UK News

from MediaFile:

Rule Britannia? FT fires warning shot at Apple

The release of a Financial Times app that bypasses Apple's App Store is a warning shot at the iPad maker's quest to rule the high seas of digital publishing.

Launched just hours after Apple announced Newsstand, the iPad maker's destination to access digital versions of mags and rags, FT made clear why it created the app:

"We are determined to make it as accessible as possible for the user," John Ridding, chief executive of the FT told Reuters. "Readers will be able to get our journalism through whatever device or channel they may choose."

Of course, that's in addition to the British daily not having to pay a 30 percent commission for the privilege of having its iOS version appear in Apple's Newsstand.

Some of the other advantages of FT having its own, HTML5-based app are spelled out nicely by GigaOm's Bobbie Johnson. First, the app is independent of anybody, ending the possibility that any of its content will be blocked. Second, updates will be automatically performed via the Web and won't need to go through Apple. Lastly, the app isn't OS specific, so there's no need for readers to download separate apps for different devices and publishers like the FT won't need to pour money into developing separate apps.

By opting for HTML 5, the FT also gets to control its subscriber data. With Apple's Newsstand app, publishers chose a  compromise with Apple, whereby subscribers were given an option to share their name, email and address with publishers.

So why is FT the first? Deep pockets (FT publisher Pearson has an estimated market cap of $15.19 billion) and the time to develop an app on the arguably immature HTML5 platform  may have something to do with it.

from Davos Notebook:

Tablets take over the world, one Davos at a time

This time last year, the online team here in Davos broke off from its coverage of the WEF for an hour or so to follow another Reuters live event - the unveiling of Apple's iPad.

Back then, there were many gaps in our knowledge of what the iPad could do. We didn't even know what it would be called.

What a difference a year makes. Now the device, and other tablet computers, is on show everywhere, especially among the gathering of the global elite in Davos. Reuters technology correspondent Kenneth Li wrote yesterday in this article that: "Those discussing the "Shared Norms for the New Reality" in Davos this week need only look around them to see one such 'reality': low-cost smart devices are sweeping away clunky old computers throughout the political and business world."

Kenneth also tweeted this yesterday: "Davos is ugly with iPads. One CEO tried to hide his from me. Shameful!"

One Davos participant not hiding his tablet from view is Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (an avid user of Twitter). Here's a great picture of him going over the text of his opening address to this year's WEF meeting in Davos, delivered yesterday evening.

(Picture taken January 26, 2011. REUTERS/Dmitry Astakhov/RIA Novosti/Kremlin)

from MediaFile:

Rupert Murdoch’s long crusade to make digital news pay

On the first day of one of my journalism classes, the teacher produced a large metal ring with a short rope fastened to it. The ring was made to be installed in a bull's nose, he explained; and the rope – called a lead – let you guide him wherever you wanted. The point was clear, if somewhat condescending: Writing a good lead lets the journalist guide the reader around like cattle.

That illustration was a lot more powerful before the web, during an era when closed media like print newspapers and television limited interactivity and left consumers with no choice but to passively accept the news as presented. It doesn't make sense on the web, where any reader can challenge news content or even become a publisher in a matter of minutes.

Rupert Murdoch still lives in a world of nose rings. The News Corp. CEO has had remarkable success in print and television, but he has stumbled again and again on the web, most notably with the great fizzle that was MySpace. Even today, the company is backing away from Project Alesia, its ambitious plan to create a digital newsstand, after other publishers showed little interest.

But as reports emerge on his latest digital venture – The Daily, a newspaper designed for tablets in general and the iPad in particular – it's clear that Murdoch isn't giving up on making digital news work on his terms – that is, in a tidily contained format that demands readers pay for it.

That model is working for the Wall Street Journal, more or less, because the publication is still regarded as a must read for many. But it's not clear it will work for a publication built from scratch. Initial reactions lean toward skepticism, particularly the $50 annual subscription and the newspaper-like publishing schedule. One terse summary of the reaction: “Wonderful! Slower news — and at a higher price.”

The skeptics will be right, at least at first. After all, why should digital news follow a cable-TV revenue model, as News Corp. is predicting, when so many are canceling their cable subscriptions? But News Corp. appears to be ready for a long haul: 100 journalists have been hired for The Daily and $30 million is the reported budget for the project. There will always be a huge number of news consumers who are content to graze outside Murdoch's walled gardens. But there may be just enough who are content to be led around by the nose to make The Daily a success.

from The Great Debate UK:

Apple iPad: danger or opportunity for mobile operators?

-Ken Denman is CEO of Openwave Systems. The opinions expressed are his own.-

With the launch of the iPad 3G, the industry is holding its collective breath to see the impact that the device will ultimately have on already overtaxed networks.

