Ofcom, the super regulator that looks after broadcast, radio and telecoms has issued a statement about protecting number ranges and intends to charge for their use.
The initial exchanges affected are area code Bournemouth (01202) which is likely to need new supplies during 2012, followed by Aberdeen (01224), Bradford (01274), Brighton (01273), Cambridge (01223) and Milton Keynes (01908) by 2016.
The first stage will force local users to dial the full local number (including the geographic code) which will allow Ofcom to allocate number beginning with 0 and 1.
Ofcom is also proposing to charge 10p per allocated number for new allocation and for EXISTING allocations in those exchanges where numbers are running out.
This may not sound like a bad thing, but it's going to cause huge problems for communicatoins providers (CP) with customers using telephone numbers in these ranges, especially if they're a smaller provider (mainly affects VoIP providers).
Currently Ofcom allocates numbers in blocks of 10,000 normally or 1,000 in exchanges where numbers of running out. This is due to the way telephone calls are routed between telephone exchanges and is based on BT's inability to handle blocks less than 1,000 numbers (due to legacy telephony constraints). BT actually manually loads all number blocks into their exchanges so each time a CP gets allocated a block - they inform all the other CPs of the blocks and they put the information into their systems (telephony switches/exchanges). Though it affects all CPs, BT is still the main telephony network in the UK and by default they'll transit the calls through their network.
The big telephony providers won't really be affected by this as they have millions of customers, so the additional payments for handling blocks of 1,000 numbers is minimal, however the costs for a smaller VoIP provider can be significant.
As the charging applies to existing numbers allocated (to encourage providers to hand back unused numbers) smaller providers will be forced to pay (even if they've just reserved numbers just so they can offer local numbers all over the UK).
The problem is that say a CP has a couple of customers in one of the exchanges where numbers allocations are restricted, they will have taken a block of at least 1,000 numbers. They either have to give the whole block back and the customer loses their telephone number, or the CP keeps the whole block. It's also impossible to port the number as then there will be a whole in the block and again it can't be given back (unless it's ported to another provider who will take the whole black - which is only going to be possible to the larger CPs where the costs won't be significant).
So this new policy hurts all the smaller providers - who'll just have to discontinue offering numbers in protected blocks (and get existing customers to give-up their local numbers) while supporting the large incumbents.
There is a solution to this, Ofcom could maintain a central on-line database of numbers and what CP they belong to (and there's even an existing telephony protocol that supports this called ENUM). Then any CP wanting to route calls to a particular number would first consult the database and then route the call the relevant provider.
This would allow Ofcom to allocate SINGLE numbers rather than blocks and CPs would only need to pay for numbers they actually use, it would also mean they could return any numbers not in use. This would then allow the smaller CPs to maintain numbers even in the protected exchanges and they could return huge amounts of unused numbers in other exchanges too.
Many of the VoIP providers support ENUM now and it would be trivial for them to support a CP interconnect version of ENUm too. Unfortunately companies like BT and other incumbents don't and they control the market.
If Ofcom does implement this policy many smaller CPs will be financially constrained which might make their VoIP services uneconomical, so they'll have to stop offering VoIP which will just play into the incumbents and make them even more powerful and resistant to change.
Ofcom needs to support a central database of number allocation utilising ENUM and force CPs to use this for inter CP call routing and then allocate single numbers. This will encourage competition and ensure there is market choice for consumers in terms of CP choice and of course remove the current issues of numbers running out.
2011/09/05
Ofcom offering a new digital channel
Ofcom is making available a 5th HD channel on the HD Digital Terrestrial TV multiplex. The existing 4 HD channels are BBC HD, BBC One HD, ITV1 HD and Channel4 HD (4HD).
The HD multiplex uses MPEG-4 (compared to normal standard definition TV which is based on MPEG-2) and uses the DVB-T2 transmission standard (normal SD transmissions use DVB-T).
Applications cost £15,000 payable to Ofcom (which is non-refundable whether the license is granted or not).
There are also license conditions so only the following may apply for a license" -
- the holder of a licence to provide a Channel 3 service.
Channel Four Corporation.
the holder of a licence to provide Channel 5.
the Welsh Authority.
the public teletext provider.
