Europe receives complaint about Google's Android

European antitrust regulators have received a formal complaint about Google's Android operating system for mobile devices, even as they move to the final stages of their inquiry into the company's search practices.

The complaint was filed by Fairsearch Europe, a group of Google's competitors, including the mobile phone maker Nokia and the software titan Microsoft, and by other companies, like Oracle. It accuses Google of using the Android software "as a deceptive way to build advantages for key Google apps in 70 percent of the smartphones shipped today," said Thomas Vinje, the lead lawyer for Fairsearch Europe, referring to Android's share of the smartphone market.

For example, phone makers that agree to use Android and that also want Google applications like YouTube face contractual requirements to place those applications and other Google-branded applications in prominent positions on the mobile device's desktop, Vinje said.

In an interview Monday, the European Union's antitrust chief, Joaquin Almunia, declined to comment on the new complaint but said officials had been examining the Android operating system independently of the two-year inquiry into whether Google had abused its dominance of Internet search.

When a formal complaint like this is made, the commission must at some point decide whether to take up the case or drop it.

Almunia also said that he was receiving proposals this week from Google to clear up concerns about its search practices, and that he hoped they would make it easier for Internet users to identify when Google was promoting its own services rather than those of competitors who might offer better results.

"This is a new step in the investigation," he said.

A Google spokesman, Al Verney, would not specifically discuss either the new complaint or the comments by Almunia about the search case, saying only that the company continued "to work cooperatively" with the commission.

The European Commission opened its antitrust inquiry into Google's search practices in November 2010. The investigation has since focused on whether Google might have unfairly taken advantage of its market dominance by giving preference to links to its own services, like Google Maps, when answering queries; whether Google disadvantaged competitors by including material in search results that came from other websites; and whether Google conducts its advertising business in accord with European antitrust law.

Last May the commission suggested that Google propose changes in how search results are presented as a way to settle the case. Since then, regulators and Google have been negotiating over those changes and other terms.

In Monday's interview, Almunia said Google needed to offer the commission a solution where choices between Google-branded search results and those of its competitors were clearly visible within the search engine both on desktop computers and on mobile devices.

"I don't know if you should call it labeling, or whatever, but they need to distinguish," Almunia said.

"In some cases this can be achieved through the information you will receive through the natural search results," he said. "In other cases, maybe we will ask Google to signal what are the relevant options, alternative options, in the way they present the results."

The choice "should be a real one," he said.

Almunia said regulators were not requiring Google to make changes to its algorithm, the secret formula that the company uses to determine the best responses to search queries.

In terms of the way Google uses and displays snippets of information from other websites in its search results, he said he expected Google to accept that other companies can choose "to allow or not to allow Google to use the content, but this decision cannot have as a consequence the punishment of those who will not allow the use of the content in terms of search results."

Websites and some publications have complained in recent years of virtually disappearing from Google's search engine if they posed a competitive threat or did not comply with Google's terms.

Almunia said he would test any changes that Google proposes to make by sending questionnaires to competitors, including to the complainants, and to other companies.

Almunia said in Europe, where Google is especially strong, with more than 90 percent of the search market, compared with about 70 percent in the United States, it is particularly difficult for search engines to establish themselves if they focus on narrow but deep services like online shopping, travel or mapping.

But Almunia also said his approach in the case was not aimed at "protecting competitors," as critics of European regulation have long complained.

Almunia said that he had concerns that Google had abused its dominance to promote its own products but that he would not need to "find a final answer to this question" if Google reached a settlement. "We are concerned by the possibility of an abuse," he said.

"What is clear in our view is the market dominance of Google," Almunia said. "This is obvious."

He also noted that "it would not be surprising" if Google faced formal charges in a case concerning Motorola Mobility, a mobile phone maker owned by Google. That case follows complaints by Microsoft and Apple that they were victims of unfair licensing conditions and abusive litigation by Motorola Mobility.

The commission has taken a tougher line with Google than has the Federal Trade Commission on the issue of how Google runs its search rankings. The FTC decided in January that Google had not broken antitrust laws after a 19-month inquiry into how the company operated its search engine.

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HTC Profit Slumps on Product Delay

TAIPEI—HTC Corp.'s 2498.TW +1.45% first-quarter net profit slumped 98% from a year earlier after sales suffered from the delayed launch of the company's new flagship smartphone.

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The Taiwanese manufacturer has been struggling against the dominance of Samsung Electronics Co.005930.SE +0.53% and Apple Inc.AAPL +0.71% in the smartphone market, as well as the emergence of Chinese low-end market rivals. In 2010, HTC was the largest vendor in the U.S. of devices running Google Inc.'sGOOG -1.05% Android operating system.

