silicon.com : Networks

Naked CIO: Social networks are useless for finding a job

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:00:00 GMT

While social networking sites can be fun for connecting with family and friends, they're no use when it comes to professional networking, says the Naked CIO.

It used to be that social networking websites were a perfect place to collaborate with colleagues, bring together like-minded people and make professional contacts who could enhance your career. But no more.

£39m boost for London Olympics' emergency comms

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:14:02 GMT

The Home Office has announced a £39m deal to help emergency services comms cope during the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The National Police Improvement Agency has signed the £39m contract with Airwave, the company that provides the mobile radio network used by every UK police force and currently being rolled out to every ambulance trust and Fire and Rescue service in the country, to fund an increase in the system's capacity in time for the 2012 Games.

'You're responsible for your own wi-fi security' say ISPs

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:48:02 GMT

Customers are responsible for their own wi-fi security, according to hotspot operators.

BT Openzone, The Cloud and T-Mobile all recommended wi-fi users adopt VPNs to help protect themselves while using hotspots.

Maemo and Android: Symbian's open source rivals up the pressure

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:14:01 GMT

While Symbian continues to dominate the smartphone market it could soon be facing increasing competition from a new quarter - Maemo.

There's no debating that the Symbian platform remains the daddy of the smartphone world: one in every two sold today carries the Symbian OS.

Photos: Google Waves hello to a new way of doing business

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:39:02 GMT

Since Google launched its Wave collaboration platform this year businesses have been testing how they can make use of the system.

The Wave platform offers users a chance to chat and work together in real-time within a window in a web browser that Google calls a 'wave'.

Orange unveils iPhone tariffs and launch date

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:15:02 GMT

The iPhone 3G and 3G S will go on sale to Orange customers from 10 November, the operator has revealed today.

Orange has also unveiled its pay monthly, pay-as-you-go and business tariffs for iPhone 3G and 3G S - with the cheapest price plan offering consumers a free iPhone 3G for just under £30 per month on a two-year contract.

Photos: Salesforce.com rides the Google wave with CRM app

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:25:02 GMT

Earlier this year, Google launched a collaboration platform called Wave.

Using the platform, individuals can access shared windows called 'waves' where they can collaborate in real-time, swapping IMs, photos, videos, maps and documents as they work together.

Make haste with the analogue-digital switch, urges EC

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:15:01 GMT

The European Commission has called for EU members to speed their switchover to digital television, and therefore in the process free up spectrum, which can then be used for broadband services.

Viviane Reding, information society and media commissioner for the EC, said she wants EU countries to have made the move by 2012.

Taxman to save £110m by taking an axe to its IT estate

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:09:01 GMT

The taxman will cut £110m from its annual IT bill by trimming its IT infrastructure.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will reduce the £840m it currently spends on IT each year by ditching or shrinking the size of 40 computer systems and shutting down a number of datacentres.

'UK must up privacy safeguards following Phorm'

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:40:01 GMT

The European Commission has said the UK government doesn't have adequate communications privacy legislation and must step up its efforts.

The announcement follows complaints by UK citizens and privacy groups over the government's lack of action after telco BT conducted trials of the Phorm behavioural advertising service without getting consent from its customers.

Parking in the West End goes contactless

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:18:02 GMT

Drivers with contactless bank cards will soon be able to use them to pay for their parking.

From next year, parking meters in the West End will accept contactless payments from motorists with wave and pay functionality built into their debit or credit cards.

Full steam ahead for plans to cut off file-sharers

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:46:01 GMT

Secretary of state for business, innovation and skills Peter Mandelson has reiterated the government's 'three strikes and you're out' plan to cut off illegal file-sharers' internet access.

Speaking at a cabinet creative industries conference yesterday, the business minister said proposals made back in August will feature in the Digital Economy Bill expected before Parliament in November.

Peter Cochrane's Blog: Uneconomics

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:00:00 GMT

Compiled at the IoD, Pall Mall, London, and dispatched to silicon.com via a free wi-fi connection.

For more than a year now I have been in a state of mild bewilderment while watching and listening to the economic commentators. The truth is: I find it difficult to afford them much credibility as I have been here many times before.

Windows 7: Not perfect - but ready for prime time

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:43:02 GMT

While Windows 7 solves most of the qualms about Vista, the new OS still has plenty of room to grow, says Quocirca's Clive Longbottom.

