Techno-News Blog Ray Schroeder, editor, OTEL - University of Illinois at Springfield |
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Saturday, July 01, 2006
Superfast internet cafe launches - BBC
An internet cafe offering connections 50 times faster than typical broadband services has opened in Cornwall. Computers at Goonhilly satellite station, on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall, are connected to BT's global internet protocol network. That means users can download data at speeds of up to 100 megabits per second (Mbps). It is thought to be the first time such high speeds have been seen at a UK internet cafe.
Google's eBay Challenge - Business Week
The battle to control your online wallet is about to get a lot bloodier. More than a year after search giant Google was rumored to be preparing an online payment service, GBuy finally looks set to launch in test mode as early as June 28. But while Google may have quickly become the dominant force in search advertising, it's unlikely there will be one winner in online payments anytime soon—if ever. That's because no other player is likely to give up without a big fight. There are credit-cards like Visa and MasterCard, of course, which remain by far the leading way for consumers and merchants to handle online payments. What's more, prime GBuy rival PayPal is running all-out to get its payment system used more widely, far beyond transactions involving parent eBay Inc and even past the Web.
Convergence Having a Big Impact on the Telecom Industry - Mae Kowalke, TMCnet
Two industry analyst reports out this week seem to confirm that communications convergence (defined both as voice and data on the same network, and mobile handset technology enabling seamless roaming between WiFi (News - Alert) and cellular networks) is a very influential force in the telecom industry, and is poised to become even more so. A recent survey by IT Europa found that, during the past year, U.K.-based communications resellers focused on IP telephony and convergence enjoyed a growth rate of 23 percent, more than double the rate (10.3 percent) of that market sector as a whole (which includes traditional telephony resellers). Friday, June 30, 2006
Basic Computer Classes Near Extinction - K.C. Jones, TechWeb Technology News
Teachers are using computers more to teach core curriculum and less to teach computers, according to a recent survey. Sixty-eight percent of teachers reported using technology to teach critical thinking skills in 2006, according to results released Monday. That is up from 59 percent in 2005, according to CDW Government Inc.'s fourth annual Teachers Talk Tech Survey. The number of teachers using technology to teach scientific concepts also increased, from 51 percent in 2005 to 60 percent in 2006, according to the survey of more than 1,000 K-12 teachers.
Computers break down less often: survey - Reuters
Computers have become more reliable in recent years as manufacturers have improved designs, but one in every six new notebooks still needs to be repaired within a year after purchase, a survey found on Tuesday. Failure rates of both desktop and portable notebook computers have improved in the 2005-2006 period compared with 2003-2004, market research group Gartner found. Five percent of desktop computers need to have a component replaced within the first year, compared with 7 percent two years ago. Four years after purchase the chance that a desktop computer needs to be repaired is 12 percent, compared with 15 percent in 2003-2004.
Microsoft offers online tests of Office 2007: There's no software to download; users just need IE 6Elizabeth Montalbano, Computer World
\In an unprecedented move, Microsoft Corp. Tuesday will allow users to test the next version of Office online without having to download software. Customers can visit Microsoft's Web site to "test drive" the software from within their Web browsers. This marks the first time Microsoft has offered this kind of browser-based Office beta. Supported browsers for the release are Internet Explorer 6 or a later version of IE. Applications included in the Web-based test version of Office 2007 are Microsoft Office Access 2007, Excel 2007, InfoPath 2007, OneNote 2007, Outlook 2007, Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager, Outlook Web Access, PowerPoint 2007, Project Professional 2007, Publisher 2007, SharePoint Designer 2007, Visio 2007, Word 2007, SharePoint Services, Project Server 2007 and SharePoint Server 2007 Thursday, June 29, 2006
Glide to Synch Phones with PCs
TransMedia expanded its Glide Effortless social network on Tuesday by adding a calendar, word processing, and the ability to synchronize files between two computers and a cell phone. Despite the new calendar and word processing applications, TransMedia Chairman and CEO Donald Leka sees the major advance with his company’s network to be the automated PC-to-PC-to-cell-phone synchronization. “This is a major breakthrough,” he said. “If you have a PC at work, a Mac at home, and a cell phone you’re carrying, all your files will be synchronized.”
Coming soon: Mind-reading computers - Reuters
A raised eyebrow, quizzical look or a nod of the head are just a few of the facial expressions computers could soon be using to read people's minds. An "emotionally aware" computer being developed by British and American scientists will be able to read an individual's thoughts by analyzing a combination of facial movements that represent underlying feelings. "The system we have developed allows a wide range of mental states to be identified just by pointing a video camera at someone," said professor Peter Robinson, of the University of Cambridge in England. He and his collaborators believe the mind-reading computer's applications could range from improving people's driving skills to helping companies tailor advertising to people's moods.
OMB Sets Guidelines for Federal Employee Laptop Security - Brian Krebs, Washington Post
The Bush administration is giving federal civilian agencies 45 days to implement new measures to protect the security of personal information that agencies hold on millions of employees and citizens. The new security guidelines, issued Friday by the White House Office of Management and Budget, cap a month marked by data thefts or disclosures at five different agencies that compromised Social Security numbers and other private data on millions of people. Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Supercomputer Breaks Speed Record - David Needle, Internet News
There are fast computers, and then there's IBM's BlueGene/L supercomputer. The Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and IBM today announced the world's fastest supercomputer has outdone itself. In its latest testing, IBM said its BlueGene/L (BG/L) achieved a sustained performance of 207.3 trillion floating-point operations per second (teraFLOPS), a new record for floating-point performance.
