2008 October

October 31, 2008

Samsung Delve available with Alltel Wireless

by Janet Harris
Samsung Delve available with Alltel Wireless

Samsung has released its latest touchscreen handset, the Delve, in the US, on Alltel Wireless, Americaâ€™s largest network. The phone features Samsungâ€™s TouchWiz which allows users to personlise the main screen with widgets, making it easy to access and navigate the functions they use the most. The touchscreen gives tactile feedback and the ...

O2 exclusive: first Blackberry clamshell

by David Allen
O2 exclusive: first Blackberry clamshell

O2 has secured exclusive distribution rights for the first ever clamshell Blackberry smartphone. The flip form factor Blackberry Pearl Flip 8220 features a large, high resolution display, SureType keypad, built in Wi-Fi connectivity and rich multimedia capabilities. An easily accessible microSD/SDHC memory card slot supports up to 16GB of storage. In addition to the large ...

Intel back WiMax as wireless broadband standard

by David Allen
Intel has announced plans to back Taiwan's WiMax network with an investment of NT$386 million ($11.7 million). The venture capital arm of Intel will invest the money in Taiwan-based network operator VMAX, one of a number of companies in the country building the new 4G WiMax infrastructure. With Intel's investment, VMAX plans to become the first company in Taiwan to offer 4G ...

O2 redesigns retail stores

by David Allen
O2 has announced plans to revamp its retail outlets to make them more customer friendly. The Retail Transformation Programme will enable the operator to improve customer service in its stores and offer a wider variety of products, including netbooks and laptops. O2 said the aim of the programme is to change the public's perception of mobile retailing, making it convenient, accessible, and ...

Vodafone agrees partnership with Russian network

by David Allen
Telecoms giant Vodafone plans to enter the Russian market through a new partnership with the country's largest mobile operator. UK-based Vodafone and Moscow-based Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) will work together developing new technologies. In addition, MTS will be granted exclusive access to Vodafone branded products, services and devices in the regions where it operates. These include Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Armenia. Handsets carrying the ...

Go Green with Unified Communications

by Alan Harten
Slowly but surely IT companies are finding that other companies they wish to do business with, want to know their green credentials before entering into agreements. The computer world is not known for its environmentally friendly credentials but many other UK companies are moving towards a more carbon neutral way of doing business. Part of this greener business model is to know ...

US Election Viewing and Combined Live Chat

by Alan Harten
As British schoolchildren look forward to the bonfire night festivities, the polls will be closing on perhaps the most important American election in many years. On November 4th (local time) the American population will decide who will spend the next four years running the White House. This may be big news for American citizens and other interested parties around the world, but ...

Microsoft and Yahoo fight fraudsters

by David Allen

Some things never seem to go away, like the frauds which originate in Africa and promise plenty of cash. Many people do get scammed by these fraudsters all of time for huge amounts of cash and to make things even worse the problem is not getting any better, in fact far from it. But now Microsoft and Yahoo ...

Google toolbar is 8 years old

by David Allen

Next month the Google Toolbar is eight years old. The growth of this tool has been prompted by the company’s idea to share some of the cash that it has managed to build up, as referrers are paid for every new user they recruit. So to celebrate this milestone, Google will be bringing out a brand new toolbar for ...

Virgin loses appeal over Sky’s ITV stake

by David Allen

The media trio of ITV, BSkyB and Virgin Media have been in and out of courts and hearings for what would seem to be forever, but in fact the deal between BSkyB and ITV only went ahead in the later part of 2006, yet the fallout from this deal still rumbles on. Only last month BSkyB was told to ...

Silver surfers accused of file sharing

by David Allen

It seems that you do not have to be a youngster to be accused of downloading illegal music, video or games. In fact the consumer magazine Which? is estimating that there could in fact be hundreds of households being accused incorrectly of file sharing. This is what happened to Ken and Gill Murdoch aged 54 and 66 from Inverness, ...

Orange will not use Phorm

by David Allen

Any doubts as to whether or not Orange broadband would be using the tracking technology known as Phorm have got the answer from the senior vice president of Orange online advertising, Paul Francois Fournier, and it is no, they will not be using Phorm. The reason given is that they care about the privacy of their customers, which is ...

