Dyson launches hand-drying tap

4 February 2013 Last updated at 18:01 ET

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Sir James Dyson demonstrates his company's latest invention, the Airblade Tap hand dryer

Dyson - the British engineering group - has unveiled a device that combines a high-speed hand dryer with hot and cold water outlets.

The Airblade Tap builds on the firm's success with its existing standalone cold air hand driers, but is more expensive at £1,000.

The firm's founder, Sir James Dyson, said that the device offered long-term savings over hot air dryers and towels.

However, one expert said its appeal might be limited until its cost fell.

The machine consists of a unit placed underneath the sink containing a motor, an air filter and sound-silencing equipment; a pipe that carriers the water, electrics and air to the tap; and a stainless steel head unit from which the water flows and unheated air jets out at 430mph (692 km/h).

Infrared sensors detect where the user's hands are - if placed under the tap's centre water comes out, if under its sides the air nozzles are triggered.

The firm said that the technology was protected by 110 granted patents with another 100 pending.

Dyson's existing Airblade range - launched in 2006 - has proved a money spinner for the firm. It said that to date the hand dryers had been installed in more than 250,000 locations worldwide.

High-speed motor

Although the minimalistic hybrid water-air tap head is the device's signature feature, Sir James said that the "secret" of the machine was its motor, which had taken seven years to develop.

It uses an electromagnetic field, rather than carbon brushes, to accelerate from standstill to up to 100,000 revolutions per minute within 0.7 seconds. That was about four times the number of revolutions per minute that motors its size typically produced, Sir James said.

Software run off a built-in computer chip then makes about 6,000 adjustments a second to maintain optimum efficiency, and the unit is mounted on springs to prevent vibrations being passed on to the rest of the equipment.

The motor is guaranteed to last for five years, and the firm estimates over its lifetime it should be able to pump the equivalent amount of air needed to fill 26 million party balloons.

Companies such as Hyco, Warner Howard and Airdri make much cheaper hand driers - with basic units selling for between £50 and £80. But Sir James said his latest product offered advantages in the long run.

"If you had a hot air hand dryer you would have five times the [running] cost, and if you had paper towels you'd have 15 times the cost," said Sir James.

"So actually although the initial cost is expensive it saves you money and you use a lot less energy with it."

He added that his firm would initially target the device at restaurants, hotels, airports and sports stadia, but added that he thought it ultimately "ought to be in everybody's house" as it was more hygienic than using and re-using hand towels.

Will Dunn, news editor of Stuff Magazine, described the new dryer as "impressive" but suggested that unless there was a radical price drop its appeal was likely to be limited to businesses willing to pay a premium for stylish design.

"It would fit into the home because it doesn't look obtrusive and doesn't take up much space," he said.

"But it would take a long time to pay for itself because the idea of spending £1,000 on a tap is unrealistic for most people beyond the very rich."

However, he added that it would now be interesting to see what other more affordable uses the firm would have for the motor.

"What Dyson always do is invent new technologies that then trickle down into lots of different things."

Made in Singapore

Sir James confirmed that while the research and design of the new dryer had been carried out at the firm's facility in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, the company was going to build the taps at its new plant in Singapore.

Dyson began shifting production to Asia in 2002 when it announced it was cutting jobs to build its vacuum cleaners in Malaysia. 550 posts were lost. At the time the union Amicus - now known as Unite - condemned the move, accusing the firm of having "betrayed" British manufacturing.

But Sir James said the past decade had proved the move had been justified.

"The problem for us is that all the components [involved] are made in the Far East," he said.

"The important thing is that all the research and development is here in Britain... all our exports are done from Britain and all our tax is paid in Britain and we employ large amounts of people - 2,000 of them - down in Malmesbury."

In addition to the Airblade Tap, Dyson is also refreshing its existing hand dryer range to take advantage of the new motor. The new machines will be made available in 37 countries.

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More

Windows phone launched in Africa

4 February 2013 Last updated at 19:01 ET

Chinese telecoms giant Huawei has unveiled a bespoke Windows-run smartphone exclusively available in Africa.

The customised device is being launched today in partnership with Microsoft as part of its new 4Afrika Initiative.

This includes plans to develop cheap wireless broadband in the Rift Valley in Kenya and help local people in South Africa and Egypt develop Windows apps.

Prices for the new device have not yet been announced.

"Our aim is to be the most affordable Windows phone in Africa," Gustavo Fuchs, director of Microsoft Windows Phone division in the Middle East & Africa, told the BBC.

