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UK economy to enter recession soon, says report

2012-02-02T22:02:00.000-08:00

The UK economy could rebound in 2013 if the eurozone crisis is resolved, Niesr said

The UK economy will enter recession in the first half of the year as households continue to cut back, an influential think tank has warned.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) said the government should temporarily ease its spending cuts to promote growth.

It expects the economy to shrink 0.1% in 2012, but to grow 2.3% in 2013 if the eurozone debt crisis is resolved.

Niesr said, however, that deficit cuts had bolstered market confidence.

The UK is already close to another recession - defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction - after official figures in January showed that the economy shrank by 0.2% in the final three months of 2011.

In its UK and World Economy Forecast Niesr said: "We forecast a return to technical recession in the first half of this year, as households continue to retrench, credit conditions remain tight, and businesses are reluctant to invest given uncertainty about both domestic and foreign demand."

Niesr said economic conditions will not improve in the short term, as both the private the public sectors are still focused on paying off debts. "Over the near term we do not expect economic conditions to improve," the report said.

The think tank predicted that inflation would fall sharply, with the consumer price index down to 2.2% this year and 1.4% in 2013.

But there were grim forecasts on unemployment, which Niesr expects will rise to about 9% this year, from 8.4% in the three months to November, and will remain above 7% in 2014.

"Unemployment at this elevated level for such a long period is likely to do permanent damage to the supply side of the economy, with large long-run economic costs," the report said.

Niesr suggests relaxing the government's austerity programme. "The UK economy currently suffers from deficient demand; the current stance of fiscal policy is contributing to this deficiency. A temporary easing of fiscal policy in the near term would boost the economy," the group said.

Little scope

More investment would not derail the chancellor's long term fiscal goals, Niesr said.

On Monday, the Institute of Fiscal Studies said the government could safely cut taxes temporarily, without worrying that the Bank of England would raise rates in response.

But the IFS that there was little scope for big or long-term tax cuts, which risked undermining investor confidence.

"The chancellor faces his third budget with the economy and public finances in considerably weaker shape than he had hoped a year ago," said Paul Johnson, director of the IFS.

Last month, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said he would continue with the coalition government's efforts to reduce the deficit, despite criticism that it is choking off recovery.

A Treasury spokesman said: "As Niesr have said, the government's commitment to deficit reduction has helped maintain market confidence.

"They expect the government to meet its fiscal mandate and for the UK economy to grow more strongly than the euro area this year and next."

Meanwhile, Niesr forecast global growth of 3.5% for 2012, led by China and India, and 4% in 2013. It forecast US economic growth of 2% this year.An independent Scotland could be more constrained on economic policy than at present, a study has suggested.

Scottish independence

The report also considered the monetary and fiscal policy choices facing Scotland if it leaves the union.

Niesr concluded that retaining sterling would be "sensible" for Scotland, but warned that currency union could restrict fiscal policy.

The Scottish government said the report "validates" its aim to retain sterling and insisted Scotland would be in a "healthier" financial position.

The report said that it is "doubtful" whether the Bank of England would extend lender-of-last-resort facilities to Scottish institutions, something First Minister Alex Salmond has argued for.

Niesr adds: "With a pro rata transfer of existing UK public debt, Scotland would enter independence heavily indebted with no insurance from fiscal risk sharing or fiscal transfer mechanism with the rest of the UK.

"Even with a favourable settlement on future oil revenues, its fiscal balances are likely to be volatile with large deficits in some years as a result of its dependence on oil revenues," the report said.

What do people on £1m salaries do with their money?

2012-01-31T16:51:00.000-08:00

RBS boss Stephen Hester has just turned down a £1m bonus after a public outcry. But just what do people who earn a million pounds a year spend it on?

A million pounds symbolises a life of luxury in the popular imagination - the mansion in Knightsbridge, sports cars, homes dotted around the world, children at an expensive school.

Royal Bank of Scotland chief Stephen Hester waived a bonus of £963,000 paid in shares that were not redeemable for two years. But his basic salary is £1.2m a year, more than most people would even dream of earning.

So what do the million-pound earners actually spend their money on?

Property

Property will be the biggest cost. On a £1m salary, you could get a mortgage up to four to five times that if outgoings were low, says Mark Harris, chief executive of SPF Private Clients.

How would Twitter spend £1m?

@thatblokeray First thing I'd do is buy my mum a house
@Ellen27 Making a huge bucket list and working my way through it - perhaps eating traditional food in every country
@nickie72 I would bank it and live off the interest - #boringanswer
@benchalmers that's 21k a year for life for me - which is a fantastic holiday and a decent charity donation every year until I die
@thomasm1 I would pay off my debts, the debts of my family, and then those of my friends. The rest I would waste on wine, women and song
Continue the conversation on Twitter by replying to @BBC_magazine

But it's assessed on an individual basis - if someone is heavily committed - say three kids in private school, loan on a property abroad, maybe maintenance on a previous spouse, it could be about £3m. If there is less of that commitment - such as a single footballer on a £1m a year - you could be looking at four to five times their salary."

Take home pay after tax is likely to be £550,000, or £46,000 a month. For someone borrowing £3m with 3% interest on an interest-only mortgage - widely favoured by those who earn large bonuses - the monthly mortgage payment works out at about £7,500 a month, which is easily affordable to million-pound earners, says Harris. For your £4m house you would have needed a 25-35% deposit.

But what can £3m buy in today's property market? The golden triangle for the million-pound earner is Kensington, Chelsea and Knightsbridge in London, says Harris. South-west London would also be an option - Putney, Clapham, Wandsworth. South down the A3 corridor - ie Guildford, Weybridge, Esher - are other popular areas.

But even on a million-pound salary London's Mayfair, which includes Belgravia, is off-limits for a family house, says Peter Murray, residential director of Jones Director, Residential Jones Lang LaSalle.

Education and staff costs

Fees at a top public school are more than £30,000 a yearfor boarders, with Winchester College on £31,350 and Eton clocking in at £30,981 plus a registration and entrance fee.

A top UK university charges tuition fees of £9,000 a year,but that's taken out of the student's income after graduation. However, there's still living costs to think of.

And for million-pound salary earners with children who aspire to be in business there's the cost of a postgraduate MBA course. London Business School charges £53,900for its MBA, while Warwick Business School charges£30,000 a year. Again, living costs are on top.

A private tutor can start at about £40 an hour, which might work out at several thousand pounds a year.

A nanny can cost anywhere from £500 to £1,200 a week, according to the Chelsea Staff Bureau. The nanny may live in the house or it may be that they need to be found a flat. If the nanny is taking the children to school they may need to be bought a car.

A gardener may cost anywhere between £15 and £30 an hour.

Leisure

Keeping horses is an expensive hobby

Holidays are a major cost. Summers are likely to be taken in a French gite or Tuscan farmhouse, says Lucia Van Der Post, founding editor of the Financial Times' How To Spend It, with winters in a fully catered skiing chalet with private ski instructor.

"Intergenerational" holidays involving children and grandchildren for special occasions are a coming trend. For a family of five, a top of the range safari might cost £60,000 to £70,000 a year, Van Der Post estimates.

Hester has been regularly pictured in the newspapers on horseback in hunting regalia. Horses don't come cheap. To keep a horse at a livery stable for a year could cost £8,400,according to the British Horse Society.

Many young bankers on a million a year have a "flash" lifestyle, says Geraint Anderson, author of City Boy, who worked as a stockbroker for 12 years, with his salary and bonus package peaking at £620,000 a year. There are men in their 20s who like to spend it on cocaine, champagne and strippers, he notes.

