Hackers Attack Thai Police Websites to Protest British Murder Verdicts

Hackers attacked Thai police websites on Tuesday in protest against the trial of two Myanmar migrant workers sentenced to death last month for the murders of two British tourists.

The international hacking group Anonymous said on its Facebook page that 14 Thai police websites had been attacked. Of those it listed, nine were inaccessible on Tuesday.

Police on Tuesday confirmed the attack on its websites but said there was no confidential data on the public websites.

"They're not good enough to hack into our system and steal any of our data," police spokesman Dechnarong Suthicharnbancha said.

In a 37-minute video posted on the Anonymous Facebook page on Sunday, a masked person questioned the competency of the Thai police force and its handling of this and other cases.

On December 24, a Thai court found Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun, both 22, guilty of killing Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, whose battered bodies were found on a beach on the southern Thai holiday island of Koh Tao in 2014.

The investigation into the killings drew allegations of police incompetence, torture and mishandling of evidence. A judge dismissed the allegations of torture, saying there was no evidence it took place.

The verdicts sparked anger in Myanmar where hundreds held protests outside the Thai Embassy in the commercial capital of Yangon, calling for the two to be released.

The words "Failed Law", "We Want Justice", and a hashtag #BoycottThailand were displayed on some of the hacked sites, along with the name of Myanmar-based "Blink Hacker Group".

Reuters was unable to verify who carried out the attack on the police websites.

© Thomson Reuters 2016

For full coverage from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, visit our CES 2016 hub.

Petitions Seek Pardon for Murder Convicts Featured in Netflix Series

Nearly 200,000 people have signed petitions seeking a presidential pardon for two men featured in a murder mystery documentary on Netflix.

One of the petitions, on the White House website, had gathered more than 20,000 signatures as of Monday afternoon.

One of the men featured in "Making a Murderer", Steven Avery, was freed from prison in 2003 after serving 18 years for rape. He was exonerated through DNA evidence.

But while he was suing Manitowoc County in Wisconsin over that wrongful imprisonment, he was arrested over the death in 2005 of a 25-year-old photographer named Teresa Halbach.

Avery was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. He insists he is innocent.

His nephew Brendan Dassey, who was 16 at the time, was sentenced to life in prison with parole possible starting in 2048.

"Based on the evidence in the Netflix documentary series 'Making a Murderer,' the justice system embarrassingly failed both men, completely ruining their entire lives," reads the appeal in the open petition section of the White House website.

It said there is clear evidence that the Manitowoc County sheriff's department used "improper methods" to convict Avery and Dassey.

If 100,000 people sign that petition by January 19 the White House is required to respond to it.

The petition was opened up on December 20, two days after the streaming launch of the highly popular 10-episode Netflix series.

Other petitions seeking a pardon for the two men are featured on the web site www.change.org.

For full coverage from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, visit our CES 2016 hub.

Sure, why not? FBI agrees to unlock iPhone for Arkansas prosecutor

The FBI, which just a few days ago was attempting to convince the country of its helplessness in the face of encrypted iPhones, has generously offered its assistance in unlocking an iPhone and iPod for a prosecutor in Arkansas, the Associated Press reports.

TechCrunch has contacted the prosecutor's office for details, which for the moment are thin on the ground — but the timing seems unlikely to be a coincidence. It was only Monday that the FBI announced it had successfully accessed a phone after saying for months that it couldn't possibly do so — and that Apple was endangering national security by refusing to help.

The case is the alleged murder of a couple by two teenagers, and the prosecution on Tuesday received a postponement to the trial in order to request help in unlocking the iPhone and iPod — something the lawyers didn't even know was possible until Monday. Amazingly, the FBI agreed to help the very next day, Faulkner County Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland told the AP. Court documents indicate that a "letter to Snapchat," 10 pages of emails, and over 100 pages of "Facebook records" were being entered into evidence, so the defendant's digital footprint isn't exactly a total blank.

If the unlocking process being used by the FBI is so trivial that it can be offered on short notice to anybody asking nicely, that deeply contradicts the narrative the Justice Department has been building regarding the limitations of law enforcement in accessing encrypted phones.

Again, the specific details of the devices (model, OS version, etc.) are unknown, as is the exact nature of the FBI's offered assistance. Until the court, prosecutor's office, or defender files or volunteers further information (and we'll be asking), this is fairly up in the air.

Featured Image: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

US Court Rules Selfie Monkey Can't Own Photo Copyright

A US judge has ruled that a macaque monkey who snapped grinning selfies that went viral last year online does not own the copyright to the photographs.

Activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals brought the case in San Francisco on behalf of Indonesian simian Naruto, who shot to fame last year after a photographer published pictures taken by the monkey with his camera.

Peta petitioned the court to have the macaque "declared the author and owner of his photograph."

But in a preliminary ruling Wednesday, Judge William Orrick said that "while Congress and the President can extend the protection of law to animals as well as humans, there is no indication that they did so in the Copyright Act."

The photos were taken in 2011 on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi by British nature photographer David Slater. He later published a book of his photographs, which included two selfies taken by six-year-old Naruto.

