Internet Use/New Technologies
28 December 2007
Inside Apple Stores, a Certain Aura Enchants the Faithful New York Times
The party inside [the Midtown Manhattan] store and in 203 other Apple stores around the world is one reason the company's stock is up nearly 135 percent for the year. By contrast, high-flying Google is up about 52 percent, while the tech-dominated Nasdaq index is up 12 percent.
27 December 2007
Forrester Research: 71% Of European Households To Have Broadband By 2013 Forrester
Residential broadband penetration in Western Europe is set to rise by 48 million households over the next six years, from 44 percent penetration at the end of 2007 to 71 percent by the end of 2013, according to a new study by Forrester Research. Over the same period, Forrester projects the continual marginalization of dial-up services, which will account for only two percent of all online connections. The impact of of emerging technologies such as WiMAX and FTTH will be limited to eight percent of all Internet connections.
inCode announces Top 10 Wireless Predictions for 2008
inCode, a VeriSign Company, announced its Top 10 predictions for the game-changing events that will shape the wireless industry in 2008. The predictions cover major trends ranging from who will win the communication standard wars, what role Google will play in the wireless world after January's spectrum auction and whether or not consumers will finally open up to digital content and mobile advertising. The predictions, first created in 2003 by inCode, a global business and technology consultancy acquired by VeriSign in November 2006, are designed to help wireless industry players, partners and consumers better plan for the coming year.
uk: Logging on to the sales becomes a new Christmas Day tradition The Independent
Despite the credit squeeze and warnings of a recession, thousands of Britons began sale-shopping on Christmas Day this year thanks to online technology. In a continuing cultural shift that many commentators say has helped turn Christmas from a religious season of goodwill to a consumerist one of acquisition, many retailers began their online sales early yesterday. Also includes a link to "Britain, a nation online" from The Times.
Filtering, etiquette questions arise as airlines introduce in-flight Internet access International Herald Tribune
Seat 17D is yapping endlessly on an Internet phone call. Seat 16F is flaming Seat 16D with expletive-laden chats. Seat 16E is too busy surfing porn sites to care. Seat 17C just wants to sleep. Welcome to the promise of the Internet at 33,000 feet - and the questions of etiquette, openness and free speech that airlines and service providers will have to grapple with as they bring Internet access to the skies in the coming months. Also includes a link to "In-flight Internet builds on Boeing plan" from the Los Angeles Times.
26 December 2007
China on the Web: An Accident Waiting to Happen? E-Commerce Times
With some 1.3 billion people in its emerging economy, the lure of China's market is compelling. "The temptation is huge, not just for corporations but for the U.S. government itself," Morton Sklar, executive director of the World Organization for Human Rights USA, told the E-Commerce Times. "We are dependent on China in so many ways, it makes it more difficult for us to criticize them."
Media literacy: do people really understand how to make the most of blogs, search engines or interactive TV? EUROPA
The media are changing, and so is citizens' use of such media. New information and communication technologies make it much easier for anybody to retrieve and disseminate information, communicate, publish or even broadcast. The ability of people to critically analyse what they find in the media and to make more informed choices - called 'media literacy' - therefore becomes even more essential for active citizenship and democracy. Following an EU-wide survey last year, the European Commission has announced today its plans to encourage the development of media literacy and the exchange of good practice across Europe.
25 December 2007
Facebook is so last year - welcome to the hit websites of 2008 The Guardian
For many in the dotcom world, 2007 was dominated by one story: the rise of Facebook. The success of the social networking service has increased optimism about the internet industry. After all, if Microsoft is prepared to buy a 1.6% share for US$240m (£121m), there is evidence that good ideas can be worth a lot of money. It is no surprise then that investors are looking for the next big thing - and these are some of the favourites.
How the Queen became very well connected The Observer
The Queen has taken a bold stride into cyberspace by launching her own channel on the video-sharing website YouTube. The Royal Channel launched as Buckingham Palace seeks to promote Britain's monarch to a youthful global audience.
24 December 2007
us: Labor Board Restricts Union Use of Email New York Times
The National Labor Relations Board has ruled that employers have the right to prohibit workers from using the company's e-mail system to send out union-related messages, a decision that could hamper communications between labor unions and their membership.
22 December 2007
ABS study shows 43% of all Australian households have broadband ComputerWorld
Nearly half of Australian households have broadband connections, the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed on Thursday. The ABS' Household Use Of Information Technology study shows broadband connections jumped over a million to 3.5 million in the past year. All up this comprises 43% of all households.
