Tech

Cuba says in advanced talks with China's Huawei over telecoms



A worker adjusts the logo at the stand of Huawei at the CeBIT trade fair in Hanover March 15, 2015.



Cuba is in advanced talks with Chinese telecoms equipment company Huawei to do more business on the Communist island, Cuban finance minister Lina Pedraza said on Friday.

"A lot of companies are in negotiations. Just yesterday I was with a businessman who is operating with us and he spoke with us for a long time. He's Chinese by the way," Pedraza said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on Mexico's Caribbean coast.

"He is very advanced in negotiations with a Cuban company," Pedraza added.

Asked if the Chinese businessman worked for Huawei, which already operates in Cuba, Pedraza said: "Yes."

A spokesman for Huawei did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment.

Pedraza added that the Cuban telecoms sector would be open to all foreign companies but also noted that the country wanted to avoid the "negative parts of the internet".




EU antitrust regulators query Qualcomm rivals on its business practices



Qualcomm's logo is seen at its booth at the Global Mobile Internet Conference (GMIC) 2015 in Beijing, China, April 28, 2015.



EU antitrust regulators are asking Qualcomm's rivals how the U.S. chipmaker's business practices and the way it licenses its products affect them, as part of an investigation begun seven months ago, a document seen by Reuters showed.

Qualcomm has been feeling the regulatory heat in Europe, the United States, China, Japan and South Korea in recent years as watchdogs focus on its licensing model and its power over patents.

The bulk of its revenue comes from selling baseband chips, which enable phones to communicate with carrier networks, but a large portion of its profit comes from licensing patents for its CDMA cellphone technology.

The European Commission told Qualcomm in October last year that it was investigating the way it sells and markets its chips, as well as rebates and financial incentives offered to customers, the company said in a regulatory filing last month.

In a questionnaire sent to competitors last week, the EU competition authority asked about the impact of various Qualcomm practices such as pass-through rights where phone makers are allowed to use patents already licensed by Qualcomm.

It also wanted to know how they feel about cross-licences and mutual non-assertion provisions in which companies agree not to enforce patent rights against each other.

Recipients of the document of more than 40 questions have until mid-May to respond.

A Commission spokeswoman declined to comment and Qualcomm had no immediate comment.

This is one of two EU inquiries into the company. The other probe, begun in 2010, was triggered by a complaint from British cellphone chipmaker Icera, a subsidiary of Qualcomm rival Nvidia Corp, about rebates and financial incentives.

The EU executive scrapped a two-year probe into the company's patent royalties in 2009 after complainants including Ericsson and Texas Instruments withdrew their grievances.

USAA creates research team to study use of bitcoin technology


A Bitcoin (virtual currency) mining machine and a paper wallet with QR codes are seen in an illustration picture taken at La Maison du Bitcoin in Paris July 11, 2014.




USAA, a San Antonio, Texas-based financial institution serving current and former members of the military, is studying the underlying technology behind the digital currency bitcoin to help make its operations more efficient, a company executive said.

Alex Marquez, managing director of corporate development at USAA, said in an interview this week that the company and its banking, insurance, and investment management subsidiaries hoped the "blockchain" technology could help decentralize its operations such as the back office.

He said USAA had a large team researching the potential of the blockchain, an open ledger of a digital currency's transactions, viewed as bitcoin's main technological innovation. It lets users make payments anonymously, instantly, and without government regulation.

The blockchain ledger is accessible to all users of bitcoin, a virtual currency created through a computer "mining" process that uses millions of calculations. Bitcoin has no ties to a central bank and is viewed as an alternative to paying for goods and services with credit cards.

"We have serious interest in the blockchain and we think the technology would have an impact on the organization," said Marquez. "The fact that we have such a large group of people working on this shows how serious we are about the potential of this technology."

USAA, which provides banking, insurance and other products to 10.7 million current or former members of the military, owns and manages assets of about $213 billion.

Marquez said USAA had no plans to dabble in the bitcoin as a currency. Its foray into the blockchain reflects a trend among banking institutions trying to integrate bitcoin technology into their systems. BNY Mellon and UBS have announced initiatives to explore the blockchain technology.

Most large banks are testing the blockchain internally, said David Johnston, managing director at Dapps Venture Fund in San Antonio, Texas. "All of the banks are going through that process of trying to understand how this technology is going to evolve."

"I would say that by the end of the year, most will have solidified a blockchain technology strategy, how the bank is going to implement and how it will move the technology forward."

USAA is still in early stages of its research and has yet to identify how it will implement the technology.

