Sky will be the only UK provider to offer 'Game of Thrones' and other HBO shows until 2020

A good move for Sky. The UK remains one of the most competitive markets with so many alternative options that the exclusives really are deciding factors for viewers a lot of the time. 

http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/30/sky-hbo-epg-sport-deals-uk-record/

Chrome rendering engine will get faster, lighter, and better offline in 2014

So Webkit is being forked for Blink. I certainly hope Chrome gets lighter and faster as promised!

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/01/chrome-rendering-engine-will-get-faster-lighter-and-better-offline-in-2014/

http://www.chromium.org/blink/developer-faq

LibreOffice upgrade targets Windows integration and power users.

Key points: 

• the ability to centrally manage and lock-down the configuration with Group Policy Objects via Active Directory
• an optional new formula interpreter enables massively parallel calculation of formula cells using the GPU via OpenCL

I like this simple yet elegant part:

In addition to improving the desktop applications, LibreOffice is about to get an Impress Remote Control for iOS, letting iPhone users control presentations from their mobile devices. The app is awaiting review from Apple and should hit the App Store soon. Impress Remote is already available for Android.

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/01/libreoffice-upgrade-targets-windows-integration-and-power-users/

LibreOffice 4.2 release notes

Are Apple planning a big surprise with the next Apple TV

http://m.t3.com/news/next-gen-apple-tv-to-include-tv-tuner

Verizon LTE now available in 35 NYC subway stations

London underground is falling behind. Admittedly, Virgin Media have done a good job with the Wifi rollout compared to hotspots such as TheCloud (It was poor when it was in Waterloo Station) but we need 3/4G!   

http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/28/verizon-lte-nyc-subway/

Makerbot owner Stratasys launches multi-material colour 3D printer

There getting better. We've got chocolate 3d printers and now multi-material printers: 

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-01/27/multi-material-3d-printer

Sammy is making a few patent deals recently.

First Google and now this, looks like their aiming to dodge a fair few future issues and gadget creation becomes more and more of a minefield.
http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/27/samsung-ericsson-cross-licensing-agreement/

Ubuntu scores highest in UK Gov security assessment

UK Gov Report Summary

http://insights.ubuntu.com/resources/article/ubuntu-scores-highest-in-uk-gov-security-assessment/

7Gbps Capable Home WiFi Standard 802.11ac-2013 on the Way by 2015

Might wanna hold out for those 802.11ac-2013 devices...

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2014/01/ultrafast-7gbps-capable-802-11ac-2013-home-wifi-standard-way-2015.html

Apple: Random iOS 7 crashes to be remedied in “upcoming software update”

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/01/apple-random-ios-7-crashes-to-be-remedied-in-upcoming-software-update/

Google's reasonably priced Street View car tours Top Gear's test track

http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/23/google-street-view-top-gear-test-track-dunsfold-aerodrome/

Display types - technologies involved.

A good description of the different flat screen monitor types!

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/panel_technologies.htm

Rosetta Comet-Chasing Probe Wakes Up

http://news.sky.com/story/1198129/rosetta-comet-chasing-probe-wakes-up

ofcom planes trains boats superfast internet satellite

http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/21/ofcom-planes-trains-boats-superfast-internet-satellite/

Samsung Galaxy S5 UI leaks as a tarted-up copy of Google Now- The Inquirer

Samsung Galaxy S5 UI leaks as a tarted-up copy of Google Now- The Inquirer

Google is mapping the history of modern music

Engadget bit:

http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/18/google-music-library-data/

Google research bit:
https://research.google.com/bigpicture/music/#

The Netflix Tech Blog: Improving Netflix’s Operational Visibility with Re...

The Netflix Tech Blog: Improving Netflix’s Operational Visibility with Re...:

Engadget: AMD says its next PC chip trumps Intel with 12 'compute cores' and smoother gaming.

Engadget: AMD says its next PC chip trumps Intel with 12 'compute cores' and smoother gaming. http://google.com/producer/s/CBIwx4biixA

EU wants to know if US studios' TV deals restrict pan-European viewing

http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/13/eu-investigates-tv-deals/

Large 4K screens at CES 2014

Over 100 inches on a bendy TV...

Whats the market ratio for homes that could reasonably house one of them in their living rooms! 

Certainly for gaming your eyes would be 'swimming' around the screen unless you were sitting a good distance back. 
http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/08/samsung-uhd-release-window/

Solving the Friday night deluge (Content pushing network limits)

http://www.cedmagazine.com/articles/2013/12/solving-the-friday-night-deluge

AnandTech | NVIDIA Tegra K1 Preview & Architecture Analysis

AnandTech | NVIDIA Tegra K1 Preview & Architecture Analysis

New PC build specification:

PC build:

• MSI Z87I Socket 1150 VGA DVI HDMI mini-ITX Motherboard (unlocked multiplier)
• Intel Core i7 4770 Quad Core Retail CPU (Haswell)
• G.Skill Ripjaws-X Memory 16GB (1600MHz, 2x 8GB, CL10) DDR3 Memory
• Coolermaster Hyper TX3 Evo heatsink
• OCZ 550W ZS Series 550W 80+ Bronze PSU with 135mm
• Bitfenix Prodigy case
• 2 x Crucial 240GB M500 SSD in RAID0
• 256GB M4 standalone
• 750GB WD HDD
• VTX3D AMD Radeon HD 7870 Tahiti LE Graphics Card - Black (2GB GDDR5)

For peripherals I use a Logitech G510 / G700 and G930 (I got a massive discount deal on them 2 years ago).

A few people have asked me for the spec so here it is. It's modest in places but I certainly think its value for money!

The case is especially nice to work with although the handles could be a bit more study. Ventilation is excellent which means I can run the 120mm (or larger) fans slower and quieter so its near silent.

Two SSD's in Raid0 is also very wow ;-) I barely get a loading screen in Skyrim with the highest quality textures.  

1 month till i'm on fibre! Yay!

Although for an ADSL line it holds up well! I can't wait to move at the end of the month and put my NAS on a half decent upstream 20Mbps with 80Mbps down!





Heres a ping monitor of how the lines held up against heavy downloading all day and I reinstall Windows updates / Office and Steam games all day:

Gaping admin access holes found in SoHo routers from Linksys, Netgear and others

Not exactly easy to come across but scary non-the less.

http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2014/01/03/gaping-admin-access-holes-found-in-soho-routers-from-linksys-netgear-and-others/

OS X 10.9 brings fast but choppy Thunderbolt networking.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/10/os-x-10-9-brings-fast-but-choppy-thunderbolt-networking/