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Education & Broadband in the UK

maksim — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 06:30:30 +0000

Broadband in the UK school system allows students faster and stable access to learning material and also allows the teacher to use this technology to deliver learning content easily.

The efficiency of staff communication and also staff with student communication has radically improved as new technologies improve daily administration in the UK schooling system. Sharing of information & knowledge between schools and government agencies, also the communication with parents and communities has become easier and is changing the schooling system everyday.

The opportunities that the broadband market presents have been well complemented by the UK schooling system. The growth in the use of subscription sites where schools use their e-learning credits for educational material has been significant. Similarly, there are numerous free access websites with educational content that schools consider valuable and often use in lessons.

The advent of the new NGA or Next Generation Access broadband will change the way schooling is done. Children who miss a day at school will be able to go back to video sessions of the classroom and never miss a lecture. Videos, images and delivery of presentations will become nothing more than two clicks. As technology moves, ahead so will education.

The Broadband Blast: Adopting Wireless Broadband

maksim — Fri, 27 May 2011 09:00:27 +0000

Mobile broadband access has been concentrated amongst transient populations like students, home users and foreign nationals. All such people have sought the much flexible mobile broadband services and forgone fixed-line services and annual internet packages. USB modem access is rapidly becoming a top service with median user ages going up in the thirties.

Today’s wireless technologies promise numerous benefits for business. Mobile broadband provides immediate access to users, regardless of location. Major metropolitan areas have high speed broadband access all over London and other major cities, and remote areas are also able to provide compatible lower speed networks. Taking advantage of 3G technologies users can access email, browse the internet and access corporate networks from practically any location either stationary or on the go. Coverage is constantly improving and is extremely good, with service costs coming down every year.

There are two primary wireless broadband technologies used in Europe & North America using the same networks used for voice communication. This enables mobile user’s access to a vast infrastructure covering hundreds of locations. The practical application of the two broadband technologies, EV-DO and HSDPA, vary with the nature of work. For instance, sales personnel can access customer sites with having to connect to their network or construction foremen who can order their raw material over wireless mediums and send people to receive the building material saving precious time.

The benefits of adopting a wireless broadband service include

Maximizing productivity by accessing information remotely at a higher transfer rate
Increased security if email and other sensitive information
Sharing information and keeping in touch anywhere and everywhere
A single secure connection for all wireless communication

The future holds a very bright prospect for this industry. Once internet companies introduce 4G technology, and competition driving prices down, users will see the market open up to extensive entertainment services and wireless broadband business tools. But this is way ahead in the future, currently broadband provider are paying more attention to marketing and looking to increase their customer bases.

Baby’s Laptop

maksim — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 11:49:47 +0000

In the age of the Internet and computer networks even the little ones are entitled to their share in advanced technology. Just make sure that the latter will be baby-sized and safe. VTech has recently released the new product – Baby’s laptop. The laptop itself looks very nice, and at only £14.99 it is really a bargain, especially as it had the potential to last a couple of years as your baby grew and wanted to learn basic computer skills.

The laptop’s surface is brightly coloured in red, yellow and blue. It has an easy lift up lid that a one year old can manage to open and shut close again. Inside there are nine chunky buttons each of them of a different shape and picture. These pictures correspond to the interactive modes of play through which your child will be taught early learning concepts in a fun and engaging way.

There is a total of three playing modes on this laptop:

Learning mode – When you press the shaped keys you will hear the name of the shape and a tune and the lights on the light panel flash in various patterns. Press the same key again and it will say what the picture on the key depicts and then play another little tune while the lights flash again. Press the same key a third time and it will say the name of the item shown in the corresponding area of the light panel and then play another tune while the lights flash again.

Discovery mode – when you press any of the keys the voice will say something about the corresponding picture on the light panel and then play a tune. If pressed again the same key will make other noises or sing songs depending on which key is pressed.

Music mode – each shaped key which plays a series of nursery rhymes while the lights flash on the panel. There are nine different tunes to hear.

The laptop is also very sturdy and can take a lot of bashing about. VTech knows its customer base really well and quality reflects this. The hinge of the laptop is very strong and as the lid does not click shut the hinge also holds the top down when it’s not being used. There is nothing flimsy about the laptop and no parts that can be removed or pulled off. The laptop takes two AA batteries that fit into a compartment underneath. There is a flat headed screw keeping this compartment closed. I personally can add that I really like the concept of providing babies with their very personal laptop computer. Not only for educational reasons but also because it will more likely prevent them from going up to their parents’ laptops and banging on the keys…

Queen of the Net forecasts growth of mobile internet

alexandra — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 00:14:21 +0000

Mary Meeker, an analyst working for Morgan Stanley, aka “Queen of the Net” (1998) according to Barron’s magazine, presented the last report about development of the Net, containing among other things, projections for the future. According to this document, the overall Internet market will be affected by two powerful trends in the near future — growth of mobile broadband and social networks.

Mary Meeker believes that the number of people entering the network via mobile devices will exceed the number of users entering the network via desktop computers in the next five years.

100 inches against a wall

maksim — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 11:35:20 +0000

Nikon Corporation has just released Nikon Coolpix S1000pj – the world’s first camera with a build-in projector.

The idea to implement a mini-projector into the camera is brilliant. How many times have you been showing pictures to your friends or family.. whether by trying to download it on the PC first or by gathering your loved ones around a tiny display screen? This projector option is meant to save a lot of time and it is simply fun! This YouTube video directed by Matt Uhry shows a bit more about how it works.

I can definitely see applications in the world of pervasive street gaming, real-time visual projection storytelling, cross-platform productions, street theatre and dance. However, there are several things that need to be taken into consideration before an old-fashioned slideshow fan as I am will be willing to spend about £350 for such piece of hardware.

The build-in projector is a little bit more complicated device than one might think. You need a dark room, because the projector’s output for this camera is only 10 lumen (1 lumen is a light of on candle). Even then, the projected image becomes pretty dim if you move the camera more than a couple of metres away from your projection surface. But the projector’s such a novelty that it’s easy to overlook the limitations and just gawp with a mixture of nostalgia and fascination. The projected image’s resolution is limited to VGA only, but the image isn’t bright or big enough for anyone to notice. The projector mechanism makes quite a difference to this camera’s size, too. It has a super-slim design with a non-extended lens, but it’s on a bigger scale than usual.

Taking into account all written above Nikon S1000pj is a rather average camera with a unique feature that will either leave you whether totally or utterly unimpressed. However, as far as I am concerned I would probably wait until the time when something with a higher resolution and lower price will appear on the market. Especially after observing the price and quality transformation that other popular products such as iPod and iPhone underwent in the past. Just remember that you can get the same basic picture quality and features for half the price, so you’re paying plenty for that dinky little projector.

3D TV shows soon in our living rooms

maksim — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:18:58 +0000

TV industry pundits reckon that Britain should be able to get 3D TV within two years, according to a new report. Claudio Aspesi, Sanford Bernstein analyst said, television manufacturers had picked 3D as the next product cycle. “The beginnings of broad 3D TV adoption in Europe could take place as early as 2011,” he added.

Three-dimensional technology is progressing quickly, and has already been adopted in Hollywood with almost twenty 3D movies scheduled for release this year. As for TV shows, Sky have already demonstrated the technology at several sporting events invcluding Liverpool’s clash with Marseille at Anfield last year. Though those who want to view 3D content will have to invest in a new television set.