Geographic – Page 81 – Digital-Lifestyles

BT Vision – IPTV Service Named. Registration Opens

BT Vision - IPTV Service Named. Registration Opens You’ll probably remember that we broke the story back in September about the release date of BT’s then unnamed IPTV plus Freeview service. Today we learn that it’s to be called BT Vision – and that it’s release may have slipped slightly, from the ‘late summer 2006’ quoted by Andrew Burke to Autumn.

As we know … all new services like to claim a level of uniqueness, BT have latched on to it being the “world-first, combining access to digital-terrestrial channels through the aerial with broadband-powered video on demand” – translated? It’s got a Freeview tuner built in.

BT Vision - IPTV Service Named. Registration Opens BT’s also confirming that the box that will do all of these things is to be call the BT Hub. Its will use a software platform powered by Microsoft and that the set-top box is to be made by Philips.

Those interested in the service also have a chance to register at the BT Vision site.

BTW – Straw poll around the office. They’d better turn out some better content on BT Vision than that horrible Flash vision that accompanies the site. Argh – not exactly inspiring.

VoIP Vivifies The US Home Phone Market

VoIP Vivifies The US Home Phone Market Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is slowly but steadily creeping into American homes, with adoption up 20% since June 2005, and growing user satisfaction.

The figures, released by consulting firm Telephia, show that nearly 3.9 million US households are now VoIP’ing away, with Vonage securing the highest market share at 47.5 percent. This translates into 1.9 million households – up from 40 percent from the last year.

The grandly named Telephia Emerging Personal Communications Options (EPCO) survey saw Skype lag miles behind Vonage with just 11.8 percent market share (463,000 household subscribers), followed by AT&T Call Vantage at 5.6 percent, (218,000 subscribers),Verizon Voice Wing 5 percent (196,000 subscribers) and new boy Google with just 2.5 percent (97,000 subscribers).

VoIP Vivifies The US Home Phone Market Only way is up
As that dreadful song by Yaz insists, the only way for VoIP is most definitely up, with more wireless subscribers already using the service as their primary phone line.

Kanishka Agarwal, vice president of new products at Telephia, commented: “About 30 percent of 18 to 24 year olds only have a wireless phone…VoIP has an appeal, because it’s less expensive, about $5 monthly…we will see higher adoption in this age group,” he added.

VoIP Vivifies The US Home Phone Market Early adopters to VoIP may recall the experience being akin to talking to a stuttering Dalek in an echo chamber, but the research revealed that 67 percent of VoIP users believe voice quality is now equal to traditional landline services, with 19 percent reckoning that internet calls sound better than those on wired phones lines.

Realibility is on the rise too, with 71 percent of VoIP households finding Internet telephony to be just as reliable as land lines, with sixteen percent considering VoIP to have better reliability.

Naturally, mobile manufacturers like Nokia have been taking note of the growing demand for VoIP handsets, and we can expect to see a flurry of dual-mode Wi-Fi/mobile handsets in the coming months,

Wales Aims For 100% Broadband Coverage

Wales Aims For 100% Broadband Coverage The Welsh Assembly has announced today that they’ve selected the BT Group to provide the broadband infrastructure for the remaining exchange areas in Wales.

Nothing particularly exciting about that of course, except that the agreement is a major step on the way to Wales becoming one of the few countries in the world to offer 100% broadband coverage.

With much of lovely, lovely Wales being rural, the Assembly’s Regional Innovative Broadband Support Scheme (RIBS) was set up to connect up parts of Wales described as ‘broadband blackspots’.

The new scheme with see around 10,000 households and businesses receiving access to at least first-generation (512kbps to 2mbps) broadband services at prices comparable with urban areas of Wales.

Wales Aims For 100% Broadband Coverage Once completed, virtually every single household in Wales will be able to join in with the broadband revolution and get stuck into video conferencing, Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) and other business and entertainment uses.

Andrew Davies, Minister for Economic Development and Transport and eMinister for the Welsh Assembly Government swivelled into spin mode: “Currently, around 99% of the Welsh population can access broadband technology – a remarkable achievement in its own right. However, the Assembly Government is committed to ensuring that virtually every single individual and business in Wales has the opportunity to benefit from the advantages offered by this technology.”

Broadband uptake in Wales has almost doubled over the past 12 months, underlining the country’s economic transformation from industrial to a dynamic, knowledge-driven economy.

Wales Aims For 100% Broadband Coverage Compared to some other European countries, Wales’ achievement is significant; in Ireland, for example, only about 18.0% of the population have broadband connections.

The Welsh Assembly has been proactive in ensuring that the country achieves its 100% coverage target, as Ann Beynon, Director BT Wales, explains, ” BT, like the Welsh Assembly Government, is contributing to the cost of enabling these final exchanges and without the Assembly’s assistance, the upgrading would not have been commercially viable.!

