Adobe apologises for global failure

16 May 2014 Last updated at 12:21

Adobe has apologised for a system failure that knocked its Creative Cloud service offline for users around the world.

Creative Cloud is the firm's subscription model for businesses or individuals using its Photoshop, Premiere Pro and similar products.

With the system down for around 24 hours, many businesses were unable to carry out some work.

The company has not offered any form of compensation for those affected.

In a blog post, it said: "We will do better."

Users who had already downloaded the software and were using it offline were not affected.

But those trying to download new software and features, or using the service's cloud storage function to save and share files online, had difficulty.

'Disruptive'

"Several Adobe services were down or unreachable for many of you over the last 24 hours," the company said.

"The failure happened during database maintenance activity and affected services that require users to log in with an Adobe ID."

It added: "We want to apologise for this outage because we know how critical our services are to you and how disruptive it's been to those of you who felt the impact.

"We understand that the time it took to restore service has been frustrating, but we wanted to be as thorough as possible. We have identified the root cause of this failure and are putting standards in place to prevent this from happening again."

In May 2013, Adobe stopped selling its Creative Suite product in favour of moving everything online.

Rather than a one-off charge for a licence - which typically cost in excess of £2,000 - Adobe's Creative Cloud would instead charge a monthly subscription fee of around £45, or less for smaller packages.

The move to the cloud was also seen as an effort to combat piracy - Adobe's products regularly rank as the most illegally downloaded worldwide.

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Google receives 'forget me' requests

15 May 2014 Last updated at 13:16 By Jane Wakefield Technology reporter

Google has received fresh takedown requests after a European court ruled that an individual could force it to remove "irrelevant and outdated" search results, the BBC has learned.

An ex-politician seeking re-election has asked to have links to an article about his behaviour in office removed.

A man convicted of possessing child abuse images has requested links to pages about his conviction to be wiped.

And a doctor wants negative reviews from patients removed from the results.

Google itself has not commented on the so-called right-to-be-forgotten ruling since it described the European Court of Justice judgement as being "disappointing".

Nor has it released any figures about the number of takedown requests received since Tuesday.

The original case was brought by a Spanish man who complained that an auction notice of his repossessed home on Google's search results had infringed his privacy.

The ruling surprised many because it contradicted the advice of the European Union's advocate general who said last year that search engines were not obliged to honour such requests.

EU Commissioner Viviane Reding described the decision as "a clear victory for the protection of personal data of Europeans" but others are concerned about the consequences that it will have for free speech.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has criticised the ruling, calling it "astonishing" while free speech advocates at The Index on Censorship said the court's ruling "should send chills down the spine of everyone in the European Union who believes in the crucial importance of free expression and freedom of information".

"The court has said that an individual's desires outweigh society's interest in the complete facts around incidents," it added.

Marc Dautlich, a lawyer at Pinsent Masons, said that search engines might find the new rules hard to implement.

"If they get an appreciable volume of requests what are they going to do? Set up an entire industry sifting through the paperwork?" he asked.

"I can't say what they will do but if I was them I would say no and tell the individual to contact the Information Commissioner's Office."

Although the judgement refers specifically to search engines and states that only the links to information, rather than the information itself, be removed from the net, some news organisations have seen a rise in the number of people asking to have articles removed since the ruling.

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FCC votes to proceed with net rules

15 May 2014 Last updated at 17:04

US telecom regulators have voted to proceed with a plan that critics say could sound the death knell for net neutrality - the principle that all internet traffic is treated equally.

The plan could allow internet service providers (ISPs) to charge a fee for prioritised access to their networks.

Critics argue that the new rules could create a two-tiered internet, with a slow lane for those unprepared to pay.

The proposals will now be open to public consultation.

The controversial proposals have drawn an unprecedented level of scrutiny to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) and its vote, which was passed with three commissioners voting in favour and two against.

The meeting of the five commissioners was repeatedly interrupted by protesters, several of whom were removed from the room.

Each commissioner gave his or her views on the proposal with both of the Republican commissioners opposing the new rules.

All acknowledged that the issue had attracted a huge number of critics and agreed that the rules being discussed would govern the "future of the internet".

But those in favour of the proposals pointed out that they were just that - proposals - and said that the vote merely "started an important process" of consultation.

