Weekly Digest
Weekly Digest Issue No. 520
17-06-2010
by Deirdre McArdle
Leaving Cert Maths = positive reaction | AT&T hit by duo of security glitches
Eircom to trial ultra-fast broadband
We reported last week on a boost for the Irish mobile broadband market, and this week there was some positive fixed-line broadband news. Eircom on Wednesday outlined its plans to conduct a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) trial at two locations -- Sandyford in Dublin and Wexford Town. During the trial, which Eircom expects to start in March 2011, 10,000 residential and business users will experience broadband speeds of up to 150Mbps.
One interesting aspect of this trial is that Eircom is opening up access to the technology for its competitors. "This trial will deliver the fastest broadband speeds in Ireland, but it will also allow Eircom and other operators the opportunity to assess customer demand for a range of new products and services," said Paul Donovan, Eircom CEO. "In order for there to be widespread deployment of fibre there must be a consensus across industry around the economics and rollout timeframes. It is our hope that this large scale trial will help provide greater certainty on these vital topics."
Eircom is to invest EUR20 million in the trial. For now, the telco hasn't committed to a national rollout. This test phase will help it gauge interest in the ultra fast speeds. FTTH supports voice, broadband and TV, and other operators will be free to set up their own package offerings for users, according to Eircom.
Communications Minister Eamon Ryan welcomed Eircom's announcement, calling it "one of the most important developments in recent years". In a separate announcement, also on Wednesday, TIF highlighted what it called "the necessity of a state-of-the-art fibre network in Ireland". TIF director Tommy McCabe said: “The telecoms industry is taking positive steps to initiate the roll out of a fibre network for Ireland, but public policy support remains critical... clear guidance on spectrum allocation, reduction in civil costs as well as clarity and consistency in regulation are required for a fibre network that will serve the majority of homes and businesses in Ireland."
Leaving Cert Maths = positive reaction
With the Leaving Certificate now into its second week, the much-discussed maths papers have come and gone. Reaction this year to the standard of both the ordinary- and higher-level papers has been more positive than in previous years. In all, 18 percent of those taking the Leaving Cert sat the honours maths paper. According to a report in the Irish Times, paper 2, traditionally the more challenging of the two papers, was called "delightful" by the majority of students. Teachers interviewed about the paper said it was the easiest paper 2 in the past few years. General consensus on the ordinary level papers was that they were less challenging and more accessible than in previous years.
This year, around 1,800 students in 24 schools around the country sat exams in the new Project Maths syllabus that is currently in a pilot phase. These students spent the last two years learning part of the maths course through new teaching methods under the Project Maths programme. Approximately half of these students took the higher-level Project Maths papers. Reaction was broadly positive to the papers, with the majority of teachers quoted in an Irish Times report saying the papers were a great example of "maths in action". There was however some criticism of the syllabus, with John Brennan, a maths teacher in the Institute of Education and a high-profile critic of the Project Maths syllabus, saying the higher level paper would make Ireland "the laughing stock of the world". Project Maths will be rolled out to all schools from September, and is a critical part of the Government's push to develop the so-called "smart economy" by encouraging more students to take higher-level maths.
RIM readies iPhone and iPad rivals
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) appears to have roused itself from a slumber this week with the news that it is developing new smartphone and tablet devices in a bid to fend off competitors like the mighty Apple. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, which quotes unnamed sources, RIM is testing a touch-screen smartphone. The device will run on the new BlackBerry operating system, BlackBerry OS6, which is due out in July of this year, and will work much like an iPhone, but will also feature a slide-out keyboard. The sources reveal that the new smartphone will also have a universal search bar that lets users search all the phone's data as well as some data online. Industry commentators have suggested the new BlackBerry device could make an appearance as early as September of this year.
The Canadian firm is also reported to be planning the launch of a tablet device that would act as a companion to the new BlackBerry phone, and would connect to mobile networks via the phone, the Wall Street Journal suggests. It's expected that the tablet could hit shelves before the end of this year. It looks like the moves from RIM are making an impact on some of its competitors. Nokia on Wednesday lowered its second-quarter financials, saying now that it expects net sales in its mobile devices and services business to be at the lower end of its previous guidance of EUR6.7 billion to EUR7.2 billion, as it struggles to make an impact on the smartphone market.