Work to equip the remaining BT exchange areas with broadband is scheduled to start immediately.

BT Wales
Broadband Wales Observatory

Cingular Go Mobile Content Mad with NCAA Games

Cingular Go Mobile Content Mad with NCAA Games The US mobile companies are finally, really getting hold of delivering content of all sorts to mobile phones.

Crisp Wireless are working with Cingular on the (deep breath now), Cingular MEdia Net NCAA March Madness Portal and Bracket Challenge (gasp).

It provides 3G mobile phone access to lots of content. The particulars worth mentioning being …

a virtual leader board which can be played against others on the network
video highlights two-minute video clips covering all 64 games will be packaged and delivered to the handsets of Cingular customers twice-daily during each day of the tournament.
For the first time ever, will give wireless users the power to make, track and manage their tournament bracket entirely from their wireless handset.

Cingular Go Mobile Content Mad with NCAA Games As with all things to mobile phones, we’d love to see the figures as to who actually pays for access to this. A barrier which has yet to be consistently cracked.

Cingular NCAA
Crisp Wireless

National Express Coaches Offers WiFi To Cambridge UK

National Express Offers Wi-Fi Access We’ve already run several stories about WiFi being made available for some passengers, sorry customers, on the UK’s rail network, but until now coach users have been left unconnected.

That’s all set to today, as travellers on the 010 National Express London to Cambridge coach service will be able enjoy free wireless Internet access via their Wi-Fi enabled laptops, PDAs and other handheld devices while on the move.

Coaches on the service will use Telabria’s mSystem MobilAP-3G radio system, which combines an 802.11b/g access point with a 3G receiver, letting bored passengers surf while stuck on the M11.

With real world 3G speeds hovering around 384kbps, connection speeds are unlikely to impress passengers used to nippy home broadband connectivity but hey! What do they expect for free?!

Of course, connection speeds will vary depending on the amount of passengers using the Wi-Fi – and how many tailgating cars may be lurking behind the coach, keen to take advantage of the free Internet access.

National Express Offers Wi-Fi Access With luck, the free trial may give the rail companies currently charging hefty prices to use their Wi-Fi a well-deserved kick up the buffers.

London to Brighton Wi-Fi commuters, for example, may be able to shuffle around the Web at true broadband speeds but it’s at a painful price: £23.50 a month for unlimited access or £5 for just an hour’s use.

Gerry says
National Express chief engineer Gerry Price was ready to puff on the well-chuffed PR pipe: “We are very excited about the potential of this trial and the benefits it will bring to our customers, particularly those on busy commuter routes who increasingly see the value of staying connected before they reach their place of work and after they leave.”

“But it’s not just the business community who will benefit. Mobile communication is increasingly being seen as a pre-requisite by a wide variety of travellers on the move,” he added.

National Express
GNER Promises Wi-Fi On All Trains By 2007

Wireless Voice Chat First: Metroid Prime Hunters on Nintendo DS

At eTech last week I pleasantly surprised to see a hard-core of Nintendo DS users with the majority of them running Animal Crossing at breakfast, to ensure their lands were set up for the day.

This news, literally just in, extends the DS to include wireless voice chat – a significant change that will enable another channel of free voice communication between people that probably like chatting quite a lot.

IN SPACE NOBODY CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM… -At least not until now! Metroid Prime Hunters launches with wireless voice chat technology –

13th March 2006 – The wait for the interstellar bounty-hunters, and gaming’s toughest heroine is finally over as Metroid Prime Hunters launches across Europe on 5th May 2006. This game features touch-screen controls, Wi-Fi game play, a fully-fledged single player 3D first person shooter mode as well as an extensive online multiplayer first person shooter mode. For the first time on a Nintendo DS game, Metroid Prime Hunters include wireless voice chat technology allowing players to talk with friends before and after battle, whilst using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and microphone, wherever they are in the world.

Raised by an ancient alien race, Samus is the galaxy’s top bounty hunter, utilising her advanced Varia suit to give her near super-human powers and using an arm mounted cannon to blast her way past any opposition. Now Samus has been hired by the Galactic Federation to recover powerful alien artefacts before deadly bounty hunters get their hands on them. In space there’s no law and no back up, Samus will have to use all of her skills to return alive.

Featuring some of the most advanced 3D graphics for a held-held system, playing Metroid Prime Hunters brings you the great graphics seen in Metroid Prime on Nintendo GameCube with the added benefit of it being on a portable handheld system. The vast single-player mode in Metroid Prime Hunters is among one of the most exciting seen on a hand-held console to date and the game can also proudly claim to be the first multiplayer first person shooter to grace a hand-held system. While playing, the fast-paced seamless levels are displayed with perfect clarity on the top Nintendo DS screen, while a map and radar showing enemy locations is visible on the bottom.

