Google launches Project Fi mobile phone network

Google launches Project Fi mobile phone network

Google has detailed its plan to run a mobile phone network in the US.

The firm will rent voice and data capacity from two existing operators - Sprint and T-Mobile - and use existing wi-fi hotspots, rather than build new infrastructure from scratch.

Initially, Project Fi will only be offered to Nexus 6 handset owners.

Google Fiber, the firm's "ultra-fast" broadband service, is already seen as a disruptive force in the US telecoms market.

For now, Project Fi is only available to owners of Nexus 6 phones

It has been credited with encouraging Comcast and Time Warner Cable to offer their own customers speed boosts without higher prices.

However, Fiber's roll-out involved Google buying infrastructure built by companies that had collapsed as well as laying its own fibre optic cables - giving it full control of the service.

By contrast, one expert said running a mobile virtual network - which is dependent on rivals' equipment - might limit Project Fi's impact.

"The example of MVNOs in the US and elsewhere suggests that it's hard for their operators to dramatically change the industry because of their nature," said Ian Fogg from the IHS Technology consultancy.

"But the past isn't always a guide to the future.

"No-one would have thought that a handset manufacturer could transform the mobile industry by teaming up with one network - but that's what happened with Apple and AT&T when the iPhone launched.

"And Google itself has repeatedly shown that it is capable of changing the direction of an industry by entering it."

Examples of existing MVNOs include Tesco Mobile, GiffGaff, Red Pocket Mobile and Virgin Mobile.

Offering an alternative

Sundar Pichai, chief of Google's Android platform, first mentioned the company's plan to create a phone network in February, but provided little detail at the time.

The company has now revealed that its subscribers will be automatically switched between 4G signals provided by Sprint and T-Mobile, depending on whichever is stronger at the time.

They will also be able to make calls over wi-fi without having to use a special app, similar in nature to the Wi-fi Calling facility recently introduced by EE in the UK.

"As you go about your day, Project Fi automatically connects you to more than a million free, open wi-fi hotspots we've verified as fast and reliable," Google said on its blog.

"Once you're connected, we help secure your data through encryption. When you're not on wi-fi, we move you between whichever of our partner networks is delivering the fastest speed, so you get 4G LTE in more places."

When alternatives are not available, users will also be able to use 3G and 2G signals.

Data refunds

Customers will only be billed for the amount of data they actually use, rather than having an allowance that resets every month, as is typical on existing services.

The way this will work is that customers will pay a $20 (£13.30) monthly fee for unlimited calls and texts, an extra $10 for mobile data access while in the US and abroad, and then a further $10 for each gigabyte of data they decide to consume.

"Let's say you go with 3GB for $30 and only use 1.4GB one month. You'll get $16 back, so you only pay for what you use," the firm explained.

"This is Google dipping its toe in the water to see what it can do," said Chris Green from the Davies Murphy Group consultancy.

"It's a low-risk way to enter the market with its own branded service.

"Were it to later want to go deeper, it's probable that it would be via an acquisition, given the huge costs involved in building a network from scratch."

The service will work with existing copies of the Nexus 6 handset, manufactured by Motorola, but will require a new Sim card.

Google said the device's cellular radio had been deliberately designed to work across a wide range of 4G networks in the US and beyond, making it possible to switch between providers.

Google said the Nexus 6 is fitted with a Qualcomm radio that supports both Sprint and T-Mobile's networks

Since changing networks will impact the phone's battery life, the firm said it would only move customers "when absolutely necessary".

At this point Google said it had no plan to extend the scheme to other models and was limiting access to invitees.

According to the Wall Street Journal, this may be because Sprint has reserved the right to renegotiate its deal if the service grows above a certain size.

"Google is taking an unusual technology approach by relying on its Sim card and a single handset to bind two 4G networks into one network offering," commented Mr Fogg.

"In other countries, consumers gain the same dual network benefits using any handset when two operators work together on network sharing or site sharing deals.

"Project Fi's focus on a usage-based data charging model will most benefit those consumers who use smaller amounts of data, not the enthusiasts who tend to own Nexus devices.

"For Project Fi to have significant impact, Google must widen the offering to support more smartphone models."

Source: BBC

Child malaria vaccine: Final trials bring hope

Child malaria vaccine: Final trials bring hope

Final clinical trials of a malaria vaccine - the first to reach this stage - suggest it could help protect millions of children against malaria.

There is no licensed vaccine against malaria anywhere in the world at present

But tests on 16,000 children from seven African countries found that booster doses were of limited use and vaccines in young babies were not effective.

After children aged 5-17 months were given three doses of the vaccine, the immunisation was only 46% effective.

But experts say getting the vaccine this far is a scientific milestone.

Data from the trial published in The Lancet showed that the success rate fell to even lower levels in younger infants.