It will initially be rolled out in seven countries: Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Angola, Morocco and South Africa.

The phone will be marketed depending on the retail climate of those individual nations, Mr Fuchs explained.

"At first we are making the product available across the southern market.

"We're looking at the biggest channel for each country. In South Africa, it's operator-led, in other markets like Nigeria and Angola there's a mixed environment and in the Ivory Coast they are only sold at retail."

Accessibility

The phone will be connected to a customised app store including applications designed and built by Africans.

"Affordability is important but without the right local content we believe a lot of users will not see the benefit in the change from a basic feature phone to a smartphone," said Mr Fuchs.

He said the objective of the scheme was to increase the penetration of smartphones across the continent.

"If you look at current penetration compared with the US or Europe, which is around 50%, in Africa the average is very close to 10%, less in some parts."

The handset is a customised version of the Huawei Ascend W1 which was displayed at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month.

It has a 4in (10cm) touch screen and 5 megapixel camera. The phone can be on stand-by for up to 420 hours between charges.

"The 4Afrika Initiative should make tens of millions of smart devices available across the continent in the next couple of years," Mr Fuchs said.

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cheaper Raspberry Pi goes on sale

5 February 2013 Last updated at 11:08 ET

A cheaper version of the bare-bones Raspberry Pi computer has gone on sale in Europe.

The Model A lacks some of the features of the bigger version such as a network jack and has less memory.

The Model A has also been designed to use less power to make it more suitable for projects involving robotics, remote sensors or which rely on solar power.

Cutting out a few components means the gadget is even cheaper and now costs $25 (£16).

In a blogpost about the Model A, Liz Upton, community manager for the Raspberry Pi Foundation, said it was "very, very pleased" to have the new version go on sale.

"It's what we said we'd do all along," she wrote. The release of the A version fulfils the promise to make a computer for about £15 that was made when the first prototype Raspberry Pi computers were unveiled in early 2011.

The Model A Pi has less onboard memory than the Model B which has been on sale for almost a year. The A lacks ethernet networking and has only one USB port.

Initially, the Model A is only available in Europe but this restriction will be lifted "very soon" said the foundation. Orders placed from outside Europe would be honoured, she said, though there would be a delay as the order is processed.

More than one million Raspberry Pi bare-bones computers have been sold since the official launch in late February 2012. The credit-card sized computers have been used in a huge variety of DIY computing projects. One reached an altitude of 25 miles (40km) attached to a high-altitude balloon.

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More

Dell to be bought back by founder

5 February 2013 Last updated at 17:31 ET

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Bruce Upbin, managing editor of Forbes magazine, explains to the BBC that Michael Dell is the right person to move the company forward.

Michael Dell has said he will buy back the world's number three PC-maker that he founded and that carries his name.

Along with technology investor Silver Lake, and with financial backing from Microsoft, he will offer to buy the firm for $24.4bn (£15.5bn).

The move will take Dell off the Nasdaq stock exchange after 25 years.

Mr Dell hopes to turn the tide for a firm that has struggled to compete with cheap Asian rivals and the boom in smartphones and tablet computers.

Dell's success over the last 29 years has made its founder one of the richest men in America.

The chief executive and chairman already owns about 14% of the firm. He and fellow senior executives will retain their existing stakes.

The buy-out of the remaining shares will be carried out by a consortium made up of Mr Dell himself, his own investment fund, and Silver Lake. It will be financed by loans from four banks, and by a $2bn loan from Microsoft.

Buying time

Analysts said the move would give Mr Dell greater flexibility in turning the company around, by dispensing with the need to deliver strong results every quarter to shareholders on the stock market.

The entrepreneur said that the firm's long-term strategy would "still take more time, investment and patience, and I believe our efforts will be better supported by partnering with Silver Lake in our shared vision".

Continue reading the main story

For consumers looking for a decent PC at a keen price, Dell was for many years the obvious choice.

Design was never the company's strong suit - even when the firm moved on from beige boxes - but for many years it vied with HP for the number one spot in the PC market.

Now though, according to one view, we are moving into the post-PC era, and that has left Dell struggling to look relevant as smartphones and tablets grab all the consumer attention.

The most recent figures from Gartner showed a 5% year-on-year fall in global PC shipments in the last quarter of 2012 - but Dell's shipments fell by 21%.

So far, Dell's attempts to move into the tablet world have flopped, and the stock market has been impatient for results.