HTC's net profit fell to 85 million New Taiwan dollars (US$2.8 million) for the three months ended March 31 from NT$4.47 billion a year earlier. The most recent result is HTC's lowest quarterly net profit since the company started selling products under its own brand in 2006.

Revenue fell 37% to NT$42.8 billion from NT$67.79 billion, coming in below the company's February guidance of between NT$50 billion and NT$60 billion.

HTC's global smartphone market share fell to 4.6% in 2012 from 8.8% in 2011, according to market-research firm IDC.

The company planned to introduce the new HTC One smartphone at the beginning of March, but a shortage of camera components delayed its initial release to the end of March and its U.S. release to April 19.

"HTC's whole schedule was thrown into disarray because of the HTC One, which meant it didn't have the revenue coming in but still had a lot of fixed costs," Mr. Lu said. "There will be some improvement this quarter in terms of the bottom line, but they still face a lot of competition."Profit is likely to recover in the second quarter as HTC One sales increase, said Daiwa Securities analyst Birdy Lu. The company has been touting the camera's performance in low light, and plans to more than double advertising spending under a new marketing chief.

HTC last week announced a collaboration with Facebook Inc. FB -1.98% on the HTC First smartphone, which places the social-networking company's content front and center on the device.

The Facebook software, called "Home," which will also be rolled out to other handset partners, fills up the screen with images from Facebook updates as soon as the smartphone is turned on and includes easy shortcuts for interacting with the user's friends.

HTC Chief Marketing Officer Benjamin Ho said the Facebook partnership is part of the company's efforts to attract more consumers, and the Facebook software will be rolled out to other HTC models in the future.

"There is value for HTC in getting its phones in as many consumer hands as possible," he said in an email. "In addition to our own highly anticipated devices, like the new HTC One, this is a way to do that."

However, analysts say the phone running Facebook Home will be more of a symbolic product than a sales driver, and that the company's turnaround will depend largely on the sales performance of the HTC One.

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Google Fiber coming to Austin? City government & Google holding a meeting next week to announce… something

Google and the City of Austin just sent out a slew of invitations to an event next week, but declined to provide details on what will be announced.

While city officials are staying quiet, multiple sources tell VentureBeat that the announcement could involve expanding Google’s gigabit broadband Internet service Google Fiber to Austin. Alternately, the city could announce plans for a new Austin-based Google campus, or even some partnership to involve the city with a new Google service. Obviously, we don’t know what the announcement will entail, but its safe to say that it’ll be of interest to a broad section of the local community.

Here’s the invitation itself:

On Tuesday, April 9, at 11 a.m., the City of Austin and Google will make a very important announcement that will have a positive impact on Austinites and the future of the city. We anticipate more than 100 community leaders and elected officials to be in attendance to celebrate this announcement. The event invitation is attached for your convenience. Although we cannot share the details of the announcement with you in advance, we know readers will want to learn more, so we encourage you to join us on Tuesday.

Google Fiber offers download and upload speeds that are 100 times faster than the average consumer broadband Internet connection, and at a much cheaper price. The service launched in the Kansas City area back in July, which instantly prompted competing services from Time Warner Cable to boost their own offerings. Currently, Kansas City is the only Google Fiber location, but Google chairman Eric Schmidt has previously stated that this is not a side project for the company — implying that Google Fiber could launch elsewhere in the future.

The presence of Google Fiber within Kansas City has sparked an increase in new tech startups to the area, as VentureBeat’s Sean Ludwig previously pointed out. Austin already has a robust startup culture and is home to several large tech company campuses, including Dell, National Instruments, Intel, Apple (call center), Samsung, and others. That said, Austin is very much a tech-focused city, so the availability of Google Fiber would only add to that.

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NASA mulls asteroid capture mission, eventual manned visits

NASA is working on plans to robotically capture and tow a small asteroid back to Earth's vicinity by the end of the decade, setting the stage for manned visits to learn more about the threat asteroids pose, the resources they represent and to help perfect the technology needed for eventual flights to Mars.

"This is part of what will be a much broader program," Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fl, said in a statement late Friday. "The plan combines the science of mining an asteroid, along with developing ways to deflect one, along with providing a place to develop ways we can go to Mars."

According to a mission overview obtained by CBS News, the rationale for the proposed asteroid retrieval project is based on NASA's long-range goals of advancing technology development; providing opportunities for international cooperation; developing new industrial capabilities; and helping scientists better understand how to protect Earth if a large asteroid is ever found on a collision course.

The program also would help NASA develop the navigation, rendezvous and deep space operations experience needed for eventual manned flights to the red planet.

