Mercedes and Toro Rosso to launch new cars at Jerez test

Mercedes and Toro Rosso have both announced plans to launch their 2013 cars on February 4 at Jerez, the day before pre-season testing begins at the Spanish circuit. Mercedes will lift the covers off their new machine, the F1 W04, at 13.30 on Jerez's main straight, with Toro Rosso unveiling their 2013 challenger, the STR8, in the pit lane at 17.30

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2013/1/14195.html

When time is short, go aerobic to lose weight

It's the time of year when we promise ourselves that we're going to eat better (and less), exercise more and drop some weight. Turns out you might want to skip the weight bench and hit the treadmill if you want to keep that last resolution but don't have a lot of time to work out.

Researchers at Duke University have examined the impact of aerobic and resistance training on body and fat mass in overweight and obese adults and concluded that when it comes to losing weight, aerobic exercise has an edge.

"If you're overweight, it's good to lose fat and body weight," Dr. Leslie Willis, an exercise physiologist at Duke and lead author of the study, said of aerobic exercise. "Spend time doing cardio training if that's your main goal."

By: Beth Carter, Edited by: David Cornish

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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/17/aerobic-weight-loss

Globalstar: Don't be afraid of our private Wi-Fi superhighway plan

Bluetooth SIG and Wi-Fi group: But you'll run us off the road!

Globalstar's plan to refarm its satellite spectrum into a privately held Wi-Fi channel has come under fire from the Wi-Fi Alliance and Bluetooth SIG, which reckon it will edge out the unlicensed users.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/16/globalstar_wifi/

No questions asked: big data firm maps solutions without human input

Ayasdi, a company that has developed data visualisation software it says uses big data to answer the questions you never thought to ask, has launched in Palo Alto with $10.25 million (£6.4 million) in funding.

Khosla Ventures and Floodgate are backing Ayasdi, which is already working with clients including US intelligence agency IARPA, Second Genome and Darpa to investigate areas such as drug discovery, cancer therapy, fraud prediction and terrorist attack prevention. Referred to as the Iris Insight Discovery platform, it's a type of machine learning that uses hundreds of algorithms and topological data analysis to mine huge datasets before presenting the results in a visually accessible way. Using algebraic topology, the system automatically hunts down data points close in nature and maps these out to reveal a network of patterns for a reserarcher to decipher -- any closely related nodes of information will be connected and clustered together, like how a social network arranges its data according to relationship connections.

By: Liat Clark, Edited by: Olivia Solon

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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/16/ayasdi-big-data-launch

Domenicali: Keeping Massa the right decision

Team principal Stefano Domenicali is convinced that Ferrari have made the right decision in keeping on Felipe Massa for 2013. A string of disappointing results in the first half of 2012 led to speculation that the Scuderia might not continue their long-running relationship with the Brazilian. However, after a much improved second half of the season they opted to retain Massa for another year

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2013/1/14194.html

Bloke blasts Sprint for fingering his home as phone thieves' den

Welcome to Wayne's world: Multiple missing mobes mistakenly tracked

Phones lost and stolen in Las Vegas are mistakenly telling their owners they're at the house of one Wayne Dobson, who's getting pretty angry at the late night demands and visits from the police.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/16/las_vegas_phones/

Fusion-io touts cheap-as-chips flash to Apple, Facebook and chums

Want a retail discount? You'll need to buy in bulk

Fusion-io is pushing the idea of all-flash servers for HPC and other large scale data centre applications that need a 100 or more commodity servers, and has made its 1,000+ server hyperscale flash card technology available for down market.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/16/fusion_io_ioscale/

Skytap fires up Hadoop data-chewer as cloud crash-test dummy

Eager to work with and compete against Amazon – someday

Hadoop might be a popular tool for munching on unstructured data, but setting up and tuning the software requires a lot more expertise than many people have and it takes a lot of time, too. That makes it a perfect piece of software to put on a cloud, provided you can either generate your data there to begin with or pipe it over there once you gin it up.…

via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/16/skytap_cloud_hadoop_cloudera/

BT's 'six-month free broadband' offer is a fat FIB - ads watchdog

Watchdog bans misleading advert in second ruling of 2013

BT misled customers by wrongly claiming that one of its broadband products was "free for six months", says Blighty's ad watchdog. This is the second time this year the national telco has been scolded by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).…

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http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/16/bt_asa_ruling_line_rental/

GPS pill bottles to track prescription drug thieves

The New York Police Department wants to combat prescription drug theft by getting pharmacies to fit some pill bottles with GPS trackers.

These "bait bottles" would be mixed in with legitimate pill bottles so that when the pharmacy is robbed, the police are able to track the bottles back to the perpetrators. This would help crack crime rings of people stealing and trafficking prescription drugs.