Michael Dell will hope that, away from the relentless spotlight of quarterly reporting, he can get on with the long-term task of transforming his business.

But, given the seismic changes taking place in the way we use computers, he may still have to move fast to make Dell matter to tomorrow's consumers.

"One of the key questions is going to be how much influence Microsoft is going to have over Dell's strategy," said Cindy Shaw, analyst at Discern Group.

Microsoft provides the Windows operating systems for Dell's computers, as well as for rival PC makers such as Hewlett Packard.

Michael Dell founded the company - originally named "PCs Limited" - in 1984 at the age of 19, operating out of his dorm room at the University of Texas.

He later dropped out of university in order to develop his PCs, including innovative laptops, and to expand his business overseas.

But over the last decade, Dell has faced increasingly steep competition, from cheaper Asian PC manufacturers such as China's Lenovo, and from innovative rivals such as Apple and Samsung whose tablets and smartphones have superseded the desktop and laptop.

'Streak'

The company appeared to lose its direction between 2004-07, when Mr Dell stepped down from day-to-day management of the company, and has suffered a number of false starts since his return, including the unsuccessful launch of its "Streak" tablet computer in 2010.

Mr Dell first approached the board with a buy-out proposal in August, and news of the talks emerged in mid-January, propelling the company's share price higher.

Continue reading the main story

Together with Silver Lake, he is offering shareholders $13.65 in cash per share.

Dell's share price jumped a relatively modest 14 cents to $13.41 on Tuesday on Wall Street - reflecting the fact that the news was already well anticipated by the market.

The company's board pointed out the offer represented a 25% premium over Dell's share price in mid-January when rumours of the deal first broke.

However, the share price still remains some way below the $17-$18 level it was trading at a year ago, and well below its all-time high of just under $60 in 2000.

Completion of the buy-out, which will require shareholder approval, is far from agreed.

Before completing the deal, Dell's board said it will conduct what it called a "go shop" period of 45 days during which it would actively seek competing offers to buy the firm at a better price.

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More

Zynga brings losses under control

5 February 2013 Last updated at 17:32 ET

Zynga has reported a sharp drop in its losses in the last three months of 2012, as revenues at the designer of games including Farmville stabilised.

It lost just $48.6m (£30.8m), down from $435m for the same period a year ago.

Revenues were largely unchanged at $311m, suggesting that the exodus of online gamers that plagued the firm last year may have eased off.

The results were well ahead of market expectations, and the company's share price gained 6% in after-hours trading.

Excluding one-time costs, the firm made a profit of one cent per share, comfortably beating expectations for a three-cent loss.

Its shares ended Tuesday trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange at $2.75, down from a peak of almost $15 in March last year.

The San Francisco-based company has been undergoing a transformation, breaking its ties with Facebook, which previously hosted its games, and setting up its own gaming platform.

Zynga is also applying for a gaming licence in Nevada, home of Las Vegas, in order to offer players a new suite of casino-style games on which they can bet real money, in conjunction with the online gambling firm Bwin.Party.

It comes after a tough year in which user numbers steadily fell as players switched from their mainly Facebook-based games to the more smartphone-friendly apps produced by rival firms.

The firm largely severed its close ties with Facebook last December, depriving the games developer of its privileged access to the social network's one billion users, but also freeing it from the obligation to carry Facebook adverts.

About 80% of Zynga's revenues were thought to come through Facebook last year.

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More

Federal Reserve confirms hack attack

6 February 2013 Last updated at 06:41 ET

The US's central bank has confirmed information was stolen from its servers during a hack attack.

The Federal Reserve told the Reuters news agency it had contacted individuals whose personal information had been involved.

It follows the hacktivist collective Anonymous's publication of what it described as the credentials of 4,000 US bank executives.

The Fed did not say whether the two incidents were related.

The Anonymous document contains the names and workplaces of employees at dozens of community banks, credit unions and other lenders, as well as mobile phone numbers and what appear to be computer log-on names and passwords.

However, Reuters reported that the Fed had issued an internal report stating that "passwords were not compromised" and had indicated that the leaked list had been a contact database to be used during natural disasters.

"The Federal Reserve system is aware that information was obtained by exploiting a temporary vulnerability in a website vendor product," a Fed spokeswoman said.

"Exposure was fixed shortly after discovery and is no longer an issue. The incident did not affect critical operations of the Federal Reserve system."

