2005

Islington’s Free Wi-Fi ‘Technology Mile’ Goes Live
Wi-fi enabled North Londoners can now gorge their connectivity needs with the announcement by Islington Council that its ‘Technology Mile’ has gone live.
Located in Upper Street, Islington, the ‘Technology Mile’ runs from The Angel to Highbury Corner, providing one mile of unbroken free wireless broadband access to residents, businesses and any passing freeloader.
The service will be available to anyone with a suitably enabled Wi-Fi device, with surfers being directed to a customised council page featuring a comprehensive menu of council services, information and communication options including jobs, travel, e-Govt options, child care and advice services
Happily, there’s also direct access to the World Wide Web – all for nowt.
The second part of the project is to dish out computers to businesses in the area, so that customers can use these for free access.
The council are anticipating that locals may use the free access to pay off council bills and are hopeful that the service may stimulate commercial activity in the area.
“As London’s largest ‘hotzone’ Islington’s Technology Mile is a landmark in providing wide reaching community services directly on the street,” says Cllr Bridget Fox. “By offering free access to important council services and to the internet, the project addresses social inclusion head on and supports our ambition to turn Islington into an A1 Borough for all.
“The technology mile builds on other schemes the council has in place to help everyone to gain the benefits of internet access. I’m especially pleased with the second phase of the project, when we hope to begin work with selected local businesses, supplying PCs along Upper St business so they can offer free access to their customers.”
We like this scheme. There’s not much point in having free community Wi-Fi if only well-heeled laptop-toters can use it, but by ensuring public access to computers in the area, the walls of the digital divide could come crashing down.
The scheme comes with a few commercial risks – if the service proves to be fast and reliable, locals may cancel their commercial subscriptions and this may result in ISPs fighting back – in America, several commercial providers have already managed to get legislation passed to prevent free or low-cost municipal broadband services arguing that they’re uncompetitive.
Marc Meyohas, Chief Executive of Cityspace, the company who built the network gave out his love for the borough: “Islington is a progressive council with great vision; the Technology Mile proves what can be achieved for the community by taking the internet out of the restrictive arenas of homes and offices and truly integrating it into people’s lives.”
Islington Council
Cityspace
8 June, 2005
Gary McKinnon, Wood Green’s Biggest Hacker Faces Extradition
An unemployed Scottish man alleged to have carried out “the biggest military computer hack of all time” will appear in a London court today.
Clearly not one to merely dabble, Gary McKinnon, 39, faces extradition after being accused of gaining illegal access and fiddling about with files on no less than 53 US military and NASA computers over a 12-month period from 2001 to 2002.
Using software downloaded off the Internet, McKinnon allegedly hacked his way into almost 100 networks operated by NASA, the US Army, US Navy, Department of Defence and the US Air Force, with the US government estimating that his antics have cost around one million dollars (£570,000, €790,000) to track down and fix.
Originally from Milton, Glasgow, the north London resident was indicted in 2002 by a Federal Grand Jury on eight counts of computer-related crimes in 14 different States.
The indictment claims he successfully hacked into an Army computer at Fort Myer, Virginia and then indulged in a veritable orgy of hacking merriment after obtaining administrator privileges.
McKinnon is alleged to have transmitted codes, information and commands, deleted critical system files, copied username and password files and installed tools to gain unauthorised access to other machines before finishing off with a flurry and deleting around 1,300 user accounts.
In New Jersey, it’s claimed he hacked into the Earle Naval Weapons Station network and plundered 950 passwords a few days after 9/11, which resulted in the entire base being effectively shut down for a week.
With a sense of the dramatic, Paul McNulty, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, announced that “Mr McKinnon is charged with the biggest military computer hack of all time” at the time of his indictment in 2002.
Investigators found that many of the computers he allegedly hacked were ‘protected’ by easily guessed passwords, and although sensitive information was downloaded, no classified material was released.
Investigators found no evidence of data being offered to foreign governments or evil terrorist organisations, prompting his solicitor, Karen Todner, to suggest that the motivation for the extradition is political with the intent to make an example of McKinnon.
