Mike Slocombe

Sidekick II Released By T-Mobile Germany
The mobile Internet handset – developed by Danger and manufactured by Sharp Corporation – will be made available on service contract for £68.70 (~€100, ~US$125).
For just £10.30 (~€15, ~$18.84 USD) a month, users can enjoy unlimited data use when combined with any of T-Mobile’s voice plans, with the monthly data charge being waived for the first month for new T-Mobile Sidekick II customers.
The feature-stuffed handset includes a mobile phone, push email, instant messaging, HTML Web browser, text-messaging, calendar, address book, an integrated digital camera and the option to download applications and content.
Users will also get access to a Web-based, online account to manage their data from the desktop.
“The T-Mobile Sidekick II’s ease-of-use and complete set of voice and data applications have made it the featured product in our ‘Internet in your pocket’ initiative,” said Michael Schuld, Vice President Terminal Management T-Mobile Germany.
Beating at the heart of the T-Mobile Sidekick II is Danger’s “hiptop” software and services infrastructure.
Claimed to deliver a “superior mobile Internet experience to end users”, the thin client/server system takes care of the secure transmission of data between the network and the device, accelerates Web-page downloads and automatically opens files sent via email.
“Danger’s popular mobile Internet experience, combined with T-Mobile Germany’s excellent network, customer care and marketing might is an ideal match,” PR-ed Hank Nothhaft, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Danger.
Also known as the Hiptop 2, the 130 x 66 x 22 mm (5.1″ x 2.6″ x 0.9″) handset features a flip Transflective TFT 240×160 pixel screen and an integrated VGA (640 x 480 pixel) camera.
The tri-band (900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS unit comes with 32 MB RAM and 16 MB Flash, with a built in speakerphone and Lilliputian QWERTY keyboard.
T-Mobile are also releasing a “trendy” version of the Sidekick, resplendent in distinctly un-macho pink sparkly bits.
But that’s not for us. Oh no.
Hiptop 2
T-Mobile Germany
2 June, 2005
EU To Unify Wireless And Broadcast Rules
The European Commission has announced plans to create a single set of European Union rules on broadcasting and the wireless spectrum.
The proposals are aimed at easing restrictions on advertising and encouraging Internet and mobile phone media to do their thang. The proposals will also allow telecommunications companies to trade their expensive third generation mobile licenses.
At the moment it’s a bit of a free for all in Europe, with each country free to set its own broadcasting rules. The fact that the last EU guidelines were penned way back in 1989 – before mobile telephones and the Internet hit the mainstream – has added to the confusion.
“It would be unfair if traditional broadcasting were to be regulated very heavily, and new broadcasters on mobile phones and the Internet were subject to no rules,” observed Commission spokesman Martin Selmayr.
The new proposals form part of a five-year strategy to turbo-charge the European digital economy, although they’ll still have to circumnavigate acres of EU red tape, with all changes needing to be formally proposed and approved by the European Parliament and national governments.
The main thrust of the proposal by the Commission involves loosening advertising rules for traditional TV broadcasters, letting them foist more than the current advertising limit of 20% a day on hapless viewers.
The proposal will also see the end of enforced ‘ceilings’ on commercial breaks.
“These rules should be more flexible. It should be up to the programmer to decide when to interrupt a football match or a soap opera,” said Selmayr.
Currently, Internet and mobile phone broadcasters are compelled to respect diverging national rules, which could cover anything from security to anti-racist legislation. The new proposals would mean that they would only have to comply with their own country’s domestic broadcasting rules.
Europe is also looking to free up the highly lucrative wireless spectrum – currently worth something like €9 billion (~US$11bn ~£6bn) a year – and hopes that digital frequencies used by services such as mobile phone operators, police radar and radio will be brought under centralised EU control by the end of 2005.
“Such a policy is required if we want to make efficient and cross-border use of this very valuable economic resource,” insisted Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding said.
EU officials have stated that by centralising control of the use and trading of spectrum and frequencies, the trading of third-generation mobile licenses could be sped up.
Most national regulators have made 3G license trading verboten, with many telecoms companies being forced to take on an almighty pile of debt to buy the licenses.
The proposals were welcomed by ETNO, a lobby group for Europe’s telecommunications networks operators, while adding that “one of the main challenges of the initiative will be to develop a set of policies that continue to foster competition whilst at the same time creating incentives to innovate.”
