Business News Holding

Blog

  • WD Offers Centralised Storage To Small Networks


    WD has unveiled a high-speed network storage system intended as a cost-effective, centralised storage for small office and home networks.

    ShareSpace is a 4-bay storage system with Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) interface that provides up to 4 TB of storage capacity and multiple RAID configurations.

    Its first foray into the small-office network storage market, WD is hoping to introduce a new class of users to centralised storage systems that were once only available in large companies with big IT departments.

    For small businesses, WD ShareSpace network-attached storage systems allow storage to be centralised for easy accessibility.

    But WD is hoping to attract home users as well.

    Popularity of home networks is growing worldwide, with penetration as high as 50 per cent in some countries, according to a recent Parks Associates study.

    WD says that with the ShareSpace system it’s possible to centralise media collections and access them from anywhere in their home.

    The included iTunes server capability allows users to play their music on any Mac or PC using iTunes software.

    Jim Welsh, vice president and general manager of WD’s branded products and consumer electronics groups, said the WD ShareSpace system offered big-time storage without the need for a big-time IT department.

    "With the WD ShareSpace storage system, small offices and home network users can experience the same centralised storage and data protection often found only in big corporate data centres,” he said.

    "The set-up process is a breeze, so you can be up and running in a matter of minutes.”

  • Dark Knight To Be Warner Bros' First BD-Live Release


    The Dark Knight is likely to be the biggest Blu-ray release of the year – if not ever.

    So it’s appropriate that Warner Bros has decided to make the Batman tale its first BD-Live capable release.

    The studio will offer standard and limited edition releases when it hits stores on December 9.

    The standard version will include the 153-minute feature film spread across a BD-50 dual-layer disc with 1080p/VC-1 video (2.40:1) and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround audio.

    Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround dubs and subtitles are also provided in English, French-Quebec and Spanish.

    Extras included on the first disc also include Gotham Uncovered: Creation of a Scene, a version of the film containing behind-the-scenes vignettes with director Christopher Nolan and his team discussing the planning of the film, the use of IMAX photography, the stunts, and more.

    The second disc will feature all-HD extras including featurettes and a collection of six episodes from Gotham Cable entitled Gotham Tonight.

    BD-Live content has not been revealed but Warner said a digital copy will be included in both releases.

  • Comstar Launches Stream-branded HDTV


    Russian telecomms operator Comstar-UTS has fully launched Stream-branded HDTV services in Moscow in the upgraded sections of the MGTS network.

    It has also introduced a package offering broadband internet access at speeds of up to 20Mbps.

    The Comstar-UTS HDTV package offers three channels – MelodyZen, Voom TV and Luxe TV – and costs R200 (USD $8) a month to receive.

    On top of this, it is also offering a new HD VOD service, with movies costing R100 (USD $4) each.

  • HD Drives Freesat Sales to 100K in Five Months


    The UK’s free-to-air satellite service Freesat has racked up 100,000 sales since its launch in May.

    Freesat said high definition coverage of major sporting events over the summer played a key role in encouraging people to buy HD set-top boxes.

    Co-owned by the BBC and ITV, Freesat offers a satellite alternative to the Freeview service on digital terrestrial television.

    It is taking on competitor Sky by offering free TV channels, including some HD ones, once customers pay for a Freesat receiver.

    There are now around 120 TV and radio channels and Freesat said that its early success was greatly boosted by BBC HD and ITV HD offering free HD coverage of Euro 2008, FA football, Wimbledon and the Olympic Games.

    The service expects to have 200 channels available by the end of 2008 – including subscription-free high definition channels from the BBC and ITV- and 230 by early 2009, with around 30 channels added each month.

    Freesat is promising a packed HD Christmas schedule and November will see the launch of Freesat+, the first digital television recorder (DTR), from Humax.

    Earlier this month, ITV director of group development and strategy Carolyn Fairbairn replaced Tim Davie as chairman of the Freesat.

  • Passengers Oppose Mobile Calls During Flights


    Seventy-five per cent of travellers would never use a mobile phone during a flight, according to a survey by Wanderlust Magazine.

    High in-flight charges and the irritation of having fellow passengers make irritatingly “pointless” calls in a confined space were among the main reasons for not allowing mobiles to be used.

