Hot HP Chromebook 11 taken off sale

14 November 2013 Last updated at 06:22 ET

All HP Chromebook 11 laptops have been removed from sale following reports the devices' chargers had been overheating.

The decision to halt sales came from HP and Google after owners complained about broken chargers.

The two companies have also issued advice to existing owners telling them not to use the charger that came in the box with the computer.

Instead, they said, owners should use third-party chargers to keep the gadget going.

US reports suggest the machines have been taken off shelves at retailer Best Buy and the gadget can no longer be found in the Google, HP and Amazon online stores.

In a joint statement, Google and HP said they had received a "small number" of reports from users saying their original charger had been damaged by overheating.

The companies said they were now looking into the problem to see what was making the chargers overheat. They apologised to customers for the inconvenience caused by the faulty chargers and added that more information would follow shortly.

The statement said that micro-USB chargers that work with other tablets and smartphones should be used instead of the bundled charger. Technology news site Ars Technica noted that this advice would mean that Chromebooks took much longer to charge than they would with the original charger.

HP's Chromebook 11 was released in early October 2013 and cost about £230 in the UK.

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McAfee faces legal action over death

14 November 2013 Last updated at 07:28 ET

Anti-virus software pioneer John McAfee is being sued by the family of Gregory Faull, his neighbour in Belize who was found shot dead last November.

The legal action alleges Mr McAfee either committed the murder himself or ordered the killing.

Mr McAfee went on the run after the death, but said he had "no connection whatsoever" with the killing.

Belize has classed him as a "person of interest" but has never named him an official murder suspect.

Two of Mr McAfee's former girlfriends are also named in the action as "possible agents" in Mr Faull's death.

Gary Roberts, a Florida-based lawyer acting on behalf of Mr Faull's daughter, is seeking a jury trial and more than $75,000 (£46,800) in damages from the "wrongful death lawsuit".

Mr McAfee said that he had not received the legal papers yet, but would not fight a subpoena to give out-of-court testimony ahead of a possible trial.

"Would I answer questions in a deposition relative to the murder? Of course, absolutely. That's the requirement of law," he told the BBC.

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John McAfee spoke to BBC reporter Leo Kelion last month

But he added that he planned to file a counter-claim for defamation of character and personal injury.

"Why would they wait until I started a new company and have had all the press for the past month-and- a-half?" he asked.

"When I came back from Belize there was a great to do about the fact that I everything I owned I had left in Belize and that I was virtually broke.

"Recently I have stated that I now have money and am funding the development of a new company, and that I don't even need venture capital funds."

Dead dogs

Mr Faull, an Orlando sports bar owner, had moved to live in his Belize holiday home on the Caribbean island of Ambergris Caye following his divorce.

He was found face-up with a bullet in his head by his housekeeper on 11 November 2012.

The previous month he had filed a complaint with the local mayor against Mr McAfee, alleging that the entrepreneur's dogs were "causing an unsafe environment for residents and tourists alike" and that his neighbour's security guards were also scaring people.

In the days following the filing, Mr McAfee found two dogs, which belonged to one of his girlfriends, poisoned, forcing him to put them down.

However, Mr McAfee has said he was not aware at the time of Mr Faull's complaint and had not suspected him of being the person responsible for feeding the animals a contaminated tortilla.

"I barely knew Gregory Faull," he told the BBC in an interview last month.

"The entire five years I was there, I'd said maybe 15 words to him.

"He did not like my dogs and the past two occasions I had seen him walking on the beach he complained. But so did everybody.

"There was no ongoing argument. Yeah, he was mad about my dogs. Maybe as I'm beginning to think now, maybe he was the one who poisoned them. At the time I certainly did not believe that."

Mr McAfee added that he went into hiding, eventually crossing the border illegally into Guatemala, not because he had been linked to the murder, but because he feared the Belizean authorities would take advantage of the case to keep him "in jail forever" since he had repeatedly accused them of corruption.

Mc McAfee - who has now returned to the US and lives in in Portland, Oregon - offered a $25,000 reward last December for information that could lead to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for Mr Faull's murder.