VoIP Firms to Pay Subsidy Tax - Red Herring
Lawsuits and taxes could slow investment in Internet voice and deal a death blow to some providers. Internet voice providers must begin paying a proportion of their interstate revenue into a fund that subsidizes the cost of telecommunications in rural and poor areas of the United States, according to a U.S. Federal Communications Commission ruling. The ruling, combined with the fallout from a lawsuit filed by Verizon Communications against VoIP provider Vonage, could slow the flow of investment in VoIP providers, IDC analyst Will Stofega contends.
Laptops Give Hope to the Homeless - Jacob Ogles, CNET News
Happy Ivy doesn't have a bathroom or a kitchen in the bus he calls home. He does, however, have a video-editing station. Living in a squalid, Woodstock-style bus parked in a Fillmore, California, orange grove, the 53-year-old homeless man charges a power generator from a utility shed and uses Wi-Fi from a nearby access point. From this humble camp, he's managed to run a 'round-the-clock internet television studio, organize grassroots political efforts, record a full-length album and write his autobiography, all while subsisting on oranges and avocados. Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Apple responds to iPod exploitation allegations - Peter Clarke, EE Times
Apple Computer Inc. has responded to allegations that its iPod digital music players are made by the exploitation of Chinese workers, according to a online reports. A Reuters report quoted Steve Dowling, an Apple spokesman as saying, "Apple has begun a thorough audit of the manufacturing plant operated by Foxconn in Longhua, China." Foxconn is the registered trade name for Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. which is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Apple's response came after the Mail on Sunday, a London newspaper, published an article on June 11 that alleged that workers were working 15 hours shifts and being paid as little as $50 per month.
PC market slows ahead of anticipated Intel price cuts - IDG News Service
Users looking for a new PC might want to wait for a round of price cuts that are expected soon from Intel Corp., the world's largest maker of microprocessors. Component vendors and analysts in Taiwan say the company may announce such reductions in July, and the PC market has already slowed in anticipation of the move. The microprocessor is one of the most expensive parts inside a PC, so price reductions could have a big impact on the cost of an overall system.
Video on iPod: Superfluous or the Second Coming? - David Sims, TMCnet
One advantage to writing for TMC is you get some intelligent comments once in a while. This reporter recently wrote a First Coffee column, with the observation that “Portable music makes sense because you can do so many other things while it’s on, portable video doesn’t because that’s all you can do.” Monday, June 26, 2006
Net Changing, So Are Browsers - Associated Press
The major web browsers are getting facelifts as they increasingly become the focal point for handling business transactions and running programs over the internet rather than simply displaying websites. The upgrades are the latest skirmish in the browser war that started in the mid-1990s and led to Microsoft's triumph over Netscape. The battles reignited in 2004, when Mozilla's Firefox launched and revealed new avenues of development
Rumor: Microsoft Developing iPod Killer - Walaika K. Haskins, News Factor
Reports began circulating on Friday that Microsoft has started laying the foundation for new products that will challenge both the iPod and the iTunes online music store. Citing sources "familiar with the discussions and plans," Reuters reported on Friday that the software giant is going through all the motions of creating a new device and music platform but will not confirm its plans. A Microsoft-branded device and music service would represent a significant departure for the company, which, to date, has relied on partnerships rather than its own products. Urge, a joint venture between Microsoft and MTV, is one recent example.
Experts: Simple security cuts identity theft risks - Associated Press
Reports of data theft often conjure up images of malicious hackers breaking into remote databases to filch Social Security numbers, credit card records and other personal information. But a lot of the time, the scenario is much simpler: A careless worker at company or agency with weak security policies falls prey to a low-tech street thug who runs off with a laptop loaded with private data. Sunday, June 25, 2006
Whose Net Is It? Courts May Have To Decide - K.C. Jones, TechWeb
Technology News When Internet pioneer Lawrence G. Roberts was developing the technology for the first computer networks, he and his collaborators did not envision video transmissions, but they did predict a demand for equal access. "We anticipated that there would be a need for equal access and tried to build that into the structure so it would be very hard to avoid," he said in an interview this week. Now that the Internet has become a necessary communication tool, a multimedia platform, and a high-tech combination town square/international bazaar, millions of Americans are in a battle over who gets access and how.
Mobile Players Say Linux Will Unleash Handset Innovation - Electronics Weekly
Mobile phone companies Motorola, NEC, Panasonic and Samsung have teamed up with operators NTT DoCoMo and Vodafone to drive the adoption of an open source Linux-based software platform for handsets. The powerful group have agreed to work toward creating an open Linux-based software platform for mobile devices. Initially, this means the joint development and marketing of an API specification, architecture, supporting source code-based reference implementation components and tools.
Gates Takes Another Step Back - Michael Hickins, Internet News
Microsoft announced today its chairman Bill Gates will step down from his role as chief software architect, tabbing chief technology officer Ray Ozzie as his immediate successor. During a joint press conference that was at times emotional, Gates was particularly effusive in his praise for Ballmer, whom he called "the best CEO that I could imagine." Gates also sought to minimize the impact of his reduced role in the company, deflecting much of the credit for the company's success. |
