GreenwashIT
Sorting truly sustainable tech and business from greenwash
Monday 11 February 2008, 3:39 PM
Want to buy Symantec's nuclear bunker?
For some odd reason a photo story we did a couple of years ago on Symantec's UK research centre was our most popular story this weekend. The explanation, it turns out, is that said research centre was housed in a former nuclear bunker - and now the bunker is up for sale - hence the interest in our photo story.
For anyone who fancies not just a panic room but a panic house - the bunker is on the market for £300,000.
Monday 11 February 2008, 3:04 PM
Breaking news: Yahoo rejects Microsoft bid
Breaking news aplenty today. As if the Mobile World Congress wasn't enough, Yahoo has finally confirmed the rumours over the weekend that it was planning to reject Microsoft's bid.
Here's the statement:
Yahoo! Board of Directors Says Microsoft's Proposal Substantially Undervalues Yahoo!
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feb 11, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO), a leading global Internet company, today said the Yahoo! Board of Directors has carefully reviewed Microsoft's unsolicited proposal with Yahoo!'s management team and financial and legal advisors and has unanimously concluded that the proposal is not in the best interests of Yahoo! and our stockholders.
After careful evaluation, the Board believes that Microsoft's proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo! including our global brand, large worldwide audience, significant recent investments in advertising platforms and future growth prospects, free cash flow and earnings potential, as well as our substantial unconsolidated investments. The Board of Directors is continually evaluating all of its strategic options in the context of the rapidly evolving industry environment and we remain committed to pursuing initiatives that maximize value for all stockholders.
Monday 11 February 2008, 2:44 PM
Mobile operators respond to EC ticking off
This just in from the GSMA - the organisation that represents mobile operators. The organisation's Mobile World Congress conference is in full swing in Barcelona and amid all the talk of new platforms and paradigm shifts, the EC's competition commissioner Viviane Reding decided to crash the party with a press conference given on the steps of the show about how operators are punishing mobile users with data roaming charges.
The EC is going to take action to force operators to offer fairer charges, she claimed.
"What I want to achieve is very simple - that sending a text message or downloading other data via a mobile phone while in another EU country should not be substantially more expensive for a consumer than sending a text message or downloading data at home." (story courtesy of our colleagues at Silicon.com)
The GSMA has just responded with a statement in which they claim "regulation is not the answer". (Actually they are probably right - the answer here is clearly taking a big stick and all the chief execs concerned until they stop ripping off customers with ridiculous charges.)
Anyway - here's that statement in full:
Many mobile operators are lowering the price of their data roaming services and the market for these services is growing rapidly.
Overall, data from the European Regulators Group shows that there was a fall of as much as 10% between the second quarter and third quarter of 2007 alone – a sharp decline in just one quarter. The GSMA believes average prices have fallen further since then and competitive forces will drive further reductions.
Any move to intervene in this market by regulators could stifle innovation and stunt the development of new data offerings for roaming. We don’t believe that regulation, particularly of retail prices, is an appropriate move in a competitive and fast evolving market.
“This market is evolving rapidly as operators develop new and innovative services and tariff packages, including flat rate pricing packages and bundles,” said Tom Phillips, Chief Government & Regulatory Affairs Officer of the GSMA. “In such a period of rapid growth and innovation, the GSMA believes that talk of regulation is premature. The interest of the European Commission in seeing this market grow further and deliver still greater benefits to pan-European roamers is perfectly understandable and the GSMA is committed to continuing a dialogue with the Commission and national regulators to ensure that they are fully informed of the market’s progress and positive impact.”
Ultimately, considering the continued investment being made to offer data roaming services, individual mobile operators are best placed to decide what their tariffs for mobile data services should be. Operators have an interest in setting the price of data services at a level that encourages the use of such services and distinguishes them from the competition.
Monday 11 February 2008, 2:07 PM
Microsoft Vista: A satirical cartoon about infuriating bureaucracy
So says the Guardian columist and professional misanthrope Charlie Brooker at the end of column about Valentines day of all things:
This week Charlie bought a new computer and spent what seemed like 5,000 hours clicking dialog boxes in Windows Vista: "Which feels more like a satirical cartoon about infuriating bureaucracy than an operating system."
Brooker knows a thing or two about tech as he used to be jobbing games journalist. If you have not read his new book
(Dawn of the Dumb: Dispatches from the Idiotic Frontline), I heartily recommend it - unless your say George Bush, a Mac Fan or an idiot.
Monday 11 February 2008, 11:25 AM
Microsoft wants Nokia "to go all the way"
Our very own Rupert Goodwins and David Meyer are out in Barcelona for the next few days trying to keep up with a flood of announcements at the mobile industry's annual shin-dig Mobile World Congress (previously 3GSM).
According to a story David has just filed (on the site soon), as well as tempting over Sony Ericsson to its mobile operating system, Microsoft is also courting Nokia - the last phone maker to hold-out against Microsofts advances:
Asked whether Nokia, the only major manufacturer to now not be making Windows Mobile handsets, had expressed any interest in doing so, (Microsoft's) Starkweather said discussions had taken place on the issue.
"There has been a lot of sharing of ideas and lots of licensing of technology, and we look forward to the time where [Nokia] will go all the way," said Starkweather, who suggested that any Nokia-made Windows Mobile device would "probably be targeted more at business customers".
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