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
Lenovo’s defaced website points to weakness in Net domain name systemSome hackers took Lenovo’s corporate web address for a joyride on Wednesday, redirecting traffic to a video stream showing an apparently bored teen sitting in his bedroom. The prank, like the hijacking of Google’s Vietnam site recently, highlights continued weakness in the Internet’s Domain Name System, which translates website names into IP addresses.Samsung gets more woe over eavesdropping TVsThe fuss over data collected by voice-operated TVs made by Samsung Electronics is not going away, despite its efforts to minimize the issue. Now the Electronic Privacy Information center is asking the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to investigate, in a complaint that says Samsung has violated federal law.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Lenovo’s defaced website points to weakness in Net domain name systemSome hackers took Lenovo’s corporate web address for a joyride on Wednesday, redirecting traffic to a video stream showing an apparently bored teen sitting in his bedroom. The prank, like the hijacking of Google’s Vietnam site recently, highlights continued weakness in the Internet’s Domain Name System, which translates website names into IP addresses.Samsung gets more woe over eavesdropping TVsThe fuss over data collected by voice-operated TVs made by Samsung Electronics is not going away, despite its efforts to minimize the issue. Now the Electronic Privacy Information center is asking the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to investigate, in a complaint that says Samsung has violated federal law.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Hewlett-Packard lowers outlook as its struggles continueHewlett-Packard reported another quarter of declining sales and profit on Tuesday, and blamed a strong dollar as it lowered its outlook for the current quarter and the year. Revenue was $26.8 billion, down 5 percent from a year earlier, while net profit was down 4 percent to $1.4 billion. Sales in the personal systems group were flat, but declined in both the printing and enterprise services divisions.Is Visa priming Europe for Apple Pay?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
As HP reports numbers, questions will be on its splitHewlett-Packard is due to report its first-quarter results on Tuesday afternoon, but analysts will be more interested in hearing updates from CEO Meg Whitman on plans for the company’s split into two, says re/code. The company’s earnings are expected to hit $27.4 billion.GOPers on FCC want to delay net neutrality voteThe two Republican members of the Federal Communications Commission want to put a last-minute roadblock in the way of a proposal to reclassify the Internet as a utility and put stronger net neutrality protections in place. In a move that’s unlikely to succeed, Commissioners Ajit Pai and Mike O’Rielly want to delay the vote scheduled for Thursday, and have the FCC open the 332-page proposal to the public for comment. An agency spokeswoman said that the FCC already has already gotten “unprecedented levels of public comment on a variety of options” for net neutrality rules.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
As HP reports numbers, questions will be on its splitHewlett-Packard is due to report its first-quarter results on Tuesday afternoon, but analysts will be more interested in hearing updates from CEO Meg Whitman on plans for the company’s split into two, says re/code. The company’s earnings are expected to hit $27.4 billion.GOPers on FCC want to delay net neutrality voteThe two Republican members of the Federal Communications Commission want to put a last-minute roadblock in the way of a proposal to reclassify the Internet as a utility and put stronger net neutrality protections in place. In a move that’s unlikely to succeed, Commissioners Ajit Pai and Mike O’Rielly want to delay the vote scheduled for Thursday, and have the FCC open the 332-page proposal to the public for comment. An agency spokeswoman said that the FCC already has already gotten “unprecedented levels of public comment on a variety of options” for net neutrality rules.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Intelligence agencies may have your phone’s encryption keysBritish and American government agents hacked into SIM card maker Gemalto’s network to take smartphone encryption keys potentially used by customers of hundreds of mobile phone carriers worldwide. That let the spy agencies monitor a vast swathe of the world’s mobile phone voice and data traffic, reported The Intercept. It’s the latest revelation from the trove of information leaked by former NSA analyst Edward Snowden.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Intelligence agencies may have your phone’s encryption keysBritish and American government agents hacked into SIM card maker Gemalto’s network to take smartphone encryption keys potentially used by customers of hundreds of mobile phone carriers worldwide. That let the spy agencies monitor a vast swathe of the world’s mobile phone voice and data traffic, reported The Intercept. It’s the latest revelation from the trove of information leaked by former NSA analyst Edward Snowden.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Samsung pushes into mobile payments with LoopPay acquisitionSamsung Electronics is stepping up to Apple and Google on the mobile payments front: On Wednesday it said it would buy LoopPay and roll it into its mobile division. The Massachusetts startup’s technology is, like competitors, basically a virtual wallet for payment cards, but it works with existing magnetic card readers in the U.S.Qualcomm getting set to roll out 64-bit mobile chipsQualcomm is readying new chips for mobile devices that are the first to implement its homegrown 64-bit architecture. The design will appear first in high-end Snapdragon chips for premium products, and test units will be shipping by the end of the year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Samsung pushes into mobile payments with LoopPay acquisitionSamsung Electronics is stepping up to Apple and Google on the mobile payments front: On Wednesday it said it would buy LoopPay and roll it into its mobile division. The Massachusetts startup’s technology is, like competitors, basically a virtual wallet for payment cards, but it works with existing magnetic card readers in the U.S.Qualcomm getting set to roll out 64-bit mobile chipsQualcomm is readying new chips for mobile devices that are the first to implement its homegrown 64-bit architecture. The design will appear first in high-end Snapdragon chips for premium products, and test units will be shipping by the end of the year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Facebook wants us all to create VR contentFacebook is actively looking at ways to make its $2 billion acquisition of virtual reality headset maker Oculus Rift part of the social media experience. At a re/code conference Tuesday, Chief Product Officer Chris Cox said the company is working on VR apps, and he also said he expected users to one day upload and share VR content. As re/code pointed out, creating that content is currently a nontrivial affair; Cox also told the publication that “We’re probably a long way from everyone having these headsets.