Skype Is Being Used As A Business Tool After All

If you’ve ever used Skype at home then you’ll undoubtedly be aware of the many benefits that it offers users. Primarily, the cost reduction of making calls to other Skype users is incredibly impressive and although we are slightly more limited in our options here in the UK than those in the USA there are a few call plans and services that utilise the service further to optimise your call times and spends and save you yet more money on calls.

For business, the biggest worry has always been that employees would be more likely to use the Skype service for personal calls and many organisations have yet to utilise the Skype call service because they believe it to be more of an individual consumer product. However, a recent survey and analysis by the company has shown that 35% of all Skype users use the service to make business calls rather than personal calls. This means that businesses may now be more inclined to use the service to reduce their own call costs.

Another major issue for businesses has been the question of security. Theoretically, it is possible for Skype to listen in to the calls being made although Skype obviously does its best to refute that claim. While these concerns are certainly well voiced and not without their justification (it is possible, although unlikely that it occurs) the benefits to business of using Skype and other messaging services is also very real. It’s likely that this news will help bump business use of an already increasingly popular service.

YouTube Soon To Offer UK Viewers TV Shows?

Following news that the BBC iPlayer ain’t gonna be free for much longer according to the head of BBC technology, it could be additionally good news that YouTube is set to offer TV programs as part of their service. It is reported that talks are ongoing between ITV, channel 4, Sony, and Google (who own YouTube and are hardly averse to big partnerships and even bigger market shares) to discuss the possibility of adding TV shows to the service.

In all honesty, the BBC should probably be more wary of charging for their service because a number of streaming TV type sites are set to launch in the UK and as more and more of us turn our attention to watching Internet TV and Internet TV hardware continues to improve, it may completely negate the need for a TV channel such as the Beeb (a shame though that would be, stranger things have happened). Consider the impact that an Internet enabled TV with Google widgets would have if you can start to watch TV shows through YouTube – you can guarantee that ITV and Channel 4 would only be the beginning of an influx of channels wanting to take part.

Hulu and TV.com are the two video streaming sites that are readying themselves for a UK launch and while YouTube/Google peeps have not confirmed these reports, Sony has said that it is in talks with Google to offer their shows on the YouTube service.

It May Soon Cost You Extra To Use BBC iPlayer

If you’re like us and a mass of other TV watching consumers then you’ll have already enjoyed the impressive benefits that the BBC iPlayer has to offer. Like us you’ll undoubtedly be disheartened by the mere possibility that at least one exec inside the BBC believes that users should have to pay for the privilege of using the iPlayer service. Of course, if you never watch iPlayer then you’ll probably be even more miffed off at the half denial from official BBC sources that claimed they are looking into the possibility of increasing the license fee to charge users in that way.

The iPlayer has been something of a phenomenon sine its first introduction to the market. Viewers have been able to watch their favourite (and not so favourite if they’re that way inclined) BBC shows through a variety of different devices. As well as the BBC website, Virgin media and a wide selection of handheld devices have also offered iPlayer compatibility but you have to question just how popular it would remain if it were no longer a free service.

In case you were wondering who to voice your protests with, the head of technology Erik Huggers no less is the one to have stated that he “doesn’t believe in a free ride!”. The BBC did point out that Mr Huggers view is not necessarily the same as the rest of the BBC but they also confirmed that they are looking at potential ways of monetising the service which may include a separate iPlayer license or an addition to the cost of the existing license.

Time TO Facebook Up With Your INQ Mobile

Following on from last week’s post about how Facebook is, rather unsurprisingly, the UK’s most regularly visited website, we thought we’d look at ways you can interact with the social networking website. A lot of mobile phones are sold on the premise that you can use them to access your Facebook account but few offer the same kind of synchronous relationship as the latest INQ handsets that will synchronise between your mobile phone phonebook and your Facebook buddies list. Make a new friend on Facebook and they’re instantly added to your mobile contact list.

If you’re a Facebook freak that has to log on every day, and believe us you’re far from being alone on this one, and you spend hours and hours chatting to your friends, commenting on their walls, and reading their latest updates then get yourself an INQ mobile handset. One of the unusually great things about them is that we in the UK are actually ahead of the USA in this one too because they don’t have them yet.

Obviously, the INQ1 also has a 3.2 megapixel camera so that you can take pics of everything and wherever you are (as seems to be the Facebook way) and then instantly update your Facebook profile with your latest mugshot. The INQ1 is all about being sociable with Windows Live Messenger and even Skype calls that could massively reduce your phone bill and it has last.fm offering similar capabilities so that you can listen to your favourite tracks while you’re on the go.

OnLive – The Virtual Future Of Gaming?

If you’re a bit of a 360 nut then you’ll have probably noticed that a lot of attention is being paid to DLC or Downloadable Content, especially by Microsoft but also by the major and not so major game developers of the world. What’s more, the Live platform at least is becoming better equipped to handle with this kind of gaming platform but OnLive offers a truly virtual console that takes this to the next step and could well represent the future of gaming and a major change in how things are done.

Essentially the whole thing (apart from a tiny little OnLive MicroConsole if you intend to play through your TV rather than your PC) is Internet based and this means that you could play your games from any Internet connected device; laptop, desktop, TV, you name it – if it’s online then it’s OnLive ready too. The Games On Demand service means that you can buy new games and then load and save those games directly over the Internet.