Isle of Man has to choose region

by David Allen

It has to be said that more or less everyone who owns a TV must also know about the digital switchover, after all there are adverts on all of the time and even big splashes throughout the media. As the switchover works its way around the country, viewers would normally have to decide how they wish to view digital ...

October 30, 2008

Samsung demos 40in HDTV

by Janet Harris
Samsung demos 40in HDTV

Samsung has demonstrated the largest HDTV that it is equipped to manufacture at the present time, a whopping 40in OLED (organic light-emitting diode) panel that was built on a pilot line and is too big for the company's main assembly lines. This means that mass production of the huge set isn't yet possible, but ...

Asustek to release Android smartphone

by David Allen
Taiwan-based Asustek, makers of the popular Asus Eee netbook, have revealed plans to release a smartphone running Google's Android operating system in early 2009. The device will initially be released in Taiwan, with Asustek aiming for an optimistic 20% share of the Taiwanese market by the end of 2009. Asustek will use hardware from Qualcomm and Marvell to build the handset, phasing ...

Bollywood Heading for IPTV with en2go

by Alan Harten
The market for Bollywood movies is huge and over just the last few months has seen major deals with Hollywood big hitters, including Stephen Spielberg's DreamWorks company. There are several other Asian mass-market movie companies possibly unheard-of by Westerners, such as Tollywood, Malyalam, Punjabi, Tamil, Kannada, Gujarati, Bhojpuri, but nonetheless major players in the gigantic Asian film market. en2go has been working ...

CopperGate Takes On New Managers

by Alan Harten
Producer of silicon that is used in coax and phone line delivered IPTV, CopperGate, is to begin a new stage of what the company refers to as “explosive” worldwide expansion. Coppergate has taken on several new experts in their fields as executives at the company. Previously located at Alvarion is Tsach Shwartz, who will now endeavour to assist Coppergate to expand its ...

Twitter could be a terrorist tool

by David Allen

The social networking site Twitter has been “Red Teamed” by the US Army, which has claimed that it could be a possible tool for terrorists to use. Red teamed means that the military use army personnel to sign up to the network and see if there are any weaknesses. The US Army says that Twitter could be used for ...

Vodafone in trouble over ads

by David Allen

Advertising in the national press and other media has its benefits, but also has the risk of people seeing things that they do not agree with and therefore feeling compelled to complain to the advertising standards authority (ASA), as they did in this case, along with T Mobile and 3 Mobile Broadband. The complaints are centred on two adverts ...

BT fined £1.3 million in call fraud

by David Allen

BT has had to pay the Ministry of Defence £1.3 million in compensation after it was found that BT staff were calling each other on the phone in order to meet their call answering targets. BT has been operating the phone system for the MoD, which provides telecom services to over two hundred thousand personnel. The National Audit Office ...

IBM study on mobile broadband

by David Allen

In a report by computer firm IBM, they compare consumers who use either mobile broadband or fixed line broadband access. The two cannot be really compared like for like as they offer different services, but for a basic internet user who is looking to surf the internet and check their emails, then the services provided could be compared. The main ...

Email problems for Pipex

by David Allen

When Pipex, the Tiscali owned internet service provider (ISP) decided to introduce a major upgrade to its billing and account management on its website, it is doubtful that it could have realised the effects that this work would have had on its customers. However the work, which included some new anti virus protection for the email system as well ...

T Mobile comes out on top

by David Allen

A test of the performance of mobile broadband providers during the busiest usage periods has firmly placed T Mobile at the top of the table. The comprehensive study, carried out by testing firm P3 Solutions, tested the mobile broadband provider’s services at peak times and in sixteen different cities, just to make sure that the figures were an average ...

October 29, 2008

Vodafone reveals basis for mobile broadband ad

by Jan Harris
The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has been investing complaints about Vodafone adverts which claim that the company’s mobile broadband service is the most reliable and fastest available and is light years ahead of the competition. The adverts generated complaints from the general public and also from mobile operators 3 and T-Mobile. The complaints were upheld by the ASA, although it didn’t ...

