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11
June 2008 |
A resounding cheer could be heard all across the nation (and possibly the globe) when Steve Jobs took to the stage and officially unveiled the 3G iPhone to the world. He promised a wireless data connection that would be a full 2.4x faster than the EDGE found in the first iPhone, but why can't the iPhone 3G go even faster?
As it stands, AT&T is only going to let the iPhone 3G connect at a maximum of 1.4Mbps. Contrast this to the 3.6Mbps downstream that the AT&T HSDPA network can handle and the 7.2Mbps con... |
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11
June 2008 |
In Nuenen, a mid-sized town in the centre of the Netherlands, there is a statue of Vincent Van Gogh, who lived and briefly painted there, and it is famous for a decisive Second World War battle in September 1944. Today, the town is seen as a high-tech model, the ultimate wired community that is being studied by urban planners and policy wonks around the world, and particularly in the UK, as it picks a course for the upgrade of its broadband backbone, creaky as it is today.
Residents of this town of 7,500... |
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11
June 2008 |
BT has launched a new service that promises frustrated broadband customers that they can speed up their internet connection - or they can get their money back.
The company has vouched that it can improve speeds of people's broadband by at least 0.5Mbps (megabits per second), regardless of who provides their internet.
As long as the householder has a BT land line they will send around engineer who can help the customer speed up their service, either by de-cluttering their computer or by rewiring some o... |
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10
June 2008 |
CORPORATE telecommunications users fed up with being overcharged millions of dollars have been forced to write software to keep their carriers accountable.
Exetel is an internet service provider and telco that resells Telstra, Optus, AAPT and Vodafone wholesales services, but over the past two years has been slugged more than $1.6 million for a range of incorrectly billed items, including services it has previously cancelled.
This shows that overcharging is not limited to the telcos' corporate and... |
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10
June 2008 |
The days and weeks and months of speculation are over. Apple Inc. did, as expected at its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, retire its original iPhone and replace it with a faster, cheaper model.
You could have knocked us over with a feather. Of course, it would have to be a darn big feather.
Although Apple CEO Steve Jobs took few by surprise on this one, there are still questions to be asked. And answers to be given.
Gimme the lowdown.... What's changed, in 25 words or so? It costs... |
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10
June 2008 |
Communications watchdogs have today been pressed by MPs to investigate a new service that allows people to fool caller ID systems into displaying a fake number, amid fears it will be abused by ID fraudsters and other conmen.
It's thought such trickery is currently legal in the UK. The Liberal Democrats have called on regulators to act however, claiming the availablity of such services in the UK could make it even easier to fleece the public and invade privacy.
Spookcall logoSo-called caller ID spoofin... |
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9
June 2008 |
Apple is expected to launch the second generation of its iPhone device in San Francisco on Monday.
The firm's chief executive Steve Jobs is being widely tipped to launch the iPhone 2 at the Apple World Wide Developers' Conference.
The expectations are prompted in part by a lack of availability for current models of the phone at all of Apple's online stores and retail partners.
Analysts predict the new iPhone will have faster 3G wireless connectivity.
The original iPhone received widespread prais... |
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9
June 2008 |
Credit crunch. Housing bubble. Global recession. Peak oil. Global warming. Times like these can make grown men and women weep. The pessimism and despair peddled by business and popular media suggest that no industry can prosper in the current economic environment. Yet there are abundant signs that the telecoms industry is weathering this storm well.
The credit market collapse supposedly put an end to mergers and acquisitions. The deal to take Bell Canada private, which depended on private equity group fi... |
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9
June 2008 |
Samsung Electronics South Korea released on early Monday preview details on the company's new smartphone, before the mania of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference begins in California.
The Samsung Omnia (SGH-i900) is similar in looks and function to the Samsung Instinct (SPH-M800), but with a few more bells and whistles.
Artist's sketch of the Samsung Omnia (SGH-i900) to be revealed next week at Communicasia.
(Credit: Samsung Electronics)
For starters, it sounds like it has a very promising cam... |
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9
June 2008 |
It's been a long, leak-filled wait, but Apple finally took the wraps off its 3G iPhone. Thinner edges, full plastic back, flush headphone jack, and the iPhone 2.0 firmware -- Apple's taking a lot of the criticisms to heart from the first time around. Obviously 3G is at the forefront, but they're also making sure it's available all over internationally, works with enterprises, runs 3rd party apps... and does it all for cheaper. Apple claims its 3G speeds trounce the competition, with pageloads 36% faster tha... |
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9
June 2008 |
The Information & Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA) of the small Indian Ocean island of Mauritius has asked telephone operators to adopt new rates for the mobile and international segments.
New rates have been in force since Wednesday. The new rate regime comes in the wake of a telecommunication directive issued on April 30, which ordered an 87 rupee (US$0.032) reduction of the Interconnection Usage Charge (IUC) for fixed and mobile networks, paid by operators for every minute of communication.... |
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9
June 2008 |
IT SEEMS that mobile operator, 3 UK, has noticed that it's not just consumers who are attracted to free mobile Skype calls. So it's just introduced mobile Skype for business.
The idea is to create tariffs that will appeal to small businesses (sub 20 persons) and the self-employed but throw in the free Skype calling too.
This will prove particularly attractive to those with business contacts in other countries where there is a 3 network. Australia is a good example, here. You could effectively be calli... |
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9
June 2008 |
Comcast Corp. said Thursday that by early 2010 it plans to offer consumers in most of its markets Internet service so fast they will be able to download a high-definition movie in minutes.
The nation's second-largest Internet service provider -- and biggest cable TV operator -- will deploy a technology capable of delivering up to 100 megabits of data or more per second in 20 percent of its markets by the end of 2008, Comcast senior vice president of investor relations Marlene Dooner said at the Merrill L... |
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8
June 2008 |
Running a billion-dollar business may be an easy challenge for Safaricom's CEO Michael Joseph, but managing this kind of money is the biggest job faced by any chief financial officer (CFO) in Kenya today.
Since 2000, when Safaricom's CFO Les Baillie was seconded to Kenya from Vodafone, along with Mr Joseph, he has played a behind-the-scene role managing Safaricom's balance sheet to ensure that the business does not choke on its fast expansion due to lack of working capital, ensuring earnings are not pulv... |
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8
June 2008 |
Cisco Systems will join Clearwire Corp., Sprint Nextel Corp. and three WiMax equipment providers on Monday to announce an initiative aimed at simulating WiMax innovation through the sharing of WiMax patents.
The group behind the initiative includes Alcatel-Lucent, Intel Corp. and Samsung, according to officials at Cisco. However, several well-known WiMax providers are not on the list, including Motorola Corp. , which is providing equipment for a field test of mobile WiMax services in Chicago as part of t... |
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