Trade panel delays decision on Apple, Samsung patent fight

Google has agreed to pay a $7 million fine after a three year investigation by a coalition of state attorneys general found the search giant's Street View vehicles had collected private data from home and business networks.

Between 2008 and 2010, the Street View vehicles, which were equipped with antennae and open-source software, collected names, passwords, addresses, emails and other personal information from millions of unencrypted home and business Wi-Fi networks, said Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen, who spearheaded the investigation.

Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia are included in the settlement.

Slideshow: Crazy Images Caught on Google Street View

Jules Polonetsky, director and co-chair of the Future of Privacy Forum, said the fine sends a mixed message.

"Most of us would be enormously unhappy if, as in the old days, we had to wait three minutes while our GPS searched for satellites," he said. Google took information it should not have, he said, "but the big picture here is we all seem to be really happy making this tradeoff."

The $7 million-dollar fine is pocket change to Google, say analysts -- based on projected revenues this year of $61 billion, the company will bring in $7 million per hour. But its reputation has taken a hit; its informal slogan in its early years was "Don't be evil."

Google has agreed to start a nationwide educational campaign to teach people how best to protect themselves on wireless networks. The search giant said it would also educate its employees on user privacy. And it promised to destroy the data it had collected, unless a lawsuit requires that it be preserved. Several class-action suits are still being appealed.

When the intrusion first came to light, Google blamed it on a rogue engineer who set up a data-collection program in equipment that was only meant to detect basic information about the locations of local Wi-Fi networks. The FCC investigated and said last year that some Google managers knew about the data-mining, but didn't stop it.

"We work hard to get privacy right at Google. But in this case we didn't, which is why we quickly tightened up our systems to address the issue," a Google spokesperson said in a statement to ABCNews.com.

"The project leaders never wanted this data, and didn't use it or even look at it. We're pleased to have worked with Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen and the other state attorneys general to reach this agreement."

Jepsen, whose state will get $520,823 from the settlement, said he is pleased with the result.

"Consumers have a reasonable expectation of privacy," he said. "This agreement recognizes those rights and ensures that Google will not use similar tactics in the future to collect personal information without permission from unsuspecting consumers."

Trade panel delays decision on Apple, Samsung patent fight

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. International Trade Commission said on Wednesday that it would delay a decision on allegations that Apple infringed upon patents owned by Samsung Electronics in making the iPod touch, iPhone and iPad.

An administrative law judge at the ITC had said in a preliminary ruling in September that Apple did not infringe the patents. The full ITC said it would review the matter. If the full ITC reversed its internal judge and found Apple guilty of infringement, the ITC could order its products banned from the U.S. market.

The ITC said it would now issue a decision on May 31. It requested filings on questions related to the effect of banning the Apple products on the public interest and whether there were acceptable substitutes for the Apple products if they were to be banned.

Apple has a parallel complaint filed against Samsung at the ITC, accusing Samsung, a major Apple chip provider as well as a global rival, of copying its iPhones and iPads. An ITC judge said in that case that Samsung infringed on four Apple patents.

Apple and Samsung have taken their bruising patent disputes to some 10 countries and four continents as they vie for market share in the booming mobile industry.

Samsung is the world's largest smartphone maker, while Apple is in second place, according to Gartner Inc, a technology research company.

The case at the International Trade Commission is No. 337-794.

THX sues Apple over iPhone, iPad and iMac speaker technology

Apple has been accused of stealing patented speaker technology from THX for its line of iOS devices and iMac computers.

The audio company, founded by Star Wars mastermind George Lucas, has filed suit in California claiming Apple has infringed upon a patent granted to THX in 2008.

The patent in question is called "narrow profile speaker configurations and systems" and relates to how speaker units can be connected to flatscreen televisions and desktop computers to boost output.

THX is seeking compensation or royalties from Apple, in its filing to the San Jose federal court, saying the infringement has caused "monetary damage and irreparable harm."

Resemblance

Examining the patent and the suit, AppleInsider commented that speaker configurations within iOS devices did resemble those outlined in the THX patent, but were more obvious within iMac computers.

"Looking at the patent claims, there appears to be some correlation with the configurations used in Apple's products," the report claimed.

"Perhaps most compelling is the latest iMac's speakers, which features an extremely thin profile with channeled acoustics exiting down-facing apertures that are more narrow than the speaker faces hidden within the machine. It is unknown if the speaker housings actually employ '483 patent's designs, though the structure looks to be similar to those described."

Neither Apple, nor THX have commented further on the matter, while Apple has until May 14 to reach a settlement before court proceedings commence in June.

