Windows XP users to get Explorer fix

2 May 2014 Last updated at 02:28

Microsoft has said users of its Windows XP operating system will also get the security update it has issued to fix a flaw in the Internet Explorer browser.

It issued the update on Thursday to fix a bug that let hackers gain access and user rights to computers.

Microsoft ended support for Windows XP earlier this month, ceasing to issue bug fixes or security updates for it.

But the firm said it decided to make an exception as the flaw was discovered just days after the support ended.

"Even though Windows XP is no longer supported by Microsoft and is past the time we normally provide security updates, we've decided to provide an update for all versions of Windows XP," Adrienne Hall, general manager of Trustworthy Computing at Microsoft, said in a blog post.

"We made this exception based on the proximity to the end of support for Windows XP."

The flaw was reported earlier this week and there had been uncertainty over whether XP users would get the update when it was released.

'Tested and ready'

Continue reading the main story

This update is fully tested and ready for release for all affected versions of the browser"

End Quote Microsoft

The flaw affected Internet Explorer (IE) versions 6 to 11 and Microsoft said it was aware of "limited, targeted attacks" to exploit it.

According to NetMarket Share, the IE versions account for more than 50% of the global web browser market.

Microsoft said that hackers could exploit the flaw by hosting a "specially crafted website" designed to exploit the vulnerability.

If users visited the website, hackers could use it to gain access to their computer and get the same rights as the machine's user.

However, hackers would have needed to convince users to view and interact with the website, and would have had "no way to force users" to view the content otherwise.

On Thursday, Microsoft said its security update fixed the flaw.

"This update is fully tested and ready for release for all affected versions of the browser," the firm said.

"The majority of customers have automatic updates enabled and will not need to take any action because protections will be downloaded and installed automatically."

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Gadget promises 'perfect cup of tea'

1 May 2014 Last updated at 18:13

A machine with a £7,700 ($13,000) price tag is said by its manufacturers to make "the perfect cup of tea".

Bkon, the company behind the machine, says the brewing process is a lot more complicated than simply dipping a tea-bag into some boiling water.

Prototypes are being tested in US coffee shops, and the device could be commercially available later this year.

But experts are questioning whether anyone would want to pay so much for a tea-maker.

The Craft Brewer, relies on a novel process of brewing, called reverse atmospheric infusion (Rain).

It uses a brewing chamber, into which loose tea leaves and water are placed.

The air is then drawn out to create a vacuum.

This negative pressure in the chamber brings the tea leaves to the surface of the liquid and, according to Bkon, draws out flavour more precisely than simply adding boiling water.

The process is repeated for between 60 and 90 seconds - different flavours need different numbers of infusion cycles - and variables such as water temperature and contact time can be fine-tuned.

The machine can brew more than 60 cups of tea an hour.

It has led the makers to boast of having created "tea 2.0".

Nice cuppa

In 2012 Cambridge Consultants, the company that helped create the first round tea-bag, designed a capsule-based tea-brewing system.

"We asked, 'What is the science behind making a good cup of tea?'" said head of consumer product development Ruth Thomson.

It is currently in talks with a range of manufacturers about bringing its machine to market at an equivalent price to "conventional coffee machines".

Ms Thomson said of the Craft Brewer: "The price tag shocks me, but I can see why it would cost that.

"There are a lot of parameters to consider when making a good cup of tea, and the pressure parameter is one of the most expensive," she said.

"But it is an important parameter and would be likely to have a significant impact on taste."

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Google buys UK retail forecasting firm

2 May 2014 Last updated at 21:25

Internet giant Google has bought Rangespan, a UK start-up that uses data science to help retailers determine which products to sell and when.

Founded in 2011 in London by former Amazon employees, Rangespan is the third UK start-up to be acquired by Google this year.

On its website, Rangespan wrote: "We are very happy to announce that Rangespan is joining Google."

The terms of the purchase were not made public.

Rangespan has previously helped clients such as Tesco and Asda use real-time sales data to better predict which products will be popular with customers and to better manage supply chains.

Google will absorb the firm and its technology and Rangespan will no longer sell services to clients.

"As part of the change, we will wind down Rangespan's services. We've already begun working individually with each of our retailers and suppliers on this process," the firm said on its website.

