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29 Eylül 2010 Çarşamba
24 Eylül 2010 Cuma
Blackberry Tablet expected soon
RIM's Blackberry Tablet or "blackpad" is due for imminent release. Surprisingly it's based on a version of QNX operating system not the Blackberry OS (RIM purchased QNX a while ago). QNX has produced embedded POSIX operating systems such as Neutrino for a while and now it's rumoured that that in the future RIM will utilise Neutrino (or another OS from QNX) as the basis for all the Blackberry products, bye bye Blackberry OS.
RIM's Blackberry OS though optimised for their handsets, is proprietary and must take a huge amount of resource to keep going. QNX on the other hand has been making real-time embedded operating systems for many years (well before RIM came on the scene), it's been ported to many CPU architectures and 'just works'. As a POSIX OS it's also relatively easy to port from other more common operating systems such as Linux.
As long as all the Blackberry functionality is maintained (i.e. Push Email, BIS/BES support) which are really just applications, they should also work on a QNX OS. This will also allow RIM to support modern processors and rapidly deploy new smartphones as the hardware becomes available.
It might just give them the edge again and RIM can put the Blackberry back into the enterprise market while still keeping the youth market by making their phones sexy too.
RIM's Blackberry OS though optimised for their handsets, is proprietary and must take a huge amount of resource to keep going. QNX on the other hand has been making real-time embedded operating systems for many years (well before RIM came on the scene), it's been ported to many CPU architectures and 'just works'. As a POSIX OS it's also relatively easy to port from other more common operating systems such as Linux.
As long as all the Blackberry functionality is maintained (i.e. Push Email, BIS/BES support) which are really just applications, they should also work on a QNX OS. This will also allow RIM to support modern processors and rapidly deploy new smartphones as the hardware becomes available.
It might just give them the edge again and RIM can put the Blackberry back into the enterprise market while still keeping the youth market by making their phones sexy too.
22 Eylül 2010 Çarşamba
It's that FOWA time of year again
Oct 6th sees the Carsonified put on the The Future of Web Apps or FOWA.
As with the FOWD it's taking place in London at The Brewery which is a great venue and if they pull off the same level of professionalism it will be a great conference. They even get the networking right with high speed wireless and wired connections (almost a LAN port to every chair and WiFi for the rest).
Jason Calacanis, Mike McDerment, Cal Henderson and Brad Neuberg are amongst the speakers with the complete line-up here.
The actual conference takes place on Oct 4th and 5th and workshops on the 6th.
There's a 15% discount for anyone using the code 15DISC at the check-out when buying tickets on-line.
As with the FOWD it's taking place in London at The Brewery which is a great venue and if they pull off the same level of professionalism it will be a great conference. They even get the networking right with high speed wireless and wired connections (almost a LAN port to every chair and WiFi for the rest).
Jason Calacanis, Mike McDerment, Cal Henderson and Brad Neuberg are amongst the speakers with the complete line-up here.
The actual conference takes place on Oct 4th and 5th and workshops on the 6th.
There's a 15% discount for anyone using the code 15DISC at the check-out when buying tickets on-line.
20 Eylül 2010 Pazartesi
Ofcom passes-on responsibility for VOD editortial
Ofcom the Super regulator that deals with regulation of broadcasters, communications, radio spectrum etc. has today passed on all complaints handling relating to editorial content on UK based Video on demand services to it's co-regulatory partner the Association for Television on Demand ATVOD.
Ofcom designated ATVOD it's co-regulation partner back in March. This has implications for anyone doing VoD type broadcasts on the Internet (though it specifically does not include crowd sourced content) and puts them in the same regulatory bracket as traditional broadcasters - in order to level the playing field.
It does mean some Internet broadcasters will have to look carefully at what they're doing (if they're based in the UK at least) to ensure they re compliant.
Ofcom designated ATVOD it's co-regulation partner back in March. This has implications for anyone doing VoD type broadcasts on the Internet (though it specifically does not include crowd sourced content) and puts them in the same regulatory bracket as traditional broadcasters - in order to level the playing field.
It does mean some Internet broadcasters will have to look carefully at what they're doing (if they're based in the UK at least) to ensure they re compliant.
17 Eylül 2010 Cuma
Ofcom changes billing rules
Ofcom are holding a consultation that closes on 18th Oct 2010 about changing the rules how Communications Providers or CPs (who earn more than £40m pa) have to have their billing systems independently checked for accuracy.
Currently CPs can use the Oftel Guidelines from 2003 or the Ofcom Guidelines from 2008, now Ofcom are mandating the Ofcom 2008 Guidelines, but with changes to the way some tolerances are measured.
Though important, it only affects the bigger CPs in the UK.
The full consultation is available here and the on-line response form is here.