The San Francisco-based company that published the book - Blurb - was named as a co-defendant in the case.

In filing the lawsuit, Peta had argued that "US copyright law doesn't prohibit an animal from owning a copyright, and since Naruto took the photo, he owns the copyright, as any human would."

Slater insists he owns the rights since he set up the tripod and walked away for a few minutes only to find out that the monkey had grabbed his camera and snapped away.

When the copyright controversy erupted, he said that the widespread distribution of the photos on the Internet had cost him a lot of money by robbing his book of potential sales.

For full coverage from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, visit our CES 2016 hub.

Karbonn Titanium S205 2GB, Titanium Moghul Budget Smartphones Launched

Karbonn has launched two new budget Android smartphones, the Titanium Moghul and Titanium S205 2GB, priced at Rs. 5,790 and Rs. 6,790 respectively. Both the new Karbonn handsets are now available via retailers in India. Notably, the Titanium S205 2GB was initially announced back in October but will be going on sale only now.

The Karbonn Titanium Moghul (seen above) runs the now dated Android 4.4 KitKat out-of-the-box. On the other hand, the Karbonn Titanium S205 2GB runs Android 5.1 Lollipop.

(Also see: Karbonn Titanium Moghul vs. Karbonn Titanium S205 2GB)

The Titanium Moghul comes with a 5-inch qHD (540x960 pixels) IPS display with Dragontrail glass for scratch protection. It is a dual-SIM device and is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor coupled with 1GB of RAM. The handset will feature 8GB of inbuilt storage and will come with expandable storage of up to 32GB via microSD card. The Titanium Moghul sports an 8-megapixel rear autofocus camera with LED flash and also houses a 3.2-megapixel front camera. It is backed by a 2000mAh battery and supports 3G connectivity.

The Karbonn Titanium S205 2GB (seen above), on the other hand, features a 5-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) IPS display with Dragontrail glass. It also features dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) functionality.

Other innards of the handset include a 1.2GHz quad-core processor with 2GB of RAM and 16GB inbuilt storage with expandable storage support up to 32GB (via microSD card).

Much like the Titanium Moghul, the Karbonn Titanium S205 2GB also sports an 8-megapixel rear and 3.2-megapixel front cameras. There is an LED flash at the back as well. The Titanium S205 2GB packs a 2200mAh battery and supports 3G connectivity.

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Australia's First Fire-Fighting Robot Unveiled

A fire-fighting robot that can sweep away obstacles and clear smoke from burning buildings is the latest weapon being used to fight fires in Australia's New South Wales (NSW) state.

NSW Emergency Services Minister David Elliot and Fire and Rescue Commissioner Greg Mullins unveiled the country's first remote-controlled firefighting robot, the Turbine Aided Firefighting machine (TAF 20) on Thursday, ABC reported.

The TAF 20 has bulldozer blades capable of moving cars out of the way and a high-powered fan to blow away smoke.

It can also spray water mist or foam from 60 metres and blast water for 90 metres.

The robot will be based at Alexandria in inner Sydney and can be quickly deployed by road or air to where it is needed, Commissioner Mullins said.

"It can be remotely operated up to 500 metres away and sent into situations where it is too dangerous for firefighters, which is a huge advantage as the safety of firefighters is my highest priority," he said.

The robot costs 310,000 Australian dollars (about $226,248 or roughly Rs. 1.5 crores) and was made and imported from Germany.

There is already one in use in Germany and one in Mexico.

It was put to the test last week at a Botany factory fire in Sydney, where Elliot said it proved its effectiveness.

"It will be of great use for our firefighters in battling other large and complex fires, including bushfires," Elliot added.

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Apple CEO Defends Smart Battery Case 'Hump'; Says You Shouldn't Use It Everyday

Apple CEO Tim Cook has defended the "hump" in its recently launched Smart Battery Case. He said that the much-derided hump in the company's new accessory is there because users aren't expected to be using it everyday.

Apple launched the Smart Battery Case earlier this week. The battery pack, which doubles as a smartphone case, comes with a peculiar hump at the back which isn't pleasing many. Responding to the criticism, Cook gave his take on the design, adding that users shouldn't be using the case so often - but only in situations where extended battery life is required, like hiking.

"You know, I probably wouldn't call it 'the hump,'" he told Mashable in an interview. "If you're charging your phone every day, you probably don't need this at all. But if you're out hiking and you go on overnight trips... it's kind of nice to have."

Cook, who said he was aware of people's comments on the design of the Smart Case Battery, also touted the design efforts the company has put in making the accessory. "One of the real insights here is, have you ever used other cases and tried to get them on?" Cook asked the interviewer. "In order to get it on, you'd find it very difficult to get it on and off. So the guys had this great insight to put the bend in along with making it a smart case," Cook explained.

The iPhone Smart Battery Case is the first product of its kind to be released by the company. It is priced at $99 (roughly Rs. 6,600). Several commentators and users alike have used the opportunity to point out design flaws in several other recent products, and question if the company has lost its ability to make beautiful products.