By: Olivia Solon, Edited by: Liat Clark

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http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/16/gps-pill-bottles

France stalls plan to make Google and pals foot broadband rollout

'Obscure panel' mulls web giants funding new high-speed networks

France has put off plans to force Google and other web giants to help build broadband networks. The nation has instead handed off the controversial issue to a governmental panel described by activists as "an obscure committee".…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/16/france_google_investment_in_networks_debate/

Ferrari sign De la Rosa, confirm launch date

Ferrari have recruited Formula One veteran Pedro de la Rosa to their development driver line-up. The former McLaren tester, who raced for HRT last season, will be tasked with helping the Italian team improve their simulator. De la Rosa will join fellow Spaniards Fernando Alonso and Marc Gene at the Scuderia, who have also confirmed they will officially launch their 2013 car on February 1 at their Maranello factory

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2013/1/14193.html

New Facebook Graph Search lets users search social information

Facebook announced a new method of sorting and consuming information disseminated on the social network at a press conference in Menlo Park, California 15 January. The service, called "Graph Search," allows users to enter a query on Facebook and get answers based on cross-sections of information within their social network.

"Graph search is not Web search," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. Zuckerberg pointed out that a Web search with the query "hip-hop" will present links about hip-hop; Facebook's graph search, on the other hand, can answer a query like "Which of my friends live in San Francisco?"

By: Casey Johnston, Edited by: David Cornish

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http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/16/facebook-graph-search

Amazon rainforest starts making phone calls

Trees get Gemalto radio tech, can ring the cops

Trees in Brazil are being fitted with mobile telephones so they can call for help when they're cut down, alerting the authorities to illegal logging as soon as the logs get into range.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/16/amazon_phones/

Speaking in Tech: Why EMC is like a club, geek gifts and more

Chad Sakac: 'There is no API that defines storage services'

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http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/16/speaking_in_tech_episode_41/

China shoves Beidou intro tractors, trucks and buses

Latest decree from on high turns up heat on GPS

The Chinese government has mandated the use of its new satellite navigation system Beidou (BDS) in several classes of vehicle across nine provinces, as the sat nav war between it and the United States' GPS heats up.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/16/beidou_gps_gnss_china_transport/

Myanmar to open telecoms to foreigners

Two licenses up for tender

One of Asia’s last closed telecommunications markets is to loosen up, with Myanmar announcing its tender for two telecommunications licenses will be open to foreign companies.…

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http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/16/myanmar_launches_telco_tenders/

Microsoft control freaks Server 2012 clouds with System Center SP1

Wraps up Azure cloud smarts for service providers

Redmond is pushing out a Service Pack 1 update to Systems Center to get all of the functionality it has been talking about out the door.…

via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/15/microsoft_systems_center_2012_sp1/

Verizon puffs up Terremark cloud over London and Dallas

Offers per VM pricing, Federal-grade security to enterprises

It has been two years since telecom behemoth Verizon shelled out $1.4bn to buy cloud computing partner Terremark. And since that time, this poster child for VMware's vCloud wares has been pretty quiet as corporate types work to absorb it into the telco and realize the $500m in "synergies" – that means cross-selling and cost-cutting – that the deal required for it to make economic sense. Two years on, Terremark is integrated into Verizon and is ready to make some noise about its Enterprise Cloud.…

via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/15/verizon_terremark_enterprise_cloud/

Austin to host F1 In Schools™ World Finals 2013

F1 in Schools™ have announced that it will stage its ninth World Finals event in Austin, Texas to coincide with the 2013 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix which takes place at Circuit of The Americas in November. Over 250 students from around the world are expected to attend the event after winning the National Finals in their home countries

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2013/1/14192.html

Former PayPal, eBay hackers strap a rocket onto MongoDB

NoSQL cloud runs on flashy hydrazine

If ObjectRocket told you all of the secrets behind its bespoke cloud for running the MongoDB data store super-fast, then it would have two choices: It would either have to kill you or hire you and make you keep the secret. Alternatively, you could just use the ObjectRocket cloud to host your NoSQL data and not care about how it manages to be faster than other clouds running MongoDB – and that is what ObjectRocket is counting on.…

via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/15/objectrocket_mongodb_nosql_cloud/

Hortonworks adds Ambari control freak to Hadoopery

Downloads and business are booming for open source data munching

Hortonworks, the Yahoo! spinoff that has emerged as the third supplier of commercial support for the Apache Hadoop big-data muncher, is ramping up its Data Platform to the 1.2 release, which includes better security, enhancements to HCatalog data sharing and HBase database services that ride on top of Hadoop, and integration of the Ambari graphical management tool that was in tech preview when Hortonworks kicked out its 1.0 release last June.…

via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/15/hortonworks_data_platform_1_2/

Sheffield ISP: You don't need a whole IPv4 address to yourself, right?

PlusNet seeks volunteers - just for a tick, until IPv6

Facing the shortage of IPv4 addresses, and glacial adoption of IPv6, UK ISP PlusNet is looking for volunteers among its customers to test out sharing the IPv4 addresses on its network.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/15/ipv4_nat/

US describes Megaupload's entrapment claim as 'baseless'

Megaupload's contention that the authorities entrapped the now-shuttered file-sharing service is "baseless," the US government said in a new court filing.

