Archive for the ‘Telecommunications News’ Category

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Pupils too cool for school ICT classes.

Wednesday, January 11th, 2012

From September 2012 the current information and communications technology (ICT) classes in England’s schools will be scrapped to make way for intensive and compulsory computer science programmes.

Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, is expected to announce plans at the BETT show for educational technology in London today, before beginning a consultation next week to discuss a new curriculum for computing.

It is understood that Mr Gove has labelled the current standard of computing education as ”harmful and dull”.

Many children in today’s schools are significantly ahead of the curriculum, which currently covers programmes such as Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

It is thought that pupils would benefit from studying computing as a science, learning to create their own applications, animation or programming language.

Many industry experts have said that correctly harnessing the ICT skills of younger generations could boost Britain’s economic growth.

It remains to be seen how the Government plans to inject enthusiasm into ICT education.

Jamie Stokes is Marketing Assistant at Total Ltd – a business to business service provider, delivering genuine solutions across all core telecommunication services, based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Total Ltd is a business that brings together and unifies all the component parts. For up to the minute business telecommunications news, please view the Total Ltd blog

Posted in Digital education, Internet, Telecommunications News | No Comments »

Samsung unveils ’smart’ internet-connected television.

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

Samsung, the Korean technology giant, has revealed its latest invention; a ’smart’ internet-connected television with the ability to upgrade its hardware each year.

Since 2008, Samsung has released a range of smart televisions.

However, the latest model, known as the ES8000, has a slot which allows new hardware to be added, boosting the performance of its in-built processor, alongside updating other special features.

Interestingly, the ES8000 offers an in-built camera which allows users to browse the internet via gesture motion technology and also utilises facial recognition software, giving the television set the ability to recognise each individual user whilst automatically selecting their frequently used features.

Voice recognition also features heavily with the television set currently able to recognise 20 separate languages.

Today, Samsung is hailed as the world’s best-selling television manufacturer.

It is hoped that this move will futher secure this title.

Jamie Stokes is Marketing Assistant at Total Ltd – a business to business service provider, delivering genuine solutions across all core telecommunication services, based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Total Ltd is a business that brings together and unifies all the component parts. For up to the minute business telecommunications news, please view the Total Ltd blog

Posted in Internet, Telecommunications News | No Comments »

Consumers warned websites mimimise value of old laptops.

Friday, January 6th, 2012

A recent investigation by consumer watchdog Which? has revealed that people wishing to sell their unwanted laptops may be better off selling privately, rather than using trade-in websites.

According to a recent survey of more than 500 people, Which? found that 44% of those surveyed donated their unwanted laptop to a member of their family.

But, what happens when a laptop owner wants to make a profit from their unwanted item?

Which? requested online valuations for various laptops including a 2009 MacBook from five top trade-in websites – webuyanylaptop.co.uk, buymylaptop.co.uk, sellyourlaptops.co.uk, laptoptrade-in.co.uk and Asda’s Tech Trade-in.

Just three of the websites offered a price for the MacBook, originally valued at £1,125.

  • Buymylaptop.co.uk                 £202
  • Laptoptrade-in.co.uk              £90
  • Sellyourlaptop.co.uk               £67

However, Which? suggested that the seller could potentially receive £350 for the laptop if they were to sell the item via online auction site Ebay.

Which? concluded that whilst selling an old laptop via an online trade-in website can be an easy way to gain some money, sellers are likely to receive more cash if they look around for the best deal and try online auction websites first.

Consumers are asked to be aware that when it comes to large technology items, they may be better off selling privately.

Jamie Stokes is Marketing Assistant at Total Ltd – a business to business service provider, delivering genuine solutions across all core telecommunication services, based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Total Ltd is a business that brings together and unifies all the component parts. For up to the minute business telecommunications news, please view the Total Ltd blog

Posted in Internet, Telecommunications News | No Comments »

Internet access in cars soon to be reality.

Thursday, January 5th, 2012

According to the bosses of leading car manufacturers, internet access inside vehicles is soon to become a reality.

