These words should send a chill down Google's spine

"We're going to take Android away from Google." Those eight words come from Kirt McMaster, CEO of Cyanogen, a company that is building a modified version of Android. He spoke with The Wall Street Journal last week.

That should send a chill down Google's spine.

Because Android is open source, companies can take the code and tweak Android to make it distinctly their own.

For instance, Google's partners such as Samsung and HTC are able to layer their own software over the plain version of Android to promote their own apps and services.

There are also a few "forked" versions of Android, i.e., a completely different mobile software that is based on Android but may not include Google's apps and services or the Google Play Store.

Amazon has its own forked version of Android that powers its Fire tablets and phone.

For the most part, these companies have done little to change Google's control over Android. But Cyanogen might be different. It now has $100 million in funding, with $70 million reportedly coming from Microsoft.

Cyanogen makes Android better: It is cleaner, the software updates more often, and Chinese companies have been using it more and more. If Cyanogen takes off, it would wrest away some control of Android.

Google has some clue about this. The company may be taking steps to prevent this by placing tighter restrictions on contracts with its partners, according to The Information's Amir Efrati. In September, he reported that Google's updated Android contracts mandate that partners place more of the company's apps on the home screens of their phones. As part of the new contracts, Google would also be stricter about the way its partners customize their phones to keep the experience consistent across most Android products.

Regardless of whether this is true, McMaster's comments show that at least one company is serious about cutting in on Google's 85% ownership of the smartphone market.

Samsung to remove extra apps from TouchWiz: Report

It looks like Samsung is in the process of slimming down its TouchWiz smartphone software and optimising it for its upcoming flagship smartphone, Galaxy S6.

Samsung is removing all add-on features that can be downloaded as apps and making the system software as light as possible according to a report by SamMobile.

While it's not clear what features and apps will be removed, it's possible that apps such as Story Album, S Translator, or S Voice assistant will be made optional downloads, as speculated by the website.

Samsung's TouchWiz software has received brickbats from users and reviewers alike for its bloatware and lag ridden user interface.

The removal of additional apps and optimization of the code are expected to make Samsung's upcoming phone faster by eliminating lag and stutter, and give users more storage space for their own content.

Earlier, a report by Business Korea had also suggested that Samsung was getting rid of unnecessary features and simplifying the UI of its system software, making it as fast and smooth as stock Android on Google's Nexus 6.

Apple makes $18 billion quarterly profit

Apple's quarterly profit rocketed to $18 billion-the highest ever recorded by a corporate - at the end of last year on booming sales of big-screen iPhone models, especially in China.

The California tech titan also announced on Wednesday that it had sold its one billionth device powered by its iOS mobile operating system, on a day of dizzying figures-even by Apple's high standards.

Apple's profit comes to around Rs 1,200 crore a day. Its quarterly revenues were $74.6 billion, roughly equivalent to Rs 4.5 lakh crore. At this pace, over a nine-month period, the revenues will more or less match what the Indian government hopes to collect as taxes in the full-year 2014-15 (Rs 13.6 lakh crore).

The sale of 74.5 million iP8hones beat the expectati8ons of most analysts.

Apple's revenues for this quarter are almost twice as large as India's defence budget for 2014-15 (Rs 2.3 lakh crore). Its quarterly profit is more than the amount that the GoI hopes to mop up as dividends and profits from the entire central public sector (Rs 90,229 crore). Apple Watch's wearable devices, unveiled last year to fanfare, are on track to begin shipping in April.

"We'd like to thank our customers for an incredible quarter which saw demand for Apple products soar to an all-time high," declared chief executive Tim Cook. "Demand for iPhone has been staggering, shattering our expectation." Blockbuster sales of the recently released iPhone 6, in particular, are signs of huge pent-up demand for larger-screen smartphones and likely to boost sales throughout this year, according to Forrester analyst Frank Gillett. "I would expect the surge in China and elsewhere to hold for quite a while before it settles down," Gillett said, adding, "People have been waiting for an iPhone with a bigger screen and smartphones are only increasing in importance in our lives."

The record quarterly profit was driven by the sale of 74.5 million iPhones, well ahead of most analysts' expectations. The staggering profit topped the $15.9 billion made by ExxonMobil in the second quarter of 2012, according to Standard and Poor's, to write Apple into the history books. As well as the larger screen iPhone 6 models, analysts credited a partnership with China Mobile as powering sales.

Sales of iPhones doubled in Greater China, its number two smartphone market, according to chief financial officer Luca Maestri. Cook described the fevered excitement around the debut of iPhone 6 models in China as "phenomenal". "We are a big believer in China," Cook said. "It is an incredible market. I think people there love Apple products."

