ENN Blog

We've moved to a new blog server

2006-01-12T16:43:00.000Z

Don't get me wrong, Blogger is great. But for a lot of reasons not worth your time in reading, we've moved ENN Blog to our own server, so if you want to continue reading please visit:

The ENN Blog

Thanks Blogger

PS - all previous postings are also on the new site.

Podcasting goes (very) mainstream

2006-01-04T12:03:00.000Z

Mulling over developments during the Christmas break I was reminded how rapidly we now adopt new technologies. In something like a year we've gone from knowing absolutely zip about podcasting to it becoming integrated into iTunes, available for download to any PC or MP3 player, with literally thousands of podcasters producing shows covering a staggering range of subjects. That's not left out the mainstream media either. Many broadcasters are now making their programming available as podcasts; notably the BBC. But you know a new technology has arrived when the likes of IBM start to use it as part of their communications strategy. They've just released one on the topic of IBM (surprise!) and how it will be involved in online gaming. So if that sounds like your thing, go check it out.

Digital snooping erodes our liberties

2005-12-17T14:29:00.000Z

There seems to be a perceptible creep towards greater legislative powers for western countries to digitally snoop on their citizens. Only this week the European Parliament passed a Directive allowing member states to spy on all of our activities. You can read more at the Digital Rights Ireland website. It seems we're all too aware that we live in more dangerous times post 9/11, but perhaps for this reason we should be more vigilant in defending our right to privacy and the assumption of innocent intent, rather than having various levels of local, national and supra-national bodies erode liberties that our forebears fought (and often lost their lives) to secure. We must have the authorities prove the benefits of the loss before we hand over yet more control to those we'd have govern us.

Sony shoots itself in the foot... again

2005-12-09T18:07:00.000Z

Poor Sony. Just can't seem to catch its stride in the heady world of MP3 and broadband connections. That's why someone had the ripping idea of placing anti-piracy software on their music CDs to stop, well, ripping actually. The only problem is their sneak tactic has backfired. When they admitted that some music CDs had software on them that secretly placed itself on Windows PCs to try to stop piracy, it also created an open door to a potential malicious attack. Of course, Sony saw its PR error and announced that there was a patch -- except the patch now needs a patch of its own as it too has its own security flaw, leaving the unlucky CD purchaser with the same problem he had before! It does leave you wondering, Sony is a wealthy business. Can they not recruit smart people who could warn them of the error of their ways?

My kingdom for an Xbox... please

2005-12-02T15:56:00.000Z

So we finally, after much hyperbole, have the Xbox 360 with us. Well sort of. The reality is there are desperate shortages globally and a lot of people will be very dissapointed if this was what they wanted Santa to bring them on Christmas day. That's because Microsoft is desperate to get to market with its next generation games box in order to maximise its chances of beating Sony's Playstation 3 to the punch (and market share). Well they've launched but at what cost? Is it worth launching only to have reports in the media of shortages in almost all retail outlets? In any event what we have is a new device which just might finally allow Microsoft to secure a proper foothold in the living room. It'll get very interesting when Sony rejoins battle in 2006.

Enough to give you a (key)stroke

2005-11-24T14:54:00.000Z

Sticking with security (a la the last blog post), it seems that there are some 65 percent more keystroke-logging programs amongst us than there were this time last year. For the uninitiated, such programs are intentionally designed to sneak their way onto your PC (Macs are rarely affected) and sit there noting your every keystroke. As you might imagine, this information is sent to someone who examines it for passwords to bank accounts, sensitive data, or whatever. As usual, if you get a lot of e-mail or have to use unfamiliar websites on a regular basis it's vital that you are using a basket of security measures to protect yourself including up-to-date anti-virus, a robust firewall and a healthy dose of common sense.

MakeITsecure slaps some wrists

2005-11-18T16:30:00.000Z

Another year, another campaign aimed at telling us how ignorant we all are when it comes to IT security. You'd think that the big companies behind MakeITsecure would have realised that the great unwashed public will never be able to keep up with new security threats. That's why Microsoft put so much effort into removing the onus from the punter and placing it, rightly, upon the software. Sadly, those who would like to steal our credit card details or use our PCs as zombies to run denial-of-service campaigns or spam ventures, are likly to rely on the fact that us humble humans have been, are now, and always will be, the weak link in the defences. That's why people still, to this very day, fall for ye olde Nigerian banking scam. Would anyone like to look after my million euros? You can have it as soon as you send me just 10 percent of that as a security...

WiMAX rollout good news but will confuse

2005-11-11T14:03:00.000Z

The convergence just keeps on coming. Now Irish Broadband is rolling out WiMAX, a wireless means of linking businesses and homes to the internet at practical rates of up to 12 megabytes a second and at greater distances than existing technologies allow. For a country such as Ireland, with real infrastructure problems, this may be yet another means by which the country can play catch-up with leading broadband nations. The challenge for Irish Broadband will be that it joins a confusion of competing broadband services already vying for customer attention. We have flavours of DSL, 3G, cable and a range of wireless connection options now in the market. Ultimately it won't be the best technology which wins the day, but the most reliable, most cost-effective and least hassle to the end customer.

Sky's not so blue

2005-11-04T19:19:00.000Z

Sky recently bought into broadband provision with the acquisition of EasyNet and now it's even more apparent why. Their subscriptions are tailing off via satellite thus it's imperative that the company finds new routes to future customers. We're already seeing the likes of Magnet in Ireland offering a triple play which includes telecoms, TV and internet in one fee. It's likely that others will follow in Magnet's footsteps, so, to prevent attrition of Sky's current subscriber base it needs to be able to offer similar bundles. What it will mean is downward price pressure on current packages and simplified deals. That's likely to be welcomed by customers who increasingly face a confusion of choice.

Pretty as a picture... perhaps (but it's doubtful)

2005-10-14T14:02:00.000+01:00

Apple's announcement of a video iPod is, on the face of it, a bit surprising. While it's a nice to have, most people, most of the time, are able to listen to audio while driving, walking, etcetera. But it's a very different issue to try and watch music videos or saved TV shows whilst on the move. Maybe Apple are onto another winner with the Video iPod but somehow it looks like a convenience which will be appreciated yet unused by the majority of people who already have an MP3 device or those about to make the purchase. If the video iPod sells in the impressive numbers its predecessors enjoyed, it will be for its very cool design and its capacity to hold lots of audio and podcasts. It won't be because people are desperate to watch movies on a tiny screen on the bus.

Roaming's outrageous charges

2005-10-07T09:34:00.000+01:00

If there's one thing that really bugs people about mobile costs, it's the way that companies introduce often quite outrageous charges for the privilege of calling while abroad. When the mobile sector was highly fragmented it was harder to see this, but now that the European market is made up of just a few dominant players, it gets increasingly hard to swallow the excuses given for such high charges. After all a huge telco, such as O2 or Vodafone, if not connecting with its own network, buys interconnect between countries in massive amounts. So it's good to see the European Commission highlighting this issue. Such transparency will hopefully lead to further competition.

Firefox losing firepower?

2005-10-01T18:14:00.000+01:00

So the great hope of Microsoft haters is no longer enjoying its initial meteoric growth. Perhaps it was inevitable. After all, for most of the people, most of the time, the Internet Explorer web browser does just fine thanks very much. Added to this there were always sites which were so customised into expecting IE and its added features, rather than W3C standards, that even those who now regularly use Firefox, have to have IE on hand, just in case. This often seems the case with large sites such as banking or shopping. On top of this, Microsoft has recognised the strengths of Firefox and is already preparing the next version of Internet Explorer, stealing many of Firefox's good ideas. So Firefox found its niche. It just looks like it'll remain just that... a niche player.