"I hope it goes forward," said Rusty Schweickart, a former Apollo astronaut who helped found the B612 Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to building and launching a privately funded space telescope to search for threatening asteroids.

"Asteroids are a very, very interesting area," he told CBS News in a telephone interview. "They're a hell of a resource, and I think the potential for long-term resource development for use in space is going to be a very big thing. And this is sort of step one. It's a baby step in a way, but it should be very interesting."

As for the threat asteroids pose to Earth, Schweickart said "I don't want people to spend their nights worrying about getting hit by asteroids. But I do want them to encourage their political leaders to invest in the insurance, which will allow us to prevent it from happening."

Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine first reported the proposed asteroid retrieval mission, saying NASA's fiscal 2014 budget request would include $100 million to get the project underway.

"Suggested last year by the Keck Institute for Space Studies at the California Institute of Technology, the idea has attracted favor at NASA and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy," Aviation Week reported. "President Obama's goal of sending astronauts to a near-Earth asteroid by 2025 can't be done with foreseeable civil-space spending, the thinking goes.

"But by moving an asteroid to cislunar space -- a high lunar orbit or the second Earth-Moon Lagrangian Point (EML2), above the Moon's far side -- it is conceivable that technically the deadline could be met."

Louis Friedman, former director of the Planetary Society and a co-author of the original Keck study, said the proposed mission "is quite an exciting idea" that supports President Obama's 2010 call for sending astronauts to an asteroid.

"It turns out, a first mission to an asteroid is still a big step, too big a step, because you'd need a much larger launch vehicle than we're building, you'd need a crew support system that could last for at least nine months in space because of the round-trip time," Friedman said in a telephone interview. "If we have to wait for that, it would be a couple of decades.

"But the nice idea here is we can robotically move the asteroid closer to Earth and do the mission as soon as ... the 2020s, the goal is 2025. By moving the asteroid here, we have a much safer, earlier first step for humans going beyond the moon."

The mission has "both technical advantages and scientific advantages because we're actually exploring an object instead of going to empty space," he said. "It also has an excitement about it because we get the robotic mission, which is a very interesting idea, moving an asteroid close to Earth ... and then sending astronauts up to visit it."

The Keck study estimated a cost of about $2.65 billion to capture and return a carbonaceous asteroid roughly 20 feet across. NASA officials had no official comment Friday and the mission outline obtained by CBS News did not include cost estimates.

But the proposed NASA project closely follows the Keck scenario. The outline indicates a three-pronged approach, starting with enhanced efforts to identify suitable targets. The idea is to find a number of near-Earth asteroids roughly 20 to 30 feet in diameter in favorable orbits that would permit capture and transport to Earth's vicinity.

"The only real question when you come right down to it is the size, because obviously as you get smaller and smaller and smaller, it becomes more and more feasible to do it," Schweickart said. "As you get smaller, the biggest problem you have is knowing where the heck to find one. We don't have a lot of seven-meter objects in our database."

But multiple candidates are needed "because any kind of a schedule slip and that asteroid that you were going to go to may not be back for 15 or 20 years," Schweickart said. "So you need to have a whole set of these things."

Along with improving asteroid detection, NASA hopes to start work on developing a robotic spacecraft based on a 30-kilowatt to 50-kilowatt solar-electric propulsion system that could rendezvous with the asteroid, capture it in a bowl-like receptacle and maneuver it back to Earth's vicinity.

A "notional" timeline in the mission overview shows a test flight in the 2017 timeframe followed by a rendezvous and capture mission in 2019. The asteroid then would be hauled back to cislunar space by around 2021.

Asteroids roughly the size of the desired candidate hit Earth's atmosphere on a regular basis and typically break up harmlessly in the atmosphere. For comparison, the meteor that exploded over Russia in February -- the largest known body to strike the Earth in a century -- was roughly 50 feet across.

In any case, the proposed mission outline indicated any effort to move even a small asteroid back to Earth's vicinity would be built around a fail-safe trajectory that would result in a lunar impact, at worse, if anything went wrong.

The third element of the proposed program would utilize NASA's Orion crew capsule and a new heavy-lift booster to ferry astronauts to the asteroid for an up-close examination and sample return.

Two NASA teams currently are studying the proposed mission. One is focusing on identifying suitable asteroids and developing the unmanned systems needed to capture and return a candidate to Earth's vicinity. The other is studying manned rendezvous and sample-return scenarios.

"There is much forward work to do to better characterize the cost, schedule and mission requirements, and focus an observation campaign to find candidate asteroids," according to the mission outline. "The study work will be done in FY 2013. Many key out-year elements are already in the budget."

Friedman said the proposed mission would be reminiscent of the Apollo moon program, "of having humans go to a celestial object and make measurements that are of interest to various scientific communities."