    The poll comes as Ryanair announces that passengers will shortly be able to make mobile calls during flights.

    In March, Emirates became the first commercial airline to allow mobile calls during flights. The airline says the average call costs more than USD $3.50 a minute.

    The poll of over 1000 of the magazine’s readers, showed that three-quarters of respondents (76%) said that they would never use a mobile phone in the air.

    Only 2% of those questioned said that they would happily use their phone on a plane regularly and 17% said they might be tempted, but only if they were delayed.

    Dan Linstead, editor of Wanderlust said: “The message from our readers, who are all seasoned travellers, is loud and clear.
    “Planes are one of the last sacred mobile-free havens and they want it to stay that way – let’s hope the airlines start listening.”

  • Smartphones Will Take Over GPS Market


    Cell phones will replace the personal navigation device (PND) as the primary GPS device by 2011, according to the research firm iSuppli.

    The firm predicts that by then, cell phones will account for 36 per cent of the GPS market, compared with 30 per cent for PNDs.

    PNDs today account for half of global navigational units sold.

    The report also forecasts price drops among PNDs that will lead to smaller manufacturers selling out to larger hardware companies over the next couple of years.

    The research comes as LG predicts smartphones will replace digital cameras.

  • LG Bets On Smartphone Cameras Replacing Compacts


    With 8-megapixel phone models already causing a stir LG says there’s no reason why camera phones couldn’t replace point-and-shoot cameras.

    At a briefing last week in London Jeremy Newing, LG’s UK head of marketing, made this point to Pocket-lint.

    While the topic was converging technology, the focus was on LG’s new KC910 mobile phone.

    It has an 8-megapixel camera, a host of image and video editing tools, Dolby sound and DivX compatibility.

    The megapixel race had switched from camera makers to mobile manufacturers, Pocket-lint’s Katie Scott was told.

    The launch of the Samsung i8510 in the UK earlier this month with what was claimed to be Europe’s first 8 megapixel camera phone was seen as an attempt to highlight shortcomings in the iPhone.

    A number of other handset vendors are preparing to launch similar high-end camera phones in time for the Christmas period.
    Sony Ericsson and Nokia are expected to launch big megapixel handsets in the fall.

    The fact Apple’s 3G iPhone only packs a 2 megapixel camera is regarded as one of its key weakness.

    John Barton, LG UK’s sales and marketing director, said he has already seen camera phones offering megapixel counts in the double digits.

    Among the other treats being envisioned by LG were HD video on your handset and speech recognition GPS technology.

  • Nokia Touch-screen Smartphone Expected Today


    An announcement is expected from Nokia today about the launch of a touch-screen device.

    Dubbed the “Tube”, the handset could be unveiled at a media and analyst event in London.

    It would be Nokia’s first touch-screen since Apple launched the iPhone last year.

    IMS Research recently published a report saying the current steady growth in sales of touchscreen-equipped mobile handsets will become even stronger.

    It forecasts that while fewer than 30 million touchscreen phones were sold in 2007, this will surge to over 230 million by 2012.

    Nokia wouldn’t comment on an unannounced product.

    Reports suggest the device will be closely tied to Nokia’s Comes With Music service, which will first be released in the United Kingdom and compete with iTunes and other music services.

    On September 2, Nokia announced that Carphone Warehouse will be the exclusive UK prepaid channel for the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic edition.

  • "Better-Then-Blu-ray" Movies For Select SIM2 Few

    SIM2 has teamed up with the US’s Entertainment Experience, LLC to offer just-released movie blockbusters as part of a home-cinema package.



    hdtv.biz-news.com spoke to the high-performance HD projector specialists to find out why they’ve launched what appears to be yet another HD format when the public is still wavering about Blu-ray.

    SIM2 has announced it is starting a “better-than-blu” home-theater package.

    The Italian firm has teamed up with Entertainment Experience, LLC to provide a hardware-software combination offering just-released movie blockbusters.

    Customers will get sent movies that are stored on a hard drive in a DCI format accepted by Hollywood studios.

    The HDD slots into a bespoke media server – a Digital Entertainment Center – and the movie can then be watched on SIM2’s top-selling C3X 1080 projector.