In January this year, USAA invested in Coinbase, the biggest bitcoin company, which runs a host of services, including an exchange and a wallet, which is how bitcoins are stored by users online.

EU, U.S. close to data sharing deal for security cases: sources




A man types on a computer keyboard in Warsaw in this February 28, 2013 illustration file picture.



The European Union and the United States are close to completing negotiations on a deal protecting personal data shared for law enforcement purposes such as terrorism investigations, three people familiar with the matter said.

The two sides have been negotiating since 2011 over the so-called "umbrella agreement" that would protect personal data exchanged between police and judicial authorities in the course of investigations, as well as between companies and law enforcement authorities.

However, talks have been hampered by the lack of a right for EU citizens not resident in the United States to go to U.S. courts if they believe their data has been misused. U.S. citizens enjoy such rights in the EU.

The EU has repeatedly insisted that until such a "right to judicial redress" is enshrined in law, the agreement cannot be signed.

The protection of personal data in the United States has been a sore point in the EU since former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden revealed mass U.S. surveillance programs involving EU citizens.

But the introduction of the Judicial Redress Act in March by U.S. Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, aimed precisely at giving citizens of U.S. allies the right to sue over data privacy in the United States, was seen as a step in the right direction.

"The finishing line is in sight," said one person familiar with the matter, cautioning that the final adoption of the deal would still require Congress to pass Sensenbrenner's bill.

However, in what would be a major step forward, the text could be initialed at the next EU-U.S. meeting on justice and security issues, scheduled for June 2-3, the person said.

That would mean that all other outstanding issues would have been resolved.

The intention is to have the text initialed by the chief negotiators of both sides, another person familiar with the matter said, in what would be a boost for frayed transatlantic relations after the allegations of mass U.S. spying.

The U.S. Justice Department had no immediate comment.

The closing of negotiations on the umbrella agreement would bode well for a separate deal being negotiated between the two blocs on data transfers between companies.

The European Commission, which leads the negotiations on behalf of the EU, has said that it aims to complete those negotiations before the summer.

Fiat Chrysler CEO says met with Tesla, Apple CEOs


Sergio Marchionne, Chief Executive of Fiat Chrysler, speaks during the first press preview day of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan January 12, 2015.



Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said on Saturday that he had visited the heads of Tesla Motors Inc and Apple Inc during a recent trip to California.

Marchionne, speaking on the sidelines of the opening of a Maserati dealership near Toronto, said he had met with Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook and Tesla CEO and founder Elon Musk, among others, on the trip, during which he also rode in Google Inc's self-driving car.

"I'm incredibly impressed with what that kid has done," he said, referring to Musk.

With regard to Apple's Cook, he said: "He's interested in Apple's intervention in the car, that's his role." Marchionne was not more specific about Apple.

Sources have said Apple has been developing its own electric self-driving car. The company has been open about wanting to integrate its core iOS software into autos with a system called CarPlay, which allows drivers to access information on their iPhones without taking their hands off the streering wheel.

The Fiat chief declined to elaborate or describe the meetings in any more detail.

Various automakers have been eyeing potential collaboration with Apple and Google even as they view their efforts to develop electric and self-driving cars as a potential competitive threat.

It is less typical for major automakers' CEOs to meet with their counterpart at Tesla, which has not collaborated much with established manufacturers.

Turning to Fiat's planned initial public offering of 10 percent of sports car maker Ferrari, Marchionne said it was on track to happen in the third quarter.

He also pledged that Fiat Chrysler would make a stronger entry in the realm of luxury sport utility vehicles.

"When I see a Range Rover on the street, my blood boils, because we should be able to do a thing like that, and we will," he said.

Uber ceases Kansas operations in face of stricter oversight



An Uber app is seen on an iPhone in Beverly Hills, California, December 19, 2013.



(Reuters) - Ride-hailing service Uber on Tuesday said it ceased operations in Kansas after the state legislature decided to override Governor Sam Brownback’s veto of a bill that will impose stricter regulations on ride-hailing services.

Uber said the bill makes it impossible for it to operate in the state.

The Kansas Senate on Tuesday voted 96-25 to override Brownback's veto of the Kansas Transportation Network Company Services Act.

The bill requires companies to certify that drivers have comprehensive and collision insurance, and requires new drivers to undergo a background check performed by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. (bit.ly/1K9yWnI)

Uber says it already conducts its own third-party background checks and provides commercial auto insurance coverage.

The company has been fighting with cities across the United States, contending it is not a taxi service and should not be required to adhere to existing taxicab regulations.