The brouhaha concerns part of the government's rationale to seize Megaupload domains and arrest its chief executive Kim Dotcom and his top lieutenants for running what the authorities claimed was a massive and illicit file-sharing service that cost Hollywood studios and other content makers some $500 million (£311 million).

By: David Kravets, Edited by: David Cornish

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http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/15/megaupload-entrapment

Russian cybersleuths uncover 5-year spy operation targeting governments

An advanced and well-orchestrated computer spy operation that targeted diplomats, governments and research institutions for at least five years has been uncovered by security researchers in Russia.

The highly targeted campaign, which focuses primarily on victims in Eastern Europe and Central Asia based on existing data, is still live, harvesting documents and data from computers, smartphones and removable storage devices, such as USB sticks, according to Kaspersky Lab, the Moscow-based antivirus firm that uncovered the campaign. Kaspersky has dubbed the operation "Red October."

By: Kim Zetter, Edited by: David Cornish

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http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/15/operation-red-october

Fujitsu flip-phone is device of choice for Japan's philanderers

Fujitsu's F-Series phones have become known as "infidelity phones" in Japan because of some of their privacy features which make it easy for adulterers to hide calls and messages from contacts marked as "private".

The flip-phone has been on the market for more than five years, but has been outed in the Wall Street Journal by a Japanese dating blogger who goes by the name of Bakanabe as device of choice for men (and, presumably, women) who want to hide certain calls or texts from their partners. It has a privacy mode that allows the user to designate certain contacts as private. If one of those contacts get in touch via calls, emails or text messages, the phone creates none of the usual call logs or other such evidence. Instead, there will be a subtle change in the colour or shape of the battery signs or signal bars.

By: Olivia Solon,

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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/15/fujitsu-philanderers

BT's shock new wheeze: Make phone calls from smartphones

There is method in this VoIP app madness

BT customers can now make calls over the internet from a smartphone app and have the cost added to their landline bill.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/15/bt_voip/

Microsoft ends Mac users' Windows Phone 8 misery

Stone the crows, fanbois can actually use their mobes now

Microsoft has updated its Mac OS X mobile software so that owners of new Windows Phone 8 handsets can synchronise music and photos with their Apple computers consistently.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/15/win8phone_mac_fix/

China's Android users warned of giant botnet

One million infected by MKD Trojan, and counting

Security researchers in China are warning Android users to be on their guard after claiming to have discovered a million-strong botnet lurking on the platform.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/15/android_malware_botnet_china/

HMV expected to enter administration as soon as Tuesday

Entertainment retailer HMV is expected to go into administration Tuesday morning, following poor business performance and financial losses.

The closure comes only days after photographic retailer Jessops also entered administration.

By: Nate Lanxon,

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http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/14/hmv-administration

Zuck on that! Instagram loses HALF its hipsters in a month

People do care about copyright - when it's their own

Think users don't care about copyright? Time to think again. The spectacular fallout from Instagram's photo landgrab continues.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/14/instagram_bombs/

Apple 'slashes iPhone 5 screen orders', tight-fisted fanbois blamed

Shares dip after supply chain whispers of weak sales

Demand for iPhones is plummeting, according to two supply-chain sources. The suggestion of weak sales knocked about three per cent off Apple's pre-trading stock to just above $500 a share.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/14/iphone_5_screen_order_halved/

FTC chief fends off critics over THAT Google decision

'A win for consumers', Jon Leibowitz insists

The propriety of the US Federal Trade Commission's decision not to take action against Google over allegations of search bias has repeatedly been questioned, after FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz recently confirmed that the multi-billion dollar corporation would not face anti-trust charges.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/14/ftc_chairman_defends_google_decision/

Twitter-owned Tweetdeck must 'file accounts or be struck off'

Failure to file finances puts outfit in hot water - report

Tweetdeck Ltd could be closed down after repeatedly failing to file its financial accounts with the UK's Companies House, Sky News is reporting.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/14/twitter_owned_tweetdeck_uk_company_filings_missing/

Stars turn out in force for Massa's karting challenge

Seven weeks after the 2012 Formula One season ended in Brazil, a host of drivers were back in the country over the weekend for the 'Challenge of the Stars' kart race, an event organised each year by Ferrari's Felipe Massa. The Brazilian was joined on the grid by Ferrari team mate Fernando Alonso and last year's winner Jaime Alguersuari amongst others

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2013/1/14189.html

Review: Google Nexus 4 low-cost Android 4.2 smartphone

At last, we got one

There are two numbers you need to keep in mind as you read this review. Firstly, 239, the remarkably small number of beer tokens Google wants in return for an unlocked, Sim-free 8GB example of the latest Nexus phone. And 2, which is the number of months it has taken me to actually get hold of one for a long-term test.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/14/google_nexus_4_android_jelly_bean_smartphone_review/

Disney World slaps pay-by-bonk stalker cuffs on grown-ups

Cashless payments mean parents cough more cash

Disney World is going RFID, replacing tickets and wallets with pay-by-bonk wrist bands, and offering an enhanced service for those who want to be greeted by name around the park.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/14/dismey_rfid/

