Pebble Time smartwatch launches on Kickstarter

Pebble has launched a new smartwatch with a coloured e-paper display on crowdfunding site Kickstarter, and has already smashed its target

Pebble Time, the latest gadget from smartwatch maker Pebble Technology, launched on Kickstarter today and has already smashed its $500,000 target, raising over $4m (£2.5m) in its first three hours.

The new device features a colour e-paper display, which consumes much less power than the LCD and OLED displays used on rival smartwatches like the Samsung Gear S, Moto 360 and forthcomingApple Watch – meaning the battery can last up to seven days.

The Pebble Time is 20 per cent thinner than the original Pebble; the lens is made from scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass and the bezel is made of stainless steel. It is water resistant and features a quick-release mechanism for changing the strap, which comes in three colours.

The Pebble Time introduces a new microphone, allowing users to send voice replies to incoming notifications or compose short voice notes. It also has a smart accessory port, enabling hardware developers to build sensors and smart straps that connect directly to the watch.

The operating system has been updated to organise relevant information like notifications, weather, news, travel, and reminders chronologically. This allows wearers to easily see what's coming up next or scroll back to catch up on things that happened in the past.

The Pebble Time is compatible with all 6,500 existing Pebble apps and watchfaces, and Pebble is working with The Weather Channel, ESPN, Jawbone, Evernote, Pandora and others to build new experiences for the watch.

Like other Pebble watches, Pebble Time is compatible with both iPhone and Android smartphones, including the iPhone 4s and newer phones running the latest version of iOS 8 and all Android 4.0+ phones.

It is available for $159 (£103) exclusively on Kickstarter, with worldwide shipping to backers starting in May. Later this year, Pebble Time will retail for $199 (£129) and be available online at getpebble.comand in stores worldwide.

Apple ordered to pay $533m over patent infringement

Apple has been ordered to pay patent licensing firm Smartflash $532.9m over the use of three of its patents within iTunes

Apple has been ordered to pay $532.9 million after a federal jury in Texas found its iTunes software infringed three patents owned by patent licensing firm Smartflash.

Though Smartflash had been asking for $852 million in damages, Tuesday night's verdict was still a blow to Apple.

The jury, which deliberated for eight hours, determined Apple had not only used Smartflash's patents without permission, but did so willfully.

Apple, which said it would appeal, said the outcome was another reason reform was needed in the patent system to curb litigation by companies that don't make products themselves.

"We refused to pay off this company for the ideas our employees spent years innovatingand unfortunately we have been left with no choice but to take this fight up through the court system," Apple said in a statement.

BlackBerry's UK user base falls to below one million

BlackBerry's market share has plummeted in the last two years, and analysts claim it now only has 700,000 users in the UK

The number of people in the UK using BlackBerry's operating system will decline dramatically this year, analysts predict, dipping below one million users for the first time in many years.

eMarketer's latest forecast of mobile phone usage indicates that BlackBerry now has as few as 700,000 users in the UK, with this number expected to fall to 400,000 by 2017.

BlackBerry's demise has been well documented, as the growing popularity of the iPhone and Android have eroded its user base. In the past two years alone, BlackBerry's UK market share has fallen from 8 per cent to less than 2 per cent.

Last year, a further blow came when Windows Phone ousted BlackBerry from its third-place position among the UK smartphone user base.

"BlackBerry's fall from grace has been spectacular, but these latest figures show that even its previously loyal core seems to be leaving in droves," said Bill Fisher, UK analyst at eMarketer.

"Its market share has been decimated by Android and iOS, and more recently by Windows Phone, which is slowly gaining a foothold in the UK market. As these operating systems continue to see growth in their market shares, it's likely we'll see BlackBerry drop off the map completely, leaving us with just three main players in the UK market."

Windows Phone, meanwhile, has seen its popularity grow. eMarketer estimates that it will have 3.3 million users in the UK this year, and a projected market share of 8.5 per cent.

Android-based handsets account for an outright majority of smartphones in the UK, with iOS representing almost one-third. eMarketer estimates that in total, 38.3 million people in the UK will own and use a smartphone at least monthly this year.

The news comes after BlackBerry unveiled its BlackBerry Classichandset in December 2014. The company also brought out a new, square 'Passport' handset last year, which impressed investors if not consumers.