Broadband broadband everywhere

2005-09-20T17:54:00.000+01:00

Hot on the heels of Digiweb's innovative announcement of a wireless last-mile broadband option offering 3Mbps and telecoms, Magnet Networks has released news of their newest product including TV, internet and telecoms -- often referred to as the 'triple play'. But this time it's an order of magnitude over and above anything else. That's because Magnet is rolling out ADSL2+. At least in theory, people close enough to ADSL2+ exchanges could get up to 25Mbps... if you're prepared to pay the premium. And it's not just hot air. Magnet is claiming it can already offer ADSL2+ in Dublin, with Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford in 2006. This is all beginning to make traditional DSL look very old and very slow.

Nano steps to nowhere?

2005-09-18T19:03:00.000+01:00

I'm dubious. Don't get me wrong, Apple's latest iPod Nano is undoubtedly an object of real desire. Who wouldn't want one? But the problem is, Apple seems to remain wedded to the concept of selling people devices which only use their operating system, online music service or proprietary file formats. When even Sony has to cave to market realities and release a version of their player which uses MP3, you begin the sense that Apple's long term success lies in licensing its technology while it remains dominant. Apple needs to make its audio formats the most popular alternative to MP3 for the long-term and, unless it changes it's strategy it's my bet that it will not be a leader in the very sector it helped to create just a few years from now. Bit like the PC v MAC battle all over again. Can they learn the lessons of history?

Digiweb's disruptive ways

2005-09-11T10:33:00.000+01:00

Disruptive technology has been mentioned in this blog before. It's a situation where a new technology comes along and totally upsets (or has the potential to) the established order. The arrival of the aeroplane as a mass form of transport destroyed the market for cruise travel between the USA and Europe. More recently the emergence of wi-fi and VoIP together has upset telecoms company plans for 3G.

With technology moving at such a pace we see these disruptive events occuring frequently and the recent announcement from Digiweb of their new wireless broadband and telecoms product, is a classic example. In its most basic form it delivers 3MB downstream internet to a subscribers house and also bundles internet telephony with no line rental into the package. All for EUR42.

That's sure to be disruptive. While wireless broadband exists already and has done so for a number of years, Digiweb's ambition is to roll it out to a broader swathe of the population and add value to the offering through bundling telecoms services. It's a classic example of converging technologies allowing an ISP to take on telecoms territory.

But it most likely won't stop there. With improving software this independent network could begin to deliver on-demand audio and video entertinment as well. But we can be certain of one thing, the old order is once again under attack. Established companies can only come out fighting and that, ultimately, will be good for the humble customer.

Bring on the disruptive technologies

2005-09-02T17:31:00.000+01:00

So fixed telecoms lines are on the decline to the benefit of mobile operators. Or at least that's been the recent trend. But an OECD report seems to put some flies in the mobile ointment. For a start it predicts that VoIP [what's that?] is going to be one of those disruptive technologies which short-circuits established monopoly or market positions for both traditional and mobile telecoms. That's good from a consumer perspective on two fronts. Firstly it will force both land and mobile telcos to innovate with their product offerings and secondly they will feel compelled to improve the value offering. We can expect to see lots of interesting deals popping up over the next few years, probably starting with mobile, land and broadband packages on one bill... perhaps even with free VoIP calls bundled in? I suspect we won't be waiting long to find out.

Now Google's talking

2005-08-26T14:42:00.000+01:00

OK, so perhaps Google still has a smidgen of cool. Certainly it's very cool that Google's new talk service, appears to be an open source friendly IM/Voice client which runs on your PC. At the moment the client looks pretty basic, lacking many of the features we've come to expect in equivalent progams from Yahoo or MSN, but there's little doubt that Google wants to get some of the VoIP action and this is its first foray into the territory. But the real challenge for existing players, including Skype, will be Google's decision to run with open source, making it easy for 3rd parties to build up the functionality of the main client very quickly. This could get interesting.

Dot com deja vu with podcasting

2005-08-19T18:58:00.000+01:00

We're beginning to see the hype building behind podcasting - the art of delivering audio via RSS rather than just text. It'll be podviewing next with video podcasts. Big broadcasters and amateurs alike are now involved but we're already hearing noises about venture capital and big bucks. It's a case of deja vu. Undoubtedly podcasting is a great development of RSS but it will not make lots of businesses worth multi-billions overnight. It's more likely that established media outlets will use it as another way to hang onto increasingly coy audiences. So VCs should sit on their money... or give it to me.

Google loses last vestiges of cool

2005-08-10T15:38:00.000+01:00

We all loved Google when it was the little upstart. Arriving late to the search game, it took the internet by storm by the sheer quality of its results. But that little company is now a big corporate, with shareholders, senior executives and an image to manage. So when a journalist from CNET legitimately highlighted how Google can be used to find out lots of personal information on someone, using Google's own CEO as a case in point, Google took a hissy fit and has now banned any of its staff from communicating with anyone from the news service for one year. It's symptomatic of the journey Google has taken from a free-and-easy and very cool company, to yet another dot-com business which cares more about how it's portrayed than focussing on the important stuff, like making great new services we can admire them for. Sadly Google, in losing its cool, is no longer cool and it's their fault for proving petty beyond reasonable cause. Next.

Mobile complexity, less reliability

2005-08-05T18:49:00.000+01:00

We quickly take the technology around us for granted - until it breaks. In a recent article ENN reported that the Consumers' Association of Ireland was hot and bothered at the number of mobile handsets proving faulty and was ready to blame manufacturers and retailers. Good thing too. The retailer must make sure a device is fit for the purpose. But let's also be a little amazed at what we now have in our pockets and wonder that it all works at all. Each one of us is probably carrying a phone with more power than a desktop PC of 15 years ago. It also may work on a bunch of different network technologies, have bluetooth, take digital pictures and let you listen to MP3s. We all want more functions for less cash, but with more complexity comes less reliability. This is one issue which will not go away anytime soon. Reboot!

Premature gesticulation

2005-07-26T10:42:00.000+01:00

Motorola, like most device makers, is keen to get us all a bit excited by waving sexy gadgets in front of us and get the juices flowing for a Christmas time (yes already) buying binge. On this occasion it's the somewhat plain, but nevertheless interesting Moto Q, which looks like it has been specifically designed to stomp on the Blackberry. Problem is, if this gadget gets you hot under the collar, you're probably going to have to be very patient as it's not slated to go on sale until early 2006, and it'll probably be a while longer before it's available in Ireland. If you're patient, you can go read the puffery about it here.

Eircom's mobile manoeuvrings

2005-07-22T14:43:00.000+01:00

News moves so fast it's hard to know how soon it will be out-of-date. That's what the bidding for Meteor seems like. One minute it's anyone's guess who will win the bid for Ireland's number three mobile player; the next it's all but decided. For the moment, Eircom looks to be holding the winning hand. No doubt that's a great relief to top management who realise that having mobile as part of the mix is vital to being more than a utility service working on tiny margins. Just like BT in the UK, it's a shame they didn't think of that before they sold off their mobile business in the first place.

VoIP not as good as normal calls... and?

