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fresh takedown requests after a European court ruled that an individual could force it to remove "irrelevant and outdated" search results, the BBC has learned.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

14 May 2014 Last updated at 12:48

Samsung says it will compensate chip factory workers who developed cancer while working for the firm.

The company issued its first apology in a long-running dispute and withdrew from a legal bid to avoid paying out.

It brings the conflict one step closer to resolution only a month after talks appeared to have stalled.

But Samsung's chief executive Kwon Oh-hyun stopped short of admitting a direct link between working at the firm and developing leukaemia.

Mr Kwon said: "Several workers at our production facilities suffered from leukaemia and other incurable diseases, which also led to some deaths.

"We should have settled the issue earlier, and we are deeply heartbroken that we failed to do so and express our deep apology."

At a press conference, he said Samsung hoped to "resolve the issue with sincerity and earnestness". In a statement, he added: "We will make due compensation to the victims and the families."

'Another Promise'

Mr Kwon said that Samsung had failed to pay "careful attention to the pain and difficulty" of the victims and their families.

An independent adjudicator would be set up in order to decide how to deal with each case with fairness and objectivity, with consent from the victims and the families, and Samsung would follow the compensation guidelines determined by it, Kwon said.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

We should have settled the issue earlier, and we are deeply heartbroken that we failed to do so and express our deep apology."

End Quote Kwon Oh-hyun Samsung chief executive

The world's top chip and smartphone maker did not say how many people might be compensated. But, according to Agence France-Presse, about 40 employees have filed claims with the state Korean Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service in the past six years.

Previously Samsung has pointed to independent studies that found no link between its workplace environment and employee illnesses, and there was no admission of a direct link in its statement on Wednesday.

The cases of two of the workers who developed leukaemia were made into films recently, and the families of those affected have been fighting Samsung in the courts.

One of the films, called Another Promise, tells the story of Hwang Sang-ki and his daughter Yu-mi, who died after working for Samsung for four years. The film was crowd-funded and the Korea Herald called its production a "meaningful achievement in Korean cinema".

Yu-mi's father insisted her death was a result of her being exposed to dangerous chemicals while working for Samsung at the chip factory in Giheung, just south of Seoul.

The case of Hwang Yu-mi, who died in 2007, brought to light what has become a major controversy for Samsung. The family has been fighting a legal battle against the company since her death.

For legal reasons, Samsung was not named in the film but the title alluded to one of its well-known slogans: "Another Family".

In 2011, the families who joined the battle were given a boost when a Seoul court said toxic chemicals "had caused, or at least expedited" Yu-mi and one other worker's condition.

Continue reading the main story

Samsung around the world

• Samsung employs 286,000 people across 80 countries
• Its annual sales total $216.7bn (£129bn)

On April 16, Yonhap reported that Samsung was refusing to take the blame in talks with workers over diseases allegedly linked to working conditions at the firm's semiconductor plants. There was reportedly confusion over whether a third party should be brought in to mediate.

Earlier that month, South Korean politician Sim Sang-jung, along the victims and their families, demanded that Samsung take responsibility and pay compensation. On Wednesday, Mr Kwon invited Ms Sim to participate in the talks over the issue.

Ms Sim has called on Samsung and the South Korean government to apologise over 243 cases in which semiconductor factory workers have developed or died from rare cancers. A resolution she proposed in April said that 114 of the cases involved former Samsung employees.

Samsung said it would set up an independent panel of experts to hold health and safety inspections of its chip plants and help prevent a recurrence of the illnesses.

The company also said it would no longer assist a government compensation agency in its legal battle over its refusal to pay compensation to workers.

According to Yonhap, Samsung also refused to comment on another dispute which involves the company asking an activist group whose members include the victims' families, to obtain a power of attorney from all related victims.

The Protector of Health and Human Rights of Semiconductor Workers (Sharp) wanted to take the step in order to make itself a legitimate negotiation party.

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Games ticket phone charges refunded

15 May 2014 Last updated at 15:55

Refunds are to be given to callers charged for an engaged tone while phoning to buy tickets for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Organiser Glasgow 2014 apologised after some callers were wrongly charged by Talk Talk Business, a supplier of ticketing firm Ticketmaster.

It has been reported that some people faced charges of more than £100.

Meanwhile, the Games ticketing website is still offline after being suspended amid an ongoing fiasco with sales.

A spokesman for Glasgow 2014 said: "Glasgow 2014 can confirm that some callers to the Glasgow 2014 ticket line who received an engaged tone on the ticketing phonelines were charged in error by Talk Talk Business, a supplier of Ticketmaster.