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Facebook wants us all to create VR contentFacebook is actively looking at ways to make its $2 billion acquisition of virtual reality headset maker Oculus Rift part of the social media experience. At a re/code conference Tuesday, Chief Product Officer Chris Cox said the company is working on VR apps, and he also said he expected users to one day upload and share VR content. As re/code pointed out, creating that content is currently a nontrivial affair; Cox also told the publication that “We’re probably a long way from everyone having these headsets.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Spy group has embedded tools in foreign networks, systemsA cyberspy group using tools similar to those of U.S. intelligence agencies has embedded spy and sabotage firmware in systems and networks in countries including Iran, Russia, Pakistan and China, a report by security vendor Kaspersky Lab claims. Kaspersky said that the tools can’t be combated by antivirus products and are also able to stealthily obtain a computer’s encryption keys in order to read otherwise protected data.Sony forges ahead with its SmartEyeglassTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Spy group has embedded tools in foreign networks, systemsA cyberspy group using tools similar to those of U.S. intelligence agencies has embedded spy and sabotage firmware in systems and networks in countries including Iran, Russia, Pakistan and China, a report by security vendor Kaspersky Lab claims. Kaspersky said that the tools can’t be combated by antivirus products and are also able to stealthily obtain a computer’s encryption keys in order to read otherwise protected data.Sony forges ahead with its SmartEyeglassTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Kaspersky exposes huge, ongoing bank-robbery-by-hackRussian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab is releasing a report Monday with some details on a wide-ranging series of hacks into at least 100 banks in 30 counties—some of which are apparently still ongoing. Kaspersky gave the New York Times an advance look at the material, and says that losses total at least $300 million, mostly suffered by banks in Russia but also affecting institutions in Japan, Europe and the U.S.Xiaomi still tops Apple in China, says IDCTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Kaspersky exposes huge, ongoing bank-robbery-by-hackRussian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab is releasing a report Monday with some details on a wide-ranging series of hacks into at least 100 banks in 30 counties—some of which are apparently still ongoing. Kaspersky gave the New York Times an advance look at the material, and says that losses total at least $300 million, mostly suffered by banks in Russia but also affecting institutions in Japan, Europe and the U.S.Xiaomi still tops Apple in China, says IDCTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Obama visits Silicon Valley to headline cybersecurity summitThe White House is heading west to Silicon Valley on Friday looking for ideas on how to improve the nation’s cybersecurity. At the first-of-its-kind summit at Stanford University, U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to sign an executive order that urges companies to share threat information with one another and with the government. There are some areas of discord between the government and the tech industry: surveillance and encryption. Apple CEO Tim Cook is the most high-profile executive in attendance, while top execs from Google, Facebook and Yahoo declined invitations to attend (but will be represented in discussions at the event).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Obama visits Silicon Valley to headline cybersecurity summitThe White House is heading west to Silicon Valley on Friday looking for ideas on how to improve the nation’s cybersecurity. At the first-of-its-kind summit at Stanford University, U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to sign an executive order that urges companies to share threat information with one another and with the government. There are some areas of discord between the government and the tech industry: surveillance and encryption. Apple CEO Tim Cook is the most high-profile executive in attendance, while top execs from Google, Facebook and Yahoo declined invitations to attend (but will be represented in discussions at the event).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Restrictive governments getting better at censoring the InternetAuthoritarian government are censoring the Internet more aggressively and using more sophisticated technology, according to the annual World Press Freedom Index being released Thursday by Reporters Without Borders. China is judged “a pioneer” in the field, after blocking access to all Google services during the last year and stamping out domestic coverage of protests in Hong Kong and the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Iran is also high on the list, as it works on a national intranet that will keep citizens off the global Internet.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Restrictive governments getting better at censoring the InternetAuthoritarian government are censoring the Internet more aggressively and using more sophisticated technology, according to the annual World Press Freedom Index being released Thursday by Reporters Without Borders. China is judged “a pioneer” in the field, after blocking access to all Google services during the last year and stamping out domestic coverage of protests in Hong Kong and the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Iran is also high on the list, as it works on a national intranet that will keep citizens off the global Internet.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
IDG News Service staff