Written By Unknown on Kamis, 16 April 2015 | 23.34
The campaign hit its fund-raising target in less than a week
Sam Griner has gone from success kid to success kidney.
As a toddler, Sam was snapped on a beach with a determined expression and one fist clenched - an image that spawned the well-known "success kid" meme.
The image has been used widely online by people seeking to celebrate happy moments, small victories and good days.
Now eight, Sam's net fame is being used to raise cash for a kidney transplant for his father.
Sam's father Justin fell ill in 2006 and suffered total kidney failure in 2009. He has been on dialysis ever since. Mr Griner's mother died from the same disease.
In a week, the fund-raising campaign has won pledges of more than $93,000 (£63,000) - far more than the $75,000 needed to pay for the medical procedure.
Health insurance is covering some of the costs of Mr Griner's treatment but the family needs extra cash to pay for the operation and care to help him recover afterwards.
The Griner family are also using the fund-raising page to look for people who are a good tissue match and willing to donate a kidney.
In an interview with the Daily Dot, Sam's mother said a transplant was the only way to save her husband's life.
Ms Griner said she was initially sceptical about using her son's internet fame to raise money but realised it could be a good way to highlight the cause.
"We're the parents of 'Success Kid' for goodness' sake," Ms Griner told the news site. "If anyone understands the power, the mass, and goodwill of the internet, it's those of us lucky to experience it daily."
Other net famous people have also used their appearance in memes to raise cash for good causes. Laina Morris, better known as the face of the overly-attached girlfriend meme, has used her YouTube channel to highlight charities needing cash.
Watson Health tries to make sense of health data from smartphones and fitness trackers
IBM has launched a health unit to make sense of the wealth of data created by the boom in fitness trackers and apps.
Watson Health aims to create "a secure, cloud-based data sharing hub" that can feed analytic technologies, it said.
It could provide diagnoses or health alerts which could also be sent to doctors, carers, or insurers for example, with the user's permission.
IBM has teamed up with Apple and wants to launch "new employee health and wellness management solutions".
The company says it is buying two firms to help with its goal: Explorys which has one of the largest healthcare databases in the world and Phytel that works with digital medical record systems to reduce hospital readmissions and automate communications.
IBM says it wants to provide "individualised insights and a more complete picture of the many factors that can affect people's health".
Privacy concerns
There has been concern over personal technology being used to help diagnose an individual's condition.
In the US, some apps that claimed to diagnose cancer, for example, have been criticised by the Federal Trade Commission.
There is also concern over the sharing of health data. Companies including Jawbone are talking to firms about how personal fitness trackers could be used to monitor a workforce.
Data collected from fitness trackers is being used by employers, insurers, and health professionals
Christopher Coughlan, a UK solicitor who has written on the subject advises bosses considering such a move to be careful:
"If you rely on consent it must be freely given. This means a worker must be able to say 'no' without a penalty being imposed and must be able to withdraw consent once given.
"A person is more likely to be in this position at the recruitment stage than when they are employed."
Insurers are also interested in monitoring customers. UK health insurance firm Vitality is incentivising policy-holders to take up a more active lifestyle by offering rewards for certain tasks that can be tracked through personal fitness devices.
GP welcomes move
GP Dr Ellie Cannon welcomed the move by IBM:
"It is always difficult to gauge how much exercise or calories a patient is describing and this is an accurate way to know.
"On a larger scale... the data could provide evidence to back up or dispute well-known health claims such as how much sleep we need or which exercise is most effective."
That could be aided by Apple's announcement today that its ResearchKit software that helps gather health data from iPhones is now available to anyone.
It's already been used to develop apps to study asthma, breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and Parkinson's disease, says Apple.
A group of Indian technology and internet companies have pulled out of Facebook's Internet.org initiative, fearing it threatens the principle of "net neutrality".
This is the principle that all websites and apps should be equally accessible.
Travel portal Cleartrip.com and media giant Times Group both announced they would be withdrawing from the service, citing competition fears.
But Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg defended Internet.org's aims.
The service aims to extend internet services to the developing world by offering a selection of apps and websites free to consumers.
Participating publishers pay the data costs charged by telecoms firms.
But many companies fear this distorts the market and makes it harder for small companies to get their products seen by the public.
Currently, Indian visitors to Internet.org can access nearly 40 stripped-down services, including job, healthcare, news and education sites.
'Level playing field'
Times Group blogged that it was appealing "to all publishers to jointly withdraw from Internet.org" and said that the Times of India newspaper would also withdraw "if its direct competitors - India Today, NDTV, IBNLive, NewsHunt, and [the] BBC - also pull out".
The BBC has yet to respond to the call.
A Times Group spokesman said: "We support net neutrality because it creates a fair, level playing field for all companies - big and small - to produce the best service and offer it to consumers.
"We will lead the drive towards a neutral internet, but we need our fellow publishers and content providers to do so as well, so that the playing field continues to be level."
Cleartrip said the debate around net neutrality had given it "pause to rethink" its approach to Internet.org.
"What started off with providing a simple search service has us now concerned with influencing customer decision-making by forcing options on them, something that is against our core DNA," wrote Subramanya Sharma, Cleartrip's chief marketing officer.
In India, the issue hit the headlines this week after telecoms provider Bharti Airtel said it would allow mobile app developers to pay data charges enabling users to access the apps for free.
Start-up developers with little funding could therefore be at a commercial disadvantage, tech firms argue.
'Not in conflict'
Facebook launched Internet.org in India in February after partnering with Indian telecom carrier Reliance Communications.
India has the world's third-largest internet population and is the first Asian country to get the service.
Mr Zuckerberg defended the initiative in an article for the Hindustan Times newspaper, saying: "Net neutrality is not in conflict with working to get more people connected.
"We will never prevent people accessing other services, and we will not use fast-lanes."
The lower bins on the right can hold six pieces of hand luggage stowed on their side
Boeing has shown off its "space bins" that can hold 50% more luggage than existing designs.
The company says the new overhead compartments will allow passengers to store more hand luggage on its side.
The bins will be fitted to some 737 aircraft from the end of this year, the company said.
The new design will mean a 2in (5cm) reduction in headspace for passengers, it said, but air vent and light controls will be easier to reach.
The loss of headroom may be of some concern to taller passengers, some of whom already struggle with the amount of legroom in economy seating.
The new bins can be retrofitted to any of the "Next-Generation" 737s, of which 5,000 are currently in service.
Boeing says the balance of the bins has been shifted so they close without the need for a catch or the "bin assist mechanism" currently in use.
