New iPad joystick promises more precise gaming actions

Need proof that the iPad and other tablets are planed toward playing games? Now they've got their own joystick.

Logitech has leapt into the gadget-accessory fray with a tool it claims would help you avoid a poorly aimed rocket blast or a pass that sails over your wide-open receiver in the end zone.

The Logitech Joystick is clearly purposed at making the gaming experience on the iPad closer to what gamers have come to know and enjoy on more dedicated gaming devices.

"No one likes to lose a point or go down to defeat because their thumb misses the control area," the company says on its web page for the $19.99 gadget. "The Logitech Joystick provides you a thumb-stick style game controller for iPad that you can use with just about any game with an on-screen joystick or d-pad."

The joystick fix on the iPad screen with suction cups, letting the user move it around depending on the game. A coiled spring keeps the stick centered.

The site lists 32 games that the joystick is now compatible with. That list is heavily weighted toward sports games and shooters that made a splash on traditional gaming consoles before being reworked for the iPad.

Among them: "Madden NFL 11," "Call of Duty World at War: Zombies," "FIFA '11," "Prince of Persia: Warrior Within" and "Resident Evil 4."

More casual titles like "Cut the Rope" and "Fruit Ninjas" are available, a likely nod to the fact that many of those games require swiping at multiple spots instead of being focused largely in one place.

The product is part of an raise focus on tablet accessories by Logitech, which has struggled somewhat as Apple's ascendance has hurt its PC-accessory trade.

The joystick, which is available for pre-order and set to ship in September, looks same to the already available Fling Joystick, which performs a same function and is offered at the same price.

Microchip implant monitors tumour growth

German researchers have developed a microchip sensor that can be implanted close to a tumour to monitor its growth.

The device tracks oxygen levels in nearby tissue to find if a tumour is growing.

Results are then transmitted wirelessly send to a patient's doctor - reducing the need for frequent hospital scans.

Future designs will include a medication pump that can deliver drugs directly to the affected area.

Researchers hope this will lead to less aggressive and more efficiently targeted cancer treatments.

Medical engineers at the Technical University in Munich designed device as a way to track and treat tumours that are difficult to reach.

"There are some tumours which are difficult to remove - for example, close to the spine. You run the risk of cutting the nerve if you remove them surgically. Or the problem may be that the tumour is growing slowly, but the patient is elderly," said project manager Sven Becker.

"In these cases it's better to check on tumour, and only treat it if there's a strong growth phase."

WikiLeaks cables detail Apple's battle with counterfeits in China

According to cables obtained by WikiLeaks, Apple was slow to act against the booming counterfeit industry in China and other Asian countries, 
According to an electronic memo from the Beijing embassy dated September 2008, the technology giant eventually organized a team in March 2008 to curtail the explosion of kickout iPods and iPhones.
Yet, three years after Apple moved to crack down on widespread counterfeiting and put pressure on China, progress has been slow. Gadget piracy isn't a high priority for the Chinese government, the U.S. reports and experts say.
Apple's official recently formed global security team were recruited from Pfizer after they executed a series of crackdowns on counterfeit Viagra production in Asia.
John Theriault, formerly Pfizer's security chief and, before that, a special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, leads Apple's global security unit. Don Shruhan, who performed for Theriault at Pfizer, is recently a director on Apple's security team in Hong Kong.
Shruhan told the Beijing embassy official that his group at Pfizer spent five years planning raids on counterfeit drug rings, the cable says. He said he's threatened of the volume of imitation Apple products being manufactured in China and about the inexperience of Apple's lawyers in dealing with Chinese authorities, the report says.
An Apple spokeswoman is not interested to comment. A Pfizer spokeswoman, who refused  to comment on personnel matters, said the company has a strong global security team to handle the raise in counterfeit medicine worldwide.
WikiLeaks, a group that publishes private government documents, posted tens of thousands of previously unreleased U.S. diplomatic cables last week. The reports from the Beijing embassy detailing Apple's piracy crackdown were unclassified, but many were described as "sensitive" and "not for Internet distribution."
In December, Apple said it removed an application from its mobile store that let people browse WikiLeaks documents from their iPhones "because it violated developer guidelines." The company suggested that the app broke laws or could be harmful to people, but many free-speech advocates cried censorship, as they have in the past when Apple has pulled apps.
The fresh WikiLeaks documents shed new light on Apple's struggles with intellectual-property theft in China, but the subject hasn't completely flown under the radar.
News media were rapt after detecting that China is home not only to fake Apple gadgets but also to, which had many of Apple's signatures. The Chinese government ordered to close five unofficial because they had not secured proper business permits from Chinese government, but a spokesman for China's Kunming government defended the others, saying they sell authentic Apple merchandise, according to return
Apple owns and operates four stores in China. The three in Beijing and the one in Shanghai are Apple's highest trafficked and top grossing stores in the world, Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's financial chief, said in an earnings call in January.
But the demand for Apple products is insatiable there. Due to demand in market stores have begun to sell the products without Apple's permission, while others are hawking cheaper, lower-quality gadgets that are aesthetically similar and bear the chic Apple logo.
China's Guangdong province, the country's most populous region, has become a hub for producing and selling counterfeit Apple products, two of the newly surfaced cables say. The Foxconn Technology Group, which assembles products for Apple, operates factories in Guangdong.