BT Vision Extends Comtrend Power Line Deal

by Janet Harris
BT Vision has renewed its contract with Comtrend, a leading global supplier of broadband customer premises equipment, for a second year. BT will continue to use Comtrend’s Power Line Communication Technology to deliver its BT Vision service. BT Vision, which provides over 70 free TV and radio channels, is available to UK customers via a V-Box set-top box. It comes with two ...

Technology Turns Mobiles Into Two-Way Radios

by Alan Harten
Technology Turns Mobiles Into Two-Way Radios

PTT is already fairly common in the US, where it is used by business people as a way of communicating with one or multiple colleagues or clients. With just the press of a button it is possible to have instant connection to one selected contact or a whole group from your address ...

Problems with 3 mobile broadband

by David Allen

Some customers of 3 mobile broadband have been offered two months free rental following problems with the network in some areas. The network has been developed through a partnership between T Mobile and 3m. This was named Mobile Broadband Network Limited (MBNL) and should have given both networks a wider coverage throughout the UK, but 3 mobile broadband ...

London is still wireless capital of the world

by David Allen

London may be the world leader in Wi-Fi access points, but as other cities from around globe begin to catch up, the network in the capital seems to be showing signs of wear and tear. A survey, from the security company RSA, did find that London was on top with over twelve thousand Wi-Fi access points, while the nearest ...

TV show search engine hailed a success

by David Allen

It was only back in September when 123WebTV was launched. This was planned as a search engine, which would search for all TV and Video content available in the internet. There may have been some doubts as to its usefulness, yet in a few weeks the site has already notched up over a hundred thousand visitors from the UK. The ...

CNN to launch on Freeview

by David Allen

Turner Broadcasting’s CNN International is set to replace Nuts TV on Freeview in the early part of 2009. This will provide a European view of the world’s top news stories and will air every night from 9 pm to 1 am, although as of yet there have not been any channel allocations. Turner state that Nuts TV is more ...

Customers not happy with Virgin Media

by David Allen

Virgin Media could land themselves in trouble with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over the company’s claim that customers who have subscribed to the Virgin Media “M” package can expect to receive an upload performance of 256 Kbps, while according to some users in south London this is limited to just 200 Kbps. Much of this has been posted ...

Fixed line still better than mobile broadband

by David Allen

The rise of mobile broadband and the fall of fixed line broadband may have been a bit premature if recently released figures are taken into perspective. On average the broadband connections through fixed phone lines into households have seen speeds that are almost double those achieved by mobile broadband. Granted the two should not really be compared, but as there ...

October 28, 2008

iSuppli teardown reveals Blackberry Bold costs $170

by David Allen
iSuppli this week released its teardown data for the new Blackberry Bold, revealing that the $300 smartphone costs around $170 to make. After dismantling the handset, iSuppli estimates that parts, labour and testing cost around 57% of the phone's sale price. iSuppli calls this a healthy margin for Blackberry maker Research in Motion (RIM). However, the cost of the Bold is significantly higher ...

IFS Survey finds mash-ups key to productivity

by Janet Harris

A survey conducted on behalf of IFS, a developer of enterprise resource planning solutions, has highlighted the role that personalising software and integrating multimedia web content can play in improving workplace productivity and collaboration. On behalf of IFS, Omniboss and Survey Monkey surveyed IT professionals from North America, UK and Scandinavia, of which 80% said the ability to ...

Verimatrix Receives Patents for Forensic Watermarking

by Alan Harten
Content security company, Verimatrix, has announced that the U.S. Patent office has issued patents for its VideoMark forensic watermarking technology used by pay-TV networks to secure their content. The company still has several other patents awaiting approval from the patents office. The new VideoMark patent covers the so-called human recognisable watermarking. These electronic watermarks are visible to the human eye, which has been ...

Broadband for a £1

by David Allen

This may be a bit short notice as there are only four days left before the end of October, but when a internet service provider offers up to 8 Mbps broadband for a £1, then it has to be worth a mention. Subscribers who are in the market for a good deal might want to check out the Namesco ...

UK Music to combat file sharers

by David Allen

A new organisation has been formed to fight against illegal file sharing in the UK. This new industry body will be made up from the organisations that used to be called British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the Association of Independent Music (AIM), and the British Academy of Composers & Songwriters (BAC&S). Fergal Sharkey is to be the new boss of ...

