Xeros copiers rewriting documents, patent filings reveal plans for Samsung smartwatch, and British police given access to the army’s crime-fighting software

Xerox copiers rewriting documents
David Kriesel, a German computer scientist, has discovered that some Xerox copiers are mistakenly changing numbers on documents. Kriesel uncovered the flaw when he realised that the room dimensions on a construction plan that he’d copied had magically changed from 21.11m to 14.13m. The problem is thought to be caused by Jbig2, an image compression standard that substitutes figures it thinks are the same, which means that numbers such as 6 and 8 are frequently switched incorrectly. Xerox have confirmed that they will release a patch in the next couple of weeks, but Kriesel is worried that the problem could have already affected important documents such as invoices.

Patent filings reveal plans for Samsung smartwatch
Samsung’s detailed smartwatch plans have been unveiled thanks to a series of patent and trademark filings. The company has already registered ‘Samsung Gear’ in South Korea and ‘Samsung Galaxy Gear’ in the US, with drawings showing that the smartwatch will likely feature a flexible screen that wraps around the wrist. The diagrams show that the screen will make up  about half of the device. There will also be a small panel with a back arrow and home key, similar to those found on Samsung smartphones, with the remaining space taken up by a strap made of metal and synthetic materials.

British police given access to the army’s crime-fighting software
Military software that was created as a way to cope with human rights abuse cases in Iraq is now being used by the British police to document child abuse, hate crimes, and computer hacking cases. The recent advancements in digital technology had threatened old police systems with the prospect of slowing down court cases and blocking up systems unable to cope with 'big data'. It’s currently estimated that the amount of data associated with each investigation rises by around 120% every year. The software was originally conceived by the Royal Military Police as a way to help the Iraq Historic Allegations Team deal with their massive workload, and the RMP say it’s already being used by several civilian police forces around the UK.