Scientists have been working on the vaccine for more than 20 years, but observers believe there is still a long way to go.

RTS,S/AS01 is the first malaria vaccine to reach advanced trials and show any sign of working in young children.

There is currently no licensed vaccine against malaria anywhere in the world.

With around 1,300 children dying in sub-Saharan Africa from malaria every day, scientists say they are delighted to have got to this stage in developing a vaccine against a very clever parasite.

'Disappointed'

Prof Brian Greenwood, study author and professor of clinical tropical medicine at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said he was "a little disappointed" by the results of the clinical trials.

"I hoped the vaccine would be more effective, but we were never going to end up with the success seen in measles vaccines with 97% efficacy."

That is because the malaria parasite has a complicated life cycle and it has learnt how to evade the immune system over hundreds of years.

The vaccinations took place at 11 sites across Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.

The trials found the vaccine's ability to protect children gradually waned over time.

Scientists tried to bolster this with a booster, but protection never reached the level provided by initial doses.

The clinical trials also found that meningitis occurred more frequently in children given the vaccine.

However, Prof Greenwood said the data was very robust and the vaccine could still reduce attacks of malaria by around 30%.

'Milestone'

The European Medicines Agency will now review the data and, if it is satisfied, the vaccine could be licensed.

And the World Health Organization could then recommend its use in October this year.

Prof Adrian Hill, at the University of Oxford, said although the study was "a milestone", he had concerns.

"Because the vaccine's efficacy is so short-lived, as expected a booster dose is shown to be of some value - but it was not as effective at the initial doses.

"More worrying is the new evidence of a rebound in malaria susceptibility: after 20 months, vaccinated children who were not boosted showed an increased risk of severe malaria over the next 27 months compared to non-vaccinated controls."

Overall, he said the vaccine's potential public health benefits were not yet clear.

"It should be possible to make the vaccine more effective in some settings, but that will probably increase delivery costs substantially."

'Important tool'

Prof Mike Turner, head of infection at the Wellcome Trust, said it had taken two decades to get to this point.

"While the levels of protection the vaccine offers against clinical malaria may seem relatively low, they are better than any other potential vaccine we currently have.

"The findings are not only important in their own right but also in signposting a road to developing better vaccines in the future."

James Whiting, from the charity Malaria No More UK, said it was a huge achievement to get the vaccine this far.

"There are still a number of considerations and approval processes to be undertaken, but it has the potential to be an important additional tool to fight malaria and save lives from a disease that kills a child every minute."

Other experts warned that funding for a vaccine should not be redirected away from insect nets and other malaria control measures.

Source: BBC

• Tags:
• African countries,
• malaria vaccine,
• immunisation,

 

Amazon reports a $57m loss in the first quarter

Amazon reports a $57m loss in the first quarter

Technology giant Amazon has reported a loss of $57m (£38m) in the first quarter of 2015 and has also given more detail about the performance of its web services business.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has always insisted on reinvesting profits into the business

The company said revenue from sales of Amazon web services (AWS) for the first three months of 2015 was $1.57bn.

Founder Jeff Bezos said in a statement: "Amazon web services is a $5 billion business and still growing fast."

Shares in the firm declined, but then rose nearly 5% in after hours trading.

The company reported a better-than-expected increase in revenue, which increased by 15% to $22.7bn, buoyed by increased sales in North America, the company's biggest market.

Furthermore, it said sales of its web services offering increased by 49% from a year earlier, and that it was profitable - which was something that was previously unknown.

AWS is a cloud computing offering that makes money by charging businesses to host their websites and other applications.

The division provides cloud computing services to household names including Dropbox, Spotify, Netflix, Uber, Samsung and even the CIA - helping them send notifications, stream video and synchronise data.

The figures for the first time confirm that Amazon's cloud business is the biggest of its kind in terms of revenue.

'Surprisingly profitable'

The profitability of the cloud business could soothe investors, who have been anxious for the firm to turn a profit and stop investing in new projects, which has seen them move into tablet computers, smartphones, and a short-lived nappy service.

AWS "was surprisingly more profitable than forecast", Dan Kurnos, an analyst at the Benchmark Company, told the BBC.

That "should help [Amazon] justify their heavy investment spending and provide a clearer path to profitability for the [overall] company as AWS grows," he added.

Michael Pachter, from Wedbush Securities said: "I think most of us believed that the business [AWS] was breakeven at best, and it is surprising that it generates such a significant portion of profit."

"The stock is up because it is clear that if that business scales, Amazon can be immensely profitable," he added.

Source: BBC

Nepal earthquake: Tent cities set up for the displaced

Nepal earthquake: Tent cities set up for the displaced

Vast tent cities have sprung up for those displaced by the earthquake in Nepal, which is now reported to have killed some 2,500 people.