O2 owner Telefonica sees profit fall

                      

Spanish telecoms group Telefonica, which owns the O2 mobile network, has reported a 35% fall in its annual net profit to €3bn (£2.2bn).

The company reported full-year revenues of €50.4bn, and revenue is expected to grow by more than 7% this year.

Last month, it emerged that Asia's richest person, Li Ka-shing, was in talks to buy O2, which is the UK's second-largest mobile provider.

His company already owns the Three mobile network.

If Three-owner Li Ka-shing buys O2 and combines it with the Three network it would create the UK's biggest mobile group, although such a deal is likely to face tough scrutiny from competition regulators.

O2 had also attracted the attention of BT Group, before BT eventually chose to purchase rival network EE.

O2 added 318,000 new customers in the last three months of 2104, comparing favourably to both Vodafone and EE.

The chief executive of O2, Ronan Dunne, told the BBC that O2 had enjoyed its "best quarter in six years."

He said that O2's success was in its simplicity, adding that the provider would continue to be "mobile focused".

Canada's Silicon Valley looks for London tie-ups

Delegates from the tech sector of British Columbia, the west Canadian province known as Silicon Valley North, will land in London this week for the sector’s first trade mission to the UK.

The start-ups will be meeting BT and other major British technology and telecoms companies on Wednesday and Thursday in the hopes of finding commercial partners on these shores, before travelling to Mobile World Congress, the business-to-business exhibition held annually in Barcelona.

The tech scene in Vancouver, about 800 miles north of San Francisco, is growing swiftly as American companies look to expand.

"Europe is seen as the next logical step for further expansion for the new wave of innovators that are coming out of the province,” a spokesperson for the European Trade and Investment Representative Office for British Columbia, the organisers of the business development trip, told the Telegraph. “London, in particular, is also seen as an important springboard with its Commonwealth connections, central European location, lack of language barrier and investment opportunities.”

The province’s tech sector contributes up to $26bn to Canada's GDP, accounting for 7.6pc of the country’s economy, according to a KPMG report published last year. It creates or sustains between 165,000 and 188,000 jobs, delivers up to $12bn in labour income and has seen real weekly wages grow twice as fast as the national average.

British Columbia is the birthplace ofHootsuite, the social media dashboard; Sierra Wireless, the global leader in machine-to-machine wireless technology; and DWave, the world’s first commercial quantum computing company.

It is also the second home of corporate giants such as Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, and Samsung.

Apple to invest €1.7bn in Europe

Apple is to invest €1.7bn (£1.3bn) into Europe, its biggest ever investment in the continent, as it looks to support a rapid growth in sales of products and apps that shows no sign of abating.

The company is to develop and open two new data centres in Europe, which will be built in County Galway, Ireland, and in Denmark. The data centres will power Apple's online services, such as iTunes and the App Store.

The investment is a boost to the European economy and will create hundreds of jobs. Apple already employs 18,300 people in Europe, including 5,800 in the UK.

Tim Cook, chief executive of Apple, said: “We are grateful for Apple’s continued success in Europe and proud that our investment supports communities across the continent. This significant new investment represents Apple’s biggest project in Europe to date.

"We’re thrilled to be expanding our operations, creating hundreds of local jobs and introducing some of our most advanced green building designs yet."

Samsung takes on Apple Pay by snapping up LoopPay

Samsung is going head to head with Apple’s contactless payment system after buying start-up LoopPay.

The South Korean electronics company has paid an undisclosed sum for the Massachusetts-based firm, whose technology mimics the swipe of a credit cardwhen users tap a LoopPay device with one of its keyrings or smartphone cases located next to a retailer’s card reader.

Crucially, this means LoopPay should work with most retailers’ existing payment terminals, unlike its main rival, Apple Pay, which requires new terminals fitted with wireless microchips.

Samsung claimed LoopPay’s technology should work in 90pc of existing retailers.

"Our goal has always been to build the smartest, most secure, user-friendly mobile wallet experience, and we are delighted to welcome LoopPay to take us closer to this goal," said JK Shin, head of Samsung's mobile division.

David Eun, executive vice-president at Samsung's Global Innovation Center, said the deal will help Samsung "significantly accelerate our mobile commerce efforts".