Sorry for the censorship says Chinese chat service

Tencent blames technical glitch for WeChat foreign censorship incident

Chinese web giant Tencent has released a statement blaming a “technical glitch” for problems that last week led to disruptions for international users of its popular WeChat app last week.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/14/tencent_apologises_for_censorship/

Cisco sued by East Carolina University

Apparently tomorrow starts in Greenville, not San Jose

East Carolina University (ECU), which is based in the rural town of Greenville on the hatchet face of North Carolina, is probably the last organization you would expect to pick a legal fight with networking giant and server wannabe Cisco Systems. But late last week ECU, whose football team is pretty good and goes by the name the Pirates, accused Cisco of stealing the school's marketing slogan for a new marketing campaign.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/14/east_carolina_university_sues_cisco/

Dispose of still-usable items in Goedzak bags

A Dutch design agency has come up with a concept for a rubbish bag that lets you dispose of items that you don't want, but which someone else might.

The "Goedzak", which translates to "good bag" or "do-gooder", is a transparent bag with an eye-catching yellow stripe down one side, which you can put things out on the street in. If any of the contents catch the eye of a passer-by, they can feel free to just take them.

By: Duncan Geere,

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http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/13/goedzak-bags

Microsoft sets final closure date for Windows Messenger

Windows Live Messenger will finally be put out to pasture on 15 March, Microsoft has said in an email to Messenger users, after which time its users will need to switch to Skype.

The company has been threatening the once-dominant messaging platform with closure since November 2012, as a result of its desire to move its users to Skype. Microsoft acquired Skype in October 2011.

By: Duncan Geere,

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http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/13/msn-messenger-closing

White House rejects Death Star proposal on cost, morality grounds

The United States government has rejected a petition signed by 34,000 American citizens asking it to begin construction on a Death Star by 2016.

The petition argued: "By focusing our defense resources into a space-superiority platform and weapon system such as a Death Star, the government can spur job creation in the fields of construction, engineering, space exploration, and more, and strengthen our national defense."

By: Duncan Geere,

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http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/12/death-star

Amazon to offer free digital copies of purchased CDs

Web retail giant Amazon will offer people purchasing CDs a free digital copy of the album as part of a programme called AutoRip.

AutoRip, which for the time being is only available in the US due to the difficulties of global licensing agreements, will automatically keep a digital copy of CDs purchased since 1998 in a cloud storage account.

By: Duncan Geere,

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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/12/amazon-autorip

Reuters rubbishes report rubbishing cheap iPhone rumor

Chinese paper changed tune at Apple's request

So is Apple planning to release a cheaper iPhone or isn't it? The answer seems to depend on whom you believe – and Reuters, for one, says it doesn't believe the Shanghai Evening Post.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/11/reuters_dismisses_cheap_iphone_dismissal/

Trakdot uses GPS tracking to ease luggage carousel stresses

Travelling with kids is not the easiest thing in the world. Technology can make a big difference in easing our longer journeys. However, more than entertaining children with iPads strapped to headrests or even new fangled airplane sleeping arrangements, it's often the simplest gadgets that make the difference.

With a family trip around the world planned for later this year one of my biggest concerns is losing our luggage. Travelling alone, or with other adults, lost luggage is a pain. Travelling with children, essential items stowed away in their suitcases, lost luggage is a potential nightmare.

By: Andy Robertson,

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http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/08/trackdot-tracks-luggage-all-the-way-home

Under wraps - the 2013 launch schedule

The 2013 FIA Formula One World Championship gets underway with the 2013 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne's Albert Park on March 15-17. But before the racing can begin, each of the teams will be unveiling their new car. Here are some important dates for you diary in the weeks leading up to the start of the new season

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2013/1/14188.html

Julia Hobsbawm: 'Sweep aside the red rope for open-sourced elitism'

For six weeks this year you could have taken a Princeton course in Algorithms, Part I with world-renowned professors. The course's cost?

Plugging in a computer, or an investment of two weekly sessions of 75 minutes per week. Two thousand Google+ users recommended this

particular free course, run by the social enterprise Coursera. It has nearly 1.5m online students. That's a big classroom.

Of course, to attend Princeton in person is a different matter. You would need money and you would also need to be selected. Elite institutions make you wait to see if you have been chosen because marketing law is clear: the more elusive something expensive is, the more desirable it becomes.

By: Julia Hobsbawm, Edited by: David Cornish

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http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/01/ideas-bank/sweep-aside-the-red-rope-for-open-sourced-elitism

Vodafone goes titsup for BlackBerrys in mobile data outage

Yet another reason to down tools and head to the pub on Friday afternoon

BlackBerry users on Vodafone have had another long day, or perhaps a relaxing one, as data services for many users dropped out this morning and are still on the fritz.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/11/rim_outage/

Apple rubbishes rumours of iPhone for the masses

What are we, Samsung?

