India to Intercept Blackberry Chat

Blackberry is ready to provide the Indian authorities with a way to intercept consumers’ messages sent and received on its platform. The news was revealed by the Times of India, which published part of a leaked government document. This would bring an end to a long-running dispute between the two sides. In 2010 the country had threatened to impose a ban on Blackberry devices, saying its secret services needed to be able to access suspects’ messages in order to prevent terrorist attacks. (BBC)





T-Mobile Lets Customers Upgrade Phones Twice a Year

T-Mobile is making a bid to become the wireless world’s “un-carrier,” rolling out a plan that will let users update their phones up to twice a year for a modest fee. That’s a sharp departure from the traditional model for wireless companies, which usually requires customers to complete a two-year contract before they can get a new smartphone at the discounted rate that makes them affordable. (CNN)





Microsoft Shakes Up Management Again

Microsoft has once again reorganized its management structure, marking yet another strategy shift for a company that has a very mixed track record in restructuring its business operations. The shakeup, which Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) announced Thursday, is intended to better align the company’s organizational structure with its new corporate strategy. CEO Steve Ballmer declared in October 2012 that Microsoft would transition to a “devices and services” company, focusing on making hardware, online services and apps that work together seamlessly across multiple screens and gadgets. (CNN)




Space Probe Sees Solar System’s Tail

Thanks to solar wind blowing out from the sun in all directions at a million miles per hour, material from comets gets whipped back into a formation that looks like a tail. Now, scientists know that our solar system has a tail of its own, with a surprising shape. NASA researchers working with data from the Interstellar Boundary Explorer announced Wednesday they have for the first time mapped the solar system’s tail, called the heliotail. Their study is published in the Astrophysical Journal. (CNN)





Solar Plane Lands in New York, Completing US Journey

An airplane entirely powered by the sun touched down in New York City late on Saturday, completing the final leg of an epic journey across the United States that began over two months ago.The Solar Impulse, its four propellers driven by energy collected from 12,000 solar cells in its wings to charge batteries for night use, landed at John F. Kennedy Airport at 11:09 p.m. EDT, organizers said. (Reuters)




Feds Asked to Avoid Def Con Hacker Meeting

Federal agents have been asked to stay away from one of the world’s biggest hacker gatherings. Revelations about the scale of US government spying meant emotions in the hacking world were “running high”, said organisers of the Def Con convention. As a result, federal agents should take a “timeout” from Def Con this year. The main Def Con event takes place in Las Vegas from 1 August and will see 15,000 hackers’ debate security topics and demonstrate their coding prowess. (BBC)