Tesla to open up car patents

12 June 2014 Last updated at 18:29

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Tesla boss Elon Musk: "It is possible to create a compelling electric car"

Electric carmaker Tesla has confirmed it will open up its patents for others to use to speed up electric car development and adoption.

"Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology," wrote chief executive Elon Musk in a blog post.

Mr Musk had hinted about Tesla's plans in an interview with the BBC last week.

Tesla sold 22,500 of its Model S cars in 2013.

"If we clear a path to the creation of compelling electric vehicles, but then lay intellectual property landmines behind us to inhibit others, we are acting in a manner contrary to that goal," wrote Mr Musk.

"We believe that Tesla, other companies making electric cars, and the world would all benefit from a common, rapidly-evolving technology platform," he added.

Shares in Tesla rose slightly on the news, and are up more than 36% this year.

23.53 | 0 komentar | Read More

Expedia to accept Bitcoin payments

12 June 2014 Last updated at 11:40

One of the world's largest online travel agencies, Expedia, has become the latest company to accept Bitcoin transactions as a form of payment.

The firm will initially accept the virtual currency for hotel bookings only, and is currently restricting the trial to its US site.

But one Bitcoin watcher told the BBC this was "a big move" for the currency.

Expedia's announcement comes after a turbulent few months for Bitcoin, which has been plagued by security concerns.

Continue reading the main story

Bitcoin is often referred to as a new kind of currency.

But it may be best to think of its units being virtual tokens rather than physical coins or notes.

However, like all currencies its value is determined by how much people are willing to exchange it for.

To process Bitcoin transactions, a procedure called "mining" must take place, which involves a computer solving a difficult mathematical problem with a 64-digit solution.

For each problem solved, one block of bitcoins is processed. In addition the miner is rewarded with new bitcoins. This provides an incentive for people to provide computer processing power to solve the problems.

To compensate for the growing power of computer chips, the difficulty of the puzzles is adjusted to ensure a steady stream of about 3,600 new bitcoins a day.

There are currently about 11 million bitcoins in existence.

To receive a bitcoin a user must have a Bitcoin address - a string of 27-34 letters and numbers - which acts as a kind of virtual post-box to and from which the bitcoins are sent.

Since there is no registry of these addresses, people can use them to protect their anonymity when making a transaction.

These addresses are in turn stored in Bitcoin wallets which are used to manage savings.

They operate like privately run bank accounts - with the proviso that if the data is lost, so are the bitcoins owned.

A number of smaller online travel sites already accept virtual currencies, including Travel Keys and CheapAir, but Expedia is the first company of its size to adopt Bitcoin.

Emily Spaven, managing editor of Bitcoin news site CoinDesk, told the BBC the move was "brilliant news" and it "brings digital currency further into the consciousness of the mainstream".

In a statement, Expedia's global vice-president, Michael Gulmann, said the company was "in a unique position" to "solve travel planning and booking for our customers and partners alike by adopting the latest payment technologies".

'Still volatile'

Expedia will use Bitcoin exchange Coinbase for processing transactions, but Mr Gulmann told the Wall Street Journal that the firm would not hold the currency, but would convert its Bitcoin deposits back into US dollars every 24 hours.

However, as Ms Spaven points out, "that's what most of the big companies are doing, because [the price of] Bitcoin is still massively volatile".

Bitcoin, which is the world's most prominent crypto-currency, has been the subject of much controversy in recent months.

The collapse of Japanese Bitcoin exchange MtGox, following a number of security breaches, harmed the currency's reputation, and there have been several controversies surrounding taxation of transactions made with Bitcoin.

But, the digital currency took another step closer to the mainstream this week, with both Google and Yahoo adding its conversion price to its financial tools.

More than 60,000 online retailers now accept bitcoins worldwide.

23.53 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mainstream media lead in online news

12 June 2014 Last updated at 00:16

Traditional media organisations remain the dominant source of online news in the UK, according to a new report.

More than half of those polled said they followed the news through an established brand, with just 16% using digital-only sites, such as Buzzfeed and Huffington Post.

