Category: Columns & Opinion
Free MMORPGs? Watch out for the strings attached…
Stuart Dredge writes…
When it comes to generating revenues from games, you can’t argue with Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) like World Of Warcraft. They have passionate userbases playing for dozens of hours a week, and happy to pay a monthly subscription to do so.
Microsoft's Surface: what it does, who it's for, and why we should lust after one
When several of us Tech Digest writers were present at Bill Gates’s keynotes speech at CES in Las Vegas and saw a brief display of what we now know is Surface, which Dave announced earlier this morning, none of us realised it would be released this year. Heck, we thought we were looking at the sort of space-age technology that comes hand-in-hand with flying cars and bite-sized pills for every meal.
Instead, Surface will be released into the wild (well, commercial wild, anyway) this Winter, where T-Mobile, Starwood Hotels, Harrah’s casinos and gambling-company IGN will have first access to this exciting new way of computing…
One million Zunes down…
Will Head writes… Despite the nay-sayers stating no one would buy a Microsoft branded MP3 player over Apple’s little darling, it looks like it’s shifted its millionth unit already – just before its self-imposed June deadline. It took Apple 14…
Charging to access MySpace's WAP site? Is Vodafone crazy?
Dave wrote earlier about the fact that Vodafone has launched a MySpace WAP site on its Vodafone Live portal, in advance of a downloadable application coming later in the summer. Since it’s part of an exclusive deal, for now this is the only way us Brits will be able to access MySpace on our phones.
BT offering rewards for its loyal broadband customers. How about a lower subscription and higher bandwidth allowance instead?
Andy Merrett writes…
British Telecom has announced that, as a “thank you” to its loyal broadband customers, it will be offering them £500 worth of vouchers to spend on leisure breaks or online stores.
That’s all very nice for PR, but to be honest, I’m not a huge fan of these types of promotions. It won’t have cost BT anywhere near £500 per customer to give away these vouchers (which, by the way, I’ve not had a sniff of yet), there are usually some hefty terms and conditions on how they can be used (in other words, please spend more money), and really… all I want is a decent broadband service.
Are mobile downloads overpriced?
Will Head writes… Is it unfair that downloads from mobile phones cost more than those on a PC, or does the network operator deserve to make back some of the money it’s invested in setting up and maintaining the network?…
Manufacturers and users of technology products have to be responsible for their energy consumption
Andy Merrett writes…
So, the latest news is that many of our decrepit coal and nuclear power stations are coming to the end of their working lives, and something drastic needs to happen to ensure that Britain can generate enough power for our 21st century lives.
Whatever your view on nuclear power, fossil fuels, and greener alternatives, there’s no denying that we’re a power hungry nation.
We’re also lazy (but trying, of course.)
Are Google and Dell up to something naughty?
Will Head writes… In an effort to improve revenues on its PC sales – where margins are notoriously slim even if you run a lean, mean, just-in-time delivery machine – Dell has teamed up with Google to bring in a…
Why Coca-Cola competitions won't convince me to use iTunes for downloading music
Katherine Hannaford writes… Here’s a shocking fact for an early-twenty-something to come out with – I’ve never paid for downloading music. Whilst I do own an iPod (my second, begrudgingly) and even use iTunes to store my ample music collection, I’ve not once been tempted to pay for a song, no matter how inexpensive they are…
Why can't PSP just focus on being a great gaming device?
Stuart Dredge writes…
We live in a convergance era. My phone plays music, my iPod runs games, my set-top box has a whirring hard drive, and my fridge spends half the day pissing about on YouTube rather than keeping my carrots cool. That’s progress, I guess.