The Magic Mouse 2, which the company launched earlier this year, has its charging port at the bottom side, making it impossible to use when the device is charging. Some people have also mocked Apple for the way the Apple Pencil needs to be plugged into the iPad Pro for charging.

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EU Plans to Make Netflix, BBC iPlayer Available Abroad

The EU unveiled plans on Wednesday that would allow travellers to get online streaming services like Netflix or BBC iPlayer when abroad by 2017, something currently blocked by complex copyright rules.

Europeans spend about one billion nights in other EU countries every year but face a frustrating inability to watch films and sports or listen to music on an iPad or laptop when they travel outside their home country.

"People who legally buy content - films, books, football matches, TV series - must be able to carry it with them anywhere they go in Europe," said Andrus Ansip, the European Commission's Vice President for the digital single market.

"We want to ensure the portability of content across borders."

As it stands, subscribers to the Netflix or Amazon streaming service in, for example, Britain, cannot use the service when they travel to another country. The services in different countries also currently have different content.

In another example, digital subscribers to Sky Sports in London are unable to access Premier League football matches when travelling abroad.

The commission, the executive body of the 28-country EU, said the ability of Europeans to enjoy subscriptions to these services while still in the bloc was "a new EU right for consumers".

'Complex technical issues'
The proposal now goes to the European parliament and EU member states for approval, which the commission hopes will come next year, with final implementation of the rules in 2017.

That is the same year that the EU is set to end mobile phone roaming charges.

The British Broadcasting Corporation, the largest public broadcaster in the world, welcomed the impact on its iPlayer service, which only people living in Britain are currently able to use.

"We are interested in being able to allow UK licence-fee payers to access BBC iPlayer while they are on holiday in the EU, and welcome the European Commission proposing regulation to help make this possible," a BBC statement said.

"There are complex technical issues to resolve and aspects of the Commission's proposal need clarification."

EU officials said the BBC service would need to introduce a system that verifies the country of residence of users, which services like Netflix and Amazon already have.

Critics argued that the proposal lacked ambition and addressed only the narrow concerns of subscribers who could afford the big fees demanded by the streaming services.

"Overall, the copyright reform proposals are a far cry from commitment by Commission president (Jean-Claude) Juncker to 'break down national silos' in copyright and ignore many demands made by the EU Parliament," said Julia Reda, a leading Greens MEP on the issue.

'Just an appetiser'
But the commission said the so-called "portability" issue is only the first step towards a far more controversial plan by the EU to overhaul the EU's complex copyright rules, part of a scheme to create a single digital market in Europe.

"The proposal... is just an appetiser, the main course will come in 2016," said the EU's Digital Commissioner Guenther Oettinger.

The European Union is the world's biggest economy, but despite its 500 million potential consumers, digital services remain confined to national borders, with separate accounts and proof of residency required from one country to another.

In May the EU launched an anti-trust inquiry into the online shopping marketplace over the restrictions it places on people in one country being able to buy goods from another.

It is focused on electronics, clothes, shoes and digital content.

But media companies are extremely reluctant to break the status quo especially in France, where protecting French culture is an important government priority.

"In the digital economy, licensing distribution rights by territory remains fundamental to the financing, production and distribution of content not just in the EU, but worldwide," said Benoit Ginisty of the International Federation of Film Producers Association, a lobby in Brussels.

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Google Recaps Its Efforts to Fight Unwanted Software in 2015

Google has been working behind-the-scenes to improve the Web, with its recent efforts focused against 'unwanted software' or UwS. However, it is still receiving complaints from users. On Wednesday, the search giant elaborated on its efforts to eliminate UwS from the Web and gave some statistics as well.

In the past one year, Google has included UwS in Safe Browsing and its API, which together resulted in showing users a warning message when visiting sites that contain UwS. It also launched Chrome Cleanup Tool, which as per the company is a "one-shot UwS removal tool that has helped clean more than 40 million devices." The firm also started using UwS as a signal in search to identify deceptive sites. It even started disabling Google ads that lead to sites with UwS downloads.

According to Google, all these changes "have already begun to move the needle." The UwS-related Chrome user complaints have fallen from 40 percent to 20 percent. The search giant besides showing over 5 million Safe Browsing warnings per day on Chrome regarding UwS, has also helped over 14 million users to remove more than 190 deceptive Chrome extensions from the devices. The number of UwS warning messages seen via AdWords has also seen a decline by 95 percent as compared to last year.

The Sundar Pichai-led company, however, still has to work a lot. "20% of all feedback from Chrome users is related to UwS and we believe 1 in 10 Chrome users have hijacked settings or unwanted ad injectors on their machines. We expect users of other browsers continue to suffer from similar issues; there is lots of work still to be done," adds the company blog post. "We're still in the earliest stages of the fight against UwS, but we're moving in the right direction. We'll continue our efforts to protect users from UwS and work across the industry to eliminate these bad practices."

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PS4's Sharefactory Video Editing App Gets New Features, Hits 5.1 Million Downloads

Sony's Sharefactory video editing app for the PS4 just received a massive update. You can now add slow motion and time lapse effects to your videos. According to Stuart Platt, Senior Producer at Sony Computer Entertainment America, it's been a popular request from vocal PS4 users.