European Commission
i2010 – A European Information Society for growth and employment
2 June, 2005
.xxx Porno Domain Approved
Saucy sensation seekers and sleazy surfers will be rewarded with their very own porn-friendly set of .xxx domains before the end of the year.
The Web’s virtual red-light district has been approved by ICANN, the non-profit organization responsible for Internet addresses.
ICANN has announced that it is working with the ICM Registry to finalise the new top-level domain details (other top-level domains awaiting a decision from ICANN are .asia, .mail, and .tel)
In an interview last year, Stuart Lawley, chairman of the ICM Registry, stated that .xxx domain names would cost around US$60 (~£32 ~€47.8) and have no restrictions on content, so long as sexually explicit material only featured adults.
“Apart from child pornography, which is completely illegal, we’re really not in the content-monitoring business,” he said.
It is hoped that pornsters will voluntarily shift from their current .com addresses, thus making it easier for parents to filter out adult material, but in an industry not exactly renowned for its high moral stance, we anticipate that not all will be wiling to switch from their lucrative, high profile domains.
Moreover, with the $60 price tag being around ten times higher than the cost of many dot-com names, we suspect that many porno kings will stick with the cheapest option. The wannabe-Bonking Baron’s that don’t currently have established sites with prize domain names are bound to pile into the .xxx domains – either to use them or with the hope of selling them on.
It’s common knowledge that the ‘right’ porn domain can bring a near guaranteed financial fortune. The long disputed sex.com domain is widely thought to have brought in up to $1m/month, simply from banner ads.
The ICM Registry plans to handle the technical aspects of running the master database of .xxx sex sites, with the non-profit International Foundation For Online Responsibility (IFFOR) charged with setting the rules for the .xxx domain.
The IFFOR will have a seven-person board of directors, featuring a selection of bizarre job titles such as “child advocacy advocate” and “free-expression aficionado” along with some big-hatted, cheroot smoking, pink Chevvy-driving dude from the adult entertainment industry.
Unlike the milk-snatcher Margaret Thatcher, the ICANN’s decision proves that they are definitely for turning – in November 2000, the ICANN staff rejected ICM Registry’s first application after objecting to domains such as .kids and .xxx.
An outrage of politicians were quick to deride the decision with the Republican Fred Upton demanding to know why ICANN didn’t approve the .xxx domain “as a means of protecting our kids from the awful, awful filth, which is sometimes widespread on the Internet”.
With a little less hand-wringing, Sen Joseph Lieberman complained to a federal commission that the domain would be an essential means to force adult Webmasters to “abide by the same standard as the proprietor of an X-rated movie theatre”.
The American Civil Liberties Union has expressed its concerns about .xxx domains, suggesting that some uptight nations may force sites dealing with sensitive topics such as gay rights, homosexuality or birth control into the easily blocked .xxx zone.
ICM Registry – Sponsored Voluntary Adult TLD Application
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
International Foundation for Online Responsibility
2 June, 2005
Live 8 Event: AOL To Broadcast
AOL has announced it will broadcast the Live 8 concerts in London, Philadelphia, Paris, Rome and Berlin online for free.
As “Live 8’s exclusive online partner”, America Online will stream all of the Live 8 concerts online, with the shows being available for six weeks after the event, viewable in the US and on free AOL portals in England, France, and Germany. The videos will be free of cost with no AOL subscription necessary.
The global event, organised by Bob Geldof, is intended to highlight the problem of global poverty and features a veritable galaxy of veteran stars who have dusted off the cobwebs to take part.
The free London Hyde Park concert will include seasoned acts such as Sir Elton John, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Sir Paul McCartney, Sting, U2 and R.E.M, with Stevie Wonder, Bon Jovi, 50 Cent and P. Diddy scheduled to appear in the Philadelphia show.
With emotive violins reaching a tearful crescendo, America Online chairman and CEO Jon Miller splurted: “We have seen the Internet emerge as an incredibly powerful force for good in the world…with Live 8, we have the chance to help eradicate global poverty, not by raising money, but by linking people from around the globe, so that their collective voices can be heard loud and clear.”
“Nothing like this has ever been done on this scale before, and we are proud to be a part of it,” added Miller, before going off to shine his halo.
