Windows 8 core apps get an update.

Like most new OS's from MS. It looks to be coming together as we move towards the first large service pack. (8.1)

http://www.neowin.net/news/windows-8-core-apps-updated

Sky Android apps are back on the market after being hacked.

After a short break. They are back, but not like this any more: 

  

BT Openreach Tweaks Unbundled LLU Phone Line Prices for UK ISPs

Good news for the bigger ISP's with MPF wanting to get their customer base off SMPF circuits.

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2013/05/bt-openreach-tweaks-unbundled-llu-prices-for-uk-isps.html

BT and Ciena Trial 800Gbps Fibre Optic Super Channel in the UK

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2013/05/bt-and-ciena-trial-800gbps-fibre-optic-super-channel-in-the-uk.html

Quick Tap nfc on Orange UK

Take a look at "Quick Tap Wallet for GS3/LTE"

Really want this on Vodafone!

Requires a secure sim

Samsung S4 outdoors shots

Took a panoramic shot although it was rather tricky with the cyclists zooming past.  

Holiday preparations - The battery pack.

I'm off to Bodrum ,Turkey this summer. 

So I don't intend on using my data plan much if at all as Vodafone UK leaves Turkey out of its Vodafone passport international roaming. This leans i'd had to take out a small loan in order to use it. My advise to anyone in the same situation. Get a 30 day Three sim and use their roaming service which covers Turkey...Not cheap but you'll likely spend around £60 on average with a good amount of usage. 

Aside from the roaming issues. The next battle is battery. I think I'll end up taking the Lumia 920 (coming back from Nokia for the 2nd time as I've stopped sending it to Phones4u) & the Samsung Galaxy S4. 

Here maps is supposed to be good offline so we'll see vs Google maps.

Because of this I have invested in a battery pack as I was impressed with my old Iphone 4s battery case pack. This one has 12000mAh so should last the distance for a few days.. It also has a flash-light that may be handy at night. 

Link to purchase on Amazon:

HP ProLiant G7 N54L 2.2GHz MicroServer deal on @ eBuyer

eBuyer has their next HP micro server promotion up. Its a slight upgrade over what I think was the N40L (Could be N45L).  The price is currently £209 with a £100 cashback (you'll be waiting a month or so for this).

The specs are pretty basic, but this is ideal for my intended purpose of it being a NAS box to share all my videos and music across multiple devices. I haven't bought any upgrades for it as of yet. I want to experiment with it first as it'll be my first NAS box. The 250GB hard disk should suffice for the mean time until I am ready to use it properly. Its interesting to see what people have done in terms of running the OS off a flash drive on the internal USB port or their set-ups with RAID arrays.

I'll also need some sort of Dynamic DNS service as I'm on a residential Sky broadband line with a dynamic IP. Free ones can be had from www.no-ip.biz, but there is also dyndns.com which is $25 a year. Then again with the O2 purchase, Sky has been hinting at rolling out a static IP address to some customers. My guess is probably at an extra cost which is fair enough as it isn't a business service I guess.

Other concerns are noise. I want it to be dead quiet as its going to sit in the living room. I recently upgraded my Shuttles graphics card (a whole different beast) and it's noticeably louder these days.

http://www.freenas.org/ is looking like the OS of choice from what my colleague suggested.
From what the site says it looks pretty versatile which is what I need running a variety of OS's in my household.

I've not used a Windows server in a long while now, but it might be worth a download of the trail version to have a look. I've heard some good things about Windows Server 2012.

Link to the product is here:
http://www.ebuyer.com/430446-proliant-microserver-turion-2-2-2gb-250gb-nhpl-sata-lff-in-704941-421

Microsoft's Xbox doesn't infringe Motorola patents, court rules- The Inquirer

Moto and Google were probably hoping for some big money here....

Microsoft's Xbox doesn't infringe Motorola patents, court rules- The Inquirer

MS taking pot shots at Apple again (Tablets)

Big UK ISPs Report Huge Data Surge During XBox One Launch Event

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2013/05/big-uk-isps-report-huge-data-surge-during-xbox-one-launch.html

Ethernet turns 40 years old today- The Inquirer

Ethernet turns 40 years old today- The Inquirer

Samsung and Sharp Introduce New Ultra-High-Resolution Notebook Displays

http://www.macrumors.com/2013/05/20/samsung-and-sharp-introduce-new-ultra-high-resolution-notebook-displays/

Xbox OneGuide brings HDMI in/out, overlays for live TV

I hope they have thought more international with this and companies like Sky will be on-board.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/21/xbox-one-hdmi-passthrough/

Xbox One

http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/21/building-xbox-one-an-inside-look/

IT bloke publishes comprehensive maps of CALL CENTRE menu HELL

Story:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/05/17/call_centre_crusader/

Link in the story:
www.pleasepress1.com

What Microsoft and Nokia want to see making headlines...