This was dismissed as a "hollow gesture" by the family.

"While continuing to grieve, the Faull family intends to pursue all possible avenues to ensure the individual or individuals responsible for the death of Gregory Faull are brought to justice," said Mr Roberts in a statement released to the Orlando Sentinel newspaper.

"They are confident that with the tools available in civil discovery cases in the US Federal Courts and with the information obtained in the criminal investigation in Belize, the true facts will come to light as to how and by whom Gregory met his end.

"In this manner justice can be served in both the criminal court in Belize and the civil court in the US."

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Google wins copyright court case

14 November 2013 Last updated at 11:19 ET

Google has defeated a legal action mounted to stop it scanning and uploading millions of books.

In 2005, the US Authors Guild sued Google alleging that its plans to create a digital library amounted to massive copyright infringement.

In its defence, Google said its plans constituted "fair use" because it was only putting excerpts of texts online.

US judge Denny Chin has now sided with Google and dismissed the case brought by the Guild.

Long fight

Judge Chin accepted Google's argument that its scanning project was "fair use" adding that the project provides "significant public benefits".

The decision could be a significant milestone for the long-running legal battle between Google, the Authors Guild and US publishers. Both the publishers and authors started legal action over the scanning project in 2005.

Initially, authors and publishers negotiated with Google together. This led to a settlement agreement in 2008 that would have involved Google paying $125m (£78m) into a fund that would be used to compensate the writers of copyrighted works that appeared in the online library. The agreement also placed restrictions on how much of a book Google could make searchable.

In March 2011, the settlement agreement was thrown out by a US court which said it gave Google a "de facto monopoly" to copy books.

This led US publishers to negotiate separately and they reached an agreement with Google in October 2012. Financial terms of that deal have not been released.

The latest decision denies the copyright claim brought by US authors. Neither Google nor the Authors Guild have commented on the decision.

In April 2013, Google said it had scanned more than 30 million works ready for inclusion in its digital library.

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Microsoft in talks to name Bernabeu

7 November 2013 Last updated at 07:26 ET

Microsoft has confirmed it is in talks with the Spanish football club Real Madrid to acquire naming rights to its Bernabeu Stadium.

The 85,454-seat venue is currently named after its former president Santiago Bernabeu.

Speaking on Spanish television, the president of Microsoft in Spain said discussions were at an early stage.

"They've raised... renaming the stadium and we're only talking about this possibility," said Maria Garana.

Online reaction to the news included possible new names for the stadium.

"At most the stadium will be called the Microsoft Estadio Santiago Bernabeu," said one forum member.

"The Gates Ground?" was a suggestion on Twitter by @HuffPostUK, in a nod to the company's founder, Bill Gates.

Others wondered whether Microsoft would use the opportunity to promote its products.

"Will it be called the Surface and feature players like Cristiano RonalDOS?" tweeted @tomwarren from technology news website The Verge.

The Surface is Microsoft's tablet computer and DOS was one of the company's former computer operating systems.

Upset fans

The announcement was not well received by all fans of the club.

"I'm a Real Madrid fan, I hate Microsoft forever if they touch anything related to Madrid," said Haidi Farnoud.

If Microsoft are successful in obtaining the naming rights, they will join a group of several other companies whose names are linked to stadiums.

In the English Premier League, the airline Emirates has a tie-in with Arsenal, while Etihad sponsors Manchester City's ground. The German club Bayern Munich play their home matches in the Allianz Arena after signing a 30-year deal with the financial services company.

But not all stadium renaming deals have been successful. When Newcastle United changed the name of their ground from St James' Park to the Sports Direct Arena in November 2011, the local council refused to use the new name on official street signs.

At the time, the council said the decision to change the name would "upset the overwhelming majority of fans".

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Twitter shares priced at $26 each

7 November 2013 Last updated at 05:39 ET

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Newsnight's David Grossman looks at the friends who started Twitter

Twitter shares have been priced at $26 each, ahead of its debut on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) later.

That is above the $23 to $25 range announced on Monday and values the short messaging service at more than $18bn (£11bn).

