2009 March

March 31, 2009

Sony Ericsson Showcases Better, Faster 3G Speeds

by Franz Bicar
Sony Ericsson, one of the world's leading manufacturer of mobile phones, will demonstrate what they claimed to be the fastest 3G wireless performance ever at this week's CTIA Wireless trade show in Las Vegas. The company boasts of connection speeds running at 56Mb per second (Mbps) using their 3G High-Speed Packet Access (HSDPA) network connections. This breaks the record set by ...

Sony KDL-46V5100 1080p LCD HDTV

by Franz Bicar
sony-kdl-46v5100

One can't really choose between watching sports and action movies. That is why a television must work flawlessly in both genres. The Sony KDL-46V5100 with its Motionflow 120Hz technology just might let you enjoy both. Not only does Motionflow 120Hz technology double the 30fps frame rate of television programming for ...

D-Link, DTS, Dolby and SecureMedia join Open IPTV Forum

by David Masters
D-Link Corporation, DTS Digital, Dolby and SecureMedia have joined the Open IPTV Forum (OIPF). The four companies joined OIPF at its recent meeting in Santa Clara, USA. "We are delighted to have these additional members," said Yun Chao Hu, OIPF chair. He added: "This latest membership announcement strengthens the existing representation from the network equipment and content security industries, and expands the scope ...

mVoIP available on Nokia download portal

by David Masters
UK-based mobile communications firm Vyke announced yesterday that its mobile VoIP (mVoIP) software is now more easily downloadable and more widely available on Nokia handsets. mVoIP for Nokia, launched earlier this month, will now be available from the download portal on Nokia E and N series handsets in countries across the globe. Meanwhile, Nokia E75 users will be able to download the ...

Shoretel releases version 9

by David Masters

Shoretel yesterday released version 9 of its unified communications (UC) software. Shoretel 9 enables mobile and desktop users to communicate effectively wherever they are. New features in the release include SIP support, location-based call routing, and enhanced distributed architecture with streamlined failover protection. Support and integration with Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 and Microsoft Active Directory are included. Shoretel users can ...

UK wants ‘connected home’ technology

by David Masters

British consumers want their TVs, computers and home entertainment systems to be connected up over a network, but are having to install DIY solutions because the technology isn't available in the shops. A recent survey by Ericsson ConsumerLab found that a third of Brits would like to live in a 'connected home' environment, whilst half of respondents wanted more ...

WorldSIM launches UK-US dual simcard

by David Masters
WorldSIM has announced the launch of its dual UK-US simcard this week in Las Vegas. The dual simcard - the first of its kind in the world - has a UK and a US number attached to it, meaning that frequent travellers between the two countries can make calls at local prices without having to switch simcards. In addition, the sim gives ...

Comverse announces visual voicemail for Blackberry

by David Masters
Comverse has updated its visual voicemail service to be compatible with Blackberry smartphones. Voice messages can now be delivered as text direct to a Blackberry's inbox, complete with the voicemail's date, time and length, and the user's phone number and identity. Clicking on the message text plays back the original voicemail message. John Bunyan, Comverse's chief marketing officer, believes that visual voicemail is ...

NTL Ireland rolls out Nagra 3 encryption

by Brian Turner

Rumours suggest that NTL Ireland is in the process of rolling out Nagra 3, a more secure encryption system that is likely to have a big impact on cable piracy. Over the past two weeks a number of channels have moved over to what appears to be Nagra 3 encryption, with the following channels apparently affected: Adult channel Playboy TVX The Box Zee TV Chelsea ...

BT claims iPlate increases speed

by David Allen

It has been mentioned before, but the iPlate from BT has never really taken off in any big way, despite claims that this small and unobtrusive phone socket fitting can reduce the interference picked up by a broadband connection. The iPlate isolates the wire being used for broadband services by passing the wire that was used for the ringer ...

Carphone Warehouse looking at Tiscali again

by David Allen

Following the collapse of talks between BSkyB and the ailing internet service provider Tiscali, it seemed that the Italian owned ISP had lost all of its lifelines. Yet one of the first rivals to make an offer, only to have it flatly rejected, could be returning to the table for another look. It is believed that once again TalkTalk ...

Virgin Media changing prices

by David Allen

Customers of cable provider Virgin Media are finding out that the price of their packages will rise on the 1st May. The company has opted for a flat £2 per month increase across the board for customers on the M package, while customers subscribing to the L package will see the highest increase at £4 per month. However, those ...

