival devices.
Users of the higher-end Virb XE can manually control advanced settings including white balance, sharpness, colour profile and exposure levels.
The XE also shoots video in high definition quality of either 1440p/30fps (frames per second) or 1080p/60fps, with the cheaper X version offering 1080p/30fps or 720p/60fps.
Both models can capture stills images at up to 12 megapixels and have wi-fi and bluetooth connectivity.
GoPro meanwhile announced a partnership with broadcast equipment manufacturer Vislink which will enable its Hero 3+ and Hero 4 models to broadcast high definition wireless video for the first time.
Nasa astronaut Terry Virts took a Go Pro on two space walks from the International Space Station. Footage on the Nasa website.
"GoPro is the undisputed market leader right now and its cameras have become synonymous with the category," said analyst Ben Wood from CSS Insight.
"We expect the next battleground to be with 360 degree action cameras to capture footage for virtual reality headsets.
"It will be interesting to see when GoPro makes the jump into that space."
Mr Wood also said that cheaper rivals - such as the Xiaomi Yi Action Camera which had a launch price of just 399 yuan (£41) - pose more of an immediate threat to the firm.
"GoPro probably won't be too worried about Garmin. The biggest threat comes from low-cost Chinese rivals," he added.
"As the quality of their products improves and prices drop they become more realistic challengers."
Sharp makes screens for both its own phones and TVs, and other tech firms
Japan's Sharp has announced the first smartphone screen capable of showing images in 4K resolution.
The 5.5in (14cm) component packs in 806 pixels per inch.
That outclasses Samsung's new flagship model by a wide margin. The Galaxy S6 offers 577ppi on a slightly smaller display.
Higher resolutions offer more detail, typically producing crisper images and text. But experts say there is a limit to what the human eye can appreciate.
"At a certain point, the improvements get less visually stunning," Tim Coulling from the Canalys tech consultancy told the BBC.
"Once you jump from 2K to 4K, you're going to struggle to tell the two images apart even if you have perfect vision."
4K - which is also known as ultra-high definition - offers four times the resolution of 1080p HD.
Sharp's new screen trumps a 736ppi 4.1in display it announced last year
Several TV and projector manufacturers are promoting the new format as being ideal for 55in or bigger televisions that families can sit close to, and cinema screens.
One challenge with introducing it to a handset is that higher resolutions typically take a greater toll on battery life.
But Sharp promotes the Igzo (Indium gallium zinc oxide) tech used in the displays as being more energy efficient than the silicon-based LCD screens commonly used in smartphones and tablets, which should help offset their power demands.
With smartphones becoming capable of filming in 4K, Mr Coulling also suggested there would be an energy trade-off that could benefit users watching back such videos.
"You will be able to show 4K content natively on the screen, which means you won't need to process it to get it to display properly."
Samsung's Galaxy S6 Edge features what is currently an industry-leading 577 pixels per inch
He added that he believed smartphone-makers would be keen to promote their handsets as being 4K-enhanced, whatever the true benefit, for marketing reasons.
Greek news site Techblog.gr - which was among the first to report the news - said that Sharp planned to put the displays into mass production next year, and expected Chinese manufacturers to be among its first customers.
While consumers have still to get to grips with 4K, parts of the tech industry are already racing ahead to a next-generation standard.
Camera-maker Red has just announced an 8K video camera, offering 16 times the resolution of 1080p HD.
However, its $59,500 (£40,575) cost is likely to limit its appeal to film-makers.
Red's 8K camera is targeted at professionals, but signals where video technology is heading
Watson Health tries to make sense of health data from smartphones and fitness trackers
IBM has launched a health unit to make sense of the wealth of data created by the boom in fitness trackers and apps.
Watson Health aims to create "a secure, cloud-based data sharing hub" that can feed analytic technologies, it said.
It could provide diagnoses or health alerts which could also be sent to doctors, carers, or insurers for example, with the user's permission.
IBM has teamed up with Apple and wants to launch "new employee health and wellness management solutions".
The company says it is buying two firms to help with its goal: Explorys which has one of the largest healthcare databases in the world and Phytel that works with digital medical record systems to reduce hospital readmissions and automate communications.
IBM says it wants to provide "individualised insights and a more complete picture of the many factors that can affect people's health".
Privacy concerns
There has been concern over personal technology being used to help diagnose an individual's condition.
In the US, some apps that claimed to diagnose cancer, for example, have been criticised by the Federal Trade Commission.
There is also concern over the sharing of health data. Companies including Jawbone are talking to firms about how personal fitness trackers could be used to monitor a workforce.
Data collected from fitness trackers is being used by employers, insurers, and health professionals
Christopher Coughlan, a UK solicitor who has written on the subject advises bosses considering such a move to be careful:
"If you rely on consent it must be freely given. This means a worker must be able to say 'no' without a penalty being imposed and must be able to withdraw consent once given.