'Unreserved apology'

"We apologise unreservedly for this and are working now with Ticketmaster and Talk Talk Business to ensure customers affected by this are refunded these charges as soon as possible."

A Talk Talk Business spokesman added: "It has come to our attention that, due to a human programming error, we did not deliver the service that had been agreed with Ticketmaster during the general ticket sale for the Commonwealth Games.

"This meant that some customers who called the Commonwealth Games ticket line and received the engaged tone were charged for the call costs in error.

"We would stress that this issue did not affect all callers to the ticket line and we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this has caused. We will work with Ticketmaster to urgently compensate all customers affected by this error."

Virgin Media said it was looking to find out if any of its customers had been affected.

The problems have overshadowed the sale of 100,00 extra tickets, which were released at 10:00 on Monday on a first come, first served basis.

Within hours it became apparent that people were facing long delays and issues with finalising transactions.

'Unreserved apology'

The site was initially closed for an hour on Tuesday morning to allow technicians to investigate the problem but they failed to resolve it.

That resulted in a second day of delays and frustration for sports fans hoping to secure tickets for the Games.

Online and telephone sales were halted at 18:00 on Tuesday after technicians failed to resolve glitches in the system.

That led to Glasgow 2014 chief executive David Grevemberg offering an "unreserved apology" to those affected.

It has since emerged that the problems may take days to resolve.

Scottish Sports Minister Shona Robison met officials from Glasgow 2014 on Thursday to discuss a resolution to the ongoing ticketing problems.

Following the meeting, Mr Grevemberg said: "This was a constructive and positive meeting where we outlined the options and testing required to ensure we can put tickets back on sale with confidence.

"Our priority is ensuring the experience of securing tickets for the Commonwealth Games is a positive one for all our customers and we look forward to sharing our plans tomorrow."

Earlier, during First Minister's Questions, Alex Salmond said the problems were a matter of "great regret and frustration".

The Scottish Conservative leader, Ruth Davidson, said the episode had been "shambolic".

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George RR Martin: 'Why I use DOS'

14 May 2014 Last updated at 17:20

Game of Thrones author George RR Martin has explained why he does all his writing on an obsolete disk operating system (DOS) computer - because it does not correct his spelling.

He said he did not want a modern PC that amended his writing as he typed.

The writer of the books on which the TV series is based first revealed he used the archaic system in 2011.

Speaking on US chat show Conan on Tuesday, he said he kept a second computer for browsing the internet.

He said he never feared a virus infecting his computer and deleting his work because he had a "secret weapon".

Martin added: "I actually like it, it does what I want a word-processing programme to do and it doesn't do anything else. I don't want any help, you know?

"I hate some of these modern systems where you type a lower case letter and it becomes a capital. I don't want a capital. If I'd wanted a capital, I'd have typed a capital. I know how to work the shift key. Stop fixing it."

'Dinosaur'

He said: "I actually have two computers. I have the computer that I browse the internet with, that I get my email on and I do my taxes on. Then I have my writing computer, which is a DOS machine not connected to the internet. Remember DOS? I use WordStar 4.0 as my word-processing system."

And he said that he hated spell-checking programmes because they were unlikely to recognise a lot of the words in a fantasy novel.

In a blogpost in 2011, he intimated that he considered himself a "man of the 20th Century, not the 21st" and a "dinosaur" because, while he had been using a computer for 20 years by that point, he was still using the outdated system to write.

He called it the "Duesenberg of word-processing software (very old, but unsurpassed)", referring to the long-since dead American car manufacturer.

And he said he personally was a user of neither Facebook, nor Twitter at that time. Instead, he allowed a friend to post on the sites on his behalf.

Disk operating system computers were popular in the 1980s and early 1990s.

And the system remained in widespread use up to around the turn of the century - but some already considered it outdated by the time Martin's first instalment in the series was published in 1996.

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Autodesk to manufacture 3D printers

14 May 2014 Last updated at 19:00 By Leo Kelion Technology desk editor

Autodesk - the leading 3D modelling software-maker - is going into hardware with its own 3D printer.

Chief executive Carl Bass revealed the news ahead of an appearance at the MakerCon conference in California.

In addition to selling the machine, Autodesk will also allow other manufacturers to make their own versions of the printer or power their own models off its software at no cost.

Mr Bass likened the move to the way Google had driven adoption of Android.

One analyst said the effort should encourage adoption of the technology.