In addition to this, there will be Sharefactory Events. These will be conducted by game developers and publishers, allowing you to show off your editing skills. As per Platt's post on the PlayStation blog, the first event is being planned and will happen soon. Furthermore, you can now add up to 50 video clips to a Sharefactory project and up to 12 music track clips as well.

There are other changes. Text is now referred to as overlays, and stickers can be layered. Two music tracks, three filter effects, three wipe transitions, five dissolve transitions, a new colour picker, and an enhanced text colour palette also are present with the latest update.

Perhaps the most telling piece of information is how Sharefactory is performing.

"Since launch, we've seen an explosive growth, with more than 5.1 million downloads of the Sharefactory app, and more than 18.9 million awesome projects created by our PlayStation Nation," wrote Platt in his post. Even with over 30 million PS4s sold, it's not too surprising to see so few with the Sharefactory app. Although sharing game videos and screenshots is a heavily touted feature, not everyone is inclined to do so, and Sharefactory's prevalence, or lack thereof, cements this.

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Aurous Music Streaming Search Engine to Shut Down After Copyright Suit

Aurous, an upstart music site that described itself as a search engine for the growing field of streaming, agreed Wednesday to shut down after copyright suits from major labels.

Aurous, launched in October by 20-year-old Miami-based coder Andrew Sampson, allows users to search for music across all available online platforms and then click on links to listen.

Sampson had described Aurous as a sort of search engine that could become a one-stop site for music fans, who could also import playlists from other platforms.

But a court temporarily stopped the site within days of its launch after a joint lawsuit by the major record labels, which said that Aurous offered access to pirated material.

In a settlement submitted to a federal court in Miami on Wednesday, Aurous agreed to shut down permanently and pay $3 million (roughly Rs. 20 crores) in damages to the labels.

"We hope this sends a strong signal that unlicensed services cannot expect to build unlawful businesses on the backs of music creators," Cary Sherman, chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America trade group, said in a statement.

Aurous shortly afterward wrote on Twitter: "We've closed up shop.... It was fun, guys!"

In earlier court testimony, Sampson said he was unaware of copyright violations as Aurous had no control over users' searches or power to remove material from third-party sites.

Streaming sites such as Spotify, Deezer and Tidal - which allow unlimited, on-demand music - have grown rapidly in the past several years with many in the music industry seeing the services as the future.

But the industry has also been aggressive in shutting down sites if they do not pay back royalties.

Grooveshark, an early streaming site that was also started by young entrepreneurs in Florida, closed down earlier this year after years of litigation.

Grooveshark, which claimed 30 million monthly users, allowed listeners to upload material to the site, even when copyrighted.

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News Micro-Payments Site 'Blendle' to Launch in US

Online news startup Blendle, which allows users to make small payments to read individual articles, announced plans Wednesday to launch next year in the United States.

Blendle, a Dutch-based service which has been operating in the Netherlands and Germany, hopes the "micro-payments" model can help struggling news organizations as an alternative to "paywalls" or digital subscriptions, said co-founder Alexander Kloepping.

While paywalls have become more common in the United States, Kloepping said, "some of the best content is only available behind those paywalls, doesn't go on the Web until days after publication in print newspapers and magazines and is still viewed through an array of intrusive ads."

He said Blendle helps users "find the most interesting stories every day" by "looking specifically at each reader's tastes, along with the tastes of their friends, and by employing editors that hand-pick the best stories from premium sources."

The New York Times and German digital publisher Axel Springer agreed last year to invest in the platform, which Kloepping founded along with another young Dutch journalist, Marten Blankesteijn.

Blendle signed up major publishers in Germany and the Netherlands, as well as big names like The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and The Economist.

It has over 500,000 users in the two European countries.

Kloepping told AFP that Blendle expects to charge 20 to 30 cents for US newspaper articles and 25 to 40 cents for magazine stories, similar to the rates in Europe. Publishers keep 70 percent of revenue, with Blendle getting the rest.

"People are ready to pay for that but it needs to be easy," he said. "It needs to be done well. It needs good technology. And that's what we're trying to do."

Blendle will initially seek to bring on major national publications and then smaller, regional and local ones.

Blendle frees users of the need to sign up to costly digital subscriptions for each publication. Readers can buy articles with one click, view them without ads and obtain an instant refund if they are not satisfied.

"In an age of ad blockers and paywalls, many publishers are struggling to find out how to monetize their content. Blendle started as a big experiment in Europe, but it's working," said Kloepping.

By simplifying the readers' experience, he said, "We've proven that we can get young people to pay for high-quality journalism."

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Microsoft's Think Next Forum Concludes, 8 Startups Graduate

Think Next 2015 - a forum that brought thought leaders in technology driving transformation via innovation together under one roof - concluded here on Wednesday.

The forum not only saw the participation of more than 800 delegates from leading corporates, investors, thought leaders and delegates from Microsoft who partnered to push the collaborative innovation agenda for the ecosystem, but also witnessed the graduation of Microsoft Ventures' winter batch 2015.