Also this week, RIM settled a patent dispute with Motorola, which the US mobile phone maker filed back at the start of this year. The contested patents related to areas including Wi-Fi access, power management and user interface technology. RIM has agreed to make a one-time payment and ongoing royalties to Motorola in exchange for a halt to the litigation. Neither RIM nor Motorola would provide specific financial information on their long-term cross-licensing deal, which covers standards such as 2G, 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi, wireless e-mail and other industry standards. The deal also includes a transfer of various patents.
AT&T hit by iPad, iPhone security glitches
US telco AT&T had quite an embarrassing week, during which not one, but two, security issues came to light involving both its iPad and iPhone customers. Late last week, the firm confirmed that it found a flaw in its website that could be exploited by hackers to obtain a limited amount of information about some purchasers of Apple's iPad device. At that time AT&T refused to comment on claims by a security outfit called Goatse Security, which were published on the Valleywag internet blog, that it had been able to use the flaw to obtain the personal e-mail addresses and unique SIM codes of 114,000 iPad owners.
Following an internal investigation, AT&T said on Tuesday that "computer hackers" were behind the security glitch. It apologised for the security lapse and said it would cooperate with any efforts to investigate or prosecute the breach. AT&T sent an apology e-mail to the roughly 114,000 users of the iPad 3G it determined were affected by the incident. The telco said only users' e-mail addresses and numbers that identify their devices to AT&T's network were exposed, and that no other personal or account information was at risk.
Then on Tuesday, when AT&T and Apple started taking online pre-orders for the iPhone 4, the telco suffered another apparent glitch when its website encountered some difficulty in dealing with demand for the device. According to the Wall Street Journal, the ordering system experienced a number of outages during the day, and in some instances, subscribers who logged in to the site as themselves ended up in other subscribers' accounts. By close of business on Tuesday AT&T said the pre-ordering system had been "temporarily suspended" and warned customers not to attempt to place an order online.
Despite the online ordering issues, Apple said that over 600,000 orders were placed for the iPhone 4 on Tuesday, the largest number of pre-orders Apple has ever taken in a single day. The device will go on sale on 24 June.
Microsoft hopes to Kinect with casual gamers
E3, the world's biggest video games trade show, kicked off this week. Microsoft was quick off the blocks with the launch of Kinect (formerly code-named Project Natal), a completely hands-free games controller that uses a camera, infrared sensor and microphone to track players' actions and commands, and translate them into on-screen movement. Kinect is Microsoft's attempt to get in on the casual gaming action that Nintendo, with its Wii, has dominated for the last four years.
Of course, any gaming device is reliant on the popularity of its games. Microsoft showed clips from a number of Kinect games, including an athletics simulation in which participants run and jump to compete in the hurdles, throw an imaginary javelin, and play football with kicking actions. Also on the cards is a yoga simulation, white-water rafting, a dancing tuition game called Dance Central, and a Star Wars game, in which players will be able to compete in light-sabre duels.
With so much at stake in this lucrative market -- PwC's annual Global Entertainment and Media Outlook predicts games industry revenues will hit USD84 billion by 2014, compared with revenues of USD28 billion for recorded music -- Microsoft wasn't the only company making high-profile announcements. Rival Sony also unveiled its motion controller, PlayStation Move, which is more similar to Nintendo's Wii-mote with its wand-like shape. Both devices are due to hit shelves in time for the run-up to Christmas with the Kinect due to launch in the US on 4 November, and a few weeks later in Europe.
Not to be outdone, Nintendo too was busy at E3, unveiling the 3DS, a 3D version of its popular handheld gaming console, complete with glasses-free 3D technology. The device features a 3.5 inch screen that displays 3D visuals, and a slightly smaller touchscreen (similar to the current DS). The device also features three cameras, which combine to allow users to take 3D digital photographs, and an accelerometer and a gyro sensor for full motion control. Nintendo said that a number of developers are currently working on compatible games, including Mario Kart 3DS. By and large analysts have been impressed by the 3DS, with some calling it the highlight of E3. The device is expected to be released in 2011, though an exact timeframe was not revealed.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 