In the wake of the Russian meteor and a larger asteroid that passed close to Earth the same day, Friedman joked, "if you're not interested in asteroids, what are you interested in?"

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Google Puts Android and Chrome Under One Boss

Google announced on Wednesday a change in its executive ranks that could have broad implications for the mobile business.

Andy Rubin, who had been senior vice president in charge of Android, Google’s mobile operating system, has been replaced by Sundar Pichai. Mr. Pichai is the senior vice president of Chrome, and will now oversee Android as well.

Google has been in a confusing position because it has two unrelated operating systems: Chrome and Android.

At first, Google said they were separate: Chrome was for computers and the Web, and Android was for touch-screen mobile devices and apps.

But the lines among devices have blurred. Now, some computers (like the Chromebook Pixel that Google introduced last month) have touch screens, and people use mobile devices the way they used to use computers.

The personnel change is a sign that Google now sees the need to somehow coordinate or merge the two operating systems.

Though Android has been wildly successful, with 750 million devices activated worldwide, computers running Chrome’s operating system have not.

At a press event to introduce the new Chromebook, Mr. Pichai drew less of a distinction between the two operating systems than Google executives had in the past.

“So far, we have been in a world which has been pretty straightforward: Android phones and tablets and Chrome laptops,” Mr. Pichai said. “But lines do blur.”

“The way we think about it internally,” he said, “is as a user, you sign in to both these devices, you use search, Maps, Gmail” and other Google products. “All your Google services work seamlessly across devices.”

The company did not provide any details about how Chrome or Android might change under the new leadership.

“Today we’re living in a new computing environment,” Larry Page, Google’s chief executive, wrote in a company blog post announcing the change. “People are really excited about technology and spending a lot of money on devices.”

Mr. Pichai has had a fast rise at Google and has experience developing hardware, a new area of focus for the company. In addition to Chrome and Android, he also oversees Google Apps, like Gmail and Drive, for consumers and businesses.

Mr. Rubin is a big name in the mobile world. He is a co-founder of Android, which Google bought in 2005 and turned into Apple’s biggest mobile competitor and the most-used mobile operating system.

Google did not say why Mr. Rubin was replaced. Despite Android’s success, it is at a crossroads as device-making partners like Samsung and Amazon increasingly become competitors.

Mr. Page praised Mr. Rubin and said he would stay at the company in a new position, though he did not say what it would be. But there were hints that Mr. Rubin could join Google X, the company’s lab for creating new technologies like driverless cars, Google glasses and other wearable technologies. The glasses run Android.

Mr. Page wrote, “Andy, more moonshots please!” Google refers to Google X as a lab for “moonshots,” or world-changing ideas.

Motorola, the Android cellphone maker that Google spent $12.5 billion to buy, could also benefit from Mr. Rubin’s perspective as it tries to make phones that compete with those from Apple and Samsung. While Mr. Rubin was overseeing Android, Google tried to keep a strict wall between the two companies to appease Motorola’s competitors.

In a letter to Android developers on Wednesday, Mr. Rubin praised the Android team and wrote, “Today, the success of Android combined with the strength of our management team, gives me the confidence to step away from Android and hand over the reins.”

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Verizon Said To Be Getting A Flagship Nokia Windows Phone (Codenamed “Laser”) Of Its Own

Don’t get me wrong, HTC’s Windows Phone 8X is great and all, but the rest of Verizon Wireless’ Windows Phone lineup (think the Nokia Lumia 822 and Samsung’s ATIV Odyssey) is a bit lacking in the oomph department.

If a new report from The Verge’s Tom Warren holds true though, that may not be the case for too much longer. According to sources within Verizon, the carrier is gearing up to release a flagship Nokia Windows Phone with a spec sheet similar to the Lumia 920.

There’s precious little other information about this device aside from the fact that it’s apparently codenamed “Laser,” and that Verizon reportedly plans to throw its considerable weight behind the device (unlike the case with the ATIV Odyssey, the poor thing). What exactly that means for Verizon is still unclear, but I can hazard a guess or two.

I chatted with a high-level Nokia representative at Microsoft’s San Francisco Windows Phone 8 event who told me that strong retail partnerships with the country’s carriers was a priority for the Finnish company. That said, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Verizon retail workers getting some extended hands-on time with a forthcoming Windows Phone; after all, an informed retail sales force is key to Nokia moving units to those who don’t spend their days feverishly scouring tech blogs. AT&T also spends a considerable chunk of change on advertising the Lumia 900 when that was the hot new Windows Phone, and Verizon may well be doing the same (the fact that Microsoft is said to be chipping in some funds for advertising certainly doesn’t hurt).