Currently CPs can use the Oftel Guidelines from 2003 or the Ofcom Guidelines from 2008, now Ofcom are mandating the Ofcom 2008 Guidelines, but with changes to the way some tolerances are measured.
Though important, it only affects the bigger CPs in the UK.
The full consultation is available here and the on-line response form is here.
16 Eylül 2010 Perşembe
Project Canvas becomes Youview
The hotly debated TV service known as Project Canvas has now come out of hiding to be called Youview TV Ltd and known as Youview.
Youview has several main partners, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, BT, TalkTalk and Arquiva with innovation partners from Cisco, Humax and Technicolor.
Youview will be available through a set-top-box which connects to your TV aerial and your broadband connection offering access to standard TV services (which can be watched as they're broadcast or after). The standard services will be free, though PayTV options will also be available giving access to movies and other premium content (like shows).
The obvious company that isn't a partner is BSkyB and they tried to kill Project Canvas off initially as a major threat to their PayTV services.
Youview has also published various technical documents which should allow anyone to develop for the platform, provide content services and even build set-top-boxes. How open they'll actually be is as yet unknown as only the original players are currently content providers.
In the US Apple TV (with it's reduced price of $99 for the box) is seen as a threat to traditional broadcasters and more so with services such as here and it's possible to respond on-line.
Youview has several main partners, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, BT, TalkTalk and Arquiva with innovation partners from Cisco, Humax and Technicolor.
Youview will be available through a set-top-box which connects to your TV aerial and your broadband connection offering access to standard TV services (which can be watched as they're broadcast or after). The standard services will be free, though PayTV options will also be available giving access to movies and other premium content (like shows).
The obvious company that isn't a partner is BSkyB and they tried to kill Project Canvas off initially as a major threat to their PayTV services.
Youview has also published various technical documents which should allow anyone to develop for the platform, provide content services and even build set-top-boxes. How open they'll actually be is as yet unknown as only the original players are currently content providers.
In the US Apple TV (with it's reduced price of $99 for the box) is seen as a threat to traditional broadcasters and more so with services such as here and it's possible to respond on-line.
Ofcom reduces the permitted power for UWB
Ofcom has published a consultation on reducing the permitted power in the 4.2 to 4.8 GHz band for UWB devices. The power is being reduced from -41.3 dBm/MHz EIRP to a maximum mean EIRP density of no greater than -70 dBm/MHz (unless interference mitigation techniques are used, in which case the original power limits can be maintained).
On automotive and railway vehicles the limits are being reduced from -53.3 dBm/MHz to -70 dBm/MHz (unless interference mitigation techniques are used).
This is in-line with harmonised European spectrum regulation.
The full consultation is available here.
It's possible to respond on-line and the consultation closes on 18 October 2010.
UWB (or ultra wide band) is a system whereby signals are spread across multiple parts of the spectrum, so it appears as background noise for non-UWB devices however as a lot of spectrum is used (as in a wide band) a lot of information may be transmitted allowing multi-gigabit/s data to be sent over short-distances. UWB is suitable for in-room transmission of video signals and wire replacement systems.
On automotive and railway vehicles the limits are being reduced from -53.3 dBm/MHz to -70 dBm/MHz (unless interference mitigation techniques are used).
This is in-line with harmonised European spectrum regulation.
The full consultation is available here.
It's possible to respond on-line and the consultation closes on 18 October 2010.
UWB (or ultra wide band) is a system whereby signals are spread across multiple parts of the spectrum, so it appears as background noise for non-UWB devices however as a lot of spectrum is used (as in a wide band) a lot of information may be transmitted allowing multi-gigabit/s data to be sent over short-distances. UWB is suitable for in-room transmission of video signals and wire replacement systems.
14 Eylül 2010 Salı
13 Eylül 2010 Pazartesi
Ofcom wants to increases spectrum for outside broadcast units
Ofcom is holding a consultation on whether to allow increased spectrum for satellite earth stations (or to be specific Transportable Earth Stations or TES).
The current usable band is 13.78 - 14.5 GHz known as the "Ku band" and Ofcom wants to make the 5.925 - 7.075 GHz band (known a "C band") and 27.5 - 27.8185 GHz, 28.4545 - 28.8265 GHz and 29.4625 - 30 GHz collectively known as the "Ka band" available. C band users will mainly be foreign broadcasters reporting on UK events.
The new allocation will approximately triple the available bandwidth available.
The consultation closes on 11 October 2010 and interested stakeholders can apply on-line here.
The current usable band is 13.78 - 14.5 GHz known as the "Ku band" and Ofcom wants to make the 5.925 - 7.075 GHz band (known a "C band") and 27.5 - 27.8185 GHz, 28.4545 - 28.8265 GHz and 29.4625 - 30 GHz collectively known as the "Ka band" available. C band users will mainly be foreign broadcasters reporting on UK events.
