News of Green, Mobile, IT and Data Centre Technology - at eWEEK Europe UK
Cost + Users + Device
Microsoft Removing Barriers to Desktop Virtualisation
[...] With the VECD, costs vary depending on the device the operating system is running on, Lambert said. If the device is owned by the company and covered by Software Assurance, the cost is $23 (£15) per device per year. This includes any system connected to a hosted desktop, which includes users who want to connect to the central hosted desktop not only at work, but also from home. [...] However, for thin-client devices connected to a hosted desktop, or for PCs that aren't covered by Software assurance, the cost is $110 per device per year (£74). A change in this scenario is that, unlike in the past, the VECD license lets noncorporate PCs&mdash. [...] The new licensing also increases the mobility of a company by enabling employees with corporate PCs to bring their Windows desktop home on a removable media device. [...]
Vodafone Opts Not To Trigger iPhone Price War
[...] 38 per month, on 18-month contract, which will cost users £713.82 over the lifetime of their device, including the £184.98 initial outlay for the phone. [...] An 18-month contract will cost £40 per month, and including the £89 purchase cost for the iPhone itself, meaning users will have spent £809 on the phone and monthly payments in total. [...] In comparison, Orange is offering a 16GB iPhone 3GS for £29.36 per month, on a 18-month contract, that will cost £712.98 over its lifetime, including an upfront cost of £184.50 for the handset. O2's tariffs meanwhile are pretty much the same with the handset costing £29. [...]
Inside Mobile: Why eBooks and eBook Readers Will Eventually Succeed
[...] I'm leaning more toward the mobile telephone and cable TV business model, where users pay a monthly fee and get the device (a set top box or phone) for little or no cost, as long as they sign up for a multi-year contract. Family plans will make this even more affordable. [...] Eventually, the future eBook reader will have multiple wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi and mobile, wireless wide area networking (that is, 3G and WiMax). This should be hidden so that users simply turn it on, order books and they show up in the device. [...] I fully understand and recognise that there's a lot of digital content piracy, especially in music. But it seems to me that if we provide an open standard for eBook publishing that is cross-device, cross-publisher and includes DRM - all at reasonable prices - then people will gladly pay for the privilege of enjoying reading that really good story. [...]
Concerns Raised Over iPad Battery Replacement
[...] Apple's strategy for replacing faulty iPad batteries amounts to sending back a whole new, date-free device, at a cost of $105.95 to the user. [...] Users can also expect service to be completed within about a week of sending the iPad to Apple. (Which, read carefully, isn't saying the device will be returned within a week.) I can see replacing the whole device, Roger Kay, principal analyst with Endpoint Technologies, told eWEEK. [...] Adding to this is the news that all user data on the device will be lost. You will receive a replacement iPad that will not contain any of your personal data, Apple states in a support document on its Web site. Before you submit your iPad for service, it is important to sync your iPad with iTunes to back up your contacts, calendars, email account settings, bookmarks, apps, etc. [...]
Vodafone’s Tweet Treat - Users Twitter For Free
[...] SMS alerts had a place in the early days of Twitter, says Will Head at iGizmo. Since then, the mobile web has improved, there are clients for mobile devices, and many users are on flat rate mobile Internet access, so the additional cost of any Twitter use is already free. [...] However, this looks like a resurrection of an old Twitter mode, to some users. Twitter used to provide free text alerts to its users in the UK, but was forced to stop sending doing so a few months ago due to cost issues. [...] Vodafone is offering its Twitter-using customers free tweets over SMS, for the next month. After the offer expires, sending a message to Twitter will cost as much as a normal SMS, while SMS updates of other users will be free. [...]
Microsoft Issues Wireless Charging Pad Patent
[...] In essence, the patent sets out to solve what it describes as a particular issue. Wireless charging techniques typically provide low efficiency and slow charging speeds as compared to comparable wired charging solutions. In addition, such devices are also expensive and require a form-factor too large to easily fit inside a portable device. . [...] Microsoft's patent describes a device capable of efficiently charging other electronics via a sensor-integrated resonating circuit with automatic frequency control to provide low-cost inductive charging functionality for electronic devices . In theory, that would make the device as efficient and speedy as its cord-equipped equivalent. [...] A charging device as described herein can utilize a sensor-integrated resonating circuit with automatic frequency control to prove low-cost inductive charging functionality for electronic devices, reads the patent's abstract. Further, a charging device as described herein can have an inductive charging surface as well as a non-charging surface for providing other services such as information display. . [...]
MiFi 2352 Pocket Hotspot Review
[...] The downside is that it's another device, albeit a tiny one. If you're not juggling a SIM in from another device, it's also another subscription. But there are cases where it might work really well - for instance, a MiFi plus a couple of iPod Touches (or is that iPods Touch ) running Skype gives a couple of phones with free calls (admittedly at Skype quality), for the cost of one subscription. [...] The top-line conclusion is that I like this device very much and intend to use it. It's not yet available in the UK, and only on contract (€29 or €59 a month) in Spain, but it should be cost-effective. [...] The device has a nice clean home page at http.//192.168.1.1, where any connected user can access shared files on the microSD card, and anyone with the password can log in and set security features, such as encryption and SSID hiding. [...]
Vodafone Renames Home Femtocell To Sure Signal
[...] The changes were launched today (Monday) for UK customers, a Vodafone spokeswoman confirmed to eWEEK Europe. Sure Signal for home or small offices users now has a one off purchase cost of £50, down from £160. Or consumers can instead opt to pay £5 per month for 12 months if they are on a price plan of more than £25 per month. [...] Vodafone has renamed and cut the cost of its femtocell device in an effort to provide customers with a better indoor 3G signal. [...] Vodafone has renamed and cut the cost of its femtocell device, which is designed to boost 3G mobile phone signals indoors and offload traffic from the mobile network. [...]
IBM’s Cloud Announcements - Not Just Fluff
[...] All these moves have one main selling point to end users - reducing cost - according to Drabble. While the cost of servers has remained constant, and the cost of storage has come down, the cost of management has increased dramatically. IT departments are spending 70 to 75 percent of their budget just managing the infrastructure. . [...]
Lenovo Launches Lost And Found Laptop Service
[...] Also in April, Dell revealed the findings of a security study that, like Ponemon's, found the major cost of device loss to be not the PC itself but the breach of data. [...] In April, the Ponemon Institute revealed the findings of a device security study commissioned by Intel, which found that a stolen laptop can cost a business nearly $50,000 &mdash. or up to $1 million in more extreme cases. Tech Republic, similarly, has found that approximately 1 in 10 notebooks are stolen, and 88 percent of those go unrecovered. [...] Once the PC is lost, the owner can use Absolute software &mdash. made by Computrace &mdash. to automatically lock the device if it's turned on, protecting data. What pops up on the screen instead is a messaging explaining that the device is lost and a toll-free number to call. [...]
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