41113575
submission
Dupple writes:
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is sticking with a decision to make it harder to track users’ online behavior, earning plaudits from privacy groups while drawing fire from the advertisers its money-losing Web unit needs most.
After months of criticism that the new tools cut off valuable customer-targeting information, the software maker has no plans to change the automatic setting in its newest Internet Explorer browser that tells websites not to track user behavior, General Counsel Brad Smith said in an interview.
“We crossed the Rubicon and are completely comfortable being on the other side of the river,” he said. “We have no intention of going back and have no intention of engaging in discussion on that possibility.” Smith will provide an update on the company’s position today in a blog posting.
Association of National Advertisers President and CEO Bob Liodice said his group opposes the decision to turn on the signal by default, even after Microsoft made some changes that make the setting clearer to users.
41043523
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Dupple writes:
As always with such deals the details regarding the agreement are scarce but MS has got another Android patent deal.
Microsoft and Hoeft & Wessel AG have signed a patent licensing agreement that provides broad coverage under Microsoft's patent portfolio for Hoeft & Wessel devices running the Android platform.
While the contents of the agreement have not been disclosed, the parties indicate that Microsoft will receive royalties from Hoeft & Wessel.
"This agreement with Hoeft & Wessel is another example of how industry leaders address intellectual property," said Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of the Intellectual Property Group at Microsoft. "We are proud of the continued success of our licensing program in resolving IP issues surrounding the Android platform in a variety of industries."
Hoeft & Wessel builds and sells Android-powered handheld devices and terminals for the public transportation, logistics and retail industries across Europe
41042161
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Dupple writes:
There's a two page article over on IT World detailing the new European patent system
Parliament adopted all three proposed regulations needed to form the new patent system on Tuesday: the regulation on a Unitary Patent, the language regime and the formation of a new unified patent court system.
Not all European Union member states want a part in the new system: Italy and Spain refused to participate, although they may join at any time. The new system will cut the cost of obtaining a patent in the participating countries by up to 80 percent, the Parliament said. The patents will be made available in English, French and German and applications will have to be made in one of those three languages.
Not everyone was pleased with the newly adopted regulation though. MEPs opposing the adopted text are concerned the new system is going to be bad for innovation and business, and by voting for the text, the Parliament is giving away powers, they said.
The new regulation "means the European Parliament will abdicate all its political powers to an organization ... that is outside of the E.U.," said Christian Engström, Pirate Party member of parliament, adding that he still wanted a European patent as long as it did not hamper innovation as he believes the proposal in its current form does.
40827137
submission
Dupple writes:
Following on from apple to bring mac manufacturing to the USA.
Foxconn have said that would be bringing over American engineers to train them before to returning them to the plant in the US.
“We are looking at doing more manufacturing in the U.S. because, in general, customers want more to be done there,” Louis Woo, a Foxconn spokesman, said in a phone interview. He declined to comment on individual clients or specific plans.
“Supply chain is one of the big challenges for U.S. expansion,” Woo said. “In addition, any manufacturing we take back to the U.S. needs to leverage high-value engineering talent there in comparison to the low-cost labor of China.”
Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou, who founded the maker of iPhones, iPads, PlayStations and televisions in Taipei 38 years ago, wants to bring U.S. engineers to Asia to train them in manufacturing before deploying them back home, he said at a forum last month..
40821449
submission
Dupple writes:
In an exclusive interview with Brian Williams airing tonight at 10pm/9c on NBC’s “Rock Center,” Apple CEO Tim Cook announced one of the existing Mac lines will be manufactured exclusively in the United States next year. Mac fans will have to wait to see which Mac line it will be because Apple, widely known for its secrecy, left it vague. Cook's announcement may or may not confirm recent rumors in the blogosphere sparked by iMacs inscribed in the back with “Assembled in USA.”
40812191
submission
Dupple writes:
"If you look at how highly cratered the Moon is — the Earth used to look like that; parts of Mars still do look like that," explained Prof Maria Zuber, Grail's principal investigator from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US.
"This period of time when all these impacts where occurring — this was the time when the first microbes were developing.
"We had some idea from the chemistry [of ancient rocks] that Earth was a violent place early on, but now we now know it was an extremely difficult place energetically as well, and it shows just how tenacious life had to be to hang on," she told BBC News.
Prof Zuber was speaking in San Francisco at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, the world's largest annual gathering for Earth and planetary scientists..
40466015
submission
Dupple writes:
Printers manufactured by Samsung have a backdoor administrator account hard coded in their firmware that could enable attackers to change their configuration, read their network information or stored credentials and access sensitive information passed to them by users.
The hardcoded account does not require authentication and can be accessed over the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) interface of the affected printers, the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) said in a security advisory.
