Google, Microsoft to add smartphone ‘kill’ switches

WASHINGTON: Google and Microsoft plan to join Apple in introducing theft-deterring "kill switches" in their smartphone operating systems, as part of an agreement with mayors and police agencies.

The announcement came in a report by the "Secure Our Smartphones Initiative" led by the New York state attorney general with officials from San Francisco and London.

The coalition of more than 100 elected leaders and law enforcement officials from major cities said the agreement means the three main smartphone platforms would soon add the feature as part of an effort to curb an epidemic of thefts.

The report said Google Android and Microsoft Windows Phone would add the feature -- enabling a user to deactivate a stolen handset -- after Apple included this last year.

Google and Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

"The commitments of Google and Microsoft are giant steps toward consumer safety and the statistics released today illustrate the stunning effectiveness of kill switches," said New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

"In just one year, the Secure Our Smartphones Initiative has made tremendous strides towards curtailing the alarming trend of violent smartphone theft. We will continue the fight to ensure that companies put consumers´ safety first and work toward ending the epidemic of smartphone theft. "The report noted that preliminary data following Apple´s adoption of its "activation lock" feature found that in the first five months of 2014, theft of Apple devices fell by 17 percent in New York, while thefts of Samsung products increased by 51 percent from the same period in the previous year.

In the six months after Apple introduced the feature, iPhone thefts fell 24 percent in London and robberies fell 38 percent in San Francisco, while thefts of other popular mobile devices increased, the report said.

The report cited studies that showed 3.1 million mobile devices were stolen in 2013 -- nearly double the levels of 2012, and one in three Europeans experienced the theft or loss of a mobile device last year.

In 2013, a mobile device played a role in roughly half of all robberies in New York City, San Francisco and London, the report said.

"We can make the violent epidemic of smartphone theft a thing of the past, and these numbers prove that," said San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon.

"It was evident from day one that a technological solution was not only possible, but that it would serve as an effective deterrent to this growing threat. This past year we successfully held the wireless industry´s feet to the fire and it´s already having an impact for consumers." (AFP)

Microsoft to sell Xbox One in China in September

SHANGHAI: Microsoft will later this year start offering its Xbox One game console with a local partner in China, where such devices were banned for more than a decade.

"Today marks a monumental day for Xbox, as together with our partner BesTV New Media Co., we announced we will bring Xbox One to China in September of this year," Microsoft vice president Yusuf Mehdi wrote in a blog post.

"Launching Xbox One in China is a significant milestone for us and for the industry."

In January China formally authorised the domestic sale of game consoles made in its first free trade zone (FTZ) in Shanghai, potentially opening up a lucrative market to players such as Microsoft and Japan´s Sony and Nintendo.

The relaxation of a decade-long ban -- despite which the devices are widely available -- does not apply to console imports. But Microsoft and BesTV set up a $237 million joint venture in the FTZ last year to produce home entertainment equipment.

BesTV, a subsidiary of state-owned Shanghai Media Group, confirmed the timeframe for the launch in a statement, adding it will work with Microsoft to develop video games with Chinese characteristics.

The companies said Xbox One will be the first of its kind to officially launch in China, a country with nearly 500 million game players, although they did not reveal the pricing.

China´s game revenue jumped 38 percent year-on-year to 83.2 billion yuan ($13.7 billion) in 2013, according to one industry estimate, although the market was dominated by online computer games.

Despite the announcement, Shanghai-listed BesTV ended down 0.35 percent at 33.83 yuan in Shanghai trading on Wednesday. (AFP)

Microsoft grapples with Internet Explorer security flaw

WASHINGTON: Microsoft was scrambling Sunday to repair a security hole in its widely used Internet Explorer web browser, saying it had detected attempts to exploit the flaw.

The US software giant said that the coding problem affected versions six through 11 of its flagship browser, noting it was aware of "limited, targeted attacks" taking advantage of the newly discovered flaw.

Miscrosoft says that an attacker who successfully exploits the vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the official user. "The vulnerability may corrupt memory in a way that could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user within Internet Explorer," Microsoft said on its security website Saturday.

"An attacker could host a specially crafted website that is designed to exploit this vulnerability through Internet Explorer and then convince a user to view the website."

Cybersecurity firm FireEye, which took credit for identifying the flaw, said hackers were exploiting the bug in a campaign nicknamed "Operation Clandestine Fox."

Users still relying on Windows XP could be especially vulnerable because Microsoft stopped early this month supporting the older operating system with security patches and other software updates.

Earlier this month, the "Heartbleed" flaw in Internet security saw everyone from website operators and bank officials to casual Internet surfers and governments being told their data could be in danger.