"The printer is a bona fide attempt to prove the interoperability and open source nature of Autodesk's platform," said Pete Basiliere, research director at the Gartner tech agency.

"And by sharing its design we could see a second wave of small start-ups creating stereolithography machines just as the makers did when the early material extrusion patents expired."

Stereolithography 3D printers create objects by using a laser to harden liquid plastic.

The ultraviolet light traces a cross-section of the desired design over a thin exposed layer of plastic resin, turning it solid, before the unused material is disposed of. This process is repeated layer-by-layer until the object is complete.

This differs from the extrusion technique most commonly used by existing budget printers, which involves building an object by squeezing melted plastic out of a tiny nozzle.

The Stereolithographic process is more complicated to achieve, but can deliver smoother, more complex and more detailed objects.

Only about 56,500 3D-printers priced under $100,000 (£59,576) were sold last year, according to Gartner.

However, it predicts that number will grow to about 200,000 units next year and then continue to experience "explosive growth" with business purchases initially accounting for most of the demand.

Android ambition

Mr Bass compares the new printer to Google's first Nexus smartphone, a product meant to inspire other manufacturers to install Android on their handsets rather than become a bestseller itself.

In Autodesk's case the idea is to drive the adoption of its new Spark software, a product it likens to being an "operating system for 3D-printing".

Mr Bass told the BBC that he hoped others would take advantage of this to improve the 3D tech.

"One of the limitations right now is on the material sciences side - the kind of chemistry," he said.

"We're making a printer that, rather than just being able to load in proprietary materials, you can load in any material you want. You can formulate your own polymers and experiment with those.

"That's an important next step because we think material science is a breakthrough that has to happen to make [the industry] go from low-volume 3D-printed stuff to where it really starts changing manufacturing."

He added that although he was giving away both Spark and the printer's design, Autodesk should still profit because the move would drive demand for the firm's other products

"If 3D printing succeeds we succeed, because the only way you can print is if you have a 3D model, and our customers are the largest makers of 3D models in the world," he said.

"My feeling is that 3D printing has been over-hyped for home use but under-appreciated for its industrial possibilities.

"I think we're really at the beginning of a new way of making stuff and we're just trying to kickstart it."

Autodesk has yet to announce the price and launch date for its printer.

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US state acts to end mobile theft

15 May 2014 Last updated at 12:09

Minnesota has become the first US state to introduce so-called kill switch legislation.

It means that all smartphones sold in the state from July 2015 must be fitted with anti-theft software.

Such software allows owners to remotely disable and wipe their stolen handsets.

Police departments across the US have lobbied for such legislation. According to the US telecoms regulator, an estimated one in three robberies involve smartphones.

In the bill Minnesota legislators lay out the requirements: "Any new smart phone manufactured on or after July 1, 2015, sold or purchased in Minnesota must be equipped with preloaded antitheft functionality or be capable of downloading that functionality."

California is close to introducing a similar bill, while Congress is mulling national legislation.

Global initiative

Continue reading the main story

• A "hard" kill switch would render a stolen device permanently unusable and is favoured by legislators who want to give stolen devices the "value of a paperweight"
• A "soft" kill switch only make a phone unusable to "an unauthorised user"
• Some argue that the only way to permanently disable a phone is to physically damage it
• Experts worry that hackers could find a way to hijack a kill signal and turn off phones
• If a phone is turned off or put into aeroplane mode, it might not receive the kill signal at all, warn experts

London Mayor Boris Johnson has lent his backing for a push for international agreement on the need for a kill switch.

Along with New York state attorney general Eric Schneiderman and San Francisco district attorney George Gascon, he joined the Secure Our Smartphones initiative last summer.

The campaign is designed to put pressure on the phone industry to help solve the issue of smartphone and tablet theft.

Sensitive data

Many handset manufacturers already have kill switches installed on their phones. Samsung has such a function and Apple offers a facility to track its devices via a service called Find My iPhone.

As well as GPS tracking, it also allows users to remotely wipe their phones.

Microsoft and Google have similar functions for their handsets and there are a variety of apps to locate, lock and wipe stolen smartphones.

"A large majority of smartphone users already have these capabilities and don't know it," said mobile analyst Chris Green.

He thinks that such a feature is more important for the business world than the consumer market.

"Companies are keen to clamp down on data theft as more and more people are using their phones and tablets to store sensitive data," he said.

And while the mobile industry largely embraced the idea of making phones installed with kill switches, there needed to be a move to create "one single standard" for such software, he added.