Eight certified graduating startups from the batch, namely, Canvasflip, Cloudcherry, Shotang, Flutura, KNOLSKAPE, Vymo, Vakilsearch and Vigyanlabs showcased their innovative solutions.

Meanwhile, two senior leaders - Steven Guggenheimer, corporate vice president and chief evangelist at Microsoft, and Scott Coleman, general manager, Microsoft Ventures shared lessons they learnt while working with entrepreneurs across the globe.

A round table focused on topics such as current valuation levels, potential Initial Public Offerings, Unicorns in the venture market and mergers.

Unicorn is a term in the investment industry, in particular venture capital industry, which denotes a start-up company whose valuation has exceeded $1 billion (roughly Rs. 6,675 crores).

A session 'Fireside Chat with Author Devdutt Pattanaik' discussed the lessons budding entrepreneurs could derive from mythology and stories passed down the generations.

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Microsoft Accidentally Unveils Edge Browser Extension Support; Tips Imminent Launch

Microsoft Edge may get support for extensions sooner than expected. The company had announced that it would add support for add-ons to its newly launched Web browser in 2016, but this week it accidentally made live a preview site announcing the support, suggesting an imminent rollout.

A long time Microsoft watcher who goes by the alias WalkingCat on Twitter discovered the preview site. The webpage, which seems to be aimed at developers, announces the support for extensions for Microsoft Edge. The portal also offers Reddit's Enhancement Suite and Pinterest's Pin It Button extensions for manual download, along with instructions to assist users with installing the extensions.

"Extensions are here! Beginning with Build XXXXX in Windows 10 Technical Preview, a selection of extensions are available for Microsoft Edge... Maybe some text here about new extensions coming in future updates, and how you can get started on writing your own?" the description read. The company has since taken down the preview website.

(Also see: Microsoft Edge Browser Gets EdgeHTML 13; Blocks Support for Toolbars)

Microsoft debuted the Edge browser as the default browser of Windows 10. Edge offers a range of features including Cortana integration and offers the ability to add annotations on the Web page. Support for extensions, however, was a major feature Edge is currently missing. The company had previously announced that it would add that support this year, but later delayed the rollout plans to 2016.

The company has previously said that Microsoft Edge will support Chrome and Firefox extensions. While it has remained tight-lipped around it since then, the prolific leakster compared the extensions for Chrome and Microsoft Edge. "Comparing Edge version vs. Chrome version of same extension, basically substitute "chrome" with "msBrowser", add few minor changes, done."

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PS4 Buy One Get One Free Digital Sale Now Live

While Microsoft India went to town with Black Friday digital deals, Sony India was surprisingly quiet. Not any more. We were checking out the Indian PlayStation Store and were pleased to see a rather sweet deal for those who have the capacity to buy games digitally.

Until December 25, 5:29am IST, you can buy one game and get the other free on the PlayStation Network. These include a titles such as sleeper hit Until Dawn, The Order:1886, Watch Dogs, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, and Evolve to name a few. If you're a PS3 or PS Vita owner, you're out of luck. This is for PS4 games only.

(Also see: PS4 or Xbox One? We Help You Decide)

To avail of this offer, simply add two or more products to your shopping cart on the PlayStation store and use the code J7P8G8P3DH to get one game free. There's some legal fine print to go with it on another page obviously, which you can check out here. What's important to note is that the discount code will apply to the cheapest product in the card and that this does not work for pre-orders.

Also, according to the PlayStation blog, you can use the discount code for as many times as you like. While some of these deals might sound great, you can do a whole lot better buying used or waiting for a sale on sites like Amazon or Flipkart.

Aside from India, the PS4 buy one get one free offer applies to the following countries: Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kuwait, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.

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Australia's First Fire-Fighting Robot Unveiled

A fire-fighting robot that can sweep away obstacles and clear smoke from burning buildings is the latest weapon being used to fight fires in Australia's New South Wales (NSW) state.

NSW Emergency Services Minister David Elliot and Fire and Rescue Commissioner Greg Mullins unveiled the country's first remote-controlled firefighting robot, the Turbine Aided Firefighting machine (TAF 20) on Thursday, ABC reported.

The TAF 20 has bulldozer blades capable of moving cars out of the way and a high-powered fan to blow away smoke.

It can also spray water mist or foam from 60 metres and blast water for 90 metres.

The robot will be based at Alexandria in inner Sydney and can be quickly deployed by road or air to where it is needed, Commissioner Mullins said.

"It can be remotely operated up to 500 metres away and sent into situations where it is too dangerous for firefighters, which is a huge advantage as the safety of firefighters is my highest priority," he said.

The robot costs 310,000 Australian dollars (about $226,248 or roughly Rs. 1.5 crores) and was made and imported from Germany.

There is already one in use in Germany and one in Mexico.

It was put to the test last week at a Botany factory fire in Sydney, where Elliot said it proved its effectiveness.

"It will be of great use for our firefighters in battling other large and complex fires, including bushfires," Elliot added.

