The Venice Project launches Joost
by Brian TurnerThe Venice Project – developed by the founders of Skype to provide IPTV – have announced it’s official launch as Joost.
The intention is to provide full-screen broadcast quality internet TV, and to provide free programming that is funded by advertising.
However, concerns have already been raised about the bandwidth requirements involved, and that some users may [...]
Hewlett-Packard Develops Chips With Nanowires
by Jan HarrisHewlett-Packard plans to publish a paper outlining how the performance of certain types of chips can be enhanced by replacing the communication wires inside the chips with an overhead grid of nanowires.
This innovative architectural concept hopes to address the problem of how to continue to shrink chips and the components inside chips.
To date [...]
Sun Microsystmes Releases Open Source Fortress
by Jan HarrisSun Microsystems has released an open-source software prototype called Fortress “interpreter”.
The software is a programming tool to execute Fortress programs line by line.
Fortress is the planned replacement for Fortran, a programming language launched in the 1960s by IBM. Fortran is still used for high-performance computing tasks such as forecasting the weather. [...]
January 15, 2007
Apple attacks iPhone clones as Cisco may lose trademark
by Brian TurnerA number of programs have begun appearing online that mimick the Apple iPhone’s iconic appearance, for use on other products.
One is a mock-up of the Apple iPhone interface for a Pocket PC running Windows; Another is a theme customised for a Palm OS device.
However, Apple has reacted angrily to the flattery and begun issuing legal [...]
January 14, 2007
On2’s Codecs Speed Net Video
by Jan HarrisOn2 Technologies demonstrated its TrueMotion VP6 and VP7 codecs at the CES show in Las Vegas.
The codecs can compress high-definition video down to 2Mbps, significantly increasing the speed at which it can be transmitted over the Internet.
Codecs are mathematical formulas that enable very large digital-video files to be compressed and decompressed with [...]
January 11, 2007
HP Releases MediaSmart TV
by Brian TurnerHewlett Packard have released the MediaSmart TV, which is intended to act as an extended Media Center for Windows Vista.
HP’s MediaSmart TV is fitted with 801.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi adaptors and Ethernet ports, allowing it to act as a wireless Media Center Extender for Windows Vista. Movies stored on a PC can be shown in the [...]
UK Schools Told to Avoid Vista
by Jan HarrisThe British government’s schools computer agency has advised schools not to install Microsoft’s Vista operating system within the next 12 months.
The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency believes that there are no new essential features with the systems and that technical and financial issues involved with its deployment make it a high-risk strategy.
The advice [...]
Google: Update in progress
by Brian TurnerGoogle engineer Matt Cutts has announced a new Google update is in progress.
Although he reports that PageRank is only publically updated quarterly, the actual value is updated more or less daily on Google’s servers.
Matt Cutts also tried to reassure webmasters that having pages in the “supplemental index” is simply an issue of PageRank, with higher [...]
Content strategies for traffic and sales
by Brian TurnerOne of the key mantras at present for marketing and promotional – especially SEO – purposes, is to focus on developing great and unique content on your website.
There are various options available – but all of them are likely to require a significant investment of both time and money.
The question is whether the investment may [...]
Managers fail to find useful information
by Brian TurnerA study by Accenture has found that company managers waste at least an hour every workday on useless information.
The study, which interviewed 1000 managers across the US and UK, found managers spend around 2 hours each day trying to find information – but at least half of what they find is “useless”.
Failures in communications include [...]
Apple sued over iPhone – more to follow?
by Brian TurnerAfter the high-profile launch of the Apple iPhone on Monday, Cisco has stepped in with a legal suit for trademark infringement.
Cisco-owned company Linksys already owns the trademark on the iPhone, and has done since the purchase of Infogear in 2000.
Although talks between Apple and Cisco had taken place, and although it was believed a licencing [...]
January 10, 2007
Government to kill websites
by Brian TurnerThe UK government is to cull over 550 of it’s existing websites.
The aim of the move is to concentrate more information into existing sites, to develop them into “supersites” – ie, websites that will be more frequently used and visited.
The government has been previously criticised over the number of websites it runs. In 2003, the [...]
Microsoft Gatineau analytics in development
by Brian TurnerMicrosoft are apparently are developing a website analytics program called Gatineau.
The analytics program is rumoured to be a free offering to compete with Google Analytics, a free program supplied by Google.
The public aim of analytics programs is the ability to provide very detailed visitor information to websites, especially for tracking conversions.
Privately, though, there have been [...]
Google criticised over copyright of Google Books
by Brian TurnerAccording to Google Blogoscoped, Google is seeking to enforce restrictions on use of copyright-free books from the Google Books project.
The Google Books project has seen a lot of criticism raised at it, especially when the project attempted to make digital copies of copyrighted material – without the permission of the copyright holders.
Now the allegation is [...]
January 9, 2007
Official: Apple iPhone launched
by Brian TurnerIt’s official – the long-rumoured Apple iPhone will be launched this year.
And it’s not simply a phone, but a widescreen iPod, mobile phone and mobile internet device all in one.
Steve Jobs provided the first tour of the “internet multimedia device” at MacWorld Expo, hailing that Apple had “reinvented the phone”.
It has no buttons – everything [...]
MyBlogLog acquired by Yahoo!
by Brian TurnerYahoo! has acquired popular blogging platform MyBlogLog for a rumoured $10-12 million.
The acquisition continues Yahoo’s trend of acquiring social networking sites.
According to Yahoo! VP Bradley Horowitz, the site will remain a distinct entity – but will allow signup via a Yahoo ID, as well as being integrated with Flickr and Yahoo Answers.
MyBlogLog is unusual [...]
VoIP connects with Phillips DECT and Netgear
by Brian TurnerThe world of VoIP – Voice over Internet Protocol – saw a boost today, when Phillips and Netgear both announced dual-use VoIP and Dect phones.
Phillips began the foray, announcing the launch of the VOIP841 and VOIP443 at CES.
Both are dual-use DECT and VoIP handsets – which means that they can be used as [...]
January 8, 2007
Gates opens on Digital Decade
by Brian TurnerMicrosoft boss Bill Gates has opened the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), promising that the Digital Decade is here.
CES is a major calendar point for many software and hardware companies, and a traditional place for major industry announcements – proceeded by intense speculation.
There have already been rumours that Apple may announce a partnership with Google over [...]
January 5, 2007
4Radio Offers Free Content to PSP Users
by Brian TurnerChannel 4, in an agreement with Wi-Fi provider The Cloud, is launching a two-month trial offering free content to Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) users. The new service will allow 4Radio podcasts to be downloaded to PSP games consoles.
Programmes will be designed specifically for PSP owners including news programmes, content from SlashMusic and updates on [...]
Wireless broadband for car drivers
by Jan HarrisAutonet Mobile has announced a new wireless service for vehicles, which provides in-car interet connectivity via WiFi Hotspot technology in the USA. The company plans to launch the technology at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on January 8.
Autonet Mobile will offer the service – the first always-on broadband Internet service for cars – [...]