Organiser Bob Geldof explained the aim of the Live 8 concerts was to create attention and “political heat” to persuade G8 leaders to agree to cancel Africa’s unpayable debts, double aid for the continent and make trade fair.
Geldof boomed: “The G8 leaders have it within their power to alter history. They will only have the will to do so if millions of people show them that enough is enough.”
With demand expected to be off the scale, mobile operator O2 has been charged with providing the mechanism for distributing the 150,000 free tickets for the Live 8 Hyde Park show.
The tickets will be made available through via a Text lottery, to be announced at 8am on Monday 6 June via TV, radio and newspapers.
For those unable to get tickets, the show can be seen on giant BBC screens in the centre of major cities across the UK including Birmingham, Hull, Liverpool, Manchester, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Belfast, Leeds and Wrexham.
Live 8
Global Call to Action against Poverty
‘Live Aid’ Returns With Concerts Around the Globe
2 June, 2005
8Meg Bulldog DSL Goes UK Wide
Bulldog Communications, the Internet and telecom group owned by Cable & Wireless, is rolling up its sleeves and shouting “Oy! Let’s be ‘aving you!” at its rivals as it doubles the speed of its broadband offering to a super-swifty 8 megabits-per-second from 4 megabits, and spread it across the UK.
With its local loop unbundling (LLU) cutting BT out of the loop, Bulldog can offer highly competitive prices, letting subscribers get broadband at speeds of up to 8 meg.
Prices start at £15.50 (~US$28 ~€22) for eight hours online a month with their ‘Start@ctive’ package.
The unlimited ‘Inter@ctive’ 8 meg product costs £29.50 (~US$53 ~€42) a month, with the ‘Super@ctive’ package bundling in free unlimited local and national calls for £41.50/month (~US$75 ~€60).
It should be noted, however, that punters have to install Bulldog’s telephone service to enjoy the @ctive prices.
Like a crack dealer giving out free samples, Bulldog is offering the first month’s broadband service for just one pound in the hope that customers will get addicted to their high speed service.
A bullish Bulldog CEO Emanuele Angelidis insisted that the launch of the 8 meg service showed how the LLU operator was “redefining the boundaries of the broadband market”.
“Eight meg from Bulldog, with no download caps, gives customers the freedom to use the Internet as they wish,” he growled before retiring to his executive kennel.
Elsewhere, a spokesman for BT could be heard conceding that Bulldog’s pricing was “an interesting proposition … and a sign of a very healthy broadband market”.
Although competition in this sector is white hot, BT remains the King Dong of the UK telecoms market, although it is yet to announce anything as fast as an 8 megabit broadband service.
Currently, entry level broadband products tend to offer miserly speeds of around 256Kbps, although pricing pressure has seen major players such as BT, Tiscali, AOL and Wanadoo offering 1Mbps or 2Mbps broadband deals for around £14.99 (~US$27, ~€22) to £29.99 (~US$54, ~€44) per month.
C&W have been embarking on a broadband spending spree recently, announcing last week that it was doubling its investment in LLU to provide broadband coverage to 800 telephone exchanges – adding up to around 30 percent of homes and businesses across the UK.
Bulldog Broadband
1 June, 2005
DABplus With EPG Launched By Frontier Silicon
Frontier Silicon has launched a new module that claims to bring personal-video-recorder (PVR) like capabilities to DAB digital radio.
The newly introduced DABplus brings a combination of a smarty-pants electronic programme guide (EPG) and advanced recording and timer capabilities to its successful Venice module.
Just like a PVR, DABplus will let radio listeners shuffle through a guide detailing up to seven days of programmes and select what they want to listen to (or record via the built in timers).
Recordings can be saved onto a memory card on the same radio or played back on any compatible audio unit.
With a Tim Henman-esque clenched fist action, Anthony Sethill, CEO of Frontier Silicon whooped up the benefits of his company’s new product, “This will revolutionise digital radio just as PVR has revolutionised the television viewing experience.”
The Venice module comes with all the necessary components pre-installed, making it easy for manufacturers to start churning out DAB radios by simply bolting on a power source, antenna, display and keypad (it’s probably a bit more difficult than that, but you get our gist).
The module contains the Chorus processor which has already proved a hot potato in the DAB world, shifting over two million units.
Frontier Silicon’s software provides an interface through which EPG and dynamic service information (DLS) can be viewed, with scrolling text allowing information ‘wider’ than the 16-character screen to be seen.
