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.