Travel writer Simon Calder told the BBC: "For the long-suffering passenger, this is mostly good news. By charging for luggage, the low-cost airlines have incentivised us to take everything on board.
"And guess what? There isn't enough room, so we've had to check in stuff at the gate.
"So this should help with that problem."
Boeing said the bins should speed up boarding and that "passengers will benefit from decreased anxiety about finding space for their carry-on bag when boarding a flight".
Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Airlines are the first two operators to place orders for the bins for their 737 fleets.
Google pitches its shopping service as a "matchmaker" between products and customers
The European Union has filed a complaint against Google over its alleged anti-competitive behaviour.
The competition commissioner said she had issued a "statement of objections", stating that the firm's promotion of its own shopping links amounted to an abuse of its dominance in search.
Margrethe Vestager said Google now had 10 weeks to respond.
The firm said it "strongly disagreed" with the allegations and looked forward to making its case.
Ms Vestager also revealed that she had launched an investigation into whether the way Google bundled apps and services for its Android operating system was unfair.
And the commissioner said the EU would continue to monitor other activities by Google that its rivals had complained about.
It follows a five-year investigation into the company and marks the start of a formal legal process that could ultimately lead to billions of euros of fines.
Google accounts for more than a 90% of EU-based web searches.
'Preferential treatment'
The European Commission has investigated the antitrust allegations - made by Microsoft, Tripadvisor, Streetmap and others - since 2010.
Among their complaints was an objection to Google placing adverts from its Shopping service ahead of others' links in relevant searches.
The EU has objected to the way Google promotes results from its own shopping service
Ms Vestager said the Commission's preliminary findings supported the claim that Google "systematically" gave prominence to its own ads, which amounted to an abuse of its dominant position in search.
"I'm concerned that Google has artificially boosted its presence in the comparison shopping market with the result that consumers may not necessarily see what's most relevant for them, or that competitors may not get the the commercial opportunity that their innovative services deserve," she told a press conference in Brussels.
Ms Vestager said that she was not seeking a wider redesign of Google's search results or asking it to change its algorithms.
But she added that the case could set a precedent that would determine how the EU handled other complaints about Google favouring its own mapping, hotels and flights services.
Google has rejected the idea its Shopping service distorts the market.
"While Google may be the most used search engine, people can now find and access information in numerous different ways - and allegations of harm, for consumers and competitors, have proved to be wide of the mark," wrote its search chief Amit Singhal on the firm's blog.
"It's clear that: (a) there's a ton of competition - including from Amazon and eBay, two of the biggest shopping sites in the world and (b) Google's shopping results have not the harmed the competition.
"Any economist would say that you typically do not see a ton of innovation, new entrants or investment in sectors where competition is stagnating - or dominated by one player. Yet that is exactly what's happening in our world."
Many of Google's rivals welcomed the EU's action.
"Google's abuse of dominance distorts European markets, harms consumers, and makes it impossible for Google's rivals to compete on a level playing field," said lobbying group Icomp.
"We see this statement of objection as a crucial first step towards ensuring that European consumers have access to vibrant and competitive online markets."
Google suggests that services including eBay ensure it does not distort the shopping search market
Android inquiry
The EU has also launched a separate investigation into Google's Android operating system, used by smartphones and tablets, which will focus on three topics:
claims that Google requires or incentivises manufacturers to pre-install its own search engine, apps and other services and exclude rival products
allegations that Google unfairly insists its services are bundled, meaning some cannot be pre-installed without including the others
complaints that the firm is hindering manufacturers from developing alternative versions of Android, which is open source. These are commonly known as "forks", with Amazon's Fire OS and Xiaomi's Mi being two examples
"These issues are distinct from the Google comparison shopping case and the investigations will of course be different," Ms Vestager said.
Google says the way it distributes its apps ensures that Android smartphones offer a "great" experience
In response, Google stressed that Android devices could be offered without its services.
"It's important to remember that [our partner agreements] are voluntary - you can use Android without Google - but provide real benefits to Android users, developers and the broader ecosystem," said lead engineer Hiroshi Lockheimer.
"Our app distribution agreements make sure that people get a great 'out of the box' experience with useful apps right there on the home screen. This also helps manufacturers of Android devices compete with Apple, Microsoft and other mobile ecosystems that come preloaded with similar baseline apps."
Complex subject
Google could ultimately face huge fines and be ordered to reshape its business in Europe because of the shopping complaint.
Some searches cause Google Shopping's ads to be offset to the side of the screen
In recent years, the Commission has imposed antitrust penalties on other tech giants, ordering Intel to pay €1.1bn (£793m; $1.2bn) in 2009, and Microsoft €516m in 2013.
However, Ms Vestager said she was "open" to Google's response, and would listen to its case before deciding how to proceed.
One independent expert said that the matter could take years to resolve.
"I can't see that this will be a fast process given the complexity of the subject matter, what's at stake and the likely level of the fine," said Paul Henty, a lawyer at Charles Russell Speechlys who has previously worked for the European Commission.
International inquiries
The EU's investigation is not the only one Google is facing.
Investigators at India's Competition Commission delivered a report last week after carrying out a three-year probe into claims of unfair business practices.
Their counterparts in Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Taiwan and Canada have also opened investigations.
However, the US Federal Trade Commission dropped its own probe at the start of 2013 after Google made several non-binding commitments.
Daenerys Targaryen, portrayed by Emilia Clarke, appears in a scene from series four of Game of Thrones
Games of Thrones broadcaster HBO has sent "take down" notices to Periscope, the live-streaming video app owned by Twitter, after users of the app broadcast episodes of the hit show on Sunday night.
HBO also said Saturday's online leaks of four episodes had come from within a group that had received preview DVDs.
Twitter maintains that the Periscope app complies with US copyright law.
But HBO indirectly criticised the video streaming company.
"In general, we feel developers should have tools which proactively prevent mass copyright infringement from occurring on their apps and not be solely reliant upon notifications," HBO said in a statement.
Periscope's terms and conditions make it clear that users should respect intellectual property rights, but the app currently only reacts to copyright infringement allegations rather than trying to prevent them happening in the first place, HBO believes.
The long-awaited series five of Game of Thrones aired in the US on Sunday and in Europe on Monday.
Copyright infringement has been a huge issue for HBO.
Episodes of the first four series of Game of Thrones were illegally downloaded more than seven million times between 5 February and 6 April this year, according to piracy specialist Irdeto, as marketing for the new series ramped up.
This was a 45% increase on the same period last year, the company said.
But over the history of the series, illegal downloads had run into the "hundreds of millions", Ernesto Van der Sar, of the Torrentfreak news website, said.