However, new media companies were found to be very popular in the US and Japan.

The study also found that just over one in ten people paid for online news content in the past year.

The research, carried out by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University, is based on a YouGov survey of more than 18,000 people across 10 countries.

Consumers in the US, UK, Germany, France, Denmark, Finland, Spain, Italy, Japan and urban Brazil were questioned about their news habits.

'Free alternatives'

Just 7% of those polled in the UK said they paid for news in the past year - the lowest of all 10 countries - and only 7% said they would be prepared to pay in the future.

"There is a limited pool of people who are sufficiently interested in news to pay for it when there are free alternatives," said Nic Newman, one of the report's editors.

The top subscription sites in the UK were the Times, Telegraph and Sun newspapers.

The number of people using smartphones or tablets to access news grew significantly, while desktop use dropped, but computers still account for well over half of all browsing.

'Smartphone effect'

However, the report found the rise of smartphone use has led to people consuming fewer news sources, with 37% of those polled across all countries saying they accessed just one news brand on their handset.

In the UK, 55% said the same.

"People are short of time on a smartphone," said Mr Newman.

"They come back to the source they rely on most."

He added that there was "limited real estate" on mobile phones and not enough screen space for a variety of brands.

However, in general, consumers overwhelmingly preferred news outlets with a range of views over those with a particular political agenda.

Social media

WhatsApp, the messaging app recently acquired by Facebook for $19bn (£11.3bn), emerges as a key social network, with 26% of those polled in Spain saying they used the service for news, and 15% saying the same in Brazil.

Users can send links to news stories instantly on the app, which also allows group messaging.

Facebook itself remains the dominant force in the sector, with 35% of those polled across all countries saying they use the site to access news content.

Twitter is very popular in the UK and US, less so elsewhere, and is eclipsed in all the countries by YouTube.

David Sillito, BBC Media Correspondent

Why are you reading this? Did you stumble across it, read it on a home page or was it recommended to you?

The new report makes it very clear that the era of a news agenda driven entirely by editors, TV bulletins and front pages is over.

There's a new class of press baron, Facebook Superfriends or Twitterati, who are increasingly playing a role in driving the news agenda. But there's so much more in this report. Here are my favourite nuggets:

• More than 1 in 2 Japanese households still get papers delivered
• The UK is bottom of the table in "interest in politics" with just 33%; Germany is on 60%, the US 55%
• Women are more interested in political news than men (in the UK 44% to 23%)
• Arts and culture stories are least popular in text form but the most popular news videos
• Germany (9%) shows least interest in arts news, Brazil (27%) the most

The report also found that the reputation of individual journalists and columnists is almost as important as well-established brands in attracting people to a news source, especially in Spain, Italy and the US.

People said they would be more likely to pay for content that included work by journalists they knew.

The report's authors highlight the launch of recent news organisations in the US by household names, such as Ezra Klein's Vox Media, Felix Salmon's Fusion and Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish.

Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who became famous for writing about the revelations by Edward Snowden on the extent of US government surveillance, also established his own company, First Look Media.

"Digital and social media seem to be encouraging journalism with a human face," said Mr Newman.

"There is likely to be an economic premium attached to the very best writers."

The report also highlighted the role of Twitter in the UK in bringing readers to news sources. Almost half of all Twitter users in the UK follow at least one journalist. The most influential UK journalists on Twitter were:

1. Caitlin Moran (the Times)
2. Jon Snow (Channel 4)
3. Victoria Coren Mitchell (the Observer, the Guardian)
4. Robert Peston (BBC)
5. Nick Robinson (BBC)

The Guardian was the most dominant news brand on Twitter, followed by BBC News and the Economist.

Perhaps surprisingly, video news was fairly unpopular among those surveyed, accounting for as little as 10% of all traffic in some countries.

Younger users said clips took too long to load, while some did not want to pay for viewing content over their mobile network.

Older users wanted to view video on larger screens, and were generally more keen on the written word.

The report is supported by BBC Global News, Google, Ofcom and others.