Several landmarks were badly damaged by the quake

Many residents of the capital, Kathmandu, who lost their homes as a result of the tremor spent a second night outside on Sunday.

They are afraid to return to their homes - especially after strong aftershocks hit the region on Sunday.

The quake triggered avalanches on Mount Everest, killing at least 17 people.

More than 60 people were injured on the mountain.

Efforts to dig victims out from under the rubble of collapsed buildings in Kathmandu continued throughout Sunday night.

Rescue missions and aid have started arriving to help cope with the aftermath of the worst earthquake to hit Nepal for more than 80 years.

The situation is still unclear in remote areas which remain cut off or hard to access, but initial reports suggest that many communities - especially those close to mountainsides - suffered significant quake damage.

Landslides have prevented rescue teams from reaching rural communities in the area where the quake was centred, chief Gorkha region district official Prakash Subedi said.

"Villages like this are routinely affected by landslides, and it's not uncommon for entire villages of 200, 300, up to 1,000 people to be completely buried by rock falls," World Vision spokesman Matt Darvas said. "It will likely be helicopter access only."

The 7.8-magnitude quake struck an area of central Nepal between Kathmandu and the city of Pokhara early on Saturday.

Renewed panic

A powerful aftershock was felt on Sunday in Nepal, India and Bangladesh, and more avalanches were reported near Everest.

The 6.7-magnitude tremor, centred 60km (40 miles) east of Kathmandu, sent people running in panic for open ground in the city.

It brought down some houses that had been damaged in the initial quake.

People sleeping in the open were using any available open spaces, including school playgrounds and courtyards, and even traffic islands.

At hospitals rattled by the aftershocks, staff moved sick and injured patients outside on Sunday afternoon.

Both private and government hospitals have run out of space and are treating patients outside, officials say.

They say that Nepal is in crisis and we will require tremendous support and aid, and that the focus is now on a relief operation rather than a rescue mission - although digging for survivors is still continuing.

Offers of help have come in from around the world. Some foreign teams have already arrived and are helping with search and rescue efforts - braving aftershocks at Kathmandu airport that forced some aircraft to circle around it before landing.

As aid and aid workers arrived, thousands of Indians queued in the hope of getting a seat on a plane to Delhi.

The UN children's agency says nearly one million children in Nepal urgently need humanitarian assistance as they were particularly vulnerable.

The country is running out of water and food, and there are frequent power cuts, the UN says.

Heavy rain earlier on Saturday further worsened conditions with UN officials expressing concern that thunderstorms that could harm people staying outdoors and lead to a shortage of vaccines against disease including diarrhoea and measles.

'Rubble and landslides'

Nepalese officials have warned that the number of casualties could rise as rescue teams reach remote mountainous areas of western Nepal.

A man evacuated by helicopter to Pokhara, 200 km from Kathmandu, said almost every home in his village of more than 1,000 houses had been destroyed, charity worker Matt Darvas of World Vision told the BBC.

In Dhading district, 80km west of Kathmandu, people were camped in the open, the hospital was overflowing, the power was off and shops were closed, Reuters news agency reported.

Foreign climbers and their Nepalese guides around Mt Everest were caught by the tremors and a huge avalanche that buried part of the base camp in snow.

Many people are still missing on the mountain as several tents were buried by the snow or blown away.

Separately rescue workers have told the BBC that climbers stranded on Everest have been unable to get down because climbing ropes and ladders have been swept away by a series of avalanches.

Tourism Minister Deepak Chanda Amatya told the BBC that more than 50 climbers had been rescued.

There are 14 international medical teams on the way to Nepal, the UN says, and up to 15 international search-and-rescue teams on the way, the UN says, which will if necessary use military aircraft or the overland route from India to get into Nepal.

Source: BBC

Nasdaq and S&P 500 at new record on strong tech profits

Nasdaq and S&P 500 at new record on strong tech profits

The Nasdaq and S&P 500 closed at new record highs after US tech firms reported strong first quarter profits.

The index rose 36.02 points to close at 5,092.08. It ended Thursday at a record high, surpassing a level it last reached in 2000 at the height of the dot-com bubble.

The S&P 500 index gained 4.76 points to 2,117.69, a new high.

The Dow Jones added 21.45 points to finish the week at 18,080.14.

Amazon was the biggest winner on the Nasdaq. It boosted the tech-heavy index significantly, after shares in the firm rose by by more than 14%, in the wake of revelations about its cloud computing services on Thursday. The company's value now stands at $206.7bn (£136.1bn).

The Dow's leader was Microsoft, which saw its share price spike over 10% after it beat growth expectations.