In the US Apple, Samsung, Verizon, T-Mobile and others have agreed that from July 2015 all handsets in the US will be fitted with anti-theft software, although it will not be switched on by default.

Some have questioned how effective such technology is though.

"A kill switch signal could do more harm than good. It is open to abuse from hackers sending kill switch signals to phones," said Grant Roughley, a senior forensic analyst at Essential Forensics.

And thieves too might find ways to get around the problem.

"Some phones are worth more in parts, so a stripped-down phone could be sold on for the same value," he said.

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Facebook death post girl cautioned

15 May 2014 Last updated at 12:29

A 17-year-old girl who admitted making a "grossly offensive" comment on Facebook after a boy's sudden death in Swansea has been cautioned by police.

The body of 15-year-old James Lock was found in Hendrefoilan Woods near Olchfa school in Sketty last month.

The teenage girl was arrested and admitted sending the message after she had created false email and social networking accounts.

Police said offensive posts could cause "great upset and harm".

Det Insp Darren George, of Swansea CID, said: "The comments which circulated on social media caused a lot of distress and we are grateful to the members of the public who contacted us to report their concerns.

"This and other recent cases have demonstrated that we will take action against individuals who use the internet and social media to post grossly offensive comments.

"I would like to take this opportunity to remind people of their responsibilities to keep comments on social media within the law.

"Offensive posts can cause great upset and harm to families who are targeted at very distressing times in their lives."

An inquest into the death of James, from Dunvant, has been opened and adjourned until September.

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3D-print Sesame Street toys launch

15 May 2014 Last updated at 14:05

3D printing firm MakerBot is bringing a downloadable Sesame Street figurine to its digital store, the first such file for its newly licensed brand.

Mr Snuffleupagus is currently the only Sesame Street character on offer, although the company intends to release more in the future.

Some toy industry insiders fear 3D printing may have a negative effect on the market.

However, figures suggest the industry has yet to make a large impact.

At the modest size of 97mm x 92mm x 87mm (3.8in x 3.6in x 3.4in), the mini Mr Snuffleupagus will fit in the palm of your hand. It's available in a number of different colours, takes three hours to print and costs $1.29 (77p).

Continue reading the main story

The big toy companies are currently keeping their eye on [3D printing], but it's not something they're particularly worried about"

End Quote Samantha Loveday Editor, ToyNews

The files required to print the monster work on only two of MakerBot's 3D printers: the Replicator 2 and the fifth generation model of the original Replicator.

"Sesame Street has always been near and dear to my heart," said MakerBot chief executive Bre Pettis, a former employee at Jim Henson's Creature Shop.

3D teddy

Elsewhere, the Walt Disney Company has shown signs of interest in downloadable toys with its 3D-printed teddy.

A specially designed printer has been developed that can create three-dimensional objects out of wool and wool-blend yarn, which are "soft and flexible - somewhat reminiscent in character to hand-knitted materials".

"This extends 3D printing from typically hard and precise forms into a new set of forms which embody a different aesthetic of soft and imprecise objects," explains Disney's website.

Additionally, the material can be printed around embedded hardware, such as sensors or feedback controls.

The project is still in its early development stages.

No threat (yet)

According to Samantha Loveday, editor of ToyNews, some industry insiders fear that 3D printing could "do to the toy industry what illegal downloading did to the music industry".

"The big toy companies are currently keeping their eye on [3D printing], but it's not something they're particularly worried about," she said.

"The majority of 3D printers are currently too expensive and take too long for them to pose a significant threat to the toy market. Some of them can offer great extensions to creative play but I don't think they can really replace a physically and professionally made toy."

However, although compatibility issues and slow printing speeds continue to limit 3D printing for the average consumer, the industry has been making big strides in terms of affordability.

Affordable printing

The recent announcement of the ultra-cheap Micro, which reached its Kickstarter goal in just 11 minutes, suggests there might be a growing interest in affordable and simple 3D printers.

"New price points and lower pricing will be key in getting people to buy a 3D printer," explains the project's Kickstarter page. "Not many people can afford to pay $2,000 for a printer but many more can try one for $500 or $300."

Furthermore, according to Pete Basiliere, research director at Gartner, "the 3D printer market has reached its inflection point".

With a predicted global spending increase of 62% this year, reaching $669 million, Gartner believes that 3D printing will eventually have a high impact on consumer products.

A compelling consumer 3D printer is not expected to be commonplace until 2016 and the industry is only expected to have a medium impact on construction, education, energy, government, medical products, military, retail, telecommunications, transportation and utilities.

