DHS built domestic surveillance tech into Predator drones

Homeland Security required that this Predator drone, built by General Atomics, be capable of detecting whether a standing human at night is "armed or not."

(Credit:
U.S. Department of Homeland Security)

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has customized its Predator drones, originally built for overseas military operations, to carry out at-home surveillance tasks that have civil libertarians worried: identifying civilians carrying guns and tracking their cell phones, government documents show.

The documents provide more details about the surveillance capabilities of the department's unmanned Predator B drones, which are primarily used to patrol the United States' northern and southern borders, but have been pressed into service on behalf of a growing number of law enforcement agencies including the FBI, the Secret Service, the Texas Rangers, and local police.

Homeland Security's specifications for its drones, built by San Diego-based General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, say they "shall be capable of identifying a standing human being at night as likely armed or not," meaning carrying a shotgun or rifle. They also specify "signals interception" technology that can capture communications in the frequency ranges used by mobile phones, and "direction finding" technology that can identify the locations of mobile devices or two-way radios.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center obtained a partially redacted copy of Homeland Security's requirements for its drone fleet through the Freedom of Information Act and published it this week. CNET unearthed an unredacted copy of the requirements that provides additional information about the aircraft's surveillance capabilities.

Homeland Security's Predator B drone can stay aloft conducting surveillance for 20 hours.

(Credit:
U.S. Department of Homeland Security)

Concern about domestic use of drones is growing, with federal legislation introduced last month that would establish legal safeguards, in addition to parallel efforts underway from state and local lawmakers. The Federal Aviation Administration recently said that it will "address privacy-related data collection" by drones.

The prospect of identifying armed Americans concerns Second Amendment advocates, who say that technology billed as securing the United States' land and maritime borders should not be used domestically. Michael Kostelnik, the Homeland Security official who created the program, told Congress that the drone fleet would be available to "respond to emergency missions across the country," and a Predator drone was dispatched to the tiny town of Lakota, N.D. to aid local police in a dispute that began with reimbursement for feeding six cows. The defendant, arrested with the help of Predator surveillance, lost a preliminary bid to dismiss the charges.

"I am very concerned that this technology will be used against law-abiding American firearms owners," says Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation. "This could violate Fourth Amendment rights as well as Second Amendment rights."

Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection agency declined to answer questions about whether direction finding technology is currently in use on its drone fleet. A spokesman provided CNET with a statement about the agency's unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) that said signals interception capability is not currently used:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is not deploying signals interception capabilities on its UAS fleet. Any potential deployment of such technology in the future would be implemented in full consideration of civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy interests and in a manner consistent with the law and long standing law enforcement practices.

CBP's UAS program is a vital border security asset. Equipped with state-of-the-art sensors and day-and-night cameras, the UAS provides real-time images to frontline agents to more effectively and efficiently secure the nation's borders. As a force multiplier, the UAS operates for extended periods of time and allows CBP to safely conduct missions over tough-to-reach terrain. The UAS also provides agents on the ground with added situational awareness to more safely resolve dangerous situations.

During his appearance before the House Homeland Security committee, Kostelnik, a retired Air Force major general who recently left the agency, testified that the drones' direction-finding ability is part of a set of "DOD capabilities that are being tested or adopted by CBP to enhance UAS performance for homeland security." CBP currently has 10 Predator drones and is considering buying up to 14 more.

If the Predator drones were used only to identify smugglers or illegal immigrants crossing the Mexican and Canadian borders, or for disaster relief, they might not be especially controversial. But their use domestically by other government agencies has become routine enough -- and expensive enough -- that Homeland Security's inspector general said (PDF) last year that CBP needs to sign agreements "for reimbursement of expenses incurred fulfilling mission requests."

"The documents clearly evidence that the Department of Homeland Security is developing drones with signals interception technology and the capability to identify people on the ground," says Ginger McCall, director of the Open Government Project at the Electronic Privacy Information Center. "This allows for invasive surveillance, including potential communications surveillance, that could run afoul of federal privacy laws."

A Homeland Security official, who did not want to be identified by name, said the drones are able to identify whether movement on the ground comes from a human or an animal, but that they do not perform facial recognition. The official also said that because the unarmed drones have a long anticipated lifespan, the department tries to plan ahead for future uses to support its border security mission, and that aerial surveillance would comply with the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and other applicable federal laws.

The documents show that CBP specified that the "tracking accuracy should be sufficient to allow target designation," and the agency notes on its Web site that its Predator B series is capable of "targeting and weapons delivery" (the military version carries multiple 100-lb Hellfire missiles). CBP says, however, that its Predator aircraft are unarmed.

Gene Hoffman, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who's the chairman of the Calguns Foundation, said CBP "needs to be very careful with attempts to identify armed individuals in the border area" when aerial surveillance touches on a constitutional right.

"In the border area of California and Arizona, it may be actively dangerous for the law-abiding to not carry firearms precisely due to the illegal flow of drugs and immigrants across the border in those areas," Hoffman says.

CBP's specifications say that signals interception and direction-finding technology must work from 30 MHz to 3 GHz in the radio spectrum. That sweeps in the GSM and CDMA frequencies used by mobile phones, which are in the 300 MHz to 2.7 GHz range, as well as many two-way radios.

The specifications say: "The system shall provide automatic and manual DF of multiple signals simultaneously. Automatic DF should be able to separate out individual communication links." Automated direction-finding for cell phones has become an off-the-shelf technology: one company sells a unit that its literature says is "capable of taking the bearing of every mobile phone active in a channel."

