NSA track hundreds of millions of mobile phones

Almost five billion mobile phone location records are logged by the NSA every day, reports the Washington Post.

The data is said to help the NSA track individuals, and map who they know, to aid the agency's anti-terror work.
The "dragnet surveillance" was condemned by digital rights groups who called for the NSA's snooping efforts to be reined in.
The news comes as Microsoft plans to use more encryption to thwart NSA spying on it and its customers.
Wrong target The huge database built up by the NSA (National Security Agency) keeps an eye on "hundreds of millions" of mobile phones, said the Post, adding that it let the agency map movements and relationships in ways that were "previously unimaginable".
It added that the vast programme potentially surpassed any other NSA project in terms of its impact on privacy. Information about the programme was in papers released to the Post by whistleblower Edward Snowden.
The spying agency is said to have accumulated so much data, about 27 terabytes according to leaked papers seen by the Post, that it was "outpacing" the NSA's ability to analyse the information in a timely fashion.
The analysis, via a computer system called Co-Traveler, was necessary as only a tiny fraction of 1% of the data gathered was actually useful in its anti-terror work, said the paper. The analysis is so detailed that it can be used to thwart attempts to hide from scrutiny by people who use disposable phones or only use a handset briefly before switching it off.
The vast majority of the information gathered is said to come from taps installed on mobile phone networks and used the basic location-information that networks log as people move around. Analysing this data helps the NSA work out which devices are regularly in close proximity and, by implication, exposes a potential connection between the owners of those handsets.
The American Civil Liberties Union said it was "staggering" that the NSA could mount such a vast location-logging system without any public debate. The "dragnet surveillance" broke US obligations that require it to respect the privacy of foreigners and Americans.
"The government should be targeting its surveillance at those suspected of wrong-doing, not assembling massive associational databases that, by their very nature, record the movements of a huge number of innocent people," it added.
The steady flow of information about the NSA's surveillance work has led Microsoft to take steps to protect itself and its customers from unwarranted scrutiny, it said in a blogpost.
Brad Smith, Microsoft legal counsel, said government snooping was now as much of a security problem as computer viruses and other cyber-attacks.
In response, Mr Smith said, Microsoft was expanding its use of encryption; would fight legal orders that stop it telling customers when their data is being sought and would allow a closer look at the code it develops to show there were no backdoors built in.

USB Type-C connector will be reversible

USB cable developers have announced that a forthcoming version of the connector's plug is to be reversible.

It means users of the Universal Serial Bus cables will no longer have to worry which way round the part is facing when plugging it into a device.
The specification is due to be completed by mid-2014, and the first product on the market by 2016.
It will neuter one of the advantages Apple's proprietary lightning cable currently has over the USB system.
The first USB cable were released in the mid-1990s and, until now, could only be plugged into a computer or other device one way round to ensure a data connection.
The Promoter Group, which agrees the design of the standard, is currently made up of representatives from Intel, HP, Microsoft, Renesas Electronics, ST-Ericsson and Texas Instruments.
"Consumers are now demanding thinner and sleeker product designs and the USB 3.0 Promoter Group recognises this need," said the group's president Jeff Ravencraft.
He added that the development was unrelated to Apple's move to a reversible system.

USB Type-C will be roughly the same size as a micro-USB connector, seen on the left

Other changes to the current version - USB 3.0 - include:

• A smaller size, giving the full-size USB Type-C plug similar dimensions to the micro-USB format used by many smartphones and tablets
• Support for scalable power charging, allowing the cable to offer up to 100 watts
• Data speed transfers of up to 10 Gbps, double what is possible at the moment
• A promise that the new design will accommodate further upgrades

"This allows USB to increase performance and continue to deliver ease of use to several evolving product categories for years to come," said Roland Sperlich, from Texas Instruments.
One industry watcher welcomed news of the update.

Apple's Lightning connector is already reversible

"I don't think consumers buy devices based on the type of plug, so in terms of driving adoption of a certain type of smartphone, tablet or PC it doesn't make a great deal of difference," said Ian Fogg, from consultants IHS.
"Where I think it is important is the convenience of using the devices, and increasingly USB is used not just to connect and share data, but as a way of charging our machines.
"Anything that makes it easier and more convenient to charge is a good thing as it's something we all have to do very frequently."

Wipro to turn off PC manufacturing business

BANGALORE/CHENNAI: Wipro is ramping down production at its PC manufacturing and assembly factories in Uttarakhand and Puducherry. The company is also shifting some of the employees in manufacturing division to other roles, said people familiar with the matter.