Abertay student wins Glasgow 2014 video game prize

Student of  Abertay University has won a competition to produce a video game based on the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

William Rountree, from County Armagh in Northern Ireland, scooped a cash prize of £2,014 for his design called Your Moment.

The 21-year-old's game allows players to try 10 of the 17 sports that feature in the 2014 games.

It was produced with help from a professional games studio in Dundee.

The game could be played free on the Glasgow 2014 website.

Glasgow 2014 chairman Lord Smith said: "William is obviously a very intelegent young man

He said William impressed with his initial concept and seeing the finished article is very pleasing."

Google boss 'knew about' unlicensed pharmacy adverts

According to government prosecutor Google's chief executive Larry Page knew that adverts for unlicensed Canadian pharmacies were running on its US site.

Rhode Island attorney told the Wall Street Journal that incriminating emails had been uncovered as part of an official investigation.
The largest search engine agreed last week to pay $500m (£306m) as penalty.
It declined to comment on the specifics of Mr Neronha's allegations.
Instead, it issued a statement reiterating its regret about what had happened.

Apple gives Tim Cook $384 million stock grant

Former Apple Chief Steve Jobs took home $1 a year for serving as Apple's CEO. The company's new Chief, Tim Cook, is getting a richer deal.
Apple's board has given Cook a restricted stock grant of 1 million shares, Apple reported late Friday in a regulatory filing. Those shares have a market value of $383.6 million, based on the stock's closing price on Friday.
But Cook will collect the shares only if he remains an Apple employee for the next decade. Half of his stock will vest in August 2016, and half will vest five years later, in 2021.
As Apple's CEO, Apple will pay annual salary last year of $800,000 and an additional bonus of $900,000. He also took home a special award on his "outstanding performance" as acting CEO during Jobs' 2009 medical leave: A $5 million cash bonus and a grant of 75,000 shares.
That put Cook's total 2010 compensation at $59 million -- enough to make him one of the tech industry's highest-paid executives.
On the other side, Steve Jobs earned a $1 annual salary every year since he rejoined Apple in 1997. While many $1 a year CEO reap big back-end stock and options packages, Jobs was almost a financial ascetic: He collected no stock awards most years, no cash bonuses and no perks, even turning down a 401(k) match from Apple.
But in late 1999, Apple's board famously came through with a whopper of an executive bonus: The company spent $90 million to buy Jobs a Gulfstream V airplane. It also tossed in options on 10 million Apple shares.
"Apple's market cap has risen from less than $2 billion to over $16 billion under Steve's leadership," Apple board member Ed Woolard said at the time.
Apple's market cap currently stands at $355.6 billion -- making it the most valuable and reliable publicly traded company in the world.  

Why Apple without Steve Jobs is no fun

Steve Jobs has resigned as CEO of Apple, many people in the tech and business worlds are wondering what will become of the world's biggest tech company, which brought us the first personal computer and the first for-real smartphone and ushered in the era of digital music.

Most of that talk centers on buttoned-up topics like market potential and future products. What does Jobs' departure mean for the future of Apple's business? For the next iPhone?

Blah to all that. Perhaps the largest deal for a tech lover's psyche is this sad little fact: Without Steve Jobs, Apple is far less fun.

The Sony Walkman is reshaped as a smartphone

Do you know the Sony Walkman has been dead?  How many people have music cassettes, or even know what a cassette is?

How about the Sony Walkman that played CDs?  You can find those around.