"A person is more likely to be in this position at the recruitment stage than when they are employed."
Insurers are also interested in monitoring customers. UK health insurance firm Vitality is incentivising policy-holders to take up a more active lifestyle by offering rewards for certain tasks that can be tracked through personal fitness devices.
GP welcomes move
GP Dr Ellie Cannon welcomed the move by IBM:
"It is always difficult to gauge how much exercise or calories a patient is describing and this is an accurate way to know.
"On a larger scale... the data could provide evidence to back up or dispute well-known health claims such as how much sleep we need or which exercise is most effective."
That could be aided by Apple's announcement today that its ResearchKit software that helps gather health data from iPhones is now available to anyone.
It's already been used to develop apps to study asthma, breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and Parkinson's disease, says Apple.
Nokia says it has agreed to buy smaller French rival Alcatel-Lucent in a €15.6bn (£11.2bn) takeover deal.
Under the all-share deal, Alcatel-Lucent shareholders will own 33.5% of the new combined firm, and Nokia shareholders 66.5%.
Both firms said their boards had agreed the takeover and they expected it to go through in the first half of next year.
The merger will form a European telecoms equipment group worth more than €40bn (£29bn).
Nokia's chief executive, Rajeev Suri, said the firms' complementary technologies would give them "the scale to lead in every area in which we choose to compete".
"I firmly believe that this is the right deal, with the right logic, at the right time," he added.
Weaker players
The two firms are currently among the weakest players in the telecoms equipment industry. However, the combined firm will have a market share of 35%, making it second only to Swedish rival Ericsson, which has 40%, according to Bernstein Research.
The firms expect the merger to cut operating costs by €900m by 2019, but Nokia said it would not cut jobs beyond what Alcatel had already planned.
"No job cuts" in France was the condition under which the French government said on Tuesday that it would back the deal.
'Long and rocky road'
Alcatel-Lucent's shares fell 10% in early trading, with traders attributing the fall to shareholders' disappointment that the deal did not have a cash element.
However, Nokia's shares rose almost 5%, despite some analysts saying that the deal could take a long time to pay off.
"Nokia's risk profile will increase considerably," said analyst Mikael Rautanen from Inderes Equity Research.
"The risk is that the merger will become a long and rocky road and investors lose their patience following through the integration programme that will take years,"
But Jukka Oksaharju from Nordnet brokerage said Nokia had secured a good price.
"We know that there are risks related to France and the cost cuts, but I believe that Nokia has calculated a margin of safety to the deal price."
Google pitches its shopping service as a "matchmaker" between products and customers
The European Union has filed a complaint against Google over its alleged anti-competitive behaviour.
The competition commissioner said she had issued a "statement of objections", stating that the firm's promotion of its own shopping links amounted to an abuse of its dominance in search.
Margrethe Vestager said Google now had 10 weeks to respond.
The firm said it "strongly disagreed" with the allegations and looked forward to making its case.
Ms Vestager also revealed that she had launched an investigation into whether the way Google bundled apps and services for its Android operating system was unfair.
And the commissioner said the EU would continue to monitor other activities by Google that its rivals had complained about.
It follows a five-year investigation into the company and marks the start of a formal legal process that could ultimately lead to billions of euros of fines.
Google accounts for more than a 90% of EU-based web searches.
'Preferential treatment'
The European Commission has investigated the antitrust allegations - made by Microsoft, Tripadvisor, Streetmap and others - since 2010.
Among their complaints was an objection to Google placing adverts from its Shopping service ahead of others' links in relevant searches.
The EU has objected to the way Google promotes results from its own shopping service
Ms Vestager said the Commission's preliminary findings supported the claim that Google "systematically" gave prominence to its own ads, which amounted to an abuse of its dominant position in search.
"I'm concerned that Google has artificially boosted its presence in the comparison shopping market with the result that consumers may not necessarily see what's most relevant for them, or that competitors may not get the the commercial opportunity that their innovative services deserve," she told a press conference in Brussels.
Ms Vestager said that she was not seeking a wider redesign of Google's search results or asking it to change its algorithms.
But she added that the case could set a precedent that would determine how the EU handled other complaints about Google favouring its own mapping, hotels and flights services.
Google has rejected the idea its Shopping service distorts the market.
"While Google may be the most used search engine, people can now find and access information in numerous different ways - and allegations of harm, for consumers and competitors, have proved to be wide of the mark," wrote its search chief Amit Singhal on the firm's blog.
"It's clear that: (a) there's a ton of competition - including from Amazon and eBay, two of the biggest shopping sites in the world and (b) Google's shopping results have not the harmed the competition.