Oh, and just in case you were hoping against hope that the Laser name actually sticks, you can probably stop now. The moniker was used for a Pantech dumbphone not too long ago, which means the chances of strolling into your local Verizon store and picking up a hot new Laser are pretty slim.

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Kim Dotcom starts new file-sharing site

Megaupload boss Kim Dotcom has set up a new cloud storage and file-sharing site.

Mega, a web-based service that lets people upload and store files of any kind, is a sequel to the Megaupload system that was shut down last January.

Police raids on the offices and home of Kim Dotcom led to the closure of Megaupload.

The Mega site went online at dawn on Sunday, with Mr Dotcom due to hold a gala at his New Zealand mansion later.

Mr Dotcom has said the new site complies with the law and warned that attempts to take it down would be futile.

"This is not some kind of finger to the US government or to Hollywood," he told Reuters on Saturday.

"Legally, there's just nothing there that could be used to shut us down. This site is just as legitimate and has the right to exist as Dropbox, Boxnet and other competitors."

Extradition hearing

Hours after the site was launched, Mr Dotcom tweeted that it had received 250,000 user registrations, although limited server capacity meant Mega was unreachable to many.

In a series of earlier tweets Mr Dotcom said every customer would have 50 gigabytes of free storage - far more than is offered by rival services such as Dropbox or Microsoft's SkyDrive.

Mega will be encrypted so only those who upload data have access to it.

Data is also being held in the cloud to make it easy for users to get and share files.

The 2012 raids on Megaupload were carried out because, said US law enforcement, many users of Megaupload were engaged in pirating content and illegally sharing it.

They accused Mr Dotcom and other managers at Megaupload had profited from the piracy.

Mr Dotcom has rebuffed the accusations and is fighting a legal battle to stay in New Zealand from where he ran Megaupload.

A hearing on whether he is can be extradited to the US is due to be held in March.

The case has generated controversy in New Zealand over the way the police and intelligence services gathered evidence before the raid and won an apology to Mr Dotcom from the country's prime minister.

Mr Dotcom has also won support from prominent technologists such as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

The raid on Megaupload put 25 petabytes of data uploaded to it by its 50 million members into a legal limbo.

In one message, Mr Dotcom said he was working with lawyers and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which campaigns on digital rights issues,to get access to that seized data and return it to users.

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Nokia releases 3D print kit for Lumia 820 cases - and hints at printable future

In a first for the smartphone world, Nokia has taken the interesting step of releasing a 3D printing Development Kit for its Lumia 820.

The 3D kit, available on Nokia's site from Friday, includes mechanical drawings of the back shell of the Lumia 820, which will allow anyone lucky enough to have a 3D printer to print their own smartphone covers.

Nokia's 3D kit means you can print a new case for your phone yourself. Image: Nokia

"We are going to release 3D templates, case specs, recommended materials and best practices — everything someone versed in 3D printing needs to print their own custom Lumia 820 case," Nokia community and developer marketing manager John Kneeland said on Nokia's blog, where links to the 3D kit can be found.

Interest in 3D printing has grown rapidly with the growing availability and falling prices of 3D printers like the Maker Bot, which costs around $2,000.

On the one hand, Nokia is giving customers the tools to build what they would otherwise purchase from Nokia or a third-party maker, but the move certainly can't hurt the company's comeback efforts — and image — by opening up to the growing and tech savvy 3D print community.

Nokia chief Stephen Elop had two words to say about the move on Twitter: "very cool".

Kneeland said 3D printing helps Nokia with "rapid prototyping", but it also opens up the possibility of Nokia passing the torch of making phones to others by simply selling "some kind of template".

"In the future, I envision wildly more modular and customizable phones," said Kneeland.

"Perhaps in addition to our own beautifully designed phones, we could sell some kind of phone template, and entrepreneurs the world over could build a local business on building phones precisely tailored to the needs of his or her local community. You want a waterproof, glow-in-the-dark phone with a bottle-opener and a solar charger? Someone can build it for you — or you can print it yourself!"

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Algerian crisis over after assault ends with death of seven remaining hostages

A final assault by Algerian special forces on the group of jihadist hostage-takers who seized the In Amenas gas facility ended on Saturday with the deaths of the seven remaining foreign hostages. Also killed was the Niger terrorist believed to lead the al-Qaida splinter group's leader, Abdul Rahman al-Nigeri. Five Britons and one UK resident were believed to be among the 23 hostages killed during the standoff

Sixteen foreign nationals – including two Americans, two Germans and a Portuguese – were freed during Saturday's operation.

