Samsung Electronics quarterly profit declines

There have been some concerns recently over a slowdown in Samsung's growth

Samsung Electronics, the world's biggest maker of mobile phones and TVs, has reported a drop in quarterly profit for the time in two years.

Net profit was 7.3tn won ($6.8bn; £4bn) in the October-to-December period, down 11% from the previous three months.

Samsung's earnings were hurt by a drop in margins in its mobile phone division which saw operating income fall 18% quarter-on-quarter.

A special bonus payment and currency fluctuations also hurt its earnings.

The firm warned that it will be "challenging" for it to improve its earnings in the current quarter as weak seasonal demand "will put pressure on demand for components and TV products".

"Looking at the quarterly earnings trend, we expect 2014 to follow last year's pattern of a weak first half and a strong second half as usual," Robert Yi, the firm's head of investor relations, said in a statement.

CES 2014: Revising for exams 'while asleep'

Research into our memory patterns shows that memories that are evoked during deep sleep are more likely to stay in our minds for longer, and with greater accuracy.

Sheepdog Sciences, based in California, is seeking to use that theory to help people study.
An app logs what music or sound is being listened to while someone is learning new information. Then, at night, that audio is played back softly when a person is in deep sleep.
Sheepdog Sciences' Alex Butterwick says independent research has shown this to be a highly effective way of retaining information - meaning students can be revising for big exams, even if they are fast asleep.

Target data theft affected 70 million customers

The cyber-thieves managed to infiltrate card swipe systems at Target stores

US retail giant Target says up to 70 million customers had payment card and personal data stolen from the company's databases in December - 30 million more that it first thought.

Target said the thieves took credit card numbers, names, postal addresses, phone numbers and email addresses.

The data breach began on or around 29 November, known as Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

The company said customers would have "zero liability" for any fraud losses.

But this hasn't stopped some customers suing Target, claiming that Target failed to notify them of the breach before it was first reported and did not "maintain reasonable security procedures" to prevent the attack.

"I know that it is frustrating for our guests to learn that this information was taken and we are truly sorry they are having to endure this," said Gregg Steinhafel, Target's chairman, president and chief executive officer.

Target is offering one year of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection to all its US customers.

Data-stealing code
Security researcher Brian Krebs, writing about the breach in December, said sources at credit card payment processing firms had told him the thieves had installed data-stealing code on to card-swipe machines at tills in all 1,797 Target stores.

The thieves stole data between Thanksgiving and 15 December, said Target. This data is often sold on to criminals via underground marketplaces.

The largest ever credit card breach at a US retailer took place in 2007 when cyber-thieves managed to steal information related to almost 46 million credit and debit cards from TJ Maxx and Marshalls.

The thieves amassed the huge cache of data over an 18-month period after penetrating the retailers' computer network.

Google

Google

CES 2014: Yahoo unveils news summary app

Yahoo News Digest presents its users with a selection of summarised news stories

 

Yahoo has launched a news summary app that aims to deliver two daily briefings of eight to nine stories most likely to interest its users.

The News Digest app claims to present readers with "all the stories you need to know about" and brings up a graphic saying "Done" when they have been read.

It is based on Summly, an app created by British teenager Nick D'Aloisio, who now works for Yahoo.

Media analysts are split over the need for such a product.

Mark Mulligan, editor of the Media Industry Blog said the facility could address the needs of busy consumers
"There's a huge amount of information of varying quality being created, and people require a way to steer through all the news - it's a tyranny of choice," he told the BBC.

"The idea of cutting through the clutter and being a trusted curator that can offer quality bite-sized chunks of information definitely addresses a need."

But consultant Bob Eggington, who helped launch BBC News Online, was more sceptical.

"If people are being told they have read enough news they are being misled," he said.

"What Yahoo is saying is: 'We will try to tell you the things we know about that we think are of interest to you' - and both of those statements are highly imperfect."

The app was announced as part of Marissa Mayer's first CES Keynote Address

News of the app's release was revealed by Mr D'Aloisio during a presentation hosted by Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Atomised news.

Yahoo News Digest uses software algorithms to scour a variety of online publications including Reuters, Associated Press, Business Insider and Sky News.

