Qualcomm's Jacobs: Samsung snub 'a good wake-up call

Qualcomm Executive Chairman Paul Jacobs says increased competition will help the company improve its game. Sarah Tew/CNET

NEW YORK -- Qualcomm, the world's biggest maker of chips for mobile devices, is under a lot of pressure from its competitors these days.

It's seen its Snapdragon processor replaced by a Samsung-made chip in Samsung's flagship Galaxy S6 phones -- a switch that's costing Qualcomm hundreds of millions of dollars in sales. At the same time, it's had to fend off increased competition from Intel and from makers of lower-end chips in Asia. The challenges have helped push Qualcomm's stock down about 8 percent since the start of the year and depressed its financial results.

Despite the difficulties, Executive Chairman Paul Jacobs said in an interview with a handful of reporters Tuesday that his company has a clear path forward out of the woods, and he welcomed the heightened competition to ensure that Qualcomm keeps fighting to maintain its lead.

"Competition is good," Jacobs said soon after the company's partner, LG, held an event here to unveil its new flagship G4 phone. "It's the silver lining of what's been going on with the Samsung situation. I think it's a good wake-up call."

Qualcomm remains the dominant player in mobile chips, with its Snapdragon processors, radio chips or both finding a home in Apple's iPhone, Samsung'sGalaxy Note 4 phone, HTC's One M9 phone, as well as many other devices. The arrival of more viable competitors in its market, though, could mean more choices for device makers and consumers.

To keep hold of the majority of the market for smartphone chips, Qualcomm plans to direct its roughly $5 billion annualresearch and development budget toward a handful of specific projects, so it can keep coming out with the most desirable technology, Jacobs said. Consumers might expect to see new technologies in the realms of virtual reality and robotics, as well as smartphone chips that can learn their owner's interests. Those are major areas of research for Qualcomm, said Jacobs, the company's CEO from 2005 to 2014 who now focuses on new technologies and long-term projects.

"What we're really going to do is focus in on some of the high-impact things," Jacobs said, "and a few of the other projects. We're going to do a little gardening."

That will mean the company will continue cutting costs -- it already laid off about 600 employees in December -- while still driving its technology forward, Jacobs said.

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HTC has strong first quarter, but Q2 looks like a downer

HTC CEO Cher Wang talking about the company's efforts beyond mobile. Lynn La/CNET

HTC, the embattled handset maker that's trying to reinvent itself with help from its newly appointed CEO Cher Wang shared a bit of a mixed bag with investors on Wednesday.

HTC posted revenue during the first quarter of 2015 of NT$41.5 billion ($1.4 billion) -- representing a 25 percent increase in revenue over the same period last year. The company also posted its strongest US revenue growth since 2011.

In a statement, HTC, which also posted a small profit of NT$360 million, said that its success was due in large part to offering "tailored portfolios" of products to different markets around the world. According to that strategy, emerging markets, for example, will receive more affordable smartphones and fewer higher-end devices than developed countries.

The success in the first quarter, however, might be short-lived. HTC said that its revenue for the second quarter ending June 30 will fall between NT$46 billion and NT$51 billion. Depending on where HTC's revenue stands in that range, that would mean a decline of between 22 percent and 29 percent compared to the second quarter of 2014 when it posted revenue of NT$65.1 billion.

The forecast comes at a crucial time for HTC. The company, whose phones a few years ago had some momentum in the US, has watched its market share fall off a cliff. At last count, the company had approximately 2 percent market share in the worldwide smartphone space as Apple, Samsung and a handful of China-based handset makers, including Xiaomi, offer more appealing products. Such products include Apple's popular iPhone 6, which helped propel the company to 61.2 million unit sales in the last quarter. Meanwhile, Samsung's Galaxy S6 and the recently announced LG G4 have also caught the eyes of consumers.

Some investors had hoped for a stronger second quarter due to the release of HTC's latest flagship handset, the One M9. However, reviewers have been critical of the device, saying that it's a small upgrade over the previous model, the HTC One M8.CNET's Reviews team took the M9 for a spin, and while it received a solid 8 out of 10, they argued that the handset "doesn't exceed the competition where it counts."

But HTC might not be as concerned about its success in smartphones as it once was. Last month, HTC chairwoman and co-founder Cher Wang took over as the company's CEO, replacing fellow co-founder Peter Chou. Wang has said that while HTC will not abandon smartphones, the company will attempt to capitalize on other growth areas it sees, including wearables. Wang also wants to target specific markets with products tailored to them.

In a statement accompanying her company's financials on Wednesday, Wang focused on HTC's prospects in areas outside of smartphones. "We have made strides in expanding our product offerings into new connected smart devices in areas such as fitness and entertainment," Wang said. "It is vital that we drive the connected lifestyle through our pursuit of brilliance and by engaging strategic partners to bring the best and most innovative products to market."

Still, questions remain over whether Wang can actually help HTC. Wang was, after all, the chairwoman at the company while its troubles persisted and despite replacing Chou, he's still running the company's Future Labs, working on next-generation technologies. So, while there has been a shake-up at the top, the same players are in different positions, causing analysts and investors to wonder if HTC can be fixed.

"It remains to be seen whether Cher Wang is the right person to get HTC back on track," Ben Wood, an analyst at CCS Insight, told CNET last month. "HTC has a very tough year ahead."

Based on what HTC is predicting for the second quarter, Wood's comments already seem prescient.

HTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Apple Watch eyed by 1 in 4 people, says survey

The Apple Watch is of interest to a quarter of people polled in a recent survey. Apple

Wearable devices remain a niche product, with only 1 in 10 people polled in a recent survey saying they own a smartwatch. But the Apple Watch may prove to be a game changer, if that same survey is any indication.

