Following on from Filltr, I wanted to show you the wonderful world of Ning.Ning is a name that has been banded about for a while, gaining quite a bit of interest in the US business press. But what exactly is Ning? Just like its blogging predecessors, Ning allows user’s to create, design and manage their very own social community on anything they like. And by paying a small fee you can use your own URL or even manage the advertising.

The benefits of Ning?
Creating your own social network allows you to communicate on a direct level to your target audience.
It brings like minded people together to discuss the topics that really interest them.
It allows you to control the user generated content and get them talking about the things you want them to
Ning can also be used as a testing ground for micro-sites or networking sites you may want to create before making large investments.

It could prove to be a very useful tool to have access to.

Filttr, like Ronseal, does exactly what it says on the tin - filters your tweets and only shows you what you’re interested in.  

Seems like a lot of people are trying to jump on the Twitter bandwagon, but worth checking it out and could be a solution to twitter spam. https://filttr.com/

T-Mobile: fastest mobile broadband in UK

T-Mobile has been voted number one in mobile broadband performance for the last quarter. The company was among those tested by P3 Solutions, who measured the speed and reliability of the networks in 16 UK cities. The tests were designed to see how the networks coped at peak times.

Tech Radar

 

BT offers £700 worth of business tools to help beat recession

BT is offering to help the businesses survive the recession with a pack of free IT and communications services. The Pack includes free services designed to help businesses maximise their online profiles, as well as improve staff productivity and even cut the cost of travel and energy consumption.

MacWorld

 

Swisscom doubles data speed on its mobile network

Swisscom is upgrading its mobile network in time for the World Economic Forum. Data rates in Davos will be doubled to 14.4 megabits per second to prevent bottlenecks in data transmissions. Mobile data transmission rates this high are unrivalled in Switzerland and rarely found elsewhere in Europe.

GoMo News 

 

Google lets users search for Internet blockers

Google Inc has unveiled a plan aimed at letting computer users determine whether providers like Comcast Corp are inappropriately blocking or slowing their work online. The scheme is the latest bid in the debate over network neutrality, which pits content companies like Google against some Internet service providers.

Reuters

 

Nokia swoops for location specialist Bit-Side

Nokia has bolstered its mobile mapping service with the purchase of the German mobile software firm, Bit-Side. The Berlin-based company will further accelerate the development of Nokia's location-based services, which got quite a boost last year when Nokia completed the purchase of Navteq for $8 billion.

Mobile Entertainment

 

Digital Britain report set to push broadband for all by 2012

Government plans to boost the digital and communications industries, which contribute more than £50bn a year to the UK economy, are due to be outlined today. The Digital Britain report will examine a number of different areas, including broadband development, public service broadcasting and digital radio.

The Guardian

 

Nokia launches three new phones

Nokia has launched three recession friendly phones on the market. As mobile handset sales continue to dive this year, hit by consumers' reluctance to spend on new gadgets in the midst of the economic recession, Nokia is pushing to win a larger share of a shrinking market. The Nokia 2700 Classic comes with a 2 megapixel camera, music player and media sharing capability and is on the market for only £60.  

T3

 

Barclays tightens mobile banking security

Barclays has become the first UK high street bank to offer free security software to its mobile banking customers, in a deal with anti-malware vendor Kaspersky Lab. Customers logging into the Barclays.mobi site can download the free software, which includes anti-virus, anti-spam and anti-theft protection, by clicking on the 'Kaspersky offer' link.

VNUnet

 

AT&T sees 4Q iPhone boost

The US operator activated 1.9 million iPhones during the quarter, with total data revenue up 51 per cent. The iPhone effect was felt elsewhere in the company's 4Q08 financials too, with wireless data revenues up 51.2 per cent compared to 4Q07 at $3.1 billion.

Mobile Entertainment

BSkyB to create 1,000 jobs with shift to HD television

Satellite broadcaster BSkyB is preparing to expand its investment in high-definition (HD) television, creating 1,000 new jobs in customer services and installation just six months after axing 250 positions. The company plan to sell the new technology to 2.5 to 3m subscribers.