A night out could cost £2,000 and a cocaine habit £30,000 a year, although some of this behaviour may have calmed down since the financial crisis, Anderson says. The women would spend their cash on shoes and handbags but were generally more cautious, he says.

Investments

Any sensible person who earns a large salary is likely to invest a large part of it, not least because of the knowledge that the million-pound salary job might not last forever.

Pensions, property and shares might all be large outgoings.

Anderson says he knew people who had invested extremely wisely.

"One guy who earned not more than a million [a year] over the years created a property portfolio in Sevenoaks of 200 properties."

Transport

Cars are a favourite for many wealthy people. As your salary rises, so do your expectations in terms of cars. A Porsche 911 Carrera is listed at £71,449. A more family-orientated car like a Mercedes E-class estate would set you back £31,475. At the other end of the spectrum a Ferrari 458 Spider would cost £198,906, Knightsbridge dealer HR Owen says.

But there are some things a million pounds won't bring you. "A million is a huge whack but it's not enough to have your own yacht, that you're not going to do the sailing. That'll cost hundreds of thousands," says Van Der Post.

Many types

It's difficult to generalise about million pound earners. "There are as many ways of spending a million quid as different personalities," Anderson says. But in the City - where a large proportion of these earners will work - money takes on another dimension, he argues.

It is used to judge a person's worth. "Money is a gauge by which you measure how wonderful someone is."

And before the financial crisis a million pounds was seen as small beer. "I remember seeing a 25-year-old telecoms analyst storming out of a meeting where he'd just been handed a million pound bonus. It wasn't enough."

Iran says it may halt oil sales to 'some countries'

2012-01-29T18:22:00.000-08:00

Oil exports are one of the biggest sources of revenue for Iran
he dispute between Iran and the Western economies has escalated after Tehran warned it will stop oil sales to "some countries".

Rostam Qasemi, Iran's oil minister, said the curbs will be implemented soon but did not mention specific countries.

The warning comes just days after the European Union (EU) agreed to stop importing Iranian oil from 1 July.

The US and EU have been trying to target Iran's oil exports as part of sanctions against it.

"Soon we will cut exporting oil to some countries," Mr Qasemi was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA.

'Arm twisting'

The EU agreed to stop importing all oil from Iran on 23 January. However, the embargo is scheduled to come into place only on 1 July, so that member states have enough time to find alternate sources of supply.

Analysts said that if Iran stopped selling oil to some EU nations on a short notice, it may create problems for the affected countries.

They said that Tehran was using this tactic in a bid to ease pressure on itself.

"I think this is a case of arm twisting. They are trying to turn around the conditions for negotiations," said Ker Chung Yang of Phillip Futures.

Mr Ker noted that despite all the rhetoric, the threat was unlikely to have any significant impact.

"I don't think this is going to work as they have a history of not following up on any extreme measures that they warn against."

Miracle material graphene can distil booze, says study

2012-01-29T01:09:00.000-08:00

Graphene and its derivatives display many unusual and useful properties

Membranes based on the "miracle material" graphene can be used to distil alcohol, according to a new study in Science journal.

An international team created the membrane from graphene oxide - a chemical derivative of graphene.

They have shown that the membrane blocks the passage of several gases and liquids, but lets water through.

This joins a long list of fascinating and unusual properties associated with graphene and its derivatives.

Graphene is a form of carbon. It is a flat layer of carbon atoms tightly packed into a two-dimensional honeycomb arrangement.

Because it is so thin, it is also practically transparent. As a conductor of electricity, it performs as well as copper; and as a conductor of heat, it outperforms all other known materials.

The unusual electronic, mechanical and chemical properties of graphene at the molecular scale promise numerous applications.

Graphene

Graphene is a form of carbon that exists as a sheet, one atom thick
Atoms are arranged into a two-dimensional honeycomb structure
Identification of graphene announced in October 2004
About 100 times stronger than steel and conducts electricity better than copper
About 1% of graphene mixed into plastics could turn them into electrical conductors
Analogous to millions of unrolled nanotubes stuck together

How sticky tape trick led to Nobel Prize

Andrei Geim and Konstantin Novoselov from the University of Manchester were awarded 2010's Nobel Prize in physics for their discovery, outlined in a scientific paper in 2004.

Geim and others have now developed a laminate made from thin sheets of graphene oxide.

These films were hundreds of times thinner than a human hair but remained strong, flexible and easy to handle.

When a metal container was sealed with such a film, even the most sensitive equipment was unable to detect air or any other gas, including helium, leaking through.

But when the researchers tried the same with water, they found that it evaporated without noticing the graphene seal. Water molecules diffused through the graphene-oxide membranes with such a great speed that the evaporation rate was the same whether the container was sealed or open.

'Just for a laugh'

Dr Rahul Nair from Manchester University, who led the team, commented: "Graphene oxide sheets arrange in such a way that between them there is room for exactly one layer of water molecules.

He added: "If another atom or molecule tries the same trick, it finds that graphene capillaries either shrink in low humidity or get clogged with water molecules."

Professor Geim added: "Helium gas is hard to stop. It slowly leaks even through a millimetre-thick window glass but our ultra-thin films completely block it. At the same time, water evaporates through them unimpeded. Materials cannot behave any stranger."

Dr Nair said: "Just for a laugh, we sealed a bottle of vodka with our membranes and found that the distilled solution became stronger and stronger with time. Neither of us drinks vodka but it was great fun to do the experiment."

Despite this, the researchers do not offer any immediate ideas for applications. But Professor Geim commented: "The properties are so unusual that it is hard to imagine that they cannot find some use in the design of filtration, separation or barrier membranes, and for selective removal of water."

In another study in Science journal, a different team reports the development of a membrane based on diamond-like carbon. This membrane has unique pore sizes that allow for the ultra-fast passage of oil through it.

One expert said it could potentially be used for filtering toxic contaminants out of water or for purifying industrial chemicals.

Facebook sues alleged clickjacking spammer sparking row

2012-01-27T22:57:00.000-08:00

Some analysts have linked Facebook's spam crackdown to an imminent stock flotation

Facebook is suing a marketing firm, accusing it of "spreading spam through misleading and deceptive tactics".Adscend Media is alleged to have carried out "clickjacking".

The practice involves placing posts on the social network which include code that causes the links to appear on the users' homepages as a "liked" item without their permission. The links are designed to take users to other sites.

Adscend Media said it "vehemently denied" the "false claims".

Accusations

Facebook likened its security efforts to an "arms race" and said that it was committed to pursuing "bad actors".

"Facebook's security professionals have made tremendous strides against this particular form of attack and we are intent on eradicating it completely," said Craig Clark, the firm's lead litigation counsel.

"We will continue to use all tools at our disposal to ensure that scammers do not profit from misusing Facebook's services."

Washington State also filed a related lawsuit. Its lawyers said that they believed that this was the first time any state had gone to court to combat spam on the social network.

"We don't 'like' schemes that illegally trick Facebook users into giving up personal information or paying for unwanted subscription services through spam," said the state's attorney general, Rob McKenna.

Mr McKenna's office said that Adscend Media had earned as much $1.2m (£766,000) a month from the practice.

Strong denial

However, the accused firm released a statement on Friday evening which said: "At no time did we engage in the activity alleged in the complaints.

"Adscend Media strictly complies with its legal obligations under federal and state law. We are undertaking an investigation to determine whether any of Adscend Media's affiliates engaged in the activity alleged by the Attorney General's office and Facebook.

"If they did, we are fully certain that the activity was conducted without the company's knowledge."

The firm's lawyer went on to accuse the Washington State authorities of being "irresponsible".