Pirate Bay offering VPN access for £5

by David Allen

Pirate Bay may still be tied up in legal jargon, but that has not stopped it planning its next move and it is going to be something of a surprise for some people. In order to get around the restrictions currently in place for accessing bit torrent tracking sites, Pirate Bay is going to launch a Virtual Private Network ...

Credit card details revealed online

by David Allen

Through a simple search on Google, it has been found that the credit card details of nineteen thousand UK residents are freely available to anyone who cares to look. It is believed that the information was released accidentally by cyber criminals who were trying to selling the data. The details listed included names and addresses of thousands of American ...

Job cuts at Virgin Media

by David Allen

Back in November, Virgin Media announced that it would be cutting around two thousand jobs over the next four years or so, and after a consulting period, the first job cuts have been announced. The company will be cutting a hundred and fifty staff from its call centre operation in Nottingham. The cuts will be affecting sales and ...

History Channel gets new director

by David Allen

The History Channel UK, which is a long term joint venture between British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) and the A&E Television Network (AETN), will be getting a new commercial director. Christina Foley, who has seventeen years experience in European cable TV, will replace Ian McDonough, who left the History Channel to join the BBC Worldwide operation in December last year. Ms ...

Sky+ HD TV Guide continues rollout

by David Allen

The next roll out of the Sky+ HD electronic programme guide (EPG) is to take place soon and this time Sky is offering the guide to its most long standing HD customers first. The initial roll out of this new TV guide took place a couple of weeks ago. This was when it was deployed to around thirty ...

School gets digital switchover lessons

by David Allen

Children from Exeter are to be taught about the digital switchover with the help of a newly released government programme run in the South West by Digital UK. Called the “Big Countdown” teaching staff throughout the town will be receiving a multi media teaching pack that has been designed to involve children in the biggest change in broadcasting since ...

Skype for the iPhone is Finally Here

by Franz Bicar
A few months ago at CES, the Skype VoIP client for the iPhone was announced. Now, it is finally here. The free app will finally be available to download from the iTunes App Store. While most of us already know what Skype is for, there are a few functionalities that are iPhone-specific which, I'm sure, most iPhone users will love. Skype ...

March 30, 2009

Europe’s IPTV subscribers up 45% on year

by David Masters
The number of IPTV subscribers in Western Europe increased 45% on year during 2008 to 10.4 million, compared to 7.0 million the previous year, according to new figures released by the Broadband Forum. France is the largest IPTV market in the region, with over 5 million subscribers. Global subscriptions increased 63% to 21.8 million, compared to 13.3 million in 2007. The three largest ...

Half of broadband customers unhappy with supplier

by David Masters
The UK now spends £2.6 billion per year on broadband, but nearly half of consumers are dissatisfied with their service, new research by uSwitch.com has discovered. The price comparison site found that brand loyalty is rapidly declining, with traditional suppliers losing out to smaller competitors who offer better customer service. Consumers now look for speed, value and good customer service, rather than ...

Tech firms reveal gloomy economic outlook

by David Masters

Technology firms expect economic conditions in the sector to worsen before they improve, according a new survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The Tech Sector Barometer survey found that two thirds of tech companies expect the financial health of the sector to worsen, whilst nearly half (46%) expect demand to deteriorate further. Almost four in five of those polled ...

PageOne awarded ISO27001 certification

by David Masters
Mobile messaging provider PageOne has been awarded ISO27001 certification. ISO27001, published by the International Organisation for Standardisation, is the only auditable international benchmark for information security management. PageOne, which provides messaging services to the public sector and to corporations, was awarded the certification following 12 months of comprehensive inspections and testing. The company believes the award will give its customers increased confidence in ...

T-Mobile and 3 choose Arqiva for 3G network

by David Masters
MBNL, the 3G network sharing venture between T-Mobile and 3, has chosen Arqiva as its principle cell site partner. Under a 10-year agreement between the two firms, Arqiva will provide 5,100 sites for roll-out of the 3G network. Furthermore, Arqiva will have exclusive marketing rights for site sharing services on an additional 2,500 sites. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Graham Payne, ...