And the first episode of the new series had been downloaded up to five million times, he said.
"In my view, Periscope is a non-issue [for Game of Thrones] because the show is already posted online at very high quality on several other services," he says.
"But mobile live streaming could be more of an issue for live sporting events like football matches."
Segway was founded in 2001 but has since struggled to become profitable
Chinese vehicle maker Ninebot has bought iconic US rival Segway, the company announced on Wednesday.
The Beijing-based firm did not disclose the amount of the acquisition, but did say that it received $80m (£54m) in funding from smartphone maker Xiaomi and investment firm Sequoia Capital.
Ninebot also makes two-wheeled electric vehicles, designed for standing riders, that resemble Segways.
Segway had sought an import ban against Ninebot in the US in September.
The Chinese company was one of several that Segway had accused of infringing on its patents.
In a statement, the companies said that both brands would continue to operate under their existing names.
"It [the acquisition] creates a development opportunity for the short-distance transportation industry, which the combined company will lead by widely applying a series of technologies, such as electric driving, mobile internet and human-computer interaction on future products," said Ninebot chief executive Lufeng Gao.
Segway was founded by Dean Kamen in 2001 with much fanfare, but struggled to become profitable.
It was bought by Summit Strategic Investments for an undisclosed amount in 2013.
Wireless systems used by passengers on planes in the US could be hacked to access flight controls, a federal watchdog agency has warned.
A report by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) said it is one of several emerging security threats not being dealt with properly.
It comes as air traffic control is modernised to use satellite technology.
The US Department of Transportation said it was "committed to strengthening capabilities against evolving threats".
GAO investigators spoke to cyber security experts who said onboard firewalls intended to protect avionics from hackers could be breached if flight control and entertainment systems use the same wiring and routers.
One expert told investigators "a virus or malware" planted on websites visited by passengers could provide an opportunity for a malicious attack.
Michael Huerta from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which oversees airspace, agreed with the GAO's findings and said it had begun working with government security experts to make the changes needed.
"This threat will continue to evolve and it is something that needs to be at the forefront of our thinking," he told a Senate oversight panel.
Congressman Peter DeFazio said: "FAA must focus on aircraft certification standards that would prevent a terrorist with a laptop in the cabin or on the ground from taking control of an airplane through the passenger wi-fi system."
The Department of Transportation said the FAA was "committed to strengthening our capabilities to defend against new and evolving threats with a high degree of urgency".
Huawei announced its new smartphones in London, far from its Shenzhen-based headquarters
Huawei has unveiled its latest flagship phones with cameras that it says are capable of creating "professional" looking photos and videos.
The firm said a mix of an advanced sensor and optical image stabilisation tech offered superior night photos and the ability to create "light painting" effects with real-time previews.
The Chinese company is pitching its P8 handsets as "premium" options.
But one analyst said the firm still had a "mountain to climb".
The Shenzhen-headquartered company impressed many reviewers with the design of a smartwatch unveiled at Barcelona's Mobile World Congress in February, which one tech blog described as "the surprise hit" of the trade fair.
The phone is capable of photo effects including light paintings and long low-light exposures
However, Ben Wood, from the tech consultancy CCS Insight, said Western consumers still perceived it as being a "value-for-money brand".
"Huawei's challenge is how to differentiate a great-looking device from the sea of similar smartphones," he added.
"Apple's vice-like grip on the high-end smartphone market has effectively locked out all rivals, with the possible exception of Samsung, which is having to make an eye-watering marketing investment to attract consumers to its new products."
White-colour pixels
The new Android-powered phones, which were unveiled in London, come in two sizes - the basic P8 with a 5.2in screen (13.2cm) and the P8max with a larger than normal 6.8in (17.3cm) display.
Both feature a 13 megapixel rear camera whose image sensor includes pixels dedicated to measuring white light as well as the more common red, green and blue colour pixels.
The firm says this delivers improved images in high contrast and low light situations.
In addition, the handset features what the firms claims to be a "best-in-class" stabilisation component that minimises camera shake.
Huawei suggests that its phones take richer-coloured photos than Apple's iPhone 6
This allows its shutter to be kept open for longer, helping capture sharp images in dim light.
It also permits the device to be put into light-painting mode while operated freehand, letting users draw inside a photo as it's taken by quickly shining light from a small torch across their view.
Although this function is available to other smartphones, Huawei says it is unusual in being able to provide a live preview of what the shot look likes, making it easier to achieve the light-based doodles.
In addition, four P8 phone can be linked together to provide a multi-cam filming system, allowing users to record video footage containing changes in view.
Huawei was keen for its phones to viewed as viable alternatives to much more bulky and expensive cameras, at least in some situations
Sony pioneered a similar built-in option in its Xperia handsets last year.
Knuckle sensors
Although another Chinese handset-maker - Xiaomi - has captured many headlines of late, Huawei ended last year with a bigger market share.
It accounted for 6% of global smartphone shipments at the close of 2014, according to CCS Insight.
That put it in fourth position behind Lenovo, another Chinese manufacturer, whose figures have been boosted by its recent takeover of Motorola.
Huawei boasted of its handset being able to distinguish knuckle taps from finger controls
"Huawei's new camera technology is impressive and it's invested a lot in the associated software to make it quick, but my concern is that for most consumers the cameras on their smartphones are already good enough," said Mr Wood.
"But there is another feature that's interesting: the knuckle sense technology that you to double-tap the screen with your knuckle to take a screenshot - that's going to appeal to the Snapchat generation wanting to capture pictures before they disappear."
Hitler apology
Huawei's smartphone launch coincided with that of a lesser-known Chinese manufacturer LeTV.
Its new device, Le Max, is the first handset to feature a USB-C port.
The facility allows the device to be connected and charged with a reversible cable - similar to Apple's Lightning connector.
LeTV apologised after an advert for its new phone linked Hitler and Apple's brands
The announcement has been overshadowed by the fact the firm's chief executive recently apologised after commissioning an advertising campaign featuring a cartoon of Hitler with Apple's logo in the place of a swastika on his armband.
Jia Yueting acknowledged that the image was "insensitive and wrong" after posting a still on Weibo, a Chinese Twitter-like service.
The ad now features a cartoon king instead. Apple has not commented on the affair.
Search the term "CEO" in Google Images and the first picture of woman you get is a picture of Barbie in a suit.
This "gender bias" has become apparent after a paper was published showing that many image searches for specific occupations favour men or women.
The authors of the report say they have found "stereotype exaggeration and systematic underrepresentation of women in search results".
They have also identified the "sexy construction worker problem".
