Angelica Mari, Computing, Friday 30 January 2009 at 09:48:00 Call centre jobs go as mail orders dwindle and online sales rise Some 1,000 jobs will be cut at catalogue retailer Shop Direct Group as the company decided to close one of its call centres due to a decline in orders via telephone. The company has another six call centres across the UK and said that the decision to close down the facility in Crosby is due to the growth of internet sales and the consequent lower volumes of calls taken by customer service agents. Additionally, a...Read More »

Horses for wireless courses Our increasing appetite for sending and receiving data on the move fuels ever increasing need for wireless connectivity. Wi-Fi access and mobile broadband are usual ways of meeting this need. So what's best?… Full published article at: Read More »

Mole claims dual handset launch within weeks Rumours that Dell has designed a mobile phone have been doing the rounds for months. But it’s now been reported that the PC assembler could unveil two smartphones within weeks.… Full published article at: Read More »

Bryan Glick, Computing, Friday 30 January 2009 at 11:22:00 Critics say people will be disappointed The government's much-anticipated Digital Britain report has received a lukewarm response, with critics saying it promises much but delivers little. The draft document, unveiled yesterday, presents a 22-point action plan outlining the government's plans for the UK's digital transformation, which will include the upgrading and modernising of all wired, wireless and broadband infrastructure and making broadband available to every house in Britain by 2012. But Tory shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt said that most...Read More »

Botnet blackmail Techwatch is back online following a sustained denial of service attack that left the digital TV news site unavailable for two days earlier this week.… Full published article at: Read More »

Halfway house between phone and PC Microsoft has asked for a patent to protect its idea for a smartphone docking cradle that would turn your handheld into a mini-laptop.… Full published article at: Read More »

Parliamentary reporter, Computing, Friday 30 January 2009 at 10:33:00 MP calls for extra help to bridge the digital divide The government has been urged to investigate creating a "social tariff" for broadband access to prevent the digital divide widening as the proposed universal service obligation (USO) for 2Mbit/s broadband is rolled out. Glasgow North West Labour MP John Robertson launched the proposal after the announcement of the commitment to a USO by 2012 by culture secretary Andy Burnham. "The city I represent has the lowest take-up of broadband in the UK and making sure socially excluded...Read More »

Time-wasting diversion keels over Like Monty Python's famous dead parrot, the futile Aperi open source storage system management project has fluttered to earth because IBM has removed the funding nail that was keeping it upright. Aperi is now openly dead for all the world to see.… Full published article at: Read More »

'Fastbooting' netbook Linux The first alpha of Intel's Linux-based Moblin 2 platform has been released for testing.… Full published article at: Read More »

Google generation abandons YDrive You might say that Google and Yahoo! are moving in completely different directions.… Full published article at: Read More »