Saturday 28 December 2013

Judge: NSA phone surveillance is legal and a 'vital tool'

The government gets a victory in a case brought by the ACLU, which charged that the spy agency was violating Americans' First and Fourth Amendment rights.

(Credit: Declan McCullagh/CNET)
A US district judge on Friday dismissed the American Civil Liberties Union's lawsuit against the government's top spy agency, ruling that bulk collection of telephony metadata by the NSA is lawful.
In June, the ACLU filed suit to challenge the constitutionality of the National Security Agency's mass collection of phone records, arguing that the practice violates Americans' First and Fourth Amendment rights. The ACLU sought a preliminary injunction to stop the government's phone-surveillance program and to have all of the collected data deleted.

In his ruling Friday in ACLU vs. James R. Clapper, US District Judge William Pauley said that the US government had a pressing need for the surveillance program as a method for detecting and preventing terrorist attacks and that it did not go to unreasonable lengths in that pursuit.
There is no evidence that the Government has used any of the bulk telephony metadata it collected for any purpose other than investigating and disrupting terrorist attacks. While there have been unintentional violation of guidelines, those appear to stem from human error and the incredibly complex computer programs that support this vital tool. And once detected, those violations were self-reported and stopped. The bulk telephony metadata collection program is subject to executive and congressional oversight, as well as continual monitoring by a dedicated group of judges who sit on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
Pauley cited the NSA's inability to connect the telephone dots ahead of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. "[Al-Qaeda's plot] succeeded because conventional intelligence gathering could not detect diffuse filaments connecting al-Qaeda," he wrote.

"No doubt, the bulk telephony metadata collection program vacuums up information about virtually every telephone call to, from, or within the United States," Pauley said in his conclusion. "That is by design, as it allows the NSA to detect relationships so attenuated and ephemeral they would otherwise escape notice. As the September 11th attacks demonstrate, the cost of missing such a thread can be horrific."

Pauley's ruling also drew a comparison between the NSA's surveillance efforts and US citizens' routine sharing of personal data. "Every day, people voluntarily surrender personal and seemingly-private information to transnational corporations, which exploit that data for profit. Few think twice about it, even though it is far more intrusive than bulk telephony metadata collection."
The ACLU vowed to press on with the case.

"We are extremely disappointed with this decision, which misinterprets the relevant statutes, understates the privacy implications of the government's surveillance and misapplies a narrow and outdated precedent to read away core constitutional protections," said Jameel Jaffer, ACLU deputy legal director, in a statement. "As another federal judge and the president's own review group concluded last week, the National Security Agency's bulk collection of telephony data constitutes a serious invasion of Americans' privacy. We intend to appeal and look forward to making our case in the Second Circuit."

Friday's ruling in favor of the government's surveillance program comes two weeks after a judge in a separate case reached an opposite conclusion, that the NSA's bulk collection of telephony metadata was "likely unconstitutional."

In that case, Klayman vs. Obama, Judge Richard Leon on December 16 issued preliminary injunctions to halt the NSA's telephony metadata collection and to have the data already collected be destroyed, but stayed the ruling to allow for appeals.
Two days later, a panel that had been convened by the White House to review US government surveillance activities made a number of recommendations, including that the NSA put an end to its bulk collection of Americans' phone records.

First look at Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing in 'The Imitation Game'

Following news of the royal pardon for WWII code breaker and computer scientist Alan Turing for his "crime" in the '50s of being a homosexual, "The Imitation Game" reveals its first official image from the film.

 First official movie still of Benedict Cumberbatch as British computer pioneer and cryptographer Alan Turing in "The Imitation Game."
The first official movie still of Benedict Cumberbatch as British computer pioneer and cryptographer Alan Turing in "The Imitation Game."
(Credit: Black Bear Pictures)
The very computer you use to read this story may not have been possible without the extraordinary work by computer pioneer, mathematician, and Bletchley Park cryptographer Alan Turing.
This week Turing received a posthumous royal pardon for being convicted in 1952 of homosexuality, which was then considered a crime. Turing had been given the choice of imprisonment or chemical castration. Shortly after choosing the chemical treatment, Turing committed suicide at the age of 41.

In honor of his long-overdue pardon (nearly 60 years after his death), the official Twitter account for the upcoming feature film about his life, "The Imitation Game," released its first still. The photo features actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who stars as Turing, in front of what could very well be the "bombe" -- one of the many computers Turing helped to create during his lifetime.

Due to hit theaters next year, "The Imitation Game" is directed by Morten Tyldum and stars Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear, Charles Dance, Mark Strong Allen Leech, and Matthew Beard.

Wednesday 25 December 2013

Apple's Tim Cook promises 'big plans' in 2014

In a year-end memo to employees, Apple's CEO teased about big things coming next year, but didn't spill any beans.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has big plans for 2014.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has big plans for 2014.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET) Apple has "big plans that we think customers are going to love," CEO Tim Cook said in a memo thanking employees for their work in 2013.

Snagging a copy of the memo from "multiple sources," 9to5Mac posted the employee e-mail on Sunday. Cook started by reflecting on the new and improved products unveiled this past year, including the iPhone 5S (the 5C didn't make the cut), iOS 7, the free OS X Mavericks upgrade, the iPad Air, the Retina iPad Mini, and the new Mac Pro now shipping from a factory in Texas.
The CEO then discussed the various charitable causes toward which Apple contributed in 2013. Cook also brought up Apple's fight against workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In the the final paragraph, Cook expressed his admiration for his employees and also teased the year ahead.
We have a lot to look forward to in 2014, including some big plans that we think customers are going to love. I am extremely proud to stand alongside you as we put innovation to work serving humankind's deepest values and highest aspirations. I consider myself the luckiest person in the world for the opportunity to work at this amazing company with all of you.
What could those big plans be? Some products are a virtual certainty. Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 6 by next October, a model that could bump the screen size. iOS 8 will pop up with its enhancements. New versions of the iPad and iPad Mini will appear, perhaps even an iPad Pro with a 12-inch screen.

Past rumors have suggested that Apple is working on a smartwatch and a television. Either or both of those may appear next year. But the company also needs to create something different and unexpected to once again excite consumers. Could 2014 be the year when Apple does just that?

What we want in 2014: Break the mold, tech companies

Heading into the new year, it wouldn't hurt for the high-tech powers that be to get a little more stupid and crazy. Seriously.

(Credit: Jason Cipriani/CNET)

Here's some unsolicited advice to technology companies drawing up their plans for 2014: Dare to be stupid.
We saw plenty of that this year. Samsung Electronics raced to launch its Galaxy Gear smartwatch, and it was widely lambasted. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos talked up the idea of flying drones delivering our Blu-Ray discs and books, which got quickly written off as a publicity stunt. There's even a denigrating term for someone walking around wearing Google Glass: Glasshole.
In fact, the tech world could use a little more stupid and crazy. All too often companies settle on incremental improvement, banking on evolution rather than the revolution. Blame complacency, the need to meet quarterly deadlines, or just the fear of failure but what's clear is that companies tend to stay stagnant too long.