Of the more than 15,900 adults polled in the US and UK by GlobalWebIndex, 1 in 4 said they're interested in Apple's new wearable, which went on sale last Friday. GWI's online survey, conducted in March and early April, elicited responses from 8,010 Internet users in the UK and 7,890 users in the US aged 16-64.

Apple has entered a brand-new market for itself with its smartwatch. The company hadn't created a new device since it launched the iPad in early 2010, and it needed to try to prove it could still innovate. Competing with a slew of rival devices from Samsung, LG, Sony, Motorola and others, the Apple Watch is designed as a smartwatch, health and fitness tracker and luxury item in an attempt to appeal to a wide audience.

The watch seems to be off to a good start, based on estimates of preorders. On April 13, financial services firm Cowen and Co. estimated that total Apple Watch preorders around the world hit about 1 million units during the first weekend of availability. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster also projected the same number for the opening weekend. On April 27, research firm Slice Intelligence said about 1.7 million watches had been preordered since April 10.

But the Apple Watch is facing the supply and demand issues that typically plague new Apple products. Of the 1.7 million preorders estimated by Slice, only 376,000 units, or 22 percent, had so far been delivered as of Monday, according to the research firm.

During Apple's second-quarter earnings conference on Monday, CEO Tim Cookrefused to reveal any hard sales numbersfor the watch, saying only that customer response has been "overwhelmingly positive." Cook acknowledged that demand for the watch is greater than supply and said Apple is "working hard to remedy that," but he added that he was "generally happy how we're moving on with the ramp."

Based on GlobalWebIndex's first-quarter "GWI Device Summary" report, released Wednesday, demand for (or at least interest in) the watch is healthy among a variety of buyers. Of current smartwatch owners, as many as 70 percent said they're interested in the Apple Watch. The gadget is also an item of interest to 44 percent of iPad owners and 40 percent of iPhone owners.

Among other types of buyers, 44 percent of "early tech adopters" -- people who say that having the latest tech products is very important to them -- are interested in the Apple Watch. The watch has caught the attention of 39 percent of "premium purchasers" -- those who tend to buy the premium version of a product. But even among those considered "price conscious" -- people who say price is more important than the brand name -- 26 percent said they're interested in the Apple Watch.

The Apple Watch is available in three different flavors -- the entry-level Sport version, the midlevel Apple Watch and the luxury Apple Watch Edition. The Sport version starts at $349, the Apple Watch at $549 and the Apple Watch Edition at $10,000.

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Still no word on when Windows 10 becomes available

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at the Build conference Wednesday. CNET

Microsoft spent much of a three-hour-long keynote address at its Build developer conference Wednesday talking up Windows 10.

But it held off answering one key question: when will the new version of its widely used operating system arrive?

Microsoft said in March that Windows 10 would launch this summer in 190 countries and 111 languages. However, chipmaker AMD, a longtime Microsoft partner, may have spilled the details earlier this month when its chief executive, Lisa Su, said in a call with investors that the release date was pegged for late July.

Many anticipated some clarification on the release date during Wednesday morning's presentation. But the company remained mum.

Windows 10 is touted as a simpler, more modern OS that seamlessly ties together desktops, laptops and smartphones. CEO Satya Nadella called it not just another release of Windows "but a new generation of Windows."

"Windows 10 represents a new generation of Windows built for an era for more personal computing, from Raspberry Pi to the holographic computer," Nadella said. "Where the mobility of the experience is what matters, not the mobility of the device."

Convincing the world that Windows 10 adds enough new features and technology to push the software forward and gain mainstream acceptance is themain goals of Microsoft's developers conference. But more broadly speaking, it's a test of whether the longtime technology titan can regain its swagger.

Microsoft  not only turned off consumers with Windows 8, but it also drove them away. The 2-year-old software powers less than 15 percent of all computers in the world, according to NetMarketshare. That's well below its 6-year-old predecessor Windows 7, which powers more than half the desktop market, and it's even below Windows XP, now 14 years old, which commands nearly 20 percent on desktops.

With Windows 10, the company has gone back to basics, marrying the look and feel of Windows 7 with more modern design touches. The Start Menu is front and center again, and Microsoft is hoping to appease power users and those that depend on Windows in the workplace after Windows 8 was soundly rejected worldwide.

Gone is the tiled interface, once called Metro, that became the splashy and controversial face of Windows 8. But we can expect live tiles -- those interactive squares central to that design -- to live on. In an early look at the Start Menu during the Windows 10 unveiling in September, live tiles for social media accounts like Facebook and Twitter were present alongside squares for email and Skype.

Hey, Cortana. Welcome to the Windows 10 PC... See full gallery

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Samsung S5 fingerprint flaw exposed

Many smartphones can now be unlocked with fingerprints

Hackers can take copies of fingerprints used to unlock the Samsung Galaxy S5 phone, claim security researchers.

A flaw in Android makes it possible to steal the personal information so it can be used elsewhere, said the experts from security firm FireEye.

Other Android-based phones that also use fingerprint ID systems could also be vulnerable, they said.

Samsung said it took security "very seriously" and was investigating the researchers' findings.

Stolen prints

Fingerprint ID systems are being used more and more in smartphones to unlock the devices or as a way to check who is authorising a transaction. Paypal and Apple already accept fingerprints as an ID check and a growing roster of firms that are members of the Fido Alliance are keen to use them in the same way to remove the need for passwords.

Android phones typically store sensitive data such as fingerprint information in a walled-off area of memory known as the Trusted Zone.

However, Yulong Zhang and Tao Wei found it was possible to grab identification data before it is locked away in the secure area. This method of stealing data was available on all phones running version 5.0 or older versions of Android provided the attacker got high level access to a phone.

They also found that on Samsung Galaxy S5 phones, attackers did not need this deep access to a phone. Instead, they said, just getting access to the gadget's memory could reveal finger scan data.

Using this information an attacker could make a fake lock screen that makes victims believe they are swiping to unlock a phone when they are actually authorising a payment.