"Any economist would say that you typically do not see a ton of innovation, new entrants or investment in sectors where competition is stagnating - or dominated by one player. Yet that is exactly what's happening in our world."
Many of Google's rivals welcomed the EU's action.
"Google's abuse of dominance distorts European markets, harms consumers, and makes it impossible for Google's rivals to compete on a level playing field," said lobbying group Icomp.
"We see this statement of objection as a crucial first step towards ensuring that European consumers have access to vibrant and competitive online markets."
Google suggests that services including eBay ensure it does not distort the shopping search market
Android inquiry
The EU has also launched a separate investigation into Google's Android operating system, used by smartphones and tablets, which will focus on three topics:
claims that Google requires or incentivises manufacturers to pre-install its own search engine, apps and other services and exclude rival products
allegations that Google unfairly insists its services are bundled, meaning some cannot be pre-installed without including the others
complaints that the firm is hindering manufacturers from developing alternative versions of Android, which is open source. These are commonly known as "forks", with Amazon's Fire OS and Xiaomi's Mi being two examples
"These issues are distinct from the Google comparison shopping case and the investigations will of course be different," Ms Vestager said.
Google says the way it distributes its apps ensures that Android smartphones offer a "great" experience
In response, Google stressed that Android devices could be offered without its services.
"It's important to remember that [our partner agreements] are voluntary - you can use Android without Google - but provide real benefits to Android users, developers and the broader ecosystem," said lead engineer Hiroshi Lockheimer.
"Our app distribution agreements make sure that people get a great 'out of the box' experience with useful apps right there on the home screen. This also helps manufacturers of Android devices compete with Apple, Microsoft and other mobile ecosystems that come preloaded with similar baseline apps."
Complex subject
Google could ultimately face huge fines and be ordered to reshape its business in Europe because of the shopping complaint.
Some searches cause Google Shopping's ads to be offset to the side of the screen
In recent years, the Commission has imposed antitrust penalties on other tech giants, ordering Intel to pay €1.1bn (£793m; $1.2bn) in 2009, and Microsoft €516m in 2013.
However, Ms Vestager said she was "open" to Google's response, and would listen to its case before deciding how to proceed.
One independent expert said that the matter could take years to resolve.
"I can't see that this will be a fast process given the complexity of the subject matter, what's at stake and the likely level of the fine," said Paul Henty, a lawyer at Charles Russell Speechlys who has previously worked for the European Commission.
International inquiries
The EU's investigation is not the only one Google is facing.
Investigators at India's Competition Commission delivered a report last week after carrying out a three-year probe into claims of unfair business practices.
Their counterparts in Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Taiwan and Canada have also opened investigations.
However, the US Federal Trade Commission dropped its own probe at the start of 2013 after Google made several non-binding commitments.
The new jobs will be based at Microsoft's HQ in Redmond, USA
Microsoft says it wants to hire more people with autism in full-time roles.
The tech giant is to start by offering 10 places on a pilot scheme based at its Redmond headquarters.
Senior executive Mary Ellen Smith said: "People with autism bring strengths that we need at Microsoft."
The UK's National Autistic Society welcomed the move but said that other firms should do more to tap into the skills offered by many people with autism.
Announcing the new scheme in a blog, Ms Smith said: "Each individual is different, some have an amazing ability to retain information, think at a level of detail and depth or excel in math or code."
Specialist recruitment firm, Specialisterne, will help run a new hiring scheme.
The firm, which operates in Denmark and the UK, works with several IT companies, and in other sectors, to promote the skills of people with autism for specific vacancies.
Sarah Lambert, from the National Autistic Society, said: "It's encouraging to see a global company like Microsoft recognise the untapped potential of adults with autism.
"Many may have strengths such as accuracy, a good eye for detail and reliability, which can benefit all sorts of businesses, not just the technology industry.
"However, at the moment, just 15% of adults with autism in the UK are in full-time employment.
"Simple adjustments, like making job interviews more accessible and providing support to help those in work understand the 'unwritten rules' of the workplace can unlock the potential of a whole section of society."
Campaigners say YouTube Kids channels for McDonald's and others flout advertising rules
US regulators are being asked to investigate a YouTube app for children.
Consumer organisations and childcare groups say YouTube is using the app to flout long-standing limits on adverts seen by youngsters.
The groups have sent a joint letter to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asking it to find out if the app uses "deceptive marketing practices".
In response, YouTube said it "strongly" disagreed with the conclusions of the campaigning groups.
The YouTube Kids app was launched in February and was created to let children use the video site, but while also giving parents control over what they watch and search for. It also has channels showing curated content from companies including McDonald's and Fisher-Price aimed specifically at younger viewers.
It is these branded channels that the consumer and child groups are most concerned about because, they claim, they let companies mix adverts and shows in ways that would not be permitted on television.
