Apple slammed over location tracking

Privacy watchdogs are demanding answers from Apple about why iPhones and iPads are secretly collecting location data on users - records that cellular service providers routinely keep but require a court order to disgorge, according to AP.

It's unclear if other smartphones and tablet computers are logging such information on their users.

The worry prompted by a report from researchers Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden raises questions about how much privacy users implicitly surrender by carrying around a smartphone and the responsibility of the smartphone makers to protect sensitive data that flows through their devices.

Sony has confirmed a hacking attack was to blame for its PlayStation Network (PSN) being taken offline, reports BBC News.

The company said it had taken the PSN down voluntarily while it investigated an "external intrusion".

The system is still unavailable five days after the hack was discovered. Users trying to connect have been met with error messages stating the network is "undergoing maintenance" or is "suspended".

Computer scientists have developed software that hides sensitive data on hard drive, without the use of encryption, by controlling the precise disk locations containing the file's data fragments, says The Register.

The application, which the academic researchers said they would release as open source software, makes use of steganography, or the ancient art of hiding secret information in plain sight.

The technique has long been employed to keep sensitive data out of the hands of adversaries. The use of encryption, by contrast, is easy to detect, tipping off adversaries that a hard drive or other piece of media contains information considered secret.

Former president and chairman of Sony, Norio Ohga, who was credited with developing the compact disc, has died aged 81, reports BBC News.

Sony's chairman, Sir Howard Stringer, said his predecessor's foresight and vision had transformed the company into a global entertainment leader.

Ohga was still a senior adviser to the company at the time of his death.