2011/09/02
Ofcom offers new spectrum for Transportable Earth Stations
Ofcom has opened up new spectrum in the C and Ka bands for use by Transportable Earth Stations (TES) i.e. portable satellite communications devices.
The spectrum has been made available immediately and users can apply for licenses on-line.
These licenses come with fees which Ofcom have also published.
This will allow satellite comms equipment to offer greater connection speeds by making use of the increased spectrum.
The spectrum has been made available immediately and users can apply for licenses on-line.
These licenses come with fees which Ofcom have also published.
This will allow satellite comms equipment to offer greater connection speeds by making use of the increased spectrum.
Ofcom opens Whitespace spectrum
Ofcom the super regulator that deals with regulation of broadcast media, radio and telecoms has made a statement about opening-up 'white space spectrum' and allow for devices to be deployed in a license exempt manner (in the UK there is no such thing as unlicensed spectrum and all transmission or reception equipment is covered by either a specific license or a 'blanket' license published by Ofcom and as long as the user/equipment abides by the conditions of the blanket license they don't need a specific license - bands like 2.4GHz which covers WiFi and Bluetooth devices are license exempt).
The equipment will have to connect to a central database (that Ofcom may actually subcontract to 3rd parties) which will note their geolocation and provide information about which frequencies are in use in that area. Ofcom may mandate a 'switch-off' mode such that if interference is detected in the area, white space devices may be forced to stop transmission.
This will be particularly suitable for rural areas as the 'white space' spectrum can be used to support wireless broadband and other services. This is significant as Ofcom are proposing that the TV bands can be used (as digital multiplexs use interleaved frequencies such that neighbouring transmitter sites don't interfere with each other) and TV bands have good propagation characteristics. Ofcom is also considering the UHF bands, though these may be more problematic longer term.
Ofcom also is considering use for WiFi like services (for localised high speed connectivity) and machine-to-machine communications which could cover things like meter reading.
Though Ofcom will have to consider European harmonisation so it make a while to implement (Ofcom is hoping for systems to be in operation by 2013), this is a bold step by Ofcom in making use of 'wasted' spectrum and being very proactive.
Ofcom will have to introduce an SI (Statutory Instrument) which is passed by Parliament to amend the WTA (Wireless Telegraphy Act) to make the spectrum license exempt.
The equipment will have to connect to a central database (that Ofcom may actually subcontract to 3rd parties) which will note their geolocation and provide information about which frequencies are in use in that area. Ofcom may mandate a 'switch-off' mode such that if interference is detected in the area, white space devices may be forced to stop transmission.
This will be particularly suitable for rural areas as the 'white space' spectrum can be used to support wireless broadband and other services. This is significant as Ofcom are proposing that the TV bands can be used (as digital multiplexs use interleaved frequencies such that neighbouring transmitter sites don't interfere with each other) and TV bands have good propagation characteristics. Ofcom is also considering the UHF bands, though these may be more problematic longer term.
Ofcom also is considering use for WiFi like services (for localised high speed connectivity) and machine-to-machine communications which could cover things like meter reading.
Though Ofcom will have to consider European harmonisation so it make a while to implement (Ofcom is hoping for systems to be in operation by 2013), this is a bold step by Ofcom in making use of 'wasted' spectrum and being very proactive.
Ofcom will have to introduce an SI (Statutory Instrument) which is passed by Parliament to amend the WTA (Wireless Telegraphy Act) to make the spectrum license exempt.
2011/08/31
Ofcom issues a notification to HomeServe
Ofcom the super regulator has issued a notice under section 128 of the Communication Act 2003 to HomeServe (HomeServe Plc) for persistant breaches pertaining to automated dialling equipment making silent calls and redialing within 24 hours when the call was answered by an answered by an answering machine.
Ofcom has the power to fine companies under Section 130 of the Act if they fail to remedy their actions once notified.
Previous companies to receive notifications and or fines for silent calling have been: -
Ofcom has the power to fine companies under Section 130 of the Act if they fail to remedy their actions once notified.