Unanswered questions

Over recent years, computer hackers identifying themselves under the Anonymous umbrella have carried out a series of attacks on US government sites and linked organisations such as the US-based intelligence company Stratfor.

In 2011 Anonymous threatened to take action against the Fed over its economic policies, but the latest incident is the first time it has claimed success at breaching the agency.

However, it would not be the first time the central bank's systems have been compromised. In 2010 a Malaysian man pleaded guilty to adding "malicious code" to the Fed's network via one of its regional banks.

One UK-based expert said the financial industry would want to know more details about the latest incident.

"If the core Federal Reserve systems are compromised it would be massively concerning for the financial community because it provides a lot of sensitive financial disclosures for regulatory reasons to the Fed, and potentially if a third-party got access to all of that information it could open a can of worms within the banking system overall," said Chris Skinner, chairman of the Financial Services Club networking group.

"People will want to know exactly how it was compromised and what information was leaked."

Hacking laws

Anonymous has linked its alleged attack to wider protests following the suicide of internet freedom campaigner Aaron Swartz.

The 26-year-old had been accused of illegally downloading academic documents from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)'s network.

He had been charged with computer intrusion, fraud and data theft, and if found guilty could have faced up to 35 years in prison.

Anonymous and others have called for a change to anti-hacking laws to temper sentences.

MIT has also acknowledged its own systems have suffered a series of hack attacks - the most recent redirected visitors from its site to a page saying "RIP Aaron Swartz".

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More

Thousands of PCs internet access cut

6 February 2013 Last updated at 07:22 ET

Thousands of computers running Microsoft's Windows XP operating system were unable to connect to the internet after installing an anti-virus update.

Users said they were also unable to access their internal company networks.

Russian IT security company Kaspersky Labs told users to disable its anti-virus software or roll back the update.

Two hours later it issued a fix - but since their PCs were unable to auto-install new code from the net, users had to perform several tasks first.

Kaspersky told its customers: "Please disable the web AV component of your protection policy for your managed computers."

It then told them to go the repositories section, download an update and re-enable the protection.

Repair jobs

The company issued a statement, apologising "for any inconvenience caused by this database update error".

"Actions have been taken to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future," it said.

Dorset-based IT consultant Graham Lord wrote on the micro-blogging site Twitter: "Bravo on breaking the internet on all your XP clients.

"Your update just set back one of my repair jobs by a day's work."

But Spain-based security blogger David Barroso tweeted: "So Kaspersky QA [quality assurance] team failed with this update but they quickly released a fix, which it is something good."

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More

Activision claim thwarts North Korea

6 February 2013 Last updated at 08:02 ET

A propaganda video from the North Korean authorities has been removed from YouTube following a copyright claim by games maker Activision.

The clip showed a young man dreaming about a North Korean space shuttle destroying a city that resembles New York.

But the footage of burning buildings was taken from Activision's top selling game, Call of Duty.

North Korea insists its space programme is for peaceful purposes.

But the country's intent - particularly towards South Korea - has raised concerns leader Kim Jong-un has plans for a ballistic missile system.

The video was posted on Saturday by North Korea's official Pyongyang YouTube channel.

'Wickedness is ablaze'

It shows a futuristic space craft flying around the world and eventually over a city. The buildings are then seen crumbling amid fires and missile attacks.

However, the dramatic images were soon recognised as having been lifted from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, a multi-million selling game released in 2011.

The video contained subtitles, in Korean, which read: "Somewhere in the United States, black clouds of smoke are billowing. It seems that the nest of wickedness is ablaze with the fire started by itself."

Footage of North Korea's own recent rocket launches is also shown in the clip.

Intriguingly, the anti-US footage is sound-tracked by an instrumental version of We Are The World, the 1985 charity single written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie.

By Tuesday, the video had been blocked, with a message notifying users of Activision's complaint shown in its place.

On Wednesday it appeared that the North Korean channel's administrators had removed the video completely.

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More

Liberty Global to buy Virgin Media

6 February 2013 Last updated at 08:27 ET

US billionaire John Malone's cable group, Liberty Global, has agreed to buy the UK's Virgin Media in a cash and stock deal worth $23.3bn (£15bn).

The deal will create the world's largest broadband company, with 25 million customers in 14 countries.

In the UK, it will be the second biggest pay-TV business after BSkyB.

The merger, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval, puts Mr Malone in competition with Rupert Murdoch, whose media empire owns 39% of BSkyB.

