Intel Demonstrates Teraflop Processor
by Brian TurnerIntel demonstrated its 80-core processor in San Francisco last week and will present a paper on the research behind it during the International Solid State Circuits Conference in the city this week.
Intel’s super-fast chip can produce 1 trillion floating-point operations per second – a speed known as a teraflop. Only a decade ago it [...]
Microsoft Introduces PlayReady DRM System
by Jan HarrisMicrosoft launched PlayReady at the 3GSM show in Barcelona – a new digital rights management system (DRM) which allows the use of commercial content on multiple different devices for a single fee.
The system allows operators to sell a range of media subscriptions, including subscription, rental, pay-per-view and preview services for music, ring-tones, games and [...]
IBM to offer Open Client for Apple & Linux
by Jan HarrisInternational Business Machines Corp. (IBM) is planning to offer an open desktop software system for businesses which will significantly reduce the cost of managing Apple or Linux computers relative to Windows.
IBM’s “Open Client Offering” features software which the company developed in-house and also with partners Novell Inc. and Red Hat Inc.
The new software allows [...]
Yahoo Pipes plays feeds
by Jan HarrisYahoo has released Yahoo Pipes, an interactive tool that lets people manipulate data feeds, like RSS, from Web sites.
Pipes provides a visual programming field that lets users filter, remix, and mash-up the feeds to create customised applications.
Mashup applications can include data from different Web services. A popular use is to take data from [...]
February 10, 2007
Vodafone To Provide YouTube Service
by Jan HarrisVodafone will soon make YouTube available to its mobile phone users in the UK. YouTube is a video sharing website which lets users upload, view, and share video clips.
Users of the service will be able to view a selection of videos from a list that is updated daily and upload their own videos directly [...]
New Search Engine May Understand Plain English
by Jan HarrisPalo Alto Research Center (PARC) in California is licensing a broad portfolio of patents and technology to Powerset, a well-financed start-up company, with the aim of developing a search engine that could eventually compete with Google.
Powerset is licensing PARC’s “natural language” technology, which enables computers to understand and process languages like English or French. [...]
February 9, 2007
Hackers targeted ICANN
by Brian TurnerIt has emerged that a concerted DDoS attack by cyberhackers attemped to disrupt the heart of the internet earlier this week.
A Distributed Denial Of Service (DDoS) attack can involve tens of thousands of PCs – usually hacked PC’s networked together – which then try to flood a target server network with useless information, until the [...]
NEC Warns on VoIP Spam
by Brian TurnerNEC, the networking vendor, expects telephony spam levels to soar to between 40% and 70% of all calls.
While sending junk messages is too expensive over traditional networks because of call charges, NEC believes that the volume of telephone spam, created via Botnet platforms, could explode as more telephony is delivered over IP networks.
NEC [...]
China First to Launch 4G Standard
by Jan HarrisChina has launched the world’s first fourth-generation standard despite the fact that it has not yet released 3G telephone services in mainland China.
According to the official ‘China Daily’, 4G has been rolled out in Shanghai by a group of 10 Chinese organisations. The group launched the B3G (Beyond 3G)/4G research project in 2001 under [...]
Retailers Plan To Upgrade Networks
by Jan HarrisResearch commissioned by Zycko Ltd, the convergent storage and IP company, found that 67% of UK retailers plan to upgrade their networks during 2007 with new open standards technology.
The Vanson Bourne survey of over 300 IT managers found that retail is one of the leading sectors for adopting innovative IT solutions. According to the [...]
Urban WiMax Providing Free London Service
by Jan HarrisUrban WiMax has revealed £4.4m plans to launch a free WiMax service in London.
According to Urban WiMax this will be the most advanced service available in the capital to date. The free trial will run from April through to July, when a full paid service will be launched.
Around 250 central London [...]
February 8, 2007
Europe leader in IPTV subscriptions
by Jan HarrisA study by analyst firm Canalys found that Western Europe accounts for two-thirds of worldwide IPTV subscribers. The main reason that Europe is leading the way in IPTV is the increased investment in networking technology in the region.
According to the research, overall IPTV industry revenues are $1bn a year, on total IPTV [...]
Windows Mobile 6 Announced
by Jan HarrisMicrosoft is planning to officially announce Windows Mobile 6, formerly code-named Crossbow, at the 3GSM trade show in Barcelona.
The new version of Windows Mobile features a revamp of the interface and a number of upgrades in common with Vista, such as improved search and security features and tighter integration with Windows Live services. It [...]
Amazon, TiVo Test New Movie Download Service
by Jan HarrisOnline retailer Amazon.com Inc. and TiVo Inc. are testing a service which enables users to watch videos rented or bought over the Internet directly on televisions.
The service is inline with a growing trend to link personal computers and TVs.
The partnership with TiVo strengthen’s Amazon’s Unbox download service, and gives it the edge on [...]
BT Talks To Wi-fi Sharing Network
by Jan HarrisAccording to a Reuters’ article, BT is talking to Spanish wi-fi sharing network FON about a landmark deal that would strengthen BT’s mobile service.
BT has recently started promoting the use of wi-fi as part of its Fusion fixed/mobile, broadband and mobile service.
BT has thousands of Openzone access points across the UK and abroad, where customers [...]
February 6, 2007
Online marketing spend increases share
by Brian TurnerAccording to Outsell, Inc., online marketing spend continues to accelerate – with print and TV media spend predicted to decrease over 2007.
The researchers interviewed 1010 advertising professionals about overall advertising spend, which revealed the following:
- Online spending to increase 18%
- Search marketing spend to increase by 39%
- PPC spend decrease 1%
- TV/radio/movie spend to decrease [...]
3 Reaches 90% of UK With 3G Services
by Brian TurnerMobile operator 3UK has announced that its third-generation services now cover 90% of the UK population.
3, which is owned by Hutchison Whampoa of Hong Kong, is now the leading UK 3G provider, followed by Orange which covers 85% of the UK population. Vodafone has nearly 80% coverage, T-Mobile covered 70% of the UK at the [...]
New Service To Rival Google AdSense?
by Jan HarrisFast Search & Transfer has unveiled a new service – Fast AdMomentum – which will allow online publishers to display private-label, contextually relevant ads on their Web sites.
The service means that companies will be able to make money by selling ads to advertisers without involving an ad agency or network. It has the potential [...]
February 5, 2007
Microsoft pushes IE7 browser safety
by Brian TurnerMicrosoft has upgraded its computer systems, allowing Web sites fitted with a new type of security certificate to display a green-filled address bar in IE7. The green bar is meant to indicate that the site can be trusted.
Microsoft plans to promote the green bar at next week’s RSA Conference in San Francisco – an [...]
Vista kills iTunes
by Brian TurnerWindows users running iTunes software could face a number of compatibility issues if they upgrade to Microsoft’s new Vista operating system.
PC’s running Vista may experience problems playing music or video purchased and downloaded to the desktop iTunes player from the iTunes Store. Problems have also been experienced with synchronising address book contact and calendar functions, [...]