Some on FTC wanted antitrust suit against GoogleGoogle came close to having to defend antitrust charges in the U.S.: Staff at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission who monitor competition pushed for an antitrust lawsuit against it in 2012, the Wall Street Journal reported. A staff report that has just come to light concluded that the search giant used “anticompetitive tactics and abused its monopoly power in ways that harmed Internet users and competitors,” the paper said. Another faction at the Commission, the economics bureau, issued a report advising against a lawsuit and no action was taken. Among the most damning findings: there was evidence that Google gamed its system to promote its own services and demote rivals, and scraped content from other sites.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
BlackBerry teams up with Samsung and IBM on a secure tabletBlackBerry is returning to the tablet market—this time with the help of Samsung, IBM and Secusmart, the German encryption specialist it bought last year. The SecuTablet was developed for customers in German government and is a Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 LTE 16GB bundled with software from IBM and a MicroSD card that combines a number of cryptographic chips to protect data.Alibaba working on face recognition for payment authenticationTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Intel blames Windows XP loyalists, Europe, as it slashes its Q1 revenue targetIn another sign that Intel’s business remains heavily tied to the PC market despite its efforts to push into mobile devices, the chipmaker cut its revenue forecast for the first quarter by almost $1 billion, blaming the expected shortfall on a weak PC market and on “challenging” macroeconomic and currency conditions. In particular, Intel singled out small businesses, saying they haven’t been replacing their Windows XP computers as quickly as previously expected.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
High-end phones on the way with LG, Huawei next in lineIf you were disappointed with the shortage of new flagship smartphones at Mobile World Congress last week, just hang on until next month. LG Electronics is expected to announce the highly anticipated successor to its good-looking G3—the G4?—that may sport a 1620 x 2880 pixel display. Huawei has started to post teasers for an event on April 8 for its P8, likely to offer a screen that’s a bit larger than the Ascend P7’s 5 inches, better battery life and an improved camera. Even Sony, which badly needs a big hit, may jump in the fray, with the Xperia Z4.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
High-end phones on the way with LG, Huawei next in lineIf you were disappointed with the shortage of new flagship smartphones at Mobile World Congress last week, just hang on until next month. LG Electronics is expected to announce the highly anticipated successor to its good-looking G3—the G4?—that may sport a 1620 x 2880 pixel display. Huawei has started to post teasers for an event on April 8 for its P8, likely to offer a screen that’s a bit larger than the Ascend P7’s 5 inches, better battery life and an improved camera. Even Sony, which badly needs a big hit, may jump in the fray, with the Xperia Z4.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Four out of five retailers don’t meet payment card security standardsIt’s no surprise that so many data breaches involve the disclosure of credit card numbers: 80 percent of retailers failed to meet the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) in a Verizon survey of 5,000 businesses worldwide, Reuters reports. In all the data breaches that Verizon studied, the company involved was not compliant at the time of the incident.The inventor of credit default swaps is new CEO of bitcoin trading companyTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Four out of five retailers don’t meet payment card security standardsIt’s no surprise that so many data breaches involve the disclosure of credit card numbers: 80 percent of retailers failed to meet the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) in a Verizon survey of 5,000 businesses worldwide, Reuters reports. In all the data breaches that Verizon studied, the company involved was not compliant at the time of the incident.The inventor of credit default swaps is new CEO of bitcoin trading companyTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Facebook’s Open Compute Project struts its stuffThe Open Compute Project kicks off its annual Silicon Valley summit on Tuesday, where vendors and customers will show their latest designs for low cost data center hardware. Facebook started the project about three years ago to wrestle some control away from the big vendors and collaborate on open designs that white-box manufacturers can compete to implement. Microsoft, Intel, Canonical and Goldman Sachs will all give updates on what they’ve been building this past year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Facebook’s Open Compute Project struts its stuffThe Open Compute Project kicks off its annual Silicon Valley summit on Tuesday, where vendors and customers will show their latest designs for low cost data center hardware. Facebook started the project about three years ago to wrestle some control away from the big vendors and collaborate on open designs that white-box manufacturers can compete to implement. Microsoft, Intel, Canonical and Goldman Sachs will all give updates on what they’ve been building this past year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Apple event Monday holds promise of more news on WatchApple enthusiasts will be tuning into the live-stream of the company’s “Spring forward” event on Monday. It’s expected to reveal more details about the Apple Watch, as well as information about pricing and sales plans. The event is a long-awaited dropping of a second shoe into the wearables market: last week’s Mobile World Congress provided a venue for competitive launches, but the landscape wasn’t complete without a clear picture of Apple’s offering.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Apple event Monday holds promise of more news on WatchApple enthusiasts will be tuning into the live-stream of the company’s “Spring forward” event on Monday. It’s expected to reveal more details about the Apple Watch, as well as information about pricing and sales plans. The event is a long-awaited dropping of a second shoe into the wearables market: last week’s Mobile World Congress provided a venue for competitive launches, but the landscape wasn’t complete without a clear picture of Apple’s offering.