A recent survey undertaken by KPMG has revealed that future trends including speech recognition and internet connection with the option of Wi-Fi and 3G services will soon become normality.

Interestingly, 37% of the 200 car executives surveyed think so-called in-vehicle ”info-tainment” is nearly as important as car safety.

It appears the idea of the “connected car” is continually gaining momentum.

It is expected that over the next five years, people looking to buy cars will have the option to take advantage of specialist in-vehicle technology and gadgets manufactured by big names including Google, Apple, Microsoft and LG.

At the end of 2011, Toyota and Intel announced their collaboration. 

According to John Leech at KPMG, “Intel claims that the connected car is the third-fastest growing technological device, following smartphones and tablets”. 

Similarly, Audi has also announced that the A7 will house in-built 3G connectivity with plans to extend this feature to other models.

So, when the time comes to upgrade your vehicle, will you consider a “connected car”?

Jamie Stokes is Marketing Assistant at Total Ltd – a business to business service provider, delivering genuine solutions across all core telecommunication services, based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Total Ltd is a business that brings together and unifies all the component parts. For up to the minute business telecommunications news, please view the Total Ltd blog

Posted in Business Telecommunications, Internet, Telecommunications News, WiFi | No Comments »

Motorola Mobility in patent dispute with Microsoft.

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

Microsoft has won a patent dispute with Motorola Mobility following a preliminary ruling by a US trade panel judge.

The patent concerns technology techniques used to schedule meetings and synchronise group calendars via a smartphone.

There were six other Microsoft patents which had been disputed by the International Trade Commission ruled that these had not been violated by Motorola Mobility.

It is understood that following this ruling, Motorola Mobility will be required to omit this technology from future devices and handsets.

Microsoft will now be in a stronger position to pursue other patent cases and licence fees from other Android-based handset manufacturers.

Jamie Stokes is Marketing Assistant at Total Ltd – a business to business service provider, delivering genuine solutions across all core telecommunication services, based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Total Ltd is a business that brings together and unifies all the component parts. For up to the minute business telecommunications news, please view the Total Ltd blog

Posted in Business Mobiles, Mobile Apps Review, Telecommunications News | No Comments »

Touchless smartphones may be introduced in 2012.

Monday, December 19th, 2011

XTR3D, a small company based in Tel Aviv, is developing motion capture technology, meaning that touchless smartphones could become reality in 2012.

Whilst Microsoft’s Kinect has introduced touchless technology in to the mainstream, the technology created by XTR3D is said to use ordinary 2D cameras in contrast.

The technology used creates the 3D effect harnessed by the Microsoft Kinect but works in broad daylight, is cheaper and more energy efficient.

It can also be installed into any consumer electronics device, making it extremely accessible.

Interestingly, XTR3D is not the only company investing in touchless technology.

Apple, Toyota and other brands are set to tackle it in the near future.

So, it would appear that touchless technology could soon be coming to a screen near you.

Jamie Stokes is Marketing Assistant at Total Ltd – a business to business service provider, delivering genuine solutions across all core telecommunication services, based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Total Ltd is a business that brings together and unifies all the component parts. For up to the minute business telecommunications news, please view the Total Ltd blog

Posted in Business Mobiles, Tablet computers, Telecommunications News | No Comments »

Google plans to drop products.

Thursday, November 24th, 2011

Search giant Google has reported, via its official blog, that it is set to remove seven of its products in an effort to streamline its service range.

It is understood that Google Wave, Google Gears and Knol will all be discontinued in a bid to create a “simpler, more intuitive, truly beautiful Google user experience”.

Surprisingly, this is the third time that the California based search engine has announced the removal of several products at the same time and some critics have argued that this strategy may put users off from signing up to new services in the future.

Other services scheduled to be removed are:

  • Google Bookmarks List
  • Google Friends Connect
  • Google Search Timeline
  • Google’s project: Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal

It has been reported that Google made the decision of which services to get rid of after certain products failed to become successful.