Windows 8.1 Start screen
The tile-based user interface found in Windows 8 represented an innovative step forward, but has largely been rejected.
(Credit: Screenshot by Ed Rhee/CNET)

In fact, it's such a rarity to see true mold-breaking breakthroughs that we, as tech journalists, aren't sure how to react when faced with innovation -- we naturally fall back to our default skeptical positions.

Just look at the initial reaction to the Android mobile operating system, the dominant platform of our day, or the debut of the iPad, which was dismissed as a stretched out iPhone. Even Microsoft couldn't escape unscathed: After years of criticizing the company for being too slow to innovate, it comes out with a distinct touch-based interface for Windows 8 -- which was promptly universally panned.
But it is these leaps forward -- which may not necessarily be appreciated when they're announced -- that are what pushes the industry to do better.

The breakthrough products in 2013 -- even if some were just announcements and stuff of vaporware -- gives one optimism that next year will see companies willing to look dumb and endure the wrath of bloggers to blaze a new trail in technology. As jaded as we all are, we all want better. Yes, that includes Apple.

"I'm hoping there will be some fundamental innovation coming out of those guys," said Avi Greengart, who covers consumer electronics at Current Analysis.
Here's are some current breakthroughs we want to see more of in 2014:
 
Smart headware
For whatever reason your head was what a lot of technology companies obsessed about this year. There was no bigger breakthrough than the introduction of Google Glass.
The smart headgear, which combines a tiny monitor and camera with bone-conducting audio, was the ultimate-in-geek item this year (only members of Google's Explorer program could buy one, and at $1,500 a pop), and made ripples in the industry as competitors clamored to move into wearable tech.


Entrepreneur and LeWeb conference organizer Loic Le Meur tries on two sets of Google Glass at the conference.
Entrepreneur and LeWeb conference organizer Loic Le Meur tries on two sets of Google Glass at the conference.
(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)

The Explorer program was intended to cede devices to the market to spark ideas and new uses, and we'll hopefully see some of those applications pop up in 2014. Likewise, we could see Glass go mainstream with a consumer version -- which is hopefully priced at a more sane level -- hitting the market next year.

Not everyone is happy about the advent of the high-tech eyewear. At least one Seattle dive bar has banned the use of Glass, and there are bound to be other folks and establishments that object to the device, which can record video and take photos too.
While Glass is about augmenting the real world, a few companies were looking to use their own high-tech headgear to create a more immersive virtual one.


id founder John Carmack wearing the Oculus Rift headset
(Credit: Oculus)

The Oculus Rift was technically announced in 2012, but we got our first real hands-on with the virtual reality helmet at the Consumer Electronics Show. The device was one of the coolest things at the usually staid conference, even if it was nowhere near prime time.
There are still bugs to be dealt with, including the odd feeling of disconnect between your virtual self and perspective moving while your body remains at rest. But Oculus is a company to look out for -- it just got a $75 million funding round that could help it bring virtual gaming to the market.
Then there's Avegant's prototype Virtual Retinal Display. Rather than the use of optics and displays, the Virtual Retinal Display, as its name implies, actually projects two images directly into the user's retinas, creating a 3D image.

In other words, it takes the Oculus Rift and does it one further.
Whether Avegant makes it out of the prototype stage, or if it finds applications in the military or in health care, remains unclear. But it certainly drives the field of wearable tech in a new direction.
 
Fashion meets tech
OK, the Galaxy Gear gets a lot of grief. But you have to give Samsung credit as the first major tech company to push a smartwatch in a big way.
Sure, there are startups such as Pebble and even a SmartWatch by Sony. But Pebble is at best a niche product, and Sony's attempts constitute little more than a side project.
Samsung launched the Galaxy Gear as a flagship product, backing it with a strong and -- even competitors concede -- effective campaign. It's clear the company is betting heavily on smartwatches succeeding.


 
  (Credit: Brian Bennett/CNET)

Which is why the future of the Gear franchise is something worth watching. CNET writer Shara Tibken wrote at length about what it will take to be a success. Only time will tell if Samsung can create a drool-worthy product you would want to strap on to your wrist.
Speaking of watches, Apple needs to get into the mix. The company has gone a few years since its last breakthrough product, the iPad, and badly needs something to excite the general public. Apple could incorporate curved glass and the iPhone 5S's M7 activity processor, for starters. All with the trademark finish and design.

Scores of competitors have had their shot at a smartwatch, which opens the door for Apple to show them all up. The company has done it time and time again with the MP3 player, smartphone, and tablet. Can a watch be far behind?
Analysts seem to believe the time is right.

"This year is the year wearables break out and be a real thing," Greengart said about 2014.
Apple, meanwhile, also needs to step it up on the iPhone front. Yes, sales continue to be impressive, but the company has settled into a comfortable zone where it provides some incremental improvement, whether it's a fingerprint sensor or faster processor.
Can Apple wow us again? One can only hope.
 
Pipe dreams?
Motorola's MotoMaker feature, which allowed customers to tweak the color and material of their Moto X phone, may represent the first step toward the ultimate goal of users fully customizing every aspect of their smartphone.


(Credit: Motorola)

Think about it: People with the ability to choose the right amount of processing power, storage, the level of display quality, and the fit and finish of a device appropriate for them.
For now, it's theoretical, as there are many hurdles, including standards and compatibility issues that prevent that kind of level of customization. But Motorola's Project Ara is an indication the company is thinking along the same lines.
Of course, there are about a dozen handset manufacturers that probably don't want consumers making their own phone, so there's that small hurdle.


Amazon CEO unveils drone delivery concept
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos shares his company's latest innovation -- a delivery drone know as an Octocopter.

Another crazy dream that may turn out not so crazy is Amazon's talk of delivery drones filling the skies. OK, it was definitely a great publicity stunt, and got folks talking on the eve of Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day of the year.

But Amazon is just insane enough to follow through with its bold claim. More practically speaking, it has the financial resources, a savvy enough leader, and the long-term vision necessary to pull it off.
At least one business doesn't think it's that farfetched.
Regardless of whether it comes to fruition, it's that kind of thinking the tech industry needs more of.
I, for one, can't wait to see what pops up in 2014.

Top 10 predictions for the mobile market in 2014

The drama will continue in the mobile market as fortunes of mobile operators and wireless handset makers are won and lost in the upcoming year. Take a look at CNET's top predictions for the 2014.

T-Mobile CEO John Legere
T-Mobile CEO John Legere.
(Credit: T-Mobile) This past year was a busy one for the mobile market. And next year will likely be just as intense.
Wireless operators were busy wheeling and dealing to get more wireless spectrum. And they were busy upgrading their networks to 4G LTE service, truly making 2013 the breakout year for faster wireless service.

There was also a lot of deal activity among handset makers, as smaller players struggled to find ways to compete against the two dominant players, Apple and Samsung. What's expected to happen in 2014? I took out my crystal ball and put together this list of my top 10 predictions based on recent trends and conversations with sources. Take a look and let me know what you think.

Wireless bargain hunters rejoice, carriers are finally listening
If you're in the market for a better value for your wireless plan, 2014 should be a good year for you. AT&T recently announced a new Mobile Share plan that offers an incentive to customers who use an older phone or bring their own unlocked device to the network. It's a plan similar to one that T-Mobile started offering in March.
Under the AT&T plan, consumers can save $15 a month on every smartphone connected to their plan if they don't take a device subsidy and sign a two-year contract. This plan and T-Mobile's plan, which also offers a discount on monthly service if you already own your phone, is a positive step for consumers and shows that some major operators will be aggressively fighting for consumers looking for a better value on their wireless plans.