Anthony Sethill added, “The addition of DABplus to our market leading modules will help accelerate the adoption of new broadcast features such as EPG and is therefore an important next step for the digital radio market.”
Frontier Silicon
1 June, 2005
Men Remain Moguls Of The Mobile:Cingular Wireless
A survey by Cingular Wireless has revealed that men spend more time yakking on mobiles than women.
For the fifth year on the trot, the annual survey has men coming out on top of the blabber’s league, with the fellas talking 35 percent more on their wireless phones than women – more than double the 16 percent lead men held in 2004.
“The results are undisputable, and after five consecutive years, men are definitely the top wireless talkers,” said Jennifer Bowcock, Director of Consumer Media Relations, Cingular Wireless.
It may seem at odds with the experience of some blokes, but the survey concluded that men communicate, grunt, leer, mumble or beerily chortle down their phones for an average of 571 minutes a month, compared to an average of 424 wireless minutes a month for women.
Traditionally, the home phone has been the favoured instrument of choice for women keen to sit down with a cup of tea and hog the phone forever, and this is reflected by the study which shows that women natter for 491 minutes each month against the 321 minutes per month for men.
The gap is narrowing though, down from 62 percent in 2004 to 53 percent in 2005.
Even when it comes to the traditional male domain of gadget owning, women still lead the way, with 25 percent of women owning a camera-capable cell phone in 2005, against only 21 percent of men.
Women aren’t afraid to get snapping either, with 60 percent using their camera feature frequently or occasionally against 40 percent of men using it as often.
The survey also discovered that men and women use wireless phones for different purposes, with 82 percent of the lay-dees using their phones to talk to family and friends, while only 62 percent of blokes use their phones for that purpose.
However, figures revealed that men spend twice as much time using their cell phones for business than women.
The survey concluded that convenience still remains the numero uno reason for both sexes using their mobile phones, with 62 percent indicating they primarily use their wireless phones for convenience purposes. Safety comes in second at 19 percent.
Cingular Wireless
1 June, 2005
Broadband Beats Dial-Up In The UK
Research from BT shows that the number of users connecting to the Internet via broadband has overtaken dial-up subscriptions for the first time, with 7.4 million broadband customers (including cable) now online.
The figures, released by the BT Group, reveal that it has taken just over three years for broadband connections to overtake dial-up, with millions bidding farewell to “KKKKK-ER-ZRRRR-WEEIR!” modem dial up sounds for the silent, swift appeal of always-on broadband.
The speed of uptake has been accelerated by the intense competition from a host of high-speed Internet service providers, all offering customer-tempting speedier connections and services at ever-falling prices.
Initially, broadband availability was geographically limited, but according to Ben Verwaayen, the chief executive of BT, connections are now available to 99.6 per cent of the UK population, “equivalent to the proportion with running water.”
Businesses have been quick to take advantage of broadband’s ability to handle significantly more data than dial-up, with always-on connectivity delivering commercial advantages in the global markets.
High speed connections are also good news to those selling goods and services online, with an explosive growth in the consumer market for buying media online, such as films, music and television.
Mr Verwaayen said: “I know people’s memories are short but I don’t think that anybody three years ago had even the faintest hope this would happen. I remember when I came into BT [April 2002] it was not in anyone’s imagination.”
Cash is still rolling into broadband investment, with Cable & Wireless announcing last week that it would be shelling out another £70m (~US$127m ~€m)to expand its Bulldog broadband brand.
Bulldog is currently handling 14,000 customer orders a month after launching last year at a cost of £41m (~US$74m, ~€103m).
BT remains the Big Cheese of the broadband world in the UK, boasting 1.7 million broadband subscribers of its own, with its network supplying a further 3.7 million broadband connections for other Internet service providers.
Two million cable customers now enjoy broadband connectivity through NTL and Telewest.
Mr Verwaayen wrapped things up: “We have to take the internet out of the domain of the geek and into the normal world. That’s the journey we are on. After that you can increase the multiplier effect of broadband in the economy. “It’s great to have overtaken dial-up, that’s another step, but it’s still in its early days.”
BT Group
Bulldog Broadband
31 May, 2005
Log On Through The Lord
Cardiff vicar Reverend Kimber is hoping that by introducing wireless broadband access from the pews of his city centre church, more people will be encouraged to join his flock at St John’s Church.
