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Bitbuzz has clocked up its 100th public wi-fi hotspot (the Guinness Storehouse). Congratulations to Alex, Steve and the guys. They're a hardworking, very entrepreneurial bunch and it's not easy to take on the big guns as a small independent set-up. (Can't wait for the low-price, mass market era of wi-fi! Hint, hint...)
The cable operator has upped its speeds and cut connection costs in a bid to match its sister outfit, NTL. In brief, the prices are:
1MB (100k upload) -- €20 per month
2MB (200k upload) -- €25 per month
3MB (300k upload) -- €30 per month
6MB (512k upload) -- €40 per month
The first three months rental are free and there's no connection fee.
What's the record for late responses to an e-mail inquiry for an Irish tech company? Three weeks ago, I logged a query to a midlands regional broadband player called Last Mile. It was sent to the company's 'info @' e-mail address. They finally responded this morning (and with a holding, 'your e-mail has been logged' e-mail at that). Other companies go even further. I've logged three e-mails with national outfit Irish Broadband in the last six months (through its online contact form) with no reply or even acknowledgement. That many Irish companies don't take e-mail seriously is not new. That it includes tech companies -- and communications ones in particular -- is pretty depressing.
Eircom is currently running broadband ads during halftime breaks of World Cup matches, urging people to sign up so they can watch clips of matches online. Fine, except we can't get any World Cup clips online. Reminds me of a few years back when the company ran an ad campaign with kids watching movies online thanks to 'broadband' (which was a 128k connection at the time)...
Apple has slashed the price of its software editing programme, Shake 4.1, to €500 (from €3,000). Should interest some low-budget film makers.
Want to give your mobile or PDA iTunes functionality? Now you can, thanks to a free program called SyncTunes. The E61 blog gives a step-by-step guide to installing the program. Although the blog is focused on Nokia's E-Series phones, the program also works with higher-end Sony Ericsson mobiles, PDAs and even Sony PSPs. A memory card is also required and the process is configured for Macs only. Thanks for the tip, E61.
Nokia's E61 smartphone -- styled and presented like a Blackberry -- is to be launched "properly" in Ireland in July, according to Vodafone executives. This means that it will be available at a subsidised price on a mobile tariff plan, which this blog understands to be €200. The phone is available with push e-mail, similar to Blackberry's, and a Qwerty keyboard. No word yet from other operators as to whether they'll take it up, but it's unlikely.
RTE is currently trialling a DAB-IP (ie digital transmission) TV service on special mobile phones. It is broadcasting both RTE1 and RTE2 on a signal that can be picked up on HTC's Trilogy mobile phone handset. The idea is that one of the mobile phone operators will sign up to the technology and launch the service commercially, a product that Virgin Mobile is about to do in Britain. RTE's head of operations, JP Coakley, told me that he couldn't see a reason why the service wouldn't be taken up "by the end of the year". I got my hands on one of the HTC handsets the week before last and the reception and quality of the broadcast is excellent. It also has no problem playing in stereo, unlike Vodafone's 3G Sky TV service. The HTC handset also has Windows Mobile on it.
A Labour Party TD has come out and said that the government should force Eircom to provide broadband to whoever has a phone line. Tommy Broughan says that the company's Universal Service Obligation, which applies to telephone lines and services, should be extended to cover broadband. He argues that a proposal within the European Commission to do just this has been ignored by the governement. For its part, Eircom is known to view this sort of proposal as "crazy".