“The Crown Prosecution Service has the power and opportunity to charge Mr McKinnon, a British citizen, with offences for which he could stand trial in this country,” she said.
“However, they have chosen not to pursue this course of action and are allowing the American authorities to apply for the extradition of a British citizen,” Todner added.
If extradited and found guilty, McKinnon could face a maximum penalty of five years in the slammer and a £157,000 (~US $288,249.48 ~ €233,953.42) fine.
8 June, 2005
V600i 3G UMTS Phone From Sony Ericsson and Vodafone
Rather immodestly self-declared as ‘beautifully designed’, Sony Ericsson and Vodafone have announced their new V600i 3G phone.
Designed to take advantage of Vodafone’s live content streaming, the none-more-black phone ships with a veritable bucketload of multimedia features to keep even the most attention-deficient consumers entertained.
The phone sports a ‘direct video telephony button’ for quick access to the movie/video calling applications, with the 1.8 inch – 262.000 colour TFD screen acting as a viewfinder.
Naturally, there’s a camera on board, with Sony Ericsson bolting on a 1.3 MegaPixel jobbie with an active lens cover for quick snapping and protection
The V600i offers full 3G functionality, with Vodafone hoping that users will form a crack-like addiction to downloading the audio, video, gaming and other lucrative mobile wares for sale on the Vodafone live! portal.
Subscribers can also take advantage of the content streamed from the Vodafone live! site, including live sports and music videos.
As is de rigeur these days, the phone can be customised with downloadable wallpapers, with the 32MB internal memory capable of storing a whole symphony of irritating ‘individual’ ring tones.
There’s also a built in FM radio with a 3D Java gaming engine offering multiplayer gaming via Bluetooth.
But – hey! – life’s not all about fun and games for time-poor, cash rich execs, so there’s a suite of business applications onboard which can be synchronised with PCs via USB.
Cutting edge office hipsters keen to perfect that Nathan Barely look can also take advantage of the V600i’s Bluetooth support and strap one – or, what the heck, maybe even two – daft Bluetooth hands-free units to their ears.
The V600i will be available in Vodafone stores from early Q3 2005 onwards.
Sony Ericsson
Vodafone
8 June, 2005
ASA Rules NTL Broadband Not “5x faster”
NTL’s claim that 300K broadband offer was “more than 5 times faster than standard 56K dial-up internet” has been happy-slapped down by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), who condemned it as being in breach of TV Advertising Standards Code.
The offending broadcast appeared on Broadband UK (NTL’s own, self-promotional channel) and extolled the virtues of NTL’s “3 for £30” package, which lumps in a telephone service, a digital television service and a broadband internet service.
The advert claimed that NTL’s broadband service was “more than 5 times faster than standard 56K dial-up internet” with the presenter adding that subscribers could “e-mail your friends and family all around the world a lot faster, in fact five times faster”.
A viewer was having none of it, convinced that the advertisement was misleading, because he believed that NTL’s service was only five times faster than standard dial-up internet for downloading, with upload speeds creaking along at a stately 150K.
In other words, it definitely wasn’t five times quicker a standard dial-up internet connection. No way, Jose.
Issue was also taken with the curious suggestion that emails would somehow be received “five times faster.”
NTL put up a valiant but ultimately doomed attempt to back up their claims when they were hauled in front of the ASA.
The telecoms giant insisted that it was standard industry practice to refer to the speed of broadband only in terms of download speed and, to back up their case, readily snitched on a host of competitors making similar claims.
The ASA were having none of it, pointing out that with consumers increasingly using the internet to upload digital content (e.g. photo files) they were “more likely to interpret the claim as meaning that all internet use (downloading and uploading) would be five times faster unless told otherwise.”
The ASA ruled that the advertising was misleading and that NTL should have made clear that its claim “5 times faster than standard 56K dial-up” was limited to download speed.
The Authority also found that the claim about the “five times faster” email was equally likely to mislead viewers.
Suitably chastised and ‘umbled, NTL have agreed to change the wording of future advertisements. They now have a “grace period” of three months from 8 June to ensure that their wording stays within the ASA guidelines.