Although CBP's unmanned Predator aircraft are commonly called drones, they're remotely piloted by FAA-licensed operators on the ground. They can fly for up to 20 hours and carry a payload of about 500 lbs.

Marc Rotenberg, EPIC's executive director, says, referring to direction finding and signals interception: "Whether or not CPB is currently engaged in these activities doesn't matter. Those are the drones they are putting in the air."

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Law firm seeks victims of 'bad robot surgery'

Is a robot about to excise your prostate? Well stop right there, mister. Here's some litigation that might interest you.

In a surreal twist to the ads you often see for legal help with accidents, arrests, or debt, a Louisiana law firm is fishing for victims of what it calls "bad robot surgery."

Becnel Law Firm LLC's ad below looks like something that would play in the background of a sci-fi film, but it's serious. The campaign Web site Badrobotsurgery.com says, "Robotic surgery can severely injure the bowel, bladder, and blood vessels. Some of these injuries can even occur without the surgeon knowing it, which can lead to severe complications if left untreated."

In a video on the site, Alabama surgeon Francois Blaudeau says Intuitive Surgical's wildly popular da Vinci robot surgery system has injured patients who are having their prostate or uterus removed. He adds that the robot may not be properly insulated, causing burns or "even vascular injuries causing death."

Becnel did not respond to inquiries about whether it's leading a class-action suit, but it wouldn't be the first time robot-assisted surgery has been the focus of litigation. Last year, a jury awarded a Chicago family $7.5 million after a man died following a robot-assisted spleen removal at the University of Illinois Hospital.

Intuitive was not a defendant in that case, but it has been named in other lawsuits. Approved by the FDA in 2000, its robotic platforms cost some $1.45 million and are controlled by surgeons sitting at nearby consoles. They do not perform programmed or autonomous procedures.

"In any definitive treatment option, such as surgery of the cancerous prostate, heart, or other major organs, there are risks of complications," Intuitive spokesperson Angela Wonson tells Crave, adding the company does not comment on active litigation or sites that solicit plaintiffs.

"Da Vinci surgery was designed to reduce the risk and complications associated with open surgical procedures by extending the benefits of minimally invasive surgery to a broader population of patients.

"To date, nearly 1.5 million surgeries have been performed globally and over 4,500 peer-reviewed articles studying the da Vinci Surgical System, covering hundreds of thousands of patients by hundreds of surgeons in dozens of countries have been published."

Today, there here are 2,585 da Vinci systems in hospitals around the world. (Click to enlarge.)

(Credit:
Intuitive Surgical)

Wonson cites a large prostate cancer study in the journal European Urology that found that patients undergoing robot-assisted radical prostatectomy were less likely to receive a blood transfusion, to experience complications, or to have prolonged hospitalizations. Other long-term studies have found that robot surgery is safe.

However, a study published last month in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) showed that hysterectomies performed with the da Vinci system cost thousands of dollars more but did not reduce complications compared with standard less-invasive surgery.

"Consumer advertising of expensive devices should be subjected to the same scrutiny as that of new and expensive medications," JAMA said in an editorial that discussed the hype surrounding the device compared to the literature.

But going under a robot's knife has a cutting-edge appeal that's irresistible to the many patients signing up, even though they may not know all the facts.

"I started doing robotic surgery two and a half years ago because I think it is the wave of the future and it will blossom into a great surgical technology that will truly benefit patients," Jacques-Pierre Fontaine, a lung cancer surgeon at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., told Crave.

"However, robotic lung surgery is also a sexy term that markets itself well. It's on billboards along highways across Florida. Patients seek surgeons who advertise that they perform robotic surgery. They may not understand the technology nor if it is truly beneficial for their specific condition, but they will drive from far away to see me in consultation specifically for a robotic procedure."

What do you think? Would you opt for robot-assisted surgery? And who would you sue if it went "bad"?

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EU close to fining Microsoft, says report

The clock is ticking on Microsoft. Reuters is reporting today that regulators in Europe intend to levy a potentially hefty fine on the software company in connection with a long-running antitrust case.

Quoting a couple of people described as being "familiar with the matter," Reuters says the fine might be "significant."

Microsoft has been in hot water with the European Commission for some time. Last fall, regulators said the company reneged on a 2009 promise to give Windows consumers more choice among rival Internet browsers. The latest bit of upset has to do with Microsoft's failure to include a "browser choice" screen for European users in the latest version of
Windows 7 last year. At the time, Microsoft said it was an oversight, blaming a technical error which missed the update in February 2011 in store shelf copies of the operating system. All told, roughly 28 million European users may have been affected.

"While we believed when we filed our most recent compliance report in December 2011 that we were distributing the [browser ballot] software to all relevant PCs as required, we learned recently that we've missed serving the [browser ballot] software to the roughly 28 million PCs running Windows 7 SP1," the company said at the time.

We've contacted Microsoft for comment and will update the post when we have more information.

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Get a T-Mobile Jet 2.0 prepaid 4G modem for $19.99

Twenty bucks?! I'll take two.

(Credit:
T-Mobile)

I'm a big believer in the old Boy Scout motto: be prepared.

That's why I always pack a prepaid modem in my travel bag, just in case there's no Wi-Fi available wherever I end up. This happens more often than you might think.

Through tomorrow, and while supplies last, you can get the T-Mobile Jet 2.0 prepaid 4G laptop stick for $19.99 shipped. Props to reader Harvey for sharing this deal.