2005-07-15T19:07:00.000+01:00

Sticking with last week's VoIP theme, it seems that a study has found that making calls from the internet are less reliable than traditional telecoms calls. Is this supposed to come as a surprise? The web is, by its very nature, constantly in flux as demand in different parts ebbs and flows. Anyone who has tried VoIP will have probably discovered that sometimes it's indistinguishable from a normal call, while at other times it can be truly awful. But, and this is the key, it is fantasticially convenient to be able to carry your "home phone" around with you in your laptop or wi-fi enabled PDA. So until traditional telcos work out how to achieve this, VoIP will continue to grow.

The VoIP threat (or opportunity?)

2005-07-08T14:27:00.000+01:00

There really is nothing as exciting, for the moment at least, as voice over internet telephony or VoIP for short. That's because people with broadband are very quickly recognising its potential -- as both a convenient adjunct to the normal telephone and a very low cost means of keeping in touch with international contacts. The challenge for traditional telcos will be how they can turn this prime example of disruptive technology to their advantage. BT, with its recent Bluephone announcement has the right ideas, but the threat exists that VoIP could ultimately kill traditional telephony and make incumbent telecoms companies nothing more than glorified utilities who are paid a flat fee to shift bits and bytes. Watch this space.

Patently ridiculous

2005-06-30T12:38:00.000+01:00

"Software is developed, not invented. It is a process that builds on previous advances and developments. It would be paralysed by the introduction of a system of patents. Inventions can and should be protected by patents, as the time-limited monopoly grants their developers an opportunity to recuperate their investment costs. But software patents will drive small developers either out of business or into a situation where, unable to pay the costs of patent lawyers, they will have no option but to sell up to the people suing them. This potential for market domination is the reason why most lobbying firms in Brussels are currently working flat out on behalf of big software companies to win a favourable vote."

Those are the words of MEP Eva Lichtenberger, speaking about the attempt by the European parliament to introduce software patents. If you agree with her views then now is the time to do something about it and add your name to those who think that such a move would bode ill for the future of developers everywhere.

Microsoft for open standards?

2005-06-23T15:54:00.000+01:00

Yes it's true. Microsoft is going to make Office 12 save documents from Excel, Word or whatever in XML, the open standard. But why would Microsoft do such a thing? Surely it's detrimental to their business as it will allow transparent interoperability with the likes of the free office alternative OpenOffice.org 2.0. Well the reason, according to some industry watchers, may lie in Microsoft's parallel pursuit of software patents. It was granted one recently entitled "Word-processing document stored in a single XML file that may be manipulated by applications that understand XML." It seems Microsoft could tie its competitors in knots with patent claims which will cost huge sums to challenge. What open source competition can take on that? And it gets worse. The EU will shortly vote on changing patent rules making it even easier to do more of this sort of thing. It'll be Microsoft or an abacus, but check first; they may be planning to patent a "Method of moving objects to calculate values."

File sharing not the cause of music industry woes

2005-06-14T16:35:00.000+01:00

They say that if you have two extreme positions, then somewhere in the middle lies the truth. This couldn't be more appropriate than in the situation over illegal music downloads and falling CD sales. For a while the music industry has been touting a causal link between the growth of P2P filesharing and the decline of CD sales. However, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation pooh-poohs this, citing a number of other influences. On top of it all, CD sales have actually risen in countries like France, Germany, Japan and the UK making some claims seem a little over-zealous.

The reality is we live in an increasingly multimedia environment where we are spoilt for choice -- masses of TV channels and Radio stations piped over cable or satellite and the growth of the internet as an entertainment alternative. So is it file-sharing that's harming CD sales? It's doubtful. It's probably a combination of poor marketing on the part of the music industry, their slow reaction to new media threats and the explosion of entertainment alternatives.

Open source under threat at Beaumont Hospital

2005-06-09T16:53:00.000+01:00

It seems there are moves afoot to get rid of open source software at the Beaumont Hospital -- one of the few institutions to wholeheartedly adopt this ICT strategy. The Irish Times got sight of internal correspondence which shows that IT project manager Tony Kenny is deeply worried about moves by hospital management to junk the open-source solution in favour of Microsoft, citing staff dissatisfaction with the software. Kenny claims the move could cost the hospital EUR2 million.

Whatever the specifics of this case, there's no doubting that open-source is constantly improving with packages such as open office providing most of the functions most of the people use in paid for software. The tragedy for all concerned, if this change goes ahead, is that it will further reduce real-world examples of non-Microsoft solutions. Ireland needs open source, if only to create some effective competition to the commercial offerings from Microsoft and temper their ability to charge even more.

For background on the original open source project at the Beaumont you can view this PDF.

e-voting is a non-starter

2005-06-03T16:36:00.000+01:00

At ENN we like technology. But even we have doubts about the government's plans to try to resurrect e-voting. They already spent EUR50 million which culminated in the abandonment of plans to use the system in 2004 elections. The reality is any technology is open to abuse by knowledgable people with intent and, until e-voting can be proved to be safe from such abuse why should any voter trust their democratic rights to unproven systems? It would be great if it did work but it's not the sort of thing that you can afford to get half-right.

Death of the newspaper is premature

2005-05-30T09:48:00.000+01:00

You might be forgiven for thinking that, thanks in part to new technology, newspaper sales were in terminal decline. Certainly that seems to be the general trend in Ireland and the UK. Well that's not necessarily the case. The World Association of Newspapers -- a trade body of 1,300 publishers -- while highlighting the threat of online news sources, has produced figures expected to show that global newspaper sales rose by about 2 percent last year. That's almost 400 million copies a day. That's also a lot of dead wood. Maybe it would be better if paper newspapers were a thing of the past?

Eircom's broadband ambitions

2005-05-27T18:03:00.000+01:00

So Eircom wants to have 500,000 broadband subscribers by 2007. It recognises that traditional telecoms revenues are in rapid decline and will only speed up with the evolution of VoIP telephony. But there's no reason to doubt they can do it. In the UK BT is ahead of all its best case scenarios in terms of rollout of broadband and now claims that 98 percent and over can now have it if they want it. Sadly Ireland is a little behind the curve but it's now blatantly clear that Eircom's future lies in being the dominant infrastructure player in broadband in Ireland. To do that it's in their own interests to beat their targets. But can they?

Phishing for a sucker?

2005-05-20T15:09:00.000+01:00

The recent story of e-mails purporting to come from the Bank of Ireland, seeking to clarify your banking details online, comes as a further warning that you can never be too vigilant. Despite a plethora of very good anti-spam, anti-malware and anti-spyware utilities out there, it only takes one reasonably convincing e-mail to get through and catch you off guard. So-called phishing attacks rely on this. The vast majority of us can small a rat but occasionally someone is caught out. The fact is technological safeguards can only go so far. Phishing has, does and will always rely on social engineering - convincing you that it's a legitimate communication. Don't become a victim.

The downsides to teleworking

2005-05-13T16:17:00.000+01:00

Not all is smelling of roses in the teleworker's garden it seems. A recent study suggests that people working remotely feel alienated, unappreciated and mistrusted. These are the not often discussed downsides to working remotely from the rest of your team. Yet, all the messages we hear suggest that teleworking is the way of the future. If that's the case then businesses will need to do more to overcome the feelings of isolation which form from long periods apart from colleagues.

All change in PDA wars

2005-05-06T15:29:00.000+01:00

It's that convergence thing again, except this time the loser may be one of the original beneficiaries of this trend. When Palm first brought out its PDA it effectively destroyed many other companies, such as Psion, producing dedicated PDAs. Now RIM's Blackberry seems to be doing the same to Palm and its various devices, helped by on-the-move email and phone functions. But, longer term, both Palm and RIM devices are going to be competiting with Microsoft-driven phones with PDA functions. No prizes for picking the likely long-term winner of that battle.

