Roku NowTV box £9.99

Great if you don't have Sky or just want to use it occasionally. 
https://shop.nowtv.com/

TalkTalk announce their results. Still not great in my opinion.

Currently making a meal of my parents Business FTTC install (If it was residential it would have gone on Sky).

The PSTN had FeatureLine on it (gets you an incompatible product when you place a fibre order) so they took the line to WLR3 first and then are moving it to MFP LLU before FTTC. Their correspondence is awful and confusing for customers not in the know. All it needs is one letter explaining this, instead they send multiple as if you've signed up to each service separately confusing the hell out of the purchaser as to what they've actually bough. One person asked me to start going through the order again when it was already over on WLR3 (cutting off the internet which had been SMPF with them and not making them aware of the longer downtime than initially planned)!  

The only plus side is they are cheaper that BT infinity for unlimited usage wtih a static IP. 

Link to announcement via ISPreview.co.uk:
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2013/07/talktalk-grows-to-4-071m-uk-broadband-users-with-95k-on-superfast-fttc.html

The next Nexus 7 has been announced!

Nexus 7 tech specs:

SCREEN
7.02” 1920x1200 HD display (323 ppi)
1080p HD IPS
Scratch resistant Corning® glass

CAMERAS
1.2MP front facing, fixed focus
5MP rear facing, auto focus

DIMENSIONS
114 x 200 x 8.65 mm
0.64lbs (290g) Wi-Fi, 0.66lbs (299g) LTE

BATTERY
3950 mAh
Up to 9 hours active use
Wireless charging built-in (Qi compatible)

AUDIO
Stereo speakers
Surround sound, powered by Fraunhofer

PROCESSING
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro, 1.5GHz
GPU: Adreno 320, 400MHz

WIRELESS
Dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4G/5G) 802.11 a/b/g/n
NFC (Android Beam)
Bluetooth 4.0

NETWORKS
Optional 4G LTE

North America:
4G LTE: 700/750/850/1700/1900/2100 MHZ (Bands: 1/2/4/5/13/17)
HSPA+: 850/900/1900/2100/AWS MHz (Bands: 1/2/4/5/8/10)
GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz

Europe:
4G LTE: 800/850/1700/1800/1900/2100/2600 MHz (Bands: 1/2/3/4/5/7/20)
HSPA+: 850/900/1900/2100/AWS MHz (Bands: 1/2/4/5/8/10)
GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz

MEMORY
Choose 16GB or 32GB internal storage
2GB RAM

PORTS & CONNECTORS
microUSB
SlimPort™ enabled
3.5mm audio
Microphone
Power and Volume buttons

SENSORS
GPS
Gyroscope
Accelerometer
Compass
Ambient Light
http://www.google.com/nexus/7/

Samsung reveals new Exynos smartphone and tablet chip

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23422822

How the Tesla Model S is Made -- Behind The Scenes Video

This is a very cool manufacturing process!

AMD losses slow, predicts return to profit soon

AMD losses slow, predicts return to profit soon

Intel expands it's IP portfolio in line with Apple...

Intel's acquisition of Omek means you might never have to touch a PC again http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/16/4527622/intel-acquires-omek-interactive-gesture-recognition

Sky Broadband do well at the ISPA awards

ISPreview:

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2013/07/ispa-announce-the-winners-of-its-2013-uk-internet-industry-awards.html

Samsung overtakes Apple and Nokia to take mobile web traffic lead- The Inquirer

Samsung overtakes Apple and Nokia to take mobile web traffic lead- The Inquirer

AnandTech | The Joys of 802.11ac WiFi

AnandTech | The Joys of 802.11ac WiFi

Grand Theft Auto V: Official Gameplay Video

Looks to have even more depth than previous iterations!

Alcatel-Lucent on G.Fast and Vectoring 2 for Future 1Gbps FTTC Broadband

ISPreview:: http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2013/07/alcatel-lucent-talk-g-fast-and-vectoring-2-for-future-1gbps-fttc-broadband.html

Guild Wars 2 will avoid expansions

Guild Wars 2 will avoid expansions - Bit-tech.net

Samsung ATIV Q

This looks nice! Android and Win 8 as dual OS's on the device although the android part is emulated. http://www.samsung.com/global/ativ/ativq.html

Bodrum, Turkey, VDSL2 !

So I went back to Bodrum Turkey again this summer after 2 years to find that they had VDSL2 rolled out across Bodrum and Gumbet. Below is a picture of the cabinets. I was impressed that a town which doesn't have 24/7 running water (houses have water storage tanks) has such infrastructure! 

Interestingly it might be Alcatel-Lucent equipment as Turk Telekom use that in their exchanges but i'm unsure if there are any other companies involved. I thought it would have been Huawei at a guess.

http://www.eurocomms.com/industry-news/49-online-press/8658-turk-telekom-and-a-l-agree-vdsl2-deal

http://www.eurocomms.com/industry-news/49-online-press/8622-growth-in-turkey-boosts-countrys-operators

http://www.turktelekom.com.tr/tt/portal/TTHakkinda/KurumsalTanitim/Hakkinda (Google translate)