Previous companies to receive notifications and or fines for silent calling have been: -
- RWE npower PLC ("npower")
Ultimate Credit Services Ltd (“UCS”)
Equidebt Ltd (“Equidebt”)
Barclays Bank plc (“Barclaycard”)
Abbey National plc (“Abbey”)
Complete Credit Management Limited (“CCM”)
2011/08/23
Ofcom puts TV companies on notice
The following companies have been put on notice for non payment of broadcast license fees: -
Ofcom makes a large percentage of its revenue from broadcast licenses and failure to pay those fees are considered to be a serious breach of license conditions - which can mean the license can be revoked.
| Licensee | Licence Number | Service Name |
| A&A Inform Limited | TLCS/680 | Russian Hour |
| ARY Digital UK Limited | TLCS/290 | Ary Digital |
| ARY Digital UK Limited | TLCS/924 | QTV - Islamic Education Channel |
| ARY Digital UK Limited | TLCS/925 | ARY News |
| Canis 103 Limited | TLCS/1109 | FOBO Movies |
| General Entertainment & Music Limited | TLCS/1326 | GEM TV |
| Middlesex Broadcasting Corporation | RTSL/034 | Leicester TV Limited |
| Passion Broadcasting Television | TLCS/885 | Passion TV Limited |
| Praise Channel Broadcasting Network | TLCS/692 | Praise Channel Limited |
| Prime Plus Limited | TLCS/793 | PTV Prime Plus |
Ofcom makes a large percentage of its revenue from broadcast licenses and failure to pay those fees are considered to be a serious breach of license conditions - which can mean the license can be revoked.
2011/08/18
Ofcom fines TalkTalk and Tiscali £3m
Ofcom has fined TalkTalk and Tiscali £3m each for mis-billing customers after they had been previously warned to get their systems in order.
Between 1 January and 1 November 2010 the companies billed 62,000 customers for services they did not received. They were then warned to fix their systems by December but billed another 3,000 customer between December and March.
TalkTalk and Tiscali have already paid £2.5m in compensation to customers for refunds and good-will payments.
Ofcom showing biting - or just publicly showing they have some teeth?
Between 1 January and 1 November 2010 the companies billed 62,000 customers for services they did not received. They were then warned to fix their systems by December but billed another 3,000 customer between December and March.
TalkTalk and Tiscali have already paid £2.5m in compensation to customers for refunds and good-will payments.
Ofcom showing biting - or just publicly showing they have some teeth?
2011/08/16
Nuance buys Loquendo
Nuance who are buying up everyone involved in text-to-speech (TTS) and speech-to-text (STT) have just purchased Loquendo from Telecom Italia for $75m.
Many TTS companies have evolved out of telecoms companies as they have had to had speech engines in their telecoms switches to announce to users call issues etc and even services such as the speaking clock - which in some countries are completely automatic. Efficient natural sounding computer generated speech is difficult to achieve and Loquendo have been leaders in this area in Europe (anyone using a TomTom device will be familiar with a Loquendo speech engine).
This adds to Nuance's already large portfolio of TTS products.
Nuance were also famous for purchasing Spinvox (for around £64m) the Marlow based company that converted voicemails into text messages, but were the probe of a BBC journalists investigation after it was alleged that voicemails were sent outside the EU in violation of data protection law for manual conversion by agents. Nuance shut the consumer division of Spinvox down to utilise their carrier connections.
Many TTS companies have evolved out of telecoms companies as they have had to had speech engines in their telecoms switches to announce to users call issues etc and even services such as the speaking clock - which in some countries are completely automatic. Efficient natural sounding computer generated speech is difficult to achieve and Loquendo have been leaders in this area in Europe (anyone using a TomTom device will be familiar with a Loquendo speech engine).
This adds to Nuance's already large portfolio of TTS products.
Nuance were also famous for purchasing Spinvox (for around £64m) the Marlow based company that converted voicemails into text messages, but were the probe of a BBC journalists investigation after it was alleged that voicemails were sent outside the EU in violation of data protection law for manual conversion by agents. Nuance shut the consumer division of Spinvox down to utilise their carrier connections.