In addition, they found, it was possible for attackers to upload their own fingerprints as devices did not keep good records of how many prints were being used on each device.

Mr Zhang and Mr Wei are due to present their findings at the RSA security conference in San Francisco on 24 April.

In an interview with Forbes magazine, Mr Zhang said the flaws they uncovered were likely to be widespread throughout handsets running Android 5.0 and below. Updating to the latest version of Android, version 5.1.1, should remove the vulnerabilities, he said.

The flaw is the latest in a series of problems uncovered with fingerprint ID systems on phones.

In April last year, hackers discovered a way to fool the print sensor on the S5 by taking a photograph of a print left on a smartphone screen, making a mould from the image and using that to make a replica fake finger.

In 2013, a German hacker group used a similar method to bypass the fingerprint reader on Apple's iPhone 5. Hackers from the Chaos Computer Club used a picture of a person's fingerprint left on a glass surface to make a fake finger that unlocked the phone.

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Apple Failed to Patch Rootpipe Mac OS X Yosemite Vulnerability

Sad but True! Your Apple’s Mac computer is vulnerable to a serious privilege escalation flaw, dubbed "RootPipe," even if you are running the latest version of Mac OS X.

What’s RootPipe?

Back in October 2014, a Swedish White Hat hacker Emil Kvarnhammar claimed to have discovered a critical privilege escalation vulnerability, he dubbed the backdoor as " RootPipe," in some versions of Mac OS X including the then newest version 10.10 Yosemite.

The vulnerability ( CVE-2015-1130) could allow an attacker to take full control of your desktop Mac computer or MacBook laptop, even without any authentication.

Keeping in mind the devastating effect of the RootPipe vulnerability, the researcher privately reported the flaw to Apple and did not disclose the details of the flaw publicly until the company released a patch to fix it.

Apple did release an update but failed to patch RootPipe:

Earlier this month, Apple released the latest version of Mac OS X Yosemite, i.e. OS X Yosemite 10.10.3, and claimed to have fixed the so-called Rootpipe backdoor, which had been residing on Mac computers since 2011.

However, the company did not fix the flaw in the older versions (below 10.10) of the operating system due to uncodified Apple policy on patching, leaving tens of millions of Mac users at risk.

" Apple indicated that this issue required a substantial amount of changes on their side and that they would not backport the fix to 10.9.x and older," Kvarnhammar said in a blog post on the TrueSec website.

But here’s the worse part:

Apple’s RootPipe vulnerability patch for Mac OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 is claimed to be itself vulnerable, which again left all the Mac machines vulnerable to the RootPipe attacks.

Holy Crap!

Patrick Wardle, an ex-NSA staffer and current director of R&D at Synack, claimed to have discovered…

...a new way around Apple's security fix to reabuse the Rootpipe vulnerability, again opening path to the highest privilege level – root access.

Though this time, the attack requires a hacker to have gained local privileges, which could most likely be obtained via a working exploit of other software sitting on Mac machines.

Here’s the Video Demonstration:

Wardle has demonstrated his hack attack in action in a video proof-of-concept (POC), which you can watch below:

Wardle has already reported his findings to the Apple’s security team and wouldnot disclose the details of his attack code public before the company will not issue a complete and unbreakable fix.

Now, let's just hope to get a tough fix for Rootpipe backdoor this time from Apple. Last time the company took nearly six months to release a patch that was fooled by Wardle sitting on a flight.

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Nokia's next act: A return to smartphones, report says

The Nokia N1 tablet might have a smartphone complement in 2016. Nokia

A remnant of onetime phone giant Nokia could be planning to come back to a business the Finland-based company famously abandoned not so long ago: smartphones.

Nokia Technologies is working on a secret project that will result in the company announcing a new smartphone as early as 2016, Recode is reporting, citing people who claim to have knowledge of its plans. According to the report, Nokia would unveil the device and then license its design and name to another company that would handle production and sales.

Almost exactly a year ago, Microsoft formally acquired Nokia's phone business for $7.2 billion. The deal called for Microsoft to have the rights to use the Nokia name for a period of time and to continue producing Nokia smartphones through 2015. Nokia Technologies is one of three divisions that was not included in the sale.

Microsoft announced in late 2014 that it was abandoning the "Nokia" branding in smartphones in favor of Microsoft Lumia products. (The Lumia name had come over from Nokia.) At about the same time, Nokia announced a tablet, called the N1, that carried its own branding.

With the ban on releasing a Nokia smartphone up at the end of this year, the Finland-based company now has ample time to work on a new handset that it could announce as early as 2016.

Getting back into the smartphone business will be an important, but potentially difficult, reboot for Nokia. The company was once the dominant handset maker in the world, but failed to adapt swiftly to the touchscreen smartphone craze and soon found itself well behind Samsung and Apple. As Nokia tried to rebuild its business, customers increasingly turned elsewhere.

Since the sale to Microsoft, Nokia has been focused on build out its mapping and network equipment businesses. Nokia Technologies, which is reportedly taking on the smartphone development, licenses the company's patents to other firms. It's also charged with new product development.

According to Recode's sources, Nokia Technologies is also working on other types of products, including devices designed for virtual-reality uses.

For now, though, the focus is on the possibility of Nokia rejoining the smartphone market. It's currently unknown what the device would look like or what features it would offer. Since Nokia's N1 tablet is running Android, it's possible that the smartphone would also be an Android-based device. Launch details, including timing and availability, were also unknown.

Nokia declined to comment on the Recode report.

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The shoe that grows with a child

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.

A simple idea. Shoes that are adjustable as the foot grows. Because International/Vimeo screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

We buy, we wear, we discard, we buy again.

This is the simple cycle of the privileged West.

Not everyone has that luxury. Not everyone has the money to buy clothing for every stage of their growth (mental or physical).

