Airbnb adds Cuba to destination list

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.

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Tech sites lead on April Fools gags

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.

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Android apps to run on Windows, Macs

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."

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Evidence links China to GitHub attack

The attack on software development site GitHub is understood to be weakening

Internet users outside China are unwittingly participating in a long-running cyber-attack on the coding site GitHub, security experts have said.

The researchers believe that the nature of the attack makes the Chinese government the only realistic source.

After five days, it was understood on Tuesday evening that the attack was decreasing in intensity.

The Chinese government said it was "odd" that it had been accused of being responsible.

GitHub said that it had first detected a large distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack - when a site is flooded with traffic, threatening to force it offline - last Thursday.

Four separate security researchers have said that international web traffic to sites that use analytics tools provided by search firm Baidu was being hijacked in China.

According to analysis published by Erik Hjelmvik of the firm Netresec, when browsers requested script from the Chinese firm's servers, as they normally would, malicious code was inserted into the reply.

"The upshot is that people from around the world... had their traffic redirected to swamp GitHub," Prof Alan Woodward of the University of Surrey told the BBC after verifying the research.

It is alleged that the attack was targeted at two pages on GitHub: one created by the anti-censorship group Greatfire.org, the other a Chinese-language edition of the New York Times.

Both are banned by the Chinese authorities.

Mr Hjelmvik's analysis was backed up by similar research published by Insight Labs, a global group of security organisations.

Their conclusions were ratified by both Rik Ferguson, from the cybersecurity firm Trend Micro, and Prof Woodward.

In a blog, Mr Hjelmvik described the attack step-by-step:

• An innocent user browses the internet from outside China
• One website the user visits loads an analytics script - a sequence of instructions - from a server in China, for example Baidu, something that often used by web admins to track visitor statistics
• The web browser's request for the Baidu script is detected by Chinese equipment as it enters the country
• A fake response is sent out from within China instead of the actual Baidu Analytics script. This fake response is a malicious script that tells the user's browser to continuously reload two specific pages on GitHub.com

The method could be used on a multitude of sites that passed into and back out of China, the researchers said.

"Any site that makes the request for a cookie related to Baidu's analytics, that request could be replaced with malicious code," said Mr Ferguson.

Visitors to sites that used Baidu analytics were being hijacked, according to researchers

Mr Hjelmvik told the BBC that, because the various internet service providers used by the foreign internet users were seeing the same results, the attacker could only be an entity with overarching control of telecommunications across China.

That, he said, made the country's authorities the most realistic suspect.

In a press conference on Monday, the Chinese foreign ministry's spokeswoman Hua Chunying was asked for her response to reports that her government was behind the attack.

"It is quite odd that every time a website in the US or any other country is under attack, there will be speculation that Chinese hackers are behind it. I'd like to remind you that China is one of the major victims of cyber attacks," she said.

Innocent internet users' browsers were being hijacked, the security researchers said

"We have been underlining that China hopes to work with the international community to speed up the making of international rules and jointly keep the cyberspace peaceful, secure, open and cooperative.

"It is hoped that all parties can work in concert to address hacker attacks in a positive and constructive manner."

The BBC understands that the attack appears to be weakening and GitHub is now said to be operating "at 100%".

A GitHub spokesman reiterated its earlier statement, highlighting that the attack was the "largest DDoS" in the site's history.

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Amazon launches home ordering kit

In an attempt to attract more household goods shoppers, retail giant Amazon has unveiled a device that can place orders to replenish items such as washing powder and razors.

The Dash Button can be attached to appliances around the home, and when pushed, processes a delivery request.

The service will only be available to users of Amazon's premium subscription service, Prime.

The tech giant has recently focused on speeding up its ordering processes.

Prime Now, which guarantees one-hour delivery on essential daily items, is available in four US cities, and the company has also been trialling deliveries by drone.

On Monday, the firm launched Amazon Home Services, which allows customers to order professional services such as a handyman or computer technician.

The timing of Dash's launch led some to initially believe it might be an April Fool's joke. Even after it was confirmed as real, some were uncertain what to make of it.

"I'm not sure whether this is genius, or the stupidest thing Amazon has tried yet," commented John Gruber on the Daring Fireball blog.

But one expert was impressed.