AT&T's CEO Randall Stephenson said the company will be addressing the value segment of the market more. There are two reasons for this. One is that more people have smartphones, and the other reason is that 4G LTE networks offer more capacity at a lower cost. This makes it not only necessary but feasible for AT&T and other carriers to go after a market focused more on value.

While I don't expect carriers like AT&T to slash pricing across the board, I do think there will be more pricing options available, which will result in better value for some wireless customers.
It may take Verizon Wireless a bit longer to respond to the value play, given that the company has a long history of charging a premium for its service due to its reputation for having the most reliable network in the market. But recent capacity constraints in key markets have marred Verizon's unblemished reputation. And if the carrier continues to struggle under the weight of increased traffic demand, it could be drawn into the value game as well.
My advice for bargain hunters in 2014 is to stay tuned for more service plan shake-ups. And keep your calculators close at hand to see which ones really offer the best value.

Wireless operators lobby hard in Washington
New Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler has taken office and one of his first orders of business was to delay the upcoming incentive spectrum auction.

Tom Wheeler, the new chairman of the FCC.
(Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

The auction, which will let TV broadcasters give up spectrum for a cut of the auction proceeds, is one of the most complicated the FCC has ever designed. Wheeler said that it was critical for the government to get this right, so he pushed back the auction a year to give the agency more time to prepare. But even with the auction still more than a year away, wireless operators are already ramping up their lobbying efforts.

While the much needed low-band spectrum from the broadcast incentive auction is still more than a year off, the FCC is preparing two other wireless auctions for 2014. The first is the H-block auction, which has only one significant bidder, satellite TV provider Dish Network. The next auction of the so-called AWS-3 band of spectrum is expected to get a lot more attention. This spectrum auction is set for September 2014. It's expected to create a lot of buzz, so stay tuned.

Carrier consolidation continues
The past couple of years have already been filled with a lot of M&A activity among wireless carriers. The trend is expected to continue in 2014.
In 2013, AT&T bought beleaguered prepaid provider Leap Wireless. T-Mobile bought MetroPCS. Japan's Softbank completed its purchase of Sprint. And Sprint bought out its remaining stake in Clearwire. With so much activity in 2013, it seems like there couldn't possibly be anymore deals to be made.

But think again. There are already rumblings that Sprint is putting together a deal to buy T-Mobile, which isn't a huge surprise given that T-Mobile's parent Deutsche Telekom has not been shy about its desire to exit the US market. But it's unclear at this point whether federal regulators would approve such a deal. It could be hard given that both the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission have been pleased with T-Mobile's recovery in 2013 following its failed merger with AT&T in 2011.

But other deals may also be in the works. Satellite TV provider Dish Network is chomping at the bit to buy...somebody. Last year, the company attempted and failed to buy Sprint and Clearwire. Dish's founder, Charlie Ergen, has also been gunning for wireless assets from the bankrupt carrier LightSquared. And Dish is expected to be the sole nationwide bidder on wireless spectrum in the H block auction in January. Dish has been stockpiling wireless spectrum for the past couple of years, and 2014 could be the year the company makes a move either by building a network on its own or through an acquisition of an established player. In either case, Dish is a player to watch.

T-Mobile shakes up the industry yet again with more of its "Uncarrier" strategy
T-Mobile is readying the next phase of its "Uncarrier" strategy. The company has already eliminated contracts, removed device subsidies, introduced an early upgrade program, given away 200MB of tablet data for free, and eliminated roaming charges for international travelers in more than 100 countries. It's been quite a year for T-Mobile to say the least.

(Credit: Screenshot by Roger Cheng/CNET)

But the company's executives say they aren't done yet. Recently, CEO John Legere took to Twitter to promote an upcoming announcement in early 2014 that will "eliminate another customer pain point."
What could it be?

Improved 3G and 4G coverage? The biggest pain point for T-Mobile customers is its lack of coverage outside of big cities, but improving that doesn't sound very "Uncarrier" to me.
Bundle fees and taxes into price? My guess is that T-Mobile may improve again on pricing, possibly bundling monthly rates with taxes and other service fees to show one price. Prepaid players have been doing this for a long time. But such simply pricing still eludes the big wireless providers.
No unlocked phones? While T-Mobile and the other major carriers have agreed to unlock devices after they've been paid off, maybe T-Mobile will skip the whole locked phone thing to begin with. And when customers buy devices outright from the carrier, maybe they will be unlocked out of the box.

Unlimited number of lines to family plans? Maybe T-Mobile will remove the limit of how many phones can be added to a family plan.
Of course all of these are just guesses at this point. T-Mobile's CEO was vague in his tweet. But one thing is clear. The company isn't done shaking up things in the wireless market, so stay tuned.

 
(Credit: Lynn La/CNET)

Sprint emerges stronger from its "rebuilding year"
Much like a sports team that is forced to rebuild its team with younger, more nimble players after a season of losses due to player injuries and retirements, Sprint is rebuilding its business. And the company's CEO Dan Hesse thinks that even though 2013 has been an ugly year in terms of performance for the carrier, 2014 will be be much brighter as Sprint gets back on its feet.
Speaking at an investor conference in New York recently, Hesse admitted that the company's upgrade to its new Network Vision and Spark enhanced LTE network has been painful. But he said the pain of today will be worth it tomorrow.

Hesse likened the transition to the story of the "Three Little Pigs." Sprint is building a house of brick while its competitors are using straw and stick. And even though Sprint's network is taking a longer time to build, it will last longer. And he said that customers will soon see the fruits of this labor.
That said, Sprint customers are still likely to experience some hiccups in 2014 as Sprint expands its Network Vision network that replaces all of its old infrastructure with new gear and gets its LTE network up and running. Hesse admitted that the carrier will likely continue to see customer defections as these networks get completed. But by mid-2014 he said things should be turning around for Sprint.
The good news is that the 4G LTE network has just been expanded to 70 more cities, including Green Bay, Wis.; Orlando, Fla.; San Diego; and St. Louis. The new LTE markets bring Sprint's total to 300 across the United States.

By the middle of 2014, Sprint 4G LTE service is expected to be available to approximately 250 million Americans, and Sprint expects 100 million Americans will have Sprint Spark or a service that uses the 2.5GHz wireless spectrum from its acquisition of Clearwire by the end of 2014.

Z30
The Z30's keyboard is both comfortable and fast.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

BlackBerry: Things will get worse before they get better
BlackBerry has had a rough year. The company had a disastrous launch of its new BlackBerry 10 operating system with the debut handset, the Z10, being a major flop. As a result, the company has been shedding customers like someone with a bad case of dandruff.
Desperate for a change, the company has booted out its old management and replaced it with a turn-around expert, interim CEO John Chen. On the company's recent quarterly conference call, Chen admitted that things looked grim for the company, especially on the device front. But he said BlackBerry is finally positioned to fight back.
The big change for BlackBerry is its shift away from the consumer handset business in North America and a greater focus on its enterprise and messaging software business for the enterprise. The company will also be targeting developing markets with its mobile handsets. And it's created a partnership with device manufacturer Foxconn that will allow the company to cut costs on device manufacturing and minimize inventory risks.