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Apple CEO Defends Smart Battery Case 'Hump'; Says You Shouldn't Use It Everyday

Apple CEO Tim Cook has defended the "hump" in its recently launched Smart Battery Case. He said that the much-derided hump in the company's new accessory is there because users aren't expected to be using it everyday.

Apple launched the Smart Battery Case earlier this week. The battery pack, which doubles as a smartphone case, comes with a peculiar hump at the back which isn't pleasing many. Responding to the criticism, Cook gave his take on the design, adding that users shouldn't be using the case so often - but only in situations where extended battery life is required, like hiking.

"You know, I probably wouldn't call it 'the hump,'" he told Mashable in an interview. "If you're charging your phone every day, you probably don't need this at all. But if you're out hiking and you go on overnight trips... it's kind of nice to have."

Cook, who said he was aware of people's comments on the design of the Smart Case Battery, also touted the design efforts the company has put in making the accessory. "One of the real insights here is, have you ever used other cases and tried to get them on?" Cook asked the interviewer. "In order to get it on, you'd find it very difficult to get it on and off. So the guys had this great insight to put the bend in along with making it a smart case," Cook explained.

The iPhone Smart Battery Case is the first product of its kind to be released by the company. It is priced at $99 (roughly Rs. 6,600). Several commentators and users alike have used the opportunity to point out design flaws in several other recent products, and question if the company has lost its ability to make beautiful products.

The Magic Mouse 2, which the company launched earlier this year, has its charging port at the bottom side, making it impossible to use when the device is charging. Some people have also mocked Apple for the way the Apple Pencil needs to be plugged into the iPad Pro for charging.

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EU Plans to Make Netflix, BBC iPlayer Available Abroad

The EU unveiled plans on Wednesday that would allow travellers to get online streaming services like Netflix or BBC iPlayer when abroad by 2017, something currently blocked by complex copyright rules.

Europeans spend about one billion nights in other EU countries every year but face a frustrating inability to watch films and sports or listen to music on an iPad or laptop when they travel outside their home country.

"People who legally buy content - films, books, football matches, TV series - must be able to carry it with them anywhere they go in Europe," said Andrus Ansip, the European Commission's Vice President for the digital single market.

"We want to ensure the portability of content across borders."

As it stands, subscribers to the Netflix or Amazon streaming service in, for example, Britain, cannot use the service when they travel to another country. The services in different countries also currently have different content.

In another example, digital subscribers to Sky Sports in London are unable to access Premier League football matches when travelling abroad.

The commission, the executive body of the 28-country EU, said the ability of Europeans to enjoy subscriptions to these services while still in the bloc was "a new EU right for consumers".

'Complex technical issues'
The proposal now goes to the European parliament and EU member states for approval, which the commission hopes will come next year, with final implementation of the rules in 2017.

That is the same year that the EU is set to end mobile phone roaming charges.

The British Broadcasting Corporation, the largest public broadcaster in the world, welcomed the impact on its iPlayer service, which only people living in Britain are currently able to use.

"We are interested in being able to allow UK licence-fee payers to access BBC iPlayer while they are on holiday in the EU, and welcome the European Commission proposing regulation to help make this possible," a BBC statement said.

"There are complex technical issues to resolve and aspects of the Commission's proposal need clarification."

EU officials said the BBC service would need to introduce a system that verifies the country of residence of users, which services like Netflix and Amazon already have.

Critics argued that the proposal lacked ambition and addressed only the narrow concerns of subscribers who could afford the big fees demanded by the streaming services.

"Overall, the copyright reform proposals are a far cry from commitment by Commission president (Jean-Claude) Juncker to 'break down national silos' in copyright and ignore many demands made by the EU Parliament," said Julia Reda, a leading Greens MEP on the issue.

'Just an appetiser'
But the commission said the so-called "portability" issue is only the first step towards a far more controversial plan by the EU to overhaul the EU's complex copyright rules, part of a scheme to create a single digital market in Europe.

"The proposal... is just an appetiser, the main course will come in 2016," said the EU's Digital Commissioner Guenther Oettinger.

The European Union is the world's biggest economy, but despite its 500 million potential consumers, digital services remain confined to national borders, with separate accounts and proof of residency required from one country to another.

In May the EU launched an anti-trust inquiry into the online shopping marketplace over the restrictions it places on people in one country being able to buy goods from another.

It is focused on electronics, clothes, shoes and digital content.

But media companies are extremely reluctant to break the status quo especially in France, where protecting French culture is an important government priority.

"In the digital economy, licensing distribution rights by territory remains fundamental to the financing, production and distribution of content not just in the EU, but worldwide," said Benoit Ginisty of the International Federation of Film Producers Association, a lobby in Brussels.

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Google Recaps Its Efforts to Fight Unwanted Software in 2015

Google has been working behind-the-scenes to improve the Web, with its recent efforts focused against 'unwanted software' or UwS. However, it is still receiving complaints from users. On Wednesday, the search giant elaborated on its efforts to eliminate UwS from the Web and gave some statistics as well.