The move comes as Google aims to expand its Google Shopping web portal and e-commerce offerings.

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Sony predicts bigger full-year loss

1 May 2014 Last updated at 10:12

Japan's Sony has said it will report a bigger-than-expected loss for the year to March due to extra costs from exiting its Vaio PC business.

The firm has also been hit by charges related to the writedown of the value of its disc manufacturing business, particularly falling Blu-Ray DVD sales.

The consumer electronics giant now expects to report a full-year loss of 130bn yen ($1.3bn; £770m).

In February, it said it would make a net loss of 110bn yen.

Sony also revised its operating income estimate to 26bn yen, a sharp drop from the 80bn yen forecast it made in February.

The main reason for the revision comes from additional expenses, related to the company's restructuring plans.

In a statement, Sony - which is undergoing a major restructuring programme - said it would be hit by an extra 30bn yen in additional expenses related to its exit from the PC business.

It also said it would incur 25bn yen in impairment charges relating to its overseas disc manufacturing business, with the increasing popularity of downloading of music and films by consumers having hit demand for CDs and DVDs.

Sony said demand for "physical media" had contracted "faster than anticipated".

Sony had announced in February that it would be selling its PC business, and also said at the time that it would split its television division into a separate subsidy as part of its restructuring programme.

The TV and PC units have been a big drag on Sony's earnings in recent years. Earlier this year, ratings agency Moody's cited concerns over the two divisions as a key reason behind its move to cut Sony's credit rating to junk status.

Sony is due to announce its full-year results on 14 May.

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Smart umbrellas 'collect rain data'

1 May 2014 Last updated at 11:13 By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News, Vienna

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Rolf Hut from Delft University of Technology explains how his prototype umbrella rain gauge works

How would you fancy being a mobile weather station?

Rolf Hut, from Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands, plans to turn our umbrellas into rain gauges.

His prototype smart brolly has a sensor that detects raindrops falling on its canvas, and uses bluetooth to send this information via a phone to a computer.

Dr Hut envisages thousands of us crowdsourcing data for the researchers who have come to rely on an ever dwindling number of scientific gauges.

"We have radar and satellites, but we're not measuring rain on the ground as we used to; it's expensive to maintain the gauges.

"Therefore, agencies are reducing the number, and that's a problem for people who do operational water management or do research into hydrology because they don't have the access to the data they used to," he told BBC News.

Dr Hut was showing off his rough-and-ready prototype here in Vienna at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly.

The child's Winnie The Pooh brolly incorporates all off-the-shelf components.

A piezo sensor stuck under the canvas measures the vibrations caused by falling raindrops.

This is wired into a 20-euro mobile-phone Bluetooth-earpiece, which dumps its information into an app. The smartphone then links all its data over the cell network to a laptop.

Experiments in the lab and in Dr Hut's back yard during a light shower have delivered some encouraging results. He is getting a reasonable correlation with a proper rain gauge sitting alongside.

It certainly seems worthwhile to persevere with the idea, he says, even if the development road ahead is a long one.

"Eventually every umbrella would come with this technology, or at least premium umbrellas would. And if you wanted to be involved, the moment you opened the umbrella, it would start sending data to your phone which uploads it to the cloud.

"We would then have hundreds of rain gauges moving along a cityscape and that could greatly improve our ability to understand urban hydrology; it would greatly improve our ability to predict urban flooding and take measures when things are going bad."

This crowdsourcing idea is not unique. Other groups are looking to do something very similar with the smart windscreens on modern cars that automatically set off the wipers when they detect rain, and even adjust the speed of the wipers depending on how heavy the downfall becomes.

The number of scientific rain gauges on Earth is a shockingly low number, says Dr Chris Kidd from the US space agency (Nasa).

He assessed their availability in a presentation at EGU.

Basically, if you were to combine the collecting area of all the instruments capable of providing near real-time data to the world's meteorological agencies, you would have trouble filling the centre circle of a soccer pitch. It is that bad. There are many thousands of gauges across the world, but getting at their information in a timely fashion is not always easy.

