Network Manager by Day, Blogger by Night.
Archive for May, 2010
Meet the Nokia N8
May 5th
Last week Nokia announced the eagerly awaited Nokia N8, its latest smartphone, which intuitively connects to the people, places and services that matter most. With the Nokia N8, people can create exciting content, connect to their favourite social networks, and enjoy on-demand Web TV programs and Ovi Store apps. Available in the UK during the third quarter of 2010, the estimated retail price is €370/£218, before applicable taxes or subsidies.
A second-to-none user experience
- Powering the Nokia N8 is Symbian^3, the latest edition of the world’s most used smartphone software. This introduces several major advances, including support for gestures such multi-touch, flick scrolling and pinch-to-zoom for the ultimate user experience.
- The Nokia N8 offers multiple personalisable homescreens which can be loaded with applications and widgets. The new 2D and 3D graphics architecture build into Symbian^3 takes full advantage of the Nokia N8’s hardware acceleration to deliver a faster and more responsive user interface. Symbian^3 also raises the bar in performance, allowing more applications to run in parallel for a faster multitasking experience.
Never miss those important moments again
- With a 12 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, Xenon flash and a large sensor that rivals those found in compact digital cameras, the Nokia N8 enables budding cameramen or women to record HD-quality videos and edit them using a unique, built-in editing suite. Doubling as a portable entertainment centre, people can enjoy HD quality video with Dolby Digital Plus surround sound by connecting the handset to their home theatre system. The Nokia N8 also offers Web TV services that deliver programs, news and entertainment from channels like CNN, E! Entertainment, Paramount and National Geographic, with additional UK focused Web TV content also available from the Ovi Store.
Social networking on the go
- Social networking is second nature to the Nokia N8. People can update their status, share location and photos, and view live feeds from Facebook and Twitter in a single app directly on the home screen. Calendar events from social networks can also be transferred to the device calendar.
- The Nokia N8 comes with free global Ovi Maps walk and drive navigation, guiding people to places and points of interest in more than 70 countries worldwide.
Getting Qt for Developers
- The Nokia N8 is Nokia’s first device to be integrated with Qt, a software development environment that simplifies the development and makes it possible to build applications once and deploy across Symbian and other software platforms. Nokia has also made the powerful and simple to use Nokia Qt SDK available, in its initial beta, to enable developers to start realizing the potential of Qt.
Kelkoo Transforms International Collaboration with mvision Managed Video Conferencing
May 5th
mvision today announced that leading shopping comparison website, Kelkoo has transformed collaboration between its 10 international offices with a managed video conferencing service. Initiated by a desire to reduce business travel for its senior executives, Kelkoo has realised enhanced collaboration; overcoming language difficulties, improving clarity of communication and bringing international teams closer together.
Philippa Holister, is PA to the CEO at Kelkoo and was responsible for the video conferencing project. She explained, “Of course, our executives still have a need for business travel, but our CEO has cut down unnecessary time out of the office by a third which is extremely valuable. Our international Director too can now meet everyone he needs to face-to-face in a single day, and he does so every week,” she added. “Video conferencing has also played an important role in bringing our people together. Not only can our monthly ‘all hands’ meeting now be seen by everyone, but on a practical level it has helped us overcome some of the accent challenges associated with conference calls. This was particularly useful as we rolled out a new centralised finance function recently.”
Terry Dwyer, Managing Director at mvision added, “Kelkoo now has four TANDBERG C20 systems; two in London, one in Paris and one in Grenoble. There is also an E20 desktop videophone in Hamburg that has proven so successful, that five more were quickly ordered for the other offices. All of this hardware has been supplied by us as part of a managed video conferencing service. So, Kelkoo hasn’t had to make any up-front investment in the systems,” he continued. “In addition to the video systems, mvision has also provided Kelkoo with a dedicated video network and access to supporting services, all for a fixed monthly cost.”
mvision’s video conferencing network and systems were installed during an office refurbishment in Kelkoo’s London headquarters. Holister concluded, “I was really impressed by the whole team, they talked a lot of common sense and were reassuringly easy to work with. It was such a success from the moment it was installed that everyone wants it now. We’re even looking into extending its use among our clients and partners.”
