Insights
CCgroup’s knowledge and understanding of the telecoms, mobile, consumer technology and consumer lifestyle markets is unrivalled in the world of PR and integrated communications.
We’ve worked in these markets for more than 20 years. Our expertise in both B2B and B2C enables us to bring a unique perspective to our strategic thinking and to your communications challenges.
It’s imperative to stay on top of developments in this space and we’d like to share with you some of the insights we have. Our daily news flash, Concise Comments, is updated with the most relevant stories of the day
Mon, 10/08/2009
Nortel CEO to Step Aside Soon
Nortel Networks Corp. Chief Executive Mike Zafirovski is planning to leave the company within weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. The 55-year-old CEO spent more than three years trying to turn Nortel around before seeking protection from creditors in January.
Wall Street Journal Article
'Snoop' power is used 1,400 times a day to intercept private data
Britain has "sleepwalked into a surveillance society", it was claimed after figures disclosed that public bodies had obtained access to private telephone and e-mail records about 1,400 times a day. Council, police and other organisations made more than half a million requests for confidential communications data last year.
Times Online Article
Faster broadband won't make us watch more TV online, viewers tell survey
Faster internet would make no difference to most people's online viewing habits, a new survey has found. The result calls into question hopes of an online TV boom fuelled by superfast broadband. The survey, commissioned from Deloitte and YouGov by the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival, found that 53% of people would not watch more online TV or video clips even with a faster, more reliable broadband connection.
Guardian Article
New ID cards are supposed to be 'unforgeable'
About the size of a credit card, it displays a photograph, as well as printed details including name, date of birth etc. Embedded inside the plastic, however, is a computer chip that contains an additional digital record of all of these details, together with a copy of the holders fingerprints. And it is this chip which was supposed to be the 'unbreakable' security measure that would ensure ID cards could never be cloned or faked. Within 12 minutes of laying his hands on the expert had made a clone.
Daily Mail Article
FT.com plans pay-per-article system
The Financial Times is to introduce a full "pay-per-view" model for accessing online articles by next summer and is reviewing whether any content on FT.com will remain free to access. Pearson's business and financial broadsheet is exploring online payment systems that offer a user-friendly "one-click" process, such as Amazon and Apple's iTunes.
Guardian Article
SpinVox acts on dossier sent to shareholders
SpinVox, the technology company that converts voicemail into text messages, is under fire after a dossier alleging financial mismanagement at the company was circulated among its shareholders.
Financial Times Article
Tech gives humans animal senses
A virtual reality exhibit is giving visitors the extreme ranges of sight and hearing that many animals have. The so-called "immersive" exhibit shows what it might be like to see with birds' ultraviolet vision or hear with whales' ultra-low frequency hearing.
BBC Article
Tue, 11/08/2009
Facebook splashes out on social networking upstart FriendFeed
Facebook has acquired fellow Silicon Valley startup FriendFeed, in the clearest sign yet that it plans to extend its lead over rivals such as MySpace and Twitter. The world's largest social networking company said it was acquiring its Californian neighbour for an undisclosed sum - believed to be in the tens of millions of dollars - in an attempt to hire "the best engineers".
Guardian Article
Google gets caffeine injection as search speeds up
In face of increasing competition, search engine giant unveils 'secret project' that it says will make online queries faster and more successful. The upgrade, which insiders have dubbed "caffeine", was announced on Monday after the company opened up access to web developers. It is intended to replace the technology giant's main search engine after tests have been completed.
Guardian Article
Downloading dips among young fans
There has been a slight drop - from 63% last year to 61% this year - in the number of young people illegally downloading music, a survey suggests. The UK Music-commissioned study, now in its second year, also found that 85% of those who downloaded illegally would pay for an unlimited download service.
BBC Article
British military encouraged to use social media
British troops are being encouraged to use social media to talk within limits about what they do, at a time when many professional organisations are becoming increasingly guarded about employees' use of social networks.
