John Lister

T-Mobile's "No Contract" deal is supposed to let a customer sever their relationship with the wireless carrier at any moment. However, Washington state officials have ordered the firm to offer refunds to people who didn't realize that quitting the ... contract would come with a fee. With most smartphone deals, the user only pays a portion of the cost of the handset, while the service provider picks up the rest of the tab. In return, the user is tied to a minimum service term (usually lasting two to three years), during which they must pay a steep early termination fee if they choose to cancel the ... (view more)

Google has agreed to make significant changes to the way it displays search results. The move is designed to ward off sanctions from European officials. For some time the European Commission has been carrying out an investigation of Google's ... operations. The goal of that investigation has been to determine whether or not Google's dominance of the search market harms competition. The commission says it identified four main ways in which Google's behavior might breach regulations. The most important involves claims that Google intentionally lists sites and services that it owns higher up in the ... (view more)

The Department of Transportation (DoT) is calling on automakers to disable technologies that allow someone to send text messages while driving. However, the DoT is only making recommendations and cannot yet force automotive firms to follow its ... advice. The new guidelines are based around electronic devices that are built directly into vehicles, such as GPS navigation devices and communications tools. The DoT has two main recommendations. The first is that such equipment should never force a driver to stop looking at the road for more than two seconds at a time to carry out an action. Officials ... (view more)

According to a new study from Verizon, almost one in three of the world's cyber attacks originate in China. The study also revealed that Chinese attackers are more interested in cyberespionage than stealing money. The figures are part of Verizon's ... annual Data Breach Investigations Report. The report aims to bring together data from cybercrime experts from around the world. This year the data covers a total of 47,000 "security incidents," though the vast majority of these incidents appear to have been failed attacks. Only 621 cases are known to have involved an actual breach of security with ... (view more)

Amazon plans to broadcast pilot episodes for 14 new television shows, with viewers deciding which programs deserve to become a full-length series. The pilots will air free-of-charge on Amazon.com in the United States. In the United Kingdom, viewers ... can watch the content on 'Lovefilm'. Although you'll need to register an account to see the shows, you won't need to have a paid subscription to Amazon Prime or Lovefilm to watch these episodes. Although Amazon will be asking for feedback, it isn't simply having a "winner takes all" vote to decide a winner. Instead, it will look at responses and ... (view more)

Last quarter Microsoft profits were up an impressive 19 per cent when compared to the same period last year. However, the company can credit Office software and the Xbox 360, not Windows 8, for that bump. While Microsoft's Windows division showed ... increases in revenue and profits, The Wall Street Journal notes this income was actually earned in the past, with its reporting deferred for accounting purposes. This involved software that allowed the user to receive a free or reduced-price upgrade at a later date. Microsoft chose to not list the full revenue in its accounts at the time of purchase ... (view more)

Twitter has announced it will run personalised advertisements based on what an individual user is writing about. It's an attractive proposition for advertisers but may come across as creepy to users of the social media service. Most Twitter ads are ... based on the people a user follows and the types of messages that users retweet (or share with other users). (Source; pcworld.com ) The new advertising model will go beyond that and incorporate technologies from two popular ad-funded web giants. Like Facebook, Twitter ads can now be targeted to people of a particular gender, living in a particular ... (view more)

Hardware manufacturer Hewlett-Packard (HP) plans to begin adding motion control sensors to some of its computers. Although it will initially be aimed at gamers, the motion control technology could allow for some other high-tech uses, including ... remote surgery. The technology is from Leap Motion, which already produces a standalone accessory that plugs into computers. HP says it will begin bundling the accessory with some new computers shortly. It will then release computers with the technology built-in later this year. In the long run, it's possible HP will use the technology in other devices ... (view more)

Samsung is under investigation for allegedly paying people to post bogus comments online. However, the fake reviews didn't talk up Samsung products but instead attacked devices from rival smartphone manufacturer HTC. News of the alleged dirty tricks ... came from a Taiwanese website that published a document from a marketing firm hired by Samsung. The document lists numerous online discussion forum posts made by people acting on behalf of the marketing firm and, in turn, Samsung. Some of the posts simply praised Samsung products. Others included comparisons between Samsung and HTC smartphones ... (view more)

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt has warned that privately-owned drone aircraft could pose a threat to civil liberties. It's a somewhat ironic comment given Google's controversial Street View operations. Schmidt discussed the dangers posed by ... drones in a recent interview with The Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom. Schmidt says such drones have a long operating range and can transmit data wirelessly to the person controlling them, even passing on live video footage from an on-board camera. At the moment, federal rules allow only approved law enforcement agencies to operate ... (view more)