The channels also do not do enough to label clips and shows that feature products that presenters have been paid to highlight, the groups said in their letter.
The Consumers Union, the Center for Digital Democracy and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry have all signed the letter to the FTC.
A spokesman for the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK said its rules on adverts applied across all media and had specific sections that sought to protect children.
"Adverts should be appropriate, not cause offence and not mislead," said the spokesman. "The key rule in the code is that adverts should be identified as such and it should be made obvious that you are being advertised to."
A YouTube spokesperson said it had worked with many children's groups and other partners when developing YouTube Kids.
"While we are always open to feedback on ways to improve the app, we were not contacted directly by the signers of this letter and strongly disagree with their contentions," the spokesperson added.
Intel, led by Brian Krzanich, says its RealSense technology is now small enough to fit in a smartphone
Intel has revealed a version of its 3D depth camera that is small and thin enough to be fitted into a 6in (15.2cm) smartphone.
The RealSense sensor can be used to recognise hand and head movements and makes it possible to change the focus of photos after they have been taken.
The prototype was unveiled by the company chief executive Brian Krzanich at an event in Shenzhen, China.
One expert noted that questions remained about its power demands.
Although Mr Krzanich showed off an example of a RealSense-enabled phone, he did not demonstrate it working, which may indicate it is still at an early stage of development.
"The device which was shown on stage at the Intel Developer Forum was a prototype that was created in collaboration with a Chinese firm, whom we are not naming," said a spokeswoman for the company.
"The device is meant to show the different types of apps, usage models and form factors that RealSense tech can be integrated into and to encourage innovation."
The depth data collected by RealSense cameras can be used to change the focus of a photo after it has been taken
The technology is similar to that found in Microsoft's Kinect motion-and-image sensor, but in a much smaller package.
While the Kinect has fallen out of favour with many Xbox gamers, one industry watcher thought the technology would prove popular in handsets.
"We've got to the stage where putting ever higher-resolution cameras in phones is no longer as much of a selling point as it used to be," said Chris Green, of the Davies Murphy Group consultancy.
"So manufacturers need additional features to draw on. Depth perception and light-field technology will interest people and potentially let the next generation of smartphones differentiate themselves from what is already on the market.
"Intel has obviously achieved half of the challenge involved - the miniaturisation - but what is still unclear is whether it has got the power side of things licked. It's one thing putting this into a laptop where you have a large battery and access to a mains power source, it's another to put it into a phone that has to last throughout the day."
Sensor rivals
Intel first announced that laptops were to incorporate its RealSense components in January last year, after a tie-up with the Belgian 3D vision specialist SoftKinetic.
Intel's RealSense cameras already allow laptops to be controlled with gestures
It suggested the tech could be used to provide improved gesture recognition - allowing users to control devices without having to touch them - as well as a way to scan objects that could be later edited and 3D-printed and a means to have more control over the way photos and videos looked after they had been captured.
This year, Dell became the first manufacturer to incorporate the technology into a tablet.
Getting the tech into a smartphone would offer Intel a potential coup, but other firms are also working on alternatives.
Google's Project Tango tablet can be used to create 3D models of rooms
Google has created Project Tango - a tablet fitted with a 3D image sensor made by the German company PMDTechnologies.
At this point the kit is limited to developers, as part of an effort to add "spatial perception" to the Android ecosystem.
The US-based Pelican Imaging is also working on a depth-sensing array of cameras designed for smartphones that it says would let photos be refocused after being taken as well as allowing users to create "3D selfies".
Pelican Imaging suggests its sensors will make 3D selfies possible
Its work is backed by Intel's chip-making rival Qualcomm as well as Nokia's venture capital wing, Nokia Growth Partners.
In addition, Apple bought PrimeSense in November 2013.
The Israeli start-up had previously provided the technology used in the original Kinect. Apple has yet to announce how it plans to make use of the acquisition.
Still too big?
One tech journalist who attended the event in Shenzhen suggested Intel might still have quite a bit of work before its RealSense tech was ready for mainstream handsets.
One expert suggested Intel needed to shrink the components to fit smaller handsets
"It was weird because Brian Krzanich said on stage that he's known for taking risks with performing live demos at tech events, and yet this was pretty much the only device he did not turn on to show what it did on stage, which might say something about the early stage it is at," Richard Lai, editor-in-chief of Engadget Chinese, told the BBC.
"And the prototype was still a 6in phablet. That size is socially acceptable in China, where consumers like to have a large screen.
"But putting it into a smaller form factor would make it more accessible to other consumers."
The Wi-fi Calling service will initially be limited to high-end handsets offered by EE
EE is to begin switching some of its customers to wi-fi enabled calls to help combat mobile signal dead spots.