Uber said in March it would halt operations in Anchorage, Alaska, until the city can work out details enabling the company's drivers to accept paying fares.

In Oregon, the city of Eugene sued Uber in March, asking the court to stop Uber from operating until it meets what the city calls "minimum safety requirements."

Uber in February said it would suspend operations in Boise, Idaho, after reaching an impasse in negotiations with city leaders over new regulations.

Apple's Beats Music deals under U.S. scrutiny: Bloomberg



A man listens to Beats brand headphones on a street in New York, May 29, 2014.



(Reuters) - Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) move to line up deals with record labels is under U.S. antitrust scrutiny as the iphone maker prepares to debut a new version of the Beats Music streaming service, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is examining if Apple is using its position as the top seller of music downloads through its iTunes store to put rival music services like Spotify Ltd at a disadvantage, according to Bloomberg.

Apple bought Beats last year hoping to win points with the music industry and turn Beats Music into a strong competitor to Spotify and other streaming services.

Apple and the FTC did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment outside regular business hours.

Sky? Skype? EU court backs Murdoch over Microsoft in name battle


An attendee at the Microsoft Ignite technology conference is seen next to the Microsoft logo in Chicago, Illinois, May 4, 2015.



 In a clash of corporate titans over naming rights in a fast-changing industry, Microsoft and its Skype phone service came out on the losing side of an EU court battle on Tuesday with Rupert Murdoch's television business Sky.

Judges at the General Court of the European Union in Luxembourg upheld a complaint that the British broadcaster lodged a decade ago with the EU trademark authority in which it said the Skype name and logo risked being confused by consumers because they sounded and looked too similar to "Sky".

U.S. tech giant Microsoft, which owns the Skype service, may appeal. The court ruling upheld decisions by the trademark office in 2012 and 2013 which have prevented the Skype name being registered but have not blocked its use by the business.

Tea to tech: China's cybersecurity push sparks a 'gold rush'


Sipu Enterprises Group Chief Executive Zhang Long poses at his office in Kunming, February 16, 2015.



(Reuters) - Zhang Long made his fortune selling Pu'er fermented tea and handcrafted furniture from the mountains of his native Yunnan Province in southwest China.

Last November, the 49-year old entrepreneur, who has no technology background, strode into a Beijing ballroom to pitch his latest made-in-China product: SPGnux, a Linux-based operating system he says could replace Microsoft Corp's Windows.

"Information security is vital to the interests of China and the interests of the Chinese people," Zhang proclaimed as a marketing video flashed images of former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden on large monitors.

Snowden's disclosures in 2013 of U.S. cyberspying and security holes in American technology products have prompted China's government to accelerate a broad campaign to replace foreign technology with Chinese-developed systems.

And that has triggered a frenzy among state-affiliated software firms, investors and savvy businessmen - all hoping to capitalize on Silicon Valley's waning grip over China's $450 billion-a-year enterprise computing market.

Some of those who've entered the fray look better equipped to succeed than others.

When Hongqi, a software company that developed China's most successful operating system during the 2000s, but which has since struggled, put itself up for sale last year, bidders included a coal magnate, an aviation company and a food transport provider. It was eventually sold to a company with a background in household cleaning for just $6 million.

"We're in a new bubble because of Snowden," said He Weijia, a former director at Hongqi. "These bosses don't need that much money or expertise to get into the game, but the payoff can be potentially large."

International venture capitalists say China's start-ups are more attractive bets than before as Beijing is backing the enterprise computing sector much like it did Internet firms in the last decade.

"This is obviously an area that the government wants to develop or promote - how is this different from Baidu in 2003?" said a China-based partner of a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, referring to the Chinese search engine that debuted in New York a decade ago and is now worth $75 billion.



VIABLE OR NOT?

With an unorthodox resume and a penchant for gold watches, Zhang is an unlikely beneficiary of the post-Snowden rush to push local technology - a race that also illustrates how the industry in China is often influenced by the political climate.

After the Snowden leaks, Microsoft said it would stop supporting Windows XP, leaving many computer systems potentially vulnerable to hackers. Incensed, Chinese leaders banned Windows 8 in retaliation, while antitrust regulators last year opened an investigation into Microsoft, focusing on its Windows and Office software sales practices.

Charlie Dai, a senior analyst at Forrester, said a few Chinese firms, including Shanghai-based Standard Software and Wuhan-based Deepin, both part-owned by or tied to the central government, have created viable operating systems for desktop PCs, but Chinese banks are wary of using local software on servers that process the most critical data.