NTL Broadband
ASA
8 June, 2005
BenQ Confirms Siemens Mobile Purchase
After an eternity of “will they? won’t they?” rumours Siemens has announced that it is to flog its loss-making mobile-phones unit to the Taiwan-based BenQ Group.
The German conglomerate has stated that company will be shunted in the direction of the big boy BenQ business, who will acquire Siemens’ entire mobile phone business in a deal costing €350 million (~US$429m~£234.7m).
BenQ Group, which also produces mobile phones as well as a host of other consumer electronic gizmos like digital cameras, scanners and LCD screens, has confirmed that it is to acquire Siemens’ entire mobile phone business with more than 6,000 employees worldwide.
Through the haze of a soft focus lens, Klaus Kleinfeld, the CEO of Siemens AG whispered sweet nothings about his new bedfellow:
“With this partnership, we have found a sustainable perspective for our mobile phones business. BenQ and Siemens complement one another ideally. We will be uniting our strengths with BenQ’s highly successful consumer business. In addition, we also complement one another perfectly in terms of geography. This will give BenQ, which up until now has been very strong in Asia, access to the European and Latin American markets where we hold leading positions.”
Once they’ve got the company in their hot sweaty palms, BenQ will have the rights to use the Siemens brand and name for five years, with the business being headquartered in Munich, Germany.
Perhaps a little tipsy from wielding his fearsome buying power, BenQ Chairman & CEO K.Y. Lee roared “With the acquisition of Siemens’s mobile phones business, we are rapidly approaching our goal to become one of the world’s leading players in the mobile phone industry. Our expansion strategy will be strongly supported by this deal, as we can rely on a global organization with excellent employees, a well-established blue-chip customer base in the mobile business and a strong brand with high impact.”
BenQ are already one of the fastest-growing vendors in the mobile phones segment in their home Asian market and see the partnership with Siemens as a key part of their ambitious international expansion plans.
As part of the deal Siemens will acquire €50 million worth of new BenQ shares and will be budsying up with BenQ as a preferred partner for end-to-end mobile communication solutions.
“Siemens will continue to offer its customers in the telecommunications industry one-stop shopping for all their needs. With BenQ, we have found a partner who will supply us with the corresponding products. In addition, we will be collaborating closely in research and development. Moreover, we also intend to utilize synergies in jointly addressing customers and in our selling operations,” commented Lothar Pauly, the CEO of the Siemens Communications Group.
The agreement is subject to approval from BenQ’s shareholders and anti-trust authorities, with the company hoping to close the deal by the end of September.
BenQ
Siemens
7 June, 2005
AIM Mail: AOL Free 2GB Webmail Service Launches
America Online is taking on the likes of Yahoo, Hotmail and Google’s Gmail with its new free 2GB email service in the US, launched yesterday after trials earlier this year.
In a hope to lure storage-space spoilt customers in this highly competitive sector, AIM Mail is bundling in spam and virus protection and tight integration with AOL’s AIM Instant Messenger Service.
In a turnaround from previous policy, the freebie Webmail account will be available to all and sundry rather than just AOL members, a move AOL hopes will reverse faltering revenues and crashing subscriber figures.
Users will be able to log in with their existing AOL IM screen name as their e-mail address, with an updated version of the AIM 5.9 software offering one-click access to AIM Mail.
A system-wide auto-upgrade will begin rolling out over the AIM network this week, with AOL trying to tempt the 22 million AIM users subscribers with an online advertising campaign and a gift-tastic US-wide sweepstakes promotion.
AIM users activating their AIM Mail account can register for the opportunity to get a piece of the prize draw action, with daily giveaways including Starbucks gift cards, T-Mobile Sidekicks, Apple iPod Shuffles and Sony PlayStation Portables.
One lucky AIM Mail user will get to rev off in a 2005 MINI Copper S.
The new free service represents a hefty shift in AOL’s business strategy which has traditional involved charging users subscription fees for its services. Instead, the company is expecting to generate revenue from AIM Mail through banner ads – hence the punter-tempting monster giveaway promotion.
In a separate announcement, AOL has also announced that it will be dishing out unlimited email storage to its US ISP customers .
