"HAPPY NEW YEAR to EVERY ONE"

                                 

As the New Year dawns, I hope it is filled with the promises of a brighter tomorrow.
Happy New Year!

Apple introduces 14-day return on iTunes, scaring coders and musicians!

Apple’s iTunes will now offer a refund, no questions asked, for 14 days after purchase, leading to worries that unscrupulous users might scam the store

European users of Apple’s iTunes stores can now “return” goods without giving a reason for up to 14 days after purchase, bringing the company in line with European regulations and offering the prospect of de facto “trial periods” on the app store for the first time.

The feature, launched without fanfare, appears to be Apple’s attempt to comply with EU guidelines from June mandating online sellers to offer a “right of withdrawal” from distance sales. Those regulations stipulate that customers may withdraw from an off-premises contract with 14 days of purchase without giving any reason.

Accordingly, the iTunes terms and conditions have now been updated to include a “Right of cancellation”. The company tells users that “if you choose to cancel your order, you may do so within 14 days from when you received your receipt without giving any reason, except iTunes Gifts which cannot be refunded once you have redeemed the code.” 

Previously, users were able to request a refund for content which had failed to download, but even those were granted on a case-by-case basis. For any content which had actually downloaded, Apple reserved the right to reject refund applications – as it still does outside the EU.

Apple appears to have gone further than European regulations demand, however. The regulations allow companies to refuse the right of withdrawal once the “performance” of digital content has begun – in other words, once a user has listened to a song or used an App. Apple, on the other hand, appears to be honouring refund requests, even for software which has been used within the 14 day period.

That has led many developers, particularly those who make single-use or short-term apps, to worry that they may see an increase in returns, as people “rent” their applications for no cost.

— Jaden Geller (@JadenGeller)December 30, 2014

I guess you could argue that the App Store is a monopoly on iOS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but a 14 day return window is bullshit for developers

For example, ReadWrite’s Adriana Lee suggests that “you can keep your visiting brother out of your hair with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and then ask for the $6.99 back after he leaves in a week. No questions asked. It would be the equivalent of buying a DVD, watching the movie, and then returning it—something most retail stores don’t allow.”

What’s more, while apps on the app store are protected by “digital rights management” (DRM), letting Apple potentially revoke any download which it refunds, music sales are entirely DRM-free, meaning that unscrupulous fans could download the song, request a refund, and keep hold of the song anyway.

Even if fans are honest, music magazine PopJustice has questioned whether the practice might open up new ways to manipulate the charts.

“iTunes’ new rule means Union J – and it probably would be Union J – could put an album on sale on Monday morning,” the mag explains. “Union J’s more ambivalent fans (which seems to be most of them) could buy that album during its first week on sale, knowing that they’ll be able to get their money back. The album would go to Number One on the Sunday.

“The following Monday, Union J’s fans could each get a full refund. What are the Official Charts Company going to do? Recall the previous week’s chart? Union J have a Number One album.”

Next Shares Surge After Xmas Sales Growth

                           

Next has reported it enjoyed strong sales growth in the run-up to Christmas and has now raised its annual profits guidance.

The retailer confirmed it was to pay a fourth special dividend of the year while announcing a 2.9% increase in full price sales between 28 October and Christmas Eve - with total sales for the year to 24 December rising 7.7%.

Next Directory, which incorporates its online and catalogue offerings, drove the performance with sales in the division rising 7.5% in the pre-Christmas period alone.

The company said it now expected its full-year profit guidance "to be within £10m either side of £775m" - a £5m increase on the midpoint range it had expected in October.

Surplus cash would again be returned to investors, Next said, with its fourth special dividend of the year worth 50p per share.

That development and the wider Christmas cheer boosted its shares by as much as 4% in early trading on the FTSE 100 and gave a lift to rival Marks & Spencer too.

Retailers are on track for a record December following the success of Black Friday sales the previous month, but there are signs that cold weather and some stock shortages may have hit high street sales since Boxing Day.

Next warned that it remained "very cautious" about the year ahead.

