We’ve changed form the weekly round-up to a daily one as the industry moves so fast, news from potentially 6 days ago can be seriously out of date!

The objective here is to provide a number of links to different news articles which are hitting the tech headlines.

We will also look to add additional comment where relevant and where we have time.

News:

Three announces UK’s first 21Mbps HSDPA+ hotspot for Septemer arrival http://j.mp/poSou4

I use the existing Three Mifi device and it works great – the additional speed will be a welcome addition.

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The Nine iPad Apps Changing Business zite.to/pfai3h

There are so many great apps out there it can be difficult to chose the right ones.

At OCD we use many different apps so if you ever need a little advice on which purchase to make or for a demo, contact the OCD sales team for iPAD advice.

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HP begins TouchPad clearance with $99 fire sale zite.to/r9Wyr5

After 7 weeks and very poor sales, HP has axed their tablet line-up and heavily discounted the remaining stock in the marketplace.

Best Buy and others started discounting the Touchpad to a starting price of $99 in Canada and the US over the weekend.

It’s rumored that the UK pricing will follow suit £89 / £115 for the 16Gb and 32G respectively.

Ohh and it’s very likely HP will stop selling PC’s….who’d have thunk it!

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Japanese iPhone to get earthquake alerts

9to5Mac reports that the feature will be added to the IOS 5 update which is due within the next 5 weeks.

More info from the BBC website – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14614454

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That’s all for today folks – hope you enjoyed the read and feel free to comment.

Google has been issuing warnings to over two million computer owners who are at risk of infection from a virus that hijacks search results.

The malicious software produces fake results after users perform a search, with a yellow warning window informing them that their computer is at risk. Users are guided to click a link to both check that their anti-virus software is up-to-date and inform them how to remove the problem.

Google said it found “unusual search traffic” when one of its data centres was undergoing a maintenance check.

Security engineer Damian Menscher posted on the company’s blog: “The malware appears to have gotten onto users’ computers from one of roughly a hundred variants of fake antivirus, or “fake AV” software that has been in circulation for a while.

“We aren’t aware of a common name for the malware.”

Hundreds of thousands of people are thought to have already been notified.

GMailman – have you heard the story or seen the video yet?

It appears Microsoft have created a video which pokes fun at how Google’s Gmail service actually reads your emails before you do…

Allegedly the system scans your messages before they’re opened, which then enable it to serve up ads which are linked to the keywords in your email.

Microsoft used the film at its annual global conference to spur users on in the battle of Office 365 versus Google Apps.

The video now seems to have been leaked.

Basically Microsoft’s point is that Google cares more about advertising than privacy!

Read more on the story at ZDNET.

Intel Ultrabook – for those smitten with the MacBook Air but who want a Windows-based laptop!

This latest model looks set to challenge very slim and light laptops running for 5 hours on a fully-charged battery with the prospect of 8 hours or more battery power, giving you effectively a full working day without needing to plug in.

The Rapid Start Technology in these laptops is designed to switch the systems on almost instantly from a state of “deep sleep”.

Asus (their UX-21) and HP should be bringing their own versions of this to market over the next few months, which will then undoubtedly be closely followed by many others.

There is a target price of below $1,000 for these machines, however, rumours are spreading that manufacturers are finding it hard to hit that price point.

Intel describes a three phase approach to this technology over the next 12 months or so as follows:

• Phase 1: This was kicked off when Intel introduced its latest Ultra-Low Voltage 2nd Generation Intel Core processors in June that will bring new systems to store shelves this summer.
• Phase 2: Centres around the next generation of Intel micro-architecture, code-named ‘Ivy Bridge’, with processors scheduled for availability in systems during the first half of 2012. Faster I/O such as USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt technologies are also part of Intel’s ongoing work to drive the PC platform forward.
• Phase 3: In 2013 Intel micro-architecture dubbed ‘Haswell’ will be released. This claims to accelerate the Ultrabook and reinvent the capabilities of the laptop in new sleek systems.

Read more here

Are you suffering from Smartphone screen damage?

Just a little note to say I recently had to find a company to fix a shattered iPhone 4 screen for my better half.