This is where female construction workers in their search results "tended to be sexualised caricatures of construction workers" who the researches said were "almost certainly not engaged in the profession they portrayed".
Image caption:These are the first results you get if you search on Bing
Although the paper focuses on gender representations, the same search also shows that most of the men (and Barbie) are white.
The image of Barbie that appears is actually one from spoof news site The Onion, which jokingly reports on Mattel being criticised for encouraging "young girls to set impractical career goals".
Other search engines, such as Bing, Yahoo and DuckDuckGo also return all-male results on the first page.
The BBC's own picture archive, which is used by journalists across the organisation, can show results in a variety of different orders.
With the search prioritising newest picture first, multiple images of the CEO of McDonald's Japan - Sarah Casanova - appear.
Obviously the priorities for this search a different, with recency being the focus, however in the first 20 pages of results, you also see PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, CEO of the International Culinary Center, Dorothy Cann Hamilton and international leaders such as Angela Merkel.
The report's authors, Matthew Kay and Sean A Munson from the University of Washington and Cynthia Matusek from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, say that the minority gender for any given occupation, whether that is a man or a woman, are usually portrayed "less professionally" than the majority gender for that role.
They claim this fits with how people also perceive results to be better when they match a stereotype they already hold - for example men making for better construction workers.
Although fairer representation may improve the real-world balance of genders in different occupations, the report recommends "balance" when it comes to the algorithms search engines use.
The authors say results which support "socially desirable outcomes" may not accurately represent either the available images, or the "real-world" numbers of men and women in different careers.
Google has declined to comment, while Mattel has yet to respond to Newsbeat's request.
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter, BBCNewsbeat on Instagram, Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube and you can now follow BBC_Newsbeat on Snapchat
Written By Unknown on Kamis, 09 April 2015 | 23.34
The game tokens can be paid for with real cash or bought with in-game gold
The introduction of a way to use real money to buy virtual cash for World of Warcraft has prompted a big change in the value of the game's gold.
The exchange rate for dollars fell by almost a third on the first day that Blizzard let people swap real cash for game gold.
At launch, players could spend $20 (£13) to get 30,000 gold coins to spend on gear in the fantasy game world.
But 24 hours later the same amount of cash netted players about 20,000.
Before now the only way that World of Warcraft players could artificially boost the fortunes of their characters was by visiting a grey-market site and surreptitiously buying gold from unlicensed vendors.
Fell sharply
The practice was fraught with peril because it was technically a violation of the WoW terms and conditions. Anyone caught buying gold this way could have their account closed down.
Late last year Blizzard announced plans to introduce a $20 "game time token" that could be converted into WoW's internal currency. Currently only North American players of WoW can buy the token.
The tokens can be traded on the game's internal auction house for gold - effectively giving people a way to turn real money into virtual cash. Those with lots of WoW gold can buy the token and use it to pay for their subscription to the online game.
The token trading system went live on 8 April and initially the exchange rate for each one climbed past the 30,000 starting point. But within hours the dollar exchange rates fell sharply and are now hovering around 22,000 for $20.
Some speculated that the dollar exchange rate would fall further to reach those seen on grey-market sources of WoW gold, which currently offer 10,000 to 15,000 coins for $20.
'Lot of fluctuation'
Before the launch Blizzard said the exchange rate for tokens would be set by internal game metrics.
Alec Meer, of the game news site Rock, Paper, Shotgun, told the BBC that there had been some initial "overreaction" to the drop in value of each token.
"It doesn't spell doom," he said. "Blizzard is trialling something new. They went in high to see what would happen, and there's going to be a whole lot of fluctuation as a game with a population of several million adapts to it.
"I'm sure the long-term plan is simply to bring more transactions within Blizzard's purview, and in doing so potentially reduce the influence of gold farmers and keep people playing for longer," he added.
Intel, led by Brian Krzanich, says its RealSense technology is now small enough to fit in a smartphone
Intel has revealed a version of its 3D depth camera that is small and thin enough to be fitted into a 6in (15.2cm) smartphone.
The RealSense sensor can be used to recognise hand and head movements and makes it possible to change the focus of photos after they have been taken.
The prototype was unveiled by the company chief executive Brian Krzanich at an event in Shenzhen, China.
One expert noted that questions remained about its power demands.
Although Mr Krzanich showed off an example of a RealSense-enabled phone, he did not demonstrate it working, which may indicate it is still at an early stage of development.
"The device which was shown on stage at the Intel Developer Forum was a prototype that was created in collaboration with a Chinese firm, whom we are not naming," said a spokeswoman for the company.
"The device is meant to show the different types of apps, usage models and form factors that RealSense tech can be integrated into and to encourage innovation."
The depth data collected by RealSense cameras can be used to change the focus of a photo after it has been taken
The technology is similar to that found in Microsoft's Kinect motion-and-image sensor, but in a much smaller package.
While the Kinect has fallen out of favour with many Xbox gamers, one industry watcher thought the technology would prove popular in handsets.
"We've got to the stage where putting ever higher-resolution cameras in phones is no longer as much of a selling point as it used to be," said Chris Green, of the Davies Murphy Group consultancy.
"So manufacturers need additional features to draw on. Depth perception and light-field technology will interest people and potentially let the next generation of smartphones differentiate themselves from what is already on the market.
"Intel has obviously achieved half of the challenge involved - the miniaturisation - but what is still unclear is whether it has got the power side of things licked. It's one thing putting this into a laptop where you have a large battery and access to a mains power source, it's another to put it into a phone that has to last throughout the day."
Sensor rivals
Intel first announced that laptops were to incorporate its RealSense components in January last year, after a tie-up with the Belgian 3D vision specialist SoftKinetic.
Intel's RealSense cameras already allow laptops to be controlled with gestures
It suggested the tech could be used to provide improved gesture recognition - allowing users to control devices without having to touch them - as well as a way to scan objects that could be later edited and 3D-printed and a means to have more control over the way photos and videos looked after they had been captured.
This year, Dell became the first manufacturer to incorporate the technology into a tablet.
Getting the tech into a smartphone would offer Intel a potential coup, but other firms are also working on alternatives.
Google's Project Tango tablet can be used to create 3D models of rooms
Google has created Project Tango - a tablet fitted with a 3D image sensor made by the German company PMDTechnologies.
At this point the kit is limited to developers, as part of an effort to add "spatial perception" to the Android ecosystem.
The US-based Pelican Imaging is also working on a depth-sensing array of cameras designed for smartphones that it says would let photos be refocused after being taken as well as allowing users to create "3D selfies".