The Telegraph

 

Microsoft denies shift in focus from PC gaming

Despite two recent studio closures and the departure of key executive Chris Early, Microsoft has denied that it is moving focus and resources away from PC gaming, claiming that it will continue to invest in Windows as a first–class gaming platform.

Tech Radar

 

Vodafone moves into UAE

Vodafone has announced a partnership with United Arab Emirates operator, du, which expands Vodafone’s brand into the Middle East as well as giving the UAE operator access to Vodafone’s products, services and exclusive devices. The ‘partner market agreement’ will provide du customers with improved voice and data roaming access across 67 countries, while Vodafone customers will be able to access 'home' services from the UAE.

Telecoms.com

 

Texas Instruments cuts 3,400 jobs

US chip manufacturer Texas Instruments has announced 3,400 job cuts amid decreasing mobile handset shipments worldwide and a fourth quarter drop in profits of 86%. The 3,400 job cuts represent a 12% reduction in workforce, achieved via 1800 layoffs and 1600 voluntary redundancies.

Telecoms.com

 

Vodafone's bid for Wayfinder gets green light

Vodafone has confirmed that its 239million Swedish kronor cash offer for all the shares in location-based services specialist Wayfinder Systems has been accepted by the company’s shareholders. Vodafone has also acquired more than 3million Wayfinder shares through the market and in private transactions, representing approximately 16.39 per cent of the total number of shares and votes in the company.

Mobile Entertainment

 

Yahoo!'s not to be "pulled apart and left for the chickens"

Yahoo!’s brand new CEO, Carol Bratz, argued the company was stronger as a whole than as the sum of its parts. Bratz, speaking after Yahoo! reported mixed fourth-quarter results, went on to share thinking on its search business and qualified it with the comment that Yahoo! would have to invest in it regardless of whether the company wanted to keep it or sell it.

Silicon.com

 

Symantec hops into hosted workspace battle

Symantec announced on Monday its GoEverywhere service, which places a user's entire workspace in a single web-based environment. The service is currently being trialed in the US as a free beta program. The GoEverywhere beta is incorporating next-generation cloud computing and web 2.0 concepts in innovative ways to enhance customers’ choice of how and when they want to access information.

VNUnet

 

UK mobile operator's future hangs in the balance

Sharifah Amirah, principle analyst at Frost and Sullivan, claimed in a webcast on Tuesday that there maybe one to many mobile providers in the UK market and that the onset of the recession might prove too severe for one UK mobile operator. Amirah went on to add that the recession will force operators in 2009 to offer a greater level of personalisation to their customers.

Total Telecom

 

Social networks grab 10 percent of UK Internet traffic

Hitwise, the web analyst company, revealed that 1 in every 10 UK internet visits during the Christmas Week was to a Social network, with Facebook the outright winner of the Social networks receiving 4.65% of all UK traffic. Youtube overtook Windows Live Mail for the first time during the Christmas Period and accounted for 2.13% of UK traffic.

PC Advisor

 

Offline Gmail rolled out by Google

Users of Google’s webmail service Gmail, will now be able to access their emails when not connected to the internet. Offline Gmail uses Google’s Gears to download a cache of mail which is synchronised. Offline Gmail is to be available to all US and UK English users in the next couple of days.

TechRadar

... company business meant that the Libergraph wasn't blogged on Monday and Tuesday. Happily, normal service has now been resumed :-)

New Sony Mobile Products in the Pipeline

At a recent press conference Sony’s CEO hinted that the company has a number of new mobile devices in the pipeline. Sony plans to introduce more handsets and portable games consoles and has set a target to include device-to-device connectivity across 90% of its products by 2011.

PC Advisor 

 

IBM Announces 16,000 Job Cuts despite Buoyant Q4 Results

IBM has shocked workers by announcing multiple job cuts directly after the company had issued glowing fourth quarter financial results. IBM has not publically announced the number of locations the job cuts will affect but the first cuts are expected in the Software Group and Sales and Distribution in the US and Canada.  

Computer Weekly

 

Symbian Trojan Steals Money from Smartphones

Security vendor Kaspersky Lab has spotted new variants of a Trojan horse program that provides hackers with a new way of stealing your money by texting it out of your phone. For the attack to work the software must be installed: it then uses a feature to send an SMS to another subscriber that transfers the money into their account.