The gameplay possibilities that the Nintendo DS can offer really allows Metroid Prime Hunters to stand out from the rest. Players use the Nintendo DS d-pad to walk around while the stylus is used to look about the area and aim their weapon, much like a PC based First Person Shooter. The stylus control allows players to turn and target with pinpoint accuracy. Icons strategically placed on the touch-screen also allow players to switch weapons and convert Samus into her Morph Ball form with ease.

The fun doesn’t stop there either! You might have proven yourself against intergalactic bounty hunters in the game’s single player mode, but there is still much more to experience with the game’s expansive multiplayer modes. Metroid Prime Hunters features numerous online and offline multiplayer modes, allowing players to compete locally with friends using the Nintendo DS wireless link and then battle people across the globe thanks to the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service.

Players without access to Nintendo’s Wi-Fi Connection service can use Single-Card Play to enter battle in a selection of arenas with three friends, using only one cartridge. Or if all players have copies of the game, they can engage in one of the game’s seven multiplayer modes in Multi-Card Play with a selection of seven characters and ten arenas to choose from.

Playing Metroid Prime Hunters using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection allows players to take their newly honed skills and show them off to players around the world for free* using their home broadband connection or one of Nintendo’s public Wi-Fi hotspots. Players can select Find Game to play against opponents from across the globe, chosen by their skill level or battle friends from the list saved on their Nintendo DS in Friend’s and Rivals mode.

Prepare for the ultimate space mission as Metroid Prime Hunters goes on sale across Europe on 5th May 2006 at the estimated retail price of around £30.

Vodafone To Trial High Speed 3G Broadband, All Major UK Cities – News Release

Customer trials starting in early April ahead of mid 2006launch
Vodafone UK HSDPA network roll out on track
All major UK towns and cities to have high speed Vodafone 3Gbroadband by end 2006

Following successful testing in Newbury, Vodafone UK will start customertrials on its live HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) network fromApril.

With 100 business users testing Vodafone UK’s HSDPA-enabled Mobile ConnectCards across central and greater London, the trials represent an importantmilestone in the evolution of the company’s 3G network.

Tim Miles, CEO Vodafone UK said: “The start of our high speed 3G broadbandtrial marks our relentless commitment to offering the best possibleexperience to our customers. We have seen high demand for 3G since itslaunch two years ago and our customers are hungry for the improvements thatHSDPA will deliver. These important trials are part of a continuing driveto lead the UK through superior network performance and a customerexperience that is second to none.”

HSDPA will deliver a faster mobile broadband experience to Vodafonecustomers in the UK from mid-2006, initially offering the mobile transfer ofdata from the internet and intranet at roughly four times faster thancurrent 3G speeds. It will also deliver greater capacity (three times thatof current 3G levels) meaning that more people in the same location at thesame time can benefit from a superior experience. In addition, HSDPA offersimproved latency, giving faster access to web-based content. As a result,customers will be able to work faster and download larger documents, such asPowerPoint presentations and email attachments, more quickly.

“HSDPA offers a win-win opportunity for both customers and Vodafone – itdelivers on the promise of 3G to provide broadband-like services whilst onthe move,” comments Michael Ransom, Research Director for Wireless atCurrent Analysis.

He continues: “With higher HSDPA-driven wireless performance, Vodafone willenable business customers to move beyond mobile email and become mobileenterprises.”From mid-2006, Vodafone will phase in the introduction of a high-speedmobile broadband service. Customers within the M25 will be the first tobenefit with coverage rolling out across all major UK towns and cities bythe end of 2006.

BT Beefs Up Broadband With Boosted Speeds

BT Beefs Up Broadband With Boosted Speeds BT has announced that some of its users should be able to obtain broadband speeds of ‘up to’ 8 Mbps by the end of March.

Following successful trials, Britain’s largest telecom company confirmed that the BT ADSL Max and BT ADSL Max Premium broadband services will start rolling out across the country from March 31st.

It’s going to be a big job for the BT boys and girls, with the new services requiring the upgrading of more than 5300 exchanges, which together serve more than 99.6 per cent of UK homes and businesses.

BT Beefs Up Broadband With Boosted Speeds All good news you’d think, but the new connectivity comes with a bag full of caveats related to physical factors, with only those lucky enough to live or work close to their local telephone exchange able to scoop up the maximum 8Mbit/s speed.

BT explained that an estimated 78 per cent of BT phone lines should support broadband at line rates of 4Mbit/s and above, with 42 per cent offering 6Mbit/s and above.

