BT Tradespace registers 21,000 small businesses
by Jan HarrisBT’s Tradespace website and ecommerce platform has signed up 21,000 small businesses since its launch in April.
Tradespace allows small business to offer their products on the Internet, without incurring the expense of setting up and maintaining a website.
Up to five products can be listed for free, which customers can purchase via PayPal. [...]
SST develops FlashMate hybrid hard drive
by Jan HarrisFlash memory specialist, SST (Silicon Storage Technology),and Insyde Software Corp, have developed FlashMate hybrid hard drive technology, which allows data to be read, even when the computer is switched off.
The technology combines hardware, firmware and software in a system application subsystem which manages a laptop’s hard drive.
It allows a laptop user to access data [...]
Belfast Telegraph to go offline though inept IT
by Brian TurnerThe Belfast Telegraph website is in danger of going offline in a matter of days – because they failed to renew their domain name in July.
After noticing this, Britecorp contacted their IT dept offering to help use their specialise domain capture service and grab the domain and return it – all free of charge.
Instead, the [...]
October 11, 2007
Marketing potential in global markets
by Brian TurnerSandra Niehaus visits WebbyConnect 2007 and provides a seriously in-depth coverage – but something that really struck out was the presentation by Vint Cert on internet use and presentation as measured across the globe:
Live from WebbyConnect 2007 – part 3
Approximately 3.6 billion telephone terminal, including 2.5 billion mobiles
Asia has 436.8 million internet users, but only [...]
Google is world’s top search engine
by Jan HarrisAccording to a global study by comScore, Google was the global leader for searches in August.
During the month, over 61 billion searches were performed by more than 750 million users, and 37 billion of these searches were carried out via Google.
Google was responsible for more searches than all the other major search engines combined. [...]
SMEs unsure of data protection responsibilities
by Jan HarrisNew research commissioned by Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), finds that small and medium-sized enterprises are less aware of the principles of the Data Protection Act than larger organisations.
Less than a quarter of the SMEs surveyed were aware that they are required to keep customer information accurate and up to date under the Act, and [...]
October 10, 2007
Google acquires messaging application Jaiku
by Jan HarrisGoogle is acquiring Jaiku, a mobile social-networking provider based in Helsinki, Finland.
Jaiku announced the merger on its site, along with the news that it has decided to temporarily close new-user sign-ups while it focuses on innovation.
It may also be to give the company time to move the service from its existing host, the [...]
October 9, 2007
PRAM products available by 2011
by Jan HarrisThe Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) of Taiwan is confident that phase-change memory products (PRAM) will be available within three years, while magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM) could be available by the end of 2008.
ITRI started developing phase-change memory in 2005, in partnership with six Taiwanese chip makers.
The group has been awarded 50 patents for the [...]
IBM unveils new mashup tool
by Jan HarrisIBM has released a preview version of a new mashup tool which allows businesses to remix information and data from different sources to create new applications.
IBM’s Mashup Starter Kit is available at its AlphaWorks site in preview version, and will be available commercially in the first quarter of 2008 for Windows, Linux, and possibly [...]
October 8, 2007
Orange boosts mobile signal for businesses
by Jan HarrisOrange is preparing to launch business hardware that improves indoor mobile coverage.
Orange’s Onsite Coverage services uses Picocells – small, low-powered, indoor cellular base stations which can be installed in offices.
The devices have been trialled in Switzerland and will be launched in France, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and the UK during 2008. Orange is the first mobile [...]
October 5, 2007
Google testing AdSense for YouTube
by Jan HarrisGoogle is believed to be beta testing AdSense ads embedded into YouTube video players.
The technology would allow publishers to embed YouTube clips in their websites and generate revenue via AdSense. An AdSense unit would appear above the clip.
The ads will only be delivered on custom players and can be targeted by category [...]
October 4, 2007
Google gains market share in China
by Jan HarrisGoogle Inc is catching up with Chinese rival Baidu, after years of trying to increase its presence in China, the world’s second-largest Internet market after the United States.
Google gained more market share in China after announcing a partnership with Chinese Internet portal, Sina Corp. It has also entered into another partnership with Web site, Tianya.cn.
In [...]
Yahoo upgrades email with DomainKeys
by Jan HarrisYahoo is upgrading Yahoo Mail with DomainKeys technology designed to block phishing spam and bogus emails purporting to come from eBay and PayPal.
Phishing scams usually consist of emails which claim to be from trusted sources. They direct the recipient to a Web site where they are instructed to enter their user name and password. [...]
October 3, 2007
Blog spammers hack archive.org
by Brian TurnerBlog spammers have exploited a vulnerability in the archive.org website, in order to redirect users to paid-for pharmaceuticals listings.
The practice has unfortunately become increasingly common, with innocent websites being hacked or otherwise exploited in order to try and capture traffic from Google.
The method arises because Google Search has an element in its ranking algorthm that [...]
Yahoo and Microsoft announce new features
by Jan HarrisBoth Yahoo and Microsoft have upgraded their search engines in an effort to gain ground on market leader Google.
Google accounts for over half of all Internet searches and holds 75% of the search market in the UK.
Microsoft has upgraded its Live Search service, while Yahoo has provided a more refined search facility, plus [...]
Technology companies call for data breach law
by Jan HarrisAccording to a survey by Intellect, the trade association for the UK technology industry, over 50 per cent of the UK’s technology companies would support legislation requiring companies to notify customers of data breaches.
The preliminary results of the survey also show that 50 per cent of respondents believe the legislations should cover both public [...]
October 2, 2007
Microsoft launches startup accelerator programme
by Jan HarrisMicrosoft has launched its Startup Accelerator Programme in the UK. The programme has been running in the US since August.
The programme aims to help fledgling UK companies with high potential, by providing technical support and guidance on Microsoft technologies.
Platforms in the programme include Microsoft’s Silverlight, Microsoft’s multimedia browser plug-in, and Microsoft’s Live [...]
October 1, 2007
UK least affected by malware in Europe
by Jan HarrisA study by Panda Software, using an online malware measuring tool called Nanoscan, showed UK PCs as having the lowest level of malware infection in Europe.
France had the highest percentage of PCs with active malware, at 28.2 percent, followed by Mexico with 23.1 percent of PCs infected, Brazil with 18 percent, the US with [...]
Adobe acquires Buzzword word processor
by Jan HarrisAdobe has acquired Massacusetts software developer, Virtual Ubiquity, the developer of Buzzword, a web-based word processor which allows users to create and share text documents on the Internet.
Microsoft has also recently announced a similar feature for its Office suite – Microsoft Office Live Workspace – which allows user to access documents online, including Word, [...]