Bitcoin banned from Chinese banks amid fears of laundering

Chinese regulators have banned financial institutions from using Bitcoin, warning that the virtual currency could be used for illegal activities and speculation. China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, announced the decision in a statement released Thursday, though it stopped short of banning Bitcoin altogether. Individuals are still free to use the digital currency in China, albeit at their own risk. Bitcoin prices fell in response to today's announcement, dropping to as low as $970.62 on Thursday after trading at over $1,100 prior to the central bank's decision. Bitcoin has seen its popularity soar in China, with its value recently surpassing $1,000 on BitStamp, an online exchange. Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that BTC China, the country's largest Bitcoin exchange, has been in low-level discussions with Chinese regulators about officially recognizing the currency and allowing it to be used for purchasing goods and services. In a November 29th interview, BTC China CEO Bobby Lee told Bloomberg that in China, Bitcoin is "not on the black list and it's not on the white list. It's in the gray area." Speaking to Bloomberg ahead of today's announcement, Lee said recognizing and regulating the currency would help ensure that it's used for goods and services, rather than currency speculation. Regulators are wary of laundering and speculation China has long implemented tight currency controls, so it's not surprising that regulators would be wary of Bitcoin, which has yet to be regulated in any country. In its statement, the central bank said it would closely monitor the risks that Bitcoin poses, adding that it would take measures to prevent the currency from being laundered for illicit activities. "As Bitcoin transactions can be done anonymously and are not restricted by location, it's difficult to monitor capital flows and it therefore facilitates money laundering and financing for terrorist activities," the People's Bank of China said. "There have been criminal activities using Bitcoins, such as trading of drugs and guns," the bank added. "Relevant cases are under investigation."

Google Glass owners can swap to an updated version for free

Google is inviting existing Glass owners to swap their existing head-mounted display for a free updated version. While the new version of Google Glass looks identical, Google says it has made it “a bit faster and more durable.” Importantly, it’s also compatible with upcoming prescription frames for the device, and is designed for new accessories including the new shades and a mono earbud that’s included with the updated version. The wearable device isn’t expected to launch for consumers until early next year, but developers who joined the Explorer program have been invited to switch to the latest Google Glass version. Google unveiled the new version of Glass on October 28th, and Explorers who purchased a unit prior to that are eligible for the free swap. Existing Google Glass owners have to register and swap their units by February 5th, 2014, and the one-time swap also allow owners to switch colors. Google Glass owners aren’t being forced to swap, but a free update is certainly worthwhile as the updated versions come with a new one-year warranty. As for the old units, Google says it will ensure “your old Glass is duly honored when you send it back.”

Bluetooth advances herald sleeker wearables that charge wirelessly

Imagine a Pebble without the need for a proprietary charging connector. Or how about a Galaxy Gear that doesn't lose connection to your phone every time you walk away for a quick errand? Both are evolutionary steps on the way to a truly desirable smartwatch and this week sees a pair of new announcements that will bring them closer to reality. First up is the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, which is announcing version 4.1 of its wireless communication standard. With 4.1, Bluetooth devices will be able to "remember" a lost connection for longer, allowing them to automatically re-establish a connection when they're within range of one another. There's also the addition of bulk data transfers, which will come in especially handy when collecting information away from your main device — such as on a run — allowing you to dump it all off at once at the end. The future's bright, the future's Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.1 devices will be able to act as both a peripheral and a hub, with the cited example being a smartwatch gathering information from Bluetooth Smart sensors during exercise, performing the hub role, and then passing it on to a smartphone in its capacity as a peripheral. There's also improvement to the way Bluetooth and LTE radios coexist on the same device, with interference between the two being minimized. The best news about Bluetooth 4.1 is that it's an update that can be rolled out over the air to existing Bluetooth chips, meaning you won't require a brand new device to get the benefit. Broadcom adds to the intriguing new possibilities for wearables with its newly introduced BCM20736 system-on-chip. It's a single slice of silicon that combines Bluetooth, an ARM processor, and wireless charging into one efficient whole. Its advantages are greater efficiency in terms of both power and space, plus one less excuse for smartwatch makers not offering wireless charging on their next device.