The deal strengthens speculation that Samsung plans to include mobile payment technology in its next major smartphone, which is expected to be announced on March 1 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Apple has already launched Pay, which allows customers to buy goods and services by tapping their iPhone 6 against a payment terminal, in the US but has not yet rolled it out to the UK.

British and US spies hacked mobile SIM card keys

British and US intelligence services can tap into mobile voice and data communications of many devices after stealing encryption keys of a major SIM card maker, according to a new report.

The report, from investigative website The Intercept, said the US National Security Agency and its British counterpart GCHQ obtained encryption keys of the global SIM manufacturer Gemalto.

Citing a 2010 document leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, the report said that with the encryption keys, the intelligence services can secretly monitor a large portion of global communications over mobile devices without using a warrant or wiretap.

The Intercept said a covert operation led by GCHQ with support from the NSA was able to mine private communications of unwitting engineers at Gemalto, which is based in the Netherlands.

The report suggests the intelligence services could have access to a wider range of communications than has been previously reported. Other documents have indicated NSA can monitor email and traditional phone communications.

The NSA did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

A Gemalto spokeswoman said in an email to AFP that the company "is especially vigilant against malicious hackers and of course has detected, logged and mitigated many types of attempts over the years."

Gemalto "at present can make no link between any of those past attempts and what was reported by The Intercept," the statement said.

"We take this publication very seriously and will devote all resources necessary to fully investigate and understand the scope of such highly sophisticated technique to try to obtain SIM card data."

It added that the intended target was "not Gemalto, per se - it was an attempt to try and cast the widest net possible to reach as many mobile phones as possible."

Gemalto, which produces billions of SIM cards and other digital identity products, describes itself as a provider of "trusted and convenient digital services to billions of individuals."

The company was formed in 2006 by a merger of Axalto Holding NV and French-based Gemplus International.

Lenovo rebuked for shipping laptops pre-loaded with adware

Chinese computer maker Lenovo has come under fire from security experts after it allegedly shipped laptops with adware that hijacks secure website connections and inserts ads into search results.

The adware, known as Superfish, was pre-loaded onto "a select number" of Lenovo's consumer Windows devices, the company confirmed. The issue only came to light last June, when users began complaining in Lenovo's forums in September.

Some users claimed that the adware used fake, self-signed root certificates (which are used to verify that you are connecting to who you think you are) to intercept data over secure web connections and inject advertisements into sessions.

This kind of adware is widely regarded in the industry as a form of malware because of the way it interacts with a user's laptop or PC.

"A blatant man-in-the-middle attack malware breaking privacy laws,"wrote one user on Lenovo's forum "I have requested return of the laptop and refund as I find it unbelievable that manufacturer as Lenovo would facilitate such applications pre-bundled with new laptops.

Apple Wants to Start Producing Cars as Soon as 2020

                                                  

(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc., which has been working secretly on a car, is pushing its team to begin production of an electric vehicle as early as 2020, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The timeframe -- automakers typically spend five to seven years developing a car -- underscores the project’s aggressive goals and could set the stage for a battle for customers with Tesla Motors Inc. and General Motors Co., both of which are targeting a 2017 release of an electric vehicle that can go more than 200 miles on a single charge and cost less than $40,000.

“That’s the inflection point -- the proving ground -- that brings on the electric age,” Steve LeVine, author of “The Powerhouse,” a book about the automotive battery industry, said on Bloomberg TV Thursday. “Now you have Apple coming in and this is critical mass. Was GM really going to be able to match Tesla? Apple can.”

Apple, which posted record profit of $18 billion during the past quarter, has $178 billion in cash with few avenues to spend it. The Cupertino, California-based company’s research and development costs were $6.04 billion in the past year, and Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook is facing increased pressure to return cash to shareholders. The CEO has been pushing the iPhone maker to enter new categories to further envelop users’ digital lives with Apple’s products and services.

Apple’s possible foray into cars follows a similar path it’s taken to break into other industries. The company wasn’t the first to make a digital-music player or smartphone, and only entered those markets once it had a product that redefined those categories.

Apple representatives declined to comment for this story.

Google's YouTube to launch kids' app

YouTube will launch a new app specifically for children on Monday in a bid to make using the service safer.