Music to our ears?

2005-04-28T18:22:00.000+01:00

Someone once said that the killer application for a mobile was, unsuprisingly, voice. It's what we use it for after all. But convergence continues apace and Nokia is clearly keen to gets it's corporate claws into a new market with the first of what will become a flood of handsets which 'do music'. Motorola is already doing one partnering with Apple and Sony Ericsson has a walkman phone waiting to pounce. Only a few years from now it's likely that most people listening to music on the move will be doing so from their mobile. Not good news for the current batch of MP3 device-makers which don't have that killer app installed.

A victory for common sense

2005-04-25T14:38:00.000+01:00

The decision of a US court to force the release of a killed soldier's e-mail account contents to his father is a minor victory for common sense. In practice it doesn't set a precedent in invading people's privacy but recognises the real possibility that someone can die leaving a legacy which, if ISPs and e-mail providers were to stick to the letter of their service policies, might never be released to next-of-kin. It's unlikely to cause any privacy issues for the living, but probably means an awful lot to families who have lost someone.

eBay: you can't knock it... much

2005-04-22T17:29:00.000+01:00

All the world's a market if you judge it by the huge growth eBay has enjoyed, achieving first quarter revenues of USD1.03 billion. That's a lot of cash and it all comes from a huge number of small traders paying fees at the altar of eBay. Still, you can't knock them for being first to market with a great idea. In this instance it's worked like a dream and, with the odd exception, soundly trounced the competition globally. However, it's happened before. Someone comes up with an even better idea to topple the dominant player. Is there a giant-killer out there waiting to do unto eBay as eBay has done unto others?

Camera phones - death knell for camera makers?

2005-04-15T14:36:00.000+01:00

ENN reported on recent research showing that four times as many people bought camera capable phones than dedicated digital cameras in 2004. Remember that phones in 2004 were mostly one megapixel and that newer handsets are already multi-megapixel and it becomes obvious that the traditional names in photography are possibly in trouble. There will always be room for specialist high-end cameras but people are generalists and a mobile which also takes OK pictures is one less thing to carry. So it doesn't bode well for the likes of Kodak, Minolta and others who are already struggling to re-position themselves in the digital camera market.

Ireland's e-Government warning

2005-04-08T09:54:00.000+01:00

So a recent report by Accenture shows Ireland has dropped three places out of 22 in terms of e-Government and has become a 'follower'. That's dangerous. Ireland will not be able to compete on the basis of traditional manufacture, so it must therefore lead as a knowledge-based economy. For this to happen the government must also lead by both example and action. If it doesn't, any good work done in the past will not matter as there won't be any secon-chances in this game. If Ireland is slipping behind it must re-double its efforts to become a leader.

Dublin airport anti-competitive

2005-04-04T12:26:00.000+01:00

The problem with doing exclusives - it stifles competition. No competition equals high prices, high prices equals stifled development. Well that's what's happening at Dublin airport where it seems the Dublin Airport Authority has decided that it will only allow one provider to offer wireless broadband in public areas and has denied Bitbuzz from installing their solution in bars in the airport. It might have been a good deal for the authority but it's a terrible deal for their customers. Competition in broadband access must be free to operate anywhere - including airports.

Google V the rest of the world

2005-04-01T14:28:00.000+01:00

So Google's going to offer unlimited storage on its Gmail accounts. Well assuming it's not an April Fool, that may actually be pretty smart. The bulk of people will not use up all the space they have - but for the few who do the marketing spin in being able to say you have unlimited space far outweighs the drawbacks. It's similar to broadband. Most people don't come anywhere near using up their download allowance while, typically, a few hardened users will be downloading vast amounts of data. Google's obviously made the call and decided it's worth the risk. Now we'll have to see how the competition responds...

Dot eu is born

2005-03-29T09:04:00.000+01:00

So shortly you will be able to buy yourself a .eu domain. It seems a bit late in the day to be adding something like this but perhaps there's a need? Fact is, a lot of businesses will already have acquired a variety of domain extensions. Quite a few Irish companies have both a dot com and a dot ie domain in an attempt to maximise their online visibility. So having dot eu will either add to administrative costs and/or improve their visibility... or maybe just cost us more money.

Security first, last and at all times

2005-03-17T14:27:00.000Z

If you lack a healthy dose of paranoia, then recent reports of UK police foiling an attempt to steal STG220 million from a Japanese bank should give you pause for thought. That's because, while the bad guys were caught on this occasion, they obtained all the details necessary to compromise the bank by using a variety of spyware, trojans and viruses to gather all the information they needed to have access to the accounts. If you aren't running a daily check for both viruses and malware/spyware you are very exposed. If you do any banking or buying over the internet, even more so. So get yourself protected. Don't be a victim of burgeoning cyber-crime. For a single user you can protect yourself at no cost by running a firewall (Zonealarm), an anti-virus package (AVG 7.0) and a spyware remover (Spybot - Search & Destroy).

Traditional telcos are in more trouble

2005-03-06T17:49:00.000Z

We've seen a lot of Voice over Internet stories emerging recently. But the one which will perhaps have repercussions across the global internet will be the report that the USA's Federal Communications Commision has essentially fined a local US telecoms company for blocking VoIP calls carried on its network. That's because it's a strike for the new internet only telecoms companies, such as Vonage in the US, who are increasingly making a grab for cash which was once guaranteed to generate revenues to traditional telecoms companies.

A last gasp effort of the desperate

2005-03-03T08:35:00.000Z

The story of a Costa Rican telco desperately attempting to have VoIP telephony outlawed truly must be one of the last gasp efforts of an incumbent who already sees the writing on the wall. It looks like we're going to see yet another shift as people quickly realise the cost benefits of moving voice calls to VoIP. For some telcos this will be seen as an inevitability and they will attempt to embrace it and cannibalise their own markets before the upstart competition does anyway. For others it will simply mark the end of their business models as they stand transfixed and perhaps terrified by the headlong rush of this alternative technology.

Convergence comes a bit closer

2005-02-27T11:31:00.000Z

There were two stories which, though entirely separate, herald the increasingly obvious trend towards convergence. First we had the announcement from Intel that it was buying a specialist chipmaker focused on TV. That's because Intel knows that the next battle is already in our living rooms. The second was the announcement that Sky has done a deal with Barclaycard, allowing people to purchase goods via their set-top-box and the remote control. What it does show us is that we're about to see a whole new landgrab for customers amongst companies which were at one time thought to be in different markets.

Ryanair bites the hand that feeds

2005-02-14T09:59:00.000Z

The emergence of the web and the development of low-cost airlines are no coincidence. The web perfoms as a superb booking and marketing platform for these cheap airlines. In fact many traditional airlines have followed suit. But now Ryanair wants to bite the hand that feeds, trying to pressure ISPs which host discussion sites critical of their business practices, such as ryanair.org.uk. It seems that any business must be prepared to accept both praise and criticism in equal measure, be it on the internet or in any other media. All Ryanair does in trying to stifle free speech is make itself look stupid. Better that they counter any claims with their position. People will always have a reason to criticise. It doesn't mean it will stop them buying seats on an airline they love to hate...