Apple has denied that it is considering increasing its market share and beating off competitors with a cheaper iPhone.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/11/apple_denies_cheap_iphone/

Darpa open sources code for building amphibious tank

Two years ago, defence secretary Robert Gates killed off the Marines' Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle -- a $13 billion (£8 billion) misfire of an attempt to build an armoured boat that could make landfall and still get around on the beach. But on 14 January, the US Department of Defense will give the public the chance to design something better.

The DoD's forward-thinking Darpa group plans to release open-source software that will let anyone design and run virtual tests on their own swimming tank. And more than that, it will kick off the first phase of a contest where you can pit your amphibious tank design against everyone else's. The prize: $1 million (£620,000).

By: Robert McMillan, Edited by: David Cornish

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http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/11/darpa-open-source-code

Possibly the worst broadband in the world

Web crawler

Four kilometres to the north the pavements are stuffed with fibre optic cable, lining streets dotted with drab green cabinets, all nicely tooled up for superfast broadband; but here, in semi-rural Kent, we rely on ADSL, piped in from a small BT exchange, 2.5kms to the south. You can see it is an exchange from the sign on the wall.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/11/bt_broadband_ip_profile_throttled/

China censors chat users outside China

report says messages discussing press freedom campaign blocked

China’s largest internet firm, Tencent, is reportedly now censoring messages sent by international users of its popular WeChat service.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/11/china_censors_beyond_borders/

Riccardo Zacconi's King.com empire of Facebook-based games is levelling up

Riccardo Zacconi has a lot to thank Facebook for: through the site, six of his firm's casual games are played three billion times a month, by 12 million people. His London-based firm, King.com, is Facebook's number-two games developer worldwide, after Zynga. Now it's targeting the 78m users accessing Facebook via smartphone.

King.com was founded in 2003 as an online games company. "We used to distribute games through our website and large portals such as Yahoo!, NBC or CBS," says Zacconi, 45, CEO and cofounder. "In 2009, we noticed traffic moving towards Facebook," he says. At that point, the startup had about 11 million monthly players on its website. So the team picked its most popular web game, Bubble Saga, modified it using Facebook's social tools, and launched it on the social network in April 2011. Its Facebook games went from 0 to 50 million active monthly users within 15 months.

By: Madhumita Venkataramanan, Edited by: David Cornish

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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/01/start/britains-social-king

Nokia decrypts browser traffic, assures public not to worry

It’s acceleration, not snooping, say Finns

Just as Nokia announces numbers that look like it may avoid irrelevance, the mobile supplier has become embroiled in a privacy row centered on the behavior of its browsers.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/11/nokia_decrypts_says_it_doesnt_snoop/

Technology, bushfires and AM radio

The connected life isnt' hugely helpful in the bushfire zone

As Australia's heat-wave returns, I’ll be in the Blue Mountains in NSW, surrounded by eight hectares – around 20 acres – of mostly uncleared bush, contemplating both the benefits and shortcomings of modern emergency services communications.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/10/technology_bushfires_and_am_radio/

Dell, Intel and pal pump $10m into OpenStack biz Mirantis

Chip titan and Chinese sugar daddy help bankroll PC giant's cloud dream

Michael Dell’s computer giant, Intel and WestSummit have joined forces to inject a new open-source cloud vendor with $10m so that the startup can develop and sell its delayed OpenStack public cloud.…

via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/10/mirantis_dell_cloud/

Red Bull RB9 to break cover on February 3

Reigning world champions Red Bull have announced that their new car, the Renault-powered RB9, will be unveiled on February 3. The launch will take place in the team's UK hometown of Milton Keynes, two days before pre-season testing begins at Jerez in Spain. Red Bull, who have won three consecutive drivers' and constructors' titles

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2013/1/14184.html

Site launches to help hunt Amazon's free ebooks

There's a ubiquitous smugness that appears to accompany the purchase of an ereader. It's not in the box, nor is it downloaded as an optional extra -- but a quick glance at the expression of an ereading commuter beside their paper-bound brethren seems to convey a sense that they are "winning".

The smugness of ereaders will abound with the launch of Freebook Sifter, a site that allows easy browsing of free ebook titles on Amazon.com. The relatively under designed site highlights newly free ebook titles, displaying them in a list according to their Amazon ratings and average star stats.

By: David Cornish, Edited by: Ian Steadman

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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/10/freebook-sifter

Google's Schmidt: I squeezed Norks to lift web blockade

Stop being evil, yeah? Well, at least I asked

Google chairman Eric Schmidt ended his controversial visit to North Korea by declaring he urged the secretive state to embrace the "free and open internet".…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/10/eric_schmidt_in_north_korea/

Review: HTC 8X Windows Phone 8 handset

Taking on Nokia at the Microsoft smartphone stall

It’s hard not to feel a little sorry for HTC. Eighteen months ago it was the darling of smartphone manufacturers having reinvented itself from a maker of unbranded handsets for the likes of O2 to an outfit boasting some of the best Android smartphones around.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/10/review_htc_8x_windows_phone_8/

5,000 UK pubs get free Wi-Fi... and they're not even all in London

Pleased as Punch

Punch Taverns, operator of more than 5,000 tenanted and leased pubs in the UK, has signed with The Cloud to put free Wi-Fi in all of them in the hope of promoting a little lunchtime drinking.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/10/free_wi_fi/

Chinese Twitter Sina Weibo goes bilingual

The Chinese are coming!