Like the aircards of old, the Jet 2.0 plugs into your
Mac or PC, endowing it with high-speed Internet access -- in this case T-Mobile's HSPA+ 4G network, which supports data speeds of up to 21Mbps. All you need is a free USB port.

Best of all, there's no contract required with this modem. You pay for service as needed, to the tune of $15 for a 7-day, 300MB pass; $25 for one month/1.5GB; $35 for 3.5GB; or $50 for 5GB.

Remember, this isn't meant to be a full-time connectivity solution, just something you reach for when you need it -- like when you're hitting the road for a week, or the hotel's Wi-Fi isn't working. (Bonus: the Jet 2.0 doubles as a microSD card reader.)

Want to share that 4G goodness with other devices, like maybe your
tablet? CNET's Sharon Vaknin recently explained how to turn your Windows 8 PC into a Wi-Fi hotspot.

One word of caution: be sure to check T-Mobile's coverage map before you buy this. The last thing you want is to discover that you barely have any service where you work and live. But if you're covered, it's hard to beat $20 out the door for mobile broadband. Grab it, toss it in your carry-on, then forget about it until you need it. Your thoughts?

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New Stuxnet whodunit: Malware existed two years earlier than anyone knew

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (C) visits the Natanz uranium enrichment facilities.

(Credit:
Getty Images)

Cyber security professionals -- especially in Iran -- woke up today to the latest twist in the history of cyberwarfare when researchers at Symantec said they discovered a version of the Stuxnet computer virus which predates by two years the cyber weapon that was used to sabotage Iran's main nuclear enrichment facilities.

The U.S. and Israel are widely believed to be behind Stuxnet, although neither country has claimed authorship publicly. (The New York Times reported last year that President George W. Bush initiated the attacks, a program which has continued in the Obama administration.) Stuxnet first came to public light for the role it played in a 2007 attack against Iran's uranium enrichment facility. But in an 18 page report released on Tuesday, Symantec said it had found a string of code it called "Stuxnet 0.5," which dates back to 2005.

Whoever the author - or authors - are, Symantec paid them a compliment for creating "a complicated and sophisticated piece of malware requiring a similar level of skill and effort to produce" with Stuxnet 0.5, which Symantec termed "the missing link." When Stuxnet got discovered in July 2010, it was recognized as one of the most sophisticated pieces of malware ever written. What's more, it proved that malicious programs could successfully wreak havoc on critical national infrastructure.

The virus targeted computers running Siemens software used in industrial control systems. All told, it infected software in at least 14 industrial sites in Iran and is thought to be the first known malware which has targeted the controls at industrial facilities.

Symantec said that Stuxnet became more aggressive in subsequent incarnations. The original attack code was used to sabotage valves important to the uranium enrichment process with the intent of damaging the centrifuges and the system as a whole, according to Symantec. But StuxNet 5.0 didn't go after the uranium enrichment centrifuges directly. Instead, it was created to shut off the valves that supplied uranium hexafluoride gas into the centrifuges. That, in turn, inflicted damage on the centrifuges and the uranium enrichment system. Later versions released in 2009 and 2010 were deployed against attacks on the Natanz facility.

It's unclear how effective or what level of success of Stuxnet 0.5 achieved.

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FDA approves single-lead implantable cardiac defibrillator

The Lumax 740 DX System is now approved in the U.S.

(Credit:
Biotronik)

Cardio med tech company Biotronik today announced Food and Drug Administration approval of the world's first implantable cardiac defibrillator that uses just one lead to sense atrial arrhythmias.

Say what?

For those unfamiliar with the mechanics of the heart, let's back up. Atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common heat arrhythmia, occurs when the electrical signals in the atria (the heart's two upper chambers) fire fast and frenetically, causing the atria to essentially quiver instead of pulse regularly, which can result in blood pooling or clotting and thus greatly increase the risk of stroke and congestive heart failure.

As if that's not bad enough, this type of arrhythmia -- which can last for minutes, days, or even be a permanent condition -- is often asymptomatic. This explains why even the most elite young athletes in the world can suddenly drop to the ground mid-performance and suffer a heart attack without ever knowing they were at risk in the first place.

Until now, the only way to constantly monitor patients with or at a heightened risk of AF was to implant a cardiac defibrillator (ICD) that uses two leads (thin, flexible wires) and has pacemaker functions built in to deliver electrical shocks to the heart when it starts beating dangerously fast.

It doesn't take an expert to work out that the risk of complications increases with the amount of hardware implanted in the heart. So patients who don't appear to be at specific risk of AF are typically given a single-lead ICD, which until now hasn't been able to detect AF.

Enter Biotronik's newly approved Lumax 740 DX System, which uses a newfangled lead (called Linoxsmart S DX) that features a floating atrial dipole, along with some fancy algorithms, to differentiate between actual AF and atrial flutter, as well as another type of arrhythmia called supraventricular tachycardias.

In other words, the folks at Biotronik have managed to incorporate atrial sensing into a single-lead ICD.

"Until now, our only option to obtain important and useful atrial signal information from patients undergoing defibrillator implantation has been to implant a separate atrial lead," says Bradley P. Knight, medical director of the Center for Heart Rhythm Disorders at Northwestern Memorial Hospital's Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute. "The DX System addresses a significant gap in ICD therapy. Patients now have access to the benefits of both dual and single-chamber ICDs without the risk of additional hardware."