Pelican Imaging suggests its sensors will make 3D selfies possible
Its work is backed by Intel's chip-making rival Qualcomm as well as Nokia's venture capital wing, Nokia Growth Partners.
In addition, Apple bought PrimeSense in November 2013.
The Israeli start-up had previously provided the technology used in the original Kinect. Apple has yet to announce how it plans to make use of the acquisition.
Still too big?
One tech journalist who attended the event in Shenzhen suggested Intel might still have quite a bit of work before its RealSense tech was ready for mainstream handsets.
One expert suggested Intel needed to shrink the components to fit smaller handsets
"It was weird because Brian Krzanich said on stage that he's known for taking risks with performing live demos at tech events, and yet this was pretty much the only device he did not turn on to show what it did on stage, which might say something about the early stage it is at," Richard Lai, editor-in-chief of Engadget Chinese, told the BBC.
"And the prototype was still a 6in phablet. That size is socially acceptable in China, where consumers like to have a large screen.
"But putting it into a smaller form factor would make it more accessible to other consumers."
Apple's iCloud Photo Library syncs photos across devices
Apple has released a new photo storage app for Macs, which can automatically store full-resolution images online.
The iCloud Photo Library syncs photos across devices while managing storage.
Users can opt to keep original high-res photos in the cloud with lower-res version on a Mac, PC or iOS device.
But critics highlight recent online photo security breaches and say Apple's storage fees are much higher than some of its competitors.
The iCloud Photo Library app responds to how much storage is left on each device.
It automatically downgrades the resolution of images held on a device as its storage space starts to run out - starting with the oldest images first - while ensuring they are still of suitable quality to be viewed full-screen.
'Targeted attacks'
If the user has a data connection and has chosen the online storage option for their full-res images, the app will download the larger original file as and when they need it. This could be for editing, zooming into the photo or for printing, for example.
Hackers stole celebrities' photos from iCloud last year
Some experts wonder whether Apple's users are ready to trust the company with their photos after about 500 private pictures, mainly of celebrities, were stolen from the iCloud platform by hackers last year.
Apple later explained that this had happened as the result of a targeted attack in which the intruders had successfully obtained or guessed users passwords to its service, rather than hacked the platform.
Last October, Apple issued another security warning to its iCloud users, saying: "We're aware of intermittent organised network attacks using insecure certificates to obtain user information." It said its own servers had not been compromised.
Martin Garner, mobile services expert at CCS Insight, said: "People are sharing enormous trust when they use services like these. It's not just Apple - many other providers have also suffered breaches recently. But users will need to think about security and accessibility."
'Keep an eye on prices'
Many online storage providers offer cheaper plans for the same or more data to be stored online than Apple's iCloud.
However, each offers different functionality regarding how it syncs with devices, and whether it works automatically or needs user intervention
Apple iCloud compared with other online storage providers
The cost of online photo storage
Provider Data plan Price
Amazon (Unlimited Photos plan)
Unlimited (Photos only) + 5GB
$12 (£8)/year
Google Drive (1TB)
1TB
$120 (£80)/year
Dropbox (1TB)
1TB
$144 (£96)/year
Box (Business)
Unlimited
$180 (£120)/year
Microsoft (OneDrive 1TB)
1TB
$180 (£120)/year
Apple (iCloud Photo Library)
1TB
$240 (£160)/year
The iCloud Photo Library is the first to keep a lower-res image on the device while sending the original full-res image to the cloud.
Unlike a simple back-up or copying of photos, this means users can keep the images on their devices while maximising storage space.
However, many consumers may still prefer deals such as Amazon's "Unlimited Photos plan", which would cost a fraction of the price to maintain a large library.
"Apple will have to keep an eye on prices as the market in online storage is extremely competitive," said Mr Garner.
"Many of its competitors, like Dropbox, have apps available on the iPhone, so it needs to be wary that users do have a good amount of choice.
"Some services like Microsoft and Amazon also bundle online storage with other services like software subscriptions or movie streaming, so Apple may need to consider doing likewise."
The fine is the largest imposed on a company for losing data and violating customer privacy
AT&T has been fined $25m (£17m) over data breaches at call centres in Mexico, Colombia and the Philippines.
Names, social security numbers and customer account details were taken in the series of data thefts that took place in 2013 and 2014.
The details of about 280,000 people were taken during the data breaches.
Call centre staff involved in the breaches used the data to work with criminals peddling stolen phones who needed to unlock handsets.
The US Federal Communications Commission began investigating the breaches in Mexico last May after it was given information about data going missing. Soon after, AT&T passed it information about breaches in other nations.
The investigation revealed that several employees at different call centres had abused their login credentials to steal data that was then used to request codes which could unlock stolen phones. The information was sold on to phone thieves.
AT&T said it had got in touch with all the customers who lost data in the breach. It has also terminated its business deal with the companies that operated the call centres where data was stolen. It added that it had also tightened its policies and procedures to ensure a similar data breach could not occur.
The $25m fine is the largest the FCC has imposed on a company for breaking laws that cover data security and privacy.
Google found that millions of people had been caught out by rogue extensions
Tens of millions of users who visit Google sites use a browser loaded with malicious add-ons, research suggests.
Most rogue extensions bombard people with ads, but the most malicious steal login names and other valuable data.
Carried out by security experts and Google, the project analysed more than 100 million visits to the search giant's sites.
It led to Google purging almost 200 bad extensions from its online catalogues of browser add-ons.
Bad behaviour?
Extensions and add-ons for web browsers add all kinds of functions and features to the software.
Many of these extensions have hidden extras that cause trouble for people who install them, said UC Santa Barbara computer scientist Alexandros Kapravelos, who worked with Google on the rogue extensions project.
The research found that malicious extensions were available for every major browser.
The findings are due to be published in full in May at the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy.
Preliminary results revealed that 5% of people accessing Google every day have been caught out by at least one malicious extension.
Of these victims, about a third have four or more bad add-ons installed in their browser.
"It is a very hard problem to deal with," said Mr Kapravelos.
Some bad extensions were easy to spot, he said, because they were so obviously written to steal saleable data such as bitcoins, bank logins or personal data.
However, many used techniques seen in legitimate extensions, he said, and it took a lot of extra analysis to pin down the bad ones.
"Even when we have a complete understanding of what the extension is doing, sometimes it is not clear if that behaviour is malicious or not," he said.
"You would expect that an extension that injects or replaces advertisements is malicious, but then you have AdBlock that creates an ad-free browsing experience and is technically very similar."
Experts from Swedish security firm ScrapeSentry said it had found examples of extensions that gathered data in ways that could easily be abused.
