16 June 2009
D-day for Digital Britain plans
Lord Carter’s Digital Britain report is today expected to introduce measures to protect the UK’s TV, film and music industries from internet piracy, with a crackdown on illegal downloads that could see repeat offenders punished by having their internet connections suspended. The wide-ranging report, to be published this afternoon, aims to provide a policy framework for the media, technology, telecoms, music and film industries. Proposals are expected to span issues from internet piracy to universal broadband access, solving Channel 4’s funding problems and helping ensure the future of regional media, including a local ITV news service.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jun/15/digital-britain-report
The Big Question: Is Britain finally on the verge of a digital revolution? – http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/online/the-big-question-is-britain-finally-on-the-verge–of-a-digital-revolution-1706047.html
Digital Britain: Gordon Brown backs broadband for all and regional TV news – http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jun/16/digital-britain-broadband-gordon-brown
Twitter Reschedules Maintenance To Allow Iranian Protests To Continue
Twitter had been planning to have a 90 minute downtime tonight for maintenance. Given what’s going on over in Iran right now, that was a problem. And so Twitter has decided to reschedule the maintenance so the protests can go on. This is a good move by Twitter. It clearly didn’t want to have to move the maintenance window that it calls a “critical network upgrade,” but the #nomaintenance hashtag that has spent the entire day on the trending topic list, made it pretty clear that Twitter’s users don’t want the service going down at all during this important time.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/06/15/twitter-reschedules-maintenance-to-allow-iranian-protests-to-continue/
Africa pioneers mobile bank push
Mobile financial services in the developing world could be worth $5bn by 2012, say analysts. CGAP – a consortium that works to expand financial services in developing countries – said the growth in mobile coverage was helping to fuel growth. The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) said it thought the number of people with access to a mobile phone, but no bank account, would to rise to 1.7 billion in 2012. It also expected more than one in five to use their mobile to access banking services, creating a market worth up to $5bn (£3.05bn).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8100388.stm
Samsung, Nokia heat up smartphone contest
The world’s two largest cellphone makers, Nokia and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, unveiled new phones on Monday, offering features comparable to iPhone and Pre, but at lower prices.”What is clear is that we are heading to one of the most competitive fourth-quarters we have had,” said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi. Samsung unveiled four new models to its Omnia range — the Omnia II, the OmniaLITE and two OmniaPRO models, and also launched a new mass-market “Jet” model with its full touch screen, a next-generation display and improved processor. Top cellphone maker Nokia launched three new handsets on Monday, including a new touch-screen model, the 5530 Xpressmusic,the E72 and the 3710 fold.
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSLF81135120090615
Adobe to Charge for Acrobat.com
Adobe Systems Inc., in a move underscoring the growing importance of reaching out to business customers outside of its core creative tools market, will start charging subscribers to use Acrobat.com as a collaboration tool. Adobe will from Monday charge subscribers to use one of two new premium plans to share documents and information online for meetings and ongoing projects. Acrobat.com includes productivity tools, including a word processor, the ability to create and share PDF documents without the need to send updates, and online meeting tools. Historically, the software to read Acrobat files has been given away free, but Adobe charges for the tools needed to create the documents.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124508215836215533.html
Twitter from your Commodore 64
Folks who love Twittering and think that it is the next best thing since sliced bread will be pleased to know that even the humble Commodore 64 will be able to handle all your Twitter needs with the Breadbox 64 application. Needless to say, this would mean the Commodore requiring an Internet connection, but that is not too large an obstacle as developer Johan Van den Brande points out. Heck, he even offers a step-by-step walktrhough alongside a free download to his app to get you started.
http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2009/06/breadbox_64_offers_twitter_on_commodore.html