Google to buy Motorola Mobility
Google is buying Motorola Mobility their (ex) handset division for $12.5bn in cash, however Mobility also manufactures set-top boxes (and a lot of them) which fits in nicely with Google's TV plans.
The deal should complete in 2012 but there will be a lot of US and EU competition regulations to wade through, so the deal might actually a while to get final approval. Shareholders should be happy as Google paid $40 per share which was a 63% premium (on Friday's closing price).
Google will gain access to a large patent portfolio which may help them against the threat from other IP holders such as Microsoft and Apple, though it's unlikely to do much for the fight against Oracle and their Java legal issues.
Motorola are one of the major Android licensees and Google expect to keep them at arms length in terms of Android development. It's likely that Google will sell all or part of the division in the future - so a cash deal means it's easy to chop off the divisions without their being any legacy tie-ins to Google.
Google's Nexus One was manufactured by HTC, the Nexus S by Samsung, this deal probably means the next Nexus will be a Motorola unit.
The deal should complete in 2012 but there will be a lot of US and EU competition regulations to wade through, so the deal might actually a while to get final approval. Shareholders should be happy as Google paid $40 per share which was a 63% premium (on Friday's closing price).
Google will gain access to a large patent portfolio which may help them against the threat from other IP holders such as Microsoft and Apple, though it's unlikely to do much for the fight against Oracle and their Java legal issues.
Motorola are one of the major Android licensees and Google expect to keep them at arms length in terms of Android development. It's likely that Google will sell all or part of the division in the future - so a cash deal means it's easy to chop off the divisions without their being any legacy tie-ins to Google.
Google's Nexus One was manufactured by HTC, the Nexus S by Samsung, this deal probably means the next Nexus will be a Motorola unit.
2011/08/10
Duedil - find information on companies for free
Finding information about companies has always been complicated, basic information is available at Companies House, but to get anything useful you have to pay.
If you really want detailed info, then someone like Dun and Bradstreet offer very complex information, but it's really geared to accountants and CFOs.
There's now a new service that offers all Companies House information, plus more in an incredibly easy to use format. You need to sign-up, but it's free i.e. due-dilligence for the masses.
The service can be used to look for suppliers, competitors and clients (who you may want to do business with) and displays a wealth of information. What's also useful is that the information is all cross-linked, so say searching on a company and listing the directors, clicking on the director will show all the companies they are (and indeed have been) involved with.
Duedil also shows if there are any CCJs or other outstanding litigation and even ASA complaints as well as financials and a host of other information that is constantly being added.
If you need company info, Duedil should be your first port of call.
If you really want detailed info, then someone like Dun and Bradstreet offer very complex information, but it's really geared to accountants and CFOs.
There's now a new service that offers all Companies House information, plus more in an incredibly easy to use format. You need to sign-up, but it's free i.e. due-dilligence for the masses.
The service can be used to look for suppliers, competitors and clients (who you may want to do business with) and displays a wealth of information. What's also useful is that the information is all cross-linked, so say searching on a company and listing the directors, clicking on the director will show all the companies they are (and indeed have been) involved with.
Duedil also shows if there are any CCJs or other outstanding litigation and even ASA complaints as well as financials and a host of other information that is constantly being added.
If you need company info, Duedil should be your first port of call.
2011/08/04
Moshi Monsters invade New York
Though there are over 15m US Moshi Monster users, so far they've only been able to play on-line.
On 5th August 2011 that will change as Moshi Monsters launch their range toys including the 6 plush Moshi Monsters and 32 Moshling mini figures at Toys"R"Us in Times Square from noon through 3pm.
There will a range of 'special' appearances and activities including: -
The first 250 attendees will also receive a special copy of Moshi Monsters Magazine
On 5th August 2011 that will change as Moshi Monsters launch their range toys including the 6 plush Moshi Monsters and 32 Moshling mini figures at Toys"R"Us in Times Square from noon through 3pm.
There will a range of 'special' appearances and activities including: -
- Moshi Monsters characters, Poppet and Katsuma, appearing live in the fur!
- Moshi Monsters themed face painting.
- Autographs by Mr. Moshi himself (Michael Acton Smith, founder of Mind Candy and creator of Moshi Monsters).