"We find it deeply troubling that the Attorney General's office made a public spectacle of these serious allegations without first questioning the company as part of its investigatory process and, even more inexplicably, without notifying the company that the complaint was being filed," said Mark Rosenberg.

He added that Adscend Media was now prepared to pursue a defamation action against those "responsible for tarnishing the reputation of the company".

Invisible buttons

Facebook has posted an article about the case in which it explained that it believed the "scam" had worked by exploiting a vulnerability in people's internet browsers that allowed its 'Like' button to be hidden.

"Once the 'Like' button is made invisible, scammers can overlay pictures and other content, to trick the user to click on the invisible 'Like' button," it said.

"First, Facebook users are encouraged to click the 'Like' button on the scammers' Facebook Pages, which then alerts their friends to the existence of the page. Then they are told that they cannot access the content unless they complete an online survey or advertising offer."

It said one case had involved a link promising to show a man who had taken a picture of his face every day over eight years.

Facebook said that the content often had not existed, and users had been directed to third-party sites. It alleged that "the scammers receive money for each misdirected user".

Stock sale

Facebook said that less than 4% of the content shared on its site was currently spam.

The internet security firm, Sophos, acknowledged that the network was trying to combat the problem, but suggested further steps should be taken.

"Facebook tried to introduce anti-clickjacking technology to fight the problem, but it was never entirely satisfactory," said the Sophos's senior technology consultant Graham Cluley.

"What would have been good would have been if Facebook had introduced a 'confirmation' dialog every time a user 'likes' a page on a third-party website. That way, the clickjackers would have been able to trick you into clicking like but you would still have had to confirm that you really wanted to share the message with your online friends.

"In the run-up to IPO [initial public offering], we're sure to see Facebook doing more to present itself as company that is fighting security threats like this."

This is the second time this month that Facebook has accused a group of illegal activity on its site. Last week it named several Russia-based suspects who it said were responsible for a malware attack known as the "Koobface worm".

Multiple reports suggest that the network may float its stock within the next four months. Bloomberg says the firm may sell a minority stake for $10bn, valuing the firm at 10 times the price.

Twitter to selectively 'censor' tweets by country

2012-01-26T21:33:00.000-08:00

Twitter said it would be transparent about which tweets had been removed.

Twitter has announced that it now has the technology to selectively block tweets on a country by country basis.

In its blog, Twitter said it could "reactively withhold content from users in a specific country".

But it said the removed content would be available to the rest of the world. Previously when Twitter deleted a tweet, it would disappear worldwide.

The move comes at a time when the company is in the process of expanding its global business.

In its blog post, Twitter explained that its international growth meant entering countries "that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression", citing France or Germany which ban pro-Nazi content as examples.

"Starting today, we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country - while keeping it available in the rest of the world," the company said in a blog post titled Tweets Must Flow.

"We haven't yet used this ability, but if and when we are required to withhold a tweet in a specific country, we will attempt to let the user know, and we will clearly mark when the content has been withheld," it added.

A number of Twitter users have expressed dismay over the move, with some pointing out the adverse impact it would have on free speech, especially outside the US.

Twitter, along with other social networking sites like Facebook, has played a vital - if disputed - role in organising everything from the Arab Spring to the London riots in 2011, according to the BBC's technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones.

However, the micro-blogging service - which said it had more than 100 million active users as of September 2011 - has also had to balance local laws with free speech in the process.

The blog statement acknowledged that Twitter would not be able to operate in all countries, saying: "Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there."

Twitter is blocked in China, where microblogging alternatives known as Weibo have surged in popularity in the past year.

Google in privacy policy changes across its services

2012-01-24T23:49:00.000-08:00

Google has faced privacy concerns from regulators over its social networking sites

Google has changed its privacy policy, streamlining it across its multiple services including search, email, video and social networking sites.

More than 60 different policies will be combined into one that will go into effect 1 March, the company said.

Google said the new policy will give people more relevant search results and help advertisers find customers.

Google has previously faced criticism over the sharing of users data.

"We're rolling out a new main privacy policy that covers the majority of our products and explains what information we collect, and how we use it in a more readable way," said Alma Whitten, Google's director of privacy, product and engineering.

The single privacy policy will apple to Google search, Gmail, YouTube and Google+, its social networking site.

The main change applies to users who have Google accounts.

"If you're signed into Google, we can do things like suggest search queries, or tailor your search results, based on the interests you've expressed in Google+, Gmail and YouTube," the company said, explaining the changes.

The revision comes after Google's previous attempt at social networking, Buzz, was shut down.

The company was criticised for inadvertently revealing users' most e-mailed contacts to other participants through the Buzz platform.

Last year, Google and the Federal Trade Commission reached a settlement to prevent Google from misrepresenting how it uses personal information and from sharing a user's data without approval.

Google said it had been in touch with regulators over these latest changes to its privacy policy, which will apply globally, according to the Associated Press news agency.

IMF: Global economy 'in danger zone' over euro crisis

2012-01-24T15:10:00.000-08:00

Jose Vinals, IMF: "A failure to address underlying tensions could precipitate a global crisis"

The world's economy is "deeply into the danger zone" because of risks from the eurozone, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said.

The IMF predicts the global economy will grow by 3.25% in 2012, down from an earlier forecast of 4%.

The growth forecast for the UK economy has been cut to 0.6% from 1.6%.

But the eurozone is set for a "mild recession" in 2012, with GDP expected to shrink by 0.5%, compared with a previous forecast of 1.1% growth.

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls called for the government to rethink its austerity plan in the light of the IMF estimates.

"Last year the IMF was clear that if growth undershot expectations then the British government should reconsider the pace of spending cuts and tax rises which choked off our recovery well before the recent eurozone crisis, pushed up unemployment and has seen borrowing forecasts soar," said Mr Balls.

"Now the IMF has slashed their growth forecasts and confirmed that growth in Britain will indeed be much lower than they expected. And they have called on countries with low interest rates, like the UK, to reconsider the speed of their spending cuts and tax rises."

In response, the government said the IMF predictions matched those made by the independent Office of Budgetary Responsibility, which informs government economic policy.

"The IMF has downgraded its growth forecasts for all the major economies, reflecting the deterioration in the global outlook since their last forecasts in September," said a Treasury spokesperson.

"Their expectations for UK growth are in line with those of the Office of Budgetary Responsibility, and stronger than for the other major European economies."

Eurozone growth

Growth estimates have been reduced for the main eurozone countries, including Germany, which is widely seen as the powerhouse of the region.

Germany is forecast to grow 0.3% in 2012, down from the 1.3% originally predicted in September.

France is expected to show 0.2% growth in 2012, down from 1.4%.

However, the IMF stands by its 1.8% growth prediction for the US, based on recent strong domestic data on jobs and manufacturing.

Risk of 'spillovers'

Emerging markets, such as central and eastern Europe and Asia, could also be hit by the eurozone crisis.

The IMF said: "While these markets have been quite resilient to shocks and developments in major economies in the past year, recent indicators have weakened significantly and the general business climate has deteriorated."

The IMF said Europe's most pressing challenge was to restore confidence and put an end to the crisis in the euro area.

It added that world economies needed "decisive and consistent policy action" to improve the current financial environment.

"There are three requirements for a more resilient recovery: sustained but gradual adjustment, ample liquidity and easy monetary policy, mainly in advanced economies, and restored confidence in policymakers' ability to act."

Separately, EU economic affairs commissioner Olli Rehn said he expected a "moderate recession" across Europe in the first half of this year.

On Monday, IMF chief Christine Lagarde warned the global economy could fall into an economic spiral reminiscent of the 1930s unless action was taken on the eurozone crisis.