Some malicious extensions are very obvious and seek to steal bitcoins and other valuable data
ScrapeSentry's analysis of one extension, called Webpage Screenshot, revealed that it contained code that let it grab copies of all the browser traffic from the PC on which it was installed.
The gathered data was then sent to a server in the US. The extension has been downloaded about 1.2 million times.
"What happens to the personal data and the motives for sending it to the US server is anyone's guess, but we'd take an educated guess that it's not going to be good news," said Martin Zetterlund from ScrapeSentry.
A spokesman for Webpage Screenshot said there was nothing malicious about the data it gathered. Instead, said the spokesman, it was used to understand who the extension's users were and where they were located to help drive development of the code.
Users could opt out of sharing data, he said.
Deleting data
Mr Kapravelos said Google had acted on the early findings of the research by removing 192 actively malicious extensions from its Chrome catalogue. About 14 million people had been tricked into using these extensions, he said.
The UC Santa Barbara team was working with Google to develop tools that can automatically spot malicious extensions and flag them to the search giant's security staff.
In addition, said Mr Kapravelos, firms whose adverts were being injected onto webpages by the rogue extensions had been informed.
Unfortunately, he said, ad injection had become "entrenched" as a way for some unscrupulous developers to make money.
The research found that only a small number of developers were behind the majority of the rogue extensions that pepper people with ads, suggesting that targeted action could help tackle the problem.
DJI has refreshed its family of drones with new models that are easier to take off and land.
The Phantom 3 quadcopters also gain the ability to hold their position without using a GPS location signal, making them more suitable for indoor use.
And the app that controls the camera-equipped machines has been updated to allow live video streams to YouTube.
However one expert suggested more should be done to protect the public from such remote-controlled aircraft.
China-based DJI is the bestselling brand of drones in what is a fast-growing sector, with hobbyists, farmers, film-makers and land surveyors among its customers.
The firm found itself at the centre of a security scare earlier this year when one of its previous models crashed into the lawn of the White House.
Live video feed
DJI has unveiled two versions of its latest aircraft, which offer different video recording capabilities.
DJI suggests that he new drone could be used to film a wedding indoors
The Phantom 3 Professional, which costs $1,259 (£842), can shoot in 4K at 30 frames per second.
The ultra high definition format is four times the resolution of 1080p HD, which offers video-makers greater leeway to crop and pan across their footage after it has been shot.
The Phantom 3 Advanced, which costs $999 (£668), films at 1080p at 60 frames per second. This is lower resolution but better suited for slow-mo effects. The Professional model's camera can also be placed in this setting.
The lenses used by both aircraft are better suited for low-light conditions than earlier models. In addition, the new software allows owners to tag the best footage as it is recorded, making it easier to put together a fast edit.
DJI said that footage could be streamed to YouTube in 720p quality when the drone is up to one mile (1.6km) away from its controllers with almost no lag - a facility it suggested could make it a useful tool for journalists covering disasters and protests, and for mining and construction industry managers wanting to direct surveying efforts remotely.
DJI is also promoting the drone's ability to carry out indoor flights.
A tablet app can be used to stream live footage captured by the drone via YouTube
"The platform has a downward-facing camera that creates a 3D map of the ground underneath it in real-time, and identifies key vectors in that map and notices if there's any movement of those vectors," DJI spokesman Michael Perry told the BBC.
"So it automatically adjusts itself to hold a position.
"In addition, it's got two ultrasonic sensors that provide very accurate information about how far it is off the ground, which allows it to hover a lot more accurately, fly closer to the ground without having the platform bump up and down, and more importantly it lets you take off and land easily and securely with the touch of a button."
Drone injuries
DJI competes against Parrot, Walkera and Xinte among others, which all allow users to fit their aircraft with standalone cameras.
Rising sales of such devices have led to safety concerns.
In April 2014 an athlete said she suffered head injuries when a drone that had been filming her race in Australia fell to the ground.
And in December, a US newspaper photographer said the tip of her nose was "chipped off" after an accident involving drones flown inside a restaurant.
DJI is marketing its latest drones as being tools that could be used to film sports events
Following the accident at the White House in January, DJI updated the firmware used by its Phantom 2 drones to prevent them from flying over much of Washington DC.
The firm highlighted that it also continued to expand a wider list of no-fly zones, which is built into its latest models.
However, it suggested government watchdogs needed to offer clearer guidance.
A drunk government worker crashed a DJI drone into the White House's lawn in January
"We feel fundamentally that this industry will not reach its full potential until there is a clear and coherent regulatory framework put in place," said Mr Perry.
"I think the UK has taken some pretty significant strides - it has established a clear criteria for pilot qualifications, which are needed [alongside an approved request application] to be allowed to fly over a crowd or in a downtown area.
"But there is a patchwork of regulations around the globe, which only agree on one thing: flying near airports is dangerous."
Safer designs
Mr Perry noted that DJI drones sold in the UK were packaged with a pamphlet written by the Civil Aviation Authority, that sets out the restrictions under which they can be used.
The Phantom 3 drones will become available for delivery later this month
But one expert said the industry at large had a responsibility to do more.
"Recommendations are already being fed into the European Union to come up with a unified approach that will allow novel technologies and also protect people," said Dr Mirko Kovac, from Imperial College London's Aerial Robotics Lab.
"But the more hobbyists and other people that use drones, the harder it is to control.
"And what we need are more technological developments to ensure safety, particularly through the design of the aircraft as well as the sensors they use... to make the drones themselves inherently safe."
Mr Pincus said he was eager to focus on the company's mobile game offerings
Troubled game maker Zynga has announced that founder Mark Pincus will return to lead the company, as it struggles to repeat the success of hits like Farmville.
Current chief executive Don Mattrick, who joined the company in 2013, will leave, effective immediately.
"I am returning to the company that I love in order to accelerate innovation," Mr Pincus said in a statement.
He will receive a salary of $1.
Mr Mattrick said he will return to his native Canada, adding: "I believe the timing is now right for me to leave as CEO [chief executive officer] and let Mark lead the company into its next chapter given his passion for the founding vision and his ability to couple our mobile progress with Zynga's unique strengths."
Although Zynga - known primarily for its once-popular Facebook games like Farmville and Words with Friends - has stabilised under Mr Mattrick, the company has continued to struggle.
In its most recent earnings release, Zynga said it lost $225.9m (£152m) in 2014, compared to $37m a year earlier.
However, it said its mobile audience continued to grow - showing that it no longer relied on Facebook to generate a majority of its traffic.
Shares in the company were up more than 3% in trading after US markets had closed.