Because International is a nonprofit that works with the poorest people in countries all around the world. It saw a simple problem. Children grow. Their feet grow. But how can anyone afford to give them shoes, when it seems like they need a new pair every year?

Because International - The Shoe That Grows in Action from Tobin Rogers onVimeo.

So the company's executive director, Kenton Lee came up with an idea: a shoe that can be adjusted to grow as a child does.

All it takes it some snaps, some buckles and a few buttons that hold it all together. Lee told BuzzFeed that these shoes can grow five sizes and can last up to five years.

It grows in three parts of the shoe. The front is adjustable. The sides have snaps that allow for additional width. The back has a strap, which also allows for greater width over time.

Because International works in countries such as Ghana, Haiti, Kenya and Ecuador.It relies on donations in order to distribute the shoes in bulk.

If poor kids have shoes at all and those shoes become too small, they either carry on wearing the shoes in discomfort, or just go barefoot. The latter option leaves them open to the risk inherent in, for example, contaminated soils.

It seems such a simple idea that one wonders why no one seems to have thought of it before. Of course, it's also an idea that might have its uses in the wealthy world, as well as in impoverished places.

There again, how could we possibly live without constant shopping?

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OMG! Oh My Gold! Beyonce has a special gold Apple Watch

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.

Beyonce sports an Apple Watch. And it isn't the Sport version. Beyonce.com screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

I am currently holding my breath. I fear, though, that my breath is holding me.

For I have just seen the light. Yes, the light that twinkles from Beyonce's wrist and says: "Bow down, as I display my new wares before your person."

Her new wares were worn in a scintillating photo on her own personal island of the Web. Her new wares are a gold Apple Watch, complete with a strap made of pink plastic.

I jest from my breathless, prone position, of course. The strap is golden. The links are golden. The effect is as if there is an attitude and an altitude that you will never reach.

But, wait. You'll be wondering only one thing: "Where can I get one of those gold straps, so daintily wrapped around Apple's new time(less)piece?"

It's not merely that the gold Apple Watch Edition isn't for your average citizen. It's that even those who spend the $10,000-$17,000 on one of these things won't necessarily be able to have one of the goldy-locked straps.

This is reserved for the people who are so in that all they see is their inner in-ness.

I feel sure you realize that this is how fashion marketing goes. It's all about the tears and the tiers.

First there's scarcity, then exclusivity and then the supreme exclusivity afforded to those who can afford anything but can only be bothered to be seen with something no else has. Well, no one but Karl.

I have contacted Apple to ask just how, where, when and for how much you, dear reader, will be able to purloin Beyonce's bracelet. I will update, should the secret be spilled.

Meanwhile, I suggest you pop up to your attic and see if your dad has saved his old watches in a shoebox. You might find a gold strap that will fit perfectly.

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How to Run Multiple Whatsapp Account on Your Android Phone

WhatsApp is one of the most popular messenger app that also lets you share pictures, videos, music files and so on. By now, everyone of us have WhatsApp in our smartphones. I prefer WhatsApp among other messaging apps due to its simplicity and instant messaging service. 

Although each and everything is quite handy in WhatsApp, but " What’s the most disturbing part that you came across?" For me it is: 

If you run dual SIM in your Android smartphones, you might be willing to enjoy two separate WhatsApp account for your two different telephone numbers on your smartphone. Isn’t it? 

However, this is where WhatsApp puts limitations on its users. WhatsApp users can not use more than one WhatsApp account on their mobile devices. 

However, you are probably wondering: 

" How do I find an excellent solution for this problem that actually works?" 

Today, I am introducing you two different Android apps -- OGWhatsApp andSwitchMe -- that allows users to run multiple WhatsApp accounts on a single smartphone. 

METHOD 1: USING OGWhatsApp 
OGWhatsApp is an Android app that allows you to use two separate WhatsApp accounts on your single Android device without any need to root your Android device. 

While running your normal WhatsApp account on your smartphone, you can follow some simple steps (below) in order to run a different WhatsApp account on the OGWhatsApp. 

Follow these simple steps to go: 

Step 1: Take a complete backup of your WhatsApp data and restore it. 
Step 2: Delete all the WhatsApp data by going to Settings>apps>WhatsApp>Clear Data. 
Step 3: Rename the /sdcard/WhatsApp directory to /sdcard/OGWhatsApp. You can use any file manager for Android to do this task, or from Windows. 
Step 4: Uninstall your original WhatsApp app from your Android device. 
Step 5: Now install OGWhatsApp in your Android smartphone. 
Step 6: Once installed, remember to verify your old number that was previously registered with the original WhatsApp to OGWhatsApp. That is it. 
Step 7: Now re-install the official WhatsApp for your other number from the play store. 

This is crazy: 

Enjoy two separate WhatsApp accounts for both telephone numbers on your single Android device without even rooting your Android device. 

METHOD 2: USE SWITCHME TO RUN MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS 

SwitchMe is another Android app that allows you to have two separate WhatsApp accounts on a single Android device, but this app requires your Android smartphone be rooted. 

Here’s the deal: 

Switchme multiple account app allows you to log in and out of multiple user spaces however it needs root access to do this. However, users cannot access the other profile from their current profile because each account within the multiple profiles will have its settings, applications, and data. 

Follow these simple steps to go: 

Step 1: Root your Android device. 
Step 2: Make sure that you have WhatsApp app installed on your smartphone. 
Step 3: Install SwitchMe Multiple accountson your smartphone. 
Step 4: Run SwitchMe Multiple accounts, it will ask for Superuser request that you need to grant. 
Step 5: Now create a user profile with your name in SwitchMe app. This profile will be an administrator account containing all the current apps and settings, and will also reflect your WhatsApp profile that is already installed on your smartphone. 
Step 6: Now create another profile using a different name by tapping on the Create Profile button in SwitchMe app, and then choose the Switch option by selecting this account. 
Step 7: Now your smartphone will restart automatically and once it is ready to use, install official WhatsApp again from Google Play Store and register it for the different phone number. That is it. 

