Samsung to pay Microsoft royalties over Android

Samsung is to start paying Microsoft royalties for every sale of its smartphone and tablet computers that run the rival Google Android platform.

Microsoft has long accused Android of violating its patents.

Google said its US rival Microsoft was "resorting to legal measures to extort profit from others' achievements and hinder the pace of innovation".

Meanwhile, Samsung has received support from T-Mobile in its continuing legal fight with Apple.

IP wars
 
Google said Microsoft was resorting to "the same tactic we've seen time and again".

It added: "We remain focused on building new technology and supporting Android partners."

Per Roman of technology investment bank GP Bullhound said he was not surprised by the Samsung-Microsoft announcement.

"Many people have long said that Android contains some Microsoft technology," he said.

"Ultimately we are in the area of IP [intellectual property] wars. There is now an intense battle among the technology giants regarding their IP portfolios."

Court side
 
Samsung has also received help from T-Mobile in its continuing legal battle with Apple.

Samsung and Apple are facing each other in courts around the world as they wrangle over patents used in smartphones and tablets.

Apple has applied for an injunction that would stop Samsung selling many of its products in the US. A hearing on the injunction is scheduled for 13 October.

Now T-Mobile has filed papers with the court saying any ban would bring "unnecessarily harm" to it and its customers because it would not be able to find alternative products before the busy holiday season.

T-Mobile's backing for Samsung follows support from Verizon which earlier this week said legal rows over who owns which patent should not hamper the flow of future devices.

'Dramatic growth'
 
Microsoft and Samsung also said they would cross license their patent portfolios.

South Korea's Samsung has further agreed to co-operate in the development and marketing of Windows Phone, Microsoft's own smart phone operating system.

Andy Lees, president of Microsoft's Windows Phone division, said: "Microsoft and Samsung see the opportunity for dramatic growth in Windows Phone and we're investing to make that a reality."

Samsung's executive vice president of global product strategy, Hong Won-Pyo, added that the two firms would "continue to bring the latest innovations to the mobile industry".

China tech stocks dive on threat of US fraud probe

Chinese internet stocks have dived in New York trading after the US Justice Department said it was considering launching a fraud investigation.

The news was disclosed by Robert Khuzami, director of enforcement at the US financial services regulator.

Youku, which models itself on web video firm Youtube, was among the hardest hit, falling 18%.

Chinese search engine firm Baidu fell 9%, rival portal site Sohu lost 5.3%, and messaging firm Sina dipped 9.5%.

The fraud concerns have arisen after accounting irregularities emerged at a number of Chinese firms whose shares are traded in the US.

"There are parts of the justice department that are actively engaged in this area," said Mr Khuzami, when asked by the Reuters news agency whether criminal cases were being prepared.

He also confirmed that other federal prosecutors are involved in the investigation, but did not identify them, nor which Chinese companies and auditors are being looked into.

'A big issue'
 
The probe is the latest spotlight to fall on Chinese companies and their accounting practices.

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu resigned as auditors for software firm Longtop earlier this year, after the accountancy firm claimed to have uncovered evidence of falsified financial records.

Questions have also been raised over the indirect way in which some Chinese firms obtained their US stock market listings.

Normally, a firm conducts a formal "initial public offering" on a stock exchange - something that is heavily regulated in the US and requires the detailed disclosure of a firm's finances to prospective investors.

However, many Chinese firms followed another route to market known as a "reverse merger".

This method involves the Chinese company being bought up by a smaller US firm that was already listed on a stock exchange, such as the Nasdaq, thereby minimising the company's disclosure requirement.

"Not having proper accounting and reliable audit review for publicly traded companies with operations in China is just not acceptable," said Mr Khuzami.

"We have to find a path to resolution of this issue. It is...a big issue for us."

A former investment banker who now works at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr Khuzami has built himself a reputation as someone who is happy to go after some of the biggest names in the financial industry.

He has also filed against Goldman Sachs for misleading investors.

Coffee may prevent depression, scientists say

Women who drink two or more cups of coffee a day are less likely to get depressed, research suggests.

It is not clear why it might have this effect, but the authors believe caffeine in coffee may alter the brain's chemistry. Decaffeinated coffee did not have the same effect.

The findings, published in Archives of Internal Medicine, come from a study of more than 50,000 US female nurses.

The experts are now recommending more work to better understand the link.

And they say it is certainly too soon to start recommending that women should drink more coffee to boost mood.

Caffeine lift
 
The Harvard Medical School team tracked the health of the women over a decade from 1996 to 2006 and relied on questionnaires to record their coffee consumption.