The firm said the outlook for UK consumers appeared "relatively benign" with low inflation, wages starting to recover, available credit and strong employment painting a "somewhat more positive picture than recent years".

But the group said it faced comparisons with a strong spring and summer in 2014 while uncertainty in the UK and global economy - with a general election looming - presented risks.

It is expecting sales growth for 2015/16 of between 2.5% and 7.5%, compared with the latest expectations for 2014/15 of 6-8%.

Gmail access appears to be blocked in China

Easy access to Google's email service Gmail is now blocked in China, according to reports.

Using Gmail directly via Google's site has been impossible in the country for some time, but locals had still been able to use third-party apps, such as Microsoft Outlook, to use the service.

However, Google's own data indicates such traffic took a nosedive on Friday and has only slightly recovered since.

The US firm said there were no known issues with its provision of Gmail.

"There's nothing technically wrong on our end," Taj Meadows, a spokesman for Google Asia Pacific, told news agency Associated Press.

The digital rights campaign group, GreatFire.org, was one of the first organisations to flag the fact that internet protocol addresses used to let software access Gmail had become inaccessible in China.

"Those protocols are used in the default email app on iPhone, Microsoft Outlook on PC and many more email clients," it said.

"Chinese users now have no way of accessing Gmail behind the GFW [great firewall]."

Google's data suggests there is still, however, a low level of Gmail use in China.

The Wall Street Journal has also reported that some users had reported Gmail access being restored to their mobile devices.

Russia annual inflation jumps to 11.4% as rouble falls

Russia's annual inflation for 2014 will hit about 11.4%, according to initial estimates, driven higher by the plunging value of the rouble.

The currency's falling value has pushed up prices, particularly of food, which rose about 15.4% during the year.

The state statistics service Rosstat said that consumer prices rose 2.6% in December, a month when the rouble suffered some of its steepest falls.

Meanwhile, Russia has intervened to support another bank, Gazprombank.

In 2013, the annual inflation level was 6.5%. The 2014 inflation figure is the highest since Russia's financial crisis in 2008.

Lower oil prices and Western sanctions imposed over Ukraine have driven down the value of the rouble, meaning that the price of many goods - especially imports - have risen.

Rosstat said that the price of non-food products rose by 8.1% during 2014, while service charges went up by 10.5%.

Rosstat is due to publish final inflation data on 12 January.

Russia's economy shrank in November for the first time in five years, and is expected to enter recession in the first quarter of 2015.

China's Xiaomi becomes most valuable tech start-up

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has become the world's most valuable technology start-up just four years after it was founded.

The firm raised $1.1bn (£708m) in its latest round of funding, giving it a valuation of $45bn, which surpassed the $40bn value of taxi booking app Uber.

It has quickly risen to the ranks of the world's biggest smartphone makers, behind Samsung and Apple in sales.

The company is also set to unveil a new flagship device in January.

Xiaomi's investors include private equity funds All-Stars Investment, DST Global, Hopu Investment Management, Yunfeng Capital, and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, said co-founder and president Bin Lin in aFacebook post.

"This is an affirmation of Xiaomi's stellar results in four years, and heralds a new phase for the company," Mr Bin said.

On the fast track

Xiaomi's strategy of producing cheap smartphones has catapulted its growth to overtake giant Samsung this year in sales in the world's second largest economy China.

The company's worth is now more than quadruple the $10bn valuation it received during its last financing round last year.

Its skyrocketing valuation comes despite the intellectual property challenges it faced earlier this month in India, where sales were temporarily halted after Swedish firm Ericsson filed a patent complaint.

The Beijing-based company has set a target of selling 60 million smartphones this year, up from less than 20 million in 2013.

Xbox and PlayStation resuming service after attack

Microsoft and Sony have been working to restore internet platforms for their Xbox and PlayStation games consoles.

Attacks disabled the online services on Christmas Day, making it difficult for users to log on.

The Xbox Live status page suggested on Saturday that Microsoft services had been restored. PlayStation said it was getting to grips with the issue and thanked users for their patience.

A hacking group called Lizard Squad claimed to have caused the problems.