"This is absolutely not a gimmick," Aidan Bocci, chief executive of the Commercial Advantage consultancy, told the BBC.

"It may have to go through iterations before it really works, but this is a way to disrupt the linkage that exists between consumption and purchase.

"People typically write a shopping list and then go to the supermarket, but this gives Amazon a way to break in before any of that happens. And it's exactly what the firm should be doing if it wants to have a different approach in the grocery sector."

Amazon hopes shoppers will use the device to replenish their cosmetics

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VIDEO: Big leap in 4K video streaming tech

A new method of data compression could see ultra-high definition video - also known as 4K - being streamed to TVs and other devices using around 50% of the bandwidth currently needed.

V-Nova has gathered 20 large telecoms, broadcast and IT companies including Sky, Intel, and the European Broadcasting Union to back its new Perseus technology.

It could see the average home broadband speed in the UK - around 22 megabits per second (Mbps) - support three 4K streams simultaneously instead of just one.

The technique makes use of the multiple cores within processors found in today's mobile devices and smart TVs to process the picture more efficiently.

Movie streaming firm Netflix currently requests users of its 4K Ultra High Def service to have a steady 25Mbps broadband connection, with analysis of their video stream showing between 12 and 16Mbps is actually required.

V-Nova says it can deliver the same quality picture using just 7-8Mbps.

Media expert Ian Maude, from Enders Analysis, said: "This is cutting-edge technology that will be welcomed by pay TV companies, and TV manufacturers because it will help drive 4k sales.

"But there are still limiting factors to the take-up of 4K including whether networks are capable of meeting demand, having a device able to display an ultra-high definition picture, and the amount of content currently being shot in 4K.

"Ultra HD will still remain niche for some time but this technology will help."

The technology also allows HD video to be streamed to mobile phones by using a similar amount of bandwidth to that currently needed to play music.

It is hoped the new encoding technique will help social network users share video as easily as sending messages, and bring standard definition video to millions of devices in developing countries where cellular data rates make it too expensive to stream any quality of video.

The system will first be deployed in the US and several European countries this summer with UK content distributors and broadcasters introducing it before the end of this year.

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Google reveals computer-on-a-stick

Asus will begin sales of the Chromebit computer-on-a-stick later this year

Google has announced new Chrome-powered computers, which are set to target budget-conscious consumers and schools.

The range includes a new type of device called the Chromebit, which looks like an oversized memory stick, and turns monitors and TVs into computers when plugged into their HDMI ports.

The tech firm also revealed the cheapest Chromebook laptops to date, costing $149 (£101).

The move is likely to intensify competition with Microsoft.

The announcements came less than a day after Microsoft revealed plans to sell a new entry-level tablet-laptop hybrid of its own.

Its Surface 3 costs more -$499, and £419 in the UK for the basic model - but provides access to a wider range of software made for the Windows platform.

"This is a booming sector of the market at the moment," commented Chris Green, a tech analyst at the Davies Murphy Group consultancy.

"With the falling cost of hardware, schools are looking to families to equip kids with their own computers - the idea of BYOD [bring your own device to class].

"This has prompted manufacturers to create low-cost entry-level laptops that parents then buy for their children as well as themselves."

Google has pledged not to display ads to children that use the education-related software it provides for its Chrome platform, and does not charge manufactures to use its operating system.

Microsoft's Surface 3 costs more but can be used with a touchscreen pen and run Windows software

But one expert said the company still hoped to financially benefit in the long-term.

"The key goal here for both Google and Microsoft is to put their brand and services out there in front of kids to build loyalty at a very early age," said Ronan de Renesse, a consumer technology expert at the Ovum consultancy.

"It's also a good way to to see whether or not to extend these types of devices to emerging markets, where they could be used outside education by people with very low disposable incomes."

For now, Google says the new Chromebooks and Chromebits will be limited to the US.

"We hope to make these widely available in the future, however we have nothing more to announce at this time," said a spokeswoman.

Stick computers

Chrome OS runs web-based software via the firm's Chrome browser and recently gained the ability to run a limited number of Android apps . The platform is designed to store most of its users' files in the cloud.

More than five million Chromebooks and Chromebase desktops were sold across the world last year, according to market research firm Gartner.