Qiao Yong, a Standard Software vice president, said Chinese technology has matured, but it will take years before a big state agency like China's social security fund feels comfortable to transfer its servers to a local operating system.

The cybersecurity debate has helped raise the profile of China's Linux developers, Qiao said, but it's also been a distraction. "Some leaders think we can do this overnight, but it will take a very long time to reach a one-third market share, much less reach Microsoft's level."



LIBIDO BOOSTER

Zhang says his Kunming-based Sipu Enterprise Group has rolled out more than 10 versions of SPGnux, including ones in English, Chinese and Arabic. Since the Snowden revelations the number of government offices using SPGnux has more than doubled to 1,600, and his company is profitable, he said, declining to detail financial or sales figures.

"No one believed in us because we started at zero," said Zhang, who employs more than 200 people working on SPGnux and counts Ni Guangnan, an influential member of China's Academy of Engineering and Lenovo Group's founding chief technology officer, as one of his firm's supporters.

Public records show Sipu's software has been purchased by agencies including China's State Oceanic Administration.

Aside from software, tea and furniture, Zhang said he has invested in films, runs an import-export business and sells powdered Maca, a Peruvian herbal supplement prized for its libido-boosting effects.

He said he is looking beyond China, too, and is courting customers in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, markets he believes also want an alternative to Microsoft.

"I don't think of products as having nationalities," he said, smiling. "I only follow market demand."

Firms could record some phone calls without consent under California bill



Companies would no longer have to tell consumers they are recording some cellphone conversations until 20 seconds into the calls under a bill approved Tuesday by a committee in the California legislature.

The bill by freshman assembly member Evan Low, a Democrat from the state's Silicon Valley tech hub, would remove a provision in state law making it illegal for companies to record all cellphone conversations without the express consent of the consumer if the person has done business with the company or owes it money.

The bill was opposed by numerous advocates for consumers and seniors, including the Consumer Federation of California and the American Civil Liberties Union.

"At a time when consumers are more and more concerned about businesses invading their privacy, it is wrong to be considering rolling back an important privacy law," said Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California, testifying against the bill on Tuesday.

Low has said his bill simply seeks to clarify the law, which was written before mobile phones were commonly used and forbids the recording of confidential conversations.

That law has been interpreted as allowing the recording of non-confidential conversations on landline phones, but not with regard to mobile phones.

His bill would allow companies to record conversations deemed "non-confidential" on cellphones for the first 20 seconds, something consumer advocates said could allow companies to try to catch consumers in an apparent admission that they owe a debt or understand a pricing scheme.

The bill is currently slated to go next to the assembly floor for consideration, although it may be routed to another committee first once new amendments are analyzed.

Silicon Valley's Dave Goldberg dies


Goldberg oversaw a big expansion of SurveyMonkey

The Silicon Valley entrepreneur and SurveyMonkey Chief Executive Dave Goldberg has died suddenly at the age of 47, his family says.

Husband of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Goldberg was a former Yahoo executive before joining Surveymonkey in 2009.

He expanded the online survey company leading to a valuation of $2bn (£1.3bn), the Wall Street Journal says.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg described him as "an amazing person".

News of Goldberg's death was posted on Facebook by his brother, Robert.

"It's with incredible shock and sadness that I'm letting our friends and family know that my amazing brother, Dave Goldberg, beloved husband of Sheryl Sandberg, father of two wonderful children, and son of Paula Goldberg, passed away suddenly last night," he wrote.

Under Dave Goldberg, SurveyMonkey grew from a handful of employees to more than 450 and acquired 25 million customers.

His fortunes was closely linked to those of Silicon Valley - a media company founded by him, Launch Media, was taken over by Yahoo in 2001, just after the "dotcom bubble" burst.

In a profile by Business Insider, Goldberg describes how he and a friend started Launch Media, which delivered music online.

"I decided I had to start something. It was more the motivation to try running my own thing than because I had some brilliant idea."










LinkedIn follows Twitter, shocks social media investors



The logo for LinkedIn Corporation, a social networking networking website for people in professional occupations, is shown in Mountain View, California February 6, 2013.
REUTERS/ROBERT GALBRAITH


(Reuters) - Another day, another shock for investors in social media stocks.

Shares of LinkedIn Corp, operator of the most popular social network for professionals, fell 20 percent in early trading on Friday, wiping out more than $6 billion of market value, after the company slashed its full-year forecast.

LinkedIn reported on Thursday its slowest quarterly revenue growth since it went public four years ago.

