Update

I will be taking a break from my blog while I get married to my wonderful fiancee Tiffany and go on honeymoon. See you all in November!

/Jaan Orvet

T-Mobile works to tighten Wi-Fi security | CNET News.com

"We want to remove whatever barriers that big businesses have in terms of security and help smaller businesses that don't have IT support to feel more comfortable using our hot-spot service," Sims said. "

Good move. But it should have been done a long time a go. It will most likely take about 6-12 months from roll-out of these "secure" hot spots until the users who were initially put off start trusting, and using, hot spots.

PayPal - Welcome

PayPal went GBP yesterday by launching a UK website.

The company also operates a customer service operation, and a European HQ, in Dublin, Ireland.

.zip

PKWare have wisely decided to license its secure .zip technology free of charge to competitors.

Earlier this year the company applied for a patent on a .zip format with increased security. This ruffled feathers around the industry as .zip has been in the public domain for some time and a incompatible .zip format would lead to confusion among end users.

Previous post on the issue:
Is Zip coming undone? - August 12, 2003

IT, it matters

ZDNet UK quotes Autonomy's chief executive Mike Lynch and his response to the whole "IT doesn't matter" debate started by a story in Harvard Business Review. Lynch spoke at the European Technology Forum Technology Summit event in London yesterday. The story from ZDNet UK.

My posting on the ETF:

European Technology Forum - August 27, 2003

Banking by the numbers

Online banking customers in the UK are praising the service level of smaller banks in a new report by consumer magazine Which?. The Cooperative Bank's Smile netted a 91% score, while high street giant Nat West only managed a lowly 36%.

More on this from The Guardian.

Segway

Today's Segway count in my San Francisco neighborhood: 3

Smartphones may breach corporate laws

Guy Kewney at eWeek writes about how IM on smartphones might pose a challenge for "IT managers". Interesting story with a tad to much panic between the lines.

It is astonishing (and amusing and scary) that the story opens with the following:

"How many corporates actually realise that a cellphone is not merely a channel for "texting" but also, with Smartphones spreading rapidly, a vehicle for Internet based IM, and even picture messaging?"

Are "corporates" really this clueless? I honestly don't think so. But if they are... snap snap, get clued in!

Psion returns

There's good news for those of us that were fans of Psion's mobile computing products in the late 1990's. Psion Teklogix this week released the NetBook Pro. It sports a case similar to that of the old Psion Series 7 but comes with a 400MHz processor, 128MB of RAM, Windows CE .Net 4.2, 8.5 inch colour touchscreen and slots for PCMCIA, SD and CF.

Curiously enough it is priced at a sky high $1500 USD. That's comparable to a regular laptop, and the money would get you more. Psion Teklogix claim that the overall cost of owning a PC laptop including service, support etc is about $8000 USD, compared to $2000 USD for the NetBook Pro. Still, I have a hard time seeing the NetBook as a laptop replacement. But I am sure that it will find its niche market. Either way, it's good in a nostalgic sort of way, to see a new "handheld" from Psion.

Photo © Copyright 2003 Psion Teklogix Inc.

Brand new from Palm

I had the pleasure of attending the first ever Palm Pugapalooza at Palm's HQ in Milpitas last night for the embargoed presentation of the new product line. (The embargo was lifted earlier today at 12.01 am.)

Both the Tungsten E and the T3 are excellent additions to the existing range and the Zire 21 will step in to the million-selling shoes of the original "entry level" consumer offering. The T3's "stretch display" and "landscape mode" (see photo below) are fantastic, and the "status bar" (far right in the image below) something I've personally had on my wish list for a long time. The improved "agenda view" is impressive. If only the option to mark calendar items as completed had been brought back (it vanished after v3.5). Price points are good: $99 (Zire 71), $199 (E) and $399 (T3).

On the down side, it is disappointing that the T3 doesn't come with 802.11b. The explanation, that connectivity beyond Bluetooth is more of an enterprise feature, doesn't hold up. Also, the new (hard)button layout just doesn't feel right to me, but it might be perfect for everyone else.

Photo © Copyright 2003 Palm, Inc.