In its update to its September report, the IMF warned that the "United States and other advanced economies are susceptible to spillovers from a potential intensification of the eurozone crisis".

Sony 'boosts low-light picture quality' with white pixels

2012-01-23T21:28:00.000-08:00

Sample pictures suggest that images taken with the new technology (right) display more detail

Sony is promising improved low-light photography from its forthcoming range of smartphone camera sensors, thanks to the addition of white-light pixels.

The technology adds the white-light detectors to the red, green and blue (RGB)-sensing pixels already included in its existing devices.

Kodak patented a similar technology in 2007 but never put it to use. It is unclear whether Sony licensed the idea.

The move may help Sony sell more sensors to other manufacturers.

Smartphones typically use smaller lenses and image sensors than dedicated cameras, delivering blurred or dark pictures in low light.

Only a limited number have flashlight capability, which can be taxing on battery life and produce washed-out pictures.

After focusing on megapixels for years, camera sensor-makers are increasingly promoting low-light functionality as a selling point.

"This is good news for device makers, they can improve their cameras and give consumers a more functional camera that will work in better lighting situations," said Brian Blau, research director at the technology consultants Gartner.

"That really means consumers have to think less about how to process their pictures and just have fun taking them."

Dynamic range

Although white-light sensing pixels cannot distinguish colour, they have a higher sensitivity to light across the entire visible spectrum thanks in part to the fact they do not have a colour filter covering them.

Software is then used to combine this information with the detail recorded by the RGB pixels to provide a better shot.

"The reason why they are doing it is to capture more information about the shadow areas and to help it increase the dynamic range of the image, which in theory should help mobile phone sensors and very small compact camera sensors pick up more detail," said Richard Sibley, senior technical writer at Amateur Photographer magazine.

When Kodak patented the idea it noted that the technology would be suitable in situations involving "short exposure time, small aperture, or other restriction on light reaching the sensor".

It specifically mentioned "non-camera devices such as mobile phones and automotive vehicles" as two examples.

Sony's press release notes that introducing white-light sensing pixels would normally have the side-effect of "degrading" the picture.

But it adds: "Sony's own device technology and signal processing realises superior sensitivity without hurting image quality."

Sony aims to ship samples of the new sensor in March and says consumers may be able to buy devices using the technology later this year or early 2013.

Neither Sony nor Kodak responded to requests for more detail about the patents involved.

Organic sensors

Several camera makers are pursuing new ways of improving low-light performance.

The most common method is to use another technique pioneered by Sony: "back-lit" sensors.

The method involves shifting the circuit wiring that supports the pixels from the top of the sensor to its underside, allowing the pixels to be larger and so capture more light.

Sony's new "RGBW" sensors also use this feature.

However, Fujifilm is also working on an alternative technology involving a sensor with an ''organic'' layer which it says improves sensitivity, allowing the pixel sizes to be made smaller while capturing similar levels of detail. The firm was granted a US patent for the invention last year.

However, Fujifilm's innovation is thought to be destined for large mirrorless cameras with interchangeable lenses, rather than the smartphones Sony is targeting with its new hardware.

beautiful images of nature

2012-01-22T18:33:00.000-08:00

beautiful images of nature

Beautiful Scenery

2012-01-18T17:49:00.000-08:00

Beautiful pictures of a nature

China to extend controls over internet microblogs

2012-01-18T17:06:00.000-08:00

China's millions of internet-users now face tighter regulation

China says it plans to compel more users of internet microblogs - similar to Twitter - to register with their real names.

The internet regulator, Wang Chen, said pilot schemes in five Chinese cities would eventually be extended.

Name verification would become standard for new users, he said, and would be required of existing users later.

China's microblogs often highlight official misconduct, but the government says some spread malicious rumours.

Critics say real-name registration is an attempt to deter negative comments about the government and to make it easier to trace the authors of such postings.

Microblogs quadrupled

Twitter - along with Facebook - is banned in China, and the internet is strictly controlled to block content that the authorities deem offensive or politically unacceptable.

But microblogs, or weibo - short-message services similar to Twitter - have become hugely popular. The number of microblog users quadrupled in 2011, according to a think-tank report, with nearly half of China's 513 million internet users accessing weibo sites.

In December 2011 several Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shenzhen, began requiring weibo users to register with their real names before posting comments online.

The December regulations affected millions of microbloggers using the largest weibo companies, Sina, Sohu and Tencent, which are based in those cities.

Wang Chen, the minister in charge of the State Council Information Office, told reporters in Beijing that real-name registration would be extended to other areas once the pilot programmes had proved successful.

Name verification would be standard for new users, he said, while existing users would be required to register later.

'Harmful information'

"On the one hand, microblogs can reflect the social situation and public opinion, and broadcast a positive public voice," Mr Wang was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

"At the same time, microblogs... can make it easy to disseminate a few irrational voices, negative public opinion and harmful information."

In 2011, events such as the Wenzhou high-speed train crash and mass protests in Dalian and Wukan quickly achieved national prominence through weibo, where messages and images can be forwarded thousands of times.

Analysts say the Communist authorities in Beijing have become increasingly concerned about the speed with which weibo can spread information not controlled by official media.

Advocates of free speech have described the latest measures as an attempt to inhibit online discussion as China embarks on a year of political transition in 2012.

Facebook Koobface worm 'hacker gang named'

2012-01-17T21:56:00.000-08:00

Sophos researchers identified a network of connections linking group members

Alleged cybercriminals behind an internet worm, which spread via Facebook and other social networks, have been named.

The suspected gang were tracked down to St Petersburg after an investigation by Facebook and cybersecurity researchers.

The worm gave the gang control of hundreds of thousands of computers.

While not the largest such network of hijacked machines or "botnet", the so-called Koobface worm is notable for its targeting of social networks.

The security company Sophos published details of an extensive investigation into Koobface on its blog.

The report, based on work by independent researcher Jan Dromer, and the firm's Dirk Kollberg, details how the suspects were tracked down.

Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant at Sophos, told the BBC he believed they had identified the right people: "We're pretty confident. I mean obviously we have to assume these people are innocent until proven guilty

"It's very difficult to be 100% certain of these things. Of course it's always possible that someone could be trying to frame these people, but the evidence feels pretty strong to us. Certainly there's enough evidence to investigate these people."

None of the alleged gang members have been arrested or charged with offences connected to Koobface.

The BBC attempted to contact members of the group via a business linked to the gang but was unsuccessful.

Security researchers say Koobface became active in 2008.

The worm spread through social networks, presenting users with bogus links to online videos.

The links encouraged users to install a copy of the Koobface malware masquerading as a Flash update.

The worm was even able to create fake social networking profiles able to propagate the malware.

"It can create Facebook accounts and then use those accounts to start sending links to people," Mr Cluley said.

Researchers believe that up to 800,000 machines could have been infected by the worm.

Facebook is expected to share details of the gang with security and internet companies later.

Mr Cluley is aware that publishing details of the suspects will affect the inquiry into their activities: "These sort of investigations can take years. I think in an ideal world then these identities wouldn't have become public knowledge. But the cat is out of the bag now and we have to take a different tactic.

"We've been sharing this information now for a couple of years with law enforcement agencies in the USA, UK and Germany who've been working with their Russian colleagues. What we really need now is some way to stop them [the gang] taking advantage of people," he said.

Money trail

Clues discovered on the server used to control machines hijacked by the Koobface worm helped researchers track the gang down.

The Sophos report suggests that, far from maintaining a low-profile, the alleged cybercriminals were able to hide in plain sight. Researchers were even able to closely follow the cybercriminals movements via social networking sites according Mr Cluley: "They are all over the internet. We were able to track them on the likes of Foursquare so we could actually track some of them hour by hour."