The surprisingly weak results followed Twitter Inc's on Tuesday. Twitter's stock fell by as much as 24 percent, slicing about $6 billion off its market value.

Even Facebook Inc posted its slowest growth in quarterly revenue in two years last Wednesday, and its shares have fallen about five percent since.

Facebook's earnings were better than expected, though, and the comparatively small drop in its stock price indicated a level of investor confidence not shown to Twitter and LinkedIn.

LinkedIn cited slower revenue growth in its hiring business and a delay in recognizing revenue from lynda.com - the online education company it agreed to buy last month - for its weaker results and cut in profit and revenue forecast.

LinkedIn's shares fell to about $200 in early trading, far below their record high of $276.17 reached in late February.

At least 23 brokerages cut their price targets on the stock, by as much as $65 to as low as $172.

Still, in contrast to Twitter, most analysts were upbeat about LinkedIn's prospects.

"The market is putting LinkedIn in the Twitter bucket," analysts at Stifel Nicolaus wrote. "We think the market is wrong. LinkedIn is not Twitter.

"Yes, this is a reset but we believe LinkedIn is a sustainable and dominant franchise that is becoming woven into the fabric of our daily professional lives."

Stifel, which has a "buy" on LinkedIn, cut its price target to $250 from $300.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney also said the market had overreacted. "While we are incrementally less positive, we're not 20 percent less positive," Mahaney said.

RBC kept its "outperform" rating, but cut its price target to $275 from $300.

Pacific Crest analysts kept their "overweight" rating while cutting their price target to $250 from $295.

"We like LinkedIn on its strong fundamentals, the shift

from traditional offline recruiting to online, and its superior products versus its competition," they said in a note.

Of 41 analysts covering the stock, 31 rate it "buy" or higher while nine have a "hold", according to Thomson Reuters data.

Only one brokerage, Brean Capital, rates the stock "sell".

"Weaker results were blamed on a large sales force re-org and FX, but we think the company is scrambling to buy growth and the re-org is due to product fatigue," Brean analysts wrote.



The robots that can park a car and other technology news


Robots that park car

BBC Click's Spencer Kelly looks at some of the best of the week's technology news - including a bullet that can change its trajectory once fired and a robotic system that can move cars safely.






Tesla unveils batteries to power homes

The BBC's Richard Taylor explains how the Tesla home battery would work
US electric carmaker Tesla Motors has unveiled batteries that can power homes and businesses as it attempts to expand beyond its vehicle business.
Chief executive Elon Musk announced the firm would build batteries that store solar energy and serve as a back-up system for consumers during blackouts.
The device would allow consumers to get off a power grid or bring energy to remote areas that are not on a grid.

Tesla plans to start shipping the units to installers in the US by this summer.
In a highly anticipated event near Los Angeles, Mr Musk said the move could help change the "entire energy infrastructure of the world".

"Tesla Energy is a critical step in this mission to enable zero emission power generation," the company said in a statement.

The rechargeable lithium-ion battery unit would be built using the same batteries Tesla produces for its electric vehicles, analysts said.

The system is called Powerwall, and Tesla will sell the 7kWh unit for $3,000 (£1,954), while the 10kWh unit will retail for $3,500 (£2,275) to installers.

Energy comparison firm USwitch estimates that one kWh can power two days of work on a laptop, a full washing machine cycle or be used to boil a kettle 10 times.

Mr Musk said the company would partner with SolarCity to install the home batteries, but there would be more companies announced.

Mr Musk is SolarCity's chairman and largest shareholder.
Analysis: Richard Taylor, BBC News, San Francisco
Tesla's move into so-called "stationary storage" is a market with enormous growth potential: as the world slowly moves away from fossil fuels, it is seen as critical to a more widespread adoption of "clean" energy sources like solar and wind.

There is also a strong commercial rationale for Elon Musk to leverage Tesla's expertise in building highly-efficient car batteries and put them in a single unit in consumers' residences.

The business strategy is a bit like the battery itself: high impact, but a slow release which will really only reap significant benefits over time. But it comes with risks. Tesla may face a challenge getting the cost-saving message across to potential customers, especially with a significant $3,500 upfront cost.

The carmaker also faces competition from battery-storage technology rivals with deep pockets such as GE (General Electric) and South Korea's top chemical company, LG Chem. There is also a danger that this particular lithium ion battery could be superseded within a few years by other technology, like hydrogen fuel cells, which Tesla is not equipped to make.