So what's next for BlackBerry? In March or April, look for the first device from the fruits of the Foxconn partnership. It will be sold in Indonesia.

BlackBerry may also announce plans to bring its security and productivity enterprise apps to Google Android and Apple iOS devices. The company just recently began offering its BlackBerry Messaging app for Android and iOS. And CEO John Chen said he's very interested in working with Apple and Google on bringing more of BlackBerry's functionality to those platforms. But don't expect an announcement in the first half of the year. Chen said he might need one or two quarters to work out the details and best course of action.

Of course, the big question in 2014 for BlackBerry is whether or not the company will even be around for 2015. Given the amount of cash the company has on hand and the way it's cutting costs and managing the business, it will likely be around for awhile. But 2014 will be make or break in terms of figuring out if Chen's new strategy can save the company.

Nokia's Windows Phone-based Lumia 520.
Nokia's Windows Phone-based Lumia 520.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Microsoft kills Lumia brand
One of the biggest moves in terms of the wireless device market in 2013 was Microsoft's $7.2 billion bid to acquire Nokia's devices and service businesses. The tie-up between the two companies came as little surprise given the tight relationship the companies have had since 2011, when Nokia decided to exclusively use the Windows Phone operating system for its smartphones.
Since then, Nokia has been the premiere Windows Phone hardware maker pushing the operating system, which has grown in acceptance, but still lags behind Apple iOS and Google Android. As a result, any success Microsoft has experienced with Windows Phone is intrinsically tied to Nokia's success with the Lumia brand of smartphones.

But as the Nokia sale to Microsoft is finalized in early 2014 and as Microsoft begins integrating the products into the mothership, it's unclear what will happen to the Lumia brand. While it's obvious that Microsoft bought Nokia for its hardware, Microsoft has begun building its own mobile hardware. The company has been selling its Surface tablet, based on its Windows RT software. And while it hasn't announced a Surface smartphone, one has been rumored to be in the works.
Meanwhile, Nokia has also developed a Lumia tablet using Windows 8.1 RT, called the Lumia 2520. It was released this fall on the heels of Microsoft's newest Surface 2, which uses the exact same operating system. Talk about awkward.
It seems pretty clear from a consumer standpoint that keeping both brands could get very confusing. So it's likely that Microsoft will be forced to choose.

Rumors have already bubbled up suggesting that the 8-inch mini tablet from Nokia called the Lumia 2020 has been canned in lieu of a similar 8-inch mini Surface tablet that Microsoft plans to announce early in 2014. If these rumors prove true, it could mean lights out for the Lumia brand.
In any case, a rethinking of the Lumia and Surface brands are likely to be in the works as Microsoft and Nokia finalize their merger. What this means for the products themselves and for consumers using them is not yet known. An optimistic prediction is that regardless of what they call the new hardware, Microsoft-developed and -built products will hopefully incorporate Nokia designs and focus on mobility.

Apple vs. Samsung: The saga continues
The long-drawn out battle between Apple and Samsung over patent infringement will continue in 2014 and beyond. The two companies have been embroiled in a bitter legal battle since April 2011 when Apple filed a lawsuit accusing Samsung of copying the look and feel of its products. Samsung countersued two months later over patent infringement.

Apple wins $1B in Samsung patent suit

The initial trial concluded in August 2012 and a nine-person jury sided with Apple on a majority of its patent infringement claims against Samsung Electronics. At that time, the jury awarded Apple $1.05 billion in damages; Samsung wasn't awarded anything. In March, a judge ordered a new trial to recalculate some of the damages, striking a big hunk of money from the original judgment. Another trial was held in California in November. And a second jury awarded Apple an additional $290 million in damages from Samsung, bringing the total amount of damages Samsung will pay Apple to $930 million.

But the retrial didn't mark the end of the Apple-Samsung battle. CNET's Shara Tibken who has been following the legal battle says there are likely to be more appeals, and another patent trial looking at newer devices will start in March. Devices involved in the next trial include Samsung's Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy S3, and Note 2. And Samsung has named Apple's iPhone 5 in a counterclaim. This next trial could actually have a greater effect on consumers given the fact that these devices are a bit newer than the ones named in the previous trial.

 
  (Credit: Amanda Kooser/CNET)

Unlocked phones hit the mainstream
This could finally be the year that US consumers get access to a wider variety of unlocked phones. For years wireless operators have controlled which devices can be used on their networks by forcing manufacturers to put software locks on them. And though there have been a few mobile devices sold without such locks, such as the Google Nexus phones and the new Motorola G just announced this fall, most devices even if they are paid for in full, have these locks. But there could be a greater variety of unlocked devices at different price-points hitting the US market in 2014 thanks to two major developments in 2013.

The first is that carriers such as AT&T and T-Mobile are now offering consumers an incentive to bring unlocked devices to their networks, thus creating a real market for unlocked devices.
New service plans that encourage customers to take their cell phones with them when they switch carriers comes as the major mobile phone companies in the US reach an agreement with the Federal Communications Commission to make it easier for consumers to unlock their phones once they are paid off.

The agreement announced earlier this month is a "voluntary" commitment from the major carriers, including AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile, that they will unlock customers' cell phones once their contracts have been paid off. The wireless carriers have also committed to notifying customers when their devices are eligible to be unlocked, or they will automatically unlock those devices remotely for free.

This is a big deal for US consumers who will finally be able to take their cell phones with them to compatible networks when they've paid off their devices or concluded their service contracts.
LG re-emerges as a hot Android device maker, while HTC's star fades
LG's presence in the US smartphone market has waned in recent years. But it looks like the company started to get its mojo back in 2013 with the introduction of some new high-end devices.

The LG G2 boasts a quad-core 2.3GHz processor under the hood.
(Credit: CBS Interactive)

The company made two hot new Nexus phones for Google. And it's rumored to be working on the next product in the Google Nexus lineup. Despite the fact that its flagship G2 Android smartphone hasn't sold particularly well, it has been well-received among device reviewers. Some people have argued it's the best smartphone the company has released in a long time. With the wind at its back going into 2014, this could be the year, the company breaks in as a credible alternative to Apple and Samsung, especially in the US market.

While LG's star may be rising, HTC's seems to be fading. It's likely to be another tough year for the Taiwanese mobile phone maker. Despite releasing its critically acclaimed smartphone, the HTC One, this year, the company also reported its first ever financial loss. And it's not likely the company's financials will rebound anytime soon.

As CNET's Roger Cheng pointed out in a story in October following the release of its third-quarter losses, the results reflect ongoing issues the company faces. The biggest problem is its small size. It doesn't have the marketing muscle to compete against Apple and Samsung, even when it arguably has better products.

HTC One
"HTC is clearly getting squeezed, and there doesn't seem to be a way out," Roger wrote earlier this year.