In France they do things differently

2005-02-08T09:42:00.000Z

Go down any major shopping street and you will see various brands competing for your attention. That's just the way it is. Apparently it's not so on the web. Google was ordered by a French court to pay EUR200,000 to Louis Vuitton for having the temerity to allow competing advertisers to run ads for their own luxury products whenever someone searched for Louis stuff on Google. What exactly is wrong with this is quite unclear to my limited intellect, but clearly the French courts felt it was a breach of trademark. The danger is that this sets all sorts of precedents. What happens when you search for IBM and a Dell ad pops up alongside the result screen? Sue them!

Phishing scams that fail to convince

2005-02-02T10:09:00.000Z

You might wonder how anyone gets conned into falling for phishing scams... but they do. Only today ENN got one claiming to be from the Halifax Building Society. Given that no-one in the office has an account with them, nor many in Ireland, only highlights the scatter-gun approach. But it's the language that gives it away. It starts, "Dear Client of the Halifax Internet Banking". Hmm, don't they have someone who passed their English exams? It goes on, "Technical services of the bank are carrying out a planned software upgrade for the maximum convenience of the users of online-services of the Halifax Bank. We earnestly ask you to visit the following link and to confirm your bank data." Right... we'd better do what they say then! It wraps up with a mild threat, "This instruction has been sent to all bank customers and is obligatory to follow." More good use of English. But, and this is the key thing, it looks convincing even if the language is a pile of steaming stuff. No bank will ever ask you to provide them with your security and account details via email.

How the mighty (may) fall

2005-02-01T09:43:00.000Z

Two stories caught the eye today. On the one hand Kodak is working overtime to reposition its business and ensure long-term survival through acquisition, while on the other, the once peerless Sony seems to be struggling to hang onto its dominance in a number of consumer electronics sectors, culminating in the announcement of an internal reorganisation. What it does remind us is that, however mighty the company, it never guarantees commercial invulnerability.

Is Microsoft winning the entertainment wars?

2005-01-30T13:27:00.000Z

So the Xbox passes five million sales in Europe and nearly 20 million worldwide. It can only be seen as a huge success for a company already too used, some would say, to how this feels. For a company which has been under a variety of legal challenges for the entirety of the 21st century that's pretty impressive. So we can be assured that now that Microsoft is firmly ensconced in the entertainment arena, it will continue to shift its attentions toward the takeover of the living-room. What will Sony, and others, do about that?

Music "slavery"

2005-01-20T13:50:00.000Z

Slavery... that's what one research outfit is calling the practice of effectively forcing consumers to buy into proprietary services that only work with their products. Particular criticism was piled onto both iTunes from Apple and Sony, who both use their own formats which forces customers to download music which will only be compatible with the players produced by the same outfit. Hardly seems fair, but for the majority of average consumers they will not realise this until after they've already bought the hardware. However, as we've mentioned before, some are seeking to buck this dodgy practice, notably Real. They have released software which attempts to circumvent the proprietary model, allowing people to use the Real service with their iPods. Let's hope we see more of this.

Au revoir Media Lab Europe

2005-01-16T09:53:00.000Z

So Media Lab Europe is to close. Shame. It had some interesting research but, perhaps, wasn't set to deliver a return to the investors in the short-term. The problem with most western businesses is the view that they see a commercial return on investment in a matter of a few years. Just about the only exception seem to be from companies in Japan and Korea, where they seem happy to invest over the long-term. Then again, some might argue that MLE's research was just too esoteric and detached from commercial realities.

Pac a Mac

2005-01-13T17:44:00.000Z

Apple's been here before, except its last effort, the cube, was noted for having technical problems from over-heating. Well now the media can get overheated instead, over the son-of-cube, the Mac mini. It's a fairly literal title as it is actually about as small a full blown computer as you can buy before going for a laptop or PDA. It should cost under EUR400 for the base model but you will need a keyboard, screen and mouse to plug into it before you'll be able to do anything useful with it. The question is, at this price-point could Apple make inroads into the low-end PC market? It certainly is keenly priced but then, so are all the PC clones out there.

Your finest brain-damaged phone please...

2005-01-13T17:38:00.000Z

You'd think that, if a handset manufacturer puts a bunch of features in its phone that you would then be able to use those as you so choose. Not so. At least that appears to be the case with Verizon Wireless in the USA. They've allegedly been disabling features in certain phones before giving them to customers in an attempt to force them to use services which cost money. If true it shows the depths some companies will go to make a little more cash from their customer base.

What's a blog?

2005-01-06T09:39:00.000Z

ENN reported on the blossoming popularity of both reading and writing blogs. Apparently a survey shows that people are beginning to cotton on to the concept of blogs - the public post-it notes of the world wide web. Problem is, no-one knows what they are! As ENN reported, "blogs remain a mystery to a majority of internet users in the US. Some 62 percent of users surveyed said they did not know what a blog was while only 38 percent said they had some idea." If you are ever asked, send them to this rather good explanation.

Illegal music downloads... again

2005-01-05T10:24:00.000Z

The anarchic and uncontrollable web must really annoy the music industry. In the industry's second attempt to overturn a ruling protecting the anonymity of customers using US ISPs, they were rebuffed by the appeals court. The music industry remains obsessed with trying to browbeat and threaten music downloaders who are, after all, fans of music. It's these very people the music companies need to win over to legitimate means. As ever, more carrot and less stick is the order of the day. Apple's iTunes has set the trend and the music business should follow.

When is an e-mail actually a webpage?

2004-12-16T14:06:00.000Z

It's interesting to see the recent JNIR figures (subsequently withdrawn) for total web traffic in Ireland. For the first time it appears to show a big shift in who's top of the pile. But delve a little deeper and the picture gets very muddy. For anyone savvy about these things, in the JNIR's most recent figures POP3 email accounts are now apparently included as part of the total measure of 'visitors' to a website. So, for example, you might have an account and download your email into your email software, such as Outlook, going nowhere near your browser, yet this appears to be getting counted towards total visits to a website. Confused yet? Anyway, it now seems JNIR is reviewing this in light of recent complaints and will be re-releasing this data with some advisory notes. That's all cleared up then... until the next time.

Reports of Big Blue's death have been greatly exaggerated

2004-12-08T10:00:00.000Z

You could see the recent announcement that IBM is to sell its PC business to a Chinese operation as a massive climb-down by a once dominant player in the market for personal computers. But that couldn't be more wrong. IBM, and a few other big players, have come to the conclusion that PCs have become a commodity business. There's just no margin in it. Thus profits are to be found elsewhere, which is why IBM has been conspicuous in its moves to develop the services side of its business. This is where the real money is to be made. Don't expect to see the end of IBM as a big hitter, just expect to find them in new places.

No money doesn't equal no chance

2004-12-05T19:00:00.000Z

There is something heartwarming in seeing a website, with little commercial backing, managing to sweep the boards in Ireland's internet awards, the Golden Spiders. That's what Daft.ie has just done, landing four in all. But it also highlights the fact that barriers to entry remain very low and there's no reason why people with a good idea and a willingness to work at it, can't still grab a piece of the action. No doubt Myhome.ie is less than pleased with Daft's meteoric rise, but competition's good for the customer so bring it on...

P2P comes in from the cold?

2004-11-26T13:07:00.000Z

There's an old cliche. You know it. It's the one, 'if you can't beat them join them'. Well that is what's now happening in the heady world of P2P file-sharing. One company has managed to get a number of music labels to sign up to a closed P2P service where the benefits of the technology are balanced by people being able to share music they like. There's no question that P2P has huge technical advantages for business as it spreads the load amongst a wide range of sources, making data distribution very economic, but, until now, it was also perceived as a huge threat to established business models. Perhaps we're about to see that change.