I knew I could go to Apple, however, the cost is circa £85 and you need to make an appointment for the team at the Genius Bar.

Luckily a friend recommended a shop at 85 Commerce Street in Glasgow called Mymo – www.mymoaccessories.com

After a quick telephone quote of £50 for a replacement screen both supplied and fitted, I headed straight over there.

The staff were attentive and very helpful, and had the screen replaced in under 30 minutes.

They also offer a huge range of cases and accessories for many handsets – well worth a visit if you need your handset repaired.

A little bit of fun? (Well it might be if it wasn’t so serious…)

Apple has more money in the bank than the United States Government.

The U.S. Treasury declares that it has reserves of $73.768 billion. Apple, on the other hand, has $75.876 billion. Should Steve Jobs be brought in to solve the debt crisis? Maybe he could provide a short term loan?

Oh and finally, click to read the OCD Monthly Newsletter.

Have a great week.

OCD’s clients will know how jealously we guard our Microsoft Partner status and how we aspire to always live up to its requirements.

Unfortunately many companies use their partner status as a badge rather than a reason to continue to excel so recently Microsoft itself decided that the certification programme was in need of renovation and initiated The Microsoft Partner Network (MPN).

The MPN requires current partners to re-train and re-certify but the big change is that the new certifications are ‘Competency Based’.  Partners now have to prove specific skills rather than trying to be all things to all men.

The new programme is based on the Microsoft Infrastructure Optimisation (IO) models and ensures Microsoft partners can recommend, sell, deploy, and service the latest Microsoft technology in market to meet customer demand.

In choosing to attain the new competency OCD technical, sales and licensing staff have been certified in latest Microsoft product versions in market and we are delighted to announce our new Desktop and Server Platform Competencies.

Bill Grier, OCD’s Head of Business Development said “These new competences distinguish OCD by placing us among the top 5 per cent of Microsoft partners worldwide.  They offer a clear path for OCD to showcase its skillsets in today’s competitive environment and that can only be a good thing for our clients.”

“When we earned these Server Platform competencies, we did more than develop our credentials and expertise.  These competencies are an excellent foundation for our business.  They give us the ‘mission critical’ vendor status our clients need and help us remain a strong competitor in the marketplace. “

OCD provide IT Solutions, IT Support and IT Services to businesses and charities throughout Scotland and North England.

This is one of the more unusual laptops I’ve ever seen.

It’s called the GScreen’s dual-screen SpaceBook and it features (as you may have guessed from the name) not one but two 17” 1920×1080 screens that fold out like wings.

It certainly looks a little different but I can see where it would be useful for creative types who travel from Client to Client and need to work on-site.

The kit is fairly powerful, it packs the following spec for circa $2395 (£1484) – 2.66GHz Core i5-560M CPU, 4GB of DDR3 memory, NVIDIA’s GeForce GTS 250M (1GB), a 500GB HDD, DVD burner and a magnesium alloy frame.

For an extra $400 (£250ish) you can upgrade the CPU to a 1.73GHz Core i7-740QM.

No shipping date has been provided yet and you can read a little more info and see more screenshots at the Windows experience blog.

Would you use it and if so what would you use it for?

To Sunday 26th June 2011.

So we are starting this weekly roundup of the tech news which we have tweeted over the week as well as some other interesting (we think) tech related news.

It’s in no specific order and this is the first one so they will get increasingly better.

We’d be delighted to hear your views via the comment section at the bottom of the page.

Google Chrome laptop – what will I use it for?

Not a lot except web browsing and email – Not for me at present I’m afraid.

Doesn’t provide me with the tools I’d need on a day to day basis to complete business or personal tasks.

The difference in cost between it and a reasonably well specified laptop or tablet is negligible.

Like many things however, it’s the first real iteration and I believe it’s likely to change over the coming year or two in to something more useful than it currently is.

Firefox 5 – launched, is it worth the upgrade?

No real change to the User Interface, many bug fixes and some real additions below – it’s not going to change your life from version 4.

