Nominet ditches direct.uk plans

Nominet is the registry for the .uk country domain. They had wanted to offer domains directly under .uk rather than the existing .co.uk, .org.uk subdomains.

As well as proposing some sensible policies (like only supporting DNSSEC the secure version of the domain name protocols) others didn't go down so well, so Nominet is re-thinking the their policies and will offer ;-

• A revised phased release mechanism based lrgely on the prior registrations of domains in existing third levels within .uk and in which contention between different applicants for the same domain name should be reduced or eliminated.
• Measures to improve security across the whole of the .uk namespace. This would include increased focus on encouraging the adoption of DNSSEC.
• A firm focus on registrant verification and some form of UK presence.
• Further investigations into the impact on the SME sector.
• An appropriate pricing model.

Which will be reviewed at the June board meeting.

If the new direct.uk system is implemented, Nominet have still committed to supporting the existing .co.uk space.

Digia announces enhanced BB10 support for Qt

Digia, the company that acquired Qt from Nokia has announced enhanced support the Blackberry's new Blackberry 10 operating system.

Qt is a framework that works across many platforms (both desktop and mobile) and allows developers to use the same front-end code which will work across all the supported platforms and Qt is used in Blackberry's Cascade framework which is used to develop native Blackberry applications.

Digia maintains the commercial version of Qt and also the open source version that is available from the Qt Project which is where any Blackberry enhancements are upstreamed to.

Ofcom consults on Short Range Devices

Ofcom has decided that short range devices (SRDs) should move from the band 10.675 to 10.699 GHz to 10.575 to 10.6 GHz in line the frequency allocation policy.

This new band will be made license exempt, but that requires a change to the Wireless Telegraphy Act which Ofcom is progressing.

The band was extended after the 2nd consultation (the 10.5GHz band consultation) as respondents complained there was not enough bandwidth in the proposed 10.577 to 10.597 GHz band and Ofcom has now extended this band.

No new SRDs will be allowed to operate in the existing band.

Ofcom will issue a consultation on the proposed regulations shortly.

The full statement can be found here as a PDF.

Euro Tech News goes live on Blackberry World

This blog can now be read in an app on Blackberry devices (on OS7 or BB10), it works both on smartphones and the Playbook and it's available on Blackberry World.

Developing an app for Blackberrys is notably hard, but Blackberry have come to the rescue with Blackberry App Generator (actually developed by Mippin) which does all the hard work for you. No code required, but there is a bit of work getting logos and icons in the right size. In the app generator just specify the feeds (it works with ATOM and RSS) and the app is built for you.

There are a few hoops to go through, initially a Blackberry Vendor ID is required (free sign-up, but company documents are needed as proof) from Blackberry Vendor Portal and that takes a while. Once the app is built, it needs to be approved, which can take a few weeks. Once approval is gained, the app must be published through the vendor portal and it's put into the app stores which can take up to 24h.

Though it's a nice feature and easily allows a website with news feeds to easily convert them into an app, could it be that Blackberry is just using this to swell the number of apps in Blackberry World?

It's really a 'no brainer' for anyone with a website that has regular updates presented as a feed and wants their own app.