It then assembles the information gathered into what it terms "atoms", which are selected chunks of text, infographics, maps and Wikipedia extracts about each topic alongside photos, videos and links to the news sources.

At present the app is only available on the US iPhone App Store and does not allow users to customise the type of stories most likely to interest them.

Android app acquired

Yahoo's news ambitions extend beyond the app.

Ms Mayer's Keynote Address revealed that Yahoo Tech, a advertising-supported technology news site overseen by ex-New York Times writer David Pogue, was now online.

The chief executive also introduced a new digital magazine called Yahoo Food.

In addition, Ms Mayer revealed her firm had taken over Aviate.

The Android app analyses a phone's wi-fi signal, GPS location data and accelerometer sensor to study a user's habits in order to anticipate their needs.

  Aviate is an app that selects information and other software appropriate to the user's location

For instance it can then bring up a selection of installed workout apps when it believes the handset owner is at the gym or display bus arrival information when it thinks they are waiting for transport.

Advertising overhaul
Investors will probably be more interested in news that Yahoo has unified its suite of digital advertising products.

Facebook recently overtook Yahoo to become the US' second biggest digital ad seller, according to research firm eMarketer. Google remains the market leader.

It adds that the Yahoo's share of worldwide digital ad revenues dropped from 3.4% in 2012 to 2.9% in 2013.

CES 2014: PlayStation games go console-free

Sony's computer entertainment chief Andrew House announced the service at CES

PlayStation Now will allow subscribers to play some of the platform's greatest hits without the need to own a console.

It works by streaming data from the company's servers. The firm's latest smart TVs will be among the first devices to support it, but Sony also intends to offer the facility to other third-party products.

One expert said the firm had a rich back catalogue to draw on.

"It's a pretty big asset," said Brian Blau from the tech consultancy Gartner.

"You can imagine the hundreds of years of manpower that went into building it up, and now they can get value from it for a long time into the future."

Sony said it would launch a restricted test of the service in the US later this month before a wider launch in the summer.

It has not provided details of plans for other markets yet or information of which smartphone and table platforms will be the first to get apps to run the facility.

PlayStation Now lets the firm bring its console games to smartphones and tablets

The announcement was made at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Tackling lag
The new facility is based on technology developed by Gaikai, a cloud gaming start-up that the Japanese firm acquired for $380m (£232m) in 2012.

Its rival Samsung had previously announced plans to partner with the firm to let its TVs offer games.

Sony said the service would also allow its new PlayStation 4 console to run titles from the PS3's library.

The move means PlayStation exclusives, including The Last of Us, will run on other internet connected devices

Since the two machines use different types of processors, the PS4 cannot currently run the previous generation's titles.

It also said that its handheld, the PS Vita, would use PlayStation Now to gain access to a wider catalogue.

Sony added that another benefit of hosting titles in the cloud was that subscribers would always be playing the most up-to-date versions.

Demo titles on show at CES include The Last of Us, Beyond: Two Souls, and God of War: Ascension.

Tech bloggers who tested the kit have noted that it does have some limitations.

Others noted that the visuals were not as crisp as would be the case if they were running natively on a PS3. But they said the games were still playable.

Sony is not alone in offering such a service. OnLive has offered a cloud-based gaming platform since 2010, and is already available in the UK.

However, it lacks many of the big name titles that Sony will be able to offer.

 

Mr Blau said that he expected that PlayStation Now would suit some titles better than others.
"I imagine that for the games that don't require a very fast frame rate that lag won't make any difference at all," he said.
"But for those that run at 50 to 60 frames per second it could be an issue if you're not close to a Sony server.

OnLive already offers a similar service but does not offer many of the PlayStation's bestselling games

 

"However, I imagine the firm has the capability to ensure that most of the connected PlayStations and TV will be close to at least one of its data centres.
"And as the years go on that will become less of a problem as the internet's infrastructure matures."

PS4 v Xbox One
Sony also announced that it had sold 4.2 million PlayStation 4 consoles as of December 28.
Its rival Microsoft had previously said that three million Xbox One machines had been sold by the end of 2013.

Jason Kingsley, chief executive of developer Rebellion, suggested the numbers reflected the firm's different strategies.

"Microsoft seemed to have a US focussed launch with an emphasis on TV and US sports," he said.

"Sony played the hardcore gamer card well in the UK.