Still, these are risks Tesla is clearly prepared to take on. Its cars have won rave reviews, but precious few sales outside its California heartland. With a $5bn gigafactory not due to open until 2017, and only a single Tesla vehicle available to buy today, diversification of its product line into an area like this will be key to keeping investors happy.

The sales of battery storage systems for homes and businesses could yield as much as $4.5bn in revenue for Tesla, according to Deutsche Bank.

The automaker reported fourth quarter earnings that missed market expectations in February, as it saw a loss of $107.6m on production and delivery issues.

Friends of the Earth's renewable energy campaigner Alasdair Cameron said having solar panels and a home battery in the future could become as common as central heating.

"Just as the internet changed the way we use information so renewable sources, like wind and solar, are changing the way we make and use energy - and electricity storage is an important part of that change," he said.

"Cheaper and more efficient energy storage means individuals and businesses could save renewable energy until they need it, hugely reducing the need for climate-changing fossil fuels."

Colin Brown, director of engineering at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers said Tesla's announcement is timely considering the push by governments to reduce emissions.

"Without storage you've always got to have huge capacity just in case one of the peaks come through at a particular time - a very hot day when you need a lot of cooling, and so a lot of demand. With storage, you don't have to have all of that massive production of energy," he said.




Grooveshark music-sharing service closes down

Grooveshark was set up in 2006 and, at its peak, had millions of users

Music-streaming service Grooveshark has announced that it is shutting down.

The closure is part of a deal worked out with record companies who sued the service claiming it was harbouring pirated pop.

In a statement on its website, Grooveshark said it had failed to get licences for the copyrighted music shared on the service.

It has also agreed to delete the music it offered and hand the website and apps over to the record industry.
Huge fine

"We made very serious mistakes," said the statement. "We failed to secure licences from rights holders for the vast amount of music on the service.

"That was wrong. We apologise. Without reservation," it said.

The shut-down also ends the legal action started by Warner, Sony, and Universal Music in 2011.

Pre-trial hearings for that case were heard earlier this week during which the judge in the case described Grooveshark's copyright violations as "wilful".

It was accused of illegally sharing almost 5,000 songs which meant that, if it had been found guilty, it would have faced a damages bill of up to $736m (£480m). Although Grooveshark's defence against the charges would probably have reduced the overall damages it would have faced.

The threat of the large bill has been lifted with the ending of the legal action. However, the terms of the settlement with the music industry mean the service's founders could still face a financial penalty if they do not respect its terms.

"This is an important victory for artists and the entire music industry," said the Recording Industry Association of America in a statement.

It said Grooveshark had built its business without providing proper compensation to artists.

"This settlement ends a major source of infringing activity," it said.

Grooveshark was set up in 2006 and had, at its peak, about 35 million users per month who were allowed to upload any song they chose. Employees at Grooveshark also uploaded songs to expand the library of music available to users.



Anger as Facebook bug blocked pictures


Facebook has faced a backlash from users who found some posts disappeared while others couldn't link to content outside the social network.

The problems which began on Thursday followed a software update that seems to have caused the glitch.

Some users wanting to post updates containing links were mistakenly sent a warning saying they were violating the site's security policy.
Facebook has apologised and said it is rolling out a fix for the bug.
It appears the issue was with Facebook's image-scraping tool that automatically detects pictures connected with links to content within posts. The tool is supposed to help users present links to other content with a photo from the site they are linking to. The post, complete with picture, then appears friends' timelines.
Pictures sell content

Publishers who use Facebook to promote their content were particularly vocal about the impact on their businesses.





Russia beefs up anti-piracy laws

The law has been updated to cover piracy of books, music and software
Russia is beefing up the law it uses to tackle online piracy.

The law was introduced in mid-2013 and gave the authorities the power to tell internet companies to cut off access to sites found to be pirating media.

As first enacted, the law only applied to sites that shared pirated movies and TV shows.

The updated law has been expanded to cover sites that share links to pirated music, books and software. It does not cover images.
'Common goal'

The updated law comes into force on 1 May.

It gives those accused of harbouring pirated media just 72 hours to respond to a complaint before a permanent ban is put in place.

No court order is required to shut down sites.

Instead, officials will respond to complaints from rights-holders.

Those accused of pirating content will then be able to argue their defence in court - but if they lose two cases, their site will go on the block list.

Figures from Russia reveal that in the first year, anti-piracy watchdogs got complaints about 175 sites, which resulted in 12 of them being put on the banned list.

Most of those banned are believed to be sites that share BitTorrent "trackers", which people use to find pirated media.

