Tag: broadband
Wi-Fi hotspots are "telephone boxes of the broadband era" claims Ericsson exec
Mobile broadband offerings are growing at such a rapid pace, and becoming affordable enough to make Wi-Fi hotspots irrelevant, according to Ericsson’s Chief Marketing Officer, Johan Bergendahl.
“Hotspots at places like Starbucks are becoming the telephone boxes of the broadband era,” he claimed at a recent conference in Stockholm.
Quite a different viewpoint from the likes of Apple, then, whose latest offerings — the iPhone and MacBook Air — rely heavily on the availability of Wi-Fi to perform at their best…
Virgin Media speed throttling revisited — FAQ
A consistently popular article on Tech Digest over the past year has been about Virgin Media’s broadband throttling scheme, whereby it slaps a speed limit on the customers it deems to be “heavy users” if they download or upload too much during peak hours.
It’s certainly got you hot under the collar, as most of the 80+ comments — plus the search terms you’re using to find the article in the first place — testify.
Here, as a public service, is Tech Digest’s Frequently Asked Questions [FAQ] guide to Virgin Media’s broadband speed throttling.
UK Government to investigate path to next generation broadband
Think your pitifully slow “nowhere near up to eight meg” broadband is a joke? You may be vaguely encouraged that the Government is starting to look at how we move Britain into truly fast, “next generation” broadband.
The Business and Competitiveness Minister, Shriti Vadera, launched the independent review on Friday. It will look at the importance of 100Mbps+ broadband to British businesses, and what the potential barriers are to achieving those kind of speeds.
“The way we will do business, access many government services, as well as information and entertainment, will change beyond recognition over our lifetime. New technologies will push the boundaries of today’s communications infrastructure,” she said. “We need to prepare the way for the UK to adopt groundbreaking new technologies to ensure that we do not get left behind – competitively or technologically.”
PC World/3 Mobile broadband offer now includes MacBook Air
Good news for anyone contemplating buying a MacBook Air, who is also looking for a decent mobile broadband package. PC World and 3 have announced that they’re extending their discounted PC offer to now include the slinky new MacBook Air.
Anyone signing up for the £35 per month mobile broadband service can now opt to get £250 off the new MacBook Air. That’s £100 less of a discount than other deals, but it’s still a saving worth having if you want the machine and were planning to make the most of the service as well.
As Stuart mentioned in the first announcement, it will otherwise end up costing you a lot more. Still, it’s not a bad way of getting hold of one of the most hotly talked about notebooks at a reduced price.
UK broadband prices at all-time low, levelling off
According to the latest survey by price comparison website uSwitch.com has found that average broadband prices have dropped by over one-third in four years. However, that’s your lot, apparently.
The bods at uSwitch reckon that no-one should now be paying more than £20 per month for standalone broadband. However, it can still be quite confusing to work out exactly what you’re getting when signing up for a service, particularly as some require a BT line, some come with other bundled services, others give you money off if you subscribe to other services, and they all seem to claim different “top speeds” and “fair usage” policies.
Virgin Media claims to boost Britain’s broadband speeds
Virgin claims it is upgrading its broadband services, with customers on Virgin Media’s ‘L’ tier broadband package upgraded for free from 4MB to 10MB during a gradual roll out that starts from February and should be complete late summer. Virgin will also be trialling a 50MB service during 2008.
Full HD horror film coming online: "Shadow: Dead Riot" streams at 1080p on the Internet
MyTVPal.com, the high definition streaming web service, and MatrixStream, a video on demand and IPTV solutions company, have claimed the world’s first 1080p instant streaming movie.
“Shadow: Dead Riot” (2006) is a story about resurrected slain inmates turned flesh eating zombies that invade a women’s rehabilitation facility — but enough about the choice of film. What we’re really interested in is the technology and the capability, right?
Start collecting tins of Heinz, the internet apocalypse is hitting 2010!
At the rate most internet users are going, joining up to social networking site upon social networking site, spamming the internet with their emo thoughts and feelings, videos and photos, the news that the internet could be ‘all full up’ by 2010 seems a little optimistic.
It’s all to blame on increased internet traffic, according to analysts Nemertes Rsearch Group, who have…
Sky warned over broadband speed claims – had better not do it again or else
Virgin Media and two members of the public complained to the Advertising Standards Authority over a Sky Broadband advert which boasted its service is faster than Virgin’s.
Being a Virgin Media broadband user myself I can attest that it almost certainly is, as is a letter taped to the back of a tortoise, but that’s…
BT partners with Fon to create UK Wi-Fi sharing network
In a surprising move, BT has partnered with Spanish firm Fon, giving their blessing (and resources) to the public Wi-Fi sharing service. It's surprising because it was believed that some ISPs would be against Fon's ethos, given that broadband customers…