And although some of our radars and satellites have very sophisticated ways to measure rainfall, they need some "ground truth". The world's networks of surface gauges are part of that verification process.

Dr Kidd thought crowdsourcing options might play a role if the quality of their data could be assured, but he said there was no substitute for the properly calibrated scientific gauge.

"They are diminishing. And in developing countries particularly, this has a lot to do with cost," he explained.

"We need to look at ways to improve the networks. In the Sahel, for example, there's an interesting project where they're paying farmers for the data, and to make sure the rain gauge keeps operating. These farmers also get paid for the quality of the data. In this way, they are invested in the gauge."

Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos

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Fashion for Mars shown off by Nasa

1 May 2014 Last updated at 13:36

US space agency Nasa has been showing off the wardrobe essentials for future astronauts looking for a new outfit for their first flight to Mars.

Nasa said the Z-2 spacesuit was only a prototype, but elements of it would be incorporated into the suit worn by the first humans to reach the Red Planet.

The suit uses light-emitting patches and luminescent wire that could be customised to identify individuals.

The "technology" design beat two others with 63% of a public vote of 233,431.

The others were:

• a "bio-mimicry" suit, which mirrored the bioluminescence of aquatic creatures and the tough scaly skins of fish and reptiles
• a "trends in society" suit, which reflected what everyday clothes may look like in the future

Aesthetic appeal

The Z-2 will be built using 3D-printed parts, and 3D laser scans will ensure each suit fits each astronaut perfectly.

It will be tested in vacuum chambers, at Nasa's training pool and at a site that imitates the rocky Martian surface.

In 2012 Nasa released the Z-1, which bore more than a passing similarity to the suit worn by fictional "space ranger" Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Stories films.

The first major overhaul of the spacesuit in about 30 years, the Z-1 was named as one of the year's best inventions by Time magazine.

Nasa said: "Each iteration of the Z-series will advance new technologies that one day will be used in a suit worn by the first humans to step foot on the Red Planet."

And the Z-2 "pays homage to the spacesuit achievements of the past while incorporating subtle elements of the future".

Its hard composite upper torso "provides the much-needed long-term durability that a planetary extravehicular activity suit will require", but despite its "aesthetic appeal" the prototype was not made of the same durable material designed to protect space-walking astronauts from micro-meteorite strikes, extreme temperatures and radiation, Nasa added.

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LinkedIn shares fall on weak outlook

2 May 2014 Last updated at 06:56

Shares in professional networking site LinkedIn fell more than 6% in after-hours trading after it posted a weaker-than-expected revenue outlook.

The firm forecast full-year revenues of between $2.06bn and $2.08bn (£1.2bn), lower than analysts' outlook of $2.1bn.

It also reported a loss of $13.4m for the January-to-March period, compared with a $22.6m profit a year ago.

The numbers come amid growing concerns that social networking sites may see their pace of growth slow.

Earlier this week, shares of Twitter tumbled nearly 11% after the firm reported weaker-than-expected growth in its user base.

'Strategic priorities'

Continue reading the main story

We made significant progress against several strategic priorities including expanding internationally with our China launch"

End Quote Jeff Weiner LinkedIn

The rate of revenue growth at LinkedIn has slowed for five quarters in a row.

The slowdown has hurt its shares, which have fallen 25% since the start of this year, after rising 89% in 2013.

For its part, the firm has been looking to tap into new growth areas.

Earlier this year, it launched a beta or test version of its Chinese language site, in a attempt to boost its presence in the country - the world's biggest internet market.

The firm's English language site has been available in China for more than a decade and has four million users in the country.

LinkedIn said the Chinese language site would help it connect 140 million Chinese professionals with each other and with millions of global users.

Jeff Weiner, chief executive of LinkedIn, said the first quarter had been a strong one for the company "in terms of our member engagement and financial results".

"We made significant progress against several strategic priorities including expanding internationally with our China launch," he added.

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Kevin Spacey in Call of Duty game

2 May 2014 Last updated at 11:31

The trailer for the next Call of Duty games features a sinister performance from US actor Kevin Spacey.

A full-length preview has been released on YouTube and shows the actor pacing around plush offices.

The game trailer, which is subtitled as Advanced Warfare, was originally set to be released on Sunday.