ComputerWorld UK

 

Nokia Tube finally hits the shelves

A year after the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic was talked about, Nokia has now released the phone to general consumers.  The SIM-free model will cost £249, and has not been billed as Nokia’s version of the iPhone. It’s available across the UK from Friday.

Stuff TV

 

Samsung suffers its first quarterly loss

Samsung has reported its first-ever quarterly loss. The company’s semiconductor division reported a Won560bn loss, however its handset division reported an operating profit of Won160bn. Samsung plans to strengthen its product line-up by offering more lower-end models.

Financial Times 

 

Obama gets secure smartphone

The new US president and self-confessed BlackBerry addict has been given a more secure version to avoid GPS tracking.  The Sectera Edge, made by General Dynamics, has been given the name, ‘Barackberry’, and costs $3,350.  Obama says keeping his BlackBerry keeps him in touch with the real world.

CNN 

 

Google Q4 earnings drop but revenue up 18 per cent

Google’s profits for the fourth quarter ending on 31^st December dropped, whilst revenue grew by 20 per cent.  The company reported revenue of $5.70 billion, up 18 per cent from the same time last year.  Its net income was $1.62 billion, or $5.10 per share.

MacWorld

 

Ballmer: Microsoft minimised redundancies

Yesterday Microsoft announced 5,000 job losses, including 1,400 cuts to be made immediately. CEO Steve Ballmer assured workers that a few thousand jobs would also be created.  Along with further cost-saving measures will help Microsoft save $600 million this quarter.

Computerworld 

 

3 launches on-demand streaming mobile TV

Network provider 3 is the latest to offer on demand TV for your mobile.  It will cost users between £0.99 and £1.99 for a week’s access, and will be available alongside current channels via iPlayer and Sky’s video content.

TechRadar

An interesting stat from mobile advertising 'enabler' AdMob: the conversation rate for ad-funded free apps on the iPhone is 10 times that of the full price versions. By conversion I assume they mean actual download and install onto the handset.

there's quite a bit of information out there at the moment that's showing consumer interest in ad-funded, both in mobile and on the web. (Outragous plug: I am loving the ad-funded version of music service Spotify). So could be we'll see plenty more companies making announcements in this space.

 

 

Yahoo creates grid to take on spam

Yahoo has taken new steps to improve its webmail service's anti-spam capabilities. Start-up Abaca is working with the company on new behaviour-analysis tools to block spam messages and detect malicious phishing and filter them out of Yahoo Mail inboxes.

ComputerWorld

Sony forecasts first loss in 14 years

Sony’s share price has experienced a tumble of 8% on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in mid-January. The company has blamed both the global economic downturn hitting demand for its products and a strong yen for making its exports more expensive.

BBC News

240 Million GPS-Enabled Handsets Expected in 2009

A report released from ABI Research has stated that GPS-enabled handsets will continue to grow thanks to new Smartphones and the spread of location-based services. One of the main drivers of growth will be applications and services that take advantage of a user's location.

Information Week

Truphone Anywhere hits Android store

Truphone Anywhere, already launched on the iPhone, is now making the jump to Android, allowing people to call anyone in the world on Google Talk for the price of a local call. Truphone also promises users the capacity to IM friends on multiple networks from within one application.

TechRadar

Pricing rules issued on mobile downloads

New rules for the providers of UK mobile phone premium-rate services have been issued by regulator PhonePayPlus. Among the latest rules prices must be displayed clearly in promotional material and text messages. Providers of mobile subscription services must also obtain a license.

BBC News

Apple posts record profits

Apple has posted strong quarterly results that beat analysts' expectations and proved the company's resilience to the economic downturn. The technology giant made a record net profit of $1.61bn (£1.15bn) and posted record revenue of $10.7bn for the quarter to the end of December.

BBC News

China extends campaign against pornography to mobile phones

China intends to broaden its crackdown on internet pornography by banning ‘lewd’ messages sent by mobile phones. To date, Chinese officials have shut down 1,250 websites and arrested 41 people as part of the country's ongoing campaign against Internet pornography.