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Bill targeting data brokers rises from the deadTheir last try failed to pass in 2014, but four U.S. senators have brought back legislation to rein in the data broker business. The law would allow consumers to see and correct personal information held by data brokers, and let them put a halt to having their information shared or sold for marketing purposes. The Data Broker Accountability and Transparency Act, introduced Thursday, is needed because data brokers are a “shadow industry of surreptitious data collection that has amassed covert dossiers on hundreds of millions of Americans,” Sen. Edward Markey said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Bill targeting data brokers rises from the deadTheir last try failed to pass in 2014, but four U.S. senators have brought back legislation to rein in the data broker business. The law would allow consumers to see and correct personal information held by data brokers, and let them put a halt to having their information shared or sold for marketing purposes. The Data Broker Accountability and Transparency Act, introduced Thursday, is needed because data brokers are a “shadow industry of surreptitious data collection that has amassed covert dossiers on hundreds of millions of Americans,” Sen. Edward Markey said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
China defends surveillance plan by pointing to U.S.The Chinese government is calling out U.S. opposition to its new anti-terror law, saying that it’s similar to what other countries are doing as they ask tech companies to hand over information that they need to fight terrorism. On Wednesday, China’s parliamentary spokeswoman tried to play down the impact the proposed legislation might have on foreign tech businesses, who have complained about having to turn over encryption keys and create “back doors” to enable government surveillance.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
China defends surveillance plan by pointing to U.S.The Chinese government is calling out U.S. opposition to its new anti-terror law, saying that it’s similar to what other countries are doing as they ask tech companies to hand over information that they need to fight terrorism. On Wednesday, China’s parliamentary spokeswoman tried to play down the impact the proposed legislation might have on foreign tech businesses, who have complained about having to turn over encryption keys and create “back doors” to enable government surveillance.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Alibaba opens its cloud for business in U.S.Alibaba is set to compete for cloud services with Amazon Web Services, Google Compute Engine and Microsoft Azure with a new data center in California, the first outside China for the Aliyun subsidiary. It is initially targeting low-hanging fruit: the U.S. operations of Chinese companies. But its use of proprietary technology may be a turnoff for prospective customers who are wary of cloud lock-in.IBM plugs its OpenPower servers into the cloudIBM wants to show that its Power processors are a good alternative to Intel’s x86 chips in the cloud market, so it’s rolling out an infrastructure-as-a-service using OpenPower servers. The SoftLayer division is starting the Power move with a data center in Texas but will later roll out the service worldwide.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Google will sell wireless service in the U.S.At Mobile World Congress on Monday, Google executive Sundar Pichai confirmed the rumors: The company plans to sell mobile service in the U.S., but insists it won’t mount significant competition to mobile carriers. Pichai said the offering will give Google a platform for experimenting with new services for Android smartphones....And teases launch of Internet-via-balloon, but Zuckerberg scoffsGoogle’s ambitious efforts to bring balloon and aircraft-borne connectivity to underserved areas of the globe are pushing past some key milestones, with a public launch likely in a few years, Pichai said at MWC. But Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg later picked holes in the plans, criticizing them as costly and impractical, and said the best way to grow Internet access worldwide is to work with telco operators—as he’s doing with the internet.org effort.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Google will sell wireless service in the U.S.At Mobile World Congress on Monday, Google executive Sundar Pichai confirmed the rumors: The company plans to sell mobile service in the U.S., but insists it won’t mount significant competition to mobile carriers. Pichai said the offering will give Google a platform for experimenting with new services for Android smartphones....And teases launch of Internet-via-balloon, but Zuckerberg scoffsGoogle’s ambitious efforts to bring balloon and aircraft-borne connectivity to underserved areas of the globe are pushing past some key milestones, with a public launch likely in a few years, Pichai said at MWC. But Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg later picked holes in the plans, criticizing them as costly and impractical, and said the best way to grow Internet access worldwide is to work with telco operators—as he’s doing with the internet.org effort.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Google will sell wireless service in the U.S.At Mobile World Congress on Monday, Google executive Sundar Pichai confirmed the rumors: The company plans to sell mobile service in the U.S., but insists it won’t mount significant competition to mobile carriers. Pichai said the offering will give Google a platform for experimenting with new services for Android smartphones....And teases launch of Internet-via-balloon, but Zuckerberg scoffsGoogle’s ambitious efforts to bring balloon and aircraft-borne connectivity to underserved areas of the globe are pushing past some key milestones, with a public launch likely in a few years, Pichai said at MWC. But Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg later picked holes in the plans, criticizing them as costly and impractical, and said the best way to grow Internet access worldwide is to work with telco operators—as he’s doing with the internet.org effort.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Samsung challenges Google, Apple on paymentsThe world’s biggest maker of Android phones launched a major challenge to Google Wallet on Sunday: it’s going to start a rival phone-based payment system beginning in the U.S. in the coming months. Samsung Pay will work first on the new Galaxy S6 and relies on the contactless NFC payment infrastructure also used by competitors—but with the added advantage that it will also be able to communicate with traditional magnetic card payment terminals.NXP buys Freescale to build a bigger chip companyTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
IDG News Service staff