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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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Merger deal hits Dixons and Carphone

15 May 2014 Last updated at 17:17

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Dixons Retail CEO Sebastian James: "Overall our plans see job growth and not job reductions"

Shares in Dixons Retail, the owner of Currys and PC World, and mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse have fallen sharply after the two companies announced a merger deal worth £3.8bn.

The new firm will be known as Dixons Carphone, with ownership split equally between the two firms' shareholders.

But analysts expressed scepticism about the proposed link up.

Shares in Dixons closed down 10.3% on the news, while Carphone Warehouse shares were down 8%.

Dixons operates more than 500 Currys and PC World stores in the UK and Ireland.

Carphone Warehouse operates more than 2,000 stores across Europe.

Continue reading the main story

Sir Charles Dunstone will hope this merger has a rather longer lifespan than his last effort to bring together out-of-town electrical shopping with his High Street mobile phone shops.

When Carphone Warehouse did a deal with the US giant, Best Buy, in 2008 there was much talk of a new force in retailing.

By 2011, Best Buy was on its way back to America licking its wounds, seeming to have completely misunderstood the shopping habits of British consumers.

Although Carphone Warehouse did well financially out of the deal (buying back its stake for half the price it sold it for), the deal revealed the risks of executing mergers, even though the logic may appear compelling.

Unlike the 2008 deal, Dixons and Carphone are betting on the "internet of things" being a real consumer force for the future. In 10 years' time, our phones will be connected to our fridges which can also speak to the washing machine or the oven. The best positioning, Dixons Carphone will claim, will be those retailers which sell the lot.

The opportunities are clear: Carphone tends to have shops on High Streets, Dixons-owned PC World and Curry's are in suburban and out-of-town sites. Carphone could also become a convenient central click-and-collect site for Dixons products.

The risk is that the merger does not tackle the big issue affecting all retailers - that there are simply too many physical stores in the UK and too many of them are trying to sell phones and fridges. Like estate agents, blanket coverage can leave you exposed.

The two firms disclosed in February that they were in talks about a tie-up.

Dixons chief executive Sebastian James announced the deal as he gave details of the firm's trading performance for the financial year.

He said full-year underlying sales were up 3% and like-for-like sales, stripping out the effect of new store openings, were also up 3%.

Dixons said its full-year profit was expected to be "at the top end of market expectations" of £150m to £160m.

'Seamless experience'

Mr James added: "Today we also announce that we are setting out on a new journey with Carphone Warehouse and it is good to be in such a strong position as we embark on this adventure.

"The ability to take what we have built in electrical retailing and add the profound expertise of Carphone Warehouse in connectivity would make us a leading force in retailing for a connected world.

"Together we can create a seamless experience for our customers that will enable technology to deliver what it promises - that is, to make their lives better."

The merger will save the companies £80m a year from the 2017-18 fiscal year onwards, Dixons said.

"This is a very rare thing, a merger which is based on what is happening out in the world, rather than internal navel-gazing," Mr James told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

He said the aim was to exploit the soaring number of devices connected to the internet, since Dixons sold them and Carphone Warehouse connected them.

He added that the merger should not result in any branch closures.

Phones and fridges

For its part, Carphone Warehouse said "significant job creation" was expected as part of the deal, "resulting in an increase of approximately 4%".

However, some existing staff will be affected. Dixons said there would be job cuts of 2% of the merged company, "as a result of the rationalisation of certain operational and support functions".

BBC business editor Kamal Ahmed says the risk is that the merger does not tackle the big issue affecting all retailers - that there are simply too many physical stores in the UK and too many of them are trying to sell phones and fridges.

David Alexander, consultant at Conlumino, said: "Although there are plenty of reasons to view the merger in a positive light, the history of [mergers and acquisitions] is littered with the corpses of failed unions.

"Carphone Warehouse itself is no stranger to this, having seen its partnership with US electronics giant Best Buy in 2008 peter out three years later in the face of intense competition from Dixons."

Independent analyst Louise Cooper said there would be "much scepticism" about the idea that the merger would produce better growth.

"Two past-their-sell-by-date retailers merging does not an Amazon make," she said.

Dixons Retail owns the Elkjop group in the Nordic region and the Kotsovolos retail business in Greece.

Last year, it sold its loss-making online retail business Pixmania to German industrial group Mutares.

It has also disposed of subsidiaries in Italy and Turkey, as part of its strategy of "focusing on markets where we are leaders".

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