Government rules out e-voting in 2009

by David Allen

It seems that there will be no e-voting next year for the local and European elections, according to the minister for justice, Michael Wills, whose department released a statement confirming that this would be the government's take on the use of such technology for important events like the public voting in elections. There may have been a slight indication ...

Sky in trouble over promotions

by David Allen

Sky has once again fallen foul of the advertising rules as laid out by the telecom regulator Ofcom. This follows the now long running feud between Sky and Virgin Media. Sky withdrew its services from Virgin Media leaving their customers without Sky One, Sky News and Sky Sports. Then Sky produced four promotions, which were shown on Sky and Virgin ...

Staffordshire updates PCs

by David Allen

Public access computers in the county of Staffordshire are going to be replaced with new and more eco friendly systems in a trail that could roll out throughout the UK. The computers being replaced will be those in libraries that are used by thousands of people. There are around six hundred computers installed in libraries around the country that ...

New Zealand’s Broadband better than UK’s

by David Allen

It seems that the former colony of New Zealand has been quietly getting on with improving their telecom infrastructure, while here in the UK the consumer plays the waiting game for better broadband connections. The days of New Zealand and to some extent Australia being well behind the UK when it comes to day to day living are long ...

October 27, 2008

'Free' Orange laptops sold out

by David Allen
Network operator Orange has sold out of 'free' laptops in stores across the UK. The company's retail director said sales of the subsidised laptops that come with Orange USB mobile broadband dongles have been 'amazing'. Orange started selling subsidised laptops in August. The first model it sold was the Asus Eee PC netbook, which came free on Orange's 24 month Internet ...

Vodafone calls for 3G delay in India

by David Allen
Vodafone has requested that the upcoming auction for 3G operating licenses in India be put on hold because of the credit crunch. The world's largest private telecoms group is putting pressure on the Indian government to postpone the auction until early 2009 so that it is able to raise adequate funds. Neil Gough, Vodafone's director of public policy in emerging markets, said ...

MediaTek opens US HQ

by David Allen
Fabless integrated circuit (IC) designer, MediaTek, has opened its new US wireless headquarters in Woburn, near Boston, USA. The Taiwan-based company has been expanding its international operations in recent years to boost growth and attract world class talent. Its new facility in Boston will house staff that have moved to the company from recently acquired units bought from Analog Devices Incorporated ...

Microsoft release emergency patch

by David Allen

Some Microsoft users may have been surprised to see another update so soon after the regular monthly update, but this patch was a critical update and therefore means that Microsoft were taking no chances. For any Microsoft user who is not sure if they have received the patch, this one had the number KB958644. If this patch is missing, ...

NHS should use the internet more

by David Allen

A report by think tank, the Kings Fund, suggests that the NHS should make more use of the internet, or rather should allow their users to make more use of the internet. The technology is there to enable people who need to NHS services, yet this has not been implemented. There is much that the NHS can do to ...

Docklands broadband cut off by workers

by David Allen

Contractors working in the Docklands area of London managed to cut through a major fibre optic cable. This happened in the Yeo Street area, at a site run by provider Global crossing. The accident forced local businesses and internet service providers to reroute their internet traffic. The main ISPs affected were O2 and Be Broadband; their customers were affected ...

BBC dulls down HD logo

by David Allen

Ever since the introduction of digital on-screen graphics or DOGs, the little logo that sits somewhere on the TV screen to identify the channel that the viewer is watching, there has been a difference of opinion between those that don’t mind them and those viewers who do not like them at all. One logo in particular has been causing ...

BBC dancing show in race row

by David Allen

The BBC have found themselves unwittingly in the middle of a race row. This follows the result of the public vote on the hugely successful TV series “Strictly Come Dancing” where both the singer Heather Small and actor Don Warrington were both selected to perform the dance off, after the public vote. After the judges had chosen Heather Small, ...

London to get IT boost for Olympics

by David Allen

It is being described as an event similar to the coronation of the Queen, when everyone tried to get their hands on the latest technology. In those days it was the TV, but in 2012 when the Olympic Games come to town there will be another technology boost. This time the new technology is going to be a ...

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