That makes it the biggest market debut for a technology firm since Facebook went public in May 2012.

Twitter has attracted 230 million users since starting seven years ago, but is yet to make a profit.

Its losses for the third quarter of 2013 increased to $64.6m, from $21.6m a year earlier and a recent poll by Reuters/Ipsos showed that more than a third of registered users do not use the service at all.

'Sweet spots'

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Just as Google, Amazon and Facebook have become Internet utilities, so too may Twitter"

End Quote Mark Mahaney RBC Capital Markets

Nevertheless there was strong demand for the shares and the company was able to raise the offering price twice.

Some analysts said that investors were excited by Twitter's potential for growth.

"Investors see social media and mobile as sweet spots and it is therefore no surprise that Twitter's IPO is creating so much excitement and is oversubscribed," said Eden Zoller of consulting firm Ovum.

However, she added that "Twitter needs to step up and deliver on the expectations that are fuelling its valuation, and show that it has what it takes to provide a sustainable business model".

The firm has posted an increase in its sales, which more than doubled in third quarter to $168.6m, and it is looking to raise even more revenue from advertisers outside the United States.

Mark Mahaney at RBC Capital Markets said that he expected the firm's shares to rise after listing.

"Just as Google, Amazon and Facebook have become Internet utilities, so too may Twitter," he said.

"As a public, real-time, conversational and distributed platform, Twitter is becoming an essential service for consumers, businesses, media companies, and advertiser."

But the share sale has stoked controversy among those concerned that high-profile internet companies are attracting big investment despite being unprofitable.

Speaking on the eve of the Twitter flotation, Mary Jo White, the chairwoman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), questioned whether investors were reading too much significance into the vast numbers of users quoted by companies.

Rich men

She did not mention Twitter by name, but said: "In the absence of a clear description, it can be hard not to think that these big numbers will inevitably translate into big profits for the company. But the connection may not necessarily be there," she said in a speech.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

MySpace is a constant reminder that a high and mighty service can lose its lustre. However, the lessons of MySpace were not lost on Facebook and Twitter"

End Quote Larry Magid CBS technology analyst

"What if only a fraction of those users are paying customers? What does that mean for future financial results? What if the bulk of the growth in the number of users is in an area where the company has not yet figured out how to turn those users into paying customers? What does that then say about the meaning of user growth rates?"

In the short-term however, Twitter's IPO is likely to make its founders very rich.

Twitter's $18bn valuation includes the value of shares in compensation schemes for employees and other share awards.

Co-founder Evan Williams is the biggest shareholder in the firm with a stake of more than 10% worth more than a billion dollars.

Another of the founders, Jack Dorsey, will also become a very rich man. His 4% stake is worth more than half a billion dollars.

Biz Stone, another co-founder, is thought to have made millions by selling holdings over the last few years.

But Noah Glass, also one of the originals, is believed to have made very little from the company's success.

Twitter is selling 70 million shares, which will raise $1.82bn, for the company.

Unlike Facebook, Twitter has chosen to trade its shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

Facebook's debut on the Nasdaq - traditionally the market of choice for technology firms - was marred by delays and problems with orders.

The NYSE has already tested trading of Twitter's shares to try to avoid any technical hitches.

The shares will trade under the symbol "TWTR".

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Vodafone fails on 3G mobile coverage

7 November 2013 Last updated at 07:55 ET

Mobile firm Vodafone has been rapped by regulator Ofcom for failure to meet its coverage obligations.

When 3G mobile spectrum licences were awarded in 2000, they included an obligation to roll services out to 80% of the population. In 2010 this was increased to 90%.

EE, Three and O2 are deemed to have successfully met this obligation.

But Vodafone falls short by 1.4%. It has promised to rectify this by the end of 2013.

It will involve rolling out 3G to more mobile masts than it had originally intended.

"Ofcom is fully aware of our plans to ensure compliance by the end of this year," the firm said in a statement.

"Our network investment stands at more than £900m this year alone and we remain on track to deliver indoor coverage across 2G, 3G and 4G to 98% of the population by 2015, two years ahead of the regulator's deadline," it added.