Several commissioners rejected the idea that the proposals meant that content providers would have to pay to have their traffic delivered faster.

The plan is the brainchild of FCC chairman Tom Wheeler who had had to rethink his open-internet rules following a court case in January, which left them in legal limbo.

The court ruled that the FCC did not have the right to prevent ISP Verizon charging a fee for traffic to be carried on its network.

Since then both Comcast and Verizon have started charging Netflix to carry its service.

The new rules are, according to Mr Wheeler, intended to preserve an open and free internet. He said he understood the issue "in his bones".

"The consideration we are looking at today is not about whether the internet should be open but how and when we have rules in place to ensure an open internet," he said.

Details of the plan were widely leaked ahead of the vote and there has been mounting opposition from tech firms, consumer groups and venture capitalists, particularly over a proposal that ISPs be allowed to charge fees if they were "commercially reasonable".

Thousands of people have written to the FCC in the past few weeks urging it to rethink its plans.

As the commissioners voted, a growing group of activists gathered outside the FCC headquarters, with "Save the Internet" banners.

Many are campaigning for the FCC to reclassify ISPs as utilities, which would allow greater regulation.

The public now has until 15 July to make its opinions known. Mr Wheeler said the FCC would "listen closely" to the views.

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GCHQ seeks recruits with competition

16 May 2014 Last updated at 10:21 By Nicholas Tufnell Technology reporter

A new competition backed by GCHQ and the National Crime Agency is looking for members of the public to demonstrate their digital skills.

Dubbed the Cyber Security Challenge, contestants will participate in various cyber-battles.

In the fifth challenge of its kind, participants must stop a fictitious enemy known as the Flag Day Associates.

A spokesman from the NCA said he did not expect public distrust in GCHQ to affect the number of applicants.

Those who take part in the new competition will be briefed on an impending cyber-attack, before being asked to analyse and report their findings to officers at the NCA's National Cyber Crime Unit.

"We hope that the new challenges will test those who may want to pursue careers in cybercrime investigations," said Challenge developer Adam Kramer.

Those who rank highest during the initial assignment, known as Opening Lines, will qualify for face-to-face cyber-battles, which will run throughout the rest of the year and determine the final team responsible for defeating the Flag Day Associates at the Masterclass final.

The fictional enemy was first revealed at the end of the Masterclass awards ceremony in March this year in a video featuring three masked individuals.

Joe Harris, a finalist in the 2013-14 competitions, unearthed additional secret details embedded within the video, which revealed the date of a fictional cyber-attack.

Snowden leaks

Organisers say the challenge is "aimed at attracting talented people into the profession and informing them about cybersecurity careers and learning opportunities".

But the event comes at a controversial time for the UK's existing cyber-spies.

GCHQ, which is sponsoring the event, has come under close scrutiny after leaked documents released by US whistleblower Edward Snowden detailed allegations about the organisation's involvement in mass surveillance techniques.

Stephanie Daman, chief executive of Cyber Security Challenge and Kevin Williams of the National Crime Agency said they did not believe that an increased distrust in governmental cybersecurity following revelations made by whistleblowers would affect application numbers.

"We've seen absolutely excellent take-up from our earlier competition," said Mr Williams, who added that sometimes negative views of the organisation could increase interest. "People want to find the truth out for themselves," he said.

"Do we really think GCHQ operations affect us on a daily basis?" asked Ms Daman, "I would say it's the banking system, or the ability not to do your Waitrose shop. At another level it's the ability to have electricity in your house.

"Cybersecurity underpins so many things - GCHQ is just a small piece of a much bigger puzzle. I can understand why it might be troubling for some people, but I think the focus on GCHQ misses the much broader picture."

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Google names new head of Glass

16 May 2014 Last updated at 10:49

Ivy Ross will lead Google's smart eyewear team from 19 May this year, according to a post on the company's website.

Ms Ross will replace Babak Parviz and will be working under Google X for Astro Teller and Sergey Brin.

Coming from a design and marketing background, Ms Ross has said she hopes to answer the "audacious" questions Glass proposes.

Glass recently went on sale for a single day in America for $1,500.