"The management has not conveyed specific announcement on manufacturing business, but the factory is at a standstill and fresh production is stopped," said one person with direct knowledge. This is expected to impact over 1,000 employees, a majority of whom are contract staff.

The development comes weeks after HCL Infosystems' announcement that it would move away from PC manufacturing.

Wipro entered the hardware business in 1982 but later expanded into IT services, which has now become the mainstay for India's third-ranked technology services company with sales of nearly $7 billion (Rs 43,500 crore). Wipro's hardware division, which makes laptops, desktops and servers, has seen falling profitability over the past several quarters.

"There has been a slowdown in the factory production and the company (Wipro) seems to be scaling down this facility," said a local government official in Kotdwar.

In response to queries from ET, Wipro released a statement to the stock exchanges saying it was discontinuing production of Wipro-branded desktops, laptops and servers after "evaluating the changing market scenario and customer needs."

"Manufacturing our own PCs was not giving us a competitive differentiation in our System Integration solution offering," said Soumitro Ghosh, senior vice president and head of Wipro Infotech, in the statement.

In the September quarter, the unit had revenue of $150 million (Rs 930 crore), an increase of 4% over last year but the operating profit was just 1.6% of sales. Industry analysts estimate that Wipro has a less than 2% share of the market.

"Wipro's impending exit from hardware business and sharpening of focus towards value-added IT services business is the right strategy and will add to shareholder's value creation," said Jaideep Mehta, vice-president and country general manager at IDC India.

Reflecting the global trend, PC market in India has been on the decline with only low-margin government procurement keeping the needle moving.

"All vendors are finding it cumbersome to stay profitable and more so local vendors," said Vishal Tripathy, principal research analyst at Gartner.

Last month, HCL Infosystems announced it would focus on the IT services and hardware distribution businesses and that loss-making PC manufacturing would not be part of its future strategy.

Wipro, however, may stay invested in hardware by procuring from other device makers rather than manufacturing, people familiar with the matter said. In the past, Wipro has maintained that having a hardware portfolio helps the company participate in large technology services contracts as it can provide a complete offering from setting up the IT infrastructure to managing it for clients.

Typically manufacturing locally used to help save up to 10% on cost, but in last couple of years the expiration of tax incentives in some states and increasing rupee fluctuation have reduced these benefits.

"Importing hardware has become cheaper than manufacturing it locally. This could be one of the big reasons behind such a move," said Anwar Shirpurwala , executive director at Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology.

Companies like Wipro and HCL Infosystems pulling out comes at a time when the government is looking to boost local manufacturing of electronic goods as a means to lower India's import bill. Electronics is the second biggest item on India's import bill, with estimates projecting it to replace oil as the single biggest item by 2020.

Apple desktops overtake Dell

Apple has long been the most-desired brand for tablets, smartphones, MP3 players, and streaming media devices on US shoppers' holiday lists. And, for the first time, the company also got ranked as the top brand for desktops this year, according to data from market researcher Parks Associates.
"Apple topped the list of intended brands for desktop purchases for the first time this year," John Barrett, Parks Associates director of consumer analytics, said in a statement Wednesday. "In 2011 and 2012, Dell was the top desktop brand, but Apple has displaced it, making Apple now the most popular brand across even more key CE categories."
Steadily moving up the list for desktop brands, Apple was in third place in 2011. In 2012, it displaced Hewlett-Packard for second place; and now, it has conquered Dell for first place. Parks Associates got its data for this year's most-desired brands from a national survey of 2,500 households in this year's fourth quarter.
For streaming media devices, Apple TV has held the top spot for the last three years. But, Parks Associates noted that while most shoppers say they want an Apple TV, many end up buying a Roku box instead. Last year, 34 percent of shoppers aged 18 to 34 said they planned to buy an Apple TV, and 15 percent said they planned to buy a Roku. In a later survey of actual purchases, Parks Associates found 24 percent bought an Apple TV and 29 percent bought a Roku.
It's possible the same could happen with desktop computers -- people say they want Apple, but end up buying Dell.
"Being the 'preferred' brand is certainly an advantage, but consumers can still change their minds," Barrett said.
Other brands that topped shoppers' most-desired list were Sony's PlayStation 4 for gaming consoles, Amazon's Kindle for e-readers, and Samsung for flat-panel TVs.