The name is the same used by a group of hackers that has targeted Sony in the past.

Microsoft's Xbox Live has 48 million subscribers and Sony's PlayStation system has more than double that number, at about 110 million users.

In a tweet posted on Saturday morning, PlayStation said: "Update: PS4, PS3, and Vita network services are gradually coming back online - thanks for your patience."

A later statement said: "We are seeing reduced reports of network issues. We'll continue to monitor."

'Member Two'

A hacker claiming to be from Lizard Squad - a 22-year-old calling himself Member Two - said it had hacked the sites "because we can".

He also suggested the motive was to demonstrate weaknesses in the two companies systems.

"It's just such a huge company Microsoft... Do you not think they should be able to prevent such an attack?" he told BBC Radio 5live.

"Is Christmas really about children playing with their new consoles, or playing with their new toys, or is it about them spending time with their families and celebrating Christmas?" he added.

"I think everyone's just taking it all out of the ordinary."

Politician's fingerprint 'cloned from photos' by hacker

A member of the Chaos Computer Club (CCC) hacker network claims to have cloned a thumbprint of a German politician by using commercial software and images taken at a news conference.

Jan Krissler says he replicated the fingerprint of defence minister Ursula von der Leyen using pictures taken with a "standard photo camera".

Mr Krissler had no physical print from Ms von der Leyen.

Fingerprint biometrics are already considered insecure, experts say.

Mr Krissler, also known as Starbug, was speaking at a convention for members of the CCC, a 31-year-old network that claims to be "Europe's largest association" of hackers.

'Wear gloves'

He told the audience he had obtained a close-up of a photo of Ms von der Leyen's thumb and had also used other pictures taken at different angles during a press event that the minister had spoken at in October.

Mr Krissler has suggested that "politicians will presumably wear gloves when talking in public" after hearing about his research.

Fingerprint identification is used as a security measure on both Apple and Samsung devices, and was used to identify voters at polling stations in Brazil's presidential election this year, but it is not considered to be particularly secure, experts say.

French jobless total at new record high

The number of people seeking work in France has risen to a record high, official figures show.

The jobless total rose by 27,400 in November to 3,488,300 - the highest level yet seen.

That means the number looking for a job has risen by 5.8% in the past year.

The claimant count rose in November for the third month in a row, and official government estimates suggest the economy will have grown by just 0.4% this past year.

The jobless figures count the number of people claiming benefits and looking for work with the National Agency for Unemployment.

The alternative international measure of unemployment, devised by the International Labour Organisation and based on a regular survey, says that unemployment in France rose to 2.84 million in the third quarter of the year, giving an unemployment rate of 9.9%.

President Francois Hollande, elected in 2012, made the creation of more jobs a key feature of his election campaign.

He recently stated that if he failed in this aim, he would not stand again in the 2017 presidential elections.

The latest attempt to rouse the economy from stagnation and to create more jobs was announced earlier in December.

The French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, and the Economy Minister, Emmanuel Macron, outlined plans that included increasing the number of businesses operating on Sundays, and opening up regulated sectors, such as certain professions, to competition.

It is not obvious this strategy would succeed in reviving the economy, even if implemented fully.

The deregulation plan produced immediate protests by thousands of people in Paris and faces opposition from within the ruling Socialist Party.

The Interview makes $15m in online release

Controversial comedy The Interview has become film company Sony's most-downloaded title of all time, just four days after its release on 24 December.

It was downloaded more than two million times as of 27 December, making back a third of its $44m (£28m) budget.

The film, about a fictional American plot to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, had previously been pulled from release over security fears.

It angered North Korea and may have triggered a cyber attack on Sony.

The hack, from a group calling itself the Guardians of Peace, led to the leaking of confidential information including upcoming movie scripts, confidential emails and actors' salaries.

Sony halted the release after unspecified threats of attacks against cinemas.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) later said its investigation into the hacking attack pointed the finger at North Korea. The country denied involvement, but described the hack as a "righteous deed".