Windows Phone now the third place smartphone ecosystem as BlackBerry sinks further

http://www.neowin.net/news/windows-phone-now-the-third-place-smartphone-ecosystem-as-blackberry-sinks-further

Samsung will work to free up storage on the Galaxy S4- The Inquirer

Samsung will work to free up storage on the Galaxy S4- The Inquirer

BlackBerry to offer BBM as standalone app for iOS and Android this summer

Too little too late really. With the rise of WhatsApp I don't think there will be any need for this.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/14/blackberrytbbm-standalone-app-ios-and/

Four colossal Sun flares in 48 hours

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22539160

OUYA console makers just raised another $15 million

http://hexus.net/gaming/news/industry/55077-ouya-console-makers-just-raised-another-15-million/

Game music redone.

Found this through a Razer promotion. Some of their videos are really good so I thought i'd share!

Guild Wars 2:


Morrowind & Skyrim:

My 10 Miliion plus Simoleon‎ SimCity

Not massively hard when you get the balance of the game leaning in your favour. It's a tricky one though and I don't feel like I have it properly yet in terms of a well run city. Check the recent transactions in the below pictures and you'll see what I mean. I also have a radiation issue due to a er....upgrading the nuclear power plant by demolishing the old... 

I currently run the city on a loss while the processors and TV's I manufacture offset my costs.. I needed the TV's for Arcology at first but once I had enough they were all exported for profit. 

Arcologies take a fair bit of power and water from your surrounding cities as well. As I'm keeping it going with one, it requires a fairly beefy power output! 

New laws are planned for faulty apps

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/22451777

Sim City update 3.0!

Patch release notes:

Another big update. They are getting nearer to a enjoyable game! I just hope they haven't created more bugs like 2.0 did! (I was getting recurring gifts I had not actually been sent by anyone and I couldn't go bankrupt as my balance stayed at 0 while my expenses magically got paid (if only...)

https://help.ea.com/article/simcity-updates

Chat apps now more popular than SMS worldwide

Certainly find Whatsapp ideal for group chats and a less messy way of knowing the recipient has received the message (1 tick next to the message means it sent, two and they have received).

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57581830-94/chat-apps-now-more-popular-than-sms-worldwide/

Sorry Sky, TalkTalk, Virgin. BT 1up'ed you with their new home hub 4

It's dual band! (2.4 and 5GHz), has some Gigabit ethernet ports and a USB port...

Fits through a letterbox which is convenient.

No VDSL modem built in still..

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2013/05/uk-isp-bt-retail-reveals-new-smarter-hub-3-broadband-wireless-router.html

Mozilla, Otoy debut high-speed codec for any browser with no plug-ins

Simply using HTML5 and JavaScript (With Otoy's proprietary library):

ORBX.js is the library is question.

Mozilla and Otoy plan to demo the technology at a press roundtable in San Francisco at 10:30am Pacific time on Friday, along with Autodesk, which helped fund development of ORBX.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/05/03/mozilla_otoy_announce_orbx/

Netflix drops Silverlight, moves to HTML5- The Inquirer

Guessing other services will follow swiftly once the DRM is properly sorted (Now TV, Sky go). Look out for browser updates to support "HTML5 Premium Video Extensions"

Netflix drops Silverlight, moves to HTML5- The Inquirer

Google has hired industry legend Noah Falstein (Sinistar, Fate of Atlantis) to be its "Chief Game Designer".

http://kotaku.com/google-has-hired-industry-legend-noah-falstein-sinista-488262355

Why next iPhone screen could be made of SAPPHIRE

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/05/02/gorilla_glass_ipads/

Sky quarterly results.

Sky's march continues with some good natural growth in the broadband sector. It'll look even better if the O2 customer migrate inwards as smoothly as possible.

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2013/05/isp-sky-broadband-uk-grows-to-4-million-subscribers.html

Apple iOS 7 to feature design overhauled by Jony Ive- The Inquirer

Apple iOS 7 to feature design overhauled by Jony Ive- The Inquirer

OpenReach housing developments list for FTTP

If you're thinking of buying a brand new home, check out OpenReach's list of new housing developments able to get superfast fibre broadband. Thats the faster FTTP, not FTTC!

http://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/home/products/super-fastfibreaccess/downloads/sffa_exchange_lists/new_housing_developments.pdf

BT Openreach Tweaks UK ISP Line Rental and Abortive Visit Charges

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2013/05/bt-openreach-tweaks-uk-line-rental-and-abortive-visit-charges.html