It is understood that YouTube Kids will have parental controls and restrictions on who can upload content.

The app will run separately to the main YouTube service and it will initially be available in the US only, but it is understood that it will be rolled-out in the UK later.

The move has been welcomed by the NSPCC child protection charity.

A spokesman for the charity said: "Keeping children safe online is the biggest child protection challenge of this generation. So it's good to hear about the launch of YouTube Kids.

"I'm sure it will be embraced by parents wanting increased reassurance that their younger children won't be exposed to inappropriate material."

Apple Smartwatch: Universities Ticked Off

                            

Universities are planning to ban students from wearing anything on their wrists during examinations, for fear they may use smartwatches to access the internet and cheat.

Schools say the clampdown is because invigilators are unable to tell traditional watches from their digital counterparts, and it would be impossible to inspect every student before a test begins.

Apple is preparing to launch its hotly-anticipated smartwatch in April, and one university has already had two incidents where students have been caught referring to other smart watches during an assessment.

The gadgets could be used to store revision notes, or for covert messaging between candidates.

When Apple announced its device last year, the University of London released a statement warning "Smartwatches may become a problem in the examination hall from 2015 and beyond".

Its students have been reminded that such timepieces fall into the same category as smartphones and tablets.

Exam halls are now being fitted out with larger clocks on the walls, and many universities have purchased desk clocks for anxious students who want to keep track of the time during a test.

Not in front of the telly: Warning over 'listening' TV

Samsung is warning customers to avoid discussing personal information in front of their smart television set.

The warning applies to TV viewers who control their Samsung Smart TV using its voice activation feature.

Such TV sets 'listen' to every conversation held in front of them and may share any details they hear with Samsung or third parties, it said.

Privacy campaigners said the technology smacked of the telescreens, in George Orwell's 1984, which spied on citizens.

Data sharing

The warning came to light via a story in online news magazine the Daily Beast which published an excerpt of a section of Samsung's privacy policy for its net-connected Smart TV sets.

The policy explains that the TV set will be listening to people in the same room to try to spot when commands are issued. It goes on to warn: "If your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party."

Corynne McSherry, an intellectual property lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) which campaigns on digital rights issues, told the Daily Beast that the third party was probably the company providing speech-to-text conversion for Samsung.

US jobs market booms as recovery accelerates

The United States added 257,000 jobs last month and the number of jobs created in November and December was revised sharply higher.

January was the 11th consecutive month in which more than 200,000 jobs were created - the best run since 1994.

The Labor Department said on Friday that an additional 147,000 jobs were added in both November and December.

That brought the total to 414,000 and 329,000 respectively.

An average of 336,000 jobs have been created a month for the past three months - the best three-month pace in 17 years and underlining the strength of the economic recovery in America.

A year ago, the three-month average stood at just 197,000.

The unemployment rate, which comes from a separate data set, edged higher to 5.7% as the number of people working or looking for a job rose slightly.

The rapid rise in the pace of hiring helped average hourly wages to rise 12 cents to $24.75 in January - the biggest gain since September 2008. In the past year, hourly pay has increased by 2.2%.

RadioShack files for bankruptcy after long decline

US electronics retailer RadioShack has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a widely-expected move.

It has lost more than 90% of its value over the past years, as it struggled to attract customers to its often outdated stores.

In the Delaware court filing, RadioShack said it had $1.2bn in assets and $1.38bn in debt.

RadioShack, which first opened in 1921 as a mail-order retailer, currently operates 4,485 stores across the US.

The company sells everything from mobile phone accessories to converters and power cables.

In its bankruptcy filing, the firm said it planned to sell up to 2,400 stores to shareholder Standard General.

RadioShack was de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) earlier in the week.

BT to buy mobile firm EE for £12.5bn

Telecoms group BT has paid £12.5bn to buy mobile operator EE.

The takeover creates a communications giant covering fixed-line phones, broadband, mobile and TV.

The stockmarket greeted the move by sending BT shares up over 5%, the highest since 2001 when it sold off its old mobile operation O2.

But rivals TalkTalk and Vodafone have already called for competition authorities to step in and force BT to spin off its Openreach operation.

The deal sees BT buying all EE shares currently held by Orange and Deutsche Telekom.