Just over 2,600 of the women developed depression over this time period. 

More of these women tended to be non- or low-coffee drinkers rather than frequent coffee consumers.

Compared with women who drank one cup of caffeinated coffee or less per week, those who consumed two to three cups per day had a 15% decreased risk of developing depression.

Those who drank four or more cups a day cut their risk by 20%.

Regular coffee drinkers were more likely to smoke and drink alcohol and were less likely to be involved in church, volunteer or community groups. They were also less likely to be overweight and have high blood pressure or diabetes.

Even after controlling for all of these variables, the trend of increasing coffee consumption and lower depression remained.

Mounting evidence
 
The researchers say their findings add weight to the work of others which found lower suicide rates among coffee drinkers.

They suspect caffeine is the key player - it is known to enhance feelings of wellbeing and energy.

And it has a physical effect on brain function and transmission by blocking certain chemical receptors, like adenosine. But more research is needed to show if this might mean it is useful for warding off depression.

Alternatively, it might be that people with low moods chose not to drink coffee because it contained caffeine, point out the researchers. One of the common symptoms of depression is disturbed sleep, and caffeine can exacerbate this because it is a stimulant.

Too much caffeine can also increase feelings of anxiety.

Prof Bertil Fredholm, an expert in pharmacology and physiology at Sweden's Karolinska Institute, said the findings were reassuring for coffee-lovers.

"This fits nicely with a lot of the previous work and what we know about caffeine and the brain. It blocks adenosine, which produces a similar effect to increasing dopamine production. And it's becoming increasingly clear that the dopamine-rich areas of the brain are much more important in depression that previously thought.

"Despite valiant efforts to show how dangerous coffee is for us, it is not proving so.

"This removes yet another anxiety regarding caffeine use. Drunk in moderation, the evidence is strong that it is not one of the things we do that is going to damage your health."

Cancer cost 'crisis' warning from oncologists

The cost of treating cancer in the developed world is spiralling and is "heading towards a crisis", an international team of researchers says.

Their Lancet Oncology report says there is a "culture of excess" with insufficient evidence about the "value" of new treatments and technologies.

It says the number of cancer patients and the cost of treating each one is increasing.

It argues for reducing the use and analysing the cost of cancer services.

About 12 million people worldwide are diagnosed with cancer each year. That figure is expected to reach 27 million by 2030.

The cost of new cancer cases is already estimated to be about £185bn ($286bn) a year.

Rising costs
 

A group of 37 leading experts from around the world say the burden of cancer is growing and becoming a major financial issue.

Their report says most developed countries dedicate between 4% and 7% of their healthcare budgets to dealing with cancer.

"The issue that concerns economists and policymakers is not just the amount of money spent on healthcare, but also the rate of increase in healthcare spending or what has become known as the cost curve."

It says the UK's total spend on breast cancer has increased by about 10% in each of the past four years.

"In general, increases in the cost of healthcare are driven by innovation. We spend more because we can do more to help patients."

For example, the number of cancer drugs available in the UK has risen from 35 in the 1970s to nearly 100, but the report warns they can be "exceedingly expensive".

It adds: "Few treatments or tests are clear clinical winners, with many falling into the category of substantial cost for limited benefit."

The cost of drugs is not the only target for criticism.

Lead author Prof Richard Sullivan told the BBC: "It's not just pharmaceuticals. Biomarkers, imaging and surgery are all getting through with very low levels of evidence - the hurdles are set too low."

The report calls for a proper evaluation of the relative merits of conventional surgery and less invasive robotic surgery.

Too much
 
Another criticism is "overusing" treatments and technologies.

"It is often easier to order a scan than to reassure the patient or physician on the basis of a careful history and a physical examination," the report claims.

There is also criticism of "futile care" - providing expensive chemotherapy which gives no medical benefit in the last few weeks of a patient's life.

Prof Sullivan said: "We're on an unaffordable trajectory. We either need to manage and reduce the costs or the cost will increase and then inequality rises between rich and poor."

He said failure to manage costs could result in a "train crash".

The report says solutions fall into two categories: reducing the cost of services or reducing the number of people using them.

Vancouver Insite drug-injection facility can stay open

North America's only legal drug-injection site can stay open, Canada's Supreme Court rules, in a defeat for the country's conservative government.

The supervised injection site opened in Vancouver in 2003 with a federal exemption permitting illegal drug use.

Its supporters say it has helped prevent overdoses, reduced infections, and curbed crime and open drug use.

But the federal government said in 2008 that the facility should close, arguing it promoted addiction.