Congratulations! 

Now you can easily use multiple WhatsApp accounts on your single Android smartphone. The Free version of SwitchMe Multiple accounts app allows you to use only two user account. 

So, I have made available solutions for both users who want to use multiple WhatsApp accounts on their smartphone without rooting their Android device and with rooting their Android device respectively.

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Gold MacBook back-orders mean a wait of 3 to 4 weeks

Apple's gold MacBook is hard to come by online. Sarah Tew / CNET

Apple's new, lightweight MacBook is now on sale, and it appears consumers may have started to vote with their wallets on their favorite model.

Back orders are the order of the day for the gold-tinted version of the MacBook, in both 256GB and 512GB models. Customers who purchase the gold MacBook from this point on will need to wait three to four weeks before they'll get their hands on the device. The silver and space gray models are both ready to ship within one to three business days. Apple will also have stock in stores, but it's unknown how many units of each version will be available in stores.

The MacBook, priced starting at $1,299, isn't the only Apple product getting attention Friday. There's also the highly anticipated Apple Watch, which became available for preorders first thing this morning and which is already sold out of its initial stock online. Customers looking to buy an Apple Watch now will need to wait until July to get their devices, and that arrival date may be pushed back even further as time wears on.

Apple unveiled the latest MacBook last month at a press event that also brought details of the launch plans for theApple Watch.

The new MacBook is quite thin, measuring just 0.14 inch at its thinnest point, and weighs 2.03 pounds.It comes with a range of new features for the Mac line, including a Force Touch trackpad that provides improved cursor control and pressure-sensing capabilities. It also has a new keyboard technology designed to reduce typing errors and a single USB-C port that handles everything from charging to data transfers to monitor support.

This year's MacBook is the first in Apple's notebook line to come in a gold model. The others are available in the standard silver.

It's unclear why the gold MacBook is harder to come by, whether the supply is short, period, or demand is intense for the gold model.

Regardless, the MacBook seems to befollowing a pattern set by the iPhone, which has featured a gold version for the last couple years. The gold versions have been hard to come by when new iPhone models launch and remain so for a period of time after the device's launch. By the look of things, MacBook will be following that lead.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Three smartwatches way more affordable than the Apple Watch

The Moto 360 delivers the sexytime at a deal price. Sarah Tew

In case you've been living in a bunker the last few weeks, the Apple Watch goes on sale today. I wonder if you can guess the Cheapskate's feelings about a wrist companion that starts at $399 (for the men's Sport model) and goes up sharply from there?

Yeah, no. Don't get me wrong, I love a watch that can give me notifications, but everything else is overkill. And that barely-a-day battery life? Don't get me started.

With that in mind, I bring you three smartwatch options that will cost you considerably less, while still delivering buzzy notification goodness. Oh, and they all work with Android devices, too.

First up: Today only, and while supplies last, Meh has the refurbished MetaWatch Strata for $15, plus $5 for shipping. (Alas, the way cooler-looking MetaWatch Frame is already sold out.) It has kind of a throwback, digital-watch-from-the-80s look to it, but it also shoehorns a lot of information onto its screen. And the battery is good for up to a week between charges.

(I apologize in advance if the Strata sells out by the time you get to it. In the past I've seen it for $40, so at $15 I suspect folks will snap these up pronto.)

Second up: Also while supplies last (and definitely for a limited time), Amazon has the Motorola Moto 360 for $179 shipped -- by far the lowest price I've seen.

This is perhaps the sexiest smartwatch you can buy today, or at least in the top five. As noted in CNET's review, it does have battery issues (meaning you should plan on recharging it almost daily), and the Android Wear software running the show has room for improvement.

But if you're an Android user who wants it all -- cool watch-faces, full Google integration, heart- and fitness-monitoring, etc. -- this is a pretty sweet deal.

Finally, a rerun from yesterday: The original Pebble smartwatch is still arguably the best product in its class, offering cross-platform compatibility, solid battery life and loads of cool apps and watch faces.

For a limited time, you can get a Pebble for $89 -- not the lowest price I've seen, but lower than the $99 regular price. It's available in black, white or red, and I have to admit the white one is the snazziest (or at least, the least geeky) of the three.

With the newer Pebble Time models on the way, you can expect to see even better original-Pebble deals in the coming months. For now, though, this is a solid deal on a really solid smartwatch.

Thoughts?

Bonus deal: There's a lot of life left in the Xbox 360, and if you don't mind a used one, here's an amazing deal: While supplies last, Cowboom has the used Xbox 360 for $54.99 shipped (plus tax) when you apply coupon code X36041615at checkout. Just click Choose Best Available and sift through the options. Most of these are rated "fair" condition, and will probably require you to buy an AV cable and controller separately. And it might be worth an extra $9.99 for a one-year protection plan. Even so, it's still a dirt-cheap Xbox.

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11 surprises I learned about the Apple Watch

The Apple Watch is a mystery device: that's because it's still not on sale, and few people have worn it yet. I've been wearing Apple's upcoming watch for a week and a half, and even after writing a whole review, I'm still discovering surprises. The Apple Watch, being something extremely new, has quite a few little tricks up its sleeve. There are also a few things you still may not now. These were some of the most interesting revelations I found.

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There aren't any third party watch faces (for now)

Apple's 10 watch faces are beautiful, and incredibly designed...and there aren't any more to choose from. Unlike Pebble, Samsung Gears or Google's Android Wear watches, you can't find other watchfaces to download and install. Not yet, at least, and it hasn't been revealed when or how watchfaces might be sold.