The UK network suggests the move will particularly benefit people who fail to get a connection or experience dropped calls in their homes and offices.
Other firms already offer a similar service via apps, but EE says its scheme is "seamless" as users are not required to do anything to switch between 3G/4G and wi-fi.
However, there are potential pitfalls.
EE said its Wi-fi Calling facility would initially be limited to pay monthly subscribers using Samsung's Galaxy S6 and S5 phones and Microsoft's new Lumia 640, although the BBC understands the iPhone 5S and newer Apple handsets will also be supported.
Since it requires specific mobile data components to be built into the devices, it cannot be extended to other older models. However, EE said it would soon offer a compatible own-brand budget smartphone.
To join the service, users send the firm a single text message.
"We have worked more than a year to make sure that everything works like a normal phone connection," Olaf Swantee, EE's chief executive, told the BBC.
"So, the ringtone, the voicemail, the quality of the conversation - all of that is exactly the same with our solution.
"I think that's essential as customers don't have the time to figure out whether they should be using an app.
"They want to simply know the network will switch from one technology to the other without customer intervention."
O2 and Three offer rival internet-enabled call services that require apps
He added that he expected five million people would be able to use the service, which also supports text messages, by the summer.
Even if a personal wi-fi network is used, the phone's owner will still be billed as if they had made the call in a normal manner. Furthermore, they cannot use it to make cheaper calls from abroad.
But one industry watcher said the scheme still had appeal.
"One of the complained about factors with mobile phones is just making a voice call, and perhaps an approach of getting the fundamentals of connectivity right can act as a differentiator for the firm," said Kester Mann from the telecoms consultancy CCS Insight.
"Vodafone will also be launching a similar wi-fi calling service in the summer."
The UK's other two leading networks, O2 and Three, offer apps instead: Tu Go and Three inTouch.
Third-party services, including Skype, Whatsapp, Viber and Apple's iMessage, also provide ways to make voice calls over wi-fi.
Settings menu
One of the limitations of EE's Wi-fi Calling is that it cannot switch from one service to another mid-call.
So, if someone walks out of a wi-fi covered zone into an area where there is 4G coverage, or vice versa, they still face their call suddenly ending.
EE is marketing the service as a way to make calls in the home or office, where it believes this is unlikely to be a common problem.
EE says customers will be able to receive calls in places where there is no network coverage
It also boasts that it will make it easy for people to make and receive calls on London Underground platforms, and other wi-fi enabled places without network coverage.
However, it acknowledges that users many need to manage their experience.
Because phones will automatically switch to wi-fi where it is available, if users log into a congested hotspot they could face poor call quality. They would then need to go into their settings menu to temporarily turn off the wi-fi connection or Wi-fi Calling facility to opt back into 3G/4G.
"It's going to depend on the quality of the public wi-fi, and if that's a poor quality service in a coffee shop, shopping centre or wherever, that will be a challenge," said Mr Mann.
"It's very much tailored to the private wi-fi that people have in the basements of flats, rural homes and other places with poor mobile coverage."
Takeover talks
EE recently beat other networks in terms of average 4G download speeds and the number of UK premises with coverage, in a study carried out by the regulator Ofcom.
BT requires the Competition and Markets Authority's approval to complete its takeover of EE
The company - which is currently owned by Deutsche Telekom and Orange - is in the process of being taken over by BT, which plans to let customers boost reception within buildings via a separate technique involving additional radio spectrum that it owns.
There is, however, opposition to the acquisition.
Consumer rights advocate Which? has written to Ofcom highlighting that the two firms have fared poorly in customer satisfaction surveys, and suggested that the merger could exacerbate the situation.
However, Mr Swantee insisted customers would benefit from the tie-up.
"The purchase of EE for £12.5bn is very much going to further innovation," he said.
"In-market consolidation can really help to drive investment.
"And when you look forward to technologies like 5G - which we will get in 2020, maybe - they require incredible investment."
The Turkish court imposed blocks on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook to stop controversial images spreading
Turkey threatened to ban Google unless it removed links to images of a prosecutor being held at gunpoint.
The images were taken last week in a siege at an Istanbul courthouse when two gunmen took the prosecutor hostage. All three died during a rescue attempt.
The threatened ban on Google was lifted after the search giant removed links to sites hosting the pictures.
Turkish authorities briefly cut off several social networks in a bid to stop images circulating.
On 6 April, a Turkish court ordered the country's net providers to cut off access to YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and more than 160 other sites that were letting people share the controversial images. They showed prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz with a gun held to his head by a masked attacker.
Mr Kiraz was apparently taken hostage because he headed an investigation into the 2013 death of a boy during anti-government protests.
The two gunmen who took Mr Kiraz hostage are thought to be members of the far-left DHKP-C party. Mr Kiraz and the gunmen died in a shoot-out with police during an attempt to end the siege.