Biotronik -- which is headquartered in Germany and happens to be celebrating its 50-year anniversary in 2013 -- says it expects the implants will be available in the U.S. in the next few weeks, and that the DX System is currently approved and available in many international markets as well, including Japan and the European Union.

The DX System comes with a cellular-based home monitoring system that enables physicians to monitor the device remotely so that a wide range of important but hard-to-detect events, including silent arrhythmias, can be caught as early as possible for medical intervention.

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Unnamed Powermat case for iPhone 5 to launch in spring

BARCELONA, Spain--We stopped by Powermat's booth at Pepcom's MobileFocus Global show (which happens just before the first day of Mobile World Congress) and found that the company was showing off a new prototype of a wireless charging case for Apple's iPhone 5.

Like the Powermat Receiver Case designed for the
iPhone 4 and 4S, the
iPhone 5 version will let you put your smartphone on a wireless inductive charger from Powermat, but it isn't quite as thick as the older model.

It does, however, have a strange design, with two gaping holes at the bottom of where the case plugs into the iPhone 5's Lightning port. According to Powermat, this odd-looking design is because of the actual Lightning connector being longer than the old 30-pin model, but Powermat claims that this device is the thinnest on the market.

Being superthin does have its advantages, Powermat has added what it calls a Snap-on battery with a charge of 1,950mAh that (you guessed it) snaps onto the yet named iPhone 5 case (Powermat informs us that it is still working on a proper name). A spokesperson called the combo a "snap and case" but that didn't really sound official to my ears.

Due in spring in the U.S., the Powermat and battery pack will retail for $99.99 combined, or if you just want the case, that's priced at $49.99

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Samsung Oscars ad to feature Tim Burton

He can only add wit, surely.

(Credit:
The Hollywood Reporter/YouTube; screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

When it comes to advertising, Samsung thinks it has Apple a touch jittery.

With ad after ad, Samsung's brand image is becoming sharper, wittier, and more lovable.

So the temptation to take over an awards ceremony in which actors desperately try to be sharper, wittier, and more lovable than other actors has proved irresistible.

As Ad Age reports, Korea's finest is positively hijacking tomorrow night's Oscars broadcast with six ads.

More Technically Incorrect

The most fetching promises to be one in which the brilliant director of "Edward Scissorhands," Tim Burton, will make an appearance.

He will play something far outside his aegis of comfort. Yes, he will play a director trying to make a movie out of the Unicorn Apocalypse video game that has been featured in previous Samsung ads.

Should you have been undergoing urgent bunion surgery in Nova Scotia, these ads (one embedded below) feature a gaming startup that really believes it's going to make it big.

It's a startup in which one of the running jokes is called BlackBerry.

One can only hope that on a night when movies that twist history for the cause of entertainment will be heralded as historical, Samsung will provide a level of pure entertainment to which Hollywood can only aspire.

Sometimes on Oscars night, hope is all we have.

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Difficult-to-repair Surface Pro built more like an ultrabook than a tablet

Cracking Open the Microsoft Surface Pro

When Microsoft built the Surface Pro, the designers packed the power of an ultrabook in the body of a
tablet. Unfortunately, they also made the device nearly impossible for a typical consumer or even an in-house tech to service and repair. On this week's episode of Cracking Open, I take you inside the Surface Pro.

Full TechRepublic teardown gallery: Cracking Open the Microsoft Surface Pro

More ultrabook than tablet
From a hardware standpoint, Microsoft's Surface Pro is more like an ultrabook or convertible laptop than a tablet.

The 10.6-inch display has a true 16:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 1,920x1,080 pixels. It has stereo speakers, a microSD card slot, a full-size USB 3.0 port, a Mini DisplayPort, and two 720p cameras.

On the inside, it has a 1.7GHz Intel Core i5 CPU with HD 4000 graphics, 4GB of 1,600MHz DDR3 RAM, and a 42Wh battery.

For more information on the Surface, including for real-world tests and pricing, check out Scott Stein's full CNET review.

The Surface Pro comes in 64GB and 128GB models, and I strongly recommend getting the larger one. In a statement to CNET, Microsoft said that out of the box, the 64GB Pro has only 23GB of available storage.

Given its laptoplike hardware, it's not surprising that the Surface Pro weighs a hefty 2 pounds, which is significantly more than other tablets. Like the Surface RT, the Pro is well-built and feels sturdy in your hands. Unfortunately, it's also much more difficult to disassemble and service.

Cracking Open observations

• Difficult, time-consuming to open: The Surface Pro's front panel/display assembly is held to the tablet's body with very strong adhesive. To open the device, you'll need to use a heat gun, hair dryer, or other method to heat the adhesive tape and release the panel. This is a slow, tedious process. It took me nearly an hour. But if you rush, you risk damaging the tablet.

• Too many internal screws: I was glad to find that most internal components were held in place with screws. This usually makes disassembling a device easier than if parts are attached with glue. But Microsoft went a little crazy with the screws. There are dozens of them, and they range in size from Torx T2 to T5. I highly recommend cataloging the location of the screws as you remove them.

• Replaceable battery: The Surface Pro's 42Wh Li-ion battery isn't soldered to the motherboard and can be replaced. Unfortunately, there's so much glue holding it to the back cover that it's difficult to remove.

• Modular components: Most internal parts, such as the headphone jack and volume button assembly, speakers, keyboard connector, power connector, and cameras, are separate components and can be replaced individually.

• Fused front panel and display: Like the Surface RT, the LCD and front glass panel are basically fused together and separating them isn't practical.