The much vaunted Windows 7 is now among us, and consumer pre-orders look strong.

How will you use Google Wave? Recruiting, decision-making, dealing with complaints

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:40:01 GMT

It may have only been launched a few months ago but Google's Wave collaboration platform is already attracting attention from businesses, according to one of the key architects of the service.

Lars Rasmussen, Google's software engineering manager and co-creator of Wave, said unlike typical Google services, Wave has stoked early interest among both consumers and enterprises.

Photos: Google's Android 2.0 unifies email

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:17:02 GMT

Google this week released screenshots of Eclair, its 2.0 Android update.

Eclair update will add a unified email inbox. On previous Android phones, users have complained about the disparate experience between the various email apps.

Photos: Top iPhone apps for business

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:45:01 GMT

Apple's iPhone might be seen by many as largely a consumer device, with games and media apps regularly topping the 'What's Hot' list on iTunes.

However, the App Store currently stocks more than 2,000 business apps and, with the iPhone currently dominating around 13 per cent of the smartphone market, the device's potential as a business tool can no longer be ignored. Here we take a look at some of the best business apps that can help turn your iPhone into a portable office.

Amazon's Kindle ignites legal upheaval

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:10:01 GMT

Amazon's Kindle e-book and Google's Book Search will change the way we read books forever. And that will keep the lawyers plenty busy, says Callum Sinclair.

The internet, as the daddy of all disruptive technologies, heralded a new era of litigation. Now with Amazon's Kindle e-book reader available internationally - in the UK and some 100 other countries - and all the controversy over the Google Book Search settlement, it looks like e-book readers are the next space for legislative upheaval.

Cheat Sheet: Augmented reality

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:03:02 GMT

Augmented reality? Is this another name for Apple CEO Steve Jobs' infamous reality distortion field? Nice try but no. Augmented reality (AR) means overlaying computerised elements, such as graphics or text, on top of a real-time video or other real-world display with the aim of providing additional information to the viewer.

That sounds pretty abstract - do you have a few examples? The most basic examples of AR can be seen on televised sports games, where scores are overlaid on match footage, or digital annotations are added to show the trajectory of the ball or highlight a particular player.

Peter Cochrane's Video Blog: Tapping into London's 20Mbps broadband

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:27:01 GMT

While out and about in London, Peter Cochrane discovers there's an awful lot of unsecured wi-fi on offer, you just have to dig around.

Video: 60-Second Pitch: End-point security

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:29:01 GMT

CIOs spend hours listening to suppliers pitch their latest technology. How would these vendors fare with just one minute to get their message across?

silicon.com turns up the heat and gives vendors only 60 seconds to impress a panel of CIOs with their products. The IT chiefs then quiz them before delivering their verdict on the technology in the form of a red or green light.

Augmented reality's time is coming thanks to smarter smartphones

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:11:01 GMT

Today's increasingly feature-packed smartphones are likely to propel the use of augmented reality into the mainstream in the coming years.

Augmented reality - the process of superimposing digital information or objects onto real-time video streams in order to create the illusion that they are part of the physical scene - will be pulling in revenues of more than $350m by 2014, up from $6m in 2008, according to analyst ABI Research.

Nokia sues Apple, claims patent infringement

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:50:02 GMT

Nokia is suing Apple over the alleged infringement of 10 of its patents.

According to the Finnish mobile maker, Apple's iconic iPhone device infringes on the patents relating to wireless handsets. Nokia said it is suing Apple because of the iPhone maker's refusal to licence the patents.

The top 10 technologies you need to plan for next year

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:46:02 GMT

2009 may not be over yet but analysts have already revealed the top 10 strategic techs that CIOs should be looking at next year.

According to Gartner, the 10 strategic technologies will have an impact on the enterprise over the next three years, with IT chiefs encouraged to make decisions on them within the next two.

Keeping IT green in tough times

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:00:02 GMT

It's never been easy being green, especially when it comes to electricity-hungry IT infrastructure.

And in the midst of a recession, with cost cutting a priority, it's easy to let slide worthy targets such as becoming carbon neutral - especially if the choice is between a project to shrink the carbon footprint of IT and one that could ensure the company makes a profit in these difficult times.