23.53 | 0 komentar | Read More

Amazon enters music-streaming market

12 June 2014 Last updated at 14:57

Amazon has launched its own music-streaming service in the US, taking on rivals such as Spotify and Google.

The feature is limited to subscribers of Amazon Prime, the company's premium membership programme.

Customers pay $99 (£59) a year for free shipping, e-books, and access to an online library of films and TV shows.

But Amazon's music collection offers just over a million songs, far fewer than Spotify or Beats Music, which both boast 20 million tracks.

Beats Music was recently acquired by Apple in a deal worth $3bn.

Deezer, another music-streaming service, has a catalogue of 30 million tracks.

Reuters reported that a failure to reach a licensing agreement with Universal, the world's largest record company, was behind Amazon's limited catalogue.

Warner Music and Sony, the two other major labels, had signed a deal, the news agency said.

Amazon says the music library will be available to Prime subscribers without ads or playback restrictions.

Users will also be able to download tracks to their mobile devices, to listen to them without an internet connection.

The service will be available through Amazon apps on Apple and Google Android devices, as well as on PCs and Macs.

Amazon has been under increased scrutiny in recent weeks, as continuing pricing disputes with suppliers Warner Bros and book publishers Hachette affected orders on its site.

23.53 | 0 komentar | Read More

Xbox One ad switches on consoles

13 June 2014 Last updated at 01:13 By Leo Kelion Technology desk editor

Xbox One owners are complaining that a new TV advert is switching their consoles on without their permission.

The ad - featuring Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul - has the actor say "Xbox On" near its start.

The instruction appears to trigger the machine's Kinect voice/motion sensor, activating the console.

A spokesman for the firm said it had no comment at this time, but noted that previous ads had also featured voice commands.

Many people have posted comments about the problem on social media sites.

"Aaron Paul just turned my Xbox One via the Xbox advert. (Which triggered the IR [infrared] blaster to switch my TV off..)" tweeted Qassim Farid, a UK-based tech blogger.

Chesterfield-based Tom Neal wrote: "@Xbox your new TV advert is annoying the hell outta me. Aaron Paul keeps turning my console on… #stooooop"

The effect has also been noted on news discussion site Reddit's Xbox section, with one commentator writing: "Damn commercial keeps turning on my xbox! Lol"

The post reflects the attitude of many console owners who have posted about the matter who appear more bemused than angered by the glitch.

This is not the first time such an effect has been reported.

In November Xbox One owner Tom Kimberl posted a video to YouTube showing that an internet ad that featured the command "Xbox go to Dead Rising 3" launched the game on his system.

Users affected by the issue do have the ability to turn off the Kinect sensor, which prevents the console responding to voice commands.

The issue has parallels with an effect played for laughs in the TV series 30 Rock where a voice-controlled television went haywire when on-screen characters mentioned its trigger words.

Unbundled Kinect

The problem has arisen in the same week that Microsoft began selling a cheaper version of the Xbox One without the Kinect.

It said it made the move - timed to coincide with the E3 video games expo - following feedback from gamers who did not want to pay extra for the accessory.

The decision allows the machine to retail at the same price as Sony's PlayStation 4.

Microsoft's press event at the Los Angeles show was notable for hardly featuring the Kinect.

Only a dancing game, a Disney motion-controlled music rhythm title, and an indie game called Fru - which allows players to control a character by making body shapes - appeared to take advantage of the feature.

However, Microsoft did announce outside the show that a software update would soon allow developers access to more graphics power when the Kinect was not in use. This may help address complaints that several cross-platform games offer higher resolutions and frame rates on the PS4 than their Xbox equivalents.

However, the new ad signals that the US firm intends to keep promoting the Kinect as a feature that distinguishes its machine from its Japanese rival's, even if the price quoted at its end is for the standalone machine.

23.53 | 0 komentar | Read More

Romanian hacker 'Guccifer' indicted

13 June 2014 Last updated at 01:28

A Romanian hacker has been indicted in Virginia on charges he accessed computer accounts of several senior US government officials.

Marcel Lazar, known as Guccifer, faces charges including cyber stalking and aggravated identify theft.