The company estimates the gang was making in the region of $2m every year. But Mr Cluley says that the cybercriminals' desire to keep an eye on their earnings assisted the researchers.

"They were receiving daily SMS updates on how much money they were making, because we saw that - we could also see their phone numbers."

He says there is some frustration at the slow response of the authorities: "It's pretty well known who they are now, we just need the Russian police to go and investigate this and stop them."

Facebook was not available for comment, however speaking to the New York Times, Joe Sullivan the firm's chief security officer said people who engaged in this type of cybercrime "need to know that their name and real identity are going to come out eventually".

Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang resigns from its board

2012-01-17T19:30:00.000-08:00

Mr Yang said it was time to pursue interests outside Yahoo!

Jerry Yang, the co-founder of Yahoo!, has resigned from its board.

Mr Yang founded the online company in 1995 with David Filo and was its chief executive from June 2007 until January 2009.

His resignation comes two weeks after the company hired former PayPal executive Scott Thomson to be its new chief executive.

Mr Yang annoyed some shareholders by turning down a $47.5bn (£31bn) takeover offer from Microsoft in 2008.

The company's current market value is about $20bn.

Mr Yang has also resigned from the boards of Yahoo Japan and Alibaba Group and said in a statement: "The time has come for me to pursue other interests outside of Yahoo!".

He also expressed support for the company's current management.

"I am enthusiastic about the appointment of Scott Thompson as Chief Executive Officer and his ability, along with the entire Yahoo! leadership team, to guide Yahoo! into an exciting and successful future," he said.

Yahoo! shares rose 3.4% in after-hours trading.

Some analysts had seen Mr Yang as an impediment to the sale or restructuring of the business.

"This is clearly a positive. It provides a more objective and unemotional approach to strategic alternatives," said Brett Harriss at Gabello & Co.

"It's also good for the new CEO. He has one less entrenched legacy board member to resist his vision."

In addition to leaving the board, Mr Yang is also giving up his title of "Chief Yahoo".

"While I and the entire board respect his decision, we will miss his remarkable perspective, vision and wise counsel," said Yahoo! chairman Roy Bostock.

Hackers spread malware via children's gaming websites

2012-01-16T22:17:00.000-08:00

Cutearcade.com's website recently triggered Trojan malware warnings

according to a leading anti-virus firm.

Avast says it detected malware threats at more than 60 sites that contained "game" or "arcade" in their title, in the 30 days running up to 12 January.

It says the pages tried to download Javascript infections, redirectors and potentially unwanted software.

The Czech company says that young children are often less careful than adults about what they click on.

"These are sites with mini-games, including flash applications and simple online apps - one example is software that allows girls to dress and change the clothes of characters," Ondrej Vlcek, the firm's chief technical officer, told the BBC.

Avast says the most visited site affected - cutearcade.com - had generated more than 12,600 infection reports from its protection software as of last week.

The company says a Trojan on the site had redirected users to linuxstabs.com, a known distribution point for malware.

Cutearcade.com's owner Two Point Oh, registered to the British Virgin Island of Tortola, did not respond to requests for comment.

At the time of writing the site no longer triggered a malware warning.

The webmaster of one of the other sites flagged up by the study said he believed that third-party adverts might have been to blame.

"I have checked my site in and out for malware and have none," said Eric Smith, webmaster of hiddenninjagames.com.

"I have also checked Google Webmaster tools and it shows no malware. I'm not sure why my website has been targeted for this, I am assuming there may have been malware in the Google Adsense advertisement on my site when Avast checked it. That's the only thing I can think of."

Exploit packs

Avast says it believes most of the sites affected are legitimate businesses that have fallen victim to hackers, and had not been deliberately created to spread malware.

It bases this judgement on the fact that affected pages had been online for months or years before its anti-virus software began detecting threats.

The company believes that hackers have taken advantage of "active components" used to run the sites' forums or chat facilities to spread their malware.

It notes that "exploit packs" are sold online, meaning the hackers responsible might not have needed advanced coding skills.

"I believe that children's computers are more vulnerable to attacks because they are usually in worse shape - in other words the owners are less likely to have the latest security updates installed," said Mr Vlcek.

"The child may also be less suspicious that something wrong is happening than an adult would be. For example if a spam-bot infects the computer and keeps sending out spam emails for a long time a young child might not notice it going on."

Parental supervision

In October last year Security News Daily reported a similar problem affecting children's games on more than half a dozen Chinese websites.

Avast's research suggests the problem has become more prevalent since then.

"This report highlights the need for children and young people to be made aware of the potential security risks associated with free online gaming sites," said Dr Joanne Bryce from the cyberspace research unit at the University of Central Lancashire.

"Whilst it is unclear whether these sites for young people are being deliberately targeted, the possibility of computers being infected with viruses or malware may not be something of which young people are fully aware.

"This is an issue that parents should discuss with their children, and also highlights the need for them to ensure that they regularly update the anti-virus and other security software on their children's computers."

IBM researchers make 12-atom magnetic memory bit

2012-01-14T08:14:00.000-08:00

The groups of atoms were built using a scanning tunneling microscope

Researchers have successfully stored a single data bit in only 12 atoms.

Currently it takes about a million atoms to store a bit on a modern hard-disk, the researchers from IBM say.

They believe this is the world's smallest magnetic memory bit.

According to the researchers, the technique opens up the possibility of producing much denser forms of magnetic computer memory than today's hard disk drives and solid state memory chips.

"Roughly every two years hard drives become denser," research lead author Sebastian Loth told the BBC.

"The obvious question to ask is how long can we keep going. And the fundamental physical limit is the world of atoms.

"The approach that we used is to jump to the very end, check if we can store information in one atom, and if not one atom, how many do we need?" he said.

Below 12 atoms the researchers found that the bits randomly lost information, owing to quantum effects.

A bit can have a value of 0 or 1 and is the most basic form of information in computation.

"We kept building larger structures until we emerged out of the quantum mechanical into the classical data storage regime and we reached this limit at 12 atoms."

The groups of atoms, which were kept at very low temperatures, were arranged using a scanning tunnelling microscope. Researchers were subsequently able to form a byte made of eight of the 12-atom bits.

Central to the research has been the use of materials with different magnetic properties.

The magnetic fields of bits made from conventional ferromagnetic materials can affect neighbouring bits if they are packed too closely together.

"In conventional magnetic data storage the information is stored in ferromagnetic material," said Dr Loth, who is now based at the

Center for Free-Electron Laser Science in Germany.

"That adds up to a big magnetic field that can interfere with neighbours. That's a big problem for further miniaturisation."

Other scientists thought that was an interesting result.

"Current magnetic memory architectures are fundamentally limited in how small they can go," Dr Will Branford, of Imperial College London, told the BBC.

"This work shows that in principle data can be stored much more densely using antiferromagnetic bits."

But the move from the lab to the production may be some time away.

"Even though I as a scientist would totally dig having a scanning tunnelling microscope in every household, I agree it's a very experimental tool," Dr Loth said.

Dr Loth believes that by increasing the number of atoms to between 150 to 200 the bits can be made stable at room temperature. That opens up the possibility of more practical applications.

"This is now a technological challenge to find out about new manufacturing techniques," he said.

Virgin Media to double the speed of customer broadband

2012-01-11T20:01:00.000-08:00

Bandwidth allowance will be doubled in accordance with the speed increase, Virgin Media said

Virgin Media will double the speed of its broadband service for more than four million of its customers, the company has said.

The upgrade, which begins in February, will also see the service's top speed increase from 100Mbps to 120Mbps.