Sarah Tew/CNET

"Power reserve" mode puts your Apple Watch into an odd coma

If your Apple Watch battery gets too low, Power Reserve is there to keep your watch in a pared-down watch mode that just tells the time, nothing else, and lasts for hours. But, if you want to deactivate Power Reserve, you need to reboot the watch: it takes over a minute for the watch to start up again and regain functions.

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You can pay for things without Apple Pay

QR codes: remember them? Thanks to Apple's Passbook app, you can easily add QR codes via your phone and use them on the Apple Watch. I put my Starbucks card into the watch and paid for drinks, no Apple Pay required. This could be a huge help at many places that don't accept Apple Pay, or to use for airline tickets or concerts.

Watch bands can be worn and swapped across Apple Watch models (of the same size)

A fancy band can be put on an Apple Watch Sport, if you wish: the easily swappable bands work across models, as long as you have the same-sized Apple Watch. 38mm and 42mm bands fit differently. Otherwise, you're set.

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You can't use your watch to start and stop calls on your iPhone

Wait, can this be true? It is, weirdly: you can make and answer calls on the Apple Watch, and then hand them off to your iPhone to continue the call there...but, you can't wear headphones connected to your phone, stick your phone in your pocket and use your watch to dial. I hope an update changes that.

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Other wireless phone-charging accessories don't work with Apple Watch

The few I've tried -- including those using both major charging standards, Qi and A4WP (Alliance for Wireless Power) -- don't charge the Apple Watch. You need Apple's unique magnetic inductive charge cable, or an actual Apple Watch-ready accessory, as far as I can tell.

Siri is a great shortcut through the Apple Watch's many menus

I never thought Siri would be so useful. I usually use swiping, tapping and the digital crown on the side to find what I need, but pressing and holding the crown down for Siri (or raising the watch and saying, "hey, Siri") lets you launch apps, place calls, dictate messages, or find things you may find difficult to locate. Give it a try.

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Some "taptic" sensations were too subtle for me, which made "Prominent Haptic" necessary

Apple's vibrational haptic sensations on Apple Watch are pretty subtle. Too subtle, maybe. I'm used to big buzzes from other smartwatches. Maybe my wrists are numb. I dialed up extra buzzing by clicking "Prominent Haptic" within the Apple Watch's sound and haptics settings, and it seems to do the trick.

You can take screenshots on the Apple Watch

Surprise! I accidentally pressed the Digital Crown and the button below it, and the screen flashed. I checked my iPhone's photo library, and there was a screenshot of the watch display. I didn't use screenshots in my review because it's more useful to see the watch and its display in a natural setting, but it'll come in handy in the future, I'm sure.

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It saves a backup on your phone

If you ever unpair or reformat your Apple Watch, which wipes the data, you can restore it again using a local backup it makes on your phone. Your settings and apps get put back on again, and everything feels the same as when you last left it. I did this once, and it worked just fine.

You can pair an external Bluetooth health device to the Apple Watch

This has all sorts of potential. Apple told me you can pair an external Bluetooth heart rate monitor for an alternative to the onboard heart rate measurement in the watch itself, but could you also pair other types of devices in the future? That could make the watch a killer health and medical gadget.

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Professor explains whether cat is going up or down stairs

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.

Can a professor answer this conundrum? Up or down? 9Gag.com screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

It's been like Democrats and Republicans after three quarts of wine-in-a-box.

It's been almost as bad as Red Sox and Yankees fans litigating the trade of Babe Ruth.

For the last 48 hours, the world has been divided between those who think the cat is going upstairs and those sure it's on its way down.

Should you be unaccountably intelligent and therefore have missed this global schism, the cat image was first posted to9Gag.com. It then hurtled into the world, with some believing that, quite clearly, the cat was descending and others thinking these people were three legs short of a tabby.

It would need a true academic to sort this one out. Thankfully, Behavioral Science professor Nick Chater of the Warwick Business School in the UK has risen to the task.

He contacted me to explain: "We see in 3D, even though our eyes only receive 2D images. This seems puzzling, because it can be shown mathematically that there is an implied number of 3D scenes that will create the same 2D images. Most of the time, our brain is spectacularly good at solving this problem. It usually turns out that precisely one 3D interpretation is 'sensible' and all the others are bizarre, in one way or another."

I am surrounded by bizarre images all day. I think of them as mere normality. After all, I live in Northern California.

However Chater continued: "Our brain uses the most 'sensible' 3D interpretation; and mostly -- except when we are being subjected to cunning visual illusions -- this works just fine. But sometimes there are two equally plausible 3D interpretations of the same 2D image. Famous examples include the Necker cube (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necker_cube) and Rubin's face-vase illusion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubin_vase). Then, the brain flips between one interpretation and the other."

Professor, my brain is flipping. Tell me, is the cat going up or down the stairs?

Chater explained that the cat image has two possible interpretations because of "the amorphous gray square at the top of the picture." He suggests we focus on "the angle between the plane of the staircase and the surface represented by this gray patch."

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Survey: Samsung beats Apple in customer loyalty (Microsoft has little)

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.

Will Samsung's new phones breed even more loyalty? CNET

I think of customer loyalty as akin to marriage stability.

Many claim it, fewer practice it.

So every time I see numbers attached to consumers' feelings, I approach them with several Siberian effigies of Lot's wife, just in case.

However, numbers tossed at me today offer me pause for thought. They suggest that Samsung enjoys markedly more customer loyalty than Apple.

These figures were lobbed over bySurveyMonkey, a company that hired all the primates from the CareerBuilder adsand forced them to perform surveys. (That statement may not be entirely accurate.)

SurveyMonkey likes to define industry benchmarks to help companies and human beings judge where brands stand. Samsung scored a 35 for customer loyalty, while Apple managed a 28. Both scores were above the industry benchmark of 19.