By late Monday, access to the three big social media sites had been restored after they sought out and removed copies of the image circulating on the network.
Subsequently it emerged that the court had issued a second order that threatened Google with a ban unless it removed links in its search index that led to the controversial images.
The siege ended in a shoot-out that left attackers and their hostage dead
Google has yet to comment officially about the threatened ban or the action it took to avoid access being cut off.
Prior to the legal action, the images were circulating widely online and some newspapers printed them alongside articles about the siege. The publicity drew criticism from the Turkish government which said printing and sharing them was tantamount to "propaganda for the armed terrorist organisation".
The DHKP-C is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union and the US.
The bans on social networks and threat against Google are just the latest in a series of measures taken by Turkish officials to curb what it sees as subversive use of online media.
Many protests have been organised via social media and, prior to local elections in March 2014, blocks were imposed after audio recordings were widely shared that allegedly revealed corruption among senior officials.
Figures gathered by Twitter revealed that Turkey filed more requests to remove content from the messaging service that any other nation between July and December 2014.
Thousands of Australians have illegally downloaded The Dallas Buyers' Club, starring Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto
An Australian court has ordered internet service providers (ISPs) to hand over details of customers accused of illegally downloading a US movie.
In a landmark move, the Federal Court told six firms to divulge names and addresses of those who downloaded The Dallas Buyers Club.
The case was lodged by the US company that owns the rights to the 2013 movie.
The court said the data could only be used to secure "compensation for the infringements" of copyright.
In the case, which was heard in February, the applicants said they had identified 4,726 unique IP addresses from which their film was shared online using BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer file sharing network. They said this had been done without their permission.
Once they received the names of account holders, the company would then have to prove copyright infringement had taken place.
The judgment comes amidst a crackdown by the Australian government on internet piracy.
Australians are among the world's most regular illegal downloaders of digital content. The delay in release dates for new films and TV shows, and higher prices in Australia for digital content, have prompted many Australians to find surreptitious ways to watch new shows.
Australians are some of the world's most enthusiastic illegal downloaders
The ISPs involved in the case, including Australia's second-largest provider iiNet, said releasing customer information would be a breach of privacy and lead to what is known in the US as "speculative invoicing".
This is where account holders are threatened with court cases that could result in large damages unless smaller settlement fees are paid.
The ISPs argued also that the monetary claims which the US company, Dallas Buyers Club LLC, had against each infringer were so small "that it was plain that no such case could or would be maintained by the applicants".
But Justice Nye Perram ruled that the customer information could be released on condition it was only used to recover compensation for copyright infringement.
"I will also impose a condition on the applicants that they are to submit to me a draft of any letter they propose to send to account holders associated with the IP addresses which have been identified," he ruled.
Justice Perram said the ruling was also important for deterring illegal downloading.
"It is not beyond the realm of possibilities that damages of a sufficient size might be awarded under this provision in an appropriately serious case in a bid to deter people from the file-sharing of films," he said.
The case came to court after Dallas Buyers Club LLC contacted iiNet and other ISPs, asking them to divulge customer details without a court order. The ISPs refused.
The ISPs have yet to say if they will appeal against the court ruling.
Professor of Law at the University of Technology, Sydney, Michael Fraser said it was an important judgement for ISPs and customers.
"If this [judgement] is upheld then the days of anonymous pirating may be over," Prof Fraser told ABC TV.
The Galaxy S6 Edge, which features a curved screen, goes on sale on Friday
Samsung is playing down a report that its new flagship phone - the Galaxy S6 Edge - is "just as bendable" as Apple's iPhone 6 Plus and breaks completely at a lower pressure point.
The allegations have been made by a company that sells smartphone protection plans.
Samsung said that the results "may mislead consumers" and called on the firm to carry out a revised test.
But one expert said it highlighted the danger of mocking a competitor.
Last September, at a time when there were multiple reports that the new iPhone's aluminium shell left it prone to damage, Samsung posted a tweet stating that its own Edge phablet was "curved, not bent".
Samsung sent out this tweet last September
Then in February, at the S6 Edge's launch event, Samsung's mobile division marketing chief paused for applause and laughs when she boasted about the new handset's design in a presentation containing several comparisons to Apple's models.
"Not only does [the glass] look great but it's super tough - in fact, it's the toughest in the market," said Younghee Lee.
"Also the special metal that we use is 50% stronger than the metal in other high-end smartphones.
"My first language may not be engineering, but I do know that this [is] tough [and] will not bend."
Samsung is not the only company to have exploited criticism of Apple.
HTC andLG also posted tweets at the height of last year's controversy, with LG going so far as to mark one of its posts with the hashtag #bendgate.