Linux of age on the desktop?

2004-11-15T10:41:00.000Z

Being in the 'writing profession' does, on occasion, offer you the chance to get some insights into developments earlier than the public at large. So it was with interest that ENN popped over to a briefing by Novell to hear what they have to say on the subject of their latest Microsoft killer. In this case it's their own flavour of Linux, courtesy of the acquisition of SUSE. Novell bought SUSE to develop both a workgroup and a solo user alternative to the Windows/Office paradigm.

And the result? Well it looks familiar enough apeing the windows look and feel, it seems to work as well as anything supplied by Microsoft, it runs on lower spec equipment and, in the case of SUSE Linux Professional 9.2, it comes with so many applications (including the award-winning OpenOffice) that you probably won't need to spend serious cash to produce serious work. It's also compatible with the common file formats used in the Windows environment and all for the princely sum or EUR50.

So has Novell developed the killer blow to Microsoft's dominance? In short - no. But it is yet another cut and between Novell and the other OS upstarts, such as Red Hat, out to unseat the dominant player, enough small cuts adds up to a big loss of blood. People are also slow to change but with the increasing reliability, compatibility and low cost alternatives now making their appearance, we are going to start seeing people confidently migrate. If Novell can cut favourable deals with both the PC box builders as well as the larger IBM's and Dell's, Microsoft is going to really begin to feel the heat. That will be good for the end user, pushing down costs and, hopefully, driving service to new highs...

MS biting chunks out of Apple

2004-11-11T15:49:00.000Z

Apple may have won the battle -- in this case managing to protect itself against a claim by a French company that its proprietary technology used in the iPod and iTunes is anti-competitive -- but it may have already lost the war. Many argue that, in trying to protect its market it will in fact herald its own downfall. Microsoft, by contrast, is opening up its audio and video technologies to anyone and everyone, thus ensuring that it is rapidly becoming a de facto option in terms of audio downloads and the format being built into new hardware. Earlier this week ENN reported on Tesco and its decision to use Microsoft's WMA audio format. If this doesn't tell Apple that it needs to change its strategy then we can expect it to own about 1.8 percent of the audio download market in about ten years from now. That's about how much of the PC market Apple currently holds.

Taking the Phish

2004-11-03T18:08:00.000Z

It's to be hoped that phishing -- the act of sending an email pretending to be from a legitimate service in order to con the receiver out of their personal (usually banking or password) details -- will fail most of the time. But word from Messagelabs of a new kind of phishing threat, makes depressing reading. It seems this is a combination of a worm and a spoof mail. Initially aimed at eBay users the worm's e-mail message says you have won several auctions, and says click on the attachment. The attachment is a virus MessageLabs has called W32/Myfip. These days it's best to never chance opening anything from someone you don't know or haven't asked for.

A new browser war?

2004-11-02T15:36:00.000Z

It may be a teensy bit premature to talk about browser wars - particularly as the first one was really a one-sided massacre. Ye olde Netscape was a fine vessel for its time but when Microsoft realised that browsers could pose a threat to its dominance it took the wind out of Netscape's sails and then punctured it below the waterline. Now we have some open source challengers but given that Microsoft has an enourmous installed base we shouldn't expect a sudden sea-change.

Linux gets bashed by UK government

2004-10-31T13:30:00.000Z

So the UK government "sexed down" its report on the benefits of open source software. Is anyone surprised? We all know that there are huge vested interests in certain software companies maintaining their market share. It's hard to beat free but now we have the phrase 'total cost of ownership' being bandied about to help confuse the story some more. Bottom line, if you are prepared to go through a steep learning curve it is possible to run an entire business without going near established paid for software... just don't look for support when it goes wrong.

More broadband options for Dublin business

2004-10-20T10:23:00.000+01:00

It's good news to see that eircom's actually improving connectivity around Dublin with the announcement that it has launched a metro ethernet. This is a bit different from the half megabyte many may now have. In this case it can, in theory at least, go all the way up to one gigabit per second. That's fast. Of course it's not the only solution, with the likes of Leap and Irish Broadband offering proven wireless solutions for businesses. Ultimately, the more solutions out there the better as this will tend to increase levels of competition and thus ensure the best possible price to the end consumer.

Fraud - new technology, ancient practice

2004-10-19T09:39:00.000+01:00

ENN reported that the Irish government plans (with the help of Microsoft) to alert the public at large to the dangers of internet fraud in a big media splash next month. This is no bad thing. As many in the IT and telecoms sectors already know, it's not the technology that causes fraud but rather the innocence (or ignorance) of those using it. What better example than the phishing scares we've been told about in recent months, where the gullible are conned into giving away their personal details in the belief that the communication is 'official'. This only highlights the fact that most internet fraud has absolutely nothing to do with the failings of ICT and everything to do with human nature.

Mobile cancer threat rears once again

2004-10-18T17:35:00.000+01:00

We're often told, the media that is, that we panic the population unnecessarily. That's fair comment. But there were many pundits (and mobile operators) ready to criticise the media when they raised the uncomfortable issue of safety surrounding mobile use. Well it seems that the media may be about to be vindicated on this occasion, with an announcement by one Swedish group that certain types of mobiles used over a period of time do lead to higher incidences of cancer. It's still a case of caveat emptor but at least you know the risks. Solution - use a bluetooth headset if you are particularly concerned.

Thank goodness for eGovernment (if you're a web developer)

2004-10-14T14:32:00.000+01:00

Without doubt, if it were not for the spend various governments have made into eGovernment solutions, many more web developers would have gone to the wall post the dot-bomb crash. Yet various reports cite that people are simply not taking up eGovernment as the main means of communicating with the state. This will undoubtedly change as broadband becomes ubiquitous across the first world. But for now at least, there seems to be a lot of money being spent with little immediate evidence of return.

Apple pie in the sky

2004-10-13T14:30:00.000+01:00

The thing about most apple pies - they look so good but they often dissapoint when it comes to delivering - except my mum's that is. Well an Apple of another kind is in similar straits. It's always telling us about how good its products are but it's almost impossible to taste! Perhaps Apple's strategy is to create demand it can never hope to satisfy. Rarity is, after all, a way of staving off the commoditisation of its market. Lets face it, the PC sector's so commoditised that Apple simply can't compete forcing it into a niche. By making its iPods true objects of desire whilst making them hard to find, it can continue to charge a price few would be willing to pay if there was a glut of supply. Maybe Apple is smarter than we think.

Irish Music Business gets heavy

2004-10-08T17:04:00.000+01:00

It's interesting to see the Irish Recorded Music Association applying the same heavy-handed techniques used in the USA to catch downloaders of illegal music. This is using a mallet to crack a small nut. Instead music companies should be piling their product onto the web and selling it at a competitive price. People will pay for quality music which they can use on any device they own. A little more carrot and a lot less stick will undoubtedly go a lot further than trying to scare kids with threats of legal action.

eMoney down the drain

2004-09-29T09:43:00.000+01:00

EUR50 million. That's how much was wasted on the Government's abortive attempt to introduce e-voting into Ireland. That's a lot of money for nothing. Had those in power consulted more carefully before committing the cash they may have been warned about the inherent insecurity of digital systems. What once seemed assured security in terms of eCommerce, with secure sites and 128bit keys, is already looking like it may need to be improved due to the increasing PC power available to those who might attempt to break them. So what ever convinced the Government, particularly after the highly-publicised disasters experienced by the USA in the e-voting arena? Maybe e-voting will come of age but it will always need some form of physical check as a option of last resort. Paper and pencil still has a future.