Several of the organisations social media accounts were hit
The French television network TV5Monde says it has suffered an "unprecedented" attack from hackers claiming to belong to Islamic State (IS).
TV5Monde said its TV station, website and social media accounts were all hit.
The hackers also posted documents purporting to be ID cards of relatives of French soldiers involved in anti-IS operations.
TV5Monde regained control over most of its sites about two hours after the attack began.
Its digital director, Helene Zemmour, called the hack "unprecedented and large-scale".
A message posted by the hackers on TV5Monde's Facebook site read: "The CyberCaliphate continues its cyberjihad against the enemies of Islamic State."
They replaced TV5Monde's social media profile pictures with a masked Islamist fighter.
France is part of the US-led coalition carrying out air strikes against IS in Iraq and Syria.
In January, the Twitter and YouTube accounts of the US military command were hit by pro-IS hackers. But Centcom said it was "cyber-vandalism" and not a serious data breach.
Max Schrems accused Facebook of mass surveillance of its users
A court in Austria will rule in the next few weeks whether it has the jurisdiction to hear a class action lawsuit brought against Facebook.
Some 25,000 users - led by Austrian law graduate Max Schrems - accuse Facebook of violating European privacy laws in the way it collects and forwards data.
The case has been brought against Facebook's European HQ in Dublin, which handles accounts outside US and Canada.
Facebook's lawyers have argued for the case to be dismissed.
They presented a list of procedural objections at a court hearing in Vienna on Thursday.
Mr Schrems - a campaigner for data protection - said he brought the claim to stop what he calls mass surveillance by the social networking site.
The legal action claims privacy laws are breached in the way Facebook monitors users when they activate the site's "like" buttons.
It also alleges Facebook co-operated with Prism, a surveillance system launched in 2007 by the US National Security Agency.
The case - which involves more than 900 UK-based users of Facebook - includes a compensation claim of about €500 ($539; £362) per person.
The court will issue a written decision in the next few weeks on whether it can handle the case, the BBC's Bethany Bell reports from Vienna.
Like the Beebone malware, X-Men's Mystique - played by Jennifer Lawrence - morphs to take on other identities
Shapeshifting malware that changes its identity up to 19 times a day to avoid detection has been deactivated by Europe's Cybercrime Centre and the FBI.
At its height in September 2014 the malware, called Beebone, was controlling 100,000 computers a day.
Criminals used it to help steal passwords and download other programs to the infected computers.
Around 12,000 victims are being asked to use new online clean-up tools to remove it.
'Mystique-like' morphing
Beebone downloaded other malware which could steal passwords and banking details
Once on a victim's computer, Beebone operates like a downloader application that can be controlled by the suspected criminal gangs behind the program.
It was used to force victims' PCs to fetch other malware from the internet including password stealers, ransomware, rootkits, and programs designed to take down legitimate websites.
Computer security firm McAfee, which helped law enforcement agencies to stop the malware, said it had seen Beebone change its identity up to 19 times per day to avoid more traditional "signature detection" anti-virus methods.
McAfee's chief technology officer Raj Samani told the BBC: "Beebone is highly sophisticated. It regularly changes its unique identifier, downloading a new version of itself, and can detect when it is being isolated, studied, or attacked.
"It can successfully block attempts to kill it."
Operation Beebone
Operation Beebone was carried out by the Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce set up by the European Union to tackle cross-border internet crime. The team finally managed to tackle the malware by stopping it from connecting to servers on the net used to control and send it instructions.
Nearly 100 .com, .net, and .org domains have been "sinkholed" - the process by which traffic meant for specific IP addresses is redirected from suspected criminal-controlled sites to the investigating authorities. This allows detectives to "see" how the application behaves and to intercept requests for further instructions by the malicious software.
The FBI assisted in redirecting traffic from most of the sites being used by the gangs because they were operated from the United States and are under US jurisdiction.
The operation also involved private security firms Intel Security, Kaspersky Labs and Shadowserver. The taskforce now believes it has isolated the morphing malware so criminals can no longer make use of it.
Sustained threat
Head of operations at the European Cybercrime Centre, Paul Gillen told the BBC the agency would now look at whether those behind the attacks could be identified and brought to justice. He admitted the solution the taskforce had found was not a permanent one: "We can't sinkhole these domains forever. We need those infected to clean up their computers as soon as possible."
Several security vendors have created a free tool to remove the Beebone malware including F-Secure, TrendMicro, Symantec and Intel Security.
Symantec is one of several private security firms signed up to help EC3
But victims need to first realise they have the malware on their systems before they can download the removal tool.
Raj Samani said those who have the malware "will be notified by their internet service provider".
ISPs in each affected country will be handed a list of suspected victims to contact by the taskforce.
Dangerous threat
The Beebone malware was described by the Europol taskforce as "very sophisticated". Some security experts believe the consequences of the attack could have been much worse.
Portcullis Security in the UK advises various British government departments on cybersecurity issues. Its director, Paul Docherty, told the BBC:
"The fact that it [the malware] is complicated suggests that it could be used for more targeted attacks. If those responsible were able to harness similar difficult-to-detect code they could potentially move the point of attack from home users to corporate users or other entities which typically hold large amounts of sensitive, valuable data."
Mr Docherty said computer users should have anti-virus software installed and that it was essential that they kept it up-to-date. He warned against members of the public underestimating how valuable their computer might be to criminal hackers.
"There is still a general consensus that, It won't happen to me, I have nothing anyone could want. However, when you discuss with people what they actually use their technology for this changes very quickly."
Future challenge
The total number of computers infected by Beebone is relatively modest compared with some recent malware take-downs like GameOver Zeus. Security experts believe this is because the malware was not spread by mass emailing potential victims with poisoned internet links, an approach known as spearphishing. McAfee said Beebone was more commonly spread through hardware like USB drives, or data discs.
Now remaining victims are being asked to clean up their computers as soon as possible.
Mr Samani said it is likely those who have Beebone on their computers "were likely to have a lot of other malware too because of the nature of Beebone as a malware downloader itself".
But there is another good reason why victims will want to move on quickly, says Mr Docherty: "Clean-up after infection could be complicated, as this [criminal] campaign has used a constantly changing (polymorphic) dropper to implant malware, it is possible that it has also installed code of a similar nature to re-enable access to the systems following clean-up."
Written By Unknown on Kamis, 02 April 2015 | 23.34
More than 600 properties are already listed in Havana alone
Home holiday rental site Airbnb has added Cuba to its list of destinations.
More than 1,000 properties in the Caribbean nation are already listed, but can only be booked by users in the US.