The full rollout is expected to be complete by mid-2013 at a cost to the company of £110m.

The Prime Minister, David Cameron, said the investment would be a "great boost" to the UK.

"I welcome this announcement from Virgin Media," Mr Cameron said in a statement.

"It will provide a great boost for the economy and change the way many households, consumers and businesses use the internet.

"Rolling out superfast broadband across the country is a critical part of our plan to upgrade the UK's infrastructure and build a new and smarter economy."

The government has set targets to improve the UK's broadband speeds considerably in the next three years.

Virgin Media's chief executive Neil Berkett said: "The internet has become an integral part of our social, work and family lives, so we think our customers are going to love this.

"As people are increasingly doing more online, and getting connected to the internet with lots of different devices, having a fast, reliable broadband service should not be a luxury.

"We want to make sure that consumers have access to the best value broadband service and that means a superfast connection."

BT announced it was investing £2.5bn to make fibre broadband available to two-thirds of UK premises by the end of 2015.

It has since invested a further £300m to bring that target forward to the end of 2014.

It promised significant improvements to most homes, while even faster broadband - around 300Mbps - will become available in a limited number of "superfast" areas.

In response to Virgin Media's plans, BT said: "It is no surprise to see that Virgin are following our lead by doubling speeds.

"We announced we would do this for our fibre products last autumn and so they are trying to catch up with us."

BT's fastest available speed to the majority of its customers is currently 40Mbps.

Free of charge

Virgin Media's upgrade will mean customers currently signed up for 10Mbps will be boosted to 20Mbps, while users on 20Mbps and 30Mbps packages will both be upped to 60Mbps.

Those on 50Mbps will be increased to 100Mbps. Customers already on the top 100Mbps tariff will be raised to 120Mbps - the fastest speed Virgin Media is currently able to provide.

The company said bandwidth usage limits will also be doubled to accommodate the increased speed.

Most customers will not notice the upgrades taking place, nor will any have to pay for the changes to take place, a spokesman said.

However, some users with old modems and other similar hardware will receive new up-to-date equipment free of charge.

Fernando Elizalde, a principal analyst from Gartner who specialises in consumer broadband, said he believed Virgin Media's investment in expanding its broadband capability was sound.

"In the last year and a half, multiple connections in the home and online video have caught up so much that it justifies having this high amount of bandwidth," he told the BBC.

"But there is still the question about rural areas. Virgin still cover mostly urban areas - they don't reach as many people in rural areas as BT and other telecoms providers."

According to Ookla, a company which uses monitors broadband speed tests across the world, the UK ranks around 35th globally when ranked by broadband consumer download speed - an average of 11.65Mbps.

Virgin Media say that when the rollout is complete, that average could rise to around 16.46Mbps.

Based on Ookla's research, which gathers data from millions of speed tests, the increase would rank UK the 19th-fastest globally when compared to today's standards.

'Competitive advantage'

The BBC's media correspondent Torin Douglas said the service improvement will come at an opportune time as more bandwidth-heavy services like Lovefilm and Netflix, which launched this week in the UK, begin to start attracting larger numbers.

"It means their subscribers can get their television, movies and songs even more quickly than they could before, which is obviously good news," he said.

BT is investing in upgrading the UK's ageing and slow copper infrastructure

"But Virgin still hasn't managed to convince the majority of consumers that their system is better than broadband that comes down the telephone line.

"Until they do, they won't be able to establish a real competitive advantage."

Andrew Ferguson, of independent broadband review site thinkbroadband.com added: "The news is good for UK broadband as a whole and should highlight that the UK is not the internet backwater sometimes it is portrayed as.

"It means that around a quarter of Virgin Media customers will be meeting the basic speed requirement of 30 Meg which is an EU target for 2020, many years ahead of time."

America's Least Stressful Jobs 2012

2012-01-10T19:14:00.000-08:00

Bring up the idea of LEAST stressful jobs and someone is sure to jump up and declare, “Hey, how do I get one of those?”

Job-search portal CareerCast has once again crunched the statistics and come up with its list of the 10 least stressful jobs in America.

“The least stressful jobs are the ones where expectations on you aren’t high and you have complete control over your day,” said Tony Lee, the publisher of CareerCast.com and JobsRated.com. “You’re not dependent on other people to do their job for you in order for you to do yours.”

They’re also mostly 9 to 5 jobs, so you don’t have to take your work home with you. “You can turn it off when you walk out,” Lee explained.

And, it can never be overestimated that, with many of these jobs, you’re providing a skill or service that people want and seek out, so your clients are often grateful. They appreciate you and choose to work with you.

Indeed, the appeal of a low-stress job is great — especially when you consider this extraordinary fact: The salaries of many of the least stressful jobs are about the same as many on the list of most stressful jobs.

“Your salary may not even suffer” as a result of choosing a low-stress job, Lee said. But, it’s not so easy as just changing teams to a low-stress job. Many people who would choose a high-stress job like, say, firefighter, wouldn’t necessarily choose a low stress job like (spoiler alert) jeweler.

In all, CareerCast used 11 criteria to come up with its list: travel, outlook/growth potential income, deadlines, working in the public eye, competitiveness, physical demands, environmental conditions, hazards encountered, own life at risk, life of another at risk and meeting the public.

So what are these low-pressure jobs? Click ahead to read about the 10 least stressful jobs of 2012.

Routine aspirin 'may cause harm'

2012-01-10T16:29:00.000-08:00

Should healthy people take aspirin?

Healthy people who take aspirin to prevent a heart attack or stroke could be doing more harm than good, warn researchers.

An analysis of more than 100,000 patients, published in Archives of Internal Medicine, concluded the risk of internal bleeding was too high.

The UK-led study said only people with a history of heart problems or stroke should take the tablets.

Experts said any decision should be made with a doctor.

Aspirin helps people who have had a heart attack or stroke. It prevents blood clots from forming by preventing cells, known as platelets, from sticking together. By reducing the number of clots formed, the tablets reduce the risk of another heart attack or stroke.

There have also been suggestions that the drug can prevent some cancers, however, the drug is known to increase the chance of internal bleeding, including bleeds on the brain.

The discussion has been whether at-risk or even healthy people should also take aspirin.

Official guidelines were issued in 2005 by the Joint British Societies, which includes the British Cardiac Society, British Hypertension Society and The Stroke Association. It recommended 75 mg of aspirin a day for high risk patients over the age of 50. The Drugs and Therapeutics Bulletin said in 2008 that preventative aspirin should be abandoned unless there was already evidence of cardiovascular disease.

Good or bad?

Researchers analysed data from nine trials, from a total of 102,621 patients.

They said that while there was a 20% reduction in non-fatal heart attacks in people taking aspirin, there was no reduction in deaths from heart attack, stroke or cancer.

Meanwhile the risk of potentially life threatening internal bleeding increased by 30%.

Lead researcher Prof Kausik Ray, from St George's, University of London, told the BBC: "If you treat 73 people for about six years you will get one of these non-trivial bleeds.

"If you treat about 160 people for the same period of time, you're preventing one heart attack that probably wouldn't have been fatal anyway.

"It suggests that the net benefit for aspirin is not there, it certainly doesn't prolong life. If you think about it the net benefit, actually there is net harm.

The study followed patients for an average of six years. An analysis led by Prof Peter Rothwell, from Oxford University, suggested that regularly taking aspirin reduced the risk of a series of cancers, when patients were followed for much longer.

Prof Rothwell said the new study was "very nicely done, but I don't think it develops [the argument] much further".

He added: "It really just emphasises the need for a more detailed analysis of how risks change over time."

Natasha Stewart, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Aspirin can help reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke among those with known heart disease, and this group of people should continue to take aspirin as prescribed by their doctor.