- While supplies last, attendees will receive a complimentary Moshi Code giveaway, created exclusively for the event, of a super sparkly Liberty trophy, used to decorate a user's virtual room on MoshiMonsters.com.
The first 250 attendees will also receive a special copy of Moshi Monsters Magazine
2011/08/03
Ofcom publishes report on DEA site blocking compliance
Ofcom the super regulator that looks after radio, broadcasting, media and telecoms has published a report (PDF) about blocking access to sites that publish illegal (copyright infringing) material in-line with section 17 and 18 of the Digital Economy Act DEA).
The report is quite long and complex and goes into detail on the different ways that sites can be blocked i.e. IP address, DNS manipulation, uniform resource locator (URL) manipulation, simple packet inspection (SPI) and deep packet inspection (SPI). There are also potential hybrids of various of the above methods with varying degrees of cost and effectivenes.
There is an existing system for blocking access to illegal material (such as child pornography) with a list maintained by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), though it can be effective for specific URLs, it can break (such as the incident when and entry on Wikipedia was blocked and most of the traffic from the UK to Wikipedia came from 6 proxies run by the dominant ISPs).
Amusingly where references to getting round several of the schemes are mentioned in the report, they have been redacted.
The report does indicate that existing methods of reporting copyright abuse (under section 97A of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988) are not going to be speeded-up by injunctions under section 17 or 18 of the DEA.
The report points out methods of encouraging site owners to co-operate in that if a blocking notice was put on the site, all of their site would be blocked, which might encourage the site to remove the offending content. There is also mention of co-operation of virtual private network (VPN) providers as pretty well all blocking can be undermined by utilising a VPN tunnel.
Ofcom are also keen to ensure the injunctions are not unduely punitive and there is accountability.
The report is quite long and complex and goes into detail on the different ways that sites can be blocked i.e. IP address, DNS manipulation, uniform resource locator (URL) manipulation, simple packet inspection (SPI) and deep packet inspection (SPI). There are also potential hybrids of various of the above methods with varying degrees of cost and effectivenes.
There is an existing system for blocking access to illegal material (such as child pornography) with a list maintained by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), though it can be effective for specific URLs, it can break (such as the incident when and entry on Wikipedia was blocked and most of the traffic from the UK to Wikipedia came from 6 proxies run by the dominant ISPs).
Amusingly where references to getting round several of the schemes are mentioned in the report, they have been redacted.
The report does indicate that existing methods of reporting copyright abuse (under section 97A of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988) are not going to be speeded-up by injunctions under section 17 or 18 of the DEA.
The report points out methods of encouraging site owners to co-operate in that if a blocking notice was put on the site, all of their site would be blocked, which might encourage the site to remove the offending content. There is also mention of co-operation of virtual private network (VPN) providers as pretty well all blocking can be undermined by utilising a VPN tunnel.
Ofcom are also keen to ensure the injunctions are not unduely punitive and there is accountability.
2011/08/01
VoIP can be a dangerous game
Many businesses are starting to deploy or already have deployed IP PBX's (private branch exchanges) which are the guts of VoIP that route calls to local telephones or allow employees to make external calls.
Companies will either run the IP PBX themselves or even deploy remotely in a data centre (generally for a multisite company) or run a hosted system from a VoIP company.
Unfortunately if these systems aren't deployed carefully it can be easy for 'hackers' to connect to them and make out-going phone calls which can rapidly generate huge bills (they tend to target international premium rate numbers that they control, or just are used to route calls for 3rd parties).
Asterisk is a very commonly used open source IP PBX and in the past, the default SIP configuration allowed open access (this has been closed in newer releases). Many IP PBX's will also have open VoIP/SIP access (i.e. unauthenticated remote access - which allows remote users to dial internal extensions, however without having a sensible dial-plan these users can do outward dialling too).
In some cases the VoIP configurations will only allow secure connections, but the web configuration will have default credentials, so a remote attacker can just go in and create a new VoIP user which they then use to outward dial.
A company suffered such an attack over the weekend and was faced with a bill for £12,000+ worth of phone calls.