Sony said in a statement on Sunday that the movie was made available in the US and Canada through Google services YouTube and Play, Microsoft's Xbox Video and its dedicated website in HD versions for 48-hour rental at $5.99 and for purchase at $14.99.

It made $15m (£9.6m) in its first three days on sale.

There was also a "strong turnout" for the movie's limited theatre release, after major US chains backed out of screening it.

Sony's move to cancel the film's release had garnered criticism in the US including from President Barack Obama, who said it meant freedom of expression was under threat.

Russia shows first sign of recession as GDP contracts

The Russian economy contracted by 0.5% in November, the first fall in national output - Gross Domestic Product - since October 2009, official figures show.

The Russian government expects a 0.8% decline in GDP next year, compared with 0.6% GDP growth in 2014 as a whole.

The rouble fell to a rate of 57 to the dollar on Monday, a fall of more than 6%, after some gains last week.

Russia's economy, heavily reliant on energy exports, has been hit by the oil price slump and Western sanctions.

The sanctions, imposed because of Russian support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, target the oil and gas industries as well as banks, arms manufacturers and the wealthy elite close to President Vladimir Putin.

Russia blocked most imported Western food in retaliation for the measures.

The rouble has lost half its value against the dollar this year.

The Russian ministry for economic development said the manufacturing, construction, agriculture and service sectors all contracted in November. Energy, mining and the retail trade showed continued growth.

Insurance for banks

President Putin signed a law on Monday doubling the deposit guarantee for bank accounts, to 1.4m roubles (£16,290; $25,370).

The last time Russia suffered a major economic crisis, in 1998, many ordinary Russians saw their bank savings wiped out.

Mr Putin has also given the Russian central bank the power to recapitalise the country's biggest retail bank, Sberbank, directly with soft loans. The total must not exceed Sberbank's capital as measured on 1 January 2015.

The "subordinated debt" issued by the central bank, if Sberbank needs it, will not have to be repaid until other loans have been paid off. It is a cushion in case Sberbank gets into financial difficulty.

Other banks can be recapitalised by the central bank through Russia's deposit guarantee agency, using federal government bonds.

First Automatic Bug Update To Macs Sent By Apple

Apple has sent out its first automatic security update for Mac computers as researchers warn about new bugs.

Experts claim the bugs could mean hackers are able to gain remote control of machines.

Previously, Apple has released its security patches through its regular software update system which requires user approval.

The technology company has pushed out the software to fix critical security vulnerabilities in a component of its OS X operating system called the network time protocol (NTP).

NTP is used for synchronising clocks on computer systems.

An Apple MacBook Pro shows an image of former boss Steve Jobs

"The update is seamless," said Apple spokesman Bill Evans. "It doesn't even require a restart."

The bugs were mentioned in security bulletins on Friday by the Department of Homeland Security and the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute.

Carnegie Mellon identified dozens of technology companies, including Apple, whose products might be vulnerable.

Mr Evans said Apple decided to deliver the NTP bug fixes because it wanted to protect customers as quickly as possible due to the severity of the vulnerabilities.

The company does not know of any cases where vulnerable Mac computers were targeted by hackers looking to exploit the bugs, he added.

Apple developed technology for automatically pushing out security updates two years ago but has never previously used it.

North Korea struggles to stay online

North Korea appears to have suffered a second internet blackout, according to internet performance measuring firm Dyn Research.

On its Twitter feed, the firm reported a second outage this afternoon - which was restored less than an hour later.

"Internet of North Korea down again at 15.41 UTC. Second blackout since last night's restoration of service," the tweet read.

The first outage saw large parts of the internet unavailable in North Korea.

Officials have not yet commented on the issue.

Speculation is rife about the source of the blackouts, following a cyber security row with the US.

China has denounced reports suggesting it was responsible. US officials have not commented on any possible American involvement.

The US had said it would launch a proportional response to the hacking of Sony Pictures, after an FBI investigation appeared to show that North Korea was behind the hack attack which led to films and private emails being leaked online.

The Interview, which depicts the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was cancelled by Sony following threats from hackers.