ZDNet Article
Online Treatment May Help Insomniacs
You can do almost anything on the Internet these days. What about getting a good night's sleep? It might be possible, some researchers say. Web-based programs to treat insomnia are proliferating, and two small but rigorous studies suggest that online applications based on cognitive behavioral therapy can be effective.
New York Times Article
First Wi-Fi pacemaker in U.S. gives patient freedom
After relying on a pacemaker for 20 years, Carol Kasyjanski has become the first American recipient of a wireless pacemaker that allows her doctor to monitor her health from afar -- over the Internet.
Reuters Article
'The Twitter Opera': new Royal Opera House production in 'tweets'
The Royal Opera House is producing an opera composed entirely of "tweets" from mini-blogging website Twitter in an attempt to make opera accessible to the masses. "The Twitter Opera" will join 140-character Twitter messages into a libretto set to familiar opera tunes and new music by composer Helen Porter. The two singers, an experienced baritone and a soprano both in their mid 30s, will be announced next week.
Telegraph Article
Wed, 12/08/2009
Microsoft plans Office tie-up with Nokia
Microsoft Corp said it will announce an alliance with Nokia on Wednesday, likely unveiling plans to make the software company's Office suite of applications available on devices made by the world's top cellphone manufacturer.
Reuters Article
Sequoia e-voting machine commandeered by clever attack
Computer scientists have figured out to how trick a widely used electronic voting machine into altering tallies with a technique that bypasses measures that are supposed to prevent unauthorized code from running on the device.
The Register Article
Broadband Competition Reaches 6 M Milestone
The Office of Communications said on Tuesday that competition in the U.K.'s broadband market has reached a significant milestone of 6 million.
Wall St Journal Article
3-D Printers Make Manufacturing Accessible
3-D printers can take blobs of plastic and shape them into almost any object you desire. Now, thanks to open source hardware designs and enthusiastic do-it-yourselfers, these printers are increasingly popular and accessible.
Wired Article
North Americans pay more for cell phone service
Cell phone users in the U.S., Spain, and Canada pay more for mobile phone service than cell phone users in other parts of the world, according to a survey published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
CNET Article
Driverless cars gives glimpse of transport of the future at Heathrow Airport
The Personal Rapid Transport system, 21 electric shuttles on a two-and-a-half mile pathway, is expected to ferry more than half-a-million passengers a year to and from the business car parks of Terminal 5. The £25 million system, which travels up to 25mph and uses computers and laser guidance to keep it on course, allows up to four passengers in each car to travel in comfort with their luggage.
Telegraph Article
She's having a baby (on Twitter)!
And so this is how we measure progress on the internet: not in afternoons and coffee spoons, but by which medium people use to reporting that they're giving birth.
Guardian Article
Thu, 13/08/2009
A US federal court has ordered Microsoft to pay over $290m (£175m) for wilfully infringing on a patent by Canadian firm i4i. The patent relates to the use of XML, a mark-up language that allows formatting of text and makes files readable across different programs. XML is integral to Microsoft's flagship word processing software Word.
BBC Article
Pre Reports Back To Palm Where You Are
After taking a closer look at the Palm Pre's operating system, there's a handful of items that the device is reporting back to Palm on a daily basis. Some of them make sense, such as reporting when an app crashes or which apps you've installed, but the one that got people upset today was that the device is telling Palm your location.
Washington Post Article
Computer viruses slow African expansion
Hampered by pirated software and super-slow download times, computer users in Africa are finding PC viruses hard to eradicate.
Guardian Article
Man gets 3 years in prison for stealing IDs over LimeWire
A Washington state man who admitted using the LimeWire file-sharing program to steal tax returns and other sensitive documents has been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison. Frederick Eugene Wood of Seattle was ordered to serve 39 months for a fraud scheme that prosecutors said was a "particularly pernicious and devious one." In it, Wood would search the hard drives of LimeWire users for files that contained words such as "statement," "account" and "tax.pdf." He would then download tax returns, bank statements, and other sensitive documents and use them to forge counterfeit checks and steal the identity of the individuals who filled out the documents.