Though the company was to blame for not securing the web interface, the telephony provider (which could be a normal PSTN provider i.e. someone who provides traditional fixed line services or a VoIP provider) should have provision to check for unusual traffic patterns. So if normally calls are just made to the UK, they should block calls if there's suddenly a large volume to international numbers.
Any company getting a new phone system should check their provider offers such checks or they could be faced with large bills that they'll be liable for.
Companies will either run the IP PBX themselves or even deploy remotely in a data centre (generally for a multisite company) or run a hosted system from a VoIP company.
Unfortunately if these systems aren't deployed carefully it can be easy for 'hackers' to connect to them and make out-going phone calls which can rapidly generate huge bills (they tend to target international premium rate numbers that they control, or just are used to route calls for 3rd parties).
Asterisk is a very commonly used open source IP PBX and in the past, the default SIP configuration allowed open access (this has been closed in newer releases). Many IP PBX's will also have open VoIP/SIP access (i.e. unauthenticated remote access - which allows remote users to dial internal extensions, however without having a sensible dial-plan these users can do outward dialling too).
In some cases the VoIP configurations will only allow secure connections, but the web configuration will have default credentials, so a remote attacker can just go in and create a new VoIP user which they then use to outward dial.
A company suffered such an attack over the weekend and was faced with a bill for £12,000+ worth of phone calls.
Though the company was to blame for not securing the web interface, the telephony provider (which could be a normal PSTN provider i.e. someone who provides traditional fixed line services or a VoIP provider) should have provision to check for unusual traffic patterns. So if normally calls are just made to the UK, they should block calls if there's suddenly a large volume to international numbers.
Any company getting a new phone system should check their provider offers such checks or they could be faced with large bills that they'll be liable for.
Worksnug goes live on Ovi
Last week (28/07/11) Worksnug announced their new iPhone app which includes all of HP's ePrint locations. The app offers an augmented reality display showing locations of workspaces and now also free HP ePrint solutions. The locations can also be viewed using a traditional map view. The app also providers addition tools for the mobile worker such as an integrated decibel meter in the mobile app, allowing users to assess and share noise levels inside working locations, and a unique ‘VoIP Checker’ tool, which assesses the ability of public WiFi networks to support VoIP calls.
Today (01/08/11) Worksnug have announced the availability of their Symbian app which has gone live in the Ovi store.
Worksnug also have a Blackberry client.
Worksnug was founded by Richard Leyland in 2009 to solve the problem of where to work when on the move and has now a growing database of public and public workspaces. The company has relationships with Plantronics, Cisco, Skype and HP.
Today (01/08/11) Worksnug have announced the availability of their Symbian app which has gone live in the Ovi store.
Worksnug also have a Blackberry client.
Worksnug was founded by Richard Leyland in 2009 to solve the problem of where to work when on the move and has now a growing database of public and public workspaces. The company has relationships with Plantronics, Cisco, Skype and HP.
New PhonePayPlus regulations affect all PRS providers
Ofcom has issued a statement concerning premium rate phone services (PRS) which come into force on the 1st of September 2011.
PhonePayPlus (PPP) is the industry regulator for PRS (and Ofcom have empowered PPP to handle all PRS regulatory issues). PPP will issue a new Code of Practice (12th edition) on the same date (12/10/11) and this will affect all PRS providers (not just the current subset).
The new code will tighten up issues left in the previous code and PPP is there to protect consumers (Ofcom have to power to ban companies and individuals from operating PRS if they misuse them).
PhonePayPlus (PPP) is the industry regulator for PRS (and Ofcom have empowered PPP to handle all PRS regulatory issues). PPP will issue a new Code of Practice (12th edition) on the same date (12/10/11) and this will affect all PRS providers (not just the current subset).
The new code will tighten up issues left in the previous code and PPP is there to protect consumers (Ofcom have to power to ban companies and individuals from operating PRS if they misuse them).
2011/07/31
Springboard gives birth to 10 promising companies
Friday 29th July was investor day for Springboard, the mentoring and accelerator program based out of Cambridge, where the 10 companies that had gone through the system did their final pitches to a packed audience made up of investors (in Springboard itself), mentors (including myself) and lots of VCs.
