BT's stranglehold over superfast broadband 'put Britain's digital standing at risk'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/telecoms/9803818/BTs-stranglehold-over-superfast-broadband-put-Britains-digital-standing-at-risk.html#disqus_thread

Bohemia Interactive's employees get into hot water in Greece

Naughty naughty Bohemia Interactive
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21028105

BT Openreach Confirm UK ISP Pricing for FTTP on Demand Pilot Phase 2

Although those prices are very off putting (£500 install and £1000 for a 500m run of fibre) we could see some ISP willing to subsidise this heavily with lengthy contracts. With FTTC giving 80Mbps down / 20Mbps up, people will start thinking hard about if the upgrade is worth it. 

It's a clever move by OpenReach to save money upgrading the network. I don't ever remember NTL / Telewest or their predecessors doing any thing similar on a residential; service. Hopefully it will leads to a focus on keeping the network running smoothly with better service to ISP's.

The Pilot will take place in the following exchange areas:

High Wycombe
Bristol South
St Agnes Cornwall
Edinburgh Waverley
Basingstoke
Watford
Cardiff Central
Manchester Central

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2013/01/bt-openreach-confirm-uk-isp-pricing-for-fttp-on-demand-pilot-phase-2.html

ISP PlusNet Trials Controversial IPv4 Address Sharing as IPv6 Alternative

Lets hope PlusNet are quite vocal about their findings as it would be an interesting insight.

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2013/01/isp-plusnet-trials-controversial-ipv4-address-sharing-as-ipv6-alternative.html

Java still contains security flaws, experts claim

Not good news for Oracle. You really don't want government denouncements...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21011669

I want to like Bing but...

I like using Bing for its image search and I want to like it for web searches but it still needs to work on giving relevant results:

I.e. a search on my Surname... 1 hit and the rest are 'did you mean' hits...

First Ultra HD channel goes live in Europe

http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/14/first-ultra-hd-channel-goes-live-in-europe/

Windows Phone Mac app updated

Good news, this was getting annoying.

http://www.wpcentral.com/windows-phone-mac-app-updated

Try Now TV on XBOX and get 800 MS points.

B Sky B's platform people who don't want / can't have a dish installed and / or prefer a different payment model to the traditional Sky TV offerings:

http://www.neowin.net/news/uk-residents-can-get-800-microsoft-points-for-free-for-trying-now-tv

Chrome 24 fixes two dozen bugs, promises to speed things up

Always nice if it delivers.

Chrome has been getting a little flaky these last few releases and has been becoming a bit of a memory hog.

Might have to give firefox another go soon.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/11/chrome-24-fixes-two-dozen-bugs-promises-to-speed-things-up/

oneTesla: a DIY Singing Tesla Coil

This Kickstarter project looks awesome!

connect this (or a few) up to some motion sensors and a select the right music and I can imagine some pretty intuitive in home intrusion projection systems.





http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/onetesla/onetesla-a-diy-singing-tesla-coil?ref=home_spotlight

CES 2013: Panasonic reveals 20-inch, 4K resolution Windows 8 tablet

Look out Wacom. A few manufactures are playing your tune!

Engadget:
http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/08/panasonic-reveals-20-inch-4k-resolution-windows-8-tablet/

CES 2013: Belkin Drops eSATA Support for Upcoming Thunderbolt Express Dock, Cuts Price Back to $299

Shame to see eSATA die out (I loved it over USB / ethernet  transfers) but hopefully thunderbolt will gain good traction on multiple platforms.

http://www.macrumors.com/2013/01/07/ces-2013-belkin-drops-esata-support-for-upcoming-thunderbolt-express-dock-cuts-price-back-to-299/

BT Openreach Cuts Line Rental, FTTC and LLU Prices by £75m for UK ISPs

OpenReach price changes.

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2012/12/bt-openreach-cuts-line-rental-fttc-and-llu-prices-for-uk-isps.html

Apple Reportedly Strikes Deal with Broadcom to Add 802.11ac Gigabit Wi-Fi to 2013 Macs

Interesting considering 802.11ac is still in draft. I thought apple would be playing it safe so they must be fairly confident in the technologies development so far.


Mac Rumours:
http://www.macrumors.com/2013/01/02/apple-reportedly-strikes-deal-with-broadcom-to-add-802-11ac-gigabit-wi-fi-to-2013-macs/