Microsoft sings off key

2004-09-28T09:41:00.000+01:00

ENN reported on Microsoft's appeal against the EU's antitrust ruling arguing that the market for media player software is much more competitive. It is. But it's pretty clear that Microsoft would like to see that change and for it to be the dominant software on any variety of electronic devices. The company recently announced its intention to integrate Windows Media Player 10, a good piece of software, with portable entertainment devices - essentially iPods with screens to watch movies. Competition is vital for everyone. It pushes technologies and keeps costs to consumers down. It is precisely because this market is currently more competitive that businesses which dominate in related areas be prevented leveraging their position to end up dominating these new markets.

Net Addicts Anonymous

2004-09-23T17:38:00.000+01:00

So it's come to this! According to a Yahoo survey we are doomed to become addicted to our daily dose of the web. Mind you is it really that much of a surprise? We are, after all, telly-addicts (or were). So instead of passively staring at the glowing box in the corner, we can now actively interact with our personal addiction. It may not be any better or worse than TV addiction, but at least there's plenty to choose from.

Vodafone finally ups ante on 3G

2004-09-22T15:31:00.000+01:00

It's been a long time coming. All the major mobile telcos paid what seems way over the odds for 3G licences across Europe. It was in the multi-billions. Yet, it's only now, excluding '3' who are yet to launch in Ireland, that we are finally seeing some of 3G's promise. Vodafone has announced 10 new handsets which work in this standard. This can only be good news for punters who would like to get the latest and greatest services via mobile, but it's hard to know, as yet, whether the consumer will be willing to pay more for services no-one is sure they even want...

TV by telephone

2004-09-20T09:53:00.000+01:00

ENN noted the story of BT's attempts in the UK to cut deals with the broadcasters to deliver digital TV content down telephone lines. In the UK BT was prevented from growing this market back in the 80s and 90s in a deal that the then conservative government struck to help the many cable operators get started. Now, with those many operators down to just two and a strong Sky, BT is finally being given greater rein to develop the market. That's got to be a good thing as competition will, it's to be hoped, increase choice and force down costs to the consumer. Let's hope we see similar efforts from both Esat BT and Eircom in the Irish market.

What a load of Phish

2004-09-17T14:49:00.000+01:00

ENN reported on the newest Phishing scam be perpetrated. In this case it's an attempt to con users of online bank accounts into parting with their information. As ever, a bank will never ask you to send sensitive information, such as your passwords, over the internet or via email. For some good examples of this phenomena go to the http://www.antiphishing.org/phishing_archive.html.

Eircom woes?

2004-09-13T09:33:00.000+01:00

According to the Sunday Business Post, eircom is losing market share as only 65 percent of newly built homes subscribe to Eircom, compared to 85 percent a year ago. This is hardly shocking news. The country is inundated with alternative suppliers these days, both landline competition and mobiles. In the UK BT has taken the tack of pushing broadband very hard, either because they can supply wholesale to other providers or sell direct, but in this way it hopes to protect its market in the face of declining market share of domestic telecoms. No doubt eircom's doing the same... or should be. The humble copper pair will be the way an awful lot of people will get, not just calls, but entertainment and information in the future and that's where eircom's next cash cow may come from.

A screen too far

2004-09-09T09:39:00.000+01:00

There has been a general trend towards bigger and biger screens, whether in terms of PC monitors or the latest flat screen technologies for the home. But one company now has its doubts about how far this trend will go and has even gone so far as to delay the construction of its next manufacturing plant due to its uncertainty. One thing is for sure though. Large screens, particularly plasma-based ones, suck up a lot of electricity. They are most definitely not what you'd call environmentally friendly. That said, they do look good hanging on a living-room wall...

Total Recall

2004-09-08T14:17:00.000+01:00

There's something a little disturbing about finding that a product you've bought might do you harm. Lexmark has had to recall 39,000 laser printers on the grounds that they may electrocute you. Nice. But on the plus side, at least large corporations know that their brand reputation is so important that they can't afford to take any chances. It's just a pity that they sold so many before discovering the flaw. Some designer somewhere's going to get fired over this...

China - after the horse has bolted

2004-09-07T09:38:00.000+01:00

So China is now going mainstream and will clamp down on all the illegal copying of DVDs, games, videos... you name it. Anyway it seems that it's a little late in the day for China to finally appear to care about copyright fraud. According to respected sources China is a huge exporter of illegally copied material. China, saying it will clamp down, needs to match words by genuine action. Many claim that government officials are paid to ignore these activities in any case so why would they want to change their ways and lose their personal gravy train? Somehow it seems hard to imagine that a steady supply of movies, games and videos, of questionable origins and amazingly low price, will dry up anytime soon.

Download chart dissapointments

2004-09-02T09:56:00.000+01:00

So here we were hoping that the official download chart would bring a breath of fresh air to the music world. Sadly it was not to be. Apparently the official chart says the top download is Westlife's "Flying Without Wings". By official it means legally downloaded. Perhaps an interesing comparison would be with illegal downloads? You can view the UK's chart in a few days.

The Net's to blame... again

2004-09-01T16:54:00.000+01:00

It would be amusing, if it wasn't a little sad, how the media loves to blame the internet for everything under the sun. This time the net's to blame for rocketing divorce rates in the UK. That's got about as much credence as claiming that comics make kids violent. Fact is we're always looking for scapegoats and on this occasion the net fits the bill just perfectly. What are people going to say? "I divorced my partner because she was boring and I met someone I fancied". Hardly! They're going to blame it on something else, thus distancing themselves from the act. "The marriage was on the rocks but it was tipped over the edge by Friends Reunited". So much easier, so much less guilt if you have something else to blame for your actions. So is it that the web is the cause of more divorce or is it just the most convenient whipping boy of the day?

Hurrah for the small guy

2004-08-30T09:36:00.000+01:00

In a world which seems to thrive on consolidation, where the big players dominate and small local businesses are squeezed, unable to compete on price, it's fantastic news to hear that PC box builder iQon has bucked the trend and secured a big deal to supply Tesco with 40,000 computers. It will bring a further 25 jobs to Dundalk and bolster the small players, so often the fall guys for big international brands.

The joy of standards

2004-08-27T10:05:00.000+01:00

So Intel plans to release a new wifi chip which will incorporate three flavours of the 802 wireless standard. Problem is, we're now handling environments where its challenging enough getting the one standard to work reliably, let alone piling on top a further two in one environment. Admittedly the advent of wireless networking is a huge benefit, particularly in homes where wiring up would require serious donkey-work, but in the rush to develop and offer new and improved protocols it leaves you wondering when or if they'll ever resolve all the teething problems encountered in the real world; a world with a big installed base of machines running 802.11b. Great when it works though...

Nintendo goes dual screen

2004-08-26T09:47:00.000+01:00

So Nintendo have admitted they plan to launch their dual screen hand-held gaming device. But this time it not only comes with two screens but also includes voice recognition and wireless connectivity. Sounds a bit like a phone specification in fact. With convergence going on all around us it's pretty clear that seemingly unlikely competitors are shortly going to go head to head. In this case Nokia's ambitions to be in the handheld gaming space are clear with it already into its second generation of dedicated gaming hand-held phones. Of course, Nintendo has no intention of losing market share to this upstart. But will people be prepared to carry around more than one portable device? Making calls is still the killer application so it's going to be hard to tell who will win this war. One prediction - either Nintendo will add phone functionality to their new device, by way of an expansion card of some sort, or they have plans to do something like this with their next gaming device.

