Judge rejects ACLU challenge, says NSA telephone data collection is legal (update)
We don’t expect this back and forth to flame out any time soon, of course, but a US District judge in Manhattan certainly issued a blow to an American Civil Liberties Union challenge of the National Security Agency’s massive telephone data collection. The judge acknowledged that the agency has, indeed, been “vacuum[ing] up information about virtually every telephone call to, from, or within the United States,” but said he saw no evidence that it was being used for anything beyond attempting to foil terrorist plots, denying the ACLU’s motion for preliminary injunction. The ACLU hasn’t issued a statement on the matter yet, but we imagine it’s not giving up the fight any time soon.
Update: You can now read the full ruling here in PDF form.
Filed under: Internet
Source: Reuters
Bitcoin exchanges shut down after threat from India’s central bank
Bitcoin is quickly beginning to attract the attention of regulators in a number of countries. After a flat-out ban in Thailand and restrictions on banks in China, now several Indian Bitcoin exchanges have suspended operations following a warning from the Reserve Bank of India concerning digital currencies. Issued December 24th, the statement outlines the risks of a purely electronic wallet, unregulated transactions and value fluctuations. It also contains what could be considered a threat, however, stating that virtual currency users could be breaking money laundering and terrorism financing laws — one report from the subcontinent suggests the government has carried out the first raid on a Bitcoin exchange, too. Thus, some sites have decided to close for the time-being, leaving notes on their homepages expressing the need for clear legal guidelines before trading can resume. Undoubtedly we’ll see more countries take steps towards regulation, especially as the price of currencies rise. Nothing decreases something’s worth like outlawing it, after all.
Filed under: Internet
Via: The Next Web
Source: Economic Times, dna, buysellbitco.in, IRNBTC
Nokia Pulls ‘HERE’ Maps App for iOS, Citing iOS 7 Changes That ‘Harm the User Experience’
In the wake of a rocky launch of Apple’s mapping services as part of iOS 6 last year, Nokia debuted its own iOS app bringing its “HERE” maps to the platform in the form of a free app. Based on the NAVTEQ mapping data used in many vehicle navigation devices, the HERE iOS app included a number of features including offline mode and transit and walking directions.
Earlier this month, HERE quietly disappeared from the App Store, and The Indian Express reports (via Engadget) that Nokia has now issued a statement blaming unspecified changes in iOS 7 for driving the company’s decision to remove the app.
When approached for a comment, a Nokia spokesperson sent The Indian Express an official statement. It read, “We have made the decision to remove our HERE Maps app from the Apple App Store because recent changes to iOS 7 harm the user experience. iPhone users can continue to use the mobile web version of HERE Maps under m.here.com., offering them core location needs, such as search, routing, orientation, transit information and more, all completely free of charge.”
As the report notes, the HERE iOS app was not particularly well received by users, having suffered from a number of bugs and received no updates during its year on the App Store. Consequently, it seems likely that poor adoption and an unwillingness by Nokia to invest significant effort in fixing the app’s issues played significant roles in HERE’s demise on iOS as well.
Without more information from Nokia, however, the exact set of circumstances leading to the removal of HERE remains unclear, and it is unknown exactly what changes in iOS 7 the company is referring to in its statement. Some users have criticized the look and feel of the redesigned operating system, with some usability issues also having been raised.
The dramatic design change in iOS 7 has also led many third-party developers to invest significant resources in redesigning their own apps to match the new aesthetic, and perhaps Nokia simply felt that it did not want to commit to make the necessary changes and improvements to its iOS app in order to attract and retain users.
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Nokia Lumia 1320 lands in China first
Large-phone lovers on a budget, rejoice: Nokia’s 6-inch, $339 Lumia 1320 smartphone is now available in China. That’s a bit earlier than the January 2014 time-frame it first promised, and the Finnish company said it’ll also roll out in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and other countries (likely in Europe) in the coming weeks. It packs a whopping 3,400mAh battery for the long-winded, but otherwise has middling specs: a 720p screen, dual-core 1.7GHz Snapdragon 400 CPU, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of expandable storage and a 5-megapixel camera. Unfortunately, there’s no word of an arrival date for those in the US torn between a tablet and phone — but given the LTE bands we saw at the FCC, don’t hold your breath.
Filed under: Cellphones, Nokia
Via: WM Power User
Source: Nokia
CTIA Launches ‘Know My App’ Website Showing Mobile App Data Usage [iOS Blog]
Mobile trade organization CTIA has launched Know My App, a website dedicated to informing consumers about the impact that specific apps have on data usage, reports PCWorld. The group notes that while tools have been available to measure an app’s post-installation impact on data usage, the new website is the first to measure data usage before a download.
Currently, the site allows users to search for an app by name, operating system or category, and currently includes test results for the top 50 paid and free apps from the App Store and Google Play. CTIA also pledges to add more apps to the database in the coming months, and is also inviting developers to submit their apps for testing.