AOL
AOL AIM
7 June, 2005
United B757-200 First Certified For US Inflight Wi-Fi
United and Verizon Airfone have become the first companies to receive Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval to install Wi-Fi for use on US domestic commercial aircraft.
After extensive trials, approval was forthcoming after the two companies successfully demonstrated that using 802.11 b/g wireless technology within the cabin didn’t send the airplane into a loop-de-loop or spark off random explosions of Star Trek-esque white smoke.
Although the FAA approval currently only applies to the cabin of United’s B757-200 aircraft, it’s an important landmark on the way to enabling full high-speed wireless Internet access on board all United aircraft.
“Our research shows that connecting to the Internet is customers’ most preferred form of communication to the ground, and this certification is a crucial step to bring this inflight wireless access to our customers,” said Dennis Cary, United’s senior vice president-Marketing.
Verizon Airfone currently provides voice services and JetConnect(SM) Messaging services on United’s flights, and securing in-flight Wi-Fi Internet access is sure to be a coffer-filling money-spinner.
Verizon Airfone really had no option but to lead this initiative, someone was going to do it, and once done, all of Verizon Airfone’s high prices call revenue would be gone, as the Ilses started to run Skype on their laptops or PDA’s phones.
“Our wireless broadband system will require only the addition of an avionics box, a wireless access point and a directional antenna, making it the faster and more affordable choice for United and its passengers,” said Bill Pallone, president, Verizon Airfone.
Passengers desperate for some in-seat network fragging are going to have to wait on the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) scheduled “Air-to-Ground” spectrum auction to be held in the coming months. At the auction, providers will battle it out for lucrative service rights and the range of frequencies for onboard passenger access to the Internet.
Once a service provider is selected by the FCC, United should be able to meet their passengers’ Wi-Fi needs in double quick time with, no doubt, zillions of other airlines following their lead.
United Airlines
7 June, 2005
TalkTalk Attacks BT Landline Market
There’s a big battle going on for your landline, with the Carphone Warehouse limbering up to get in some telling punches into BT’s sector dominance.
TalkTalk UK – Carphone’s fixed line subsidiary – is looking to snaffle ten per cent of the UK’s fixed line market within the next three years, after recording what they describe as an “outstanding year”.
The company has soared into profit in only its second year of operation, despite hefty investment and marketing costs, with more than 920,000 fixed line users generating revenues of £123.6m (~US$225m~€183m).
Heady on success, sharp suited TalkTalk execs have sent the flipcharts flapping and come up with an ambitious target of signing up two million residential consumers by March 2008 – that’s one in ten of the UK’s fixed line market.
TalkTalk also plans to simplify the process for customers paying their call charges and line rental on a single bill – or “terminating the billing relationship with BT” as they like to call it.
Chief exec Charles Dunstone was ready with a quote: “We are now well on the way to developing a broad-based telecoms group, providing mobile and fixed line services to individuals and businesses across ten countries.”
“We have now proved that TalkTalk has all the ingredients to become the major alternative force in UK residential communications, and further regulatory change over the next year should allow us to move to the next level in both scale and range of service.”
The parent company, Carphone Warehouse, have also released bumper figures, reporting a 33.8% rise in pre-tax profits to £102.1 million (~US$185m ~€151m) in the 12 months to the end of March, against £76.3 million (~US$138m ~€113m) for the same period a year ago.
Turnover hopped, skipped and jumped up 27% per cent to £2.35 billion, operating profit soared up 45% to £107 million (~US$195m ~€158m), with Carphone Warehouse signing up 6.5 million new customers to mobile and fixed-line telephone services during the period (21.6 per cent higher than new connections for the previous year).
Crucially, revenues from telecoms services were up 45% to £804 million (~US$1,462m ~€1,190m), with operating profit flying up 50% to £22.5 million (~US$41m ~€33m).
“Our year-to-date connections growth of 20 per cent is particularly encouraging, especially in the context of a weaker consumer environment in the UK,” purred Charles Dunstone. “We remain confident of the outlook,” he added, before announcing that he was selling his first tranche of 6 million shares, or 2 percent, in the company.