Where Apple did better, however, was in customer service satisfaction. There, it scored a 41 percent positive rating, while Samsung managed only 25. Both companies may still have much to do. The industry benchmark for customer service satisfaction is 75 percent.

Why might both lag? Is it that our phones and laptops are so important to us that they get so much use, thereby offering constant problems which no company could ever truly fix? Is it that while Apple has at least made some headway in providing Geniuses at customers' disposal, it's still not easy to talk to one and hear sense?

Or could it be that when people answer surveys their most capricious, malicious side pops out occasionally?

These numbers were generated in the fourth quarter of 2014. They represent more than 5,000 adults in SurveyMonkey's so-called Audience, which was polled to offer its views on certain brands.

More Technically Incorrect

SNL mocks Scientology, where 'religion and science are intertwined'Oh, no. Samsung's new phone bends just like an iPhone?Cop caught going ballistic on Uber driver apologizes on TV

One brand that doesn't come out of it at all well is Microsoft. For customer loyalty it scored a staggeringly hellish -8. That's the sort of score you might expect from Comcast and Time Warner. (Well, actually they both managed -50, against an telecoms industry benchmark of -17. Time Warner actually beat Comcast for customer satisfaction. The proof is below.)

Microsoft fared slightly better in customer service satisfaction. It managed a 19 percent score there.

Companies keep their own internal figures and are constantly fretting in a "they-love-me, they-love-me-not" manner.

These numbers may merely hint at how hard it is to please people, as well as how hard it is when you've forced people to use your products for far too long and suddenly discover that those people have moved on.

This doesn't look good for Microsoft. Survey Monkey

Time Warner and Comcast may merge. Will this improve things? SurveyMonkey

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Samsung attacks S6 Edge bend test

The Galaxy S6 Edge, which features a curved screen, goes on sale on Friday

Samsung is playing down a report that its new flagship phone - the Galaxy S6 Edge - is "just as bendable" as Apple's iPhone 6 Plus and breaks completely at a lower pressure point.

The allegations have been made by a company that sells smartphone protection plans.

Samsung said that the results "may mislead consumers" and called on the firm to carry out a revised test.

But one expert said it highlighted the danger of mocking a competitor.

Last September, at a time when there were multiple reports that the new iPhone's aluminium shell left it prone to damage, Samsung posted a tweet stating that its own Edge phablet was "curved, not bent".

Samsung sent out this tweet last September

Then in February, at the S6 Edge's launch event, Samsung's mobile division marketing chief paused for applause and laughs when she boasted about the new handset's design in a presentation containing several comparisons to Apple's models.

"Not only does [the glass] look great but it's super tough - in fact, it's the toughest in the market," said Younghee Lee.

"Also the special metal that we use is 50% stronger than the metal in other high-end smartphones.

"My first language may not be engineering, but I do know that this [is] tough [and] will not bend."

Samsung is not the only company to have exploited criticism of Apple.

HTC andLG also posted tweets at the height of last year's controversy, with LG going so far as to mark one of its posts with the hashtag #bendgate.

Apple later said that damage to the iPhone 6 Plus would be "extremely rare" during normal use - a similar point now made by Samsung about the S6 Edge, which goes on sale in the US and UK on 10 April.

Samsung dedicated a section of its S6 Edge launch event to the durability of its phones

Stress tests

The current allegations are based on tests carried out by SquareTrade, which used machinery to simulate forces that it said might be experienced by a handset left in a back pocket as well as attempting to identify the force under which different models experienced "catastrophic failure".

It said that:

Both the S6 Edge and iPhone 6 Plus deformed when a force of 110lb (50kg) was applied. The screen on Samsung's phone cracked at this level, but the iPhone's did notHTC's latest phone - the One M9 - did not bend until 120lb, at which point it also broke and became unusableThe S6 Edge's breaking point was 149lb, at which stage it ceased to functionThe iPhone 6 Plus stopped working at a force of 179lb

An accompanying video suggested that S6 Edge owners were at risk of a "pocket full of glass" if they put their handsets under too much pressure.

The test found that the S6 Edge's screen cracked at the same point that the phone bent

In response, Samsung said it was confident that its phones would not bend"under daily usage".

"The normal force that [is] generated when a person presses the back pocket is approximately 66lbf (30kgf)," it added.

"Our internal test results indicate that the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge are not bendable even under 79lbf (32kgf), which is equivalent to putting pressure to snap a bundle of five pencils at once.

"Secondly, even though both front and back sides are exposed under the same level of pressure in normal circumstances, this test does not show the strength of the back side.

"Some smartphones have different [levels of] durability in each [of their] front and back sides respectively. SquareTrade has only tested the front side, which may mislead consumers about the entire durability of smartphones."

'Big lesson'

SquareTrade has issued a follow-up statement stating that it endeavoured to perform its tests "in an unbiased manner".

"We welcome Samsung's invitation to test its devices again with our Bendbot and release the results publicly," added spokeswoman Jessica Hoffman.

One independent expert agreed with Samsung that consumers should not be concerned about the durability of the S6 Edge, but added there was a lesson to be learned.

"This is only a story because it made fun of Apple when it launched the iPhone," said Francisco Jeronimo, research director at the consultancy IDC.

"You'd need to put a lot of pressure in a very specific way to break it.

"But it demonstrates that every vendor needs to be very careful when they compare their devices because it can backfire on them.

"I think that's the biggest lesson for Samsung: next time if it sees a competitor having a problem, it needs to be a lot more careful unless it is 100% sure it would not face the same criticism."

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Google Gmail hit by software glitch

The glitch hit people using Gmail and some of Google's apps

Gmail users around the world saw errors and safety warnings over the weekend after Google forgot to update a key part of the messaging software.

Google said a "majority" of users were affected by the short-term software problem.

While people could still access and use Gmail many people saw "unexpected behaviour" because of the problem.

Many reported the errors via Twitter seeking clarification from Google about what had gone wrong.