Music gets Real

2004-08-24T17:29:00.000+01:00

RealNetworks was back in the headlines today, claiming that since they dropped the price of music downloads to USD0.49 (about EUR0.40) they've sold a million songs in one week. That's good news for all concerned as it means that, at the right price people will happily pay for their music online. After all, it saves the music companies plenty in terms of distribution costs and allows consumers to sample music at such a reasonable rate that they may, in fact, end up spending more overall. The only problem is it now shows just how expensive traditional channels of music distribution are and how handsomely they profit from their artists.

All Googled out... again

2004-08-23T09:50:00.000+01:00

OK so now we've had the IPO and Google's shares have gone up. Everybody's happy. Well apparently not. It seems that Google's now getting bashed for its corporate governance. Apparently they don't have enough external Directors to keep a check on this internet upstart according to Institutional Shareholder Services. Given the company has only just hit the trading floor you'd think that they'd get a break, if only for a little while. But now that Google's up there with the other big traded dot.com stocks you can bet that the criticisms are going to come thick and fast.

File Sharing Blues

2004-08-20T10:17:00.000+01:00

The file-sharing of music has probably been the single biggest competitive force in recent years, leading to a reduction in the cost of CDs and, according to some sources, an increase in CD album sales. Of course, the music companies don't like this one bit and in the USA in particular they have been seeking to shut down file-sharing outfits through the courts. But the US courts won't play ball. That's good news for consumers as it means prices will probably stay down, thus, one suspects, increasing the chances of impulse buys and purchases which wouldn't otherwise have occured. Will file sharing end up providing a shot in the arm to the music industry? That's impossible to predict but one thing's for sure, competition from this unexpected quarter is forcing a once complacent music industry to innovate like it never has and that's good for everyone.

Video Game Violence

2004-08-19T10:13:00.000+01:00

ENN reported the news that a clinical psychologist believes violent computer games may be harmful to children. Really? So that's a bit of a shocking revelation then? Ever since the first kids comic books appeared, some quarters have blamed this and later developments for dangerous and abherrent behaviour in our youth. It may well be true that video games are not ideal for kids but it will always boil down to parental responsibility and being capable of instilling in children a clear understanding between the worlds of fantasy and reality. Perhaps more interesting was the admission that Microsoft was forced to withdraw a game which had a background track of muslim prayer added by the Japanese firm contracted to make the program, but had no idea what was being said. Problem was the game was a violent hand to hand combat type affair... Now that's a little worrying. That might incite some abherrent behaviour amongst offended adults.

Broadband for the masses

2004-08-18T16:04:00.000+01:00

ENN reported that over half of US internet users connected through broadband from home in July. That's a pretty impressive figure. But it does bring into sharp contrast just how far other countries, Ireland included, have to go in order to match this sort of penetration. Of course, it's not just an academic fact either. The reality is that this number holds a great deal of meaning for future economic success. With manufacturing heading to low-cost economies in eastern Europe and the far East, economic prosperity will hinge upon a successful knowledge economy. That won't happen with the bulk of people on dial-up modems...

Another day... another standard

2004-08-17T09:36:00.000+01:00

The problem with progress is progress. At least that's the way it sometimes seems. In this case it's because those nice people at the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) have decided to develop the next standard for WiFi. While this is all well and good it means we'll have to dig deep into our pockets for this next great and obviously necessary development. If you're cynical you could argue that this is merely what technology is all about. After all, if we don't upgrade where's the market?

Broadband... with strings

2004-08-13T13:27:00.000+01:00

It's interesting and good to see the ISP upstarts, such as Leap Broadband, making serious inroads into more mainstream supply of broadband. With the news that Leap will now begin making DSL available over unbundled exchanges, thanks to a deal with eircom, it can only be good for competition and thus put more downward pressure on prices to consumers. This, in turn, should be good for uptake. Just recently a report from the UK cited that more than half of all househods now have Internet access and of those with access, over a third now have a broadband connection.

Gone in a flash

2004-08-11T14:36:00.000+01:00

ENN reported that IDC has released research suggesting there is going to be an almighty clash to come as companies in the business of manufacturing mobile phones challenge camera makers on their turf. That's because mobile phones are rapidly evolving into one-stop-shop, do-it-all devices and they have the key advantage of being pocketable and able to send and receive calls or pictures. So unless big names, like Kodak, do some strategic deals with handset makers the future of these brands, in the mass mainstream consumer camera market, are numbered. Professional picture-takers will still go for dedicated high-end devices but for the bulk of us an OK camera-phone will always win the day. Kodak has made it clear it sees its future in the digital imaging market but will camera-phones kill that aspiration?

Google the cash cow?

2004-08-10T09:50:00.000+01:00

If you are at all cynical about how business operates then your worst assumptions will be confirmed by the news that a UK company thinks it might have found a way to squeeze internet darling Google for some money. In this case it's because Independent International Investment Research (IIIR) is claiming trademark infringement over the use of the term 'G-Mail', used by Google for its new web e-mail product. If evidence of the opportunistic nature of the claim was needed, the UK Independent reports that the company is seeking an 'amicable' solution. This probably reads, 'pay us off and we'll go away'. Some might suggest that Google tells them where to go or changes the name to Google-Mail. To fuel cynicism, IIIR's share price rocketed 77 percent on the news. How depressing.

Will Service Pack 2 make you safe?

2004-08-09T09:46:00.000+01:00

So Microsoft has finally released Service Pack 2 as ENN reported. Just don't assume that, with this new pack of patches you can get complacent about security. As has been shown repeatedly, the security of your PC is an unending battle between Microsoft and a cohort of anti-spam and anti-virus companies against a healthy community of hackers who seek to overcome new security, at least because they can and at worst... well who knows! Microsoft should have got security right a long time ago but, as a dominant player they didn't (and still don't) have the competition around to force innovation. To date the innovators have been small entrepreneurial companies seeking to plug Microsoft holes or the hackers. How reassuring.

The weakest link?

2004-08-06T09:20:00.000+01:00

ENN reported on recent research which seems to suggest that it is, in fact, staff, under their own steam, who force the introduction of new technologies to the workplace, rather than from IT Managers prompting. This is both unsurprising and unsettling. It's no surprise because it's always the early-adopting private use of technology which then finds a use in the workplace. It's doubtful that many IT Managers would want to introduce wireless connectivity in offices if it wasn't prompted by staff demand. And that reluctance is well placed. Wireless networks are slower, less reliable and notoriously hard to make secure. The unsettling aspect hinges on the fact that in any business with more than a handful of PCs, any staff member can wander in and plug in their memory key, MP3 or other device and increasingly, thanks to XP, they'll be able to mix files, copy, etcetera. Now that is a security nightmare.

Disney's PC venture

2004-08-05T09:39:00.000+01:00

A Mickey Mouse PC. That's right. Disney, in their efforts to expand their franchise, now think that a PC with Mickey Mouse ears will have a certain attraction for an obviously young consumer. It's just a bit unfortunate that the term Mickey Mouse has come to mean something else these days. If these machines are flawed in any way, you can imagine the field day the press will have with the headlines...

Computer Associates opens up too

2004-08-04T10:35:00.000+01:00

The news that Computer Associates is embracing open source and is even offering USD1 million to get people involved, is a further indication that companies with a vested interest in the software sector see this as an effective means of taking on the competition of Microsoft. Whether, in going this route, it guarantees success is still very much open to question.