Indeed, it seems unlikely that HTC will be able to dig itself out of the hole it fell into in 2013. The company has talked about getting more aggressive with marketing, but the company, which is one of the only major manufacturers in the US focusing exclusively on smartphones, is easily outflanked by bigger competitors. Even LG, which has also struggled in the US market, has a better chance against the two giant device makers in 2014 largely because it has multiple business lines and deeper pockets than HTC.

White House tries to prevent ruling on NSA surveillance

The Obama administration acknowledges for the first time that the NSA's collection of data on American's Internet and phone activity was authorized by President Bush in 2001.

(Credit: Declan McCullagh/CNET)
The Obama administration has filed papers to prevent a federal judge from issuing a ruling on whether the government's warrantless surveillance programs are constitutional.
In a pair of filings late Friday with court for the Northern District of California, the White House acknowledged for the first time that NSA's bulk data collection on American's Internet and phone activity was authorized by President Bush in the weeks after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

"President Bush issued authorizations approximately every 30-60 days," wrote James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence. "Although the precise terms changed over time, each presidential authorization required the minimization of information collected concerning American citizens to the extent consistent with the effective accomplishment of the mission of detection and prevention of acts of terrorism within the United States. NSA also applied additional internal constraints on the presidentially authorized activities."

The government argued, that despite recent leaks by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, further revelation's about the NSA's surveillance and data collection programs could put the government's security at risk if they were divulged in court, he wrote.
"Disclosure of this still-classified information regarding the scope and operational details of N.S.A. intelligence activities implicated by plaintiffs' allegations could be expected to cause extremely grave damage to the national security of the United States," Clapper wrote.

Arguing that it can continue to assert its state secrets privilege to block information from being used in a court, the Justice Department has asked US District Court Judge Jeffrey S. White to dismiss the case without ruling on whether the programs violated the First or Fourth Amendments of the Constitution. The court had earlier ordered the government to evaluate how Snowden's leaks had affected it invocation of the state secrets privilege.
Plaintiffs in the cases, including the Electronic Freedom Foundation, have until late January to respond.
"The government seems to be trying to reset the clock to before June 2013 or even December 2005," EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn said in a statement. "But the American people know that their communications are being swept up by the government under various NSA programs. The government's attempt to block true judicial review of its mass, untargeted collection of content and metada by pretending that the basic facts about how the spying affects the American people are still secret is both outrageous and disappointing."

The filing comes on the heels of another federal judge's ruling earlier this week that the NSA's data collection activities were likely unconstitutional. US District Judge Richard Leon ruled Monday that the government's bulk collection and querying of phone record metadata may violate the Fourth Amendment and "certainly does violate a reasonable expectation of privacy."
Leon, who was appointed to the District Court for the District of Columbia by Bush, issued a preliminary injunction in the case, which is the combination of related lawsuits filed against the government by legal activist Larry Klayman, that bars the NSA from collecting metadata associated with the Verizon account of Klayman and one of his clients. However, the judged stayed the order to allow for an appeal.

Protesters break window of Google bus, report says

Demonstrators blocked buses shuttling Google and Apple employees to work, the second such protest in two weeks.

A fake Google employee shouts at protesters.
(Credit: Screenshot by Nick Statt/CNET) The backlash between the tech industry and the community around it continues to grow, and the buses shuttling employees to and from Silicon Valley offices to their San Francisco and Oakland homes are becoming a symbol of that divide.
Protesters upset with, among other things, the rising rents due to highly paid tech workers moving into the city have staged demonstrations targeting those buses, blocking their paths as they try to depart for the Valley. On Friday, one of the protests resulted in vandalism, with demonstrators breaking the window of one Google bus in Oakland, according to a report by The New York Times. Neither Google nor Apple immediately responded to requests for comment. We'll update this post if we hear back.

There were three bus protests in all -- two Google buses in Oakland and one Apple bus in San Francisco, according to the Times. "We want the ruling class, which is becoming the tech class, to listen to our voices and listen to the voices of folks that are being displaced," one protestor said, according to Reuters.

Friday's protest was the second such demonstration in two weeks. The last one involved a bit of performance art, with a man posing as a Googler shouting rage-baiting condemnations of the protest, like, "You can't afford it? Then leave." The video went viral, and though he was a faux tech worker, it speaks to the growing sentiment about the wealth disparity in the Bay Area. Adding to the resentment is the fact that the buses pick up passengers at stops designated for the city's official public transportation without paying the city.

But while the non-Valley public starts to push back against the tech elite, there are signs that the tech elite are feeling isolated themselves. On Thursday evening, TechCrunch reported that tech investor Tim Draper proposed California be split up into six separate states -- including one state specifically cordoned off as Silicon Valley.

Fake Nerd Guys: We're on to you, geek wannabes!

Think geek girls are pandering to guys? Think again. This satirical Tumblr flips genders to show how silly it is to judge a geek by his or her glasses.

Nice abs guys, but do you REALLY know Thor's origin story?
Nice abs guys, but do you REALLY know Thor's origin story?
(Credit: Fake Nerd Guys)
As a geek girl myself, I've been accused of wearing a "Star Wars" shirt to "get attention from guys who actually care if Han shot first." I've been told to move to the side and let "real gamers" -- who happen to be guys -- play the demos at conventions. I've even been branded a panderer for saying I liked Godzilla, supposedly just to get a date with a man cosplaying as Gamera.

Lately it seems elements of the geek community have become a lot less of a welcome wagon and more of a judgmental Jedi Council that refuses to let newbies in, especially if they happen to be girls. In a community once known for celebrating outcasts and underdogs, it sometimes now seems like you have to take some sort of Voight-Kampff Test to prove your geekdom is legit.

For the record, I've been a proud nerd since birth. I've watched "Doctor Who" since Tom Baker was handing out jelly babies to Daleks. I made my first lightsaber from a foam pool noodle at a slumber party. I do a wicked Chewbacca roar. I know how to say, "Would you like me to buy you a warrior's drink?" IN KLINGON. So dudes accusing me of pretending to be a geek to get their attention makes me want to rip out their hearts Mola Ram style.

The Fake Nerd Guys Tumblr takes those same sexist accusations against women and flips the gender to show how pointless and inane they really are. Even the blog's motto made me want to cheer: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man who identifies as a nerd/geek/gamer must be in want of female attention. This blog exposes fake nerd guys for the casual shams they are."

Sure he's cute. But can he actually tell the difference between Mario and Luigi?
Sure he's cute. But can he actually tell the difference between Mario and Luigi?
(Credit: Fake Nerd Guys)

While Fake Nerd Guys blog shows us how ridiculous it is to accuse girls of pandering to geek guys, it is meant to be in good fun. After blowing up on Reddit, the blog posted this statement:
This blog is purely satirical. I do not personally believe that you have to "earn" your nerd cred, nor that there are any fake gamer guys. Anyone is free to identify as a nerd regardless of who they are or what they do. However, this blog is about showcasing some of the common "proof" that "fake girl nerds" exist, such as: Girls that are "too attractive" to be a nerd. Girls that wear nerdy clothes/nerd glasses. Girls that watch nerdy TV shows/movies that are mainstream. Girls playing games that are casual. Only reversing the genders so that it applies to guys. People are quick to judge female nerds based on just tiny bits of information, it's unintuitive do the same with male nerds -- and I hope my blog shown that.
Hopefully this blog will help the geek community think twice before accusing women of faking their love of all things geeky. If not, feel free to challenge me to a lightsaber duel. I dare you.