Government awards £1.85m to green IT research

by David Masters

For every watt of electricity consumed by a computer, anther two watts of energy can be needed to remove the heat produced by the computer from the building. A UK-based consortium of technology research companies hopes to solve this problem, and has been awarded £1.85 million of government funds to do so. The money will be used to fund the ...

Broadcast International chooses OCF as UK distributor

by David Masters
Broadcast solutions provider Broadcast International (BI) has signed a UK distribution deal with OCF. Under the terms of the deal, OCF will distribute, install, and maintain BI's CE-1000 and future CodecSys AVC VOS Systems in the UK. CodecSys reduces the bandwidth needed to deliver online TV and video content by using a multicodec approach. "We’re thrilled to partner with OCF and recognize the ...

Comtrend launches wireless video adaptor

by David Masters
Comtrend Corporation has announced the launch of its Wireless Video Adaptor. The adaptor uses a Wi-Fi network to distribute HD IPTV from a single interent connection or set top box to up to four TVs around the home. IPTV, video-on-demand, and stored content on DVR can all be viewed on the network. It is designed for easy installation and to need minimal support. ...

BBC presenters break after dinner speech rules

by David Allen

It seems that top BBC presenters are moonlighting as after dinner speakers, something that according to the Liberal Democrat culture spokesperson, Don Foster, is against the BBC's rules. It seems that a number of BBC news readers are available through one of the largest after dinner speaking agencies, JLA. These include Fiona Bruce, Huw Edwards, Emily Maitlis, John Humphrys, ...

Home Secretary subscribes to Virgin Media

by David Allen

As recent news can testify, the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith is a customer of Virgin Media, which is interesting because it is not that often that the public get to know what celebrities and politicians actually watch. However, thanks to a dodgy expense claim, the Home Secretary’s Virgin Media bill is available for scrutiny. It turns out that customers of ...

Sky unveils the networked home

by David Allen

Sky TV has been showing a short film on its vision of the digital home in 2012. It’s a way of demonstrating to the trade the shape of things to come. The company is using the IPTV World Forum at London’s Olympia to show the film for the first time in public. It shows an average family, with ...

Council to pay £7m to replace satellite dishes

by David Allen

The digital switchover has caused many problems, but nothing quite like the problems that Sheffield Council is experiencing. The issue is that during the switchover, the local authority has to change analogue masts on blocks of flats so that Freeview can be received. At the same time, they are going to re-clad the buildings, which means the removal of ...

French film channel gets spiced up

by David Allen

French film is making a comeback - the recent launch of Cine Moi on Sky has seen to that. Fans are now able to watch all types of French film from classics to modern greats. One fan is ex spice girl Mel B (Scary Spice), who likes French film so much that she has bought her way into the channel. ...

Sony KDL-46W4150 1080p LCD HDTV

by Franz Bicar
sony-kdl-46w4150

If you are a fanatic when it comes to your home entertainment system, then there is no better way to spend your free time experiencing your favorite movies on a 46" high definition flat panel LCD - exactly as they are seen in the theater. The Sony KDL-46W4150 1080p LCD ...

Survey shows iPhone as the “Most Useful” Smartphone in UK

by Franz Bicar
The iPhone won, yet again! In a recent survey conducted by comScore, an internet marketing research company, the iPhone led the pack as being the device used in accessing mobile content over the internet. Ninety-three percent of UK iPhone owners accessed mobile media in January. This includes accessing news/info via browser; e-mail; listening to mobile music; accessing news/info via downloaded ...

Asus to release fold/unfold laptop

by David Allen

Asus will be launching a new laptop to directly compete with the new Dell addition, the Adamo, and the MacBook Air from Apple. The computer company recently reported that it will be bringing out a new laptop that will directly compete with the other top-of-the-range laptops currently in the UK market. The development of this fold/unfold laptop has been confirmed ...

LG TVs could cut out swearing

by David Allen

The electronics giant LG has been listening to its customers through the UK LGenius site. This is where consumers put forward their ideas for new products and other ideas that would make TV viewing just that little bit better. Several ideas have come though as being possible but not likely, one of which is a device that replaces swear ...

IPTV keeps growing

by David Allen

Internet TV services are being used more now than ever, in fact the total subscriptions worldwide for IPTV has reached twenty million people according to research by Informa Telecom & Media. There are currently around a hundred and twenty IPTV providers in over sixty countries, with Europe and the far eastern markets taking the top spots. The UK came ...