Time Warner Cable's shares rose slightly, notching a 0.57% gain, after the cable TV giant announced it had abandoned its $45bn proposed takeover of rival Comcast, whose shares also closed slightly higher, up by 0.69%.

Xerox was one of the biggest losers on the Nasdaq, closing down 8.75%. On Thursday, the office supplies company reported a 6% fall in quarterly revenue.

Source: BBC

Ellen Pao faces $1m legal bill in sexism case

Ellen Pao faces $1m legal bill in sexism case

Ellen Pao, the woman who took a Silicon Valley firm to court over sexism claims and lost, has been asked to pay legal costs of nearly $1m (£660,000).

Venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins has said it will waive these costs if former employee Ms Pao does not appeal against the jury's decision.

Ms Pao's legal team is currently considering the proposal.

The high-profile case prompted a wider examination of gender bias in Silicon Valley.

Ms Pao was sacked from Kleiner Perkins - which has invested in a variety of successful technology firms, including Snapchat, Spotify, Uber, Twitter and Google - in 2012.

She now faces a legal bill of around $973,000 after she failed to convince jurors at the San Francisco Superior Court that her firing was due to discrimination.

Lawyers representing Kleiner Perkins insisted that its decision to sack her was based on poor performance.

By contrast, her lawyers spoke about a "boys' club" atmosphere at the firm and the promotion of male colleagues.

In March, a jury of six men and six women rejected Ms Pao's claim of discrimination.

Level playing field

Legal filings made this week from Kleiner Perkins revealed that the firm had offered to settle with Ms Pao for $964,502 last November but said she had never responded.

In the month-long trial that followed, she sought $16m in lost wages and potential earnings, but has always insisted that bringing the case was about more than just money.

After the trial, she tweeted: "Hopefully my case will inspire the venture capital industry to level the playing field for everyone including women and minorities."

While there are some very high-profile senior women in technology - such as Sheryl Sandberg at Facebook and Marissa Mayer at Yahoo - women are generally very under-represented in the industry.

Women make up about 30% of the global workforces of both Apple and Google, with the numbers even smaller in technical roles.

Source: BBC

Mitochondria editing tried in mice

Mitochondria editing tried in mice

Researchers have developed a technique to edit out bits of mitochondrial DNA that could otherwise pass on incurable diseases, a study in mice shows.

Salk Institute scientists used specifically engineered molecular scissors to snip out mutations in embryos, leaving healthy DNA intact.

They hope it could one day be used to prevent human mitochondrial diseases.

But experts say though it is a "technical masterpiece", it raises ethical and scientific challenges.

Mitochondria are tiny powerhouses found inside nearly every cell in the body, generating energy necessary for essential functions.

They carry their own DNA - which is passed on from mothers to their children. Unlike DNA found in the nuclei of cells, this does not affect characteristics such as appearance.

But if inherited mitochondrial DNA is defective, children can have life-limiting conditions involving muscles weakness and blindness.

Reporting in the journal Cell, scientists tested molecular scissors on mice with two different types of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA).

They were able to recognise and cut out disease-causing mtDNA in mouse embryos. And the resulting offspring were healthy.

Researchers also used the technique successfully on faulty human mtDNA, inserted into mouse eggs.

They say the next step is to run preliminary laboratory tests on discarded human embryos.

And if proven safe and effective, they argue it would provide a simpler alternative to mitochondrial transfer therapy recently given the green light by UK authorities.

This controversially relies on DNA from three individuals - two parents and healthy mitochondria from a female donor.

But experts remain divided about the ethical and scientific questions this new approach brings.

Dr Marita Pohlschmidt, at charity Muscular Dystrophy UK, said: "We welcome this exciting new technique, which could benefit thousands of women worldwide who risk passing on mitochondrial disease to their children.

"The results seen in mice are promising. We are keen to see results of further research into the technique's safety and efficacy."

But Prof Frances Flinter, expert in genetics at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, said: "The biggest question to address will be the possibility that DNA cutting enzymes may disrupt adjacent genes that are important, leading to unintended adverse consequences."

Dr Duscko Ilic, at King's College London, said the technique had many hurdles to overcome.

"Although this clever alternative approach for correcting genetic errors in mitochondria is a technical masterpiece, it is unlikely to make it to clinic in the near future.

"Replacing faulty genes in human pre-implantation embryos, germ cells or gametes poses serious risks."

And David King, of the group, Human Genetics Alert, had his own warning.

"This research is unethical. It threatens to usher in the future of genetically modified designer babies.

"We must extend the ban on human genetic engineering to create a global treaty."

Meanwhile, other research from China involving separate technology on the more abundant DNA found in the nuclei of human cells, has led scientists to question how far such technology should ethically go.

Source: BBC

• Tags:
• DNA,
• human mitochondrial diseases,
• m