Author: Stuart
Stuart is formerly a Technology Production Editor for The Evening Standard and lives in Battersea
Amazon appears to be testing ebook subscription service
It seems that Amazon is preparing to give readers something to get excited about - a Netflix-style digital ebook and audiobook subscription service that provides Kindle users with access to a potential library of more than 600,000 titles for about £6 a month. The discovery was first reported by the news site GigaOm. Amazon has…
Paul McCartney re-releases five albums as iPad apps
Sir Paul McCartney has somehow never managed to loses his cool – or his financial touch. This week, a "selfie" of Macca sitting on a bench with billionaire Warren Buffett that was taken by a 16-year-old in Omaha, Nebraska, went viral. Now the coolest surviving Beatle has announced that five of his classic albums – Band…
Google+ finally removes naming restrictions
It's been around for three years now, but Google+ still struggles to drag people away from the more popular (and, to be honest, useful) social networks Facebook and Twitter. Now, in a bid to actually get people involved and stop Google+ being a social desert island, Google has dropped the rule that requires Google+ users…
Three makes 0800 numbers free on SIM-only plans
It's always been somewhat puzzling that we have to pay to dial a freecall number from a mobile phone. Those 0800 numbers are free to call from a landline, so why not from a mobile too? From June 2015, Ofcom will bring in new rules that will include requiring 0800 to be free from mobiles…
Netflix ranks Virgin Media as UK’s fastest ISP
Not all of its customers might agree, but Virgin Media has been rated the UK's best ISP by streaming service Netflix. Virgin Media tops the current list on the official Netflix blog with an average speed of 3.30Mbps, with BT in second place at 2.96Mbps. Sky is in third on 2.74Mbps, then EE on 2.62Mbps…
Mobile signal boost for UK national parks
Have you ever been frustrated when, on a day out to a British national park, you haven't been able to download the latest cat video, or find out what Kim Kardashian is up to, thanks to a lack of mobile phone signal? Well, fret no longer. The BBC reports that England's national parks are to…
Microsoft rumoured to be planning new round of job cuts
Microsoft is reportedly planning the biggest round of job cuts in five years. Bloomberg reports that the restructuring comes as the software giant integrates the recently-acquired Nokia handset unit into the business. It says that the job losses could be the biggest in Microsoft history, topping the 5,800 layoffs in 2009. Microsoft bought Nokia’s mobile…
Sci-fi series Extant is a streaming hit, says Amazon UK
The pilot episode of Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi mystery thriller Extant has become Amazon Prime Instant Video’s most successful launch ever – attracting three times more streams on release day than the first episode of any previous show on the service, including original series Vikings, according to Amazon UK. The series, which stars Halle Berry as…
Prepare for battle as Tekken 7 announced
Classic fighting game Tekken - the first version of which launched the PlayStation games console back in 1995 - is getting an update. Namco Bandai has announced that the next-gen Tekken 7 is in development - and if the cryptic “final battle” message in the trailer is anything to go by, this may well be…
Is this the new Windows start screen?
A new image that reportedly shows the new Windows Start menu has been doing the rounds. The leaked image comes from the MyDigitalLife forum, which claims the leaked screenshot is legitimate. The revamped interface incorporates the now-familiar Windows 8 Start Screen into the right-hand side of the menu, with the more traditional list of apps…