• Added support for CSS animations
• The Do-Not-Track header preference has been moved to increase discoverability
• Improved canvas, JavaScript, memory, and networking performance
• Improved standards support for HTML5, XHR, MathML, SMIL, and canvas
• Improved spell checking for some locales
• Improved desktop environment integration for Linux users
• WebGL content can no longer load cross-domain textures
• Background tabs have setTimeout and setInterval clamped to 1000ms to improve performance
• The Firefox development channel switcher introduced in previous Firefox Beta updates has been removed

Microsoft

Microsoft working with and approving people Jailbreaking their Windows7 phones!

ChevronWP7 Labs have been approved by Microsoft to release an app which will allow users to officially install non-approved apps!

This is a complete opposite strategy to the other players in the industry and Microsoft will gain a level of kudos for this.

Microsoft have already done a similar thing with their Kinect product which has turned out to be the fastest selling consumer electronics device ever!  I wonder how much of a difference this will make to the Windows7 phone?

RIM – Blackberry

Shares prices and market value have dropped considerably for the Canadian company.

Shares sat at circa $64 per share in late March this year and has now dropped to under $29 per share at close of trading on June 24^th.

New handsets have been delayed and the Playbook tablet is not likely to make any real difference.

Their Playbook tablet is not a real contender in my eyes – partly because I don’t believe the 7” form factor is particularly useful and there is a real lack of useful apps on the device.  Time will tell though, however it’s a real uphill battle as the iPAD has over 95% share of the market in 12 out of 13 countries in this report.

Other bits of news:

HP

HP Touchpad tablet is due to land around the 1st of July and looks like a good piece of kit.

Some of the technical specifications:

• 9.7″ screen, 1024×768 resolution
• 1.3mp front facing camera for video calls
• 16 or 32gb £399 and £479 respectively
• Dual core CPU
• Dimensions Width: 190mm (7.48 inches)
• Height: 240mm (9.45 inches)
• Thickness: 13.7mm (0.54 inches)
• Weight Approximately 740 grams (1.6 pounds)

Some features include those below:

• Touch to share looks like a cool feature.
• Touchstone wireless charging
• built in access to many social media channels
• Notification system looks good
• Beta support for Adobe flash 10.3 built in.

One of the huge plus points for the Apple iPad is the maturity and usefulness of the apps.  If HP can get close to that, it looks like they will have a real winner on their hands.

Check out the link below for 7 videos showing what the Touchpad can do.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/13/hp-rolls-out-the-youtube-carpet-for-touchpad-slate-prices-acces/

Until next week…

Introduction by Kevin Ashcroft, Managing Director of OCD, IT Support and Solutions.

I am delighted to announce that as part of our continued expansion, Bill Grier has joined OCD as the Head of Business Development.

Bill’s remit is to build the existing sales team and Client base further as well as the manage the existing Clients at OCD.

He has many years experience in business development and is a key appointment in the company’s progress.

Bill has provided a short BIO below, welcome aboard Bill, we’re delighted to have you back:

“It all started with an engineering apprenticeship. From there I taught engineering and developed that to teaching computer skills. They say that, if you can’t do it; teach it, and if you can’t teach it; sell it, and coincidentally I moved into a sales position in the late ‘80s where I sold Computer Aided Design solutions for 8 years before moving into the, then embryonic, Telecommunications sector where I worked with some major operators.

I returned to the IT world in 2003 and this was my first experience of OCD. I had a split role as Operations Manager and Sales Executive which was an interesting mix. I moved on in 2005 since when I’ve been involved with some large Systems Integrators, even spent some quality time with a specialist in Information Security and Governance.

I like to say my engineering background gives me an ordered mind but there are those who would suggest I’m more of an obsessive compulsive so I suppose the return to OCD isn’t really to be surprised at.

In all of the millennia I’ve been around the Scottish market I’ve been ably supported by Jean, my wife of nearly 40 years; we have two daughters both running their own companies and I have a granddaughter, Hannah, who is the light that illuminates my soul, and not forgetting Bailey our Cocker Spaniel who is of the opinion, rightly, that he comes before me in the pecking order.

When I met Kevin a few weeks ago for dinner and we discussed the plans he has for OCD, I was excited by the potential and wanted to be a part of the future at OCD.  We have plans to take the company to even greater heights so the sky’s the limit right now. It’s great to be back at OCD, Watch this space!”