The Register

Intel to cut jobs and close factory

Intel has announced that it will be cutting as many as 6,000 jobs by closing manufacturing plants in Malaysia, the Philippines and its remaining factory in Silicon Valley. The announcement comes a day after Intel slashed prices on a number of its chips and a week after it reported a decline in fourth-quarter revenue.

The Guardian 

Twitter traffic rockets 974% in a year

Micro-blogging site Twitter has leapt from being the 2,953rd most popular website in the UK last year to 291st most-visited as of the middle of January. In the US, the market share of visits to Twitter has surpassed Digg for the first time since launch.

The Telegraph

Microsoft launches new mobile music store

Microsoft has teamed up with Vidzone to bring music downloads to its MSN Mobile portal. The service makes around one million full tracks, ringtones and music videos from record labels such as Sony Music, EMI Music and Warner Music available to consumers across all UK operators.

Brand Republic

Belkin exec offers to pay for positive reviews - update

The president of Belkin has slammed the actions of an business development employee who has been exposed for offering to pay for positive reviews of its products and marking negative reviews as ‘unhelpful’. The company believes this is an isolated incident and is currently working to remove any offers and reviews that are associated with them.

PC Advisor

 

Google gives up on newspaper ads

Under the pretense of ‘cost cutting’ Google has given up on its two-year attempt to sell newspaper advertising. No word has been given on what will happen to the 900 media outfits that signed up for the service.

The Inquirer

 

T-Mobile set to launch G1 to European market

T-Mobile announced this week it plans to launch HTC's Android-powered G1 handset in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and the Netherlands, with prices in Germany starting from €1 on a 24-month contract. At present the G1 is only available in the U.K. and the U.S.

Total Telecom

 

Intel cuts prices by up to 40% to ward off competition from AMD

Intel has cut the prices of its quad-core desktop and Xeon server processors by as much as 40%, as the company battles with rival Advanced Micro Devices for customers in a PC marketthat is being hammered by the economic downturn.

Information Week

 

IT capital investment cash dries up

Venture capital investments in IT companies plunged 40 per cent to $2.18bn in the fourth quarter, their worst level in a decade, according to figures released by VentureSource.

Silicon.com

 

Microsoft to unveil new version of Windows Mobile at MWC

Leaked documents have revealed that the cornerstone of Microsoft’s MWC plans is to be the launch of Windows Mobile 6.5, the latest version of the software giant’s mobile platform. With Android and Apple competing in the Smartphone market, much rides on the new platform. Also leaked were Microsoft’s other announcement plans, including cloud computing services aimed at consumers and businesses.

Mobile Choice

 

Qualcomm acquires AMD’s handheld business

Qualcomm yesterday announced it has agreed to acquire the handheld graphics business of AMD for $65 million. Qualcomm is already a licensee of AMD’s technology, so this deal effectively sees Qualcomm bring it’s multimedia and 3D graphics technology in-house.

The Register

 

Bad news for Ericsson as it plans to shed 5,000 more jobs

In an effort to further cut costs and slim down it’s business, telecoms giant Ericsson has announced it is to shed a further 5,000 jobs worldwide. This comes on top of 4,000 redundancies announced at the end of last year.

Bloomberg

 

Intel planning to launch Atom chips which are 60% smaller

Atom, the chipset from Intel aimed at Netbooks and handheld devices, will have a smaller version called ‘Pinewood’, according to sources at Intel. The new chip will be 60% smaller than the current Atom chips and will reach the market at the end of the year.

Tech Digest

 

Logitec revenues slump 70%

Things are set to get worse before they get better, according to PC peripherals company Logitec, as it announced that revenues for its 3rd quarter sales were 70% down on 2Q 2007. With sales volumes dropping 16%, the company laid much of the blame at the feet of retailers, saying they had gone too far with discounting and price promotions.

PC Retail

As well as plenty of media coverage about Twitter in recent months, it's something that more and more of our clients are looking at as a communications tool. Good timing then, that over at twitip they've just posted 7 ways to get more followers on Twitter. Nothing earth shattering there for sure, but some good, sensible advice for people still getting comfortable with what Twitter does and doesn't do well.