Target data stolen in hack showing up on black market

After 40 million accounts were compromised in a nationwide hack of the retail giant, fraud experts are seeing a "ten- to twentyfold increase" in high-value stolen cards on underground card-selling markets.

(Credit: Target)
As if the Target hack ordeal couldn't get any worse -- data from the retail chain's massive security breach stolen between November 27 and December 15 is popping up in huge quantities on the black market, The New York Times reported Friday.
After Target conceded Thursday that its in-store point-of-sale systems were indeed hacked, compromising as many as 40 million debit and credit card accounts, fraud industry experts are seeing the information flood online card-selling markets to the tune of a "ten- to twentyfold increase" in high-value cards.
The hack, which affected only shoppers who made purchases physically at Target stores and not online customers, was a sophisticated operation. It allowed the hackers to glean customer names, credit and debit card numbers, expiration dates, and three-digit security codes from customers, data that can then be burned onto counterfeit cards and sold on the black market typically for $20 to $45 apiece.
However, Brian Krebs, the security blogger who broke the story of the breach, reported Friday that batches of up to 1 million cards were selling for anywhere from $20 to as high as $100 per card.

Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel released a statement assuring customers that no one will be held responsible for fraudulent charges and that only a few instances of fraud had since been reported. That echoes a sentiment by Visa yesterday in a statement to CNET in which a company spokesperson said, "Because of advanced fraud-monitoring capabilities, the incidence of fraud involving compromised accounts is actually rare, and Visa fraud rates remain near historic lows."
Steinhafel also said that no PINs had been compromised, a grave concern for those potentially affected as compromised PINs would allow one in possession of a counterfeit card to withdraw cash from an ATM. He added that Target had no reason to believe that customers' Social Security numbers or dates of birth were scooped up in the hack.
Target expects to have notified all 40 million of those affected via e-mail by the end of the weekend. In an attempt to save itself for what will inevitably be a disastrous hit to its holiday sales, Steinhafel also announced a promotion:
We're in this together, and in that spirit, we are extending a 10% discount -- the same amount our team members receive -- to guests who shop in US stores on Dec. 21 and 22. Again, we recognize this issue has been confusing and disruptive during an already busy holiday season. We want to emphasize that the issue has been addressed and let guests know they can shop with confidence at their local Target stores.


The 10 techies to watch in 2014

Some are familiar faces, others less so -- but each in their own way is trying to shake up the status quo.

Anthony Levandowski (at right) briefs Turkish President Abdullah Gul as boss Sergey Brin listens in.
(Credit: Google Plus)
The problem with any Top 10 list is that it's subjective and you're afterwards bound to think up more candidates who deserve consideration in the ranking. We plead guilty on both counts. But as we head into 2014, the following compilation features folks who, each in their own way, are trying to shake up their particular corners of the tech universe. Some will succeed, others will not. This much is clear: Watching how their stories unfold will make for fascinating reading as part of the larger tale of technology, circa 2014.
 
Anthony Levandowski
The New Yorker beat us to print, but Anthony Levandowski is no longer a secret. He was part of a graduate student team that created the world's first autonomous motorcycle, called the Ghost Rider. Now in the Smithsonian, the Ghost Rider is spearheading Google's driverless-car project. As CNET noted earlier this year, the century-old auto culture is on the verge of radical change, and you can thank Google for where it's headed. Yes, if things work out the way Google intends, these so-called robo-cars will usher in a new era that means the end of driving as we know it. Levandowski figures to be a big part of that revolution.

Glenn Greenwald

Journalist? Activist? Combination of the two? Actually, the moniker doesn't matter anymore. What does matter is the huge impact that Glenn Greenwald has had on our understanding of the extraordinary -- and intrusive -- high-tech intelligence-gathering capability the National Security Agency has built since 2011.

Glenn Greenwald
(Credit: Getty Images)

His blockbuster scoops, based on heretofore secret documents supplied by the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, are still reverberating, forcing legislators and heads of state around the world to catch up. More to follow in 2014 as Greenwald says that only a fraction of the documents in his possession have been reviewed. We'll see them carried on a new media venture Greenwald is putting together with the help of $250 million from eBay founder and billionaire Pierre Omidyar.
 
Ted Sarandos
Reed Hastings gets most of the press attention but Netflix's future success as a video content hothouse increasingly falls on the shoulders of one Ted Sarandos, Netflix's chief content officer since 2000.

Ted Sarandos

Sarandos' goal for Netflix is "to become HBO faster than HBO can become us." With a reported annual content budget of $2 billion, he has the wherewithal to make good on that promise. Sarandos also has committed Netflix to make at least five new series every year. In addition to offering the Emmy-award winning remake of the BBC's "House of Cards," Netflix's menu of original offerings also includes the likes of "Lilyhammer," "Arrested Development," "Hemlock Grove," and "Orange is the New Black."

Starting in 2016, the same year a similar deal with Disney kicks in, Netflix will stream movies from the Weinstein Co. film studio before any other pay-TV provider. (Netflix has cut a deal with Disney to stream four original, live-action shows based on Daredevil, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and other super-powered characters.)
Credit Sarandos with the heavy lifting for all that, thus helping create the buzz around Netflix as it passed HBO in paid US subscribers for the first time.

Balaji Srinivasan
Balaji Srinivasan.
(Credit: Nick Statt/CNET)
 
Balaji Srinivasan
Balaji Srinivasan co-founded Counsyl, which does genomic screens for medical use. He also teaches computational biology and statistics at Stanford. Talking about Srinivasan, AngelList founder and entrepreneur Naval Ravikant predicts: "He's going to explode onto the scene. One of the brightest people I've ever met." Just this month, venture capital heavyweight Andreessen Horowitz announced that Srinivasan will join the firm as a general partner and described him as "particularly enthusiastic" about areas including the quantified self (that is, health care, Bitcoin, and 3D printing).

Marissa Mayer
(Credit: Getty Images)
 
Marissa Mayer
Marissa Mayer joined Yahoo in the summer of 2012 amid extraordinary hype and hope. She deserves credit for returning stability to a company more famous for having five CEOs in five years than for any other achievement. But the picture remains incomplete.

Yet beyond moving Yahoo toward mobile -- a line she repeats at every conference call -- there remain lots of dots left to connect in the absence of a fuller narrative. Mayer's Yahoo has spent heavily, picking up smaller Internet companies, like Tumblr and Summly. That could pay off in helping the company shed its stodgy reputation with younger Internet users. Also, Yahoo is taking another stab at content, hiring the likes of former network anchor Katie Couric and computer columnist David Pogue.

Mayer can afford to experiment, given the windfall Yahoo will reap from its investment in the Alibaba Group, a collection of successful Internet-based businesses overseen by Chinese Internet hotshot Jack Ma. Alibaba recently paid $7.1 billion to buy back half of Yahoo's ownership position. And when Alibaba goes public -- probably sometime in 2014 -- Yahoo will be in a position to pocket several more billion dollars. However, financial engineering aside, that still begs the question whether we ought to think of Mayer as a truly transformative executive or simply as someone with a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Next year may go a long way toward offering an answer.
 