But it was not just China: iPhone sales leapt 44% in the United States and doubled in Brazil.

Cyber warfare: India's real battle in virtual world

When two special task forces of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, comprising several hundred personnel, chased the elusive bandit Veerappan across Sathyamangalam forests for more than a decade, they had very little by way of sophisticated gadgets to guide them -perhaps just night vision goggles that were higher in scale than those used by any other force then in the country. The Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment was not so embedded as it is today. Choppers, instead of micro drones, were used to scour the deep jungles, but the loud noise of the whirring blades gave the game away. It took decades for police of two states and the task forces to finally hunt down Veerappan in October 2004.

"Technology is advancing by leaps and bounds every few years. Today, terrorist groups are carrying out online indoctrination without the identity of the main person behind it being revealed," said K Vijay Kumar, senior security adviser in the ministry of home affairs, who led the Veerappan operation.

"Micro drones would have helped us gain more access to Veerappan's dens and nab him more quickly. The concept of terrorist attacks has taken a new meaning today and it is a constant race between governments and terror groups to keep ahead in cyber space," said Vijay Kumar.

Amidst a surge in cyber terrorism and use of technology in attacks, India is under pressure to counter transnational and domestic terrorist groups by investing more in key institutions and manpower to monitor cyberspace.

Google halts sales, but Glass isn’t dead

Google has appeared to admit that it hasn't quite cracked Glass, as the tech giant announced that it would halt sales of its high-tech specs. The company said it remained committed to launching a consumer version of its smart eyewear, Google Glass, but would stop making the headset in its current form.

The Glass Explorer programme was launched in the US in 2013 and the UK last year, and was expected to be followed by a mass market rollout. Now, Google will stop taking orders for headsets from January 19.

Originally touted as the first major wearable tech item, Glass was reportedly the brainchild of Google co-founder Sergey Brin. The device promised to deliver multiple, revolutionary hands-free applications. Yet modest sales were compounded by concerns over privacy. Google said it would still offer support to companies that already use Glass. The announcement comes days after Tesco became the first major UK retailer to launch a Glass app, Tesco Grocery, which lets shoppers browse supermarket shelves and make purchases hands-free. Last year, Reuters surveyed 16 Glass app developers, nine of whom admitted they had stopped work on their apps, due to the device's technical limitations or lack of popularity.

Speaking to an audience in Bogota, Colombia this week, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg appeared to suggest another reason for Glass's failure to take hold in the public imagination: the device just looks "weird".

Apple, Google, other tech firms to pay $415 million in wage case

Apple, Google and two other Silicon Valley companies have agreed to pay $415 million in a second attempt to resolve a class-action lawsuit alleging they formed an illegal cartel to prevent their workers from leaving for better-paying jobs.

The settlement filed Thursday in a San Jose, California, federal court revises a $324.5 million agreement that US district Lucy Koh rejected as inadequate five months ago. Koh indicated that she believed the more than 60,000 workers represented in the case should be paid at least $380 million, including attorney fees.

If Koh approves the latest settlement, it would avoid a potentially embarrassing trial over claims that Apple Inc., Google Inc., Intel Corp. and Adobe Systems Inc. secretly agreed not to recruit each other's employees from 2005 to 2009.

Facebook testing workplace version of social network

Facebook said on Wednesday it is testing a version of its leading social network tailored for getting jobs done in workplaces instead of tuning into the lives of friends. 

"Facebook at Work" smartphone applications appear in Apple's online app store and the Google Play shop for Android-powered mobile devices, but can only be accessed by a few companies collaborating with the social network. 

The pilot program is intended to gain feedback to refine the offering, according to Facebook spokeswoman Elisabeth Diana. 

"We have internally used Facebook at Work for many years now, it works pretty effectively and efficiently for collaboration," Diana told AFP. 

"We think we can bring this insight to other companies." Facebook at Work has news feeds, chats, groups and other features that can be found on the widely-used social network, but sharing can only be done with people inside a particular company. 

Page backgrounds are a different color from the well-known Facebook blue, ostensibly so bosses will know at a glance when social networking is work-oriented. 

The customized work social networks are hosted on Facebook servers in the Internet cloud, but each respective firm controls any data shared by its employees. 

Diana would not disclose what companies are involved in the pilot program, but did say some had offices in various countries. 

California-based Facebook did not discuss how it will make money from workplace versions of the social network, but it could follow an established model of charging subscriptions to it as a cloud-based service.