4G home broadband in London - Was only a matter of time.

As I predicted before 4G had even hit the ground. If 4G delivered on its promises (bandwidth, latency) then it would mount a serious challenge on the fixed line market.

Enter: Relish, offering unlimited data with multiple service offerings.

Surprisingly what looks to have given them this ability might be that they are not wholesaling from the big 4 cellular networks and are using UKBroadband's network for 4G instead.

Considering there is no line rental to pay. £20 for unlimited data providing isn't that bad and 1 month contracts are available! At the moment its limited to central London but as UKBroadband's network expands, i'm sure they will as well.

https://www1.relish.net/athome#inyourarea

Not to mention that we might start seeing other providers popping up who Wholesale off them. Lets just hope that contention doesn't become a big problem later on down the line when/if their network gets busy.

Google quality report is out now in the USA

Released in Canada first, it's now hitting the US and will be expanding further shortly.

It's rather like Netflix's ISP speed index. Thay want to show up internet service providers (ISP's) where they have bottle necks either through limited peering and transit off / on their network or where they restrict third party services.  Also it will give a good indication of which ISP's networks contain their caches (CDN's like Googles GGC or Netflix's OpenConnect) which keep the content closer to the customer to it doesn't have to traverse the wider internet.

The idea being that if the ISP's don't provide good access to the third party video content (more data = more cost loosely speaking) then their customers can be made aware and vote with their feet if they want.



http://www.google.com/get/videoqualityreport/

Report: Apple defines specs for Lightning headphones with 48kHz output

I'm all for better sound quality but I think if Apple was to remove the 3.5mm audio jack and opt for a lighting only connection it was cause outrage.

It would be nice if they could push for USB3 compatibility with the connector first.

As Netflix pushes the video on demand market forward with 4K HTML5 DRM enabled browsers, are apple looking to do similar with audio while locking customers into their ecosystem with the promise of definition?

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/06/report-apple-defines-specs-for-lightning-headphones-with-48khz-output/

Xbox One controllers now work with your PC

Now we just need the wireless adapter so we don't need cables!

Summery: The drivers will be baked into a Windows update shortly.

If you can't wait, go here: http://majornelson.com/2014/06/05/pc-drivers-for-the-xbox-one-controller-available-now/

Google releases its first 64-bit Chrome web browser candidate

We're starting to get somewhere! I've been on various mailing lists keep an eye on this for a while, wondering when this was going to happen! See here for further details.

Swiss company to launch ‘ZeroG experience’ in 2015 to rival Branson’s Virgin Galactic

Need therapy for a fear of flying? a company is taking a commercial approach to what NASA uses to train astronauts. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2639614/All-aboard-vomit-comet-Swiss-company-launch-ZeroG-experience-2015-rival-Bransons-Virgin-Galactic.html

Apple makes it official: $3 BEEELLION for Beats

Personally I would have thought Monster were a better fit in terms of hardware but I guess they don't have a online music store presence.

Whats really interesting is suddenly Apple now makes apps for Windows phone (Try getting Google to do that) and Android!

From The Inq:

Apple has confirmed weeks of speculation, announcing that it has agreed to acquire Beats Electronics for $3bn.

The company on Wednesday issued a formal announcement revealing a deal which will see the House that Steve Built shell out $2.6bn in cash and an additional $400m in payments that will vest over time to bring Dr Dre and company on board. The final price was slightly lower than the $3.2bn figure which circulated when word of the deal first broke in May.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/28/apple_makes_it_official_3_beeelion_for_beats/

Beats Music will still be available on Android and Windows Phone after the deal, @Tim_Cook tells @FT. "It’s all about music." Story @FT soon

— Tim Bradshaw (@tim) May 28, 2014

http://www.theverge.com/2014/5/28/5759014/apple-now-makes-android-and-windows-phone-apps

Sounds like a good deal for roaming businesses.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/23/truphone_beats_steelie_neelie_to_offer_flat_rate_roaming/

Word Lens gets bought by Google. heres hoping for more language support

This is a great app, basically take a picture of clear sign and the app converts the writing to english.
Would be great for holidays. I just wish it did Turkish!

http://wordlens.com/

Driven by necessity, Mozilla to enable HTML5 DRM in Firefox

Mozilla announced today that it will follow the lead of Microsoft, Google, and Apple and implement support for the contentious HTML5 digital rights management specification called Encrypted Media Extensions (EME).

The organization is partnering with Adobe to make the change. Mozilla will provide the hooks and APIs in Firefox to enable Web content to manipulate DRM-protected content, and Adobe will provide a closed source Content Decryption Module (CDM) to handle the decryption needs.