However, others have argued that Google is streamlining its range in order to retain focus on its Facebook rival Google+.

Jamie Stokes is Marketing Assistant at Total Ltd – a business to business service provider, delivering genuine solutions across all core telecommunication services, based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Total Ltd is a business that brings together and unifies all the component parts. For up to the minute business telecommunications news, please view the Total Ltd blog

Posted in Internet, Telecommunications News | No Comments »

O2 ‘4G’ LTE mobile data trial begins in London.

Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

From today, mobile network O2 will begin to test a next-generation mobile data service in London.

The trial is expected to last nine months and during this time hundreds of consumers and businesses will use a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network which stretches across parts of the city.

It is understood that LTE downloads will be much faster when compared to those over 3G. 

However, whilst O2 describes the service as 4G, the International Telecommunications Union has defined LTE as being 3.9G as it falls short one one gigabit per second transfers.

Those participating in the trial will be given a dongle broadband for use with their computers allowing them to access the 2.6Ghz spectrum.

They have also been promised download speeds of up to 50 megabits per second.

Ofcom plans to hold an auction for the LTE radio spectrum at the end of 2012.

Jamie Stokes is Marketing Assistant at Total Ltd – a business to business service provider, delivering genuine solutions across all core telecommunication services, based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Total Ltd is a business that brings together and unifies all the component parts. For up to the minute business telecommunications news, please view the Total Ltd blog

Posted in Business Broadband, Email, Internet, Telecommunications News | No Comments »

Ofcom report reveals trends in telecoms.

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011

According to research, British households download 17 gigabytes of data on average each month via their home broadband connections.

The report, conducted by communications regulator Ofcom, takes an in-depth look at the condition of the UK’s digital communications.

The study has revealed which regions offer suitable broadband, mobile and digital radio coverage and those which are lacking.

In order to visualise the research, Ofcom has produced maps which grade different regions in terms of the varying technologies that are supported within the area.

In the report, the UK is divided into 200 areas which are graded on a scale of 1-5 depending on how well particular technologies work within the region.

Areas with good scores included Birmingham, Lancashire and West Sussex.

However, sparsely populated areas such as mid-Wales and the Scottish highlands received low scores.

It is understood that the data collated through the research will be used to determine how to spend £150 million of Goverment funding to tackle the country’s not-spots.

Jamie Stokes is Marketing Assistant at Total Ltd – a business to business service provider, delivering genuine solutions across all core telecommunication services, based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Total Ltd is a business that brings together and unifies all the component parts. For up to the minute business telecommunications news, please view the Total Ltd blog

Posted in Business Broadband, Business Mobiles, Email, Internet, Telecommunications News | No Comments »

Mobile manufacturers and patent wars.

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

The world’s leading mobile phone manufacturers are seeing a rise in patent litigation cases.

Recently manufacturing giants Apple, Samsung, Microsoft and Google have all been subject to legal interrogation regarding the rights to technologies.

Interestingly, many experts have suggested that there has also been a significant increase in the amount of patent ‘trolls’ within the marketplace.

A patent ‘troll’ is a derogatory term given to organisations that agressively defend patent libraries without releasing products of their own.

Also known as ‘non-practicing entities’, these organisations, according to research, initiated more than 2,600 lawsuits against US companies in 2010.

This figure is more than five times the number that were filed in 2004.

This swell in patent lawsuits is cause for concern with many critics arguing that with companies having to budget for legal costs, less capital is available to fund third party innovations.

In America, the US patent system is currently undergoing reform, with the new rules due to come into effect in March 2013.

For now, it is certain that patent wars and subsequent lawsuits are set to continue.

Jamie Stokes is Marketing Assistant at Total Ltd – a business to business service provider, delivering genuine solutions across all core telecommunication services, based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Total Ltd is a business that brings together and unifies all the component parts. For up to the minute business telecommunications news, please view the Total Ltd blog

Posted in Business Mobiles, Telecommunications News | No Comments »

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