Heartbleed allowed hackers to snatch packets of data from working memory in computers, creating the potential for them to steal passwords, encryption keys, or other valuable information. (AFP)

Microsoft sued over browser error, slapped with $731 million fine

Seattle: Microsoft Corp's board faces a lawsuit over the way it handled an error with its Internet Explorer browser that ended up costing the company a record-breaking $731 million fine by European antitrust regulators.

The lawsuit, brought by shareholder Kim Barovic in federal court in Seattle on Friday, charges that directors and executives, including founder Bill Gates and former Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer, failed to manage the company properly and that the board's investigation was insufficient into how the miscue occurred.

The legal action is the first to emerge from a humiliating episode for Microsoft, which the software company has never fully explained and has accounted foronly as a "technical error."

In March last year, the European Union levied its largest ever antitrust fine against Microsoft for breaking a legally binding commitment made in 2009 to ensure that consumers in Europe had a choice of how they access the internet, rather than defaulting to Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser.

Its investigation found that updated software issued between May 2011 and July 2012 meant that 15 million users were not given a choice. It was the first time the European Commission, the EU's antitrust authority, handed down a fine to a company for failing to meet its obligations.

In her lawsuit, Barovic says she asked Microsoft's board to fully investigate how that mistake occurred and to take action against any directors or executives that had not performed their duties. She says Microsoft replied that it found no evidence of a breach of fiduciary duty by any current or former executives or directors.

In a statement on Friday, Microsoft repeated that stance.
"Ms. Barovic asked the board to investigate her demand and bring a lawsuit against the board and company executives," said an emailed statement from Microsoft. "The board thoroughly considered her demand as she requested and found no basis for such a suit."

The problem on European computers prevented the so-called "ballot" screen from appearing. Sources close to the company have said it was connected to updated Windows 7 software.

Ballmer, who was CEO at the time, and Steven Sinofsky, then the head of the Windows unit, both had their bonuses cut in 2012 after the error came to light.

Microsoft Ventures launches toll-free line for start-ups

Microsoft Ventures, the software major’s global initiative for nurturing entrepreneurship, announced the launch of JumpStart, a hotline that will provide start-ups and entrepreneurs with expert guidance on all things business and technology.

The helpline will be open during business hours Monday to Friday.

The toll free number 1 (800) 200-2114 will be manned by expert professionals trained by the company, the company said.

Joseph Landes, General Manager, Developer and Platform Evangelism, Microsoft India, said that JumpStart fills a major gap in the start-up ecosystem.

“Our experience has shown that a major pain point for start-ups across the ecosystem in India, irrespective of their stage of maturity, is the lack of real-time support for various critical queries they face,” he said. For Microsoft, the benefit is that it can learn from these calls and be able to fine tune the Microsoft Ventures program, including the India Accelerator, to make it more impactful for its recipients, the company said.

Srivatsa Krishna, IAS, Secretary, IT, said the service will soon be available through the Karnataka MobileOne Platform, the government’s new mobile governance system.

“By availing this critical support through JumpStart, start-ups will have the opportunity to be heard and have access to informed decision-making support, a critical component in their journey.”

Microsoft launches 'Cortana' smartphone assistant

 

SAN FRANCISCO: Microsoft on Wednesday took on Apple's Siri and Google Now with a smartphone personal assistant dubbed "Cortana," gleaned from a character in the hit Xbox video game "Halo."

Windows Phone vice president Joe Belfiore introduced Cortana on stage at the technology titan's annual developers conference.

"Cortana is the first truly personal digital assistant who learns about me and the things that matter to me most, and knows about the whole Internet," Belfiore said in a presentation opening the gathering in San Francisco.

Cortana responds to conversationally spoken requests or commands, using insights gleaned from calendars, contact lists, online searches and other smartphone sources to respond in a manner akin to a real-life aide, Belfiore demonstrated.

Cortana's voice and character is based on a popular artificial intelligence character in Microsoft's blockbuster Xbox console video game "Halo."

It comes as a long-awaited counter to the Siri virtual assistant on Apple mobile devices and Google Now capabilities in Android tablets and smartphones.

Cortana will be in a test, or beta, mode when it becomes available in a Windows Phone 8.1 software update to begin rolling out in the United States in coming months.

The new version of Windows Phone 8.1 should be available on new phones beginning in late April or early May, according to Belfiore.

Microsoft met with real-life personal assistants while designing Cortana, which is powered behind the scene by search engine Bing, he said.

As do Siri and Google Now, Cortana can remind users of flights, appointments, birthdays, routes, or other information for managing lives.

"Imagine a real personal assistant, and the kinds of things you might ask to be organized," Belfiore said while extolling Cortana's capabilities.

After being tested in the US, Cortana will expand to Britain and China, and then other countries.

In a sign that Microsoft gave Cortana a playful side, Belfiore asked the virtual assistant to reveal the storyline of the next "Halo" game only to be told "I'm quite certain you don't have the proper security clearance for that information."