Bottom line
After cracking open the consumer-targeted Surface RT, I hoped that Microsoft would make the more business-targeted, and nearly twice as expensive, Surface Pro easier to disassemble and service. It isn't.

In fact, Microsoft took one of worst tablet design elements (a glued-on front panel) and married it with one of the worst laptop elements (an overabundance of screws) to create a device that's more difficult to crack open than even the Apple iPad.

There's no denying that Microsoft is making a bold effort to bridge the gap between tablets and laptops with this device. But as Jason Hiner wrote in his TechRepublic review, the Surface Pro "doesn't quite stand out enough at either function."

A more detailed version of this story was first published on TechRepublic's Cracking Open.

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McLaren P1 supercar to debut as plug-in hybrid

McLaren has been track-testing its P1 supercar, but only now revealed its plug-in hybrid drivetrain.

(Credit:
McLaren)

When McLaren showed off its P1 supercar as a concept at last year's Paris Motor Show, I predicted it would have a similar engine to McLaren's other car the MP4-12C. Turns out I was half right.

McLaren announced that the P1, which receives its production debut at the Geneva auto show the first week of March, will host not only twin turbo 3.8-liter V-8, but an electric drive motor as well.

The P1 will be a plug-in hybrid, joining other production
cars such as the Toyota Prius Plug-in and the Ford C-Max Energi. Crazy, right?

Not so crazy when McLaren can announce specifications such as 903 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque.

By itself, the engine produces 727 horsepower, showing refinement over the similarly configured MP4-12C's engine, which produces a mere 592 horsepower. The electric motor, which is integrated with the engine, rates at 176 horsepower.

I suspect McLaren's total horsepower figure does not come from a dynamometer, but from adding the engine and motor's output. When companies such as Ford or Toyota specify horsepower for their hybrids, they supply a number lower than the added engine and motor output. However, given the P1's seven speed dual clutch transmission, adding the numbers may be a valid manner of determining total horsepower.

The downside of this hybrid system is the addition of a 212 pound lithium-ion battery pack and its associated cooling mechanism. However, McLaren says it fit the battery low into the carbon fiber monocoque, integrating it tightly with the car.

McLaren has not released acceleration or fuel economy numbers, but says the P1 will be able to drive 6 miles on electric power alone, letting it access zero emission zones in European cities. The battery can, of course, be recharged from the grid and from regenerative braking.

If you want speed rather than fuel economy, the P1 includes an Instant Power Assist System (IPAS), activated by a button on the steering wheel. IPAS makes all the battery's electricity available for acceleration.

In more typical driving scenarios, McLaren says the electric drive system eliminates turbo lag.

Another button on the steering wheel, labeled DRS for Drag Reduction System, adjusts the rear wing for less downforce.

The McLaren P1 will be shown on March 5 at the 2013 Geneva auto show.

The battery pack adds 212 pounds to the P1.

(Credit:
McLaren)

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Google looking for Glass Explorers

Wednesday's CNET Update does a barrel roll:

Google looking for Glass Explorers

Google wants you to fall in love with the idea of a computer on your face. It has released another promo video showing what Google Glass could do (even though it's not a real product yet), and launched a contest for a chance to buy a $1,500 prototype. But as Forbes points out, people are using the #ifihadglass hashtag contest to point out the drawbacks of Glass.

Today's tech news roundup also looks at the redesign of Yahoo's home page, and the updated SwiftKey app for Android.

Watch CNET Update in the video above, and subscribe to the podcast via the links below.

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Where, oh where are all the grounded 787 Dreamliners?

Boeing's 787 Dreamliners on the assembly line at the aviation giant's Everett, Wash. facility.

(Credit:
Daniel Terdiman/CNET)

There's been no shortage of publicity and investigation surrounding the grounding of the world's 787 Dreamliner fleet after recent battery fires aboard the Boeing airplanes. But there's one question that has gone unanswered: Where are all those Dreamliners?

Thanks to our friends at Airchive.com, we now know where all those planes are sitting as regulators, Boeing, and its battery suppliers work to once again get eager passengers aboard the much-hyped aircraft.

According to Airchive.com, there are currently eight carriers flying Dreamliners -- if you can call having a bunch of planes parked on tarmacs at airports all over the world "flying." The eight are Air India, All Nippon Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Japan Airlines, LAN Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Qatar Airways, and United Airlines. Between them, they have 50 Dreamliners, which, of course, are in addition to 787s that Boeing has completed, but which it has yet to deliver.

Airchive.com looked into the location of each of those 50 planes, and determined that they are currently parked at 17 airports across five continents. Twelve Dreamliners are at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, while seven others are at Tokyo's Narita. Five are in Mumbai, India, four are in both Houston and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, three are in Santiago, Chile, and two are at Japan's Takamatsu Airport. The remaining grounded Dreamliner fleet consists of single planes waiting in Bangalore, India; Frankfurt, Germany; Japan's Matsuyama and Kumamoto Airports; Boston; Chicago; Los Angeles; London Heathrow; Warsaw, Poland; and Doha, Qatar.

In addition, Boeing has a number of 787s sitting at its Boeing Field and Paine Field facilities in Seattle and Everett, Wash., respectively.

For now, the carriers have no choice but to keep their Dreamliners parked at these 17 airports and wait for the FAA and other government agencies to give the thumb's-up to start flying the planes again. No one knows, however, how long that will take.

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A terrific Twitter tutorial -- and saying thanks in social media

A slide full of tips from @SteveButtry, whose deck has more Twitter tips. Aimed at journalists, but anyone can benefit.