Attention Twitter: Chinese micro-blogging giant Sina Weibo has just updated its platform to accommodate English speaking users in a move that may well signal international expansion.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/10/sina_weibo_offers_english_interface/

FCC to unleash unlicesed spectrum to relieve 'Wi-Fi traffic jam'

Shared-spectrum scheme with the Department of Defense

The US Federal Commnicatioons Commission has announced plans to open up a chunk of unlicenced spectrum to relieve the "Wi-Fi traffic jam," according to FCC chairman Julius Genachowski.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/10/fcc_wi_fi_speactrum_increase/

Remotely controlled space humanoid 'Justin' lets you sense what it touches

This is Justin, a humanoid robot that can be controlled in space by a human on Earth. "Telepresence means you get the feeling of being there, even if you cannot go there," says Gerd Hirzinger, adviser at the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics at DLR, the German Aerospace Centre in Cologne. In 1993, Hirzinger was in charge of the ROTEX experiment, involving the first remotely controlled robot in space. "For seven years the joints on Justin were outside the International Space Station, where they worked perfectly," says Hirzinger. "I'm confident Justin could work on the Moon."

Developed at DLR, Justin can be controlled from 40,000km away, with only a 600-millisecond time delay. He has two dextrous hands on arms that mimic the motion of an exoskeleton-like "diver's suit" and provide force feedback, so the operator can feel what the robot feels.

By: Daniel Cossins, Edited by: David Cornish

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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/01/start/hands-in-space

The 'iPotty'? Training toilet comes with iPad stand at CES

It's not all curved OLED TVs and 4K at CES. For some exhibitors it's all about innovation in the high-end training toilet space.

This product, which I stared at for a good 45 seconds with my mouth open, is a plastic potty for children -- with an iPad stand attached. Presumably for the child, but frankly I don't know if that's worse than if it was for a parent.

By: Nate Lanxon,

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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/09/ipad-toilet

Dish charges into Sprint-Clearwire hotel room waving cash

But there can be no ménage à trois here

Dish Networks continues its mobile aspirations with a bid for Clearwire, offering more cash than the existing offer from Sprint, but with more strings attached.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/09/clearwire_dish/

Standards sultan sanctifies 60GHz wireless LAN tech

IEEE blesses WiGig's HDMI-over-the-air, publishes 802.11ad

The IEEE has published a 60GHz wireless networking standard, 802.11ad, much to the joy of the WiGig Alliance: its 60GHz "USB/PCI/HDMI/DisplayPort" technology sits on top of the radio-based communications spec.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/09/ieee_publishes_802_11ad_standard/

BT in ad slapdown after 'misleading' punters on fibre deployment dates

Online checker checkmated by ad watchdog

BT has been rapped by the UK's advertising watchdog, which found that the national telco had "misled" customers about when its broadband products would be available in their areas.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/09/bt_asa_rulling_over_fttc_product/

Speaking in Tech: It's not a CLOUD fail, it's a cloud FIRM fail

C'mon, Netflix, own up...

via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/09/speaking_in_tech_episode_40/

New Ferrari to launch ahead of first test

Ferrari have confirmed plans to unveil their 2013 challenger at their Maranello headquarters in early February. The new car will then be transported to the Jerez circuit in Spain in time for the first official pre-season test, beginning February 5

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2013/1/14182.html

Guess who'll grab Facebook Sponsored Stories payout? (Hint: Not the victims)

It's not like you'll ALL come calling for measly $10... bitch

Because of a quirk of the US legal system, the bulk of the $20m from Facebook's class action privacy settlement meant for people affected by its Sponsored Stories privacy gaffe* will likely go to "citizens' privacy rights groups" - raising ethical concerns about the relationship between the beneficiaries and powerful corporations they purport to monitor.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/09/silicon_valley_sockpuppets_payout/

Nuisance calls DOUBLE, Ofcom vows to hunt down offenders

Not that easy when you only regulate UK firms, eh?

Ofcom has outlined yet another plan to target annoying phones calls, which according to its latest report have doubled. It is hoping that imposing a few fines, writing several stern letters and doing more research will stem the flow - despite remaining entirely powerless to prevent calls that originate outside the UK.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/09/ofcom_calls/

Twitter uses people for real time big data

Crowdsourcing advocates will be in your ear about this forever

Twitter has revealed that real, live, flesh-and-blood people are one of its key tools for analysing data in real time, and that it finds the people it needs with an unconventional approach to crowdsourcing.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/09/twitter_human_computation/

Boffins hide messages in Skype ‘silence packets’

Careful, someone might hear you

A Warsaw-based security researcher says the packets that Skype sends during silence can be used to carry secret messages in a conversation.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/09/steganography_in_skype/