Ofcom will monitor its progress and reassess its 3G coverage in January 2014.

Improved services

Mobile coverage is a huge bugbear for consumers and one that Ofcom is determined to prioritise.

Recently it produced a report suggesting that mobile coverage on Britain's roads was poor. Next year it will report on the mobile coverage on the country's railways.

Matthew Howett, an analyst with research firm Ovum thinks that it will be little hardship for Vodafone to comply.

"I don't see it being very much of an issue for them to catch up and quite probably it will happen before the end of the year,"

Customers can take heart from the current 4G rollouts, he said.

"4G coverage will be better and much more likely to be complied with given the spectrum at 800MHz travels further distances and penetrates buildings well."

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Build-your-own toy robots unveiled

6 November 2013 Last updated at 21:32 ET

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The modular robots need no wires and can be controlled remotely by smartphone or tablet (Video courtesy of Modular Robotics)

A US company has unveiled build-your-own toy robots that can drive, wiggle and react to the world around them.

The modular system, called Moss, uses magnetic balls as joints and hinges, has no external wires, and works without the user having to write any computer code.

By attaching a Bluetooth module, players can control the robots remotely using a smartphone or tablet.

The system has been developed by Modular Robotics in Boulder, Colorado.

The company launched the toys on crowdfunding website Kickstarter.

But chief executive and design director Eric Schweikardt told the BBC: "We're already making Moss so we don't need the Kickstarter funding. But in 2013, it seems like the place where people look for cool new tech products."

The final version of the robot kits would "begin shipping in January or February", he said.

"We're at the very beginning of an exciting time for consumer robotics."

Hod Lipson, professor of engineering at Cornell University, New York State, said: "Modular robotics have been around for decades, and we've always believed they could be cheap, robust and versatile. In practice, they've proved to be expensive and fragile.

"Modular Robotics is one of the first companies putting in the effort to mass-produce these things."

He believes such toys could help make robotics accessible to young children and interest them in engineering from a young age.

Although he used to teach Mr Schweikardt, Prof Lipson stressed that he had no financial interest in the company.

In October, scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology showed off cube-shaped robots that can flip, jump and assemble themselves into different shapes.

The small robots, known as M-Blocks, have no external parts but can move using an internal flywheel mechanism and stick together using magnets.

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Dyson Award for wearable robotic arm

6 November 2013 Last updated at 23:11 ET By Matthew Wall and Carolyn Rice BBC Technology News

A battery-powered robotic arm that boosts human strength has won the 2013 James Dyson award.

The Titan Arm, designed by four mechanical engineering students from the University of Pennsylvania, could help people with back injuries rebuild and regain control of muscles.

It can also be used by people to lift heavy objects as part of their work.

The team, who spent eight months creating the exoskeleton, will share a prize of £30,000 ($48,000).

"Titan Arm is obviously an ingenious design, but the team's use of modern, rapid - and relatively inexpensive - manufacturing techniques makes the project even more compelling," said Sir James Dyson.

"We are ecstatic," team member Nick Parrotta told the BBC. "It was totally unexpected - just incredible."

'Inexpensive aluminium'

The team produced its prototype for £1,200, which they say is a 50th of the typical cost of similar exoskeletons currently on the market.

"We wanted Titan Arm to be affordable, as exoskeletons are rarely covered by health insurance," said Mr Parrotta, 23, currently studying for a masters in mechanical engineering.

"This informed our design decisions and the materials we used. Most structural components are machined from inexpensive aluminium."

Academic and commercial interest in wearable robotics is growing according to Conor Walsh, Professor of of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

But costs will have to continue falling if robotics are to feature more often in daily life, he said.

"Reducing cost will be critical for commercial systems, however the total cost is not just the cost of the hardware but also the added cost associated with research and development, quality assurance and regulatory compliance."

The Titan arm incorporates a rigid back brace to maintain posture, a shoulder featuring rotational joints, and sensors that can track motion and relay data back to doctors for remote prognosis.