The San Francisco-based site is restricted from showing the listings elsewhere because of a US trade embargo against the island.
Nevertheless, Airbnb said Cuba could eventually become one of its biggest markets in Latin America.
"We are actually plugging into an existing culture of micro-enterprise in Cuba," said the firm's regional director Kay Kuehne.
"The hosts in Cuba have been [renting out rooms to travellers] for decades."
One expert, however, said the site faced major challenges.
The US relaxed travel restrictions for its own citizens to Cuba in January
"While Airbnb is a valuable alternative for millions of travellers, in the context of Cuba, because of the high margins it takes from every transaction, it won't necessarily meet with great success," said travel writer Simon Calder.
"All the Cuban bed-and-breakfast providers I know would like to keep all the money rather than handing 15% or more to an American corporation," he added, referring to the total amount the firm deducts from both the host and the guest.
"The other thing is that anybody who has used the internet in Cuba will know that a prospective host is unlikely to be able to respond immediately given the shockingly slow internet there, which reminds me of what you used to find across the developing world in the early 1990s."
The initial listings range from £10 a night for a private room in Trinidad to £695 a night for the whole of a five-bedroom "chalet" in Havana.
Airbnb members based outside the US are told they cannot complete a booking
Airbnb visitors outside the US can view the listings, but can only add them to their wish lists, rather than book them. An on-screen alert states that the site is not licensed to provide booking services to others.
The US recently began allowing Americans to travel to the island if they obtained a special licence, which can be granted for activities including family visits, educational activities and public performances.
The White House said it would like tourism to be added to the list, and President Obama has urged Congress to begin work to drop the wider sanctions.
"We are ending a policy that was long past its expiration date," he said in his State of the Union address in January.
The move made it possible for online film-streaming site Netflix to be launched in Cuba the following month, which freedom of speech campaign group Freedom House said was more "symbolic" than anything else in the short-term because of the country's "exceptionally slow connectivity".
A search for Havana hotels on Kayak offers rooms in Romania and Bulgaria, but not Cuba
Visitors across the globe can still find listings for Cuba-based rooms via other US services, including TripAdvisor, which allows users to contact hosts directly but does not take a cut of the bookings itself.
Simon Calder however, criticised the "absurdity" of the fact that several other US-based travel sites, including Kayak and Booking.com, continued to ignore the island's existence.
"Anybody trying to find a flight to Havana on a US airline website will be assured that the city does not exist," he said.
Cern scientists have become adept users of The Force since its discovery
The Force - the mysterious energy field used by the Jedi in Star Wars - has been discovered by researchers at the Cern laboratory.
The European research centre announced its spoof discovery with pictures showing its scientists using The Force in everyday life.
It was one of many April Fools jokes seen on websites around the world.
Others included a selfie shoe, driverless pizza delivery and thought-powered web search.
"The Force is what gives a particle physicist his powers," said Cern scientist Ben Kenobi of the University of Mos Eisley, Tatooine in a press release.
Many scientists at the centre were already using The Force, said the release, to communicate over long distances, influence minds and for "lifting heavy things out of swamps".
Microsoft used the background image for its main Bing search page to tout its April Fools joke in which it claimed the search system could read palms and minds to ensure people got the results they really wanted.
Anyone could try thought-powered search by putting their right hand on a screen where the Bing homepage indicated.
"The innovative new search function intelligently analyses the electrical signals transmitted through the hand to calculate the relevant search term," said the software firm.
Many other firms and sites produced spoof announcements and products for 1 April.
Microsoft's Bing can read nerve impulses to improve search results
Smartphone maker Samsung produced a spoof page for a Blade edge version of its Galaxy smartphone that, it claimed, was designed for cooks. The limited edition handset incorporates a diamond-edged blade so the phone can also be used to chop food when it is not being used for calls, texts, or browsing the web.
HTC joined in with fake product pages for the Re-Sok - the "world's first truly smart sock". The technology-enhanced footwear is engineered with GPS so pairs of socks can easily find each other and have an automatic hole warning system to alert owners when their intelligent footwear is running thin.
For its April Fools parody, Motorola went to the trouble of making a lavish video showing two craftsmen producing selfie-sticks out of wood and leather.
New York-based footwear maker Miz Mooz joined in and produced a pair of shoes that have smartphone docking ports in each toe so each one can be used to take selfies.
Other parodies included cab-calling firm Hailo introducing piggy-back rides around cities; Domino's pizza introducing a driverless pizza delivery system using autonomous scooters; BMW making the ultimate rugby mouth guard and Sony making a wearable add-on for the PlayStation so players can take part in games when they are swimming.
Google has made it possible for Android apps to run on machines that can run its Chrome browser and OS
Google has released a tool that lets Android apps run on any machine that can run its Chrome browser.
Called Arc Welder, the tool acts as a wrapper around Android apps so they can run on Windows, OSX and Linux machines.
The software expands the places that Android apps can run and might make it easier for developers to get code working on different machines.
But one developer said it was better to write apps that run "natively" rather than via separate software.
Arc - the App Runtime for Chrome - was first released in late 2014 as a way for Android apps to run on machines running Google's Chrome operating system. The OS is used on many netbooks and other small machines made by Google and some of its hardware partners.
Now Google has produced a new tool, called Arc Welder, which converts Android apps into versions that can be used with the Chrome browser, not just the OS. With Welder it has also added support for many Google Play services so when apps are converted they do not lose access to payment systems, maps and other functions they expect.
In its developer documentation, Google said the underlying technology for Arc Welder meant converted apps should run almost as quickly as they did on a phone or tablet.
With Arc Welder Google, it is seeking a way to help developers get their creations onto as many machines as possible, but one developer was not sure it would accomplish that aim.
The software tool could see Android apps popping up on desktop machines
"The best way to make apps by far is to make them natively using the tools that they give us," said Sam Furr, director and co-founder of development studio The App Developers.
He said that moving away from those well-known development systems can mean losing some behaviours, such as touch combinations, that people expect. He also wondered if a converted app running via a browser sitting in a separate operating system would be as fast as one developed natively.
Running a phone app on a desktop would inevitably mean losing some functions, he said, because bigger computers lack some of the extras, such as accelerometers and GPS receivers, that are now standard on smartphones.
Mr Furr said the ability to reach lots of different operating systems with just one app was potentially attractive.
"When building an app you want to get it to as many people as possible but you have to ask how long it will take to get it on other platforms," he said.
"There's no shortage of cross-platform frameworks and some of them are very good," he said, "but in our experience you do not get the same end product as you would when you build it natively."