BT Beefs Up Broadband With Boosted Speeds Paul Reynolds, BT’s Wholesale chief executive, was keen to big up his company’s commitment to broadband availability in the UK “Thanks to BT’s continued investment in the broadband network, the UK now boasts the highest level of broadband availability in the G8. We’re now building on those efforts in becoming the first operator in the UK to commit to a national service which is capable of broadband speeds of up to 8Mbit/s.

Although BT will be making the faster broadband speeds available to service providers for new orders from the end of the month, existing customers may have to wait “several months” until their lines are upgraded. In other words – loyal customers can go to the back of the queue.

BT’s line checker at bt.com/broadband is also being updated to show the expected speeds available for individual lines.

Brits Love Online Banking As Alliance & Leicester Introduce New Security

Brits Love Online Banking As Alliance & Leicester Introduce New Security Almost 60 per cent of Britons rely on the Internet to do their banking, according to new research commissioned by the Alliance and Leicester bank.

Surveying around 2,400 people, the study found that just under one-third (29 per cent) use Internet banking between once and twice per week, with just over one in 10 (12 per cent) logging on to their bank everyday

The YouGov survey revealed that there’s been a 63 per cent rise in people managing their bank accounts online since 2003, with balance checks proving the most popular activity (96 per cent) followed by money transfers for payments (76 per cent).

It seems that people still prefer to sort out complex problems by visiting the bank, and of those folks who choose to avoid online banking, over a fifth (21 per cent) said they preferred to deal with people face to face, with 13 per cent expressing concerns about security.

With this in mind, the Alliance & Leicester has announced that it will become the first UK high street bank to give all its customers two-factor authentication technology.

Brits Love Online Banking As Alliance & Leicester Introduce New Security Designed to cut down on identity theft and online fraud, the two-factor authentication compels users to provides two means of identification.

This usually involves something that has been memorised by the user (like a password or special code) along with a physical device that generates random numbers or code.

With this security double whammy, hackers who have managed to capture the first pass code should be unlikely to proceed because the customer then needs to generate a new code to authorise online transactions.

The authentication technology will also be used to prove the authenticity of a bank’s Web site, and this should help clamp down on phishing sites.

The bank hasn’t revealed any further details yet, although it has said that the initiative would be a “simple and robust way” for customers to be confident that “their data online is safe from criminals.”

Brits Love Online Banking As Alliance & Leicester Introduce New Security Other banks are also jumping on the security bandwagon, with Barclays running a new chip card reader trial involving 5,000 customers and staff, while Lloyds TSB is close to completing an exhaustive six-month test of a keyring type device.

The trial involved 30,000 UK online customers, with Lloyds TSB declaring itself well chuffed with the initial findings, which produced a healthy 78 per cent adoption rate amongst users.

Around 95 per cent of people using the device said they found it easy to use with the bank claiming a 100 per cent success rate in reduction of fraud among users.

Despite its success, Lloyds said that the current trial was more about testing consumer response to the technology, and it’s more interested in working to meet banking industry group Apacs’ universal security standard that will eventually be used by all banks.

As more banking activity goes online, the face of High Streets looks set to change forever, with the Economic and Social Research Council recently concluding that the rise of Internet and phone banking has led to more branches being closed.

Alliance & Leicester

Live Sports TV Coverage Threatened By BT Media And Broadcast Sale

BT's part sale of Media and Broadcast threatens to turn back the clock The story we’ve been reporting, on BT’s off loading of its unprofitable operations within the (M&B) unit is hotting up. Barclays PE (that’s Private Equity to you and me) is in a period of negotiation with M&B, to complete the deal where they take ownership of Occasional Use; generally outside events that includes Wimbledon tennis coverage and the uplinks of many TV and radio channels to the Sky digital platforms.

Barclay’s are looking to guarantee no compulsory redundancies, for three years, for the 100 plus staff that come across with the deal, and are planning to invest heavily in the future technologies like High Definition television, that they expect to drive broadcasting industry growth in the future.

The problem is that BT staffers are unhappy at being bundled in with the sale and have worries that long term they could see a reduction in the conditions they enjoy. One of their unions, the CWU, has now after balloting, threatened strike action, hoping to change BT’s management’s attitude to those described as ‘in scope’ by the potential deal.

The strike would hit contracted live events carried by both ITV and Sky, the coverage likely to be blacked out would include Grand Prix racing and Soccer games that are scheduled between 8th and 12th of March.

BT's part sale of Media and Broadcast threatens to turn back the clock Now to us here at Digital Lifestyles, this threatened action seems to have a bit of a King Canute/70’s vibe about it. The truth of the matter, is that the competitive landscape has changed in telecommunications and broadcasting. BT is answerable to their city shareholders, and a move to tackle some of the entrenched attitudes within the company’s workforce might be looked on favourably by the number crunchers around the London stock exchange.