The decision was made after the tech-savvy Reverend discovered that the thick walls of the 1473 church blocked his own wireless signal as he used his laptop to write sermons and create orders of service.
The Welsh capital is awash with Wi-Fi after a joint project between Cardiff council and BT Openzone resulted in more than 100 wireless broadband points being created around Cardiff city centre and parts of Cardiff Bay.
With the streets full of wired Welsh business folks looking for a fix, Kimber realised that they might appreciate a quieter place to do business.
“The church is a sanctuary for everyone, including business people with laptops and mobiles who may want to find a quiet area without lots of noise and loud music to sit in peace and do some work or just send an e-mail,” Kimber told the BBC.
The laptop-toting vicar added, “I couldn’t do my job without one and it has made me more aware of other people’s needs.”
After Kimber approached BT, the company agreed to fill in the gap in Cardiff’s wireless broadband network and fitted the church with its own Openzone node, providing access to surfers sitting in the corner of the north aisle at St John’s.
Hopeful to convert Skype surfers into Bible-troublers, the Rev Kimber said: “This church has a strong commitment to be open for people in the city, and of course, if this will encourage more new people into the church, the project will have been a success.
Fearful of mass sessions of multiplayer shoot-em-ups and virtual battles breaking out in the aisles, Kimber added, “All we ask is that they respect the church environment and do not to use loud mobile ring tones or play music on their computers, especially when a service is in progress.”
It wouldn’t be the first time the church has seen battle – the original medieval church was severely damaged during the revolt of Owain Glyndwr in the early 15th century.
According to Ann Beynon, BT’s director Wales, when it comes to wireless connectivity, Cardiff is now one of the most connected in the UK.
St John’s church, Cardiff
Wireless broadband goes to church
31 May, 2005
Training Foundation Launches National Online Learning Initiative
The Training Foundation has launched its Ready for Work online training programme, an employment-awareness course free to all young people in (or recently in) full-time education and those in modern apprenticeships.
Warmly welcomed by leading education and industy-based bodies such as HTI, Confederation of British Industry and the British Chambers of Commerce, the scheme is aimed at ensuring that fresh-faced young ‘uns arriving at the workplace know how to become responsible employees.
The Ready for Work program will give young workers an idea of what employers might expect of them as they start out on their working lives and, is it hoped, make the transition to employment a more pleasurable experience (I’m still waiting for that bit to happen).
The training programme consists of 12 online courses designed to raise awareness on employment issues of major concern to today’s employers.
The “interactive and engaging” programme covers subjects such as “showing respect at work, embracing diversity, being enterprising, managing workplace stress, health & safety, following drugs & alcohol policies, sensible email and Internet use, data protection and being a responsible employee.”
Each self study course ends with a short test to check the learner’s understanding, with an 80% or better grade qualifying the student for an optional Ready for Work Certificate and Ready for Work Handbook.
Certificates are awarded by ABC (Awarding Body Consortium), a leading UK awarding body with full Qualifications Curriculum Authority (QCA) recognition.
In April 2005, The Training Foundation became the first ever training organisation to be awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise – Innovation, and its new scheme has had industry bigwogs falling over themselves to lavish praise on the initiative.
Sir Richard Branson was first in the queue; “We need our young people, on which the Country’s future prosperity depends, to be equipped with an appreciation of business, so that they can set out with a spirit of enterprise. I welcome the Ready for Work programme. Co-operation between employers and educators on initiatives like this can do nothing but good.”
Sir Digby Jones, Director General of the CBI wanted to hug the Ready for Work program and take it home: “We need more employable young people understanding the world of work, trained in the most relevant areas and able to add value to their employer. The Ready for Work programme will help to bridge this gap.”
David Frost, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce roared his approval: “We need initiatives such as Ready for Work, which can help to ensure that young people leaving full-time education and training are equipped with skills that are both relevant for the workplace and will help advance their careers.”
Roger Opie, HTI Trust Director, also sprinkled the scheme with love: “The partnership between business and education is critical in raising the employability stakes for young people. An understanding of the skills and behaviours required in the workplace is a shared responsibility. This free programme provides both the content and motivation to complement existing initiatives.”
The course is accessible over the Internet at The Training Foundation’s online learning portal www.readyforwork.org.
31 May, 2005