For a group that's committed to open standards and open source, this was a difficult decision. DRM, which tends to restrict fair use access to copyrighted content, and closed source modules both run counter to Mozilla's goals. Explaining the decision, Mozilla Foundation CEO Mitchell Baker argued that the decision was driven by necessity. With Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Safari all enabling EME, Mozilla faced a problem: if it refused to support EME, it risked driving users seeking to watch DRM-protected content to other browsers.
Read the rest at Ars: 

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/05/driven-by-necessity-mozilla-to-enable-html5-drm-in-firefox/

Engadget piece on automation service IFTTT

http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/10/irl-ifttt/

Er... their about page has a rather interesting URL:
https://ifttt.com/wtf

Google's self-driving cars are now tackling street driving

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/googles-selfdriving-cars-are-now-tackling-street-driving-but-are-they-too-wimpy-9299888.html

2015: planes with apartments to live in during your flight!

http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/04/etihad-a380-residence/

Samsung Galaxy K Zoom.

I'm tempted by this when it's released in the UK. An optical zoom in a compact form factor where I get the best of both worlds. Running Kit-Kat as well so will have the latest support and run apps smoothly from the looks of the spec sheet. I've not been able to decide what phone I'd like next for a while. The Lumia 1520 / 930 are still lacking Sky Go which is a real pain for me and everything else has been a bit bland or gimmicky. I do also like the HTC One M8 but it feels rather delicate and also like it'll be a scratch magnet! 

Cheesy Promo:

Samsung K zoom Product Specifications:

Network	LTE	Cat4, HSPA+ 42Mbps LTE 800/850/900/1800/2100/2600 HSPA+ 850/900/1900/2100 EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900
	3G	5-band HSPA+ 42Mbps HSPA+ 850/900/1900/2100 EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900
Display	4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED Display (1280x720)
AP	Hexa core: 1.3GHz Quad-Core + 1.7GHz Dual-Core Processor
OS	Android 4.4 (Kitkat)
Camera	Main(Rear): 20.7 Mega pixel 1/2.3 BSI CMOS Sensor, 10x Optical Zoom, OIS, 24-240mm, F3.1-6.3 AF Assist LED Sub(Front): 2.0 Mega pixel
	ISO: Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200 Continuous Shot: 3fps MAX with AF Format: JPEG, PNG, GIF, WBMP, BMP, AGIF Xenon Flash, SMART Mode, Expert Mode(P/M), My Mode
Video	Recording & Playback: Full HD (1920x1080 /60p) Codec : H.263, H.264(AVC), MPEG4, VC-1, Sorenson Spark, MP43, WMV7, WMV8, VP8 Format: MP4, M4V, 3GP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, AVI, FLV, MKV, WEBM
Audio	Codec : MP3, AMR-NB/WB, AAC/AAC＋/eAAC＋, WMA, OGG (Vorbis), FLAC Format : MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA
Value-Added Features	SMART Mode(28): Auto, Pro Suggest, Program, Beauty face, Shot & more, Panorama, Virtual tour, Rich tone, Night, Continuous shot, Selfie alarm, Manual, Kids shot, Landscape, Dawn, Snow, Macro, Food, Party/Indoor, Action freeze, Waterfall, Animated photo, Sound & shot, Surround shot, Silhouette, Sunset, Fireworks, Light race
	AF/AE Separation, Object tracking , Studio, Smile/ Blink detection
	Ultra Power Saving Mode
	Kids mode
	S Health Lite
Google Mobile Services	Chrome, Drive, Photos, Gmail, Google, Google+, Google Settings, Hangouts, Maps, Play Books, Play Games, Play Newsstand, Play Movie & TV, Play Music, Play Store, Voice Search, YouTube
Connectivity	Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n 2.4+5GHz, HT40, Bluetooth®: 4.0 BLE USB: USB 2.0 NFC A-GPS + GLONASS
Sensor	Accelerometer, Gyro Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, Light Sensor
Memory*	RAM: 2GB Internal Memory: 8GB microSD slot: micro SDSC (up to 2GB guaranteed), micro SDHC (up to 32GB guaranteed), micro SDXC (up to 64GB guaranteed) *User memory space may be less than the total memory space due to system files. **User memory may differ by region, carrier, and supporting language, and may change after software upgrade.
Dimension	137.5X70.8X16.6(20.2)mm, 200g
Battery	2,430mAh

http://www.samsung.com/uk/discover/mobile/galaxy-k-zoom-unveiled/

Developed a new radio technology and need regulatory space? Look here.

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/spectrum/map.html