August 2011 Archives

Sad news from London, where BT is in the process of taking down the 31 dish-shaped aerials from the BT Tower, before they become unsafe and a hazard to people on the ground.

The telco received approval from its local council back in March, and has already removed half of the aerials.

According to BT, the work has to be done as a precautionary measure, although the Evening Standard claims that many of the bolts and brackets holding the dishes up are at imminent risk of failing, and BT had already discontinued maintenance because of a lack of spare parts.

Of course, the march of progress has now rendered the dishes largely obsolete, and they have long since been overtaken by faster technology.

Happily this doesn't mean the end for the iconic landmark; besides a useful venue for BT corporate jollies and a platform for Comic Relief and Children in Need fundraising, BT still uses the tower to manage and control global TV transmissions around the clock.

And as a Grade II listed structure there is no question of demolishing it.

But for some MicroScope readers the removal of the dishes may have extra poignancy, having literally followed the aerials from cradle to grave. As a small child I remember watching an edition of Blue Peter in the mid-1980s where daredevil presenter Peter Duncan dangled from a crane, hoisting the brand new aerials into position.

Web performance firm Site Confidence has shared some insight into the impact of this week's HP TouchPad fire sale on the UK e-tail community, revealing that hordes of consumers seeking out the bargain bucket £89 gadget had the same impact as a Lulzsec style malicious distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack.

"The huge amount of traffic being generated by consumers rushing to buy the heavily discounted technology is leading to very slow speeds onr etailetrs' websites and in some cases sites have been inaccessible," said Site Confidence's Bob Dowson.

"We've seen download speeds fall by as much as 200% for websites being reported to have stock on Twitter. Dabs experienced download speeds fall from an August average of 6.8 seconds to 17.5 seconds. Meanwhile, access to Micso's site was limited several times for several minutes," said Dowson.

Site Confidence claimed that the somewhat mystifying stampede for what is now, effectively, a glorified tea tray, generated more traffic than the now traditional Christmas iThing rush.

Warned Dowson: "Retail website functionality issues affect a company's revenue and reputation and send its customers into the open arms of competitors."

He added: "With retailers being impacted by such traffic spikes many may now decide that the small margins available on the HP TouchPad may not be worth the risk."

Has Michael Dell seriously ruled Apple out of the running? Clearly nobody has told Apple, but if comments made by the eponymous Dell boss on the firm's second quarter conference call are to be taken at face value, then its time for Steve Jobs to get the hell out of Dodge.

Dell was responding to a question asked over Google's acquisition of Motorola earlier this week, which has had the mobility industry in uproar as it rapidly became quite clear that Google may have pulled a fast one in the patent acquisition stakes.

"They [Google] haven't said a whole lot about it, but I think patents play a big role here," expounded Dell. "Having Android with a stronger ability to exhaust patent claims against it pobably sets up an interesting competitive dynamic."

He went on: "We're still quite interested in Android. I'll also tell you that our early work on Windows 8 on the tablet side looks to be pretty encouraging, and so we think it's shaping up to be a competitive environment.

"I don't think beyond those two that there are viable alternatives that make sense," said Dell. "There's a lot of other noise out there in the market that I don't think will amount to much."

Should Cupertino be worried? Hmm. Probably not.

Aside from the current Apple versus Samsung rumble, Dell recently scrapped its Android-based Streak device in the US, although it continues to sell in Britain, and HP's TouchPad is looking increasingly like a very damp squib indeed, with Best Buy employees understood to be drowning in drifts of unsold stock.

One thing is for certain; consumers only have eyes for Apple, and in this environment, Michael Dell's statement looks either very very brave, or frankly misinformed.

Web hosting specialist Easyspace has today reported that the release of .XXX domains for pre-ordering has sparked a rush of interest from firms eager to protect their brands.

The .XXX domain name extension was intended for use by the adult industry as an easily identifiable home for pornographic material that would make it easier to police and prevent access ... or make it easier for people to find it, depending on your point of view.

However, Easyspace claims that of the hundreds of businesses that have pre-registered for the opening of the initial registration phase on 7 September this year, only 20% of them have any connection with the adult industry.

"Early indications are that non-adult industry businesses have realised the need to protect trademarks and brands in .XXX," said Easyspace MD Sarah Haran.

"As an officially accredited registrar of the new domain we are encouraging businesses to pre-register with us so we can submit their claims to ICM Registry quickly and efficiently," she said.

The first phase of domain registration, known in the trade as 'Sunrise' will last until 28 October and is intended for dedicated members of the adult industry with verifiable trademarks or matching .com domains to bag the name they want.

At the same time non-adult industry businesses, trademark and IP holders who want to block cybersquatters from taking control of, for example, Microsoft.xxx, can also stake their claims.

The implications for channel businesses are clear; it's time to start thinking about moving to protect your brand name.

The appointment of former government CIO John Suffolk to manage the cyber security strategy at Chinese comms and networking vendor Huawei is to be applauded as another step in the right direction for the company.

Huawei can't do much without coming under sustained attack for its links to the Chinese government, but Network Noise has previously argued that it is time to give the company the benefit of the doubt.

The firm has poured considerable effort into its western charm offensive, part of which includes a massive recruitment drive in the UK.

It is also pursuing a policy of greater openness with the global media; earlier this year it took the step of publically identifying its board of directors, and although this revealed Huawei is very much a family firm, it's certainly a step in the right direction.

Huawei has also been cosying up to the channel, signing up 20:20 Mobile as a European distributor back in June.

John Suffolk spent years at the heart of the British government and in his role as CIO cyber security formed a big part of his remit. His is a powerful and influential voice in the industry, and if he is prepared to speak for Huawei then it should be reassurance to all of us that the firm is on the right path.