Celebrations
 
The top court issued its unanimous 9-0 decision on Friday.

Addicts must bring their own drugs to the Insite facility, where they are supplied with clean needles and sterilised water. 

They inject at 12 stainless steel alcoves with mirrors on the walls so nurses on a raised platform can see them.
The court said in its ruling that in the clinic's eight-year history, "Insite has been proven to save lives with no discernible negative impact on the public safety and health objectives of Canada".

"The risk of death and disease to injection drug users is grossly disproportionate to any benefit that Canada might derive from presenting a uniform stance on the possession of narcotics."

Correspondents say the ruling suggests the right of a province to provide healthcare supersedes the federal government's right to enforce drug laws.

It is thought that the Supreme Court's decision could pave the way for similar facilities to open in other parts of Canada.

The ruling triggered an outpouring of support from facility users and healthcare professionals alike.

"Addiction-related drug use is a health issue and not a criminal justice issue," Debra Lynkowski, the chief executive of the Canadian Public Health Association told reporters.

"Collectively, we have the responsibility to protect the health of all Canadians, no matter what their situation."
But Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq was disappointed with the decision.

She told the Canadian parliament: "Our government believes that spending more money on treatment and to help people get off drugs is the best investment we can make."

She added that the government would be reviewing the court's decision.

A crowd celebrated on the street outside the facility, and Dean Wilson, the first user at the Insite facility, expressed his joy at the decision via video link.

The site has been operating under the constitutional exemption to Canada's Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

But the federal government refused to renew the exemption in 2008, arguing that "harm-reduction" programmes diverted funding from addiction-treatment programmes.

The Supreme Court's ruling supports a decision made in 2008 by the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
As of 2009, there were 65 injection facilities in 27 cities in Canada, Australia and western Europe, according to the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Smart cities get their own operating system

Cities could soon be looking after their citizens all by themselves thanks to an operating system designed for the metropolis.

The Urban OS works just like a PC operating system but keeps buildings, traffic and services running smoothly.

The software takes in data from sensors dotted around the city to keep an eye on what is happening.

In the event of a fire the Urban OS might manage traffic lights so fire trucks can reach the blaze swiftly.

The idea is for the Urban OS to gather data from sensors buried in buildings and many other places to keep an eye on what is happening in an urban area.

The sensors monitor everything from large scale events such as traffic flows across the entire city down to more local phenomena such as temperature sensors inside individual rooms.

The OS completely bypasses humans to manage communication between sensors and devices such as traffic lights, air conditioning or water pumps that influence the quality of city life.

Channelling all the data coming from these sensors and services into a over-arching control system had lots of benefits, said Steve Lewis, head of Living PlanIT- the company behind Urban OS.

 

Urban OS should mean buildings get managed better and gathering the data from lots of sources gives a broader view of key city services such as traffic flows, energy use and water levels.

"If you were using an anatomy analogy, the city has a network like the nervous system, talking to a whole bunch of sensors gathering the data and causing actions," said Mr Lewis.

"We distribute that nervous system into the parts of the body - the buildings, the streets and other things.
Having one platform managing the entire urban landscape of a city means significant cost savings, implementation consistency, quality and manageability, he added.

"And it's got local computing capacity to allow a building or an automotive platform to interact with people where they are, managing the energy, water, waste, transportation, logistics and human interaction in those areas."

Urban apps
 

The underlying technology for the Urban OS has been developed by McLaren Electronic Systems - the same company that creates sensors for Formula One cars. The Urban OS was unveiled at the Machine-2-Machine conference in Rotterdam.

To support the myriad of different devices in a city the firm has developed an extensive set of application services that will run Urban OS, dubbed PlaceApps - the urban environment equivalent of apps on a smartphone.

Independent developers will also be able to build their own apps to get at data and provide certain services around a city.

Mr Lewis said that eventually applications on smartphones could hook into the Urban OS to remotely control household appliances and energy systems, or safety equipment to monitor the wellbeing of elderly people.
It could also prove useful in the event of a fire in a building, he said.

Sensors would spot the fire and then the building would use its intelligence to direct people inside to a safe stairwell, perhaps by making lights flicker or alarms get louder in the direction of the exit.

"That's dealt with by the building itself, with the devices very locally talking to each other to figure out what's the best solution for the current dilemma, and then providing directions and orchestrating themselves," said Mr Lewis.

'Magical actions'
 
Living PlanIT is working with Cisco and Deutsche Telekom on different parts of the system.

Markus Breitbach of the Machine to Machine Competence Center at Deutsche Telekom said that his firm was helping to bring all the parts of the Urban OS together.