Apple later said that damage to the iPhone 6 Plus would be "extremely rare" during normal use - a similar point now made by Samsung about the S6 Edge, which goes on sale in the US and UK on 10 April.
Samsung dedicated a section of its S6 Edge launch event to the durability of its phones
Stress tests
The current allegations are based on tests carried out by SquareTrade, which used machinery to simulate forces that it said might be experienced by a handset left in a back pocket as well as attempting to identify the force under which different models experienced "catastrophic failure".
It said that:
Both the S6 Edge and iPhone 6 Plus deformed when a force of 110lb (50kg) was applied. The screen on Samsung's phone cracked at this level, but the iPhone's did not
HTC's latest phone - the One M9 - did not bend until 120lb, at which point it also broke and became unusable
The S6 Edge's breaking point was 149lb, at which stage it ceased to function
The iPhone 6 Plus stopped working at a force of 179lb
An accompanying video suggested that S6 Edge owners were at risk of a "pocket full of glass" if they put their handsets under too much pressure.
The test found that the S6 Edge's screen cracked at the same point that the phone bent
In response, Samsung said it was confident that its phones would not bend "under daily usage".
"The normal force that [is] generated when a person presses the back pocket is approximately 66lbf (30kgf)," it added.
"Our internal test results indicate that the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge are not bendable even under 79lbf (32kgf), which is equivalent to putting pressure to snap a bundle of five pencils at once.
"Secondly, even though both front and back sides are exposed under the same level of pressure in normal circumstances, this test does not show the strength of the back side.
"Some smartphones have different [levels of] durability in each [of their] front and back sides respectively. SquareTrade has only tested the front side, which may mislead consumers about the entire durability of smartphones."
'Big lesson'
SquareTrade has issued a follow-up statement stating that it endeavoured to perform its tests "in an unbiased manner".
"We welcome Samsung's invitation to test its devices again with our Bendbot and release the results publicly," added spokeswoman Jessica Hoffman.
One independent expert agreed with Samsung that consumers should not be concerned about the durability of the S6 Edge, but added there was a lesson to be learned.
"This is only a story because it made fun of Apple when it launched the iPhone," said Francisco Jeronimo, research director at the consultancy IDC.
"You'd need to put a lot of pressure in a very specific way to break it.
"But it demonstrates that every vendor needs to be very careful when they compare their devices because it can backfire on them.
"I think that's the biggest lesson for Samsung: next time if it sees a competitor having a problem, it needs to be a lot more careful unless it is 100% sure it would not face the same criticism."
Google found that millions of people had been caught out by rogue extensions
Tens of millions of users who visit Google sites use a browser loaded with malicious add-ons, research suggests.
Most rogue extensions bombard people with ads, but the most malicious steal login names and other valuable data.
Carried out by security experts and Google, the project analysed more than 100 million visits to the search giant's sites.
It led to Google purging almost 200 bad extensions from its online catalogues of browser add-ons.
Bad behaviour?
Extensions and add-ons for web browsers add all kinds of functions and features to the software.
Many of these extensions have hidden extras that cause trouble for people who install them, said UC Santa Barbara computer scientist Alexandros Kapravelos, who worked with Google on the rogue extensions project.
The research found that malicious extensions were available for every major browser.
The findings are due to be published in full in May at the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy.
Preliminary results revealed that 5% of people accessing Google every day have been caught out by at least one malicious extension.
Of these victims, about a third have four or more bad add-ons installed in their browser.
"It is a very hard problem to deal with," said Mr Kapravelos.
Some bad extensions were easy to spot, he said, because they were so obviously written to steal saleable data such as bitcoins, bank logins or personal data.
However, many used techniques seen in legitimate extensions, he said, and it took a lot of extra analysis to pin down the bad ones.
"Even when we have a complete understanding of what the extension is doing, sometimes it is not clear if that behaviour is malicious or not," he said.
"You would expect that an extension that injects or replaces advertisements is malicious, but then you have AdBlock that creates an ad-free browsing experience and is technically very similar."
Experts from Swedish security firm ScrapeSentry said it had found examples of extensions that gathered data in ways that could easily be abused.
Some malicious extensions are very obvious and seek to steal bitcoins and other valuable data
ScrapeSentry's analysis of one extension, called Webpage Screenshot, revealed that it contained code that let it grab copies of all the browser traffic from the PC on which it was installed.
The gathered data was then sent to a server in the US. The extension has been downloaded about 1.2 million times.
"What happens to the personal data and the motives for sending it to the US server is anyone's guess, but we'd take an educated guess that it's not going to be good news," said Martin Zetterlund from ScrapeSentry.
A spokesman for Webpage Screenshot said there was nothing malicious about the data it gathered. Instead, said the spokesman, it was used to understand who the extension's users were and where they were located to help drive development of the code.
Users could opt out of sharing data, he said.