He is accused of hacking into the Facebook and email accounts of former cabinet members and senior military officers, among others.

Mr Lazar has been jailed in Romania, according to media reports.

The names of the alleged victims have not been disclosed in court documents.

Personal details

In the US, Mr Lazar has been linked to the theft of personal emails and photographs belonging to former US President George H W Bush, 90, and his family.

One photograph posted on the internet in 2013 showed the retired Republican in bed in hospital, where he was being treated for bronchitis.

Those stolen emails were reported to include addresses and personal details of several members of the Bush family, as well as a personal note sent by President Barack Obama through an aide.

Among the purloined photos were pictures of former President George W Bush, one showing him posing beside a life-size cardboard cutout of himself with a moustache drawn on it and others showing paintings by him, including self-portraits.

At the time, The Smoking Gun said it had been in contact with Guccifer.

He said he had taken "a lot of stuff" including "interesting mails" about the former president's time in hospital, the website reported.

23.53 | 0 komentar | Read More

Apple swaps 'overheating' chargers

13 June 2014 Last updated at 14:40

A European USB iPhone charger sold between October 2009 and September 2012 "may overheat and pose a safety risk", says manufacturer, Apple.

The US firm is offering to exchange the defective items free of charge.

In an advice note, the company urges those who own the adapter to stop using it, although it says the malfunction only occurs in "rare cases".

The model was sold in 37 countries, including some countries in Africa and Asia, but not in the UK.

The item was shipped with iPhone 3GS, 4 and 4S models, and was also sold as a separate accessory.

Its model number is A1300 and it features the letters "CE" in solid grey.

It was sold in the following countries:

• Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Vietnam

This is not the first time Apple has exchanged USB adapters. In 2008, the company offered to exchange defective iPhone 3G chargers in the US, Japan, Canada and several Latin American countries.

Apple has also offered to replace counterfeit or third-party iPhone chargers sold to customers in China, amid concerns over safety.

23.53 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sex apps 'increasing risk of STIs'

13 June 2014 Last updated at 16:47

Using smartphone apps to seek out partners for casual sex poses an increased risk of sexually transmitted infections, researchers warn.

A study in Los Angeles, California, showed gonorrhoea and chlamydia were more common in gay men using apps than in those meeting in clubs or online.

Sexual health experts said technology was creating more opportunities for sex than ever before.

One of the apps, Grindr, said it was committed to promoting safe sex.

The researchers were curious about the impact of apps such as Grindr and Scruff which use a smartphone's location to help find partners.

Continue reading the main story

However good the sex is, it's not worth contracting a long-term condition"

End Quote Justin Harbottle Terrence Higgins Trust

They quizzed 7,184 men attending a sexual health clinic at the LA Gay and Lesbian Centre.

The results showed men were 23% more likely to have gonorrhoea and 35% more likely to be infected with chlamydia than men using other websites or clubs to meet new partners.

There was no difference in the risk of HIV between the groups.

Their report concluded: "Technology is redefining sex on demand.

"Advances which improve the efficiency of meeting anonymous sexual partners may have the unintended effect of creating networks of individuals where users may be more likely to have sexually transmissible infections."

Condoms

Dr Steve Taylor, a consultant in sexual health and HIV medicine at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, told the BBC: "Yes this is definitely something we are seeing in our sexual health and HIV clinics, both among gay men and heterosexuals.

"Without a doubt technology has facilitated rapid partner change and therefore it is a perfect environment for sexually transmitted infections and HIV to spread."

Justin Harbottle, a health promotion specialist at the Terrence Higgins Trust, said: "However good the sex is, it's not worth contracting a long-term condition.

"Gay men today have more opportunities to meet for sex than ever before.

"Part of the problem is that communication on dating apps can be brief, making it easy to cut corners on important discussions like safe sex."

He said condoms were still the best defence against infection.

Grindr told the BBC: "Grindr is highly committed to promoting safe sex within the community and strongly encourages our users to engage in safe sex practices, get tested and know their HIV status."

