Blogging on the inner workings of business tech including, but not limited to, business intelligence (BI), analytics, enterprise software, desktop and portable hardware, IT in education, open-source projects and breaking developments in the mobile world. You can follow me on Twitter at @BenWoodsZD.
With several years' experience covering everything in the world of telecoms and mobility, Ben's your man if it involves a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or any other piece of tech small enough to carry around with you.
A solar-powered plane has completed the first leg of a journey towards Morocco, landing in Madrid for a three-day stopover after completing a 17-hour flight without using traditional fuel.Solar Impulse's aircraft has a wingspan equal to that of an Airbus A340 airliner.
First-quarter figures from IDC show that Microsoft's Windows Phone platform is making inroads against longer-established competitors, such as Android and iOS, by poaching former users of the BlackBerry and Symbian operating systems.Francisco Jeronimo, research manager for European mobile devices at IDC, said that Windows Phone shipments for the first quarter of 2012 were up 156 percent, year-on-year.
The parent company of UK mobile operator Three, Hutchison Whampoa, has denied claims that the business will pull out of the UK market if it is not allocated 4G spectrum in the upcoming auction when it takes place later in 2012.Ofcom has presented new proposals that could clear the way for the UK's much-delayed 4G spectrum auction.
Motorola has provided Ice Cream Sandwich update details for devices such as the Razr, Xoom and Xoom 2, but has said it will not be bringing ICS to older devices. The Motorola Xoom 2 is set to get an update to ICS in Q3 2012The company reaffirmed on Friday that it would begin delivering the ICS update for the Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi-only version and Motorola Razr smartphone in the Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region during the second quarter of the year.
Samsung has already received 9 million pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy S III and all major UK mobile phone networks will offer the keenly-anticipated smartphone when it launches on 30 May.According to the Korea Economic Daily, Samsung has already received more than 9 million pre-orders for the handset from more than 100 operators around the globe.
UK wholesale ISP Entanet has branded the government's internet data retention plans as "pointless" and criticised the lack of clarity for ISPs over the scheme.Entanet, which delivers data connectivity, IP telephony and telecoms services through resellers, said that the government's £2bn scheme would fail to deliver on its snooping goals as cybercriminals will simply find ways around being tracked.
Google will work with multiple manufacturers to provide early access to new builds of its Android operating system and develop a range of new flagship Nexus smartphone and tablets that could launch before the end of November, according to reports.
Acer has unveiled new 14-inch and 15-inch Aspire M5 ultrabooks that are due to go on sale in the UK in mid-June.The company lifted the veil on the new M5 family of ultrabook devices on Tuesday, promising "instant use", dedicated graphics capabilities and an up to eight-hour battery life from the laptops.
Apple has removed all references to '4G' data speeds on its new iPad following a similar move in Australia.The company told ZDNet UK in a statement that it had removed references to 4G connectivity to simplify customers' understanding of the product, as different countries use different terms for wireless standards.
Fewer than half of customers calling BT and TalkTalk are given accurate broadband download speed information before the point of purchase, according to telecoms watchdog Ofcom.Ofcom said on Tuesday that the overall number of people being told about the download speeds of broadband packages had improved but that there were still companies, such as BT and TalkTalk, whose customer service staff failed to provide download speed information without being prompted in more than half of all calls.