Talk Talk UK
Carphone Warehouse
7 June, 2005
Apple To Use Intel Chips
The rumours have been floating around the Internet for weeks, but it now seems certain that Apple will announce later today that it will be switching its computers to Intel’s.
The move, certain to get some Mac diehards crying into their single button mouses, means the end of Apple’s partnership with IBM, whose PowerPC processors have powered Macs since 1994.
Insiders report that there will be a phased transition to Intel’s chips, with Apple planning to move lower-end computers like the Mac Mini to Intel chips in mid-2006 with beefier models like the Power Mac moving over in mid-2007.
The story first surfaced last month in the Wall Street Journal, but many analysts laughed it off saying that the move would be both difficult and risky.
But the rumours persisted, fuelled by comments by Anand Chandrasekher, VP and GM of Intel’s Mobile Platforms Group at the Computex trade show in Taipei last week.
When asked about the deal he said that the company has long pursued a deal with Apple, adding, “We always talk to Apple. Apple is a design win that we’ve coveted for 20 years and we continue to covet them as a design win. We will never give up on Apple.”
This isn’t the first time that Apple have shifted processors, with the company successfully changing over from Motorola’s 680×0 line of processors to the Power line (jointly made by IBM and Motorola) in the 1990s.
The switch seems to be have been prompted by several factors. IBM had previously been publicly slapped down by Apple for their chip delivery problems, and Apple’s plans for a wide variety of PowerPC processors wasn’t going down well with the Big Blue, who harboured doubts about the profitability of a low-volume business.
Although the loss of the Mac businesses is something of a slap in the face with a wet fish to IBM, shareholders can be consoled by the fact that the Power family processors will be used in future gaming consoles from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo.
Intel remains the Big Cheese of the PC processor business, hogging an 81.7 percent market share in the first quarter of 2005, compared with 16.9 percent for Advanced Micro Devices, according to recent research.
PowerPC processors aren’t included in these numbers, but Apple only have around 1.8 percent of the worldwide PC market.
Steve Jobs will be making his announcement at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference later today.
Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference
Apple
Intel
6 June, 2005
Laptops Out Sell Desktops In US
Sales of laptops outstripped the number of desktop PCs for the first time ever, according to Current Analysis.
Based on monthly sales in the US, the survey by ‘competitive intelligence’ experts Current Analysis says that notebook sales accounted for 53 per cent of the total personal computer market last month, whizzing up from 46 percent during the same period last year.
The survey was based on sales from a sampling of electronics retailers in the US (so it’s more of an educated guess than a scientific study) but it does reflect the growing mobility of consumers.
The report concluded that demand has been driven by falling laptop prices and increased performance, with Sam Bhavnani, senior analyst for Current Analysis adding, “Just a few years ago, the performance of notebooks was nowhere near where it is today.”
Once back-breaking beasts with a battery life measured in nano-seconds – and a price tag to make grown men weep – modern laptops are now faster, slimmer, more capable and, crucially, cheaper (laptop prices have fallen 17 per cent against a smaller 4 per cent fall for desktops).
It seems that computing consumers like to feel connected too, with 95 percent of laptops offering wireless connectivity – up from 80 percent last year.
“There used to be a time when people expected a reply to an e-mail within a couple of days. Now they expect a response within 24 hours. People want to stay connected wherever they are,” insisted Bhavnani.
Bhavnani predicts that notebooks will continue to devour bigger shares of the PC market, while sagely adding, “You’re not going to see the desktop go away, though.”
His barely-revelatory statement was backed up an announcement from Mike George, VP of consumer business for Dell US, who today revelaed that Dell will be launching a “luxury” range of computers, with their hoity-toity desktop and notebooks selling for between $1,200 (~£660, €979) and $3,500 (~£1,925, €2,855).
In the US, Toshiba rule the laptop roost, enjoying a hefty 26 percent of the market (according to NPD Group/NPD Techworld), followed by Hewlett Packard, with 21 percent; IBM, with 17 percent; Compaq, with 11 percent, and Sony, with 7 percent.
Current Analysis
6 June, 2005