Springboard is loosely based on the TechStars program out of the US and was initiated by Red Gate Software in 2009 (this being the second incarnation). This year it was supported by Red Gate, angels and NESTA and took place in the Hauser Forum.
Compared to The Difference Engine (a similar program which took place in Sunderland last year) the teams and pitches were definitely more polished and all came out vastly improved (and some radically different) from when they started the program.
The teams were (in order of appearance)
Adwings - Lithuania - a ad publishing platform that allows tracking of campaigns to various destination media including print, digital and mobile.
Apiary.io - Prague, Czech Republic - A 'techy' service allowing companies to quickly build and deploy web APIs (application programming interfaces) while testing and monitoring and documenting them.
Arachnys - Cambridge, UK - a services for providing due-diligence on companies in emerging markets by consolidating all available information.
Hubflow - Bournemouth, UK - a service that converts existing training material into a mobile format (with tracking metrics to see how well the user is performing). This allows companies to offer training materials to their employees on their mobile device to be completed in dead time (such as when commuting) or at their own convenience.
Mayday - London, UK - a web based service that plugs into a company's .Net process to alert the company to errors in the process, hopefully before customers start complaining.
MiniMonos - Wellington, NZ - a virtual world for children (male) between 8 and 12. A Freemoim service with subscriptions and virtual goods. The site has been around for 2 years, but the new site launched last month and now has around 300,000 users. Membership packs will be available from Sainsbury's in Oct (next to Moshi Monsters etc).
Playmob - London, UK - a platform allowing games developers to easily integrate charitable payments into games (i.e. for virtual goods) and for Charities to easily sign-up to the service which should fully launch in October 2011.
Publification - Tartu, Estonia - a web based HTML5 authoring system and browser based eReader that works across multiple platforms (i.e. desktop and mobile). Once books have been downloaded they can be read off-line. The platform can be white-labelled for publishers and authors can also self-publish.
Tastebuds - London, UK - dating site based on music likes where matches are made based on music preferences. Users can just add artists they like or the service will import from Last.fm and/or Facebook.
Total Gigs, Newcastle, UK - a web service allowing disparate users to share content from events they have attending (making them into groups). After the event has taken place users can relive the event from the group content.
The program was driven by John Bradford with day to day organisation help from Jessica Williamson.
John's next accelerator program is Ignite100 and if the quality improves every time he runs one, it should produce some amazing companies.
Springboard is loosely based on the TechStars program out of the US and was initiated by Red Gate Software in 2009 (this being the second incarnation). This year it was supported by Red Gate, angels and NESTA and took place in the Hauser Forum.
Compared to The Difference Engine (a similar program which took place in Sunderland last year) the teams and pitches were definitely more polished and all came out vastly improved (and some radically different) from when they started the program.
The teams were (in order of appearance)
Adwings - Lithuania - a ad publishing platform that allows tracking of campaigns to various destination media including print, digital and mobile.
Apiary.io - Prague, Czech Republic - A 'techy' service allowing companies to quickly build and deploy web APIs (application programming interfaces) while testing and monitoring and documenting them.
Arachnys - Cambridge, UK - a services for providing due-diligence on companies in emerging markets by consolidating all available information.
Hubflow - Bournemouth, UK - a service that converts existing training material into a mobile format (with tracking metrics to see how well the user is performing). This allows companies to offer training materials to their employees on their mobile device to be completed in dead time (such as when commuting) or at their own convenience.
Mayday - London, UK - a web based service that plugs into a company's .Net process to alert the company to errors in the process, hopefully before customers start complaining.
MiniMonos - Wellington, NZ - a virtual world for children (male) between 8 and 12. A Freemoim service with subscriptions and virtual goods. The site has been around for 2 years, but the new site launched last month and now has around 300,000 users. Membership packs will be available from Sainsbury's in Oct (next to Moshi Monsters etc).
Playmob - London, UK - a platform allowing games developers to easily integrate charitable payments into games (i.e. for virtual goods) and for Charities to easily sign-up to the service which should fully launch in October 2011.