Google to enter digital newspaper business with Google Play News?

Google looks like its planning to launch a digital newspaper store for Android devices through the Google Play Store.

A Google Play News service has been discovered within the JavaScript of the web-based iteration of the shop.

The find by the Android Police site suggests that users will soon be able to access digital newspapers through "Issues" and "Subscriptions" bought through the Play Store.

It's likely that upon launch, the News section will sit alongside Apps, Games, Books, Magazines, Music and Movies as content categories within Android app store.
Google Reader replacement?

Some of the wording unearthed within the JavaScript hints at Google Play News being a replacement, of sorts, for the Google Reeder RSS service, which was controversially axed during the week.

However, it's probably more likely to take a similar form of Apple's Newsstand app, which sells and delivers digital newspaper issues and subscriptions to users. The language gleaned from the complex code includes:

• To read Google Play News, you must have a supported Android phone or tablet.
• Please sign in to get this News edition.
• Please sign in to purchase this News Issue.
• Please sign in to purchase this News Edition Subscription.
• Subscribing you to this news edition.
• You have subscribed to this news edition. It is now available on your device.

Perhaps we'll see this rolled new feature out at Google I/O on May 15, where the company usually unearths its new Android additions.

For China Mobile, 4G and next iPhone key to unlocking Apple demand

HONGKONG (Reuters) - China Mobile Ltd said it plans to spend 41.7 billion yuan ($6.7 billion) developing 4G technology this year, hoping to tap pent-up demand for Apple Inc smartphones as it gets an iPhone model that will finally run on its network.

The world's largest mobile carrier - with more than twice as many subscribers as there are people in the United States - already has more than 10 million of its customers owning an iPhone even though the gadget doesn't properly work with the Chinese firm's homegrown TD-SCDMA 3G technology, which is not compatible with global technologies.

That inferior technology, and the failure to offer customers an iPhone contract - which its main rivals do - has been a key reason for China Mobile's slowing profit growth.

The company, valued at $220 billion or half an Apple, said on Thursday net profit rose 2.7 percent last year to 129.3 billion yuan ($21 billion). That was slightly better than expectations of 127.4 billion yuan, according to a Reuters poll of 13 analysts, which would have been the slowest growth since profits fell in 1999.

While many of China Mobile's iPhone users have found clever ways around some of the carrier's limitations, the company wants to close the gap with its two smaller rivals - China Unicom and China Telecom - which already offer iPhone-compatible technology.

Industry experts expect Apple's next iPhone will support China Mobile's TD-LTE 4G technology, even though this will be less widely used than the FDD-LTE standard.

"Apple's iPhones will be like a killer app for China Mobile once its gets its 4G up and running," said Huang Leping, an analyst at Nomura International in Hong Kong. "That will definitely boost user numbers, though it will weigh on the bottom-line in the first year or so as China Mobile will most probably have to provide heavy handset subsidies for the iPhone."

China Mobile said on Thursday it will spend 27 billion yuan on handset subsidies this year, up 13 percent from in 2012.

China Telecom, which signed up to sell the iPhone last year, increased its spending on handset subsidies by 50 percent in the first half of last year, and has seen its profits fall in the last three quarters on higher marketing and subsidy costs.

NO-FRILLS

Most of China Mobile's 715 million subscribers are no-frills users attracted to its wide network coverage across the vast country. Only a small number are premium, tech-savvy consumers.

Just 13 percent of its users are on 3G, compared with one third at China Unicom and 44 percent at China Telecom, which use other variants of CDMA 3G technologies developed by global players such as Japan's NTT Docomo and Qualcomm Inc.

Using the iPhone on China Mobile's homegrown 3G network can be as sluggish as being hooked up to a 2G network, but many users take advantage of the carrier's many wi-fi hot-spots for heavier data-crunching applications such as playing games and downloading software.

Demand for the iPhone has spawned a cottage industry, with some local phone vendors selling SIM card cutters that act like a hole-punch to trim bigger cards to fit the smaller iPhone slots. Some China Mobile sales outlets offer on-the-spot SIM-trimming services as well as wi-fi cards that iPhone users can use in most hot-spots.

China Mobile is aggressively pushing for 4G to improve the user experience in a market where chatting on Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeChat and checking microblogs on Sina Corp's Weibo are the norm among smartphone users.

China Mobile plans to spend 190.2 billion yuan on its networks this year, out of which 41.7 billion yuan will be invested in 4G, executives said on Thursday. Last year, total spending was 127.4 billion yuan.