After a day of desperate uncertainty over the fate of the remaining British captives, David Cameron said the deaths would unite world leaders in the cause of defeating global terrorism. The prime minister added: "Our determination is stronger than ever to work with allies right around the world to root out and defeat this terrorist scourge and those who encourage it."

The White House released a statement from Barack Obama, in which the US president said: "The thoughts and prayers of the American people are with the families of all those who were killed and injured in the terrorist attack in Algeria. The blame for this tragedy rests with the terrorists who carried it out, and the United States condemns their actions in the strongest possible terms. We have been in constant contact with Algerian officials and stand ready to provide whatever assistance they need in the aftermath of this attack.

Announcing the latest casualties, foreign secretary William Hague said: "We believe that there are five British nationals and one British resident who are either deceased or unaccounted for, in addition to the one fatality that we had already confirmed."

He added: "We are working hard to get definitive information about each individual. We are in touch with all of the families concerned."

First reports suggested the hostages were killed by their captors as the attempt to rescue them was launched. Official sources quoted by the Algerian newspaper El Watan said the militants executed them after having given up hope of escape. The Niger terrorist believed to have led the al-Qaida splinter group behind the hostage-taking, Abdul Rahman al-Nigeri, was also killed during the final assault. Algeria's interior ministry said that 23 captives and 32 kidnappers had died during the four-day hostage crisis.

The 11 surviving Islamist fighters from the group of 40 who attacked the desert plant last Wednesday were also killed in the raid on a workshop where they had taken their captives.

The state oil and gas company, Sonatrach, said the hostage-takers, who identified themselves as Those Who Sign in Blood – a splinter group of al-Qaida in the Islamic Mahgreb – had boobytrapped the complex with explosives. Earlier on Saturday, Algerian special forces found 15 burned bodies at the plant. Details of the operation's bloody end emerged as it was revealed that the UK had offered assistance to the Algerian government, reportedly including British special forces. The offer was apparently rejected by Algeria.

The hostage crisis began when two groups of Islamists attacked two buses carrying foreign workers then took hundreds of Algerians and expatriates hostage at the complex. The group had been demanding the cessation of a French military operation against Islamists in northern Mali as well as the release of two men jailed in the US.

Last Thursday, Algerian special forces mounted an operation to take back the plant – to the initial dismay of the British and other governments, which were not notified in advance.

According to early accounts to emerge from In Amenas, Saturday's raid was launched after Nigeri and his group threatened to blow up the plant and kill the remaining hostages. The decision to go in was made after attempts by the terrorists to sabotage and mine the plant were detected overnight on Friday. According to El Watan, the hostage- takers had tried to sabotage the gas installation by starting a fire, but it was quickly extinguished.

"The terrorists were prepared to commit a collective suicide; the army's intervention led to their neutralisation. Unfortunately, the hostages were executed," the newspaper said.

The crisis, Hague said, was a reminder of "the scale and ruthlessness of the terrorist threat that we and other nations face". One senior government source said that London had been hampered by a continuing lack of information from the Algerian government.

Cameron, who had to postpone a major speech on Europe on Friday to handle the crisis, spoke to the Algerian prime minister Abdelmalek Sellal , who confirmed the military operation was "effectively ended".

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Boeing Balked at FAA Review of 787

U.S. regulators Friday began a comprehensive review of the design and assembly ofBoeing Co.'s BA -2.50%  new 787 jet, a move initially resisted by the company, according to people familiar with the matter.

Regulators reiterated that the aircraft remains safe to fly despite recent electrical and other technical problems.

In an unusual move, Friday's news conference announcing the review was attended by Ray Conner, president of Boeing's commercial-airplane unit, who defended the Dreamliner plane's safety and said Boeing will work with the Federal Aviation Administration on the review. But people familiar with the discussions said Boeing fought unsuccessfully for days to head off or deflect the FAA announcement, arguing it was unwarranted and threatened to undermine investor, customer and passenger confidence in the plane.

Boeing spokesman John Dern said it was inaccurate that Boeing opposed the review. He said Boeing's discussions with officials were about "the scope and structure of the review" and to "ensure that an accurate picture of the 787's performance" would be reflected in Friday's news conference. "Our engagement with the FAA was cooperative and constructive from the outset," he said.

The FAA review doesn't ground any of the Dreamliner planes or require immediate inspections or repairs, and airlines around the globe continued to operate the 50 twin-engine Dreamliners that Boeing has already delivered. But the move poses a significant new challenge for the Chicago-based plane maker at a time when it is trying to increase production and cut costs on the plane after years of expensive delays.

Some safety experts are predicting the review opens the possibility of design or manufacturing changes that could hinder Boeing's production and increase manufacturing costs.