Football Fever Means Big Bonuses at Participating Euro Partners Casinos
May 5th
Participating Euro Partners casinos will be giving away additional casino bonuses in a special sports promotion to celebrate the UEFA Champions League final.
Europa Casino, Vegas Red, Titan Casino and Casino Tropez are all running Football Fever themed promotions, in honor of the UEFA final, scheduled to take place on Saturday May 22 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid.
From May 20 – May 23 registered players will be eligible for an additional bonus when they answer a Champions League related trivia question correctly. In order to claim their reward, they must contact the participating casino’s Support team with the correct answer.
This limited time football bonus is in addition to the regular weekend bonuses offered to all depositing players.
The bonus money from this and other Euro Partners promotions can be used to play casino games online (such as roulette, blackjack and slots), or withdrawn after meeting wagering requirements.
“Major sporting events are popular amongst our players,” commented Euro Partners Marketing VP Marc Kenigsberg. “That’s why the UEFA Champions League Final and the accompanying football fever makes for a particularly fitting promotion.”
In other football news Titan Bet, Euro Partners online sportsbook, has already begun the build-up to the 2010 World Cup with the site’s $100 Million Mania promotion. The $100 Million Mania is an incredible competition featuring a potential $100 million prize awarded to any contestant who guesses the outcome of all 64 World Cup matches correctly, with a guaranteed $1 million payout to the individual with the highest number of correct predictions, in the event that there is no top winner. Other valuable prizes will also be paid out to winners along the way.
To register and make their predictions, bettors can access the $100 Million Mania website from Titan Bet, or directly at http://millionmania.titanbet.com and vie for “the biggest prize in sport this summer”.
Google Mail now Gmail again in the UK
May 4th
As of the 19th of October 2005 all new users signing up for a GMail/Google Mail in the UK have been given an @googlemail.com address instead of a @gmail.com email address. This was due to a dispute regarding the Gmail trademark in the UK, as another company “Independent International Investment Research (IIIR)” had claimed rights to the Gmail name. Google did try to resolve this dispute through negotiations, but their efforts failed.
So since this time their Google Mail help for the UK has displayed the following message “We are still working with the courts and trademark office to protect our ability to use the Gmail name, but in the meantime, we want you to have an email address you can rely on. We are dedicated to offering the best email service to our users. Our email service stays the same no matter what the logo is or what follows the @ symbol. This change lets our team focus their time on continuing to bring you excellent service.”
However thats all changing, the following message has now been posted on The Official GMail Blog:
As a Brit, my friends and family often tell me they’re miffed that they get an @googlemail.com address instead of @gmail.com. Today I have good news for them: Google Mail is soon becoming Gmail again in the UK.
If you already have a Google email account in the UK, you’ll soon have the option to switch your existing @googlemail.com address to the matching @gmail.com one, but you’re also free to stick with @googlemail.com. And starting later this week, anybody who signs up for a new account in the UK will get an @gmail.com address. Since “gmail” is 50% fewer characters than “googlemail,” we estimate this name change will save approximately 60 million keystrokes a day. At about 217 microjoules per keystroke, that’s about the energy of 20 bonbons saved every day!
We’ll be making this transition over the next week, and will update this post as the changes roll out. So to Aunty Pamela, Uncle Maurice, and everyone else in the UK, welcome to Gmail!
Airspace Rebooted after Icelandic Volcanic Ash
May 2nd
A visualisation of the northern European airspace returning to use after being closed due to volcanic ash from the Volcano Eruption in Iceland. Due to varying ash density across Europe, the first flights can be seen in some areas on the 18th and by the 20th everywhere is open.
The flight data is courtesy of flightradar24.com and covers a large fraction of Europe. There are a few gaps (most noticeably France) and no coverage over the Atlantic, but the picture is still clear.
The map data is CC-by-SA openstreetmap.org and contributors.
This CC-by-SA visualisation was produced by itoworld.com with support from ideasintransit.org
Airspace Rebooted from ItoWorld on Vimeo.
BETT 2010 Photos
May 2nd
Finally uploaded the BETT 2010 Photos plus some extras of the London aquarium and a random one of a Woolworths store still open on the 16th of January 2010.