There are lots of Twitter presentations on the web, but the one below is one of the best I've ever seen. It's by Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry), who has the cool title of digital transformation editor at Digital First Media (I last wrote about him in my blog when he shared very useful Facebook tips: "Figuring out what kind of content works on Facebook").

Here's how I shared his slides the first time, during my Social Media Weekend/#smwknd conference yesterday.

I meant every word I said -- anyone interested in Twitter should go through those slides.

Buttry, who obviously know the right way to say thank you on Twitter, responded with these tweets:

It was kind of him to say, but his deck is doing fine on its own because of the great content on its slides.

Here's the part of Slideshare he was referring to:

What are your Twitter tips? Share them below, please.

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The making of Bungie's Halo successor: Destiny

Halo's Master Chief watches over Bungie headquarters in Bellevue, Wash.

(Credit:
Bungie)

BELLEVUE, Wash.--Halo, the multibillion-dollar-grossing video game franchise, set an incredibly high bar for its creator, Bungie, to meet with its next title.

"After Halo, a bunch of us thought, 'What comes next?'" Bungie co-founder Jason Jones told a group of journalists visiting Bungie's Bellevue, Wash., headquarters Wednesday.

Jones and Bungie's leadership, who sold the company to Microsoft in 2000 and then spun it out of the software giant in 2007, wanted to find a project worthy of the groundbreaking work in Halo. They wanted to come up with not just a new game, but a new model for gaming, something that could change the way gamers play.

Jones thinks Bungie's Destiny is exactly that. Destiny is something of a first-person shooter with bits of massively multiplayer online role-playing gaming mixed in. Bungie, which has kept mum about the title while gamer sites fulminated for the last two years about what it might be, is beginning to rev up the hype machine for its next title.

Eric Hirschberg, the chief executive of Activision, which will publish Destiny, said the game defied typical genres, giving it a new one -- "shared-world shooter." Even so, there are plenty of parallels with the Halo franchise, particularly that you're still shooting up aliens. Players guard the last city on Earth, while exploring the ruins of the solar system, moving from Mars to Venus, in order to defeat Earth's enemies.

One of the big differences this time is that the game is a persistent online universe, where players come across others, matched to their skills. They're encouraged to work together to rout evil, visit new worlds, and earn rewards.

"This is one of those areas (collaborating with strangers) where I was most skeptical," said Hirschberg, whose company has also published such franchises as Call of Duty and World of Warcraft.

Bungie concept art for its next game, Destiny.

(Credit:
Bungie)

But gamers don't have go through the awkward dance of hooking up in a lobby before setting out on their adventure. They naturally come across allies and, if Bungie and Activision succeed, feel entirely comfortable teaming up with complete strangers to set out on the next adventure. While Bungie didn't share how those interactions come about, it could be similar, perhaps, to the wildly popular indie title Journey for the Playstation 3, which did away with the premise of playing with your friends in favor of encountering others randomly.

"It almost feels scripted," Hirschberg said.

Gamers also will be able to play solo. But Bungie Chief Operating Officer Pete Parsons said the goal for Bungie is to get gamers working together.

"If you want to do it yourself, that's totally OK," Parsons said. "We want to slope the floor and prove to you that there are a bunch of cool things you can do with others."

One thing gamers won't be able to do is play Destiny without an Internet connection, a bold move for the console gaming crowd that expects to be able to play offline. Even so, Activision has no plans to charge subscription fees to play the game. And while he wouldn't talk about a release day, Hirshberg told analysts on the company's earnings call earlier this month that the new Bungie game was not factored into the company's 2013 guidance, implying that the game won't likely arrive until 2014. It will be available on both the
Xbox and Playstation platforms.

Bungie showed no game play during the presentation and gave little detail about how far along the development actually is. Instead, executives talked in sweeping themes about the new universe Bungie created, while highlighting production art, engineering details, and some of the music in its plans for its first post-Halo effort.

It's not just the first time Bungie has talked about the new game; it's really the first time Bungie has given a glimpse into its post-Microsoft life. Two years ago, the company moved from Kirkland, Wash., to an old movie theater and bowling alley in the Bellevue Galleria retail complex. It rebuilt the site, adding a theater, a fireplace, and a climbing wall. Bungie also added a motion-capture studio dubbed Spandex Palace, as well as a massive production floor where 280 of the companies 360 employees work on game development and design.

It's one of those new-age workplaces, where every desk has wheels, so that teams can be reconfigured on the fly as problems or opportunities emerge. The floor has a neon blue glow and is eerily quiet as the crew develops Destiny. Nothing on the floor is more than 6-feet high, so that everyone can see where the action is, where they might be needed. "This is a great space for making a great universe," Bungie's Parsons said.

The main production space at Bungie's Bellevue, Wash., headquarters.

(Credit:
Bungie)

There's little doubt, when you walk in the door at Bungie, that this is the company that Halo built. A giant Master Chief, the hero of that series, stands watch in the hallway. And a massive trophy case, brimful of awards for the Halo series, with a few other titles sprinkled in, greets every visitor.

The company is focused solely on Destiny now. The Halo franchise is now entirely handled by Microsoft Studios. And Bungie has cast its lot with Activision.

Last year, the Los Angeles Times dug out details of the deal with Activision from a legal dispute between the publisher and Call of Duty developers Jason West and Vincent Zampella. Activision's contract with Bungie, unsealed in that suit, calls for Bungie to develop four "sci-fantasy, action shooter games," under the code-name Destiny, released every other year, starting in the fall of 2013. The deal also called for Bungie to release four downloadable expansion packs every other year starting in the fall of 2014.