The traveling public, meanwhile, typically maintains confidence in air travel even after major aviation accidents, and the industry has had a strong safety record of late. Still, the issues affecting the 787 have left some seasoned travelers spooked.

Joe Nevin, who runs a ski school in Aspen, Colo., has a ticket for an April 9 Dreamliner flight from Denver to Tokyo on United Airlines, a unit of United Continental Holdings Inc. UAL+2.36% He is concerned about flying the 787 over water for long periods since the cause of some problems haven't been identified yet. "It's got my attention,'' said Mr. Nevin. "You can't solve a problem until you know what it is, and it's not clear to me that they know what it is."

So far, he is still planning on taking his trip. "If United is confident enough, I'd probably go with them," he said. "I don't think they'd be stupid enough to take the plane up if they thought there were problems with it."

The FAA said it plans a "comprehensive review of Boeing 787 critical systems," focusing especially on the "design, manufacture and assembly" of electrical components. The review is something the agency hasn't done in at least three decades: a high-priority regulatory re-examination of a jet that has been approved and fully certified to carry passengers.

Although Boeing fought to forestall the FAA announcement, in the end, newly confirmed FAA Administrator Michael Huerta decided the escalating publicity surrounding a series of electrical and other defects found recently on 787s left him little choice, the knowledgeable people said.

"We are committed to doing this as expeditiously as possible," Mr. Huerta said. The FAA, along with the National Transportation Safety Board, is already investigating the most serious of the recent 787 glitches, a battery fire that occurred on a parked Japan Airlines Co. 9201.TO +0.69% plane in Boston Monday.

"I believe this plane is safe," Mr. Huerta's boss, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, said at the news conference, adding he would be confident about flying on a 787. Mr. LaHood said the review "will look for the root causes of these events," and regulators will take action if required.

Boeing's shares fell 2.5% to $75.16 in 4 p.m. trading Friday on the New York Stock Exchange, leaving them off 3.3% since before Monday's fire.

Like other carriers that fly the Dreamliner, United Airlines said Friday that it will continue to operate its six 787s as scheduled. A spokeswoman for the airline said it isn't increasing its own regular inspections of the planes, but she said "we will fully cooperate" with the review by the FAA and Boeing. United doesn't plan to provide additional information to passengers about the review. The spokeswoman declined to comment about what United has heard recently from passengers about the planes. "We have full confidence in the aircraft," she said.

Boeing CEO Jim McNerney, who hadn't commented publicly since Monday's fire, issued a statement welcoming the FAA's review, saying the company believes it will "underscore our confidence, and the confidence of our customers and the traveling public" in the Dreamliner's safety and reliability.

In addition to checking the safety and reliability of certain systems on the twin-engine 787, which is built primarily from lightweight carbon composite materials, the FAA effectively will reassess Boeing's quality-control safeguards in melding parts delivered by subcontractors around the globe.

The FAA said the review is expected to last several months. It didn't indicate how many of its own experts will participate.

Boeing's Mr. Conner said Friday the Dreamliner successfully went through the "most robust and rigorous certification process in the history of commercial aviation" and passed a follow-up FAA audit in December.

For the FAA, which spent years approving the 787's design as well as details of its production, the latest twist poses some tricky policy and public-relations questions. One of the review's primary goals will be for FAA managers to determine whether agency officials—many from the same part of the FAA— set up appropriate safeguards and assembly-line checks to assure the planes meet all federal safety and reliability standards. Such validation efforts could take months, according to experts, and are bound to find at least some discrepancies and problems.

Separately on Friday, Boeing continued negotiations with its engineers' union, announcing an increase in its salary offer to 23,000 engineers and technical workers, who may end up being central to the FAA's review. Boeing and the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, or Speea, returned to the negotiating table Jan. 9 after a month-long cooling off period, recommended by a federal mediator.

Speea president and Boeing electrical engineer Tom McCarty says the new salary offer "is an improvement" and the company is "moving in the right direction.".Mr. McCarty emphasized the latest proposal would likely prompt a counter proposal to the company, which hasn't yet presented its best and final offer.

Mr. McCarty said in its current form, Boeing's offer—because of its proposed cuts to retirement and medical benefits—would likely see the union seeking a strike authorization vote of its members if Boeing's best and final proposal mirrors its current plan.

Mike Delaney, Boeing's vice president for engineering, declined to comment on whether possible industrial action could affect the FAA review. Union officials have said such action could start as early as Feb. 1.

Mr. Delaney said the company had contingency plans in the event of a work stoppage and indicated it could use managers to perform some of the engineers' functions but gave no further details. Talks with the union are set to resume next week.

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Aurora victim's dad in court: "Rot in hell Holmes"

A judge on Friday delayed the arraignment of the man charged with the Colorado theater shooting until March despite objections from prosecutors and most of the victims and their families.