In the past one year, Google has included UwS in Safe Browsing and its API, which together resulted in showing users a warning message when visiting sites that contain UwS. It also launched Chrome Cleanup Tool, which as per the company is a "one-shot UwS removal tool that has helped clean more than 40 million devices." The firm also started using UwS as a signal in search to identify deceptive sites. It even started disabling Google ads that lead to sites with UwS downloads.

According to Google, all these changes "have already begun to move the needle." The UwS-related Chrome user complaints have fallen from 40 percent to 20 percent. The search giant besides showing over 5 million Safe Browsing warnings per day on Chrome regarding UwS, has also helped over 14 million users to remove more than 190 deceptive Chrome extensions from the devices. The number of UwS warning messages seen via AdWords has also seen a decline by 95 percent as compared to last year.

The Sundar Pichai-led company, however, still has to work a lot. "20% of all feedback from Chrome users is related to UwS and we believe 1 in 10 Chrome users have hijacked settings or unwanted ad injectors on their machines. We expect users of other browsers continue to suffer from similar issues; there is lots of work still to be done," adds the company blog post. "We're still in the earliest stages of the fight against UwS, but we're moving in the right direction. We'll continue our efforts to protect users from UwS and work across the industry to eliminate these bad practices."

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PS4's Sharefactory Video Editing App Gets New Features, Hits 5.1 Million Downloads

Sony's Sharefactory video editing app for the PS4 just received a massive update. You can now add slow motion and time lapse effects to your videos. According to Stuart Platt, Senior Producer at Sony Computer Entertainment America, it's been a popular request from vocal PS4 users.

In addition to this, there will be Sharefactory Events. These will be conducted by game developers and publishers, allowing you to show off your editing skills. As per Platt's post on the PlayStation blog, the first event is being planned and will happen soon. Furthermore, you can now add up to 50 video clips to a Sharefactory project and up to 12 music track clips as well.

There are other changes. Text is now referred to as overlays, and stickers can be layered. Two music tracks, three filter effects, three wipe transitions, five dissolve transitions, a new colour picker, and an enhanced text colour palette also are present with the latest update.

Perhaps the most telling piece of information is how Sharefactory is performing.

"Since launch, we've seen an explosive growth, with more than 5.1 million downloads of the Sharefactory app, and more than 18.9 million awesome projects created by our PlayStation Nation," wrote Platt in his post. Even with over 30 million PS4s sold, it's not too surprising to see so few with the Sharefactory app. Although sharing game videos and screenshots is a heavily touted feature, not everyone is inclined to do so, and Sharefactory's prevalence, or lack thereof, cements this.

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Aurous Music Streaming Search Engine to Shut Down After Copyright Suit

Aurous, an upstart music site that described itself as a search engine for the growing field of streaming, agreed Wednesday to shut down after copyright suits from major labels.

Aurous, launched in October by 20-year-old Miami-based coder Andrew Sampson, allows users to search for music across all available online platforms and then click on links to listen.

Sampson had described Aurous as a sort of search engine that could become a one-stop site for music fans, who could also import playlists from other platforms.

But a court temporarily stopped the site within days of its launch after a joint lawsuit by the major record labels, which said that Aurous offered access to pirated material.

In a settlement submitted to a federal court in Miami on Wednesday, Aurous agreed to shut down permanently and pay $3 million (roughly Rs. 20 crores) in damages to the labels.

"We hope this sends a strong signal that unlicensed services cannot expect to build unlawful businesses on the backs of music creators," Cary Sherman, chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America trade group, said in a statement.

Aurous shortly afterward wrote on Twitter: "We've closed up shop.... It was fun, guys!"

In earlier court testimony, Sampson said he was unaware of copyright violations as Aurous had no control over users' searches or power to remove material from third-party sites.

Streaming sites such as Spotify, Deezer and Tidal - which allow unlimited, on-demand music - have grown rapidly in the past several years with many in the music industry seeing the services as the future.

But the industry has also been aggressive in shutting down sites if they do not pay back royalties.

Grooveshark, an early streaming site that was also started by young entrepreneurs in Florida, closed down earlier this year after years of litigation.

Grooveshark, which claimed 30 million monthly users, allowed listeners to upload material to the site, even when copyrighted.

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News Micro-Payments Site 'Blendle' to Launch in US

Online news startup Blendle, which allows users to make small payments to read individual articles, announced plans Wednesday to launch next year in the United States.

Blendle, a Dutch-based service which has been operating in the Netherlands and Germany, hopes the "micro-payments" model can help struggling news organizations as an alternative to "paywalls" or digital subscriptions, said co-founder Alexander Kloepping.

While paywalls have become more common in the United States, Kloepping said, "some of the best content is only available behind those paywalls, doesn't go on the Web until days after publication in print newspapers and magazines and is still viewed through an array of intrusive ads."

He said Blendle helps users "find the most interesting stories every day" by "looking specifically at each reader's tastes, along with the tastes of their friends, and by employing editors that hand-pick the best stories from premium sources."

The New York Times and German digital publisher Axel Springer agreed last year to invest in the platform, which Kloepping founded along with another young Dutch journalist, Marten Blankesteijn.

Blendle signed up major publishers in Germany and the Netherlands, as well as big names like The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and The Economist.