It can augment human weight-lifting strength by 40lbs (18kg), say the inventors, while the batteries can last for up to eight hours, depending on intensity of usage and workload.

Electrical signals

The current prototype is operated by a separate joystick, but future versions may incorporate electromyography technology, said Mr Parrotta, which picks up electrical signals produced by muscle tissue, thus allowing users to operate such prosthetics almost without thinking.

All of the inventors who took part in the competition used 3D-printing to develop and produce their prototypes much more cheaply than would have been possible before.

"Prototyping technology, previously reserved only for companies with big research and development budgets, is enabling young inventors to develop sophisticated concepts at university," said Sir James.

"They can revitalise industries on a small budget - it is a good time to be an inventor."

The second prize went to a Japanese team who created Handie, a prosthetic hand with sensors that can read brain signals.

A 3D-printed plastic cast for broken limbs, invented by a team from New Zealand, took the third prize.

The James Dyson Foundation runs the annual award across 18 countries with the aim of encouraging problem-solving inventions.

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Fire hits Internet Archive building

7 November 2013 Last updated at 06:00 ET

The non-profit organisation behind the Internet Archive has made a plea for donations following a fire at its building in San Francisco.

The group runs the popular Wayback Machine, an archive of 364 billion web pages, designed to show people what sites looked like in years gone by.

No data was lost, a spokesman said, but the damage was estimated at $600,000 (£373,000).

He said: "It is in difficult times like these that we turn to our community."

On the group's blog, founder Brewster Kahle wrote: "This episode has reminded us that digitising and making copies are good strategies for both access and preservation.

"We have copies of the data in the Internet Archive in multiple locations, so even if our main building had been involved in the fire we still would not have lost the amazing content we have all worked so hard to collect."

However, the fire did cause the loss of some materials that were being prepared for digitisation - the full extent of which is still being assessed.

'The web's backup'

The Internet Archive was founded in 1996 with the intent to store the world's digital content, such as web pages, music, moving images and e-books.

In October last year, the group announced that it had stored more than 10 petabytes - 10 million gigabytes - of information.

As well as the Wayback Machine, the group also runs other archiving schemes - such as TV Search and Borrow, a collection of US national news programmes that can be obtained, for free, on DVD.

The Internet Archive system was praised recently for allowing access to US government websites that were knocked offline thanks to the federal government shut-down last month.

Thanks to the fire, the scanning centre in San Francisco will need to be either heavily repaired or rebuilt, Mr Kahle said.

In the meantime, as well as donations, the group is seeking help in setting up scanning operations in different locations.

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Tech giants offer net bug rewards

7 November 2013 Last updated at 06:39 ET

Rivals Microsoft, Google and Facebook have joined forces to offers bounties to "friendly hackers" who can hunt down web bugs.

The tech giants have put their differences aside in pursuit of a "safer internet".

Dubbed Hackerone, the bug bounty programme offers cash rewards between $300 (£186) and $5,000 (£3,110) for discovering security holes.

The size of the reward will be determined by a panel of employees.

It may go higher if the discovery is deemed important enough.

Anyone is eligible to enter the competition, except those from countries with which the US has trade restrictions, such as Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria.

Children are also welcome to join in although they will need to claim their bounties from their parents.

The bounties will be paid by Microsoft and Facebook with Google supplying a member of staff to sit on the panel.

The team has suggested areas that people may want to look at.

It includes some of the key pieces of software that make the web work as well as offering a category simply labelled "the internet", which comes with a minimum bounty of $5,000.

Image flaw

Tech firms are stepping up efforts to battle hackers and ensure the internet is safer.

Microsoft has its own independent bounty programme and it recently raised the prize fund to $100,000.

The need for such bounty hunters was illustrated as Microsoft announced on the same day that a brand new security hole in Windows could allow criminals to get control of users computers via malware-injected image files.

The flaw means that anyone opening a malware-filled TIFF image could find malicious code installed on their computer without them knowing.

The bug is a so-called zero-day vulnerability, which means that it was not known about until real-life instances of attacks became apparent.

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