Apple may debut low-cost iPhone for emerging markets in 2013

Not just for rich fanbois anymore

Apple has made a name for itself by marketing high-end gadgets to affluent, design-conscious consumers, but it could be planning a move down-market as early as this year, if industry scuttlebutt proves correct.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/09/apple_low_cost_iphone_rumors/

Former PayPal, eBay hacks strap a rocket onto MongoDB

NoSQL cloud runs on flashy hydrazine

If ObjectRocket told you all of the secrets behind its bespoke cloud for running the MongoDB data store super-fast, then it would have two choices: It would either have to kill you or hire you and make you keep the secret. Alternatively, you could just use the ObjectRocket cloud to host your NoSQL data and not care about how it manages to be faster than other clouds running MongoDB – and that is what ObjectRocket is counting on.…

via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/08/objectrocket_mongodb_nosql_cloud/

Mobiles that capture 4K 'Ultra HD' coming this year, confirms Qualcomm CEO

At a private briefing at CES, Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs confirmed that mobile devices that capture 4K "Ultra HD" will be seen as early as this year.

The executive has recently announced his company's new Snapdragon 800 mobile processor, which amongst other features, enables devices it powers to capture the next-generation video format.

By: Nate Lanxon,

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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/08/4k-tablets

New York's Chelsea gets free Wi-Fi courtesy of Google

Leonard Cohen has something else to do in Chelsea

Google is setting up a free outdoor Wi-Fi zone around its New York headquarters in the Chelsea district, making it available to local residential homes and schools.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/08/google_free_wifi_chelsea/

Nokia chief Elop: 'Android? Hey, anything's possible!'

Will HTML5 lure away Windows Phone mobe maker?

Nokia chief exec Stephen Elop has sparked speculation about his company's commitment to its partnership with Microsoft and Windows Phone.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/08/elop_anything_goes/

China throws 3G net over disputed island chain

Where there's coverage so follows ownership

The Spratly Islands now have 3G coverage, connecting the uninhabited rocks and reefs to China's telecommunications network, much to the annoyance of Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and the Philippines.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/08/3g_spratly/

Zombie BT mobile patent emerges in hands of troll

Scattergun fired at world+dog

A Delaware company called Steelhead Licensing has filed a world+dog lawsuit alleging infringement of a patent it acquired from BT.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/07/yet_another_troll_wants_rent_from_mobile_industry/

Broadband gov subsidy should end in 2015 -Tory think tank

Calls on state funds to educate poor, elderly, disabled about online world

The government's current fixation with pushing for the deployment of faster broadband connections to most of the UK's population by 2015 should not shape its future policy, a leading Tory think tank has argued.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/07/policy_exchange_broadband_report/

Hotel chain checks out of server rooms and into the cloud

Tips on how consolidation can save more than just cost

De Vere hotels had legacy systems, systems that needed updating but, most of all, it had lots of servers doing different things. Having grown by acquisition, it needed to consolidate if it wanted to realise its plans for customer service. It did this using a private cloud created by ANS Group, based on NetApp's FlexPod.…

via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/07/consolidation_cloud_event/

Scottish Highlands get blanket 3G coverage

... It's a teensy blanket though: El Reg compares femto offerings

Femtocells, which extend 3G networks using domestic broadband, have been around for a few years now, and while only one operator will take your money for one, the others will furnish you with one if you complain loudly enough. Now that most of the big UK providers each have their own gear, we thought we'd see whose tiny cell offers the biggest service.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/07/femtocells/

Google turns off Chinese censorship alert service

Chocolate factory going soft?

Google has ditched a much talked-about anti-censorship service in China just six months after launch, in what could be viewed as the web giant making key concessions over the protection of online freedoms.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/07/google_china_closes_censorship_warning_service/

AWS puts sysadmins on call everywhere, all the time

Android app lets you measure cloudy bulges in your pocket

Amazon Web Services has built an app capable of driving its cloudy services from an Android device.…

via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/07/aws_android_management_app/

'Sticky' animation celebrates rediscovery of giant stick insects

The rediscovery of a thought-to-be-extinct species of giant stick insect on a remote mountain fortress in the Pacific was one of the most heartwarming conservation tales of 2012, so it's being turned into an animated documentary.

The creatures were found on a 500-metre tall mountain, sticking like a needle out of the Pacific, known as Ball's Pyramid. Their originally-known habitat, Lord Howe Island, was overrun by ship's rats in the early 1900s.

By: Duncan Geere,

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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/06/sticky-animation

Windows Phone users protest Google maps redirect

A minor kerfuffle has erupted over claims that Google is blocking Windows Phone (and other non-Android or iOS) users from accessing Google Maps on their devices.

On 4 January, some users reported that they were getting redirected from maps.google.com to the Google homepage instead. A number of explanations were proposed -- that Maps requires a webkit browser (which Internet Explorer is not), for example, or that it was was somehow "incompatible" with these devices.

By: Duncan Geere,

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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/06/google-maps-windows-phone

The biggest climate uncertainty: politics

An analysis of major sources of uncertainty in limiting the rise of global temperatures has found that politics, rather than science, society or technology, plays the largest role.