It has over 500,000 users in the two European countries.

Kloepping told AFP that Blendle expects to charge 20 to 30 cents for US newspaper articles and 25 to 40 cents for magazine stories, similar to the rates in Europe. Publishers keep 70 percent of revenue, with Blendle getting the rest.

"People are ready to pay for that but it needs to be easy," he said. "It needs to be done well. It needs good technology. And that's what we're trying to do."

Blendle will initially seek to bring on major national publications and then smaller, regional and local ones.

Blendle frees users of the need to sign up to costly digital subscriptions for each publication. Readers can buy articles with one click, view them without ads and obtain an instant refund if they are not satisfied.

"In an age of ad blockers and paywalls, many publishers are struggling to find out how to monetize their content. Blendle started as a big experiment in Europe, but it's working," said Kloepping.

By simplifying the readers' experience, he said, "We've proven that we can get young people to pay for high-quality journalism."

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Microsoft's Think Next Forum Concludes, 8 Startups Graduate

Think Next 2015 - a forum that brought thought leaders in technology driving transformation via innovation together under one roof - concluded here on Wednesday.

The forum not only saw the participation of more than 800 delegates from leading corporates, investors, thought leaders and delegates from Microsoft who partnered to push the collaborative innovation agenda for the ecosystem, but also witnessed the graduation of Microsoft Ventures' winter batch 2015.

Eight certified graduating startups from the batch, namely, Canvasflip, Cloudcherry, Shotang, Flutura, KNOLSKAPE, Vymo, Vakilsearch and Vigyanlabs showcased their innovative solutions.

Meanwhile, two senior leaders - Steven Guggenheimer, corporate vice president and chief evangelist at Microsoft, and Scott Coleman, general manager, Microsoft Ventures shared lessons they learnt while working with entrepreneurs across the globe.

A round table focused on topics such as current valuation levels, potential Initial Public Offerings, Unicorns in the venture market and mergers.

Unicorn is a term in the investment industry, in particular venture capital industry, which denotes a start-up company whose valuation has exceeded $1 billion (roughly Rs. 6,675 crores).

A session 'Fireside Chat with Author Devdutt Pattanaik' discussed the lessons budding entrepreneurs could derive from mythology and stories passed down the generations.

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Microsoft Accidentally Unveils Edge Browser Extension Support; Tips Imminent Launch

Microsoft Edge may get support for extensions sooner than expected. The company had announced that it would add support for add-ons to its newly launched Web browser in 2016, but this week it accidentally made live a preview site announcing the support, suggesting an imminent rollout.

A long time Microsoft watcher who goes by the alias WalkingCat on Twitter discovered the preview site. The webpage, which seems to be aimed at developers, announces the support for extensions for Microsoft Edge. The portal also offers Reddit's Enhancement Suite and Pinterest's Pin It Button extensions for manual download, along with instructions to assist users with installing the extensions.

"Extensions are here! Beginning with Build XXXXX in Windows 10 Technical Preview, a selection of extensions are available for Microsoft Edge... Maybe some text here about new extensions coming in future updates, and how you can get started on writing your own?" the description read. The company has since taken down the preview website.

(Also see: Microsoft Edge Browser Gets EdgeHTML 13; Blocks Support for Toolbars)

Microsoft debuted the Edge browser as the default browser of Windows 10. Edge offers a range of features including Cortana integration and offers the ability to add annotations on the Web page. Support for extensions, however, was a major feature Edge is currently missing. The company had previously announced that it would add that support this year, but later delayed the rollout plans to 2016.

The company has previously said that Microsoft Edge will support Chrome and Firefox extensions. While it has remained tight-lipped around it since then, the prolific leakster compared the extensions for Chrome and Microsoft Edge. "Comparing Edge version vs. Chrome version of same extension, basically substitute "chrome" with "msBrowser", add few minor changes, done."

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PS4 Buy One Get One Free Digital Sale Now Live

While Microsoft India went to town with Black Friday digital deals, Sony India was surprisingly quiet. Not any more. We were checking out the Indian PlayStation Store and were pleased to see a rather sweet deal for those who have the capacity to buy games digitally.

Until December 25, 5:29am IST, you can buy one game and get the other free on the PlayStation Network. These include a titles such as sleeper hit Until Dawn, The Order:1886, Watch Dogs, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, and Evolve to name a few. If you're a PS3 or PS Vita owner, you're out of luck. This is for PS4 games only.

(Also see: PS4 or Xbox One? We Help You Decide)

To avail of this offer, simply add two or more products to your shopping cart on the PlayStation store and use the code J7P8G8P3DH to get one game free. There's some legal fine print to go with it on another page obviously, which you can check out here. What's important to note is that the discount code will apply to the cheapest product in the card and that this does not work for pre-orders.

Also, according to the PlayStation blog, you can use the discount code for as many times as you like. While some of these deals might sound great, you can do a whole lot better buying used or waiting for a sale on sites like Amazon or Flipkart.

Aside from India, the PS4 buy one get one free offer applies to the following countries: Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kuwait, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.

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