It forecasts that figure will grow to close to eight million units this year, and 16 million in 2018.

The Chromebits will be made by the Taiwanese manufacturer Asus.

Google said they would cost "less than $100" and go on sale before the end of the year.

Intel announced its rival Compute Stick in January

The search firm has already had success with the Chromecast, a media streaming dongle with a similar form factor.

In recent months both Intel and Hannspree have launched Windows-powered "PC-on-a-sticks", albeit at a slightly higher cost.

Such devices require their owners to provide displays, keyboards and other peripherals, but the idea is that many people will already own them.

"People seem to love the idea of having a working computer on something no bigger than a dongle that lets them do web browsing, media streaming and other tasks on a big screen, but can be out of sight, out of mind when needed," said Mr Green.

Great expectations

The two new laptops have already gone on sale.

The Asus Chromebook Flip will also go on sale shortly

The Haier Chromebook 11 is exclusive to Amazon while the Hisense Chromebook is being sold via Walmart.com.

Both feature an 11.6in (29.5cm) screen and between 8.5 to 10 hours of battery life, but keep their costs low by restricting themselves to 16 gigabytes of storage and 2GB of RAM.

Google also announced a slightly higher priced model, the Asus Chromebook Flip, whose touchscreen can be turned around. It will cost $249 when it goes on sale.

"The [ultra low-cost] sector is still a relatively small part of the entire PC market, but is growing fast, so is important," commented Mr de Renesse.

"What's key is to offer some of the lowest prices. But that has to be balanced against the fact that the US is a market with very high consumer expectation, even within schools."

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Obama creates cyber sanctions

US President Barack Obama has ordered the creation of a programme that would allow the government to sanction foreign hackers.

The US Treasury will now be able to target those attempting cyber attacks on US assets and infrastructure.

Mr Obama said cyber-threats are "one of the most serious economic and national security challenges" that the US faces.

The White House did not announce any new sanctions, only the authority to impose them when it deems necessary.

In January, the US imposed new sanctions on North Korea in response to a cyber-attack against Sony Pictures.

The new programme is the product of an executive order issued by the president on Wednesday.

The authorisation gives the US Treasury Secretary - in coordination with the Attorney General and Secretary of State - the ability to sanction "individuals or entities" that pose a cyber threat to the "national security, foreign policy, or economic health or financial stability of the United States," Mr Obama said in a statement issued by the White House.

A masked hacker, part of the Anonymous group, hacks the French presidential Elysee Palace website in 2012.

Mr Obama created the new authorisations because of the "unusual and extraordinary threat" from cyber-attacks that the US faces from beyond its borders, the White House said.

"Today's Executive Order allows us to expose and financially isolate those who hide in the shadows of the Internet to conduct malicious cyber activities," US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said.

Officials at the White House and the Treasury Department stress that the tool will not be used to target free speech on the internet or to curtail digital innovation.

They also say that this new authority will not replace traditional law enforcement responses to cyber threats. Instead, it is another tool for combating the threats when they originate from places with weak cyber security laws, or that have otherwise eluded traditional responses.

Mr Obama's Special Assistant and Cyber Security Coordinator Michael Daniel said the tool is "not one that we are expecting to use every day, in most cases our diplomatic and law enforcements tools will be the ones we turn to first."

US officials are particularly concerned with cyber threats originating from China and a select few other countries, that they say are capable of mounting large-scale cyber attacks. They fear that these attacks could shut down the electrical grid or other critical systems.

In recent years, several major US retailers have been victims of data breaches that compromised the financial data of customers.

In December, Sony Pictures was initially forced to pull its comedy The Interview from theatres after hackers released the personal data of its employees and embarrassing emails written by executives. The hackers also threatened violence at cinemas. Sony eventually decided to release the film in theatres and online.

The White House blamed North Korea for the attacks on the movie studio and later imposed sanctions on the reclusive country.

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China cracks down on explicit anime

Officials complained about Blood-C featuring a scene in which blood appeared to "spurt" into the lens

Some of China's biggest video streaming sites have been warned that they face punishment after failing to remove explicit Japanese cartoon video clips.

China's Ministry of Culture said the firms had hosted anime that glorified violence and terrorism, and contained "vulgar" erotic elements.