"Our advice is that people who don't have symptomatic or diagnosed heart disease shouldn't take aspirin because the risk of internal bleeding may outweigh the benefits.

"If you're taking prescribed aspirin and have any concerns, don't simply stop taking it. Always talk to your doctor first."

Children 'switching from TV to mobile internet'

2012-01-09T18:36:00.000-08:00

Young people's lives increasingly revolve around mobile phones, suggests an annual survey

Television is being pushed aside by mobile internet gadgets, a UK survey of young people's technology suggests.

The number of children with televisions in their bedroom is falling - almost matched now by those with their own personal internet access, says the annual Childwise monitoring survey.

Among seven to 16 year olds, 61% have a mobile phone with internet access.

Children use their mobiles for an average of 1.6 hours a day, the survey of 2,770 five to 16 year olds says.

The biggest trend in children's use of gadgets, according to the report from the market research company, is the growth in internet use through mobile phones.

The survey was based on interviews carried out in autumn 2011.

Push-button culture

The report presents a picture of a typical young person's home life which increasingly revolves around the mobile phone.

Talking, texting and accessing the internet are now reached through the mobile - with more than three-quarters of secondary-age pupils now using mobiles to get online.

The way children use media through the day is also changing, says the research, suggesting a push-button, on-demand culture, which is moving away from scheduled television programmes.

Before school, children are now more likely to play with their mobiles than watch television.

When children get home from school, instead of rushing to switch on the television, they are more likely to reach for the internet.

When children are reading at home, it is more likely to be through a screen rather than a book or a magazine.

Even in bed at night, the mobile phone is being used by 32% of children across the five to 16 age range.

It also seems to be approaching game over for old-style PCs in children's bedrooms - which have been replaced by laptops and tablet-style computers.

Land-line telephones are also looking like yesterday's world for many of these youngsters - with the research claiming that more children know how to send a text message than find a telephone number.

Facebook remains the most popular website - used by 51% of children in the week before the survey - but the researchers suggest that it is showing signs of having "fallen back".

End of the portable?

Research director Rosemary Duff says that the growth of mobile internet is the most significant change in how children use technology.

The decline in television use is continuing - and she says it appears that the portables once bought for children's bedrooms are not being replaced.

But she says that television should not be written off prematurely - as it still plays a very important role in the media lives of children.

Even though children might be using the internet more than ever, she says, the content can be often be related to television programmes.

Mobile phones and the internet each occupy about an hour and a half on average per day - but television viewing on average still accounts for two and half hours.

And the "multi-tasking" talents of teenagers mean that many youngsters using the internet, or playing on a games console, are also watching television.

Iran nuclear crisis: EU moves towards crude oil ban

2012-01-04T20:05:00.000-08:00

The Iranian leadership insists the country's nuclear programme is entirely peaceful

EU member states have agreed in principle to ban imports of Iranian crude oil to put pressure on the country over its nuclear programme.

The move is expected to be announced formally at an EU foreign ministers' meeting at the end of January.

The US, which recently imposed fresh sanctions on Iran, welcomed the news.

Iran has dismissed the threat of new sanctions and denies Western claims that it is trying to develop a nuclear weapons programme.

Iran has also denied that a record low of its currency this week was linked to punitive US measures against its banks.

Oil prices on international markets rose on news of the EU agreement.

"We have an [EU] foreign ministers' meeting on January 30, and on this occasion I hope we will be able to take the decision on the embargo of oil and petrol from Iran", said French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe.

"We have to reassure some of our European partners who purchase Iranian oil. We have to provide them with alternative solutions", he added.

On Tuesday France had called for "stricter sanctions" on Iran.

However, even if sanctions are adopted at the end of the month, it may be several months before they are implemented.

'Tightening the noose'

"These are the kinds of steps that we would like to see not just from our close allies and partners in places like Europe but from countries around the world", said US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

"We do believe that this is consistent with tightening the noose on Iran economically," she added.

International sanctions against Iran

Longstanding ban on all trade with Iran except for activities "intended to benefit the Iranian people"
New sanctions against foreign firms dealing with Iran's oil sector and central bank

Restrictions on trade in equipment which could be used for uranium enrichment
Asset freeze on individuals and organisations linked with nuclear programme
Export ban on natural gas technology

Ban on sales of heavy weaponry and nuclear technology to Iran
Iranian arms exports blocked, and asset freeze for key individuals and firms
Cargo inspections to detect and stop Iran's acquisition of illicit materials

The Iranian state gets more than half of its revenue through the export of crude oil, says the BBC's James Reynolds.

If Europe does stop buying, Iran will have to turn to countries in Asia to replace its lost trade, who will demand a discount, he adds.

The EU currently accounts for around 17% of Iranian oil exports.

The US has longstanding bilateral sanctions in place which prohibit almost all trade with Iran.

In November, the US, Canada and the UK announced new sanctions against Iran in the wake of a report from the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), that said Iran had carried out tests related to the "development of a nuclear device".

Last week President Obama signed into law a bill cutting off from the US financial system foreign firms that do business with Iran's central bank.

But Iran was not referred to the UN Security Council because Russia and China were opposed to the move.

The Security Council has already passed four rounds of sanctions against Iran for refusing to halt uranium enrichment. Highly enriched uranium can be processed into nuclear weapons.

These sanctions include a ban on the supply of heavy weaponry and nuclear-related technology to Iran, a block on Iranian arms exports, and an asset freeze on key individuals and companies.

Iran has been holding a series of naval exercises in the Gulf in recent days, test-firing several missiles.

The exercises were held near the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20% of the world's traded oil passes.

Tehran said on Monday that "mock" exercises on shutting the strait had been carried out, although there was no intention of closing it.

5 top cyber threats for 2012 (Hackers moving to target mobile devices, security firm says)

2012-01-03T19:07:00.000-08:00

As cybercriminals improve their toolkits and malware, they’re moving away from hacking personal computers to mobile devices, as well as plotting other more sophisticated attacks, according to a report on the top cyber threats for 2012.

“Many of the threats that will become prominent in 2012 have already been looming under the radar in 2011,” Vincent Weafer, senior vice president of McAfee Labs, a technology company and subsidiary of Intel Corp., said in a release
The five top cyber threats as seen by McAfee are:

Attacking mobile devices: Techniques used in the past for online banking, such as stealing from victims while they are still logged on, will now target mobile banking users.
Embedded hardware: Embedded systems, which are designed for a specific control function within a larger system, are commonly used in vehicles, GPS systems, medical devices, routers, digital cameras and printers. Hackers with access to malware that attacks the hardware layer of such systems will gain control and long-term access to the system and its data.
Industrial attacks: Many of the environments where SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems are deployed — such as water, electricity, oil and gas utilities — don’t have sufficiently stringent security practices, leaving them vulnerable to blackmail or extortion.
"Legalized" spam: While global spam volumes have dropped in recent years, legitimate advertisers are now using the same techniques, such as purchasing email lists of users who have consented to receive advertising, or purchasing consumer databases from companies going out of business. “Legal” spam is expected to grow at a faster rate than illegal phishing and confidence scams on the internet.
Online/frontline hacktivisim: McAffee predicts the true Anonymous group will reinvent itself or die out, and those leading digital disruptions will join forces with physical protesters to target public figures such as politicians and business leaders.

Families with children hit by tax and benefit changes

2012-01-03T17:53:00.000-08:00

Families with three or more children will be affected most, the FPI says

Families with children will be hardest hit by tax and benefit changes aimed at cutting the deficit, a charity argues.