Well, for all of the Walkman friends out there, the latest version has been made.  It is the Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman and it is an Android Gingerbread 2.3 smartphone with lots of music capabilities.

Sony Ericsson announce their new Walkman today.  Think of a Walkman on steroids that does not need a cassette of CD, is lightweight and a smartphone rolled into one cool handset.

It is also no slouch in the social networking circles.  The Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman has facebook highly integrated into the users..  It can also recommend music by Facebook friend’s recommendations.

HP TouchPad sale ignites $99 webOS tablet grab

HP has launched TouchPad for sale $99. At $99 for the 16GB webOS tablet, people are snapping them up as fast as HP and retailers can unpack them from their shipping containers. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers ponder this August madness.

England complete India series whitewash at The Oval

Great bowler Graeme Swann bowled England to another biggest victory over India to complete a 4-0 series whitewash, as Sachin Tendulkar out nine runs short of a landmark 100th international century.

Tendulkar and Amit Mishra looked to be batting India towards defend as they frustrated England with a partnership of 144 at The Oval.
But Mishra was bowled by Graeme Swann (6-106) for 84 and great Indian batsman Tendulkar, who had ridden his luck to reach 91, was out to a marginal lbw decision in the following over.
India's remaining batsmen were skittled in quick succession as  England complete India series whitewash at The Oval to victory by an innings and eight runs - their seventh innings triumph in 13 Tests - midway through the afternoon session on the last day.

Gadhafi still in Libya, says U.S.

The 42-year rule of old Moammar Gadhafi appeared on the verge collapse Monday, with rebel supporters making it to the same Tripoli square where regime loyalists had congregated for month.

But in a possible sign that the fight is not end, celebrations in Tripoli's Green Square gave way to tension Monday morning after rebels told private channel that they'd heard Gadhafi army forces were heading their way. No one confirm any movement of Gadhafi forces.
Here there are some of the latest improvement of the fighting in Tripoli, the latest installment of battles in a months-long uprising in Libya.

Ex-Wikileaks man 'deleted files'

A former Wikileaks spokesman says to have deleted many files which was not published that had been passed to the whistleblowing site.

Daniel Domscheit-Berg told  that the documents included a copy of the complete US no-fly list.

He said he had "shredded" them to avoid their sources being compromised.

A former Wikileaks spokesman Mr Domscheit-Berg previously worked alongside Julian Assange until the pair had a high profile falling-out.

It is understood that he took all the files off Wikileaks' servers at the time when he leaves Wikileaks'.

Wikileaks confirmed the claims on its tweeter feed saying: "We can confirm that the DDB claimed deleted data included a copy of the entire US no-fly list."

The list contains the names of individuals who are stopped from boarding planes in the United States or restricted for the US, based on suspected terrorist links or other security concerns.

Wikileaks' statement went on to state that Mr Domscheit-Berg had also deleted 5 gigabytes of data relating to Bank of America, the internal communications of 20 neo-Nazi organisations and US intercept information for "over a hundred internet companies."

Mr Domscheit-Berg has not confirmed those additional claims.

Google-Motorola, those scary, scary flash mobs

Tech Check podcast, Doug Gross, Stephanie Goldberg and Brandon Griggs discuss about deal of Google's massive, $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility.

Everyone's discussing about Motorola's 17,000 patents, which could provide Google some help in legal battles with Apple and Microsoft. But what will this mean for non Motorola companies that make phones using Google's Android operating system?

We also take a look at the rebranding of flash mobiles from innocent, if sometimes silly, spontaneous gatherings to, at least in some people's eyes, an opportunity for crime and other shenanigans?

Is there something to this? Or is blaming social media for crime just a cop-out?

Our Reader Comments of the Week come from a story detailing a report that 90 % of video game players, even the most hardcore ones, never finish the games they start.

German official: Ditch Facebook's 'like' buttons

German government official  has ordered websites to stop using Facebook's "like" button, saying they give away personal information.
Thilo Weichert, data protection commissioner in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, issued a statement Friday saying analysis in his office showed that using the popular buttons transfers data to Facebook's servers in the United States.
It is illegal,that would violate German and European Union data-protection laws, he said.
"Whoever visits facebook.com or uses a plug-in must expect that he or she will be tracked by the company for two years," Weichert said in the statement. "Facebook develops a broad individual -- and for members even a personal -- profile."

HP to exit PC and tablet business

Hewlett Packard has announced a plans to stop making PCs, tablets and phones, Hewlett Packard want to refocus on software.