The error messages started appearing early on 4 April and hit people trying to send email messages from Gmail and some of the firm's messaging apps.

The problems arose because Google had neglected to renew a security certificate for Gmail and its app services. The certificate helps the software establish a secure connection to a destination, so messages can be sent with little fear they will be spied upon.

Google's own in-house security service, called Authority G2, administers the security certificates and other secure software systems for the search giant.

Information about the problem was posted to status pages Google maintains for its apps and email services.

In the status message, Google said the problem was "affecting a majority of users" who were seeing error messages. It added that the glitch could cause programs to act in "unexpected" ways.

The problem was resolved about two hours after it was first noticed.

The glitch comes soon after Google started refusing security certificates issued by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC). Google said a security lapse by the CNNIC meant the certificates could no longer be trusted. CNNIC called the decision "unacceptable and unintelligible".

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Google's mobile network could offer free international 'roaming'

Sundar Pichai, Google's senior vice president of products, announces Google's mobile network plans at Mobile World Congress in March. Stephen Shankland/CNET

Google reportedly is in talks with the operator of the UK's Three and several other mobile networks to let subscribers use its upcoming mobile phone service without charge while abroad.

Google hopes to offer customers free use of its upcoming network while outside the US, with none of the traditional "roaming" fees travelers pay, according to a report Saturday in the Telegraph. That option is the subject of negotiations between Google and Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, the UK newspaper said, citing unnamed industry sources.

Hutchison Whampoa would be a potentially powerful global partner to help Google cut roaming fees. It operates the UK's Three network and is trying toacquire the UK's O2 network from Telefonica. It also operates networks in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Ireland.

In March, Google announced plans to offer mobile phone network service in coming months through partnerships to use other operators' network infrastructure. Although Google's product chief Sundar Pichai said the service will be "smaller scale," it could shake up the market by resetting customer expectations for what a network should offer and how much it could cost.

Roaming fees are a painful part of mobile phone service for people who travel outside their home countries. They can be socked with steep fees for calls, text messages and Internet data transfer -- unless they choose to forgo mobile phone service while traveling.

Relief from roaming fees has become a selling point for carriers trying to challenge larger incumbents. For example,T-Mobile USA offers some free international roaming benefits and haslured customers away from the top US carriers, AT&T and Verizon.

And in France, Iliad Group's Free Mobile offers 35 days of text, data and calling per year in 15 other countries, mostly European countries but expanding overseas to Canada in March.

Hutchison Whampoa and Google didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

European Commission politicians have been trying to cut roaming fees within Europe as part of a move to a unified telecommunications market -- one in which phone service travels across European borders as easily as Europeans themselves. But carriers rely heavily on roaming fees generated through partnerships with other carriers. The European Commission had hoped to end roaming fees in December 2015, but member states instead agreed only topush for lower roaming fees until at least 2018 in negotiations with the European Parliament.

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Firefox 37 arrives with Opportunistic Encryption support

Mozilla has rolled out the latest Version 37 of its Firefox browser for Windows desktop, Mac, Linux and Android operating systems.

The new release also adds patches for 13 different security advisories along with some new security improvements as well as user-experience features.

The biggest security feature added to Firefox 37 among others is the "Opportunistic Encryption" (OE) for servers and websites that support " HTTP/2AltSvc."

Opportunistic Encryption (OE) allows Firefox browser to encrypt the traffic over plaintext HTTP connection without any need to authenticate it. This will help you to create, not complete, but some confidentiality from attackers to eavesdrop on your connection.

So Opportunistic encryption can be implemented with very minimal changes to an existing IPsec implementation.

The move by Mozilla is really a bonus for HTTP users with no encryption measure at all, but still it is not as good as authenticated encryption (HTTPS).

So, if you are running HTTPS, there is no need to switch to opportunistic encryption. Because unlike HTTPS, OE does not protect you against active "man-in-the-middle" (MITM) attacks. It only protects you against passive eavesdropping, which is a major benefit to most online users.

In a blog post published Friday, Mozilla developer Patrick McManus offered some technical details behind the reason to support HTTP 2 in Firefox.

McManus provides two easy steps to configure a server for OE:

Install a TLS based h2 or SPDY server on a separate port. 443 is an excellent choice. You can also use a self-signed certificate if you like because OE is not authenticated.Add a response header Alt-Svc: h2=":443" or spdy/3.1, if you are using SPDY enabled server like Nginx.

In addition to Opportunistic Encryption, Firefox Version 37 also introduces the Heartbeat user rating system, which will gather feedback from users of its browser. The response from its users will be of great help to Firefox developers to feed the needs of its users into future Firefox releases.

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Oh, no. Samsung's new phone bends just like an iPhone?

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.

The Galaxy S6 Edge allegedly cracks under pressure. SquareTrade/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

In the annals of great disasters, Bendgate has its place.

Surely you remember the iPhone 6 Plusbeing bent by the bare hairy hands of experts, and even by machines?

Surely you wept as you saw it disfigured like a night on the town after one too many banana daiquiris.

Naturally, competitors saw this and chuckled. Samsung even released a videothat allegedly proved its Galaxy Note 4was not for bending.

The same doesn't seem to be true with the Galaxy 6 Edge. The big brains at SquareTrade decided to put this lovely new phone to the test. What they discovered is that it became unlovely with exactly the sort of pressure that did in the iPhone 6 Plus.

The testing video shows that one leg of an offensive lineman -- I'm estimating it weighs 110 pounds -- not only bends the Edge, but also gets its glass to crack.

Moreover, the Edge broke apart at 149 pounds of pressure, whereas the iPhone 6 Plus survived until 179 pounds.

I imagine that one or two Apple fanpersons will be giggling to their Easter Bunnies at this news. They might even crow to their Edgier friends that their gadget cracks under pressure.

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