    It might seem a strange decision to launch what appears to be yet another HD format when the public is still wavering about Blu-ray.

    Especially when a huge contention with it is the high price of Blu-ray discs and players.

    But Alan Roser, managing director of SIM2 UK, said the intention was neither to challenge blu-ray nor appeal to the mass-market.

    “It’s not mainstream and it’s not intended as a replacement for Blu-ray,” he said.

    So who will buy the home-theater package?

    Roser said the high-end home theater delivery system was being aimed at its 3-chip DLC projectors rather than less expensive single-chip products.

    He said home theaters of this type were often set up in a dedicated home cinema with a curved and acoustically transparent screen.

    “We do not believe there is any value in this for budget projectors. This is really a high-end service – it take things up to the next stage.”

    With SIM2’s C3X 1080 projector costing around USD $33,000 and US sales in the “low thousands”, it’s definitely a niche market.

    But as the world’s smallest three-chip DLP projector, the C3X 1080HD projector is capable of imaging at up to 1920x1080p at 45 mbp/s.

    To complete the package, customers need to buy a USD $10,000 media server and then pay USD $40 for each movie.

    Major blockbusters will be available within a “short time” of their release – and before they are out on Blu-ray.

    Digital Entertainment, LLC has said that the solution’s movie content ultimately will encompass more than 4000 major titles from multiple studio and distribution partners.

    Commercial Digital-cinema Technologies In The Home

    Roser said while Blu-ray was “absolutely stunning” for 95 per cent of consumers, those with the means to watch HD on giant wide screens had to have the very best – even if that meant a significant investment.

    “The important thing is to get this wonderful technology within a wonderful platform,” he said.

    Roser said the movies will be encoded in a DCI-like format that gives them a higher bitrate and better depth of colour than Blu-ray Disc.

    The package will be available “soon” in the US and it will be rolled out to other markets once complications with international licence agreement schedules are resolved.

    “It’s all a question of time. It’s all about the licensing and getting studios comfortable with content because they are concerned about piracy,” said Roser. “It’s also about keeping theater owners happy.”

    As few people can afford to install this “better-than-blu” home-theater package, that shouldn’t be too difficult.

  • Company Secrets Sold With Smartphones


    Salary details, financial data, bank account details, sensitive business plans, notes from board meetings and personal medical details are being discovered by buyers of second hand smartphones.

    Nearly a quarter of re-sold smartphones contain sensitive data, according to research carried out by the BT, the University of Glamorgan in Wales and Edith Cowan University in Australia.

    BlackBerry owners were the worst offenders for discarding their handsets with sensitive company and personal information.

    The survey of over 160 used gadgets found that in a number of cases BlackBerries were left unprotected, despite having security features like encryption built in.

    Buyer Got More Than Bargained For

    In one example, a Blackberry was examined that had been used by the sales director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) of a major Japanese corporation.

    It was possible to recover the call history, the address book, the diary and the messages from the device.

    The information that was contained in these provided the business plan of the organisation for the next period, the identification of the main customers and the state of the relationships with them, the relationship of the individual with their support staff and so on.

    Forty-three per cent of the smartphones examined contained information from which individuals, their organisation or specific personal data could be identified, creating a significant threat to both the individual and the organisation.

    The high-end handset are increasingly being adopted and used by organisations to support mobile workforces – yet only 35 per cent of companies have a mobile device security strategy in place.

    Even on less sophisticated devices, 23 per cent of the mobile phones examined still contained sufficient individual information to allow the researchers to identify the phone’s previous owner and employer.

    Businesses Unaware of Data Security

    The research highlights a lack of awareness amongst businesses about the amount of data that can be retrieved from mobile devices.

    The situation is made more complex as most of the devices are provided by a supplier as part of a mobile communications service.

    When they reach the end of their effective life, in most cases somewhere between one and two years, they have little or no residual value and they are not, in most cases, given any consideration with regard to the data that they may still contain.

    For a significant proportion of the devices that were examined, the information had not been effectively removed and as a result, both organisations and individuals were exposed to a range of potential crimes.

    These organisations had also failed to meet their statutory, regulatory and legal obligations.