Ms Ross has previously worked for Art.com, Calvin Klein, Mattel and Gap, among others. She was lead designer at Bausch & Lomb, one of the world's largest suppliers of eye health products.

In an open letter Ms Ross said she was excited to start working on Glass, describing it as "especially cool".

"I'm just getting started on Glass, but, because of all of you, and your thoughtful and smart feedback, I feel like I have an incredible head start."

A creative choice for Google, Ms Ross has previously expressed her interest in design and innovation at a TedX talk in 2013.

Smart specs

Google glass went on sale for a singe day in the US on 15 April this year on a first-come, first-served basis.

Previously the tech giant sold the device to 8,000 individuals in 2013 as part of their Explorer programme.

The BBC understands that UK developers may have access to the device in June.

However, not everyone is excited about Google Glass. Campaigners have warned that the device risks creating a world in which privacy is impossible.

Early adopters of the wearable headset include BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones, who has been blogging about his experience.

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Algorithm given seat on board

16 May 2014 Last updated at 11:29

A venture capital firm has appointed a computer algorithm to its board of directors.

The program - called Vital - will vote on whether to invest in a specific company or not.

The firm it will be working for - Deep Knowledge Ventures - focuses on drugs for age-related diseases.

It said that Vital would make its recommendations by sifting through large amounts of data.

The algorithm looks at a range of data when making decisions - including financial information, clinical trials for particular drugs, intellectual property owned by the firm and previous funding.

"On first sight, it looks like a futuristic idea but on reflection it is really a little bit of publicity hype," said Prof Noel Sharkey of the University of Sheffield.

"A lot of companies use large data search to access what is happening on the market, then the board or trusted workers can decide on the advice.

"With financial markets, algorithms are delegated with decisions. The idea of the algorithm voting is a gimmick. It is not different from the algorithm making a suggestion and the board voting on it."

According to Deep Knowledge Ventures, Vital has already approved two investment decisions.

The software was developed by UK-based Aging Analytics.

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Researcher creates 'holodeck'

16 May 2014 Last updated at 12:33

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WATCH: Oliver Kreylos tests out his device

Oliver Kreylos has combined three Kinects with an Oculus Rift to import a 3D representation of himself into virtual reality.

The Kinects' video stream is merged before being fed into the Oculus headset, giving the impression of a solid 3D object.

In this instance, the object is Mr Kreylos, who can be seen sitting in a virtual office.

Low resolution and prone to glitches, the device is still an early prototype.

The three Kinects - peripherals for Microsoft's Xbox - are positioned in an equilateral triangle to accurately capture the subject, whose image is then beamed into Facebook's Oculus Rift headset.

Mr Kreylos is able to control the camera in such a way that he can see himself in both a first and third person perspective.

Unlike an ordinary 2D camera, the Kinect is equipped with a 3D camera, which provides the missing bits of information necessary for 3D reconstruction that a regular camera does not have.

Mr Kreylos, researcher at University of California, Davis, said in his blog that despite the low quality of the image, it still feels very real.

"I believe it's related to the uncanny valley principle, in that fuzzy 3D video that moves in a very lifelike fashion is more believable to the brain than high-quality avatars that don't quite move right."

The Uncanny Valley principle is a hypothesis that suggests human features that are designed to move similarly, but not exactly, like natural human beings - such as in robotics or 3D animation - can cause revulsion in observers.

Mr Kreylos first started experimenting with the Kinect back in 2010 and this appears to be the first time the device has been used to create this particular effect in conjunction with the Oculus Rift.

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More Google 'forget' requests emerge

16 May 2014 Last updated at 14:31 By Dave Lee Technology reporter, BBC News

A man who tried to kill his family is among the latest to request removal of search results from Google.

A European court this week ruled that an individual could force the removal of some search results.

The BBC has learned that more than half of requests sent to Google from UK individuals involved convicted criminals.

A business has also sought for links to negative reviews on a forum to be removed.

As the European Court of Justice made its ruling on Tuesday, many speculated that a flurry of similar requests would come Google's way.

On Thursday it emerged an ex-politician seeking re-election has asked to have links to an article about his behaviour in office removed.

A man convicted of possessing child abuse images had also requested links to pages about his conviction to be wiped.

