December 22nd, 2009 by
Lisa Francis
The London Stock Exchange takes control of Turquoise
The London Stock Exchange is taking over competitor Turquoise and the platform is set to be migrated to its Millennium IT trading platform. The deal, which involves no money changing hands, will see the technology used by Turquoise dropped.
Computing.co.uk – Banking sector set for IT hiring spree in 2010
The banking, telecoms and software sectors will be the key areas for IT employment in 2010, according to new research from technology recruitment organisation The IT Job Board.
BBC – BT to complete super-fast broadband network by 2012
BT’s superfast broadband network will be completed in time for the 2012 Olympic Games, the firm has announced.
BBC – India survey says Facebook affects productivity
Indian firms are losing productivity because office staff spend too long on social networking sites, a survey says.
FT.com – Avatar takes $242m globally in first weekend
Hollywood’s heavy investment in 3D has passed it s biggest test yet, analysts and cinema executives said this week, as they tallied the takings from Avatar, James Cameron’s 3D epic.
The Register – Microsoft AV advice may aid attackers, researcher warns
A security researcher is taking Microsoft to task for advising customers to exclude certain files and folders from anti-virus scanning, arguing the practice could be exploited by pushers of malware.
Guardian – Vodafone to offer iPhone from January
Vodafone will start selling the iPhone in Britain next month, offering customers a free handset for £35 a month on a two-year contract, disappointing consumers hoping for a high-street price war over the device.
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December 10th, 2009 by
Lisa Francis
Computing.co.uk – Wales gets £44m supercomputing institute
The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills has announced a new £44m high-performance computing institute for Wales.
IT PRO – One in ten bring own laptop to the office
One in ten employees are bringing their own laptop to work, according to a survey from Gartner. The analyst firm expects that number to climb to 14 per cent by the middle of next year – although the UK is expected to be slower taking up the system compared to German and US counterparts.
IT PRO – Emerging markets to push mobile internet users past billion mark
Growth in emerging markets will help push the number of mobile devices accessing the internet to break one billion by 2013, according to IDC.
The Guardian – All phone lines to be taxed at £6 a year to pay for fast broadband
The government is pressing ahead with controversial plans to levy a £6 a year tax on all phone lines in Britain in order to fund the introduction of next generation broadband networks, Alistair Darling, the chancellor, confirmed today.
Computerworld UK – Europe has North-South digital divide, says report
A gaping geographical digital divide is emerging in the EU, with countries in the south such as Greece, Bulgaria and Romania being left behind by more technology savvy northern countries like Holland and Sweden, according to new research.
CBR – BT, Cisco launch new unified communication service
BT and Cisco have strengthened their collaboration by a breakthrough in unified communications (UC), with the launch of a cloud based IPT offering from BT’s Onevoice UCC portfolio. Together, the two companies are launching a scalable, business-grade, global hosted IP Telephony service, which reportedly allows businesses to reduce upfront investment costs.
Computer Weekly – Dell increases Twitter sales
Dell has sold $6.5m worth of equipment by using microblogging website Twitter. This represents a late surge because in June this year the company said it had made $3m of sales on Twitter over the previous two years.
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December 7th, 2009 by
Lisa Francis
Computing.co.uk – Northern Ireland to see £48 million broadband boost
Northern Ireland’s communications infrastructure will be boosted to the tune of £48m, following financial commitments from BT and the EAFRD, according to Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster.
BBC – Troubled £12bn NHS IT system to be scaled back
The government is to scale back its £12bn NHS IT system in what the Tories are calling a “massive U-turn”.
The Guardian – Forget the iPod: the iPhone orchestra really makes music mobile
A group of students will be performing in a concert next week using musical iPhone applications, programmed by students at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
IT PRO – Retailers geared up for ‘Mega Monday’
Online retailers face major traffic volumes on Monday 7 December, what e-retail body IMRG says will be the busiest online shopping day of the year for the UK. Retailers like Amazon, Play.com, Tesco and Argos will be expected to deal with hoards of online shoppers looking to buy gifts for Christmas, with a prediction that £350 million will be spent on Monday alone.
The Register – Mozilla lights fire under Thunderbird
Mozilla will step up the pace of on its Thunderbird mail and communications platform next year, to re-invigorate a “stagnant” email client scene.
The Financial Times – Apple buys internet music site Lala.com
Apple bought internet music site Lala.com late on Friday for an undisclosed amount, a development that could lead to the addition of streaming songs and new payment systems at Apple’s iTunes, the world’s biggest music retailer.
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October 5th, 2009 by
Lisa Francis
The BBC reported today that England’s World Cup qualifier in Ukraine on Saturday will be broadcast live, exclusively to internet subscribers who will be pay a minimum of £4.99 for the privilege – a first for any England match.
After buying the UK rights for the game, Setanta, the pay-TV firm collapsed. So, digital sport specialist Perform stepped in to stream the match exclusively online.
This raises the question of whether the Internet will prove robust enough to cope with the volume of subscribers logging on to watch the game. If the feed drops then how long will it take to fix, if at all? It was only last week that research from Cisco found that the UK’s broadband is ‘not fit’ for future demands and ranked it 25th out of 66 countries in terms of the quality and reach of its network – Can football fans nationwide put their faith in the country’s broadband offering to watch Saturday’s match seamlessly? I guess the proof will be in the pudding. If the network copes then this could see a new trend of exclusive sports fixtures being streamed online, but if it fails to make the grade then Perform will have a lot to answer for.
July 14th, 2009 by
Chris Measures
The market buzz around femtocells (mini base stations to pop in your house or office to boost reception) is getting louder. First Vodafone announced that it would supply them to consumers, using technology from picoChip and now Sprint and AT&T are competing to be the first to launch in the US. In Japan, NTT DoCoMo has started looking at applications – parents are automatically emailed when their child’s mobile phone enters the femtocell-equipped house. Annoying at 2am I’d imagine.
At their simplest, femtocells will improve in-building mobile reception for the large number of people outside urban areas/in thick walled buildings (me in both cases). But what’ll be interesting is how they develop. The opportunity is for service providers (whether mobile, fixed line or broadband suppliers) to deliver a one box solution that brings femtocells together with wireless streaming of content, broadband, fixed and mobile telephony to create a truly interoperable wireless home. I think this will drive wider adoption rather than tracking down errant offspring………