Reuters' best of 2013 shows photojournalism at its most powerful

Photography can be the difference between an average story and a great story. Reuters has put together a compilation of its best photos of the year, comprising of 93 stories from around the world. The collection covers a huge range of subjects, from extreme poverty, disasters, and death, to more lighthearted moments like Saudis performing two-wheel stunts in Toyota pickups. Each photo is accompanied by a caption from the photographer, explaining how and why they got the all-important shot, and the result is a fascinating collection of stories that both summarize the year and show the importance of photojournalism.

Apple signs iPhone deal with China Mobile, the world's largest carrier: WSJ

After years of rumors, Apple may have finally signed a deal with China Mobile that will see the iPhone sold on the world's largest carrier. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news, saying that the phones should be available later this month; this could be timed around a December 18th event where China Mobile will announce a brand for its new 4G service. The deal would give Apple potential access to over 700 million customers in the second-largest economy in the world. China Mobile has been seen as an important target for Apple for years. Its chairman at the time, Wang Jianzhou, claimed that the iPhone would come to the carrier over two years ago; speculation mounted further when Apple's new iPhone 5S and 5C shipped with support for China Mobile's unusual TD-LTE network and gained Chinese regulatory approval. The iPhone is already available on China Mobile's smaller competitors, China Telecom and China Unicom. The deal echoes the situation in Japan earlier this year, where leading carrier NTT Docomo finally started selling the iPhone after losing subscribers to smaller rivals SoftBank and KDDI. Apple now appears to have secured wide availability for two of the most important markets in Asia.

Obama says he can't have an iPhone

Barack Obama was a BlackBerry addict even before he became President of the United States, but these days he may not have a choice. "I'm not allowed for security reasons to have an iPhone," he quipped today, in a speech promoting Obamacare to a youth audience attending a summit at The White House. Obama's BlackBerry is "no fun" The restriction is not much of a surprise, considering how stringent the President's security requirements are. Originally, Obama wouldn't even have had a BlackBerry if the NSA had its way in 2009. It was only after he declared that the government would have to "pry it out of my hands" that he was able to obtain a version of the communicator with beefed-up security -- albeit one that could only communicate with a grand total of ten individuals. "It's no fun," he told ABC's The View three years ago. But while you could possibly take Obama's comment as the latest admission that the government needs to better understand consumer technology — else risk another failure like HealthCare.gov — that wasn't the President's point at all. He was merely humbly admitting that he wasn't quite as tech-savvy as his youthful audience and doesn't know how much their smartphones cost on a monthly basis.

"Now my suspicion is that for a lot of you, between your cable bill and your phone bill, you're spending more than $100 a month," Obama continued. "The idea that you wouldn't want to make sure you've got the health security and financial security that comes with health insurance for less than that price, you guys are smarter than that. Most young people are as well." It's not the first time the iPhone has popped up in Obama's recent rhetoric. In October, he argued that Obamacare itself shouldn't be judged harshly for initial glitches, comparing it to the way Apple fixes bugs in iOS. "I don't remember anybody suggesting Apple should stop selling iPhones or iPads or threatening to shut down the company if they didn't [fix a glitch]. That's not how we do things in America."

Mexican cobalt-60 thieves will soon die of radiation exposure, say officials

The radioactive material hijacked in a Mexico truck heist has been recovered and, although the two gunmen remain on the run, officials believe they won't have long to live. The abandoned cobalt-60 was found removed from its casing about 25 miles from where it was stolen, according to The Washington Post, meaning that the men responsible will likely have been exposed to a material described by the International Atomic Energy Agency as "extremely dangerous." "They will, without a doubt, die." "The people who handled it will have severe problems with radiation," says Mardonio Jimenez of Mexico’s nuclear safety commission. "They will, without a doubt, die." The discovery of the truck and cobalt-60 brings to an end a two-day hunt across six Mexican states, with authorities worried that the thieves might have been looking to create a dirty bomb. But it's now thought that the two men didn't know what was inside the truck, which was en route to a local storage facility, and only unsealed the material out of curiosity. "I believe, definitely, that the thieves did not know what they had," says Jimenez. "They were interested in the crane, in the vehicle.”