Earlier this week Sergei Zheleznyak, deputy speaker of the Russian Duma, warned pirates about the imminent change.

From next year, social-network sites in Russia must keep data about users within the country


Mr Zheleznyak said the sites had until 1 May to enter into a "constructive dialogue" with the firms that hold the rights to the media being shared around.

Talking to Russian media, he said: "Our common goal is to ensure that all work is adequately rewarded and that the benefit from successful books, music and wonderful computer programs is enjoyed by those who created them, and not those who stole them."

Russia has also released figures that it says show that the action against pirated video has been successful.

Online sales of movies and TV shows have doubled since the law came into force.

The imminent arrival of the updated law has prompted some Russian sites to make changes to the way they work.

In early 2015, Russian social network VKontakte removed a feature from its app that let people stream music they had uploaded to the site.

The anti-piracy law is one of several different pieces of legislation enacted by Russia aimed at the internet.

In August last year, Russia imposed restrictions on popular bloggers telling those with more than 3,000 daily readers to register with regulators and to follow regulations that governed what they could say.

Human rights groups said the law was "draconian".

In September next year, a law comes into force that will require internet companies to site servers that gather data about Russians in the country.

Critics fear the data will be pored over by authorities to locate people who use social media to organise protests.


Apple says tattoos can cause watch problems

Some users are reporting the stopwatch function working intermittently on tattooed wrists

Apple has said some of the functions on its new smartwatch may not work properly when it is worn over tattoos.

Darker-coloured artwork and even changes in darker coloured skin types can fool the light sensors on the back of the watch.

The problem is not exclusive to the Apple Watch, which performed well in independent tests.

But it does show the manufacturer has not solved the sensor problem.
Sensitive sensors

"Permanent or temporary changes to your skin, such as some tattoos, can... impact heart rate sensor performance," Apple said on a support page on its website.

"The ink, pattern, and saturation of some tattoos can block light from the sensor, making it difficult to get reliable readings."



Apple Watch does not like dark-coloured tattoos

The watch uses green LED lights combined with light-sensitive photodiode sensors to detect the amount of blood flowing through the wrist, which can then be used to calculate heart rate.
Other problems have been reported. Matt Siegel, a journalist for the Reuters news agency said that "the watch locks on tattooed skin and does not deliver the soft pings that alert a user to incoming messages".

"The heart rate readings were also significantly different on tattooed and untattooed wrists."

Videos posted to YouTube have shown users with wrist tattoos attempting to log a work out session, only for the watch to appear to intermittently pause the stopwatch when it failed to detect the wrist.
Common problem

The problem is not unique to the Apple Watch.

Several smartwatches and wearable fitness devices that use similar sensor technology have also been reported to struggle when worn on darker coloured skin. In these cases the amount of light reflected back from deeper-coloured pigmentation of the skin is less than the device is calibrated for.

The technology in Apple's watch does not appear to be of a low standard. It performed well in independent tests against leading heart rate monitors, according to Consumer Reports.



Sensors on the Samsung Gear 2 struggled with darker skin according to a CNET report

The repair site ifixit.com has taken apart the Apple Watch and reported that its heart rate monitor system is more advanced than most, offering potential functions that Apple is not currently promoting.

"Apple's heart rate monitor is actually a plethysmograph," it said.

"It looks and acts like a pulse oximeter, but Apple isn't claiming it can measure your blood oxygen level. Why? Beats us. Our best guesses involve FDA [US Food and Drug Administration] regulations."

It seems that the sensor and monitor functions of the Apple Watch are fairly advanced, but that the technology giant has yet to solve the known problems presented by darker-inked skin.

"We're not surprised the Apple Watch has run into problems with tattoos as it uses similar optical heart rate monitoring tech as the Fitbit Charge HR," Sophie Charara, contributing editor of wearable technology website Wareable, told the BBC.

"Apple now needs to offer users the option to disable the pin code security when the smart watch doesn't detect your wrist.

"The winning wearable tech in the next few years will be the devices that work with our bodies, not the ones that ignore them."




Step forward for quantum computing

IBM wants quantum computers to help design new drugs and materials

Scientists have made progress towards correcting the errors that are expected to affect quantum computing.

Quantum computers could offer a massive performance boost over conventional types, but progress toward commercially useful machines has been slow.

Now, scientists from IBM's Watson Research Center have successfully demonstrated a new method for correcting errors on a quantum circuit.

Details are published in the journal Nature Communications.