Next gen provider calling for tax break

by David Allen

A tax break is always going to come in handy for an expanding business, which probably why the broadband through the sewers company the i3 Group, is asking the government to review the policies on taxation for companies investing in fibre optic broadband services. What the i3 Group is saying is that if the taxation on the work that ...

March 27, 2009

Overseas video download costs £50 per minute

by David Allen
Mobile users can be charged up to £250 for downloading a 5 minute video clip whilst abroad, Broadband Expert has discovered. Research by the price comparision site found that the cost of overseas downloading varies dramatically depending on your mobile network. Orange is the most expensive network inside the EU, charging £3.94 per Mb. T-Mobile costs the most outside the EU, at £7.50 ...

Home Gateway Initiative signs up Malaysian network

by David Allen
The Home Gateway Initiative (HGI) this week welcomed Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) as its latest member. The Malaysia-based communications group - which offers nationwide broadband and fixed-line services - is the latest carrier to join HGI. Duncan Bees, HGI's chief technical officer, said: "We are delighted with the addition of TM – one of the most important carriers in Asia - to ...

BuddyMob to release iPhone app

by David Allen
BuddyMob to release iPhone app

BuddyMob has revealed that it will be launching an iPhone and a Symbian version of its Android application, and has announced a number of performance upgrades based on customer feedback. An iPhone and iTouch version of the app will be launched in June, whilst a Symbian version is set for release 'later this ...

Yell launches SMS directory enquires

by David Allen
Yell launches SMS directory enquires

Yell has launched a new text message-based directory enquiries service. The 118-24-7 TextBack service allows consumers to make simple SMS-based directory enquiries from which they can expect a fast text response with an embedded link to the telephone number they're looking for. Consumers can make enquires at any time of day, seven days a ...

Carrier IQ launches handset use monitoring service

by David Allen
Carrier IQ launches handset use monitoring service

Carrier IQ this week launched a new service to enable network operators to monitor the quality of their networks and the effect this has on customer experience. IQ Insight Experience Manager gives network operators and handset manufacturers an objective real-time view of what is happening on subscribers' devices, including quality of ...

Free mobile TV will win subscribers

by David Allen
Free mobile TV will win subscribers

Mobile TV providers will need to offer free services to win subscribers and develop the market, an industry expert said this week. Weijie Yun, president of Telegent Systems, a company that has already enabled free-to-air mobile TV on 20 million handsets around the world, said free services are key if mobile TV ...

Orange could be with Apple soon

by David Allen

The mobile broadband provider Orange is said to be very close to finalising a deal with Apple, with a view to providing MacBooks in one of its mobile broadband packages. Obviously the idea of getting a free Apple MacBook with a mobile broadband contract is a little out of the question. The offer will probably be in the form ...

EU Broadband prices falling

by David Allen

The cost of broadband is falling across the European Union according to the EU’s recent report on the telecom market in the member states. The report shows that across the board prices of broadband services have fallen by an average of nineteen per cent, from £35.44 per month in 2007, to £28.74 per month in 2008, for the service ...

McKinnon backed by dark side of the moon

by David Allen

UFO hunter and computer hacker Gary McKinnon is running out of options in his fight against being extradited to the USA. However, things like this tend to have many twists and turns, one of which is the forthcoming visit by the US President to London in April for the G20 conference. McKinnon’s mother, Janis Sharp, is organising a sing-in protest, ...

Blank screens following digital re-tune

by David Allen

Around eight thousand homes across the south of England have had problems with their Freeview set top boxes after they were asked to re-tune them. The digital TV re-tune took place because of a reorganisation of the airwaves, but this has left households in Hampshire, parts of Dorset, Isle of Wight and West Sussex without reception and they may ...

Homes in Bournemouth get 100 Mbps

by David Allen

The first homes in Bournemouth have been connected to the 100 Mbps broadband service provided by the i3 Group (H2O Networks) as part of the Fibrecity project. The i3 Group has a target figure of connecting up to two thousand homes per week across the UK in the various projects that they have running at the moment. Bournemouth is the ...

Setanta shares TUF with Virgin Media

by David Allen

The sports satellite broadcaster Setanta will be showing the next series of “The Ultimate Fighter”, which has promised the most spectacular action ever seen in the TUF history. The series will be shared with Virgin Media to reach an estimated audience of twenty two million homes throughout the UK. The series will follow sixteen UK fighters pitched against sixteen US ...

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