HP has agreed to buy UK software firm Autonomy for £7.1bn ($11.7bn).HP added that it was considering selling its personal systems group, which includes the world's biggest PC-making business, and that it will discontinue its webOS devices.The webOS operating system is used in its tablet computers and smartphones.

Taiwan's HTC sues Apple in patent infringement dispute

The Taiwan smartphone maker HTC has filed a lawsuit in the US against Apple, accusing its American rival of infringing its patents.

HTC is trying to stop US imports of iPhones, iPads, iPods and Mac computers.

It is a legal war over patents between the two companies.

The war for sales of smartphones between HTC and  Apple took a new twist on Monday when Google agreed to pay $12.5 billion to buy Motorola's mobile unit.

Google wants to move ahead with development of its Android system for mobile telephones, making it more competitive with rivals like Microsoft.

The legal awr over patents between HTC of Taiwan and Apple in the US is part of the sales war.

HTC General Counsel Grace Lei said in a statement: "We are taking this action against Apple to protect our intellectual property, our industry partners, and most importantly our customers that use HTC products.". Apple has not passed any comments.

Google's Motorola deal seen as Cold War arms race

Open warfare between technology giants is nothing special,  the conflict over mobile phones went nuclear when Google this week announced it was acquiring Motorola's mobile division.

Behind the headlines of the $12.5 billion deal, some analysts says, it is a Cold War-style arms race, with leading firms racing to stockpile the patents that will serve as weapons of mutually-assured destruction.

But as Google creates base against Apple, Microsoft and the creators of BlackBerry, the question is: will anyone benefit from this escalation in potential hostilities or, like the standoff between America and the Soviet Union, will it ultimately prove futile?

Industry observers say Google's new deal, which saw it pay a 63% premium on shares, is primarily aimed at laying its hands on Motorola's arsenal of patents -- legally protected innovations built up over years at the frontline of cell phone development.

All 24,000 patents have little intrinsic value, says Lee Simpson, a London-based analyst at Jeffries International, but a core 500 or so represent the mother lode, giving Google ownership of key cellular technology.

Apple renewed its arsenal last month when it jointly with Microsoft led a $4.5 billion consortium buy up of the bankrupt Nortel Corp. The deal, giving access to 6,000 key communications technology patents, was at the time seen as a blow to Android.

Intellectual property analyst Florian Mueller last month said at least 45 lawsuits currently surround Android and according to Simpson, with Android gaining market dominance, an attack from Apple on an exposed Google was seen as inevitable.

"The reason why Google has gone after this is that Apple is going to become aggressive and until now, Android has had a soft underbelly, with very little patent protection," Simpson said.

According to Simpson, while Apple can lay claim to the touch screen technologies that saw its iPhone revolutionize the market, Android's haul of Motorola patents means it can retaliate by claiming ownership of cellular connectivity technology.

"You've got a standoff here whereby nothing happens. It is the mutual destruction thing that you saw with the Soviets and Americans."

"In the end no one does anything. Stalemate," he said.

Global technology analyst Richard Windsor also sees Google's acquisition as a move to arm itself against an impending attack on the Android's main users -- chiefly Asian-based cell phone manufacturers such as HTC, ZTE and Samsung.

"These guys really need patent protection and what you've seen is the likes of Microsoft and Apple are going after the Android community," he said.

But the question is, will Google's Cold War-style tactics actually benefit the Android community or will such aggressive efforts to defend its market share create casualties along the way.

Benedict Evans, a communications analyst with Enders Research in London, says there is a risk that Google will unintentionally ride roughshod over its new division, with disastrous results.

"There will be a concern that they'll buy it and run it into the ground because they think that they know better than all the Motorola guys, so there is a major execution concern here," Evans says.

"There's going to be a massive culture clash and Google need to be very careful in finding the right balance between innovation and humility."

This could be good news for other producer using the Android platform, he says. For, while bringing hardware and software under the same roof could result in superior technology, it may also freeze out other Android users and cause the community to collapse.

Apple halts Samsung sales of Galaxy tablet in Europe

Apple Inc won a great victory in its patent infringement battle against Samsung Electronics Co after a German court temporarily barred the South Korean firm from selling its flagship Galaxy tablet in the EU, except the Netherlands.

The court order announced a week after Samsung was forcefully asked to delay the Australian launch of its latest Galaxy tablet because of a similar lawsuit.