Charlie Ergen
His high-stakes, hardball antics win him bad boy headlines, but Charlie Ergen can deal with monikers like "Most Hated Man in Hollywood" if that's the price of success.

Charlie Ergan
(Credit: Dish Network)

One success after another has followed Ergen as he's built Dish Network into the nation's third-biggest satellite/cable TV provider. Ergen, who once considered a career as a professional poker and blackjack player, is again rolling the dice with a new ad-skipping DVR technology called "Autohop" that has triggered a court battle with the broadcast networks. At this point in the narrative, I must add that CBS, the parent company of CNET, is one of the companies engaged in litigation with Dish. The others are NBC, ABC, and Fox. For its part, Dish has filed a countersuit. If the courts rule for Dish, the broadcasters fear a world in which TV watchers will no longer see commercials. For a decades-old industry that depends on advertising revenue to help cover the cost of its shows, that's bad news in bells. For Ergen, it could prove to be his biggest jackpot ever.
 
John Legere
Sometimes the road not taken turns out to be the best option. Exhibit A: Consider the experience of T-Mobile. Before John Legere's September 2012 appointment as CEO, T-Mobile, the nation's smallest carrier, was losing more than a couple of million customers a year and its corporate parent, Deutsche Telekom, wanted out. AT&T was willing to take T-Mobile off its hands but subsequently walked away from a deal to buy the carrier after opposition from the Justice Department.

T-Mobile CEO John Legere at a March 26 press conference.
John Legere
(Credit: Lori Grunin/CNET)

At that point in the story, you might expect things to go from bad to worse. But Legere arrived on the scene with a mandate to shake things up, and he is making the most of the opportunity, doing everything from eliminating contracts to reducing prices to offering free overseas roaming. (Under the heading of imitation as flattery, other carriers have copied some of the changes T-Mobile introduced, like the monthly installment option and early upgrade program.)

Equally important, T-Mobile has upgraded its 4G LTE network, putting the extra spectrum it received as part of the AT&T breakup fee to good use. The results of that whirlwind activity are beginning to pay off. For the second straight quarter, T-Mobile added customers -- this time more than 1 million subscribers -- even as Sprint and AT&T reported trouble hanging onto price-sensitive customers. T-Mobile may still be the smallest of the carriers but, as CNET reported, it's starting to win away high-end customers from both AT&T and Sprint. To the competition, he very well may be the most dangerous man in wireless.
 
Andy Rubin
Andy Rubin
(Credit: James Martin/CNET)
 
Andy Rubin
Keep a close eye on another Google guy this year. Andy Rubin, who previously headed the company's Android operations, is now in charge of one of Google's "moonshots." This time it's a project with the not-so-modest goal of figuring out how to use robots to free humans from drudgery. Rubin is one of the tech industry's Big Brains and given his record of accomplishment -- inventor of the Android OS and key participant in creating Web TV, among other things -- he bears close watching, even more so now, given that Google reportedly has acquired seven robotics companies.
True to form, the company is saying very little about the details, but it is offering up teases to whet our curiosity.

"His last big bet, Android, started off as a crazy idea that ended up putting a supercomputer in hundreds of millions of pockets. It is still very early days for this, but I can't wait to see the progress," CEO Larry Page said in a Google+ post.

For the time being, the scope of Rubin's secret project appears to be focused on manufacturing. But this is a company with wide ambition -- for example, driverless cars and the use of high-altitude balloons and blimps to deliver wireless Internet access to the developing world. So, don't be surprised if we hear about Rubin taking the effort in myriad directions.
 
Hugo Barra
Hugo Barra left a cushy, high-profile job as head of product management at Google's Android mobile unit to head up global operations at a company most Americans have never heard about: a fast-growing Chinese phone manufacturer called Xiaomi.

Hugo Barra debuting the second Nexus 7 in July in San Francisco.
Hugo Barra debuting the second Nexus 7 in July in San Francisco.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Xiaomi debuted its first smartphone only in August 2011, but it's already making big inroads. With aggressive pricing on its budget smartphones, Xiaomi leapfrogged the much more established Lenovo to become China's second-largest Android phone seller in the third quarter, behind Samsung. Late in the year, it expanded into Taiwan.

Which raises the question: Could the US be next? That's where Barra figures to play a major role. As the public face of Google's Android smartphone business, he's got the necessary marketing and sales chops. Barra is taking on the role knowing that no Chinese smartphone maker has ever achieved major name recognition. But nothing about the pecking order in the current smartphone market is engraved in stone, and there's always going to be a place for a dependable brand that appeals to more budget-sensitive shoppers. After leaving Google, Barra told AllThingsD that if he does his job, "in a few years, the world will be talking about Xiaomi in the same way that they talk about Google and Apple today."
I'd take that as a clear signal of intent. He'll start to fill in the blanks over the course of the next 12 months.
 
David Eun
Silicon Valley's big companies get most of the attention but startups are where you'll often find the cutting-edge action. That's where Samsung hopes to get more help to engineer an end around its chief rivals. For all its strengths -- the company ranks as the world's largest electronics firm by revenue -- Samsung still lags behind in software. It's not for lack of trying. This year, 35,000 of Samsung's 62,000 engineers and designers are software-focused, the third straight year that software has outnumbered hardware. That's why we're paying close attention to the efforts of a little-known executive by the name of David Eun.

David Eun
(Credit: Getty Images)

Eun, who previously ran AOL Media and Studios, has been Samsung's executive vice president since December 2011. He also leads what the company calls its Open Innovation Center (OIC). The OIC works with software and services startups, and Eun's job is to hunt down new ideas and make sure that Samsung -- not Apple or Google -- gets the first call from startups looking for partners. To help make that happen, Eun -- along with a couple of dozen Samsung execs -- is reaching out to startups and venture capital firms in Silicon Valley. The idea is to share Samsung's strategy and listen to startups pitch their businesses for potential partnerships or acquisitions.

So far, OIC has opened accelerators in Palo Alto, Calif., and New York and made numerous investments. It also spearheaded the Boxee acquisition and persuaded developers to make apps for the Galaxy Gear smartwatch.

"Innovation has tended to happen when you have a small group of people with no legacy anything, just trying to solve big problems," says Eun. If he makes good on the promise behind that fancy phraseology, it will go a long way to help "Samsung 2.0" shed its reputation as a software second-rater.

BlackBerry cancels two phones before release

The struggling smartphone maker drops plans for two phones, reportedly code-named Café and Kopi, before they have a chance to hit the market.

BlackBerry sold just 1.9 million smartphones last quarter, down from 3.7 million a year ago.
BlackBerry sold just 1.9 million smartphones last quarter, down from 3.7 million a year ago.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)
BlackBerry had to cancel more than its conference this year. Fearing poor sales, the beleaguered company also had to cancel two phones that were still in development.
"The company also made the decision to cancel plans to launch two devices to mitigate the identified inventory risk," reads BlackBerry's third-quarter earnings report published Friday. The Wall Street Journal came across the buried tidbit Monday

The two phones were code-named Café and Kopi, and BlackBerry had plans to market them as low-cost devices, unnamed sources told the Journal.
The news coincides with BlackBerry's announcement that it's canceling its annual BlackBerry Live conference. The company last week reported third-quarter losses of $4.4 billion and said it sold only 1.9 million smartphones last quarter, a sharp decline from the 3.7 million the previous quarter.