The iPad is expected to be a home and WiFi-centric, coffee-table device that people use for reading newspapers and browsing the occasional email. But until users get their hands on the 3G device and start to use it how they want to use it, it is all speculation. What is not speculation however, is that usage of the device is going to put more pressure on networks that are already creaking under the strain of the mobile data overload.

The majority of large global operators have already experienced network congestion challenges resulting in outages both in the U.S. and abroad. With the introduction of the Apple iPad, what are the logical immediate next steps for mobile operators to take?

It goes without saying that increasing network capacity is paramount long-term. There are various ways of doing this. Operators are upgrading their networks to 4G, and backhaul can be increased, through upgrading the base station infrastructure that links to the core network. Data can also be off-loaded to Wi-Fi.

These practices will all have their place in the months and years to come as operators face the “hockey-stick curve” of data growth.  However, the data growth is too great for operators to rely on throwing more hardware at the situation.  Thankfully in recent months, as the bandwidth crunch has intensified, operators have been looking at smarter options to help minimise network traffic now and in the future.

Jeremy Hunt unveils Tory technology platform

As the three main UK political parties vie for positioning ahead of a general election to be held by June, the Conservatives unveiled their “Technology Manifesto” on Thursday in London outlining the key issues they would address if they form the next government.

Shadow Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude presented ideas on everything from improving broadband speeds to making government data accessible online.

Boosting broadband speeds would play a crucial role in stimulating growth by providing new areas of financial competitiveness, they said.

“This is central to the growth of the UK economy and will create hundreds of thousands of jobs,” Hunt said.

The Conservatives say they would break up the dominance BT has over the Internet and find a way to open up access to other firms.

“Our plans will stimulate a massive increase of investment in our digital structure by allowing anyone to invest in BT’s ducts and pipes,” Hunt told Reuters.

Hunt spoke with Reuters about Conservative plans in the video clip below.

from The Great Debate UK:

Does the Internet empower or censor?

What if the Internet is not really a utopian democratic catalyst of change?

The Web is often seen as a positive means of instilling democratic freedoms in countries under authoritarian rule, but many regimes are now using it to subvert democracy, Evgeny Morozov, a contributing editor at "Foreign  Policy", proposes.

The Internet can actually inhibit rather than empower civil society, Morozov, argued in a lecture on Tuesday at London's Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.

Social media platforms are being used by certain governments to create a "spinternet" to influence public opinion. They are also being used as part of a process of "authoritarian deliberation" to try and increase the legitimacy of authoritarian rule, he said.

Morozov spoke with Reuters after the lecture.

Will you miss Teletext?

It will be the end of an era. Associated Newspapers has announced that it will shut the analogue Teletext TV service in January next year.

The shutdown was expected to take place in 2012 and the company has also said that it will even close several of its Freeview digital services. The service has been badly hit by a fall in audiences and revenue brought on by the economic downturn.

Teletext services have been running since 1974, providing news and weather reports, football results and film listings. Some commercial services on digital channels will remain, as will the profitable travel websites.

Will you miss Teletext? Do you still use it? What are your memories of the service?

Which gadgets could you do without in a downturn?

Would you give up your laptop, your iPod or even your mobile to help pay the bills?

Some devices that seemed like luxuries just a few years ago are now seen by many people as necessities.

With money scarce, jobs threatened and bills rising, it would be interesting to see if the trend for households to acquire more and more hi-tech goods starts to decline.

Common sense suggests that top-end electronic goods wouldn’t be high on most people’s shopping lists in the current climate.

Credit has dried up and borrowing cash to buy a new flatscreen TV doesn’t appear to make much sense.

Undaunted by the financial crisis, Stuff magazine is hosting its annual gadget show this weekend at the vast ExCel conference centre in Docklands, east London.

Will you switch to Google’s shiny new browser?

 The first reviews of Google’s new web browser, Chrome, praise its sleek looks and superfast downloads, but can’t agree on whether it is good enough to persuade people to switch from Explorer or Firefox.

Mike Harvey, of the Times, gives it three out of five stars and says it should spark a “browser war” on the Internet.

“It is already an improvement on Internet Explorer, but does not go much beyond the functionality of Firefox,” he writes.

Chrome has an “intuitive and friendly” system of tabs to allow users to switch between web pages or email, he says. The browser also loads pages “very swiftly”.

The Guardian’s technology writer Jack Schofield says it makes Explorer look dated.

“While it’s a bit like driving a Noddy car, I quite like the look-and-feel that Google has borrowed from Office 2007,” he writes in an early blog.