Then Deutsche Telekom will receive 12% in the new combined business and have a seat on the board.

Orange will receive a 4% stake, as well as about £3.4bn in cash.

The deal more than trebles BT's retail customers adding the 10 million it already had to EE's 24.5 million direct mobile subscribers.

Competition issues

But the deal puts BT in what many see as a dominant position in the market.

TalkTalk and Vodafone say regulators should force BT to spin off its Openreach fixed line division, which enables other telecoms companies to access its network.

Vodafone chief executive Vittorio Colao said: "Ideally, a structural separation of Openreach would be optimal."

Mr Patterson said he did not expect competition authorities to impose stringent remedies and the deal would need to be scrutinised in Britain, rather than Brussels

Samsung Galaxy S6 set to launch at MWC

Samsung is set to unveil its latest Galaxy S6 handset at its Galaxy Unpacked event at this year's Mobile World Congress

Samsung is preparing to launch the Galaxy S6 at its Galaxy Unpacked event at MWC in Barcelona after sending out invitations to the event.

Although not directly confirming the presence of the smartphone or a solid release date, the invitation’s teaser image hints at a curved display.

The South Korean company used the event to showcase its flagship smartphone the Galaxy S5 last year.

The newest model in the Galaxy line will come in three storage versions; 32GB, 64GB and 128GB and will be priced at around £567, £642 and £718 respectively, according to Androidpit. It's also expected to come with metal casing over the S5's plastic backing.

The company recently reported its first annual earnings decline in three years as net profit between October and December fell 27 per cent compared to the same time last year to 23.4tn won, the lowest since 2011, and a far cry from 2013's record 36.8tn won.

Samsung's mobile division has declined for five consecutive quarters, with revenue falling 19 per cent for the year, and 23 per cent in the fourth quarter compared to the same time last year.

Samsung said it was planning to focus on increasing sales and improving the business performance of its smartphones and tablets through new products lines, including the Galaxy A series.

It's likely that a secondary smartphone, the Galaxy S Edge will be revealed at the event next month.

Apple results: the extraordinary numbers in full!

Phone manufacturer making $8.3m profit every hour of the day and sitting on cash pile worth $556 for every American

                                            

$18bn
Apple's record-breaking profit, bigger than the quarterly GDP of Greece, equal to Yemen, and almost as big as Denmark

£11bn
The amount on Britain spends on university education every year - Apple's profits could fund this

$556 (£367)
How much each American citizen would get if Apple's cash pile was shared out

34,000
The number of iPhones sold by Apple per hour during the quarter, equal to nine per second

78m
The phones sold by Samsung in its last quarter, meaning Apple - which sold 74.5m - is close to reclaiming its crown as the world's biggest smartphone manufacturer, which it lost in 2011

$651bn
The stock market value of Apple, which makes it the biggest company in the world

1bn
Apple says it has now sold more than 1bn products that use its iOS operating system

4pc
Increase in share price of Arm Holdings, UK company which supplies Apple with chips, following results

70pc
Increase in Apple sales in China, which now accounts for $16.1bn of the company's revenues

$74.6bn
Apple's revenues for the three months to December 31, which was also a record

69pc
The proportion of Apple's sales coming from the iPhone

45pc
Share of iPhone sales from the iPhone 6, according to an independent report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. The iPhone 6 Plus made up 30pc, the report said. Apple has not confirmed the breakdown

21.4m
Global iPad sales during the quarter, the one disappointing part of the results, Apple was expected to sell 22.1m

Hey, Gmail me that cash you owe!

It's the social situation we all try to avoid; forgetting to pay someone back because we don't have any cash, or that card reader thingie, to do it online.

Well Google are having a go at making debt settling easier, by allowing users to transfer funds on email.

It's coming in over the next few weeks for all Gmail users who are over 18 in the UK.

Users will have to click the "£" icon which will soon appear on emails, and enter the amount they wish to send.

Users will be able to both send and request cash

Google made the announcement on an official blog post and says the service will be free.

If you're really desperate for that score to be settled, you can even send requests for how much money you'd like to receive.

Users without a Gmail account will also be able to be sent cash - everyone will have to set up a Google wallet balance, and link it to their debit card or bank account.