"Everybody's talking about 50 billion connected devices, which effectively means huge amounts of data being collected, but nobody is really caring about managing it and bringing it into a context - and Urban OS can do just that," he said.

"If there's a fire alarm on the fifth floor and the elevator is going to the next floor, the light will switch on - but in addition the traffic lights will be switched accordingly to turn the traffic in the right direction so that fire workers can get through.

"And this is what Urban OS is providing, this kind of solution to analyse mass data, enter it in a context and perform magical actions."

A test bed for the Urban OS is currently being built in Portugal. For its work in developing smart cities, Living PlanIT was selected as one of the World Economic Forum's Technology Pioneers of 2012.

Anwar al-Awlaki: Obama hails al-Qaeda death in Yemen

US President Barack Obama has said the death of US-born al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki is a "major blow" to the organisation.

Awlaki was killed by a US drone strike in the Jawf province of Yemen, along with several of his associates.
He is believed to have taken a leading role in a number of attempts to attack the US, including plots to blow up US airliners.

Awlaki, who is of Yemeni descent, has been on the run in Yemen since 2007.

Mr Obama said that as a leading figure in al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Awlaki had taken the lead in "planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans" and was also "directly responsible for the death of many Yemeni citizens".

The death "marks another significant milestone in the broader effort to defeat al-Qaeda and its affiliates", he said.
He also paid tribute to the work of both the US intelligence agencies and Yemeni security officials who had co-operated on the killing.

"This is further proof that al-Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world," he said, but warned that AQAP "remains a dangerous though weakened terrorist organisation".

'Online inspiration'

In a brief statement on Friday, Yemen's defence ministry statement said Awlaki had been killed in Khashef in Jawf about 140km (87 miles) east of the capital, Sanaa, "along with some of his companions".

US and Yemeni officials later named one of those as Samir Khan, also a US citizen but of Pakistani origin, who produced an online magazine promoting al-Qaeda's ideology.

US officials said Awlaki's convoy was hit by a US drone and jet strike.

BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera says the killing is significant because Awlaki's use of modern media meant he was able to reach out and inspire people susceptible to radicalisation.

He is accused of

• recruiting and preparing Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian man who tried but failed to bomb a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day 2009
• overseeing a failed plot to blow up two US-bound cargo planes in 2010 with explosives hidden in printer cartridges
• encouraging US Maj Nidal Malik Hasan to carry out the 2009 US army base killings in Fort Hood, Texas which killed 13 people
• inspiring the man who carried out a failed bombing in New York's Times Square in 2010
• inspired a British women to stab her MP Stephen Timms over his support for the war in Iraq
• plotting to use poisons including cyanide and ricin in attacks
• repeatedly called for the killing of Americans, saying in a 2010 video online that they were from the "party of devils"

Mr Obama is said to have personally ordered Awlaki's killing in 2010, but the al-Qaeda leader has survived several attempts on his life.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula

• Formed in January 2009 by a merger between al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia and Yemen

• Based in eastern Yemen

• Led by Nasser al-Wuhayshi, a Yemeni former aide to Osama Bin Laden. Deputy leader is Saudi ex-Guantanamo inmate Said al-Shihri

• Aims to topple Saudi monarchy and Yemeni government, and establish an Islamic caliphate

• Came to prominence with Riyadh bombings in 2003, and 2008 attack on US embassy in Sanaa

• Says it was behind an attempt to blow up US passenger jet in December 2009

Late last year, he survived an air strike in Shabwa province in which at least 30 militants were killed. He was also the target of a US drone attack on 5 May which killed two al-Qaeda operatives in southern Yemen. 

The death comes amid concerns in Washington about the impact of Yemen's political crisis on its ability to tackle al-Qaeda militants.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh is facing a widespread protest movement, along with an armed insurrection by renegade army units and tribal fighters.

Mr Saleh, who was injured three months ago when his residence was shelled, returned last week after treatment in Saudi Arabia.

In an interview published on Thursday, he said he would not stand down, as promised in a deal brokered by Gulf States, if his opponents are allowed to stand in elections to succeed him.

European financial tax not a good idea, says Sweden

A European financial transaction tax is unlikely to raise the sums of money projected as it would encourage firms to move overseas, Sweden's finance minister has told the BBC.

Anders Borg said Sweden abandoned its own transaction tax after most trading companies left the country.

The tax "had a very detrimental impact on our financial markets", he said.

If the European Union introduces the tax, firms could simply move to New York or Asia, Mr Borg said.
'Very bad tax'

Sweden introduced a transaction tax on financial firms in the 1980s.

