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August |
Newsletter |
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Issue
69 |
Included in this months issue:
Google's 900,000 Data Centers Use 0.01% Of Worldwide Electricity
Google Chrome now second most popular UK browser
Budget Android tablets are a false economy
Trend Micro warns of growing threats to Android devices
A "proliferation" of Android-based malicious apps and cloud computing data breaches has reached a scale never seen before said Trend Micro.
The security firm's second quarter 2011 Threat Round-up on the most dangerous threats and trends facing computing security also found that social-networking scams are becoming even more sophisticated.
Raimund Genes, Trend Micro's chief technology officer said: "At the rate cybercriminals are launching attacks, targeted or not, there's just no telling how many more companies and users will succumb to the dangers these pose before the year ends."
By Dinah Greek
HTC sues Apple in the UK
Lawyers cancel summer holidaysTAIWANESE SMARTPHONE MAKER HTC has sued rival firm Apple in the UK in the sort of tit for tat legal battle that supports entire law firms for years.
HTC recently got a ruling in its favour, of a sort, having been found to infringe only two out of twelve patents held by Apple, and at the time vowed to defend itself.
The company promised to appeal against this initial ruling, which could have seen its products banned from the US. "We are highly confident we have a strong case for the ITC appeals process and are fully prepared to defend ourselves using all means possible," said Grace Lei, general counsel of HTC.
By Dave Neal
Apple comes under fire after Amazon adjusts Kindle app
New payment structure forced Amazon to remove link to Kindle Store
Apple has come under fire after changes to the iTunes App Store led Amazon to alter its Kindle app.
The changes, which were first announced in August but only introduced on June 30, saw app developers being required to hand over 30 percent of cost of any content they sold via an app hosted in the iTunes app store. As a result, Amazon removed a link to the Kindle Store in the app that allows iPhone and iPad users to download and read ebooks on their iOS device.
Now, users must exit the app and head directly to the Kindle Store to purchase eBooks to read on their iPhone or iPad.
By Carrie-Ann Skinner
Facebook And Twitter Causing 'Identity Crisis', Oxford Prof Claims
Social networking platforms like Facebook and Twitter are giving rise to a generation of self-obsessed people who want constant reassurance from their piers, an expert has warned.
Baroness Greenfield, professor of pharmacology at Oxford University, has claimed that people constantly exposing themselves to social networking platforms have developed an ‘identity crisis’ and crave for attention online.
She claimed that excessive use of social networking platforms and video games could ‘rewire’ the brain. People who depend on social networking platforms for social acceptance can have a reduced concentration span, develop a need for instant gratification and have poor non-verbal skills, like maintaining eye contact during a face-to-face conversation.
From IT ProPortalBudget Android tablets are a false economy
Temptation must be a terrible thing when you’re the boss of a small technology company. Caught on the hop by Apple as it reinvents and reinvigorates a previously stagnant tablet market, the lure of the quick buck must be hard to resist.
I’m not sure any company can beat Apple’s marketing nous, build quality or lawyers, though, so any smaller firm wishing to make inroads has to approach the market from a different angle – by undercutting the fruit-themed firm and heading down the rutted and well-trodden value route.
That brings us to the bottom of today’s burgeoning tablet market. Far away from the Dell Streak, HP TouchPad and BlackBerry Playbook, you’ll find a multitude of familiar – and surprising – names trying to make ground with a constant stream of cheap, nasty and generic tablets.
It’s a counter-productive strategy that’s harmful for all involved, from company to consumer.
By Mike Jennings
UK indie labels hit by Sony warehouse fire
Amidst the horrific scenes of rioting, looting and lawlessness across the UK last night (8 August) came reports and footage of the Sony distribution centre in Ealing, West London, engulfed in flames.
Luckily, nobody appears to have been killed as a result of the blaze, but the cost to the UK music industry could be severe. Alongside Sony products, the building was home to huge amounts of stock distributed by PIAS, including music from the catalogues of independent labels like Domino, Sub Pop, 4AD, Matador, Warp, Ninja Tune, XL and dozens more.
By Chris Vinnicombe
Google's 900,000 Data Centers Use 0.01% Of Worldwide Electricity
A new report based on the estimated power consumption by Internet search giant Google Inc. has revealed that the company runs its massive network on around 900,000 servers.
Jonathan Koomey, a professor from Stanford University, published his latest report on Sunday into the use of electricity in data centers in the year 2010. The report suggests that the world’s leading search company is powered by 900,000 servers across the world.
Koomey also said that considering the way Google has flourished across the globe, having its data centers in nearly every country, he expected the power consumed by Google to be massive. However, the result has surprised most people, due to the company's low-power servers and high-efficiency data centers.
From IT ProPortal
Virgin Media to 'take a punt' on free London WiFi network
Neil Berkett, Chief Executive of Virgin Media
Virgin Media is close to launching a free public WiFi scheme in London that will challenge BT’s Openzone network, which charges for access.
The firm’s chief executive Neil Berkett told investors that it was in “quite advanced negotiations” with London councils over the plans and said he was optimistic the rollout would begin “in the not too distant future”.
“The proposition would be that we would provide free Wifi access for all,” he said.
Virgin Media’s WiFi network will be freely available to anyone at 0.5Mbps, and to its home broadband subscribers at up to 10Mbps.
The approach contrasts with BT’s extensive Openzone network, which although free to BT broadband customers, is charged at as much as £5.99 for 90 minutes’ browsing.
By Christopher Williams
Google Chrome now second most popular UK browser
Thanks to super-fast browsing and those nifty TV adverts Chrome is chasing Internet Explorer Google Chrome has beaten the competition to become the second most popular internet browser in the UK, second only to Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
According to web metrics firm Statcounter the browser captured 22 per cent of users in the UK, beating Firefox in third place and truly trumping Safari with it's 9 per cent share in the UK user base.
With the browser catching up fast, Microsoft will surely be looking to find new ways at making their browser more appealing because while still in the top spot, this is in part down to the fact that Internet Explorer comes pre-installed on almost all the computers sold in this country.
By Thomas Tamblyn
Expert: 4G will bring top broadband to rural areas
4G will help bring top broadband to rural regions, an expert believes.
An increased number of residents in rural areas of the UK could be set to enjoy access to a top broadband connection in the near future thanks to a technological advancement.
In recent times, it has been noted by specialists such as Dr Charles Trotman of the Country Land and Business Association that business banking customers operating in the countryside are at a disadvantage against their urban rivals due to the fact they often struggle to get the best broadband deals on the market
However, according to Richard Patterson, director of Broadband Expert, this trend may be about to end thanks to the imminent arrival of the 4G connection.
Research by the internet charity revealed a third of parents believe their child is in danger from the web, while 61 percent claim positive stories about the web are funded by organisations with a vested interest in the net.
By Mark Hornby
Sun website users' personal details hacked
News International has warned Sun website users their personal details may have been hacked
News International has emailed thousands of people to warn them that one or more hackers have copied personal details of thousands of people who entered competitions and polls on the Sun's website and are posting them publicly on the internet.
In an email sent out late on Monday evening, the director of customer data for News International, Chris Duncan, says that in a hacking attack on 19 July – when a fake story claiming that Rupert Murdoch was dead was planted on the site – "some customer information from competitions and polls was breached". Among the details are names, addresses, date of birth, email and phone numbers. "No financial or password information was compromised," Duncan writes.
By Charles Arthur
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