Should we wave goodbye to anonymity and privacy?

man walks into a village shop. “Morning John,” says the shopkeeper. “You’re into old British motorbikes. I’ve just heard somebody in the next village is selling a 1957 BSA A10. It’s supposed to be in great nick as it’s been kept covered in a barn, It just needs a clean.”
“Hmm,” says the man. “Any [...]

Why Gates won’t do a Steve Jobs to save Microsoft

Who do you think runs Microsoft? Unless you’ve been paying really careful attention to corporate technology news over the last couple of years you’ll probably reply: “Bill Gates.” And you’ll be wrong. But Microsoft would dearly love to have him back.
Most of the world still thinks Gates is the boss of Microsoft and the company [...]

Google’s row with China might suit both sides

Google’s decision to stop censoring searches in China sounds as if the company’s just got fed up with the government and pulled the plug. But it’s far from being that straightforward. There was something which felt rather theatrical about the action which suggests it might all have been part of a quiet deal which is [...]

From goggle box to Google box

In a move which threatens to turn the family battles for the remote into an all-out war, Google is reported to be working on a system to bring the web to television in partnership with Intel and Logitech. None of the firms will confirm or deny the existence of the project.
But it would be surprising [...]

Facebook topples Google as king of the web … kinda

Is Facebook the new Google?
For the whole of last week Facebook overtook Google to become the most visited website in America according to online intelligence specialist Experian Hitwise. It does illustrate the meteoric rise of the social networking website and also, perhaps, the hype surrounding it.
The figures show Facebook’s market share has risen by 185 [...]

Microsoft smartphone aims squarely at Apple

Not since William Tell put away his crossbow has anybody taken such careful aim at an Apple. In Las Vegas Microsoft revealed a smartphone strategy to developers which will see its “Windows Phone 7 Series” compete head on with the iPhone.
The change needed to happen. Unlike Apple which developed the iPhone almost from scratch, Microsoft’s [...]

Head of IoD in Scotland tells executives to wake to social media

Until about 18 months ago, a significant number of senior executives were at best indifferent, if not actively hostile, to the use of many new technologies. Social media in particular were dismissed as “time wasting”.
And yet, the Chairman of the Institute of Directors in Scotland will stand up at a meeting in Aberdeen tomorrow [...]

Google takes a big swipe at Microsoft Office

Google has launched what is widely seen as a full frontal attack on the dominant and highly-profitable Microsoft Office software suite. The Google Apps Marketplace brings together a variety of programs and services from different companies to work together in a single ecosystem.
At the moment business software for, say, accounting, project and customer relationship management [...]

Medicine, laptops and the web get their Avatar moment

Avatar might have had a bad night at the Oscars, but it’s done nothing to slow the flow of 3D technology. Early adopters can even now pick up an Acer Aspire 5738DZG laptop complete with the requisite glasses from Amazon for £546.43 including delivery.
As with so many technologies there’s more than one way of achieving [...]

The Cold War 2.0: Apple vs Google

Apple seems to have been taking lessons from the Cold War strategists. Just as the Soviet Union and the USA avoided direct confrontation choosing instead to use smaller nations in a battle by proxy, Apple has launched a wide-ranging legal attack on the little-known Taiwanese manufacturer HTC.
But it is clear who Apple’s real target is [...]

Google grabs picture-editing site Picnik

Online photo-editing website Picnik has been bought by Google. This fills a gap in Google’s Picasa service which already allows users to organise and edit pictures on their computers and display them in web albums. What has been missing is the ability to edit photographs online.
The services offered by Picnik are similar to cut-down versions [...]

Severity of Chinese Google attack revealed

It’s gradually becoming clear just how much of a threat is represented by the hacking attack on Google at the beginning of the year which led to the search engine giant threatening to withdraw from China. Investigators from US security company iSec Partners say at least 33 other companies were hit by the “Aurora” exploit, [...]

Do you really need a smartphone to join the modern world?

echnology pundits are often quite good at predicting the future, but terrible at timing. They get so excited about the latest advances that they forget that it’s going to take a while before the world catches up with their enthusiasm.
Their current “next big thing” is “location-based services”. Of course this is nothing new, 20 years [...]

Hints for the would-be smartphone buyer

ith falling prices and an increasing number of services taking advantage of smartphone technology, plenty of us are going to be splashing out over the coming months. And not a few people will make expensive mistakes.
If you are tempted by a new smartphone it really is worth doing some homework before you take on a [...]

1985 is back – and this time it’s mobile

here’s a strange feeling of déjà vu about 2010. In a large part of the technology business it could be 1985 all over again. Once more consumers and businesses are confronted by a bewildering array of devices that seem to do much the same thing, but not quite.
In the mid-1980s it was personal computers. Magazines [...]

Despite the hype Google Buzz won’t be killing anything much

Google is like Apple. Whenever it announces anything the world goes mad. Or at least the world’s media goes mad. It must be so galling for other technology companies.
Every launch attracts similar headlines. A few weeks ago the Nexus One smartphone was the potential “iPhone killer”. Google Talk was the “Skype killer”. Google Docs was [...]

Human rights and wrongs overlooked in business dealings with China

It may be time for “the West” to start reassessing its rather fawning relationship with China – but don’t hold your breath. Human rights issues certainly play a part in how some of us view China but big business tends to get in the way when we want to do something about it.
On Tuesday Chinese [...]