20 December 2007
Pew: Phones, In-Person Strong With Teens Sydney Morning Herald
Teenagers still value phone calls and face-to-face meetings with friends even as they frequent online hangouts like Facebook and MySpace, a new study finds. Nearly 40 percent of teens say they talk to friends on a traditional wired phone every day, and 35 percent say they do so on cell phones, the Pew Internet and American Life Project said Wednesday, analyzing its phone surveys from late 2006. Thirty-one percent of teens say they spend time in person with friends every day.
More TV viewers turn to Web for entertainment: poll Reuters
More television viewers are turning to the Internet to watch videos, films and TV episodes, according to a new survey. In the past year, YouTube has widened its lead as the top destination for online videos, while search engines and television networks have gained ground.
Kiwi internet habits go under the microscope New Zealand Herald
The internet is considered a more important source of information than newspapers, television, radio and even friends and family, a new survey shows. AUT University today released the findings of a benchmark survey looking at how New Zealanders use the internet.
Is The Internet Killing Newspapers? Something Else To Thank Al Gore For? FollowTheMedia.com
If there is any one politician the world can thank for ensuring that America embraced the Internet it is probably Al Gore. During his political life, and especially as vice-president in the Clinton administration, he moved Congress, and the federal government, to adopt and accept the infant that he called the information highway.
How To Make Friends, Japanese-Style Forbes
Social networking is so popular in Japan in that one standing joke says that a Japanese salary man has three online profiles: one that's real, a second that's edgier so he can venture into pages that detail his private obsessions, and a third that is completely anonymous so his wife or girlfriend or boss will not track him down.
18 December 2007
More Australian girls than boys using internet: study ABC
A report on young people's use of media has found that the amount of time they spend using technology has not increased in the last 12 years despite the rise in the use of the internet and mobile phones.
17 December 2007
Google Gets Ready to Rumble With Microsoft New York Times
The growing confrontation between Google and Microsoft promises to be an epic business battle. It is likely to shape the prosperity and progress of both companies, and also inform how consumers and corporations work, shop, communicate and go about their digital lives. Google sees all of this happening on remote servers in faraway data centers, accessible over the Web by an array of wired and wireless devices -- a setup known as cloud computing. Microsoft sees a Web future as well, but one whose center of gravity remains firmly tethered to its desktop PC software. Therein lies the conflict.
Home porn gives industry the blues The Observer
... According to surveys, sites such as YouPorn and Pornotube draw more internet traffic than CNN. Like YouTube, the phenomenally popular, Google-owned website, X-rated sites depend on users streaming videos to the site - and YouPorn is adding 15 million new users a month.
16 December 2007
The etiquette of telecommunications: Getting the message, at last The Economist
On a May evening in 1864, several British politicians were disturbed by a knock at the door and the delivery of a telegram -- a most unusual occurrence at such a late hour. Had war broken out? Had the queen been taken ill? They ripped open the envelopes and were surprised to find a message relating not to some national calamity, but to dentistry. Messrs Gabriel, of 27 Harley Street, advised that their dental practice would be open from 10am to 5pm until October. Infuriated, some of the recipients of this unsolicited message wrote to the Times. "I have never had any dealings with Messrs Gabriel," thundered one of them, "and beg to know by what right do they disturb me by a telegram which is simply the medium of advertisement?" The Times helpfully reprinted the offending telegram, providing its senders with further free publicity.
Google to tackle Wikipedia with new knowledge service The Times
Google is to go head-to-head with Wikipedia, the web's largest reference work, in a clash of two of the internet's most powerful brands. A new Google service, dubbed knol, will invite "people who know a particular subject to write an authoritative article about it", Udi Manber, a Google engineer, said. Also includes links from Forbes, the New York Times, ComputerWorld and the BBC.
14 December 2007
Bebo developers deal blow to Google Financial Times
Bebo, the third-largest social networking site in the US, on Wednesday dealt a blow to Google's ambitions in the sector by adopting Facebook's open standards for applications.
Green Technology Revolution, Part 1: Gaining Momentum E-Commerce Times
Transnational IT companies are typically among the largest sources of fixed capital investment in developing countries. As such, they have the potential to be natural leaders when it comes to promoting clean tech, sustainable energy and resource management.
Mobile WiMax must grab YouTube generation, says analyst CNet
Fledgling technology mobile WiMax could rack up 80 million subscribers within five years--despite having just two commercial networks to its name to date. But the technology must hook the YouTube generation, according to analyst house Juniper Research.
Study: Young American adults now find porn more acceptable USA Today
College students, including young women, are far more accepting of pornography than their parents, a shift that might be related to easy access to porn on the Internet, a study reports today.