French jobless total at new record high

The number of people seeking work in France has risen to a record high, official figures show.

The jobless total rose by 27,400 in November to 3,488,300 - the highest level yet seen.

That means the number looking for a job has risen by 5.8% in the past year.

The claimant count rose in November for the third month in a row, and official government estimates suggest the economy will have grown by just 0.4% this past year.

The jobless figures count the number of people claiming benefits and looking for work with the National Agency for Unemployment.

The alternative international measure of unemployment, devised by the International Labour Organisation and based on a regular survey, says that unemployment in France rose to 2.84 million in the third quarter of the year, giving an unemployment rate of 9.9%.

President Francois Hollande, elected in 2012, made the creation of more jobs a key feature of his election campaign.

He recently stated that if he failed in this aim, he would not stand again in the 2017 presidential elections.

The latest attempt to rouse the economy from stagnation and to create more jobs was announced earlier in December.

The French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, and the Economy Minister, Emmanuel Macron, outlined plans that included increasing the number of businesses operating on Sundays, and opening up regulated sectors, such as certain professions, to competition.

It is not obvious this strategy would succeed in reviving the economy, even if implemented fully.

The deregulation plan produced immediate protests by thousands of people in Paris and faces opposition from within the ruling Socialist Party.

Tripadvisor fined by Italian competition regulator

Italy's competition watchdog has fined travel website Tripadvisor €500,000 (£392,000) for publishing misleading information in its reviews.

The regulator began a seven-month investigation following a complaint from a consumer group and hotel owners.

Tripadvisor was accused of presenting its reviews as "authentic and genuine" despite not taking measures to avoid contributors publishing false opinions.

The US company said it disagreed with the decision and would appeal.

Tripadvisor publishes reviews of hotels and restaurants, and other travel information. But there has been criticism that the reviews cannot always be trusted.

The Rome-based regulator said Tripadvisor and its Italian arm should stop "publishing misleading information about the sources of its reviews", adding that the practice started in September 2011.

But the company said in a statement: "Our systems and procedures are extremely efficient in protecting consumers from a small minority of people who try to con our system.

"We firmly believe that Tripadvisor is a force for good, both for consumers and the hospitality industry."

Air China buys 60 Boeing aircraft for $6bn

China's national airline, Air China, is to buy 60 Boeing 737 aircraft in a deal worth more than $6bn (£3.8bn) at list prices.

The aircraft will be delivered between 2016 and 2020, according to a regulatory filing by the airline.

The deal includes Boeing's "next generation" 737 and 737 MAX aircraft, known for their fuel efficiency.

In September, the world's biggest aircraft maker delivered the first of its seven 747-8 aircraft to Air China.

"We are excited to see that the 737 family will play a significant role in Air China's continued success," said Ihssane Mounir, Boeing's Northeast Asia vice president of sales and marketing in a statement.

In October, rival Airbus announced plans to open a second manufacturing plant in China in an attempt to boost sales of its A330 jetliner in the world's fastest growing aviation market.

Boeing, meanwhile, said in September that China would need more than 6,000 aircraft in the next 20 years as the leisure travel market booms in the world's second largest economy.

Sony threatens to take legal action against Twitter over leaked emails

Sony Pictures Entertainment is threatening to sue Twitter if the company doesn't suspend accounts containing links to hacked emails.

The film company's lawyer David Boies has sent a letter to the social network demanding that accounts sharing information be shut down.

US website Motherboard has posted a letter sent from Boies to Twitter.

In it one user is singled out, Val Broeksmit, who tweets screenshots of Sony emails as @BikiniRobotArmy.

In the letter to Twitter, Sony's lawyer says Twitter should "comply with all future requests with regard to any other account holder seeking to disseminate the Stolen Information via Twitter".

The letter also asks the network to send a copy to @BikiniRobotArmy user Val Broeksmit, advising him to stop publishing stolen information.

It continues: "If Twitter does not comply with this request, and the Stolen Information continues to be disseminated by Twitter in any manner, SPE will have no choice but to hold Twitter responsible for any damage or loss arising from such use or dissemination by Twitter."