Net firms Baidu, Tencent and Youku were among those named as offenders.

The announcement coincides with the introduction of wider restrictions on the use of foreign online clips.

China's Ministry of Culture announced plans to punish the firms, at a news conference

Streaming sites now require publication licences to be able to add other countries' TV series and movies, which will be judged by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) on an individual basis. Unregistered clips must also be removed.

The official news agency Xinhua has noted that local TV stations rarely screen imported series because they are supposed to favour domestic productions.

Three specific examples of indecent anime cartoons are mentioned in a statement posted to the Ministry of Culture's website:

High School of the Dead was accused of being too sexually suggestive

• Blood-C, a series about a sword-wielding teenage girl who fights monsters in her town. It is accused of containing a "particularly bloody" beheading scene that would cause "extreme discomfort"
• Terror in Resonance, a series involving two teenagers who carry out a terrorist attack with a nuclear weapon. Officials said this glorified violence and criminal activities
• High School of the Dead, a show about a group of students struggling to survive in a world overtaken by zombies. The programme, which was given a certificate 15 when released in the UK, is accused of being borderline-pornographic

The ministry noted that 12 offending clips on Todou alone had attracted more than one million hits.

The firms involved have been told they will learn what penalties they face at a later stage.

Officials also announced plans to issue a "blacklist" of banned content to help the firms meet their obligations.

The move was attacked by an editorial published on Shenzhen-based news site Qianzhan.com, which questioned why adult-themed content could not be restricted to the over-18s, as is the case in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Beijing is engaged in wider efforts to restrict what foreign online content its citizens can access, via the use of a system known as the Great Firewall of China.

But one expert suggested the fact anime had been singled out for criticism, might feed into specific concerns about the spread of that genre.

"The sexualisation of child-like women may be a legitimate concern to the Chinese government," said Professor Leslie Young from the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business.

Another academic, however, said it signalled that the government was becoming more restrictive.

"Most websites and publications have a pretty good idea of what they can get away with," said Prof Karl Gerth, who holds a chair in Chinese studies at the University California, San Diego.

"And, for the past few years, they have internalised the more restrictive preferences of the new Xi Jinping regime.

"For this to break out in the open suggests the leeway to publish online or in print 'controversial' material of all sorts continues to narrow."

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Google drops Chinese net regulator

Google Chrome users will see a warning when visiting certain Chinese sites

A Chinese internet regulator has hit out at Google for no longer accepting its security certificates.

When browsing the internet, certificates are designed to ensure the communication between a computer and web server is secure.

Google said it would no longer accept certificates issued by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) following a security lapse.

The CNNIC said Google's decision was "unacceptable and unintelligible".

The CNNIC is responsible for providing certificates for websites with .cn domain names, as well as Chinese-language domains - including banks and government sites.

It means users of Google's Chrome browser will see a warning notice when trying to access sites with CNNIC certificates.

It will state that the website the user is attempting to access may be unsecure.

Vulnerable

Google discovered last month that unauthorised security certificates were issued to several of its own domains.

After an investigation, conducted with the help of the CNNIC, it became clear that there was a problem with MCS Holdings, a Cairo-based firm contracted by the CNNIC to provide certificates.

Security certificates are supposed to ensure that communication between users and websites is safe

Google said domains with security certificates issued by MCS Holdings were vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks - a method of hacking that involves intercepting communications between, for example, a person's computer and a web server.

MCS Holdings has said the problem was an accident and was due to human error.

While Google welcomed the CNNIC's help with the investigation, it said the regulator had "delegated their substantial authority to an organisation that was not fit to hold it".

As a result, Google has decided to no longer trust domains with certificates issued by, or on behalf of, the CNNIC.

Grace period

Users will be presented with a warning screen before being asked if they want to proceed to the "unsecure" site.

However, there will be some exceptions.

Google has offered a grace period to some major CNNIC-approved sites - such as banks - so they can obtain certificates from a different issuing authority.

The search giant said the CNNIC was welcome to reapply for trusted status "once suitable technical and procedural controls are in place".

But in a statement posted on Thursday, the regulator expressed anger, saying: "The decision that Google has made is unacceptable and unintelligible.

"CNNIC sincerely urge that Google would take users' rights and interests into full consideration."

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