Deleting data
Mr Kapravelos said Google had acted on the early findings of the research by removing 192 actively malicious extensions from its Chrome catalogue. About 14 million people had been tricked into using these extensions, he said.
The UC Santa Barbara team was working with Google to develop tools that can automatically spot malicious extensions and flag them to the search giant's security staff.
In addition, said Mr Kapravelos, firms whose adverts were being injected onto webpages by the rogue extensions had been informed.
Unfortunately, he said, ad injection had become "entrenched" as a way for some unscrupulous developers to make money.
The research found that only a small number of developers were behind the majority of the rogue extensions that pepper people with ads, suggesting that targeted action could help tackle the problem.
DJI has refreshed its family of drones with new models that are easier to take off and land.
The Phantom 3 quadcopters also gain the ability to hold their position without using a GPS location signal, making them more suitable for indoor use.
And the app that controls the camera-equipped machines has been updated to allow live video streams to YouTube.
However one expert suggested more should be done to protect the public from such remote-controlled aircraft.
China-based DJI is the bestselling brand of drones in what is a fast-growing sector, with hobbyists, farmers, film-makers and land surveyors among its customers.
The firm found itself at the centre of a security scare earlier this year when one of its previous models crashed into the lawn of the White House.
Live video feed
DJI has unveiled two versions of its latest aircraft, which offer different video recording capabilities.
DJI suggests that he new drone could be used to film a wedding indoors
The Phantom 3 Professional, which costs $1,259 (£842), can shoot in 4K at 30 frames per second.
The ultra high definition format is four times the resolution of 1080p HD, which offers video-makers greater leeway to crop and pan across their footage after it has been shot.
The Phantom 3 Advanced, which costs $999 (£668), films at 1080p at 60 frames per second. This is lower resolution but better suited for slow-mo effects.
The lenses used by both aircraft are better suited for low-light conditions than earlier models. In addition, the new software allows owners to tag the best footage as it is recorded, making it easier to put together a fast edit.
DJI said that footage could be streamed to YouTube in 720p quality when the drone is up to one mile (1.6km) away from its controllers with almost no lag - a facility it suggested could make it a useful tool for journalists covering disasters and protests, and for mining and construction industry managers wanting to direct surveying efforts remotely.
DJI is also promoting the drone's ability to carry out indoor flights.
A tablet app can be used to stream live footage captured by the drone via YouTube
"The platform has a downward-facing camera that creates a 3D map of the ground underneath it in real-time, and identifies key vectors in that map and notices if there's any movement of those vectors," DJI spokesman Michael Perry told the BBC.
"So it automatically adjusts itself to hold a position.
"In addition, it's got two ultrasonic sensors that provide very accurate information about how far it is off the ground, which allows it to hover a lot more accurately, fly closer to the ground without having the platform bump up and down, and more importantly it lets you take off and land easily and securely with the touch of a button."
Drone injuries
DJI competes against Parrot, Walkera and Xinte among others, which all allow users to fit their aircraft with standalone cameras.
Rising sales of such devices have led to safety concerns.
In April 2014 an athlete said she suffered head injuries when a drone that had been filming her race in Australia fell to the ground.
And in December, a US newspaper photographer said the tip of her nose was "chipped off" after an accident involving drones flown inside a restaurant.
DJI is marketing its latest drones as being tools that could be used to film sports events
Following the accident at the White House in January, DJI updated the firmware used by its Phantom 2 drones to prevent them from flying over much of Washington DC.
The firm highlighted that it also continued to expand a wider list of no-fly zones, which is built into its latest models.
However, it suggested government watchdogs needed to offer clearer guidance.
A drunk government worker crashed a DJI drone into the White House's lawn in January
"We feel fundamentally that this industry will not reach its full potential until there is a clear and coherent regulatory framework put in place," said Mr Perry.
"I think the UK has taken some pretty significant strides - it has established a clear criteria for pilot qualifications, which are needed [alongside an approved request application] to be allowed to fly over a crowd or in a downtown area.
"But there is a patchwork of regulations around the globe, which only agree on one thing: flying near airports is dangerous."
Safer designs
Mr Perry noted that DJI drones sold in the UK were packaged with a pamphlet written by the Civil Aviation Authority, that sets out the restrictions under which they can be used.
The Phantom 3 drones will become available for delivery later this month
But one expert said the industry at large had a responsibility to do more.
"Recommendations are already being fed into the European Union to come up with a unified approach that will allow novel technologies and also protect people," said Dr Mirko Kovac, from Imperial College London's Aerial Robotics Lab.
"But the more hobbyists and other people that use drones, the harder it is to control.
"And what we need are more technological developments to ensure safety, particularly through the design of the aircraft as well as the sensors they use... to make the drones themselves inherently safe."