CyanogenMod version of Android exceeds 10M installations

The alternative Android build has attracted a lot of usage, along with venture capital, but tech enthusiasts remain the core user group.

 Cid, the CyanogenMod mascot
Cid, the CyanogenMod mascot.
(Credit: CyanogenMod)
CyanogenMod, a version of Android popular among those unhappy with the operating system that came with their phones, has now been installed more than 10 million times.
That's according to the CyanogenMod statistics site, which tracks installations. CyanogenMod got its start as an enthusiast project built from Google's Android Open Source Project -- the public releases of Android's source code, updated each time Google releases a new version of the OS.
Now, though, Cyanogen is a company with venture capital, and it's getting more attention with Oppo N1 phone support and employee hiring.

As of 6:15 a.m. PT, there were 10,028,044 CyanogenMod installations. Cyanogen periodically scrubs out devices that haven't checked in within 90 days so those that no longer use the OS aren't counted.
The most popular version is the cutting-edge nightly build of CyanogenMod 10.1, which is built each day with the latest updates. That suggests CyanogenMod's stronghold remains with the technophile crowd.

That's not a surprise -- installing a new operating system isn't for the faint of heart. Cyanogen has been trying to ease the process with the CyanogenMod installer app, but Google evicted the app from the Google Play service.

Google has approved Cyanogen's plan to ship CyanogenMod on an Oppo N1.

Google has approved Cyanogen's plan to ship CyanogenMod on an Oppo N1.
(Credit: Cyanogen)

Once science fiction, it'll be reality in 2014

As we prepare for a new year, we're excited about gear that brings to life for the first time ideas that have long been only future tense.


Virgin Galactic tweeted a photo of the historic test flight SpaceShipTwo on April 29, 2013.
(Credit: MarsScientific.com and Clay Center Observatory)
Why wait for the future? We're ready for science fiction to become real.
As the calendar gets set to turn from 2013 to 2014, it's also time to get excited about the kinds of things that will be coming out in the new year that until now, would have been considered nothing but science fiction.

Thanks to advances in technology, along with the help of good funding, new markets, and good timing, 2014 looks set to be a banner year for new products and services that just a few years ago would have only been imaginable by futurists or sci-fi authors.

But now these things are real, and in 2014, the general public, or at least businesses that need them, will finally be able to get their hands on some of these things.

Starting with commercially available trips to space and continuing through the ability to pose questions to the most cognitively advanced computer in history, and including athletic wear that tells us in real time what kind of workout we're getting, next year looks packed with great innovations that take us to the edge of the future -- and beyond.

Here are eight products and services that should be ready for prime time in 2014, and which would tickle the minds of the Heinleins and Asimovs of the past:

Virgin Galactic's commercial space tourism.
Martin's jetpack
• IBM's Watson in the Cloud.
• Nymi's hearbeat-based personal authentication system.
• The new Oculus rift virtual-reality goggles.
• SolePower's power-generating shoe insoles.
• Virtuix's Omni stand-up virtual-reality interface.
• Radiate Athletics clothing.
To see pictures and read more about each of these innovations, click here

Friday 20 December 2013

'Pardon Snowden,' one tech exec tells Obama, report says

At a meeting between Obama and the leaders of major technology companies, Zynga founder Mark Pincus is said to have asked the president to pardon NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden meet with Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and Zynga CEO Mark Pincus in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on December 17.
(Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
It's a refrain that President Obama has heard from critics of the NSA's surreptitious surveillance of the American public: Pardon Edward Snowden.

And now you can add at least one executive from a major tech company to that list.
Zynga founder Mark Pincus has asked Obama about pardoning Snowden, CNN reports.
Obama met Tuesday with 15 tech executives, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, and Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, with the official purpose of discussing how his administration can improve its Healthcare.gov Web site. Just this week, Obama hired Microsoft veteran Kurt DelBene to lead the revamp of the site.

But in addition to discussing the challenges in improving a complex site fraught with failure like the one brought into being by the Affordable Care Act, the Silicon Valley elite apparently didn't mince words when talking to the president about the National Security Agency and the massive, detailed leaks by former NSA contractor and now Russian exile Edward Snowden.
Tech and telephony companies have been heavily criticized for turning their customers' data over to the government as a whole and to the NSA specifically, and reports indicate that they're losing business abroad with each new leaked revelation.

To the suggestion that he pardon Snowden of the felony charges against him for leaking classified information, Obama said he could not, according to an unnamed "industry official" cited by the Washington Post. The Obama administration has stated that if Snowden were to return to the United States, he would receive protection under due process laws.

Snowden has been charged with three felonies, two under the 1917 Espionage Act. He's the seventh person to be charged by the Obama administration with Espionage Act violations, more than all previous Espionage Act-related charges combined.

Senior Obama administration officials told the Post that the meeting was "constructive, not at all contentious." The executives also discussed the economic impact of the surveillance revelations on their bottom line, and the White House said in a statement that the president believes in an "open, free, and innovative Internet" and that he took the group's concerns seriously.
Many of the attendees had raised significant amounts of money for Obama's re-election campaign in 2012.

The meeting followed news on Monday that a judge had ruled the NSA's bulk collection of data unconstitutional, and details of the meeting's conversations came amid reports Wednesday that a White House surveillance review board recommended that the NSA abandon its phone record collection program.

Beware: MacBook Webcams can be used to covertly spy on people

When Miss Teen USA was remotely spied on via the built-in iSight camera on her laptop, the warning light indicating the camera was in use was never triggered.

The spying software hasn't proven to work on newer models of Macs, like this 2013 MacBook Air.
(Credit: CBS Interactive)
Imagine going about your daily life and then one day receiving photos of yourself from inside your home. Sound spooky? Well, this really happened to a woman named Cassidy Wolf, according to the Washington Post. And, to make matters worse, she was nude in the photos.
How did this happen?

Apparently, there's a way for hackers to spy on people via their iSight Webcams in older Apple MacBooks. Typically, when the camera is on a little light is also set off. But, in a newly discovered workaround, this light can be deactivated -- meaning unsuspecting victims have no clue they're being watched.

The Washington Post revealed this new research by Johns Hopkins computer scientist Stephen Checkoway, which shows how people can be spied on with MacBooks and iMacs released before 2008. Using proof-of-concept software, called Remote Administration Tool or RAT, Checkoway was able to reprogram the iSight camera's micro-controller chip so that the light doesn't turn on.

While it could be feasible to do this trick on newer Apple computers or laptops by other brands, it hasn't yet been proven possible.
In the case of Wolf, who was Miss Teen USA, the person spying on her was her high school classmate Jared Abrahams. The FBI was able to nab Abrahams, who pleaded guilty to extortion in October.

In another report by the Washington Post, the former assistant director of the FBI's Operational Technology Division Marcus Thomas said the FBI has been activating computer cameras without turning on the warning lights for years.
This is not the first time someone has been remotely spied on with a Webcam, but it is the first known time that it's been done without the warning light being triggered.