But publisher Activision and developer Sledgehammer Games posted it early after an online leak.

Kevin Spacey's eye posted in a video clip on the official instagram account of Call of Duty

In the video storyline, The House of Cards star, features as the head of a private military corporation that has attacked the United States.

Earlier this week, there was also an Instagram teaser posted shortly before the full trailer was leaked.

In it Spacey speaks to the camera in an extreme close-up. "Power determines who is right," he says.

"I have the power, so I'm right.

The video closes with the Microsoft and Xbox One logos, followed by date the new Call of Duty game will be revealed.

The Call of Duty series began in 2003 on the PC and later expanded to consoles and handhelds.

It remains one of the best-selling video game franchises in history.

The earlier series are set primarily in World War II, including Call of Duty, Call of Duty 2, and Call of Duty 3.

Beginning with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, released in November 2007, the series shifted to either current or futuristic settings.

The next Call of Duty game will launch on 4 November 2014.

Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube

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Twitter tries out 'mute' feature

2 May 2014 Last updated at 11:55

Twitter is trialling a feature in its mobile apps that allows users to mute accounts that are becoming irritating.

Unlike the block function, which is designed to stop communications with an undesirable user completely, muting is intended to be temporary.

It will mean users can block out people who, for example, live tweet football matches every weekend, or post about TV talent shows.

Many third-party Twitter apps have offered a mute option for some time.

According to technology news site The Verge, selected users running Twitter's Apple iOS and Google Android apps reported seeing the feature appear.

The Verge described muting as a "stealth unfollow", ideal for ignoring work colleagues.

Engagement worries

Twitter has not commented specifically on its plans for rolling out the mute feature.

But in a blog post about "experimentation", the company explained: "You may see some features that your friend doesn't see, or vice-versa. This is all in service of making Twitter the best it can be. We appreciate your help in doing that, so thank you."

The new feature has come at a time when Twitter is aiming to increase the amount of time existing users spend on the service.

According to its latest financial results, published earlier this week, the first three months of 2014 saw timeline views increase by 15% to 157 billion.

But the company's shares fell by 11% because of slow growth - over those three months, the site's user base increased by just 3.8%.

Twitter also reported a net loss of $132m (£78m), but posted revenue of $250m, 90% of which came through advertising.

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Samsung ordered to pay Apple $119.6m

3 May 2014 Last updated at 05:30

Samsung has been ordered to pay $119.6m (£71m) to Apple by a US court for infringing two of its patents.

A jury in California delivered its verdict in a federal court in San Jose on Friday in the latest lawsuit involving the two tech giants.

Apple had sought $2bn at the trial, accusing Samsung of violating patents on smartphone features.

The court also ruled that Apple infringed Samsung's patents and awarded $158,000 in damages.

Continue reading the main story

Richard Taylor North America technology correspondent

---

The verdict will probably come as a blow for Apple, which portrayed Samsung as resorting to "the dark side of intentional copying".

The figure would appear to reflect the jury's belief that Apple's settlement claim was unfairly inflated; Samsung argued all along that it should be far lower than the $2.2bn sought, not least because some of the patents were never even incorporated into the iPhone's software.

They say lawyers are the only ones who win from patent wars. In this case that could well prove true - with all the mudslinging and embarrassing leaks of internal memos witnessed in the courtroom over the past month, neither company's reputation has been enhanced.

Apple had sought $2.2bn after accusing Samsung of infringing five of its patents covering functions such as the "slide to unlock" from its devices.

Samsung denied any wrongdoing and sought $6m after arguing Apple had infringed two of its smartphone patents related to camera use and video transmission.

"Though this verdict is large by normal standards, it is hard to view this outcome as much of a victory for Apple,'' said Brian Love, a Santa Clara University law professor.

"This amount is less than 10% of the amount Apple requested and probably doesn't surpass by too much the amount Apple spent litigating this case.''

This verdict marks the latest legal battle over intellectual property between the world's top two smartphone makers.

Apple and Samsung have been fighting patent battles for years and across many countries.

Two years ago, a separate jury ordered Samsung to pay Apple $930m after finding it had used Apple technology.

That verdict is still being challenged by Samsung.

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