Apple has said Samsung’s Galaxy line of mobile phones and tablets “slavishly” copied the iPhone and iPad. It has sued in the US, Australia and elsewhere. Samsung, whose tablets are based on Google Inc’s Android software, has countersued Apple.

Apple spokesperson Kristin Huguet confirmed that a court in the German city of Dusseldorf approved the preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1. It was not immediately clear why the order did not add the Netherlands.

“It’s a strategy Apple has adopted to completely prevent Samsung from putting its tablet into the market place,” said Nathan Mattock, an intellectual property lawyer at Marque Lawyers in Sydney.

Samsung’s mobile unit, which adds handsets and tablet PCs, generated 30 percent of the technology giant’s profit in the second quarter. The bulk of the rest comes from memory chips and televisions, sectors where Samsung is the global leader.

The South Korean company said it would challenge the court decision.

“The request for an injunction was filed with no notice to Samsung and the order was issued without any hearing or presentation of evidence from Samsung,” Samsung said.

Apple’s move also increase the stakes for Google, which has accused its biggest rivals of banding together to hamper its increasingly popular Android, after it lost a bid to buy thousands of patents from bankrupt Nortel.

Without patents, companies’ devices are vulnerable to challenges for royalties or, worse, demands from rivals to withdraw the products from the market place.

Samsung has been locked in a war with Apple over smartphone and tablet patents since April. The Galaxy gadgets are seen as among the biggest challengers to Apple’s mobile devices, which have achieved runaway success.

Industry executives said Samsung could launch a new variation of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to get it on sale in Europe, as it plans to do in Australia, or settle the dispute by paying royalties to Apple.

In Australia, Samsung has agreed to show Apple an Australian version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 one week before its launch there, a Samsung spokesman said.

Samsung eyes InterDigital patent portfolio for mobile technology

Samsung is  interested in acquiring InterDigital Inc.’s patent portfolio, which retains a catalog of patents related to mobile technologies used to transform information.

However, Samsung is not the only one interested in making this deal. Both Apple and Google are also  bidders as well.

Lee Seung Woo, a Seoul-based analyst at Shinyoung Securities Co., told Bloomberg about just how serious this acquisition could be.

Governments, IOC and UN hit by massive cyber attack

IT security firm McAfee claims to have unremoved one of the largest ever series of cyber attacks.

72 different firms that were targeted over five years, including the International Olympic Committee, the UN and security firms.
McAfee will not say who it thinks is doing, China may be behind the attacks.
Beijing has always rejected any state involvement in cyber-attacks, calling such accusations "groundless".
 McAfee's chief European technology officer, Raj Samani said cyber attacks were still going on.
"This is a whole various level to the night dragon attack that happened earlier this year. Those were attacks on a specific area. This one is very, very broad."
Dubbed Operation Shady RAT - after the remote access tool that security experts and hackers use to remotely access computer networks - the five-year investigation examined information from a number of different organisations which thought they may have been hit.
"From the logs we were able to see where the traffic flow was coming from," said Mr Samani.
"In some cases, we were allowed to delve a bit deeper and see what, if anything, had been taken, and in many cases we found evidence that intellectual property (IP) had been stolen.
"The United Nations, the Indian government, the International Olympic Committee, the steel industry, defence firms, even computer security companies were hit," he added.

Foxconn to boost use of robot machines in producing

Taiwan electronics producer Foxconn, which assembles lot of products for firms including Apple, said it would sharply rise its use of automated equipment in its factories.

The company plans to have 300,000 robots by next year, Chairman Terry Gou was quoted as saying by local media.

Foxconn at spot has 10,000 machines doing basic manufacturing work.

The company has major labour issues in the past such as wage disputes, labour union and worker suicides.

The company has since announced a statement, saying that Mr Gou wanted to move 1 million employees "higher up the value chain".

In the statement, Mr Gou added that the move towards automation was aimed at shifting "workers from more routine tasks to more value-added positions in producing such as research and development, innovation and other areas that are equally important to the success of our operations".

Data of Sun website users stolen

Thousands of people who participate in competitions on The Sun website have been warned that their personal information may have been stolen.

The data was stolen when the site was hacked on 19 July.Applications for the Miss Scotland contest, have been posted online.

The companyt had reported the matter to the police and the Information Commissioner. We take customer data extremely seriously and are working with the relevant authorities to resolve this matter.

We are also directly contacting any customer affected by this."