The Register Article
Cellphones Largely Immune to Viruses, for Now
It has been great using smartphones as de facto computers. You don't have to buy antivirus software or worry about the devices going haywire every time some Ukrainian crime ring finds a new way to steal data from the cloud.
NY Times Article
Apple talks down (another) iPhone App Store critic
Again lifting its famous veil of silence, Apple has responded to a prominent blogger angry about its arbitrary iPhone App Store approval procedures. But Apple's new found, openness is not being expressed in official company pronouncements or press releases, but rather through personal emails sent by the company's SVP for worldwide marketing, Phil Schiller.
The Register Article
ET text home? Send SMSes to outer space
An Australian website is giving texting an intergalactic touch and allowing users to send short mobile phone-type messages into space. From Wednesday and until August 24, people hankering for an out-of-this-world experience can visit www.HelloFromEarth.net to post messages no longer than 160 characters that will be transmitted to Gliese 581d, the nearest Earth-like planet outside the solar system likely to support life.
Reuters Article
Fri, 14/08/2009
Chinese officials appear to have retreated from their controversial plan to install an internet filtering system on computers in the country. The industry and information technology minister, Li Yizhong, said today that the notion that the Green Dam programme would be required on every new computer was "a misunderstanding" spawned by poorly written regulations.
Guardian Article
Rumors About iTunes 9 Heat Up
With the annual September refresh of Apple's iPod line expected now within only a few weeks, the rumor rumblings are starting to build around other products. The rumour is that iTunes 9 will be much more social than previous versions, integrating sharing features for Twitter, Facebook and Flickr. The idea would be to broadcast to your Web friends, what you're listening to or watching in iTunes, via a new separate desktop app that would integrate with it.
BusinessWeek Article
Microsoft: Firefox's billion claim is 'interesting math'
A senior Microsoft executive has called into question the claim by rival web browser Firefox that it has been downloaded a billion times. Amy Barzdukas, a general manager at Microsoft in charge of the company's Internet Explorer browser, said that the recent announcement that Firefox has reached a billion downloads was "interesting math". "As with any marketing statement, I'd encourage people to be somewhat sceptical about large number claims," she said. "It's an interesting number and I have not seen the math [but] how many internet connected users are there? 1.1 billion, 1.5 billion, something in that area."
Guardian Article
Toshiba Announces World's Largest SD Card
Toshiba has announced the world's largest SD memory card, a 64-gigabyte card that employs the new SDXC (XC for extended capacity) memory standard. The bad news? Your existing digital camera or camcorder won't read the card format out of the box.
NY Times Article
Cisco says it can improve tech, music industry ties
Network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc Chief Executive John Chambers said on Wednesday that the company's latest expansion in the online media and entertainment business will help improve relations between the music industry and Silicon Valley.
Reuters Article
Brown joins Twitter campaign to defend NHS against US attacks
Gordon Brown has signed up to a Twitter campaign defending the NHS from attack in America, in effect siding with President Obama in his battle with the Republicans over healthcare reforms. Britons furious that the Republicans have attacked the health service in their campaign against Mr Obama have launched an internet fightback. The Twitter site crashed yesterday because of the sheer volume of messages backing the "we love the NHS" campaign. Mr Brown, and his wife Sarah, have used the Downing Street Twitter site to back the NHS.
The Times Article
Tasting the Light: Device Lets Blind "See" with Their Tongues
A pair of sunglasses wired to an electric "lollipop" helps the visually impaired regain optical sensations via a different pathway. Neuroscientist Paul Bach-y-Rita hypothesized in the 1960s that "we see with our brains not our eyes." Now, a new device trades on that thinking and aims to partially restore the experience of vision for the blind and visually impaired by relying on the nerves on the tongue's surface to send light signals to the brain.
Scientific American Article