District Judge William Sylvester ruled Thursday night that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence at a preliminary hearing to proceed toward trial on charges that James Holmes killed 12 people and injured 70 others at a suburban Denver movie theater on July 20.

Holmes, who is charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder, won't have to enter a plea until March 12 after the judge granted a defense motion to delay that proceeding.

A murmur of disbelief rippled through the courtroom when the defense said it wouldn't be ready until March. Then, at the end of the hearing, the father of Rebecca Wingo, who was killed in the shooting, shouted "Rot in hell Holmes."

The judge reconvened the proceeding to talk to Steve Hernandez, who apologized and promised there would be no more outbursts. The judge was sympathetic.

"I am terribly sorry for your loss and I can onCENTENNIAL, COLO.

A judge on Friday delayed the arraignment of the man charged with the Colorado theater shooting until March despite objections from prosecutors and most of the victims and their families.

District Judge William Sylvester ruled Thursday night that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence at a preliminary hearing to proceed toward trial on charges that James Holmes killed 12 people and injured 70 others at a suburban Denver movie theater on July 20.

James Holmes trial will proceed, according to Colo. judge

Holmes, who is charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder, won't have to enter a plea until March 12 after the judge granted a defense motion to delay that proceeding.

A murmur of disbelief rippled through the courtroom when the defense said it wouldn't be ready until March. Then, at the end of the hearing, the father of Rebecca Wingo, who was killed in the shooting, shouted "Rot in hell Holmes."

The judge reconvened the proceeding to talk to Steve Hernandez, who apologized and promised there would be no more outbursts. The judge was sympathetic.

"I am terribly sorry for your loss and I can only begin to imagine the emotions that are raging," Sylvester told him.

Sylvester had asked Holmes if he objected to the delay and defense attorney Tamara Brady answered for him, saying he did not. Defense lawyers didn't say why they wanted to delay entering a plea.

One possible reason could be to seek a mental health evaluation by a doctor of their choosing. Lawyers for Holmes have said he is mentally ill, raising the possibility of an insanity defense.

The Colorado massacre suspect

 

If Holmes had entered an insanity plea on Friday, an evaluation would be done by state doctors.

Prosecutors objected to the delay and said they were ready to move ahead.

Sylvester said he understood their position but wanted to make sure he did not do anything that could lay the grounds for an appeal.

"We want to avoid at all costs doing anything improper," the judge said.

Following the hearing, District Attorney George Brauchler, who took office this week, didn't specifically address the delay but said he wanted to "protect the interests of all involved in this case."

If Holmes, 25, is convicted of first-degree murder, he could face the death penalty. Prosecutors have not said whether they would pursue that sentence.

The hearing capped an emotional week in which the public, including victims and their families, got the first look at evidence gathered against Holmes and heard police officers describe attempts to save the wounded.

The Aurora shooting victims

During the preliminary hearing, witnesses testified that Holmes spent weeks amassing an arsenal and planning the attack at a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises," and that he took photos of himself hours before the shooting, including one that showed him grinning with a handgun.

They also detailed an elaborate booby trap set up at Holmes' apartment designed to explode at the same time the theater attack occurred several miles away.

Prosecution witnesses testified that Holmes began acquiring weapons in early May, and by July 6 he had two semi-automatic pistols, a shotgun, a semi-automatic rifle, 6,200 rounds of ammunition and high-capacity magazines that allow a shooter to fire more rounds without stopping to reload.

Holmes' lawyers called no witnesses during the hearing.

Another possibility in the case is that either side could argue that Holmes is not mentally capable of assisting in his own defense. If that happens, the judge would order a mental competency evaluation. Sylvester also can order an evaluation if he has his own questions about Holmes' competence.

In the case of the Tucson, Ariz., shooting that killed six people and wounded 13, including then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Jared Loughner was initially ruled incompetent to stand trial. However, after a year of treatment, Loughner was ruled competent, the case proceeded, and he entered guilty pleas.

If Holmes ends up pleading not guilty by reason of insanity, Sylvester would also order a psychiatric evaluation by doctors at the state hospital. A jury would consider that evaluation, along with testimony by expert witnesses, any other court-ordered evaluations and other evidence, in deciding at a trial whether Holmes is or is not guilty by reason of insanity.

If found not guilty by reason of insanity, Holmes would be committed to the state mental hospital for treatment. His case would be reviewed every six months. He conceivably could be released if he ever is deemed no longer insane.

"Insanity is what this case is going to turn on," said Denver criminal defense attorney Dan Recht. "This is not a whodunit case."ly begin to imagine the emotions that are raging," Sylvester told him.

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