The basic units of information in classical computers are called "bits" and are stored as a string of 1s and 0s. But their equivalents in a quantum system - qubits - can be both 1s and 0s at the same time.

In theory, this should give quantum machines much greater computational power than conventional types.

But quantum information is fragile, and errors in calculations carried out in a quantum system can creep in through interference from factors such as heat, electromagnetic radiation and defects in materials.

Controlling or removing such errors is one of the great challenges for harnessing the power of quantum computing.
Scaling up

The IBM team was able to detect and measure two key types of quantum error (called bit-flip and phase-flip) that will occur in any real quantum computer.

"Up until now, researchers have been able to detect bit-flip or phase-flip quantum errors, but never the two together," said co-author Jay Gambetta.

The team demonstrated its error-protection protocols on a quantum circuit consisting of a square lattice of four superconducting qubits on a chip roughly one-quarter inch square.
IBM claims the square shape of the circuit makes it more scalable than the linear arrays that have been used by other groups.

Prof Alan Woodward, a computing expert from the University of Surrey, UK, said the work represented a step forward, but was a "significant evolution" rather than a "revolution".

"We all know that error correction is very important in quantum computing because of the inherent errors that are caused by the way qubits tend to operate, but this isn't the first time it's been addressed," he told BBC News.

For example, an American team of physicists published a separate protocol for quantum-error detection just last month.

But Prof Woodward said: "What we're seeing is the move from the drawing board to actual implementation.

"This is the first time we have seen groups actually implementing real hardware which is then proven experimentally to have significant error correction properties."

"Which architecture, if any, actually wins out remains to be seen. Each has pros and cons but at the moment there isn't really an obvious winner."

But he said the "dark horse in the race" was topological quantum computing, an architecture that is intrinsically more fault-tolerant. A team at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has been working on this method, and is being backed in its efforts by Microsoft.




Nasa's Messenger Probe Smashes Into Mercury

The first ever spacecraft to orbit Mercury plunges into the planet's surface at a speed of 8,750 miles per hour.


08:10, UK,Friday 01 May 2015
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Gallery: The Journey of NASA's Messenger Space Probe

The Boeing Delta II rocket launched NASA's Messenger mission in 2004











Gallery: The Journey of NASA's Messenger Space Probe

The Boeing Delta II rocket launched NASA's Messenger mission in 200

NASA's Messenger spacecraft has slammed into the surface of the planet Mercury, ending a successful 11-year-mission.

The probe, the first ever to orbit Mercury, had run out of fuel and crashed into the planet's surface at a speed of 8,750 miles per hour.

The impact from the crash carved out an estimated 52ft-wide crater.

During its mission the spacecraft completed 4,104 orbits of Mercury and collected more than 277,000 images.

"A NASA planetary exploration mission came to a planned, but nonetheless dramatic, end Thursday when it slammed into Mercury's surface at about 8,750 miles per hour and created a new crater on the planet's surface," NASA said in a statement.

The space agency added that the mission, which began in 2004, had achieved "unprecedented success".

"Going out with a bang as it impacts the surface of Mercury, we are celebrating MESSENGER as more than a successful mission," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

"The MESSENGER mission will continue to provide scientists with a bonanza of new results as we begin the next phase of this mission - analysing the exciting data already in the archives, and unravelling the mysteries of Mercury.

'Caveman Communication' Marks Language Evolution

A leading language expert also claims we are moving back to a more "caveman form of communication" as words are overtaken by audio and visual messaging.

Professor John Sutherland from University College London led a study into common social media and "text speak" terms.

"The use of audio and visual messaging has become more commonplace with the soaring popularity of social media and instant messaging apps such as Instagram, Vine and Snapchat," he said

"In fact we are moving to a more pictographic form of communication with the increasing popularity of emoticons.

Video: Number Of Text Messages Tumbles

"This harks back to a caveman form of communication where a single picture can convey a full range of messages and emotions.

"In the future, less words and letters will be used in messaging as pictures and icons take over the text speak language."

The Samsung commissioned study also discovered a "seismic generational gap" when it came to how modern informal language was used.

New terms such as "fleek" and "bae" were found to be the most commonly confused by parents.

Just 10% of the 2,000 surveyed were able to identify the true meaning of "bae" - a term of affection.

And 86% of parents who took part in the survey said they felt teenagers spoke an entirely different language on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

"Fleek" - which means looking good - came top of the list of terms parents did not understand, with 43% selecting it as a term they did not know.

This was ahead of FOMO (fear of missing out) and bae, both of which were selected by 40% of parents.