Under the terms of that contract, which may have been modified since it was unsealed, Bungie was to receive royalties of 20 percent to 35 percent of operating income from the game. Activision was also to pay Bungie $2.5 million a year in bonuses between 2010 and 2013 for meeting quality and budget milestones. And the deal called for Activision to pay Bungie $2.5 million if the first Destiny game scores 90 or higher on GameRankings.com.

The executives didn't address the unsealed contract, except for a few passing quips during a question and answer session. But there's little doubt that much is riding on Destiny for both companies.

And Bungie is putting its resources, much more considerable now with its Activision partnership, behind the new title. Its audio director, Marty O'Donnell, is working with Paul McCartney on the music for Destiny. O'Donnell played a few of the pieces recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London with a 106-piece orchestra and a choir of more than 40 singers.

O'Donnell, whose music is as responsible for the tone of Halo as the graphics and gameplay itself, gushed about collaborating with McCartney. Rather than dictate the way a piece should work, McCartney has shared ideas with O'Donnell and left it up to him how the final arrangements should work.

"He said, 'Some of my melodies, some of your spooky bits, it's going to be great,'" O'Donnell said. "So far, he's been really happy with it."

Bungie Audio Director and Computer Marty O'Donnell

(Credit:
Bungie)

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Future PCs threat to Apple? Yes, says Citibank analyst

Like Microsoft's Surface Pro, the Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T combines mainstream laptop performance with a tablet design that works with a keyboard.

(Credit:
Samsung)

Apple's "limited innovation" in tablets this year will make it vulnerable to newfangled PCs -- so says a Citibank analyst.

Yes, you heard that right, PCs. While financial analysts write lots of research notes about Apple every week, this one from Citibank analyst Glen Yeung -- sent out early in the week -- got my attention.

We believe Apple will launch an iPad Mini Retina and a thinner/lighter iPad5 (both likely sporting newer processors) in 3Q13...iPad innovation of this nature is insufficient to reverse share loss.

Whereas we see limited innovation in tablets in 2H13, we see growing innovation in PCs. The growing presence of touch-based, ultrathin, all-day notebooks at improving price points (e.g., Intel requires all Haswell-based Ultrabooks to have touch and envisions price-points as low as $599) could create competition for 10" tablets not fully anticipated by the market.

So, after getting their keisters kicked by the
iPad for the last three years, PC makers may finally get some payback.

Citibank, like other analyst groups, is pegging a lot of this prognosticated PC success on new designs based on Intel's upcoming Haswell processor and Intel's stipulation that Haswell-based ultrabooks must have touch screens.

In other words, expect more designs like Microsoft's Surface Pro and Samsung's ATIV Smart PC Pro, but thinner and lighter with better battery life (though I suspect battery life won't approach that of the iPad).

And, lest we forget, Apple doesn't put touch screens on its MacBooks. That, of course, is reserved for iOS devices, which have limited use as full-productivity devices (i.e., I'm writing this on my laptop, not my iPad).

So, will PC makers be more successful at combining a laptop with a
tablet, obviating the need for two devices? Yes. But whether this happens in numbers necessary to pose a real threat to Apple remains to be seen.

Hey Microsoft, when's that Haswell-based Surface Pro coming?

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Apple quietly releases shorter Lightning cable, new earbuds

Apple today quietly put out new variants of its Lightning cable and in-ear headphones.

The new Lightning cable is .5 meters long, half the length of the one that ships in Apple's latest iOS gadgets, and what's currently Apple's top seller. Despite the shorter length, both of those cables cost $19.

The other change is a bit more minor, with Apple adding its larger, fat finger friendly remote to its $79 in-ear headphones. Apple changed up its design on that remote with its EarPods last September (see CNET's review of those here).

It's not unusual for Apple to make small tweaks to its products mid-lifecycle without too much fanfare. Yesterday the company released an updated version of its
MacBook Pro with Retina Display, lowering the price of its models as well as the cost of upgrades to higher SSD capacities.

(via Macrumors)

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Twitter follow buttons come to videos

A look at how the Twitter follow buttons appear in videos using Wistia Follow Labs tools.

(Credit:
Wistia)

If you've always wished you could embed Twitter follower buttons directly into video, your wait is over.

Thanks to the folks at Wistia, it's now possible to do just that, reports The Next Web.

Wistia's new Follow Lab has come up with a way to add one or more Twitter follow buttons -- like the ones now plastered onto just about every Web site in the world -- directly into videos. The company's new tool lets you embed the buttons wherever you want in a video, and allows you to include follow buttons for more than one Twitter account.

By dropping Wistia's embed code into your video management system, you can quickly include the buttons. And the Follow Lab Web site makes it easy to specify which Twitter accounts to include, and when in the video the buttons should appear, as well as for how long. It also has an option allowing a Twitter ID to be placed at the very end of any video.

The Follow Lab Web site was designed to let video creators play around with the settings in order to understand how to use it, and then to clear the settings before embedding code.

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Under Armour unveils its Nike FuelBand-killer

An Under Armour trainer demonstrating the Armour 39 system.

(Credit:
Roger Cheng/CNET)

Under Armour is prepared to jump into the heavily contested field of fitness monitoring with its Armour 39 system.

