Amazon Appstore arrives in Europe

http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/30/amazon-app-store-arrives-in-europe/

Firefox 15 arrives, supports compressed textures for impressive 3D gaming

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/08/firefox-15-arrives-supports-compressed-textures-for-impressive-3d-gaming/

802.11ac: The Fifth Generation of Wi-Fi Technical White Paper

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/wireless/ps5678/ps11983/white_paper_c11-713103.html#wp9000454

Three picks Samsung to supply 4G LTE equipment - The Inquirer

Three picks Samsung to supply 4G LTE equipment - The Inquirer

Why passwords have never been weaker—and crackers have never been stronger

An interesting read:

http://arstechnica.com/security/2012/08/passwords-under-assault/

Networking industry to collaborate on TERABIT Ethernet

Got to love that opening sentence in the article:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/08/20/ieee_terabit_ethernet_group/

Intel Brings TRIM to RAID-0 SSD Arrays on 7-Series Motherboards, We Test It

The CPU and the motherboard might cost a bomb at the moment but you can get some impressive results for the SSD's with Intel's TRIM for RAID-0!! (latest gen only )

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6161/intel-brings-trim-to-raid0-ssd-arrays-on-7series-motherboards-we-test-it

Asia's fastest data cable links Japan to Singapore.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/asias-fastest-data-cable-links-japan-to-singapore.aspx?pageID=238&nID=28171&NewsCatID=374

New blog: www.bbhelp.co.uk

I've moved some of the DSL related stuff from this site to a new dedicated blog: http://ukbroadbandblog.blogspot.co.uk/ which will eventually end up on a nice short domain:  http://www.bbhelp.co.uk (give the domain 24hrs as some DNS servers are being slow to update).

Sky 3D channel free for a week

Between Monday 13 and 20 August all HD customers get free access to the Sky 3D channel as part of the Sky 3D Free Week.
http://www.sky.com/shop/tv/3d/

The Register: Ofcom: 4G won't knock out granny's personal alarm

The register: http://www.reghardware.com/2012/08/16/4g_srd_interference/

Following on from the earlier keyboard theme...

Razer Deathstalker gaming keyboard announced:
http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/15/razer-deathstalker-gaming-keyboard/

And the award for most mental keyboard goes to: Mad catz!

BBC gives itself a gold in 700Gbit-a-second Olympic data race

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/08/14/bbc_olympics/

Virgin Media starts blocking Newzbin2 - The Inquirer

Virgin Media starts blocking Newzbin2 - The Inquirer

Akamai - state of the internet.

Hong Kong takes the lead... http://www.akamai.com/stateoftheinternet/

Cool video.. probably not so cool production time...

I thought I was OTT with colouring cells in spreadsheets....

Google to pay just £6m UK tax on £395m profits

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/9459671/Google-to-pay-just-6m-UK-tax-on-395m-profits.html

Windows 8 RTM will include 'do not track' by default for Internet Explorer 10

Microsoft really seem to be trying to emphasize privacy at the moment with their new outlook.com not scanning your e-mails and giving targeted ads (Gmail) and with this move in Windows 8.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/08/windows-8-rtm-ie10-do-not-track-default/

See all the Bonds on Sky Movies HD

http://skymovies.sky.com/see-all-the-bonds-on-sky-movies-hd

Samsung's lawyer gives it some to Apple.

A fun read over at Ars: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/08/samsung-lawyer-forces-apple-hired-expert-to-highlight-subtle-differences/

Broadband forum reading

This isn't a blog post, just some links I want to read at a later date.

TR-069: CPE WAN Management Protocol v1.1

http://www.broadband-forum.org/technical/download/TR-069_Amendment-2.pdf

TR-143: Enabling Network Throughput Performance Tests and Statistical Monitoring http://www.broadband-forum.org/technical/download/TR-143.pdf

Level 3 Wants Broadband ISP Subscribers to Pay More for Internet Acces

I don't see things changing any-time soon, especially from the multi-service providers who are more versatile and able to adapt to cost changes in their business. 

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2012/08/level-3-wants-broadband-isp-subscribers-to-pay-more-for-internet-access.html

Intel working on Next Generation Form Factor SSDs

Intel working on Next Generation Form Factor SSDs

US plans to block any plan to give UN more control of the internet

Apart from the stupid opening up of the domain name system (I quite liked it with a finite amount of possibilities) I can't think of much ICANN have done wrong. I kind of agree with the bit that the UN might bog the system down with taking too long to make decisions.

The Verge: http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/4/3218629/us-terry-kramer-wcit-block-icann

Sky breaks the 4 million broadband customer landmark

Think broadband: http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5364-sky-breaks-the-4-million-broadband-customer-landmark.html

Nokia reportedly planning to sell Qt as more developers are laid off

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/08/nokia-reportedly-planning-to-sell-qt-as-more-developers-are-laid-off/

The next Samsung galaxy note?

http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/03/samsung-galaxy-note-ii-mobile-unpacked-2012/

Well it looks like the prices are already dropping on the current one. I just picked up a 'like new' second hand note (without headphones and manual) from Amazon warehouse for £265! I always wanted one of these but thought it might be a bit big in the long term....we'll just have to see... So bored of the iPhone 4S with it's tiny screen, especially since I got the iPad.

Steam claim Faster Zombies under Ubuntu linux...

Doesn't really sound like a fair comparisona dn there are way too many variables for a fair test but it's interesting to see they are working with hardware manufactures to improve their drivers overall for the platform. It'll be interesting to see how OpenGL keep up with a AAA grade developer on their back for new feature sets to be included in the API (OpenGL's last release was Aug 2011)... Then again Valve might even end up writing some in!

Blog post here: http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/linux/faster-zombies/

Microsoft confirms Windows 8 has been released to manufacturing, OEM partners now have final code

http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/01/microsoft-windows-8-rtm/

Another interesting bit is:
Microsoft showed off its answer to Linux 'Live CD' distributions - entire operating systems which run off a CD, DVD or USB stick with no installation required - with Windows To Go. Sold as a 32GB USB drive, Windows To Go allows any Windows 7 computer to boot into Windows 8 and retains the user's installed applications, files and settings. Pricing for Windows To Go has not yet been confirmed.