Chairman Xi Guohua said at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year that the carrier planned to build a TD-LTE 4G network with 200,000 base stations to cover more than 100 Chinese cities, home to 500 million potential users.

China Mobile said on Thursday that it expects 4G licenses to be issued around the end of this year, echoing comments by a senior Chinese official last week that lifted mainland telecom-related stocks in Hong Kong.

Consumers worry about data security in call centres

British consumers are worried regarding what happens to their personal data in call centers, according to a survey of more when compared with 2,000 individuals commissioned through communications overhaul provider Avaya and contact center specialist Sabio.

The survey, carried out by Davies Hickman Partners, revealed that more in comparison with 38% of respondents had been reluctant to pay for a product or service over the phone because of worries over call center fraud. This might equate to 18 thousand persons nationwide.

Only 5% feel that a phone payment is completely secure, and 50% imagine organized criminals target call centers. Nevertheless men and women are nevertheless highly reliant on this as a way of buying products and overhaul, and there are several contradictions in their attitudes towards existing security measures.

Some 60% said they are asked pertaining to security details when there may be no require, 71% do not like providing bank account details, and 55% said they disco highly it aggravating to repeat details on one call.

Avaya and Sabio say there exists some tension between companies' attempts to protect individuals’ data and their efforts to put together things easier regarding customers.

However you've received a willingness among consumers to get ready use of technology regarding security: 80% said they are happy to enter passwords on keypads and 51% are receptive to technology as well as voice biometrics.

Simon Culmer, Managing Director UK pertaining to Avaya, said that consumers have a contradictory attitude that makes things difficult regarding organizations, but that there are likely available options.

"Consumer trust in technology is key," he said. "It expects to be used to reassure customers that their security concerns are being addressed while simultaneously improving the customer experience, speeding up the time and driving down the cost of just about hugely and extremely customer service interaction."

10 ways Apple changed the world

Steve Jobs believed in a simple fact: everything around you "was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it. You can influence it. You can build your own things that people can use."

Jobs definitely practised what he preached. While all the other technology firms were churning out products with all the wow factor of a tumble dryer, Apple set out to change the world with innovative computers and gadgets, again and again and again.

As we'll discover, Apple products have revolutionised the way we work and play and listen to music. It has transformed entire industries, created new kinds of computing and done some truly frightening things to bridges. Read on and be inspired.

1. The Apple-1

It didn't sell a massive number of units, but 1976's Apple-1 was the first modern personal computer as most of us would understand the term. Before the Apple-1 came along, computers were sold in kit form, not as assembled machines, and they used switches and lights instead of keyboards and monitors for their input and output. You still had to bring some of your own bits, such as a power supply, keyboard and display, but as Apple promised, "initial setup is essentially 'hassle-free' and you can be running within minutes." The Apple-1 was expandable - for example, it could be connected to "almost any audio-grade cassette recorder" - and came with a free tape copy of the Apple Basic programming language.
The Apple-1 initially cost $666.66 "including 4K bytes RAM!", but rarity has pushed the price up a bit since the 1970s: in 2012, Sotheby's sold one for $374,500.

2. iMac

The original iMac was significant for three main reasons. It was the first legacy-free PC, with Steve Jobs killing off the floppy disk - to howls of protest - and betting on USB connections instead of expansion cards. It was designed as an internet-focused computer, with Apple describing it as "the ultimate internet appliance" and "the first computer to bring the ease of use long associated with Macintosh computers to the arcane world of the internet". And it looked completely different to any other PC on the market, its bright, translucent plastics and swooping curves, ahem, 'inspiring' not just other computer manufacturers, but makers of grilling machines, games consoles, steam irons and many other consumer products. The 2007-2012 iMac's fusion of aluminium and glass was also widely imitated, and the thinner, even more desirable new iMac should keep the plagiarists busy for a while.

3. iPhone

When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone in 2007, it was so different from other devices that he had to explain what it was. "An iPod. A phone. An internet communicator. This is one device, and we are calling it iPhone."

It turned out to be very popular and hugely influential: before the iPhone, smartphones either looked like BlackBerries or were weird things from Nokia. After the iPhone, they looked and worked like iPhones.

The iPhone transformed the industry too, with BlackBerry and Nokia left behind and Microsoft binning its mobile platform altogether.

It changed the way we go online and it's transformed Apple, too – thanks to its worldwide sales Apple is now the world's richest technology company.