The Family and Parenting Institute (FPI) says the average income of households with children will drop by 4.2% between 2010-11 and 2015-16, the equivalent of £1,250 a year.

Average household income however will fall 0.9%, or £215 a year, say the FPI.

The government says it is already taking "practical steps" to help such as cutting fuel duty and income tax.

The figures, calculated for the FPI by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), suggests much of the fall in income during these years will be due to tax and benefit changes, as well as other reasons such as falling incomes.

"This research confirms that families with children are shouldering a disproportionate burden," said Katherine Rake of the FPI.

"This disparity is largely driven by a package of benefit reforms which have affected families with children.

"As a result of the changes being introduced between January 2011 and April 2014 families are set to lose more than pensioner households and working-age households without children," she added.

In reply the government pointed to policies that it says are already relieving the burden for families.

"The Prime Minister acknowledged that families are facing difficult times so the Government has taken practical steps to help them - cutting fuel duty, freezing council tax and cutting income tax for millions," said the government in a statement.

"The Chancellor also confirmed working-age benefits will go up by 5.2% in April and increased the child element of the Child Tax Credit in line with inflation."

The government response drew special attention to its planned Universal Credit scheme.

"When introduced Universal Credit will see nearly 3 million households with a higher level of entitlement than present and we believe, due to its simplicity, more families will be able to take up entitlements that are currently unclaimed. It will also help 80,000 more families with childcare support, which will enable more parents to take up work."

Universal credit

The IFS and FPI acknowledge that the introduction of the government's new flagship benefit called the Universal Credit, which is being phased in from October 2013, will protect the incomes of many poor families.

But even so, the overall effect of all the current and impending tax and benefit changes will be negative for many families, with the biggest drop already underway in the current financial year 2011-12.

The Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, Yvette Coooper, says the research is a "damning verdict" on the coalition's family policies and she accused the government of being "out of touch" with the pressures on families.

"It leaves David Cameron's promise to be a family-friendly government in tatters," she said.

"The government is taking more from children than from the banks. Women and children are paying the highest price.

She added: "It isn't even working - with £158bn more borrowing than planned, as a result of their failed economic policies."

Among the many changes already implemented by the coalition government are VAT at 20%, reductions in tax credits, cuts in housing benefit, a freeze on child benefits, and the use of the consumer prices index (CPI) to uprate benefits each year.

Other forthcoming changes include more changes to the child tax credit and child benefit systems, reductions in council tax benefit, and "medical reassessment" of claimants of disability living allowance.

The FPI argues that the forthcoming fall in family incomes will be harshest for those families with three or more children, those with young children aged under five, and those renting private accommodation.

As a result, the charity argues, by 2015-15 a further half a million children will be living in absolute poverty.

The IFS said it calculations, which updated previous research, took into account recent economic forecasts by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and announcements in November's Autumn Statement.

Google search home page revamp promotes other services

2012-01-02T18:49:00.000-08:00

Google's pull-down menus should help highlight the firm's non-core search services to users

Google is rolling out one of its biggest home page changes to date.

The revamp strips its front page of the black bar that currently runs horizontally along its top, and replaces it with a grey logo.

When clicked or highlighted, it reveals seven alternative services to the site's search page with an option to reveal a further eight.

Analysts said the move was designed to promote more of the firm's businesses without cluttering its webpage.

The new look, which was first announced last year, is only being offered to a limited number of users at the moment.

A spokesman for Google said that the roll-out is designed to improve the user experience.

"Constant revision and improvement is part of our overarching philosophy," he said.

"If you compare the original Google home page to today's version, you will see that a makeover every so often can certainly be refreshing."

Matching Chrome

Chris Green, principal technology analyst at Davies Murphy Group, said the move allowed the site to use icons without resembling Yahoo's busier design.

"They are trying to deal with how to service all the different Google properties without making the page cluttered, because Google is always very keen to hang onto the plain minimalist front page that they have always had," he said.

"The other thing that they are doing with those menus is making the page look like their Chrome netbook operating system.

"So whether you are using a Chromebook or the Google website the interface is the same."

Google's front page still resembles its original 1998 design

Advertising

Another consequence of the move is that it now takes users two movements to enter services such as Images or News, rather than the one click that was previously needed.

However, this may play to the site's financial advantage.

"For years we've all been extolling the virtues of minimising the number of clicks and it would appear to be a retrograde step," said Mr Green.

"But for the sake of clarity it's better having the extra click. What it also means is that, for most people, their first route into the Google universe will be back through the search bar again, which helps the firm expose more people to advertising.

"Through search they can put adverts in front of you, while in the news section there isn't advertising."

Self promotion

Google is facing scrutiny for the way its own services appear in its search results.

Last month, two senators called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether Google was exploiting the fact it had a majority of both search via PC and mobile devices.

"A key question is whether Google is using its market power to steer users to its own web products or secondary services and discriminating against other websites with which it competes," Senators Herb Kohl and Mike Lee wrote.

The Financial Times has also reported that the European Commission was examining claims that Google "downgrades some rival websites in its search results, while playing up its own services".

Google has denied deliberately disadvantaging rivals.

Apple's Jonathan Ive gets knighthood in honours list

2011-12-30T23:39:00.000-08:00

Mr Ive has been behind many of the iconic gadgets of the last 15 years

Mr Ive, who can now style himself Sir Jonathan, has been made a Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE).

Raised in Chingford, Mr Ive began working for Apple in 1992 and since then has been the brains behind many of its products.

He described the honour as "absolutely thrilling" and said he was "both humbled and sincerely grateful".

Mr Ive added: "I am keenly aware that I benefit from a wonderful tradition in the UK of designing and making.

"I discovered at an early age that all I've ever wanted to do is design."

Team work

Mr Ive has been lauded for the tight fit between form and function seen in Apple gadgets such as the iPod and iPhone.

Born in February 1967, Mr Ive inherited a love of making things from his father, a silversmith, and reportedly spent much of his youth taking things apart to see how they worked.

From the age of 14, he said, he knew he was interested in drawing and making "stuff" and this led him to Northumbria Polytechnic - now Northumbria University - where he studied industrial design.

On graduation he started work as a commercial designer and then, with three friends, founded a design agency called Tangerine.

One of the clients for the agency was Apple which was so impressed with the work he did on a prototype notebook that it offered him a full-time job.

Mr Ive was apparently frustrated during his early years at Apple as the company was then suffering a decline. Everything changed, however, in 1995 when Steve Jobs returned to the company he helped found.

"What's made him so outstandingly successful is the relationship he's had with Steve Jobs and Apple," said Deyan Sudjic, director of The Design Museum.

"He's been working there for 19 years and has built up the kind of relationship that's very rare."

Mr Jobs described Mr Ive as his "spiritual partner" in the recent biography of the Apple co-founder written by Walter Isaacson. However, it also said that Mr Ive was "hurt" by Mr Jobs taking credit for innovations that came from the design team.

Mr Ive's eye for design combined effectively with Mr Jobs' legendary attention to detail and the products that have emerged from the company since the late 1990s have turned Apple into the biggest and most influential technology company on the planet.

Mr Sudjic said Mr Ive's talent was to help people stop worrying about technology and just get on with using it.

There have been some mis-steps along the way. Most recently, Apple's iPhone 4 was criticised because many people said signal strength dropped when their hand touched the phone's metal case. This was thought to be because the antenna for the handset formed part of the device's metal shell.

In contrast to many other design celebrities, said Mr Sudjic, Mr Ive had not cashed in on his fame but had let what he and his team created speak for itself.

Mr Sudjic said: "He has a very determined sense of getting things right."

The knighthood is the second time Mr Ive has been recognised in the honour's list. In 2005 he was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE).