The Importance of Honesty in IT
It should be every IT provider or company's duty to be honest with their clients or prospective clients but there are some from our experience that don't. We've seen and heard the horror stories, whether it be not re-wiring a server fan up after completing the job and causing the server to overheat and not owning up to it, or selling items to clients based on incorrect fac...full article >>
BT Wholesale equipment problem takes 9,000 customers offline
A number of users were disconnected from the Internet across various broadband service providers yesterday evening following a BT network problem. What was initially rumoured to be a fibre cut appears to be a hardware failure which took out users on both some 20CN and 21CN segments of the network. Reports suggest the issue seemed to be mostly restricted to smaller broadband providers u...full article >>
Microsoft takes Google complaint to EU
Microsoft is to take an anti-competition complaint against Google to the European Commission. The software maker claims that Google used its dominant position in the search market to restrict the growth of Microsoft services. It cites a number of practices, including Google limiting the ability of Microsoft Bing to index web content. Google said it was not surprised by the move and ...full article >>
Progress being made on Superfast broadband in Cornwall
Super-fast broadband has gone live in parts of Cornwall under a £132 million investment programme launched last year by BT with additional funding provided by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The new faster broadband service is available to over 1,000 customers with 14,000 more expected to be live in a matter of days. 50 customers in the area have already been connected. Aro...full article >>
London Underground to have Wi-Fi by 2012 Olympics
Just under half of all the tube stations in London could have Wi-Fi enabled by 2012. Transport for London has issued a tender to install 120 Wi-Fi connections in stations to be completed in time for the 2012 olympic games. 120 of the 260 tube stations are to receive the technology which follows a trial at Charing Cross tube stations which has enabled the site as a BT Openzone. London Underg...full article >>
Should I buy a Tablet Computer? Suffolk Online Has Its Views
Should i buy a tablet computer is a very relevant question in the current climate but firstly you have to ask yourself some questions. Below are a set of questions, if you are unsure of what a tablet could give you, that we think you need to ask yourself. We also give a very brief overview of the market place and the best tablet pc contenders. Please note this is only a brief summary of th...full article >>
The Big Society & Technology - Suffolk Online's View
The Big Society & Technology The phrase and political football that is “The Big Society” is all around us at the moment. The coalition government and in particular our Prime Minister David Cameron has set his stall on this vision for the future. Hopefully from the recent press coverage, the phrase has been fully described to you and it is clear what it means. If you are unsu...full article >>
iPad 2 demand leaves Apple struggling
Apple's iPad 2 is already in short supply across the UK just days after going on sale. Demand for Apple's second-generation tablet computer was always expected to outstrip supply, but few people expected reserves to run dry after one weekend. Apple stores in London, where queues for the iPad 2 surpassed those for last year's launch, have urged customers to reserve a ...full article >>
Apple iPhones hit by summer time alarm glitch
Some iPhone owners were heading in to work late on Monday after a glitch caused their alarms to malfunction. Users found their wake-up alert coming one hour late, one hour early or not at all. The problem, related to the clocks going forward for British Summer Time, does not appear to have affected everyone. Apple has yet to comment on what caused it, but similar problems have previ...full article >>
Email Server Upgrade - Tuesday 12th April 2011
We are delighted to be able to tell you that at Midnight on Tuesday April 12th 2011 we will start the process of migrating our email services over to brand new email systems. UPDATE: Monday 11th April. This migration is now going to be a 2 stage process with the outgoing service migrating as detailed on Tuesday April 12th 2011 at Midnight and the Incoming servi...full article >>
World Broadband subscribers reach 523 million at end of 2010
The latest update from Point Topic and the Broadband Forum on world broadband statistics reveals there were 523 million broadband subscribers at the end of 2010, a 12% increase from the end of the previous year. This works out at a 9% penetration in to the worlds population. Although the number of broadband subscribers is continuing to grow, the net additions were slightly lower than previously...full article >>
Apple Mac OS X: ten years old today
ac OS X is - formally - ten years old today. The first full release, then simply codenamed 'Cheetah' - only later did the cat branding become part of Apple's marketing drive - was made available to Mac users on 24 March 2001, six months after the operating system made an appearance in public beta test form OS X was the product of Apple's 1996 purchase of NeXT, a move that no...full article >>
Charity Technology Trust calls for tax breaks on computer hardware donations
Chief executive Richard Craig says voluntary organisations do not have the computer equipment they need. The Charity Technology Trust will lobby the government to provide tax reliefs on the donation of computer hardware to charity. Richard Craig, chief executive of the trust, which works to improve charities' access to technology, told Third Sector that charities often do not have t...full article >>
Ofcom says mobile users to benefit from rate cuts
The cost of calling mobile phones from other networks and landlines is set to fall after Ofcom imposed cuts. Termination charges - the fee mobile phone firms charge rivals for handling calls from their networks - will fall by 80% over the next four years. Mobile operators charge between 4.18p and 4.48p to the cost of delivering a call to another network. But Ofcom wants this reduced...full article >>
ISP’s in speed slowing deal
The UK’s main internet service providers including BT, O2, Sky, TalkTalk, Three, Virgin Media and Vodafone, have signed an agreement, which amounts to a new code of practice compiled by the Broadband Stakeholders Group. The idea is to ensure that the UK broadband network is in good order, but this may mean that there could be restrictions placed on the connection speeds, in other...full article >>
Suffolk Twestival March 24th 2011
If you have any interest in using social media in business and third-sector etc, check out some of the many Suffolk Twestival (tweet festival) events on March 24th. http://suffolk.twestival.com/ Full programme of events http://suffolk.twestival.com/blog-entry/604/programme-of-events-24th-march-twestival-suffolk.html It’s all in aid of the Suffolk Foundation and Suffolk Dis...full article >>
Business Registration Update 2011-2012 - Scam Warning - Please Pass On
An email which reports that it comes from the "Europe Business Guide" has proved to be an eloborate scam, catching out thousands of businesses and voluntary organisations. The email, which looks like the below text, and includes an attached form, appears to offer the chance of free registration to a European Business Guide. In fact, following registration and despite suggesti...full article >>
iPad 2 review
Just under one year ago, Apple shocked the computing world with a 9.7-inch touchscreen tablet that few truly expected. Some called the original Apple iPad a large-format iPhone. Others berated the name and made jokes that were not remotely funny. The early reviews were marginal at best – we handed the device a solid four stars. Technical folks decried the lack of Adobe Flash and t...full article >>
ISPs agree voluntary code of practice on traffic management
Some of the UK's major ISPs have agreed on a voluntary code of practice (COP) for transparency on traffic management on broadband services. The code has been put together by the Broadband Stakeholder Group in collaboration with BT, O2, Sky, TalkTalk, Three, Virgin Media and Vodafone to try and clarify for end users what traffic management is in place, and the affects this will have on a use...full article >>
Low take-up of FTTC broadband services frustrating BT
BT Openreach have stated their frustration at the low take up of next-generation fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) technology in Wales despite an intensive advertising campaign promoting BT Infinity to customers. Cardiff is one area that the company has highlighted as seeing poor adoption of the new faster services which it is rolling out through a £2.5bn investm...full article >>
Microsoft Kinect fastest-selling device on record
Microsoft has sold more than 10 million Kinect sensor systems since launch on 4 November, and is the fastest-selling consumer electronics device on record, according to Guinness World Records. The sales figures outstrip those of both Apple's iPhone and iPad when launched, the body said. Kinect is an infrared camera add-on for Microsoft's Xbox 360 games console that allows it to ...full article >>
Home wi-fi 30% slower than fixed broadband
People relying on home wi-fi are getting significantly slower speeds than from their fixed broadband connection, research suggests. The study ran one million tests over 14,000 wi-fi connections in the UK, US, Spain and Italy. On average, the results showed a 30% drop-off compared to the speed coming into the home. However, the research also suggests that users tolerate slower speeds...full article >>
Mozilla delivers first Firefox 4 release candidate
Mozilla has announced the first Firefox 4 release candidate, after eight months of beta testing on the latest version of its open source browser. The RC is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac in 79 different languages. You can download it here. If you're already testing the beta, you'll be automatically updated. The...full article >>
New net rules set to make cookies crumble
How websites track visitors and tailor ads to their behaviour is about to undergo a big shake-up. From 25 May, European laws dictate that "explicit consent" must be gathered from web users who are being tracked via text files called "cookies". These files are widely used to help users navigate faster around sites they visit regularly. Businesses are being urged t...full article >>
Apple boss Steve Jobs explains ban on Flash
Steve Jobs has used an open letter to defend Apple's decision not to allow Flash on many of the firm's products. Neither the iPod, iPhone nor iPad can run the software despite the widespread use of Flash technology on websites for video and animations. He said Flash was made for an era of "PCs and mice" and performed poorly when translated to run on touchscreen smartph...full article >>
£50m of funding from BDUK available for local authorities
The chancellor has today committed £50m of funding from Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), the body set up to help arrange investment into broadband, from the £530m which the government intends to spend over the next four years. This money will be available to local authorities who apply for to help improve broadband in their area. "Broadband is crucial for the country's eco...full article >>
BT fibre-to-the-premises trial takes 7 hours per install
Knee deep in cable BT's new fibre optic upgrade is delivering better real world speeds than the company's old copper-based network when compared to advertised "up to" broadband rates, according to the latest figures from Ofcom. Meanwhile, the UK telecoms giant is continuing to test out its latest fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) kit. As part of that process, BT invited The Reg...full article >>
Android hit by rogue app viruses
More than 50 applications available via the official Android Marketplace have been found to contain a virus. Analysis suggests that the booby-trapped apps may have been downloaded up to 200,000 times. The malicious apps were copies of existing applications, such as games, that had been repackaged to include the virus code. All the apps found to contain the malicious code have now be...full article >>
Apple Launch the iPad 2
Apple have finally unveilled the iPad 2. It was annouced by Steve Jobs Apples CEO. Who is on a leave of absence but made a special apperance for this event. Speaking on stage, he said: "We have been working on this product for a while and I just didn't want to miss today." The iPad 2 has a host of new features including Faster CPU (A5 1ghz Dual ...full article >>
Suffolk Online Regular Newsletter
If you are a Suffolk Online subscriber then from today you will get a regular monthly newsletter with some of the latest technology, security and computer news that could affect you. We hope you have already enjoyed the first newsletter which we sent out earlier today, so in the future please keep an even closer eye on your inbox for emails in the coming months. The news that we w...full article >>
Ofcom wants to ban misleading broadband speed ads
Ofcom is seeking to stop internet service providers from advertising unrealistic broadband speeds. Currently most ISPs advertise services as 'up to' a certain speed - for instance, 20Mbps (megabits per second). But Ofcom's latest research finds that very few consumers actually get these headline speeds. "There is a substantial gap between advertised speeds and the a...full article >>
Thousands of Gmail accounts accidentally wiped
Thousands of Gmail users have been left with empty inboxes after their accounts were accidentally wiped clean. As well as missing e-mails, many reported that their contacts had also disappeared. Google, which operates Gmail, said that a small percentage of its users had been affected. Some accounts have already been restored, suggesting the data was not permanently deleted. In a...full article >>