4. iPod + iTunes

The iPod made digital music mainstream. The original 2001 iPod didn't have the impressive tech specs of the Creative Nomad MP3 player – but the Creative Nomad didn't have the iPod's stunning good looks and ease of use, and neither did any other MP3 player. They didn't have Apple's clever marketing either.
iTunes made it easy to transfer music you'd ripped or downloaded to your iPod, but there was a piece of the jigsaw missing. That piece turned up in iTunes 4 in the form of the iTunes Store. iTunes made it easy to get music, and effectively locked you to the iPod – copy protection meant you couldn't take your music with you to rival devices. That protection is gone, but the business model with Apple providing the player, the software and the shop – continues to work well for the company in music, movies and apps.

5. GUI

The graphical user interface, or GUI for short, was a huge leap forward: instead of trying to remember commands and their syntax, you could control your computer by pointing, clicking and moving things around with a mouse. Apple didn't invent the idea - some of its GUI was based on a system by Xerox PARC, who invested in Apple - but it was the first company to ship a commercial GUI-based computer, the 1983 Apple Lisa.
However, Apple's GUI was refined for the Macintosh; the first popular computer with a GUI. Its MacPaint software brought digital art to ordinary computer users, and its GUI enabled the creation of programs such as PageMaker and Photoshop, apps that would go on to transform publishing.

6. iPad

It's impossible to overstate how important the iPad was, and is. Before the iPad, if you wanted to do something on a computer you needed to learn how to use the computer first. With the iPad, you just do what you want to do. Play piano? The iPad's a piano. Write a letter? It's a typewriter. Read a book? It's a book. Fire exploding birds? It's a catapult.

The iPad created a new category of computer, which has been bad news for Intel and Microsoft. Analysts agree that sales of tablets will outnumber sales of laptops within one or two years. Apple could remain the biggest single manufacturer of tablet computers, meaning people are buying devices running ARM/Apple processors and Apple's OS, not Intel chips and Windows. The whole personal computing landscape is gradually changing.

7. Stevenotes

Steve Jobs' keynote speeches were legendary, and they've been widely imitated - with good reason, because Jobs was an extraordinary and disciplined showman. He focused on the details, refining and simplifying and using positive language, real-world scenarios, humour and passion to get the message across - and then he'd rehearse until the whole thing was effortless. Whenever you see a CEO deliver a three-act presentation with numbers at the beginning, a simple, positive message, then a big reveal at the end, you're watching someone who's watched Jobs.

For the launch of the original MacBook Air, other presenters would have stuck a spec sheet on a slide, showing its dimensions. Steve Jobs put the Air in an envelope and showed that instead.

8. The App Store

The iPhone launched without apps, but that decision was quickly reversed. Tim Cook says that "the average customer is now using over 100 apps. It's phenomenal." iOS and its App Store is the same closed-ecosystem model as the iPod and iTunes one, and, like that ecosystem, the App Store has been copied by everyone else.

Apple's approvals process can sometimes seem a bit heavy-handed, but that policy has kept malware and scams away.

The combination of safe apps and low prices encourages people to buy more software, and Apple's helped drive that by pricing its own apps at exceptionally low prices. £2.99 for Garageband is the software bargain of the century, and it's a direct link with the Apple-1's bundling of Apple Basic. As the ads put it back in the 1970s, "our philosophy is to provide software for our machines free or at minimal cost".

Apple has also now brought the model to OS X.

9. AirPort

One of our favourite Steve Jobs moments was when he showed off the new iBook at MacWorld Expo in 1999. He started web browsing, picked up the computer, took it for a walk and then passed it through a hula hoop.

The audience cheered, yet wondered what kind of witchcraft they were seeing. The internet? Without wires? Apple didn't invent Wi-Fi, but it worked with Lucent to give the nascent IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence WLAN technology a new name. The result was AirPort and the innovative AirPort Wireless Base Station. Before AirPort, wireless networking was too expensive for the home. Now you could do it for $299 - and because it was Apple, it just worked.

10. iOS 6

iOS 6's Maps app changed the world, but not in the way Apple expected: Apple's replacement for Google Maps came with a lovely interface, turn-by-turn navigation - and maps of a strange, not-quite-Earth planet where familiar landmarks morphed into sinister, surreal shapes, long-dead retailers (Our Price) sprang back into existence, half of Cambridge vanished and Leeds was just a confusing mess (which is fair enough, really).

Maps' errors made it a laughing stock. The mess was satirised by Mad Magazine, which revisited an iconic New Yorker cover and claimed to use Apple Maps data: in its version, New York's 9th Avenue joined the Champs-Élysées, just down the road from the Sea of Galilee, Kuala Lumpur and Chad. One wag on the London Underground wrote on a poster: "For the benefit of passengers using Apple iOS 6, local area maps are available from the booking office."