It added that it collaborated with a range of organisations to raise awareness about safe sex.

23.53 | 0 komentar | Read More

US to sell seized Silk Road Bitcoins

13 June 2014 Last updated at 16:48

The US government will auction $18m (£11m) worth of the virtual currency Bitcoin, which was seized by the FBI when it shut down the Silk Road online marketplace in October last year.

The site, which operated on the so-called "dark net", traded in drugs and other illegal goods.

Payments were made via crypto-currencies, to ensure anonymity.

The Bitcoins were seized during the arrest of Ross Ulbricht, the alleged mastermind behind Silk Road.

Continue reading the main story

Silk Road took its name from the historic trade routes spanning Europe, Asia and parts of Africa.

News reports and other internet chatter helped it become notorious. However, most users would not have been able to stumble upon the site as the service could only be accessed through a service called Tor - a facility that routes traffic through many separate encrypted layers of the net to hide data identifiers.

Tor was invented by the US Naval Research Laboratory and has subsequently been used by journalists and free speech campaigners, among others, to safeguard people's anonymity.

But it has also been used as a means to hide illegal activities, leading it to be dubbed "the dark web".

Payments for goods on Silk Road were made with the virtual currency Bitcoin, which can be hard to monitor.

Court documents from the FBI said the site had just under a million registered users, but investigators said they did not know how many were active.

The 29-year-old, who was known online by the pseudonym Dread Pirate Roberts, or DPR, is currently awaiting trial on narcotics trafficking, computer hacking and money laundering offences.

In a statement, the US Marshals Service, which is conducting the sale, said the 29,656.51306529 Bitcoins up for auction were those that had "resided on Silk Road servers", but did not include the stash on Ross Ulbricht's personal computers.

Ulbricht's "wallets" are thought to be worth more than $85m at current Bitcoin exchange rates. He is contesting the claim that the money was earned illegally.

The Bitcoins offered in this auction have been forfeited to the US government.

The US authority added that it would "not sell to any person who is acting on behalf of or in concert with the Silk Road and/or Ross William Ulbricht, and bidders will be required to so certify".

Last year, Carnegie Mellon University estimated that over $1.22m (£786,183) worth of trading took place on the Silk Road every month.

Prospective bidders will have to put forward a deposit of $200,000, and all offers must be made in cash.

The price of Bitcoin, as measured by CoinDesk, fell following news of the sale, but has since made a modest recovery.

The bidding process will begin on 27 June.

23.53 | 0 komentar | Read More

Honour for Raspberry Pi pioneer

13 June 2014 Last updated at 22:33

Video game veteran David Braben has been appointed OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.

The honour was given for the work he has done for both the UK's video game and computer industries.

Mr Braben got started in video games as a teenager as one half of the duo that created the hugely successful Elite space trading game.

More recently he was instrumental in helping to get the Raspberry Pi bare-bones computer project up and running.

He helped to set up the Foundation that did the development work on the £25 credit card-sized Raspberry Pi computer.

The tiny computer was developed in a bid to get young people interested in computer science and coding but has proved a bigger hit with older people who have put the device to all kinds of uses.

Mr Braben got his start in the computer world during the early 1980s when the first cheap home computers became available. He wrote the Elite video game with friend Ian Bell which gave players the chance to pilot a spaceship around an open-ended galaxy trading and fighting off pirates.

In late 2012, Mr Braben ran a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to develop Elite: Dangerous - a modern-day update of the game. The campaign raised £1.5m and the game is due to be released towards the end of 2014.

Mr Braben was one of several technology entrepreneurs and innovators who received awards in the honours.

Dr Paul Hawkins was made an OBE for his work to create the "Hawk Eye" ball-tracking system used at major sporting events such as Wimbledon.

Also honoured were Belinda Parmar, founder of Lady Geek, who was appointed OBE for services to women in technology; Dr David Gow becomes a CBE for creating the prosthetic I-Limb Hand that has helped people with upper limb injuries and Alastair Lukies, founder of Monitise, was appointed a CBE for his entrepreneurial work.

23.53 | 0 komentar | Read More