Internet
Netflix Launches In The UK – Will You Switch From LoveFilm?
January 9, 2012
After years of uncertainty and waiting whilst we watched our friends on the other side of the pond enjoy streaming services, Netflix has finally launched in the UK and Ireland! From today, anyone can head over to the Netflix website and sign up for a month’s trial completely free of charge so that you can try out its services and see what the company has to offer on its UK movie catalogue.
Once you’ve signed up, you will be able to choose from a catalogue of both movies and TV shows, although the content appears to be somewhat limited at first glance, perhaps due to content already tied up in contracts with LoveFilm. Whether content providers will choose to add more shows and movies to the service in due course, and how many may be added, is yet to be seen.
Continue reading »Google eBookstore Launches In The UK
October 6, 2011
Love e-books but hate being tied down in an eco-system? Me too, and until now my only realistic option in the e-book market has been to use Amazon’s Kindle store and then remove the DRM from my purchased items so that I can read them on any devices that I may own in the future.
Thanks to Google’s eBookstore, however, there is some more choice available, which can only be good for consumers. Until now, it was only available in the USA, but today it has finally launched in the UK as well.
Continue reading »‘My Windows Phone’ Launches Ahead of Mango, Adds Web Marketplace
September 25, 2011
In the eyes of many, including myself, Windows Phone is well overdue an update, and it’s in line to get one pretty soon if Microsoft is to be believed. And it just got a lot more credence given the recent launch of a new site called ‘My Windows Phone’, which aims to collect the bulk of the data stored on your Windows Phone device in one easy-to-use web interface.
eBuyer Study Reveals The UK’s Geekiest (And Least Geeky) Cities
September 1, 2011
If you’re a resident geek in Cambridge, then you can start September with a big smile across your face, because you officially live in the UK’s geekiest city of 2011! Of course, by ‘officially’, I’m referring to a study recently undergone at eBuyer, but judging from the amount of tech they ship all over these great nations of ours, they’re a pretty solid source.
In the study, each city in the UK was given a ‘geek score’, which was calculated using three metrics: tech related product conversions per city, IT developer job opportunities per city and the percentage of those with at least one qualification per city. All of the scores were then weighted, with tech related product conversions being the main driver, and calculated relative to each city’s overall population to produce a positive or negative score. Sounds simple enough, right?
Continue reading »Magix Website Maker 5 Review
August 29, 2011
This could quite possibly become one of the most perspective-driven reviews I will ever write, and for that reason it’s also one of the most difficult. But stop here if you’re looking for web design software that will allow great flexibility, offer tools to drive traffic to your site or indeed anything that a typically commercial or promotional website might want. Magix Website Maker is not for you.
However, if you’re someone merely wanting to make an imprint on the inexhaustible platform of resources that is the Internet, and are fearful of over complex web design software and methods, then you might want to give this review a read. It might well be what you’ve been craving.
You see, the big ‘problem’ with this software is that it exists entirely around Adobe Flash. Which, as well publicised, won’t work on your iPad (without jailbreaking) and many other tablets, or if you don’t have it installed on your PC. Now there are a number of reasons why Flash is a no go if you want a commercial website, or something that will attract large quantities of traffic for whatever reason.
Continue reading »Facebook Tweaks Privacy Settings To Add Clarity And Control
August 20, 2011
Every company has its downfall. Whether it be a small startup with employee numbers in the tens rather than the thousands, or the billion dollar brainchild of Mark Zuckerberg, there will be something, that one thing, that haunts it throughout its existence. For Facebook of course, it’s the much publicised and heavily criticised privacy settings. Yet here we are, Facebook now has improved privacy controls.
So what does this mean? Well, users of Google+ might be familiar with the new settings on offer to users wishing to share anything on the site, because everything you do choose to share, will now be accompanied by options of exactly who to share it with. You can make it public, by choosing public, or just share with your friends, by selecting friends. There are some custom options too, but in the interest of simplicity, the ultimate aim of this change from Facebook, we’ll leave that to anyone who dares venture beyond the boundaries of what’s laid on a plate for them.
Continue reading »BT Becomes The First ISP to Block Pirates, Starts Swallowing up the Internet
July 28, 2011
Newzbin2 has today become the first website to be blocked by an ISP on the grounds of distributing illegally copied material. I’d personally never heard of the site, so I’m certainly not going to lose any sleep after being told I can’t make use of it anymore, however there are, I’m sure, plenty of members on the website, which scours the Usenet forums for content and distributes anything it finds, who might take it a little harder.
This case is not about the size of the website being blocked though, nor is it a move to stamp out piracy once and for all. Not yet, at least, instead it’s more a mere landmark. A case that will be looked at as the first of many, I assume, and one that paves the way for a succession of other websites meeting a similar end.
Continue reading »Amazon To Launch Game Download Store In The UK From October
July 24, 2011
In case you needed reminding, digital downloads are the future. I definitely subscribe to that vision, and clearly so does Amazon. In the wake of it launching its own Android app store, it’s come to the PC game distribution party in a bid to rival the likes of Steam, which has dominated the market for years now.
Having been made available in the US over 2 years ago, the store has a sure foothold in the industry already, however it’s also been a long time coming to the UK, with many users still having to wait for the postman to arrive with the new title they’re itching to play. It’s a terrible period of waiting once you’ve ordered a game online to the actual delivery, so as long as your broadband has the clout, then this is a preferable method.
Continue reading »Who Will Win The Cloud Music War? Is It Really The Future?
May 26, 2011
For years we were stuck with the then necessary burden of keeping all of our music stashed in a drawer or cupboard, plucking out the track we’ve just arrived at the mood for and slipped it onto whatever variety of player we happened to have. In fact, it was that way for over a hundred years before the invention of the MP3 player – and that changed everything. But, could we be on the verge of another drastic shift in the methods we use to deliver, store and access our music? There are pretty strong hints that Apple will soon join the ranks of companies offering cloud-based music services, which already includes the recent additions of Amazon and Google, as well as the longstanding services such as Grooveshark and Spotify. And now the strongest, most powerful gladiators have supposedly entered the arena, it’s about time we asked the question: is it actually what the consumer wants?
Google Facing Microsoft EU Complaint & Tax Investigation From China
April 6, 2011
If you’re not a fan of irony then you may want to skip this story as both parts are simply swimming in it! To start with Bill Gates’ brainchild Microsoft have in the past week (the same week in which Google +1 social search features were unveiled) taken another step towards out-and-out war with Google by filing a formal complaint to the European Commission for Competition claiming that the dominance of the company is restricting competition.
On the other side of the world Google is also in trouble this time in China as the authorities are investigating possible tax avoidance in three companies linked to Google Inc, two investigations which if they go against the search giant could leave them in very hot water.
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