TechWire

3 Ireland plans 7.2Mbs broadband product with "unlimited" data caps

3 Ireland will increase its mobile HSDPA broadband service to 7.2Mbs by the end of the year, according to a senior executive. Damien Gallagher, who recently moved to 3 Ireland from O2, also said that data caps would go. "We plan to be very aggressive in this market," he told Yourtechstuff. "On data caps, we intend that it should be practically unlimited. We see ourselves competing with the Digiwebs, the Ice Broadbands and other broadband operators."

Why Irish camera shops are so defensive about online webstores

Any time I write about buying digital cameras, I always include online purchasing options, too.
To me, this seems normal, as it's a mainstream method of purchasing equipment these days. But camera shops bristle at the inclusion of online prices and they're not shy about letting me know.
Chief among their complaints is that it's unfair to simply show a price comparison (the online cost is almost always significantly cheaper). They say that people like advice and a face-to-face experience. They also charge that popular sites such as Pixmania often offer instruction manuals in foreign languages.
They are right on both of these points. But just as there are arguments against buying online, there are other unacknowledged points in favour of it.
Aside from the occasionally astonishing discounts (a Sony Cybershot T50 costs €500 in most Irish shops but just €365, including delivery, on Pixmania), you're often far better covered in terms of consumer protection when you shop online. This is because the Distance Selling Directive offers a no-strings-attached 7 day period for consumers to change their mind for any reason and send the item back for a full refund.
Beats the hell out of a 'credit note'.

For Fok's sake...

Got an unusual number of mails to this column in the paper on Sunday. Guess people love their Daft-Dull-Dikshit-Freake IT bosses.

Right on Q, another Motorola smartphone

It's been a while since it's tried it, but Motorola is giving the smartphone another go in June. This time, it's called the MotoQ q9. It has HSDPA connectivity (up to 3.6Mbs, it's claimed), so it's presumed that Vodafone or 3 Ireland are the only ones to give it serious consideration here. And you could probably narrow that further to Vodafone, since 3 Ireland is still lukewarm about anything to do with the 'business' market (although this is changing, according to an interview Robert Finnegan (3 Ireland boss) gave to Computers In Business on Sunday). Other features of note include a 2 megapixel camera and an Opera browser. No word on price, but expect a cheaper sim-free cost than Nokia or Sony Ericsson. My guess is about €450.