Google has received some good news from China for a change, after the country finally gave the nod to the search giant's US$12.5 billion deal to swallow up Motorola Mobility. One condition of the deal is that Android must stay free and open for the next five years, but would that stop Google from allowing Motorola to build the next Nexus device? I'm not so sure.

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China approves Google's Motorola acquisition

Yahoo has agreed to allow Alibaba to buy back 20 per cent of its shares for approximately US$7.1 billion. In a statement released today (PDF) , Yahoo stated that both companies have embarked on a "staged and comprehensive value-realisation plan" for Yahoo's stake in Alibaba, marking the winding down of a seven-year partnership. The first step in this plan would be completing the 20 per cent sale for US$6.3 billion in cash, and up to US$800 million in newly issued Alibaba preferred stock

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Yahoo selling part of Alibaba for US$7.1bn

Two mobile phones, developed by Chinese telecommunications device manufacturer ZTE, have been found to carry a hidden backdoor, which can be used to instantly gain root access with a password, that has been hard-coded into the software. Android devices typically ship with the user unable to run commands as the "root user", in order to protect customers from any inadvertent damage they could cause, and to reduce the chance of rogue applications taking complete control of the device. However, following an anonymous post to Pastebin, security researchers have found that ZTE has installed an application on the Score M and the Skate mobile phones, which make rooting these phones simple

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Backdoor found in ZTE Android phones

New research suggests that taking a five-day break from email, while on the job, results in less stress and greater focus. Workers cut off from office email for five days exhibited more natural, variable heart rates, and toggled between screens less frequently than those with email access, according to new research out of the University of California, Irvine, and the US Army's Natick Soldier Systems Center in Massachusetts. Entitled "A pace not dictated by electrons", the study of 13 civilian employees at the army centre is, undoubtedly, small and the results, presented this week at a meeting of the Association for Computing Machinery in Austin, Texas, are only preliminary

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An email vacation may be good for your health

Victoria Police has revealed that it's investigating the use of unmanned, camera-carrying drones for law-enforcement operations, but some civil libertarians are concerned. Personally, I'd rather a police drone zipping after me than getting tasered in the chest .

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Vic Police considers drone use

VMware has confirmed that source code for one of its products has been exposed online. (Spying through the keyhole image by Larsjuh , CC BY 2.0 ) The company said that it became aware of the code on 23 April, and has confirmed that it is from its VMware ESX product , which is used by enterprises to run virtualised environments. VMware Security Response Center director Iain Mulholland said that the code itself dates back to 2003 and 2004, and its exposure may not necessarily mean increased risks for customers.

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VMware source code stolen

You have a log-in for Facebook, for online banking, for Twitter, for Gmail and still more for every service, website or app you use. If you're vigilant, you'll have a strong, separate password for each one, but if you're like most people, then you'll have the same one for almost everything, or make simple alterations for each site that are easy to guess

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Creating a key for every door

Former foreign affairs minister and Huawei non-executive director Alexander Downer has warned the government not to turn its back on China and its technology companies, stating that China is keeping telecoms technology prices lower. Alexander Downer (Alexander Downer image by Richter Frank-Jurgen , CC BY-SA 2.0 ) Last month, it was revealed that the government had banned Huawei from winning tenders for the National Broadband Network (NBN) on the advice of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). It has been speculated that the ban was associated with the fact that Huawei's president Ren Zhengfei is a retired major of the Chinese People's Liberation Army

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China lowers AU telecoms prices: Downer

Facebook paid how much for Instagram? Why did Sydney Uni freeze its prepaid cards

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One billion Zuckerbucks

A recent US report on trade barriers has revealed a hissy fit by US companies about the Australian government's caution on cloud. The report (PDF) , released last month by the Office of the United States Trade Representative, says that US companies have voiced concerns that various Australian government departments are "sending negative messages about cloud computing services to potential Australian customers in both the public and private sectors, implying that hosting data overseas, including in the United States, by definition entails greater risk and unduly exposes consumers to their data being scrutinised by foreign governments".

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US cloud firms should get off the soap box