12 March 2009
O2 and Vodafone consider network sharing
O2 and Vodafone, the UK’s leading mobile phone operators, are in advanced talks about sharing their wireless network infrastructure in the UK. The two groups are considering a network-sharing deal that could provide them with significant savings in capital and operating spending, according to people familiar with the talks. A deal might also help solve a bitter dispute over radio spectrum that is threatening the government’s plan for every household to have broadband internet access by 2012. One person familiar with the talks said the arrangements might also include the sharing of radio spectrum.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/07091f6c-0edf-11de-ba10-0000779fd2ac.html
Battery that ‘charges in seconds’
A new manufacturing method for lithium-ion batteries could lead to smaller, lighter batteries that can be charged in just seconds. Because of the electronic punch that they pack, gram for gram, lithium-ion batteries are the most common rechargeable batteries found in consumer electronics, such as laptops. However, they take a long time to charge; researchers have assumed until now that there was a speed limit on the lithium ions and electrons that pass through the batteries to form an electrochemical circuit.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7938001.stm
BBC team exposes cyber crime risk
Software used to control thousands of home computers has been acquired online by the BBC as part of an investigation into global cyber crime. The technology programme Click has demonstrated just how at risk PCs are of being taken over by hackers. Almost 22,000 computers made up Click’s network of hijacked machines, which has now been disabled. The BBC has now warned users that their PCs are infected, and advised them on how to make their systems more secure.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/7932816.stm
Google turns voicemail to email
Google Inc is seeking to blur the line between the telephone and the computer even further with the introduction of Google Voice on Thursday. The new service weaves traditional phone features with Google’s Gmail email product, allowing a person to store transcripts of voicemail phone messages in their email inbox and to find a specific nugget of information within a phone message as if trawling through a sea of emails.
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE52B0U720090312
Apple preps netbook 10-inch touch screen thingy
The web is aflame with rumors that a 10in, touchscreen “netbook” will arrive from Apple later this year. But we see things differently. As we reported on Monday, the rumor-fest began with a brief article on the Taiwanese industry-watching website DigiTimes that Apple’s iPhone-display supplier, Wintex, will be supplying Cupertino with touch-screen displays beginnning in the third quarter of 2009. That report was soon followed by articles from both Reuters and Dow Jones that cited other sources who said that the touchscreen display would be in the 9.7 to 10in range – about the same size as netbooks from a host of other companies.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/11/more_apple_netbook_rumors/
Carbon nanotubes to slim mobile phones
Super-lightweight ‘nantennas’ shown to work as well as copper. Is there anything that can’t be made lighter, stronger and cooler-sounding with carbon nanotubes? The latest technology to get a nano-makeover is mobile phone antennas – which could lead to lighter, smaller handsets in a matter of years. Carbon nanotube threads work well as an antenna because of something called the skin effect: electrons transfer well on the feather-light nanotubes because they want to go to the surface.
http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/future-tech/carbon-nanotubes-to-slim-mobile-phones-581877
Europe paves way for data roaming caps
The European Parliament this week voted in support of the European Commission’s proposals to place price caps on mobile data charges incurred by consumers when roaming in the EU. This means European consumers could see a reduction in the cost of sending a text message or downloading data while overseas by mid-summer.
http://www.telecoms.com/itmgcontent/tcoms/news/articles/20017626701.html
Forget the banks; we need fast broadband
If Tony Blair’s mantra was education, education, education then Gordon Brown’s should be bandwidth, bandwidth, bandwidth. Why? If Britain is to create new jobs for those lost in the global meltdown, one thing is certain – they will in some way be using broadband, or high-speed access to the internet. And the faster the speeds, the more likely the UK will be able to stake a claim to become a world leader in the mind-boggling new industries that superfast broadband will generate. Who dares wins.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/mar/12/broadband-internet