Armour 39 consists of a sensor-equipped strap worn around the chest; it includes a sleeve for a "bug," which acts as a computer in storing and moving fitness data to the cloud via Bluetooth. Users can check their progress on a watch or by way of an app on the smartphone. The system will be available on March 20. The strap and bug will cost $149.99, while the optional watch accessory will cost $199.99.
In moving into this field, the sports apparel manufacturer will take on large companies such as Nike and its FuelBand, as well as established fitness monitoring players such as FitBit and JawBone.
The market for fitness-monitoring devices has exploded during the past year or so with a number of companies linking small motion sensors to smartphones and Web sites, allowing users to get a more complete picture of their workout regimen and progress. Companies also have added a social element, allowing people to compete and share their workout stats.

With Apple potentially getting into the business with the rumored iWatch, some believe the already growing market may take off even further in the coming months.

Armour 39, which is named for 0039, the style number for Under Armour's first white undershirt, measures heart rate, calories burned, and intensity, and comes up with a combined score that Under Armour calls "WILLpower," which is rated on a scale between 1 and 10.
"If you're not measuring yourself, it doesn't count," said Under Armour Chief Operating Officer Kip Fulks.
At first glance, WILLpower sounds a lot like Nike's own proprietary Nike Fuel score, which is its own measurement of activity. But Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank said the Willpower score quantifies how hard and intense the session can be.
Like Nike, Under Armour is starting with an iOS app linked to Armour 39, with no
Android app available. Nike said yesterday that it would drop its planned support of Android and focus on iOS, potentially ignoring a huge market of potential users.
For some of these companies, including Nike and Under Armour, these devices represent a marked departure from their core business. Neither are known as hardware companies, and Nike has had to prove itself with the FuelBand, which generally got strong reviews for its design and features.
Of course, Under Armour itself shot up from seemingly nowhere. The company, founded in 1996, was a fledgling maker of fitness clothing and now stands alongside brands such as Nike and Reebok in the sports world, and is easily visibly at events such as the Olympics and in National Football League games.
Armour 39 was part of a larger presentation by Under Armour, which also unveiled the launch of a massive "brand house" in Baltimore, a new "I will" campaign, new cold wear, as well as the tease for a new shoe that won't be manufactured in a factory, but will "clothe your feet."

While Under Armour has a lot of momentum behind it, the company still has an uphill climb in its attempt to breach the already crowded fitness-monitoring market.

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Google sells Nexus 4 wireless charger for $60

For $50, you can get your Nexus 4 wireless charging on.

(Credit:
Google)

Months after Google began selling the LG-made Nexus 4 Android 4.2 smartphone, it (finally) has a wireless charger to offer as well.

The charging accessory, available in the Google Play store, resembles a sheared-off Nexus Q and costs $59.99.

I personally think this is a hefty sticker price for an add-on that's long been underscored as part of the Nexus 4's key selling points. Even so, Google's charge is in keeping with the accessories business. Nokia wireless charging cases for phones like the Lumia 820 cost around $20 (it's built into the Lumia 920), and you'll have to fork over between $50 (eBay) and $100 for the actual charging plate.

Part of the higher pricing is that accessories like this, while practical, are also pitched as fashionable. You use a charger to hide the visible cables that can quickly clutter a desk, table, or counter. Yes, the charger plugs into the wall, but tuck in the cord and the surface you see just the orb, charging plate, or whichever form it takes.

The LG Nexus 4 arrives, but with no LTE

It'll be interesting to see how efficiently the Qi-powered charger juices up the Nexus 4. In my experience with the
Lumia 920, the phone charged only slightly slower than through the phone's charging port. I'll also admit that plopping the phone on the charging plate without worrying about the micro-USB connection was convenient for quick power top-ups.

Are you on board with wireless charging, or do you find it unnecessary? Chime in below!

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Bang With Professionals goes out with a whimper

It was all over before it even began. So sad.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

There is a sudden trend for casually obtained sex.

By "casually," I mean effortlessly, entirely without trying or even seeming to try.

The New York Times noticed it, describing how contemporary dating in New York is little more than the booking of an appointment.

Then along came "Bang with Friends," a site that, as a famous British ad campaign once held it, does exactly what it says on the tin. Or at least claims to.

Hot on its stilettos, there appeared Bang With Professionals, a site that decided to refine the casual sexual urges of the masses.

It claimed that it could "anonymously find co-workers ready to get more intimate with you."

It claimed it could do this by dipping into LinkedIn.

Some wondered whether there might be obstacles in this quest. One could imagine that LinkedIn might not have warmed to this attempt at bringing warm bodies together to make a fire.

And so it has proved. Bang With Professionals now has a notice on its home page, headlined: "We all had a good laugh."

The notice continued: "We all knew it was only a matter of time before our API key was revoked. Well, it just was! Don't worry, your data was safe all along. We just deleted all of the user ids and the only thing that will be left is this landing page."

One wonders about the proportions of disappointment versus relief that greeted this announcement.

More Technically Incorrect

You will feel as giddy as an administrative associate on their first day at work on Wall Street when I tell that LinkedIn issued a statement.

As reported by Computerworld, the company thought long and hard and decided that Bang With Professionals was "inconsistent with the goals of our developer program."

There's development. And then there's development.

The people behind Bang With Professionals want developers -- or even real, ordinary human beings -- to have hope.

They explain in their parting words that they garnered 73,281 visitors. And, to set up the site, they paid a mere $40 for stock images, $12 for a domain name, $5 for a Couldflare account and absolutely nothing for Appengine hosting.

You see, the Web makes business -- and sex -- very easy indeed.

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