The new allocation will approximately triple the available bandwidth available.
The consultation closes on 11 October 2010 and interested stakeholders can apply on-line here.
10 Eylül 2010 Cuma
Mayor Gavin Newsom to Open APPNATION
By Mary Vincent - Follow on Twitter @MaryVincent
On Monday, September 13, 2010, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom will welcome regional and national app developers at the inaugural APPNATION Conference at San Francisco’s Moscone Center. APPNATION, an ambitious and bold new thought leadership conference and exposition focusing exclusively on the burgeoning consumer applications revolution and global app economy will assemble an esteemed set of executives from the app economy, bringing together leaders from media companies in New York to meet the vibrant and growing mobile developer community in the Bay Area.
On Monday, September 13, 2010, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom will welcome regional and national app developers at the inaugural APPNATION Conference at San Francisco’s Moscone Center. APPNATION, an ambitious and bold new thought leadership conference and exposition focusing exclusively on the burgeoning consumer applications revolution and global app economy will assemble an esteemed set of executives from the app economy, bringing together leaders from media companies in New York to meet the vibrant and growing mobile developer community in the Bay Area.
When: Monday, September 13, 2010
Where: Moscone North, 747 Howard Street
Time: 9 AM
Also, the Nielsen Company will unveil their latest Mobile Apps Playbook, a research study based on an August survey of more than 4,000 mobile subscribers who reported having downloaded an app in the previous 30 days. The study focuses on the overall App Economy, and the Nielsen Company’s full whitepaper will be released at the event.
Mayor Newsom, the Nielsen Company, and APPNATION Founder and Executive Director Drew Ianni join an esteemed line up of over 125 speakers at APPNATION including:
• Bob Bowman, CEO, Major League Baseball Advanced Media
• Ilja Laurs, Founder and CEO, GetJar
• Mark Kvamme, Partner, Sequoia Capital
• Matt Freeman, CEO, Mediabrands Ventures (Interpublic)
• Simon Khalaf, CEO, Flurry
• Gurbaksh Chahal, CEO, gWallet
• Alex St. John, President, hi5
• Michael Gutkowski, President, LMK, Hearst
• Albert Cheng, EVP, Digital Media, Disney-ABC Television Group
• Jessica Steel, SVP, Business Development, Pandora
• John Kosner, SVP & GM, New Media, ESPN
• Igor Pusenjak, Founder, Lima Sky Studios (Doodle Jump)
• Matt Murphy, Manager, iFund, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
• Gina Bianchini, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Andreessen Horowitz
• Ed Ruth, VP, Business Development, Verizon Wireless
For more information about the event, please visit www.appnationconference.com
9 Eylül 2010 Perşembe
8 Eylül 2010 Çarşamba
Ofcom wants to allow 3G operators to up power levels
Ofcom the super regulator is proposing to up the in-band power lever from 62dBm to 65dBm eirp per carrier in the FDD part of the 3G spectrum (and future 2 GHz MSS/CGC licenses).
Vodafone originally requested a license variance and the other 4 MNOs supported it, Ofcom then proposed to raise the level to 68dBm eirp, but there were objections, so Ofcom are now supporting the 65dBm eirp power levels.
The statement from Ofcom may be found here.
Vodafone originally requested a license variance and the other 4 MNOs supported it, Ofcom then proposed to raise the level to 68dBm eirp, but there were objections, so Ofcom are now supporting the 65dBm eirp power levels.
The statement from Ofcom may be found here.
7 Eylül 2010 Salı
Google gets ballsey on the UK homepage
It's Sept 7th 2010 which must be special (for Google anyway) as their UK homepage now has a set of balls (or are they balloons) that swirl around as the mouse goes near them and then they settle back into the semblance of the Google logo.
Google usually modify their homepage on specific anniversaries and it could be the date Google opened their doors in Menlo Park on Sept 7th 1998, which they have celebrated previously so it would make it the 12th anniversary, but why bouncing balls which look more particle physics?
Chris Heilmann who's Yahoo's Developer Network evangelist has published the source code (reverse engineered) to how they've done it based on HTML/Javascript and CSS.
Google do publish a list of their logos but today isn't on there yet.
Google usually modify their homepage on specific anniversaries and it could be the date Google opened their doors in Menlo Park on Sept 7th 1998, which they have celebrated previously so it would make it the 12th anniversary, but why bouncing balls which look more particle physics?
Chris Heilmann who's Yahoo's Developer Network evangelist has published the source code (reverse engineered) to how they've done it based on HTML/Javascript and CSS.
Google do publish a list of their logos but today isn't on there yet.