Publification - Tartu, Estonia - a web based HTML5 authoring system and browser based eReader that works across multiple platforms (i.e. desktop and mobile). Once books have been downloaded they can be read off-line. The platform can be white-labelled for publishers and authors can also self-publish.
Tastebuds - London, UK - dating site based on music likes where matches are made based on music preferences. Users can just add artists they like or the service will import from Last.fm and/or Facebook.
Total Gigs, Newcastle, UK - a web service allowing disparate users to share content from events they have attending (making them into groups). After the event has taken place users can relive the event from the group content.
The program was driven by John Bradford with day to day organisation help from Jessica Williamson.
John's next accelerator program is Ignite100 and if the quality improves every time he runs one, it should produce some amazing companies.
2011/07/28
RIM releases BBM v6
RIM have released Blackberry Messenger version 6, which allows application integration so say a BBM connected game will allow the user to invite a BBM friend to play.
The first wave of BBM connected applications will go live on Blackberry World today.
There are around 45m monthly active users of BBM and RIM hope to increase this by adding functionality to BBM such as location services and VoIP.
If Apple and Google can offer a competing messaging system that really competes with BBM, then it really may be the end of RIM.
The first wave of BBM connected applications will go live on Blackberry World today.
There are around 45m monthly active users of BBM and RIM hope to increase this by adding functionality to BBM such as location services and VoIP.
If Apple and Google can offer a competing messaging system that really competes with BBM, then it really may be the end of RIM.
Skype for Windows offers deeper Facebook integration
Skype have released version 5.5 for Windows which now allows checking the availability of Facebook friends without leaving the Skype client.
There are also improvements to the group chat functionality and the video quality.
Though Skype currently dominate this space, Vonage are releasing mobile clients that will allow VoIP calls, there is already a Vonage client for iPhone which integrates with Facebook chat (but doesn't allow access to other Vonage users).
There are also improvements to the group chat functionality and the video quality.
Though Skype currently dominate this space, Vonage are releasing mobile clients that will allow VoIP calls, there is already a Vonage client for iPhone which integrates with Facebook chat (but doesn't allow access to other Vonage users).
2011/07/27
Mozilla plans mobile OS
Mozilla is joining the mobile operating systems bandwaggon and plans to launch Boot to Gecko (B2G) an open operating system designed to run web applications in the cloud.
Google has already gone part of the way with ChromeOS which so far has only been deployed on Netbooks (while Android boasts native apps). HP's WebOS is also out there, on both phones and tablets.
Intel are also trying with MeeGo - though the loss of Nokia (who have migrated to Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 or WP7) might have slowed things down.
The B2G will support Firefox (Mozilla's open source browser), they're are not tying the OS to it and will support 3rd party browsers if they wish to support B2G.
Another mobile OS may just confuse the market more, though the Mozilla product is likely to be completely open source (as far as any OS can be that supports closed parts such as the GSM/2G/3G stacks).
Google has already gone part of the way with ChromeOS which so far has only been deployed on Netbooks (while Android boasts native apps). HP's WebOS is also out there, on both phones and tablets.
Intel are also trying with MeeGo - though the loss of Nokia (who have migrated to Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 or WP7) might have slowed things down.
The B2G will support Firefox (Mozilla's open source browser), they're are not tying the OS to it and will support 3rd party browsers if they wish to support B2G.
Another mobile OS may just confuse the market more, though the Mozilla product is likely to be completely open source (as far as any OS can be that supports closed parts such as the GSM/2G/3G stacks).
2011/07/25
RIP Steve Lacey
This weekend turned out to be a weekend of carnage, a right wing fanatic killed lots of people in Norway and Amy Whitehouse died. However the most depressing thing turned out to be the death of a good friend Steve Lacey, who was killed instantly when a road-rage driver lost control of his car which went over a central reservation barrier and ploughed into Steve's car.
Steve was a a lovely guy and made a lasting impression on everyone he met, definitely a geek but a nice guy too.
He leaves behind his wife and 2 young children, he will be sorely missed. Thoughts are with his family.
Steve was a a lovely guy and made a lasting impression on everyone he met, definitely a geek but a nice guy too.
He leaves behind his wife and 2 young children, he will be sorely missed. Thoughts are with his family.
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