SNMP is an Internet protocol commonly used to monitor and read statistics from network-attached devices.
The SNMP account found in Samsung printers has full read and write permissions and remains accessible even if SNMP is disabled using the printer's management utility, US-CERT said.
40460457
submission
Dupple writes:
The UK company developing an engine for a new type of spaceplane says it has successfully demonstrated the power unit's enabling technology.
Reaction Engines Ltd (REL) of Culham, Oxfordshire, ran a series of tests on key elements of its Sabre propulsion system under the independent eye of the European Space Agency (Esa).
Esa's experts have confirmed that all the demonstration objectives. were met.
REL claims the major technical obstacle to its ideas has now been removed.
"This is a big moment; it really is quite a big step forward in propulsion," said Alan Bond, the driving force behind the Sabre engine concept..
Taking its oxygen from the air in the initial flight phase would mean Skylon could fly lighter from the outset with a higher thrust-to-weight ratio, enabling it to make a single leap to orbit, rather than using and dumping propellant stages on the ascent — as is the case with current expendable rockets.
If such a vehicle could be made to work, its reusability should transform the costs of accessing space.
40430955
submission
Dupple writes:
But only for Motorola phones, not Android as whole
Under the settlement and license agreement, Immersion is receiving compensation for prior shipments of Motorola devices containing Basic Haptics technology, the parties have agreed to a license relating to future shipments of Motorola devices with Basic Haptics, and have resolved certain issues with respect to Google-branded smartphones containing Basic Haptics. The agreement does not extend to other manufacturers’ handsets. that use the Android operating system. As a result of the settlement, Immersion will dismiss all pending litigation between it and Motorola.
40426223
submission
Dupple writes:
When a cellphone is reported stolen in New York, the Police Department routinely subpoenas the phone’s call records, from the day of the theft onward. The logic is simple: If a thief uses the phone, a list of incoming and outgoing calls could lead to the suspect.
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But in the process, the Police Department has quietly amassed a trove of telephone logs, all obtained without a court order, that could conceivably be used for any investigative purpose.
The call records from the stolen cellphones are integrated into a database known as the Enterprise Case Management System, according to Police Department documents from the detective bureau. Each phone number is hyperlinked., enabling detectives to cross-reference it against phone numbers in other files.
40387489
submission
Dupple writes:
Amid rising tensions in one of the world's most volatile regions, an audacious project to use science for diplomacy is taking shape in the heart of the Middle East.
In this land of ancient hatreds, a highly sophisticated scientific installation is being built in Jordan.
It has support from countries that are usually openly hostile to each other.
The plan is for a multi-million-pound synchrotron particle accelerator, known as Sesame.
40387025
submission
Dupple writes:
We conducted an audit over a four-week period in September of 105 suppliers that manufacture Samsung products in China, covering more than 65,000 employees.
The Samsung audit team, comprising 121 trained and certified employees, undertook this urgent and broad-scale action to ensure our suppliers in China are compliant with applicable labor laws and Samsung’s Supplier Code of Conduct.
Samsung did not identify any instance of child labor during the audits after reviewing HR records of all workers aged below 18 and conducting face-to-face ID checks. However, the audit identified several instances of inadequate practices at the facilities, including overtime hours in excess of local regulations, management of supplier companies holding copies of labor contracts, and the imposition of a system of fines for lateness or absences.
Further coverage is on the the BBC here
40304697
submission
Dupple writes:
Amateur Photographer is claiming an exclusive withe the news that Nokias imaging boss is leaving the company.
Nokia imaging guru Damian Dinning, who is considered the driving force behind the firm’s smartphone camera technology, has left the Finland-based company, Amateur Photographer (AP) can reveal.
In a statement released to AP, Nokia UK said: ‘Following the relocation of key strategic roles to Finland, and with great reluctance, Damian Dinning has made a personal decision to leave the company effective 30 November 2012.'
40292815
submission
Dupple writes:
A review of a report regarding the role of over 230 citizen scientists and their value to research, policy and practice is available the BBC science pages.
The authors, from Nerc Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) and the Natural History Museum, London, reviewed 234 projects — ranging from small one-off local surveys to large-scale long-term programmes.
The review's authors also produced a guide offering advice on how to get the most out of citizen science projects.
The guide is available here.
40221697
submission
Dupple writes:
Following on from a world bank report of 4 degree C warmer world, comes this story from the BBC
The effects of climate change are already evident in Europe and the situation is set to get worse, the European Environment Agency has warned.
"Every indicator we have in terms of giving us an early warning of climate change and increasing vulnerability is giving us a very strong signal," observed EEA executive director Jacqueline McGlade.