"Between 90%-99% of traders in bonds, equities and derivatives moved out of Stockholm to London," Mr Borg said.

"The impact was basically that we did not get any tax revenue. It brought in very little tax money while moving most of the businesses outside of Sweden.

"We abandoned [the tax] because it was a very, very bad functioning tax."

The fact that the US has said it has no intention of introducing a similar tax, meant that firms would be free to move to other financial centres, Mr Borg said.

"So we are basically taxing growth away from Europe, and that is not a very good idea.

"I hope [policymakers] realise they might be losing out themselves. This is not a stable tax base."

Mr Borg said he was in favour of making the banking system pay, and making it more robust, but that any measures designed to bring this about should not push firms out of Europe.
Hard hit

The UK has also been vocal in its opposition to the tax proposed by the European Commission earlier this week.

A spokesperson for the UK Treasury said it would "absolutely resist" any tax that was not introduced globally.

London would be hardest hit by the tax as the majority of banking transactions in Europe come through the city.

However, a number of other European countries are in favour of the tax, including France, Austria, Belgium, Norway and Spain.

The commission has said it will look at implementing the tax just in the 17 member states of the eurozone if other EU members oppose it.

Under the proposals, the financial tax would be levied at a rate of 0.1% on all transactions between institutions when at least one party is based in the EU. Derivative contracts would be taxed at a rate of 0.01%.

The tax would raise about 57bn euros ($78bn; £50bn) a year and would come into effect at the start of 2014, the commission said.

Mexico court upholds Baja California abortion stance

Mexico's Supreme Court has upheld an amendment to Baja California's state constitution that stipulates life begins at conception, in a move hailed by anti-abortion campaigners.

Although seven of the 11 justices deemed the measure unconstitutional, eight votes were needed to overturn it.

More than half Mexico's 31 states have enacted right-to-life amendments that severely restrict abortions.

However, Mexico City allows abortions in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Anti-abortion campaigners cheered after hearing the Supreme Court ruling.

"We have to continue working so that life may triumph," Jorge Serrano, leader of an anti-abortion organisation Pro-Life, told Reuters.

The Supreme Court is due to consider a similar amendment in the state of San Luis Potosi, where the law also says that life begins at conception.

Justice Fernando Franco proposed the motion to declare Baja California's law unconstitutional but the opposition of four judges sank the measure.

Giving their ruling, the justices said they based their analysis "strictly on constitutional issues. That is, the issue under debate was the power of states to legislate on topics that are not expressly determined by the federal constitution".

However, some women's rights activists fear that allowing individual states to decide their own rules may create a divide between those able to go to Mexico City for a legal abortion and those living in states where it is largely restricted.

Mexico City government's Human Rights Commission said the court's stance would worsen the serious public health problem of clandestine abortions.

The ruling highlights the difference between policies pursued by Mexico City's authorities and more conservative administrations in other states, correspondents say.

All Mexican states allow abortion when pregnancy results from rape and most permit it when the woman's life is in danger.

But pro-choice campaigners say that in practice this does not always happen.

IBM beats Microsoft in tech giants ranking

For the first time since 1996 IBM's market value has exceeded Microsoft's.

IBM's closing price on 29 September was $214bn (£137.4bn) while Microsoft's was a shade behind at $213.2bn (£136.8bn).
The values cap a sustained period in which IBM's share price has moved steadily upward as Microsoft's has generally been in decline.
The growth means IBM is now the second largest technology company by market value. Apple still holds the top slot with a value of $362bn (£232bn).
Since the beginning of 2011, IBM's share price has made steady gains and is now 22% higher than at the start of the year, according to Bloomberg figures. By contrast, Microsoft's value has dropped 8.8% over the same time period.
Analysts put the switch in the number two slot down to a decision IBM made in 2005 to sell off its PC business to Chinese manufacturer Lenovo to concentrate on software and services.
"IBM went beyond technology," Ted Schadler, a Forrester Research analyst told Bloomberg. "They were early to recognise that computing was moving way beyond these boxes on our desks."
By contrast much of Microsoft's revenue comes from sales of Windows and Office software used on PCs. Also, Microsoft is between releases of Windows which can mean a fallow period for its revenues.
Windows 7 was released in 2009 and Windows 8 is not expected to be released until late 2012 at the earliest.
Many have also claimed that the rise of the web, mobile computing and tablets spells the end of the PC era. In early August, Dr Mark Dean, one of the designers of the original IBM PC, declared that the centre of the computing world had shifted away from the humble desktop.