Following the deal, about 80% of Liberty Global's revenue will come from five European countries: the UK, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

"Adding Virgin Media to our large and growing European operations is a natural extension of the value creation strategy we've been successfully using for over seven years," said Mike Fries, chief executive of Liberty Global.

Under the terms of the agreement, Virgin Media shareholders will receive $17.50 in cash, 0.2582 Liberty Global Series A shares and 0.1928 Liberty Global Series C shares for each Virgin Media share that they hold.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

This implies a price of $47.87 per Virgin Media share - a 24% premium to Virgin Media's closing price on 4 February - and gives the company an equity value of about $16bn.

Alongside the announcement of the deal, Virgin Media reported a 30% rise in operating profit to £699.1m last year.

It said it added a record 88,700 new customers to its cable business during the year.

Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson, who retains a 2% stake in Virgin Media worth about $316m, said: "This deal is good news for the company, its customers and our people.

"Together, Liberty Global and Virgin Media are in a great position to shake up the industry and bring the full power of digital technology to UK consumers."

Shares jump

Continue reading the main story

• Revenues of $10bn, 90% coming from Europe
• Nearly $1bn of revenues from Chile
• Operates in 13 countries
• Over 34 million video, voice and internet subscriptions
• Consumer brands include UPC, Unitymedia, Kabel BW, Telenet and VTR
• 19.6 million customers
• 21,000 employees worldwide
• Market capitalisation of nearly $18bn
• Debt of nearly $30bn

Figures correct as at September 2012

Neil Berkett, chief executive of Virgin Media, said: "The combined company will be able to grow faster and deliver enhanced returns by capitalising on the exciting opportunities that the digital revolution presents, both in the UK and across Europe."

Virgin Media was created from the merger of NTL and Telewest, and Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Mobile in 2006.

It has a 30-year brand licensing agreement with Sir Richard's Virgin Group.

Mr Malone, who is the chairman of Liberty Global, clashed with News Corp's Mr Murdoch in 2007 when the two companies vied for control of DirecTV Group, the largest US satellite TV broadcaster.

BSkyB leads the UK pay-TV market with 10.7 million customers compared with Virgin Media's 4.9 million.

Virgin Media's main listing is in the US on the Nasdaq technology stock exchange, where its shares jumped 17.9% on Tuesday amid speculation that a deal was imminent.

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More

Twitter's Vine gets adult rating

6 February 2013 Last updated at 09:05 ET

Vine - Twitter's new video clip sharing app - has had its age rating increased to 17+ on Apple's store, the highest option.

The software had previously been rated suitable for 12-year-olds.

It follows complaints that some of its six-second segments were pornographic.

Blogging service Tumblr and photo-sharing service 500px have also seen their iPhone and iPad apps boosted to the maximum age rating over the past fortnight.

Vine is not yet available for Android, but Google Play rates its 500px app as having a "high maturity" content rating, while Tumblr is marked as "low maturity".

Technology news site The Verge was first to note the change in Vine's status.

The app had previously made headlines after one of its Editor's Pick showed a couple engaged in a sexual act.

Shortly after the clip's selection it entered the app's "popular now" list, signalling it was one of the product's most viewed videos. Twitter later apologised, blaming "human error".

It has also deleted some of the offending accounts, but Vine does not vet material before it goes online.

The incident came a week after Apple had blocked 500px's app from its marketplace "for featuring pornographic images and material, a clear violation of our guidelines".

It returned to the store a few days later after adding an in-app button to let users alert the service to inappropriate pictures.

Child safety

Developers must fill out a checklist alerting Apple to any issues with their software before it issues a rating and makes their software live.

Its guidelines state that apps qualify for its highest rating if they involve "sexual content, nudity, alcohol, tobacco and drugs".

Apple tells its customers they must not download an app if they fall below the stated age limit - but users can click away the warning message.

In Android's case developers rate their own software, although the firm reserves the right to change their suggestion.

Google's guidelines state that apps which "focus on suggestive or sexual references must be rated high maturity", but again it does not prevent under-18s from installing any app.

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) said the issue highlighted parents' responsibility to check how smartphones were being used.

"The internet and mobile phones are now part and parcel of young people's everyday lives," said Claire Lilley, safer technology lead at the NSPCC.

"The benefits are huge, both socially and educationally, but so too are the dangers.

"We cannot put the genie back in the bottle, but we can talk to our children about this issue. Parents, schools, technology companies, and young people themselves can all play their part."

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More