The website was developed in a joint effort between product testing company Intertek and CTIA’s Application Data Usage Working Group, which includes members such as Apple, Cisco, Google and LG. The tool also comes as wireless providers such as AT&T and Verizon have imposed different policies on data usage throughout the past few years with the offering of tiered data plans for customers.
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Report: Snapchat exploits can steal your private info, expose you to spam
A group of security researchers has published a pair Snapchat security exploits, claiming the popular social startup has ignored requests to address them since August — prior to any Facebook acquisition talk. The Gibson Security team is hoping that’ll force the company to respond to the problems, which they say could pose serious privacy risks for both iOS and Android users. The first bug could help a hacker suss out private user details like phone numbers, while the second could be used to create masses of dummy accounts. Together, they could be used by spammers, or worse, stalkers, provided they roughly know the location of the target. Now that the code’s out in public, anyone with technical know-how could exploit the bugs, which the team said could be fixed with “ten lines of code.” If true, hopefully Snapchat will jump on them quick — check the source for more.
Filed under: Misc
Via: Ars Technica, ZDNet
Source: Gibson Security
Taiwan officially prosecutes HTC’s ex-lead designer for fraud and leak
Earlier today, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office concluded its investigation on the HTC saga that mainly involved ex-lead designer Thomas Chien (pictured above). The report indicts the ex-VP for leaking HTC’s upcoming icon designs — likely from the yet-to-be-released Sense 6.0 — by way of a presentation, which was shown to his then future business partners for a new company they were forming together. There’s no mention on whether the other party was tied to the Chinese government, as previously rumored, but the meeting was known to have taken place in Beijing back in June.
The investigation also confirmed that Chien’s naughty crew managed to rake in NT$33,566,000 or about US$1.12 million, in the form of false expense claims plus rebates from a supplier. In case you forgot, about a quarter of that cash was found inside Chien’s Audi, with another quarter confiscated from him separately earlier.
The prosecutors said while most other perpetrators have admitted to their wrongdoings, Chien continued to defend himself and remained in denial of some of his crimes. The court is therefore advised by the report to offer a heavy sentence for the traitor’s “malignant” behavior.
Samsung’s got another tablet in the works
One of the great things about the FCC is that the commission is obligated to reveal all of the newly-minted and as-yet unannounced gadgets that pass through its hallowed halls. The latest to be shown is a Samsung tablet measuring in the 8-9-inch category. Naturally, all that the FCC is concerned with is if the unit’s Bluetooth and WiFi modules are working properly, so we shall have to wait and see what the SM-T320 turns out to be. But considering that we’ve got CES in less than a week and MWC a month afterward, we doubt we’ll be waiting long.
Via: Phone Arena
Source: FCC
Apple Renews Motion Calling for U.S. Ban on Samsung Products
During the original Apple v. Samsung trial in 2011, Apple requested an injunction to prevent Samsung from selling its Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets within the United States. Apple stated that the products in question violated three of its multitouch software patents, including the “rubber-banding” patent covering bounce back along with the tap-to-zoom and pinch-to-zoom patents. Judge Lucy Koh then formally denied Apple’s request, suggesting there was no evidence Apple would suffer irreparable harm if Samsung was able to continue selling its products.
Last month, however, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that Judge Koh must reconsider her decision to not ban Samsung devices that infringed on Apple products. Now, FOSS Patents is reporting that Apple has renewed its bid for a U.S. ban on Samsung products, requesting that a separate injunction trial be held on January 30, 2014.
It’s important to focus on the asserted patents, not the accused products. Obviously, the products that are named in an April 2011 lawsuit (such as the Galaxy S II) are no longer commercially relevant. But Apple is seeking an injunction that would also cover “any other product not more than colorably different from an Infringing Product as to a feature found to infringe” (which is consistent with the Federal Circuit’s TiVo v. EchoStar opinion).
The trial concerning a possible Samsung product ban will also be separate from a second infringement lawsuit to be held on March 31, 2014. Apple and Samsung also participated in a damages retrial last month that followed the original trial in 2011. The jury in the retrial found Samsung liable for $290 million in damages, with Samsung then filing a motion to delay its payments to Apple. That motion however was later denied by Judge Koh, basing her decision on three factors centering around the pace and progress of the case as a whole.
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Tesla Model S software update guards against faulty wiring
Amidst a recent spate of Model S fires, Tesla has upgraded the software on the EV to prevent unsafe charging, according to a tweet from Tesla S owner @ddenboer. If input power fluctuations are outside a safe range, the software will automatically reduce the charging current by 25 percent — from 40 amps to 30, for instance. The change is supposedly a response to a recent Tesla S blaze, which happened in a California garage in November. Citing investigators, Tesla said the incident wasn’t caused by the EV but by an overheated wall charger in the garage, a problem that the system can apparently now detect and help mitigate. Meanwhile, per Tesla’s request, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is still looking into several recent fires, two of which were caused by road debris puncturing the batteries. Though the company has already changed the warranty to cover any and all fire damage, CEO Elon Musk hopes that such an inquiry will prove that the Model S is safe.
Filed under: Transportation, Software
Via: Autoblog Green
Source: @ddenboer (Twitter)
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