The study, published in Nature, compared the relative importance of political uncertainty regarding when a coordinated global climate policy might be achieved; scientific uncertainty over how much the Earth will warm in response to emissions; social uncertainty about future energy demand; and technological uncertainty regarding the availability of emissions-reduction technologies.

By: Duncan Geere,

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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/05/climate-politics

Free Music Archive holds birthday song contest

"Happy Birthday To You" is one of the best-known songs in the English language, but it costs more than £6,000 to license it in a movie or TV show, so the Free Music Archive is holding a competition to find a replacement.

The song's origins can be traced back to another called "Good Morning to All", written by a pair of American sisters named Patty and Mildred Hill in 1893 as a song that'd be easy for young children to learn.

By: Duncan Geere,

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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/05/birthday-song

Dan Ariely: 'What kids peeing in the pool can teach us about bankers'

There are times when uncertainty is unbearable: waiting to hear about a school or job acceptance; or pacing outside an operating theatre, worrying about a loved one. But at other times we're a lot happier being in the dark -- or at least partially shaded.

Many of us have spent time beside a pool. And you have probably wondered: what are the odds that no children (or adults, for that matter) have peed in the water? When pressed, we'd have to admit that the odds that the pool is pee-free are close to zero, but the lack of absolute certainty allows us to relax and swim anyway. We may comfort ourselves with some fuzzy thought about chlorine, or the immense volume of the pool relative to a few bladders, and our concerns slip away.

By: Dan Ariely, Edited by: David Cornish

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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2012/12/ideas-bank/what-kids-peeing-in-the-pool-can-teach-us-about-bankers

Wired.co.uk Podcast 106: Asteroid capture, work smarter, London cat cafe

This week we discuss Nasa's plans to capture an asteroid and place it in our moon's orbit, the opening of London's first cat cafe, ways you can work smarter, North Korea, and the rest of the week in Wired news

By: Nate Lanxon,

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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/podcast/episode-106

How to survive in the wild with a broken mobile phone

Your damaged phone can still help you stay alive, according to Creek Stewart, founder of the Willow Haven Outdoor School in Indiana. Here are four ways it could save you.

By: Madhumita Venkataramanan, Edited by: David Cornish

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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2012/12/how-to/how-to-survive-in-the-wild-with-a-broken-mobile-phone

Mars meteorite contains ten times more water than previous finds

Scientists have identified a never-before-seen type of meteorite from Mars that has 10 times more water and far more oxygen in it than any previous Martian sample.

The meteorite was found in the Sahara Desert in 2011 and has the official name of Northwest Africa 7034. It is a small basaltic rock formed from rapidly cooling lava -- nicknamed "Black Beauty". The meteorite is about 2.1 billion years old, from a period known as the Martian Amazonian epoch, and provides scientists with their first hands-on glimpse of this era.

By: Adam Mann, Edited by: David Cornish

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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/04/mars-meteorite

February launch for new Sauber

Sauber have announced that they will launch their 2013 car - the Ferrari-powered C32 - on February 2, three days before the start of pre-season testing. The Swiss team's new challenger, which will be raced by Nico Hulkenberg, formerly of Force India, and Mexican rookie Esteban Gutierrez, will be unveiled to the media at their Hinwil factory

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2013/1/14179.html

How to make a remote camera-trigger from an aerosol

Been wondering how to devise a low-cost remote trigger for your point-and-shoot camera? All you need is an electronic air-freshener, a screwdriver, some plywood, a few screws and some basic carpentry.

By: Jeremy Cook, Edited by: David Cornish

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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2012/12/how-to/how-to-make-a-remote-camera-trigger-from-an-aerosol

Ofcom looks at contract opt-outs as users rage over price hikes

Operators: The 'fixed' bit was supposed to be for you, not for us...

UK communications watchdog Ofcom is consulting on whether Brits should be allowed to pull out of any communications contract if the price changes, following widespread outrage at the practice.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/03/contract_get_outs/

How to quit Facebook

Want to say no to the social-networking giant, but don't know how to do it? Wired can help you lose friends and influence fewer people.

By: Tom Cheshire, Edited by: David Cornish

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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/01/how-to/how-to-quit-facebook

US judge rejects Apple's argument in Amazon Appstore case

Apple suffered a major setback on 2 January in its fight with Amazon over the use of the term "app store" when a federal judge in Oakland rejected Apple's claim that the Amazon Appstore for Android was committing false advertising.

US District Judge Phyllis Hamilton noted that although Apple's digital storefront for apps is called the App Store and Amazon's is called the Appstore, Apple has failed to provide any proof that Amazon ever tried to pass itself off as a place to get iPhone or iPad apps.

By: Nathan Olivarez-Giles, Edited by: David Cornish

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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/03/apple-app-store

Tiny Brit island stranded after £10m undersea fibre plea sunk

Even if UK signed ITU treaty, St Helena wouldn't get the dosh

Days after walking away from the ITU treaty on global communications, which asked nations to connect up their islands, the UK confirmed it will not stump up the cash to do just that.…

via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/03/st_helena_fibre/