State of the art game servers help ensure that your connection is swift and your gaming always smooth and because it’s Internet based you only need an entry level PC to play some of the very latest games. Despite still being very much in its infancy the whole OnLive system actually has a decent take up from game developers already. 16 games including the likes of BioShock, Unreal Tournament, Fear 2, and H.A.W.X are already available as part of the BETA testing stage and that also indicates the major developers that are willing to give it a try – could the future of gaming be changing?

Amazon Download Sale – 39p Per Track

If you’re on the look out for cheap, popular music then the relatively fledgling Amazon download store is apparently the place to hit at the moment with the price of a single currently cheaper than that of a single more than 40 years ago (none of the “good old days” nonsense this time around, eh?). While the music industry at large might try to tell us that this is a bad thing, and it will certainly mean less and less royalties for the artists, what it means in real terms to you and I is that we can purchase singles from the top 100 download list for an impressively low 29p per track.

Of course, another major loser from this is likely to be Apple’s iTunes service, who recently removed the rigidity from their own pricing to offer a sliding pricing mechanism between 59p and 99p per track. While that may work out cheaper in some cases than the previous flat 79p per track, it is still some way short of Amazon’s deflated prices.

As a legal music downloader, you’re far from short of options and the Times Online estimates that there are currently more than 50 websites and services where you can legally download tracks for a cost. Unfortunately, not all download sites are created equally and you may be hard pressed to find one that fits all of your needs. Itunes may have its knockers but the software is fairly intuitive and easy to navigate while the ability to now download mp3 files is also a vast improvement. However, Amazon’s own service is not that far behind in terms of ease of use or ease of navigation and with these prices it is certainly worth a try.

Source – Times Online

We Brits Prefer Facebook To Any Other Site

It’s hardly a surprise to many of us but a recent online survey and report have shown that Brits prefer to log on to Facebook than to use any other website. While last year, Facebook browsing accounted for approximately 7% of our Internet usage it has witnessed a massive jump to a staggering 13% this year according to analysts Nielsen Online. More surprisingly, MSN Live took second spot with YouTube, MySpace, and BBC backing them up as our most visited sites.

Other figures released show that we, on average, spend 22 hours a month on the Internet. While Twitter and other social networking websites have gained in popularity it is Facebook that seems to have both the longevity and the staying power as well as the features to keep us on site longer and attract us back more often. Facebook itself has declared that around a half of their 200 million active users log on every day to check messages, chat, and use the numerous applications that are available.

The stats further show that the powerful are getting more powerful because the top ten most visited sites account for yet more of our online website viewing time; a figure that has consistently grown and grown. Apple also performed well indicating that while some of us might gripe over the costs and rigid setup of iTunes and other Apple offerings, they still remain a popular place to be when you log onto the Internet.

Source – Gaj-it

The Kensington Vo2000 Bluetooth VoIP Phone

Internet telephony has become more widely used thanks to advances in its technology. Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP as it’s more often referred, provides us with the opportunity to make voice calls to other VoIP users using an Internet telephone and can prove especially useful for the mobile users around the world. Part of the reason for this is the potentially lower charges when compared to using your mobile phone.

The Kensington Vo2000 Bluetooth Internet phone is one of the latest in Internet phone designs and is particularly innovative because it not only connects to your laptop using a bluetooth connection but it fits into the PCMCIA slot on the side of your computer. When you remove the phone you are then able to flip the bottom of it open so that it closely resembles a standard mobile phone.

While VoIP has yet to truly emerge as a genuine option for all telephone conversations, it is becoming increasingly popular; more and more companies are offering VoIP services and a greater number of Internet telephones are being created and designed by companies like Kensington but currently the Vo2000 takes the award for the most innovative and enables you to do something useful with the PCMCIA slot if you don’t already use it.

Nokia Comes With Music Nearly Here

Preorders are already available from the Carphone Warehouse for the first Comes with Music handsets due to be released by Nokia in October. The handsets come bundled with a year’s free access to the Nokia Music Store and although the selection won’t be as wide as with Apple iTunes the pricing model is almost certain to guarantee Apple some competition in the marketplace.

Conusmers that buy any of the Nokia Comes with Music handset range will gain unlimited access to every tune in the database for twelve months. For heavy music listeners (and they are the target market of Comes with Music phones, you would imagine) that could represent a seriously inexpensive way to download and listen to music.

The UK will be the first and primarily the only country to get this unique service although it is widely believed that this will be used as a benchmark to determine whether the model has any efficacy and whether it can be released to the rest of the world. It makes quite a pleasant change to be the first and only, even if we are to be made into Nokia guinea pigs.

Those Without Broadband Access To Benefit First From Super Broadband Service

According to Ofcom, the regulatory board responsible for telecommunications and Internet issues, those members of the population that have previously been unable to enjoy the first generation of broadband should be the first to receive upgraded broadband to their homes. The advisory committee has stated that doing this would help ensure that the gap in broadband doesn’t continue to increase.

The actual practice of achieving this would prove difficult, after all there are reasons that certain areas cannot get a broadband connection. However, Anna Bradley, the chair of the Consumer Panel has stated that through private and public programs and proposals it would be possible and it would help ensure that everybody in the UK that wants it has access to a broadband Internet connection.

While it’s estimated that nearly 10% of Internet connected households in the UK use dialup, many of them could get broadband if they wanted (with some exceptions in certain areas). Dial up Internet is actually twice as expensive as broadband but a lot of users stick with their provider either because they don’t want to shop around for a better deal or because they prefer the payment method of dial up access where you pay for what you use.

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