Tax scammer

More requests came to light on Friday. They included:

• A man who tried to kill members of his own family who has asked for links to a news article to be taken down
• A celebrity's child who wanted links to news articles about a criminal conviction removed
• A suspended university lecturer who asked for the removal of links to articles mentioning the disciplinary action
• A convicted cyberstalker who, after being cited in an article about cyberstalking law, wants links to it taken down
• An actor who has asked for links to articles about an affair he had with a teenager taken down
• A man convicted of running a tax scam who wants all links referencing the event removed

Since Tuesday's ruling many have come forward to question the practicality of the EU's decision.

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Rory Cellan-Jones: "One can be sure that Google's lawyers will be trying to find a way out of this"

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales described it as "astonishing" and a form of "wide-sweeping censorship".

However, the EU has defended the move, saying that in cases where the public interest case is more pressing than the individual's privacy rights, links should not be taken down.

'Slow and cumbersome'

Getting that balance right is a delicate issue, said Michael Sandys from Liverpool-based Jackson & Canter Solicitors.

"Lawmakers will need to ensure they find a way to allow some information to be removed in a timely fashion while at the same time not allowing history to be rewritten," he said.

"If an individual goes to court about an article or piece of data which is found to be defamatory or inaccurate then there are levers in place for Google to quickly remove it from the search results."

But he argued that Google could do more to deal with genuine cases of incorrect information.

"I have made requests on behalf of clients a number of times for the removal of content which defames them. Sometimes it is dealt with well but other times the process can be slow and cumbersome."

Google's official statement on the matter, unchanged since Tuesday, described the EU's ruling as "disappointing".

Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC

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First Braille phone goes on sale

16 May 2014 Last updated at 17:09

London-based firm OwnFone has released what it says is the world's first Braille phone.

The front and back of the phone is constructed using 3D printing techniques and can be customised.

Other companies have designed Braille phones in the past, but OwnFone says its device is the first of its kind to go on sale.

For those who can't read Braille, the company can print raised text on the keypad.

The phone, currently only available in the UK, retails for £60 and according to its inventor Tom Sunderland, 3D printing the front and back of the device helped to keep the costs down.

"3D printing... provides a fast and cost-effective way to create personalised Braille buttons," he says.

The device is designed to provide an instant connection between blind users and their friends and family.

Haptic touchscreen

In 2012, OwnFone launched what was one of the world's first partially 3D printed phones.

A year later, the company developed a special child-friendly version called 1stFone, a credit-card sized device with programmable buttons for crucial contacts.

OwnFone's new Braille phone is based on these previous two devices, keeping its small form factor and colourful design.

"The phone can be personalised with two or four Braille buttons which are pre-programmed to call friends, family, carers or the emergency services," Mr Sunderland told the BBC.

"This is the first phone to have a 3D printed keypad and for people that can't read Braille, we can print texture and raised text on the phone. Our 3D phone printing process is patent pending."

Those who wish to buy the phone can create a custom design on the company's website.

However, at £60 it's the most expensive of the three available options, with their previous models selling for £40 and £50.

While this may be the first Braille phone available to consumers, the idea is not an original one.

India-based start-up Kriyate built a prototype Braille-enabled smartphone in 2013, featuring a repressible Braille display and feedback controls (known as haptic touch) that beep or vibrate after receiving certain commands.

Some visually impaired users of mobile phones may not see the need for this device however, with features such as Apple's VoiceOver becoming more sophisticated.

VoiceOver is a "screenreader" that allows users to navigate their phone using gesture-based controls.

There are also a number of apps on both the Apple Store and Google Play that allow for an easier reading experience for the visually impaired.

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Apple and Google settle patent row

17 May 2014 Last updated at 04:31

Mobile phone industry giants Apple and Google have agreed to dismiss lawsuits they had brought against each other over technology patents.

In a joint statement, the companies said they would work together in "some areas of patent reform".

But the deal did not include licensing their technology to each other.

Apple - which produces iPhones - and firms that make phones using Google's Android software earlier filed dozens of lawsuits against one another.

Earlier this month, a jury in California ordered South Korea's Samsung firm to pay Apple $119.6m (£71m) for for infringing two of its patents.

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

Android software is now installed on some 80% of new phones sold every year.

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