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The Weekly Round-Up: 28.03.08
Is it a bird, a plane, a train?…

By silicon.com

Published: Friday 28 March 2008

Planes, trains and automobiles - the title of an amusing comedy flick starring Steve Martin is also a neat segue into the Round-Up's opening gambit, after a week gorging itself senseless on chocolate eggs and iPlayer programmes.

The first travel-themed report of the week is news that Ofcom has waved a couple of table tennis racquets in the air and signalled take-off for mobile phones on aircraft.

Travellers on UK airlines who simply can't go a couple of hours without calling the office or loved ones, or possibly loved ones in the office, will be able to take advantage of the aircraft's network services and be routed via satellite to ground-based mobile networks.

So in addition to the airline food, you've also got to contend with MP3 ringtones and the guy in the seat behind droning on about his relationship problems.

She doesn't understand him, apparently.

Unfortunately you can, thanks to the crisp reception at 30,000ft. No escape. That emergency exit is suddenly looking rather inviting, isn't it?

Meanwhile, the first authorised in-flight mobile call was made at 30,000ft on 21 March on Emirates flight EK751 flying between Dubai and Casablanca. Mobiles and planes - the beginning of a beautiful friendship?

The airline is spending a cool $27m kitting out its entire fleet of planes with an in-flight mobile communications system.

Meanwhile, back on the ground and travellers flying with British Airways (BA) and other Oneworld alliance airlines will soon be able to access wireless broadband for free in UK airport lounges. It's a veritable cornucopia of mobile and wireless connectivity. (Will there be no call for a pen and paper anymore?)

BA has signed up with BT to provide the Openzone service in its 25 UK lounges - including the six at Heathrow's newly opened Terminal 5 - over the next three years.

Not that it's all plain sailing, or indeed flying, at Heathrow's terminal. For starters the newly opened facility had problems with the baggage system, which led to all luggage check-in at the new terminal being suspended.

BA, the sole airline using Terminal 5, yesterday had to cancel flights due to the baggage system problems, although most delayed passengers were moved to later flights.

BAA, the owner of Heathrow, said yesterday there was a "minor problem with log-ons of the baggage system which affected the baggage on some outgoing flights".

A "minor problem" which led to 33 flights being cancelled. Hardly the most auspicious of first days for the terminal project.

Doing little to dispel the general sense of despair at Heathrow was news the airport has had to temporarily suspend plans to introduce biometric fingerprint checks for domestic passengers travelling through the airport.

The initiative has been delayed after the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) raised privacy concerns about the system.

Does anybody else think that Richard Thomas is starting to punch above his weight? Thanks to the HMRC debacle and the ID cards U-turn, the pressing issues surrounding privacy and personal data have made their way to the centre of the political boxing ring.

Kick some ass, Richard.

Turning to trains and there's great news for the thrill-seeking, French pastry-loving mobile workers.

Fancy checking your emails or updating your Facebook profile at speeds above 320kmph?

Of course you do - and what self-respecting travelling techie wouldn’t?

Now you can browse the web and enjoy a pain au chocolat at the same time thanks to the stupendously clever people running the French high-speed TGV trains.

Passengers on select high-speed TGV trains in France travelling eastbound from Paris at speeds of up to 320kmph can enjoy a fledgling wi-fi service for free. Sacre bleu. And pastries. Mon Dieu.

However, don't expect the free connectivity lunch to last. Merde.

The service, which is still in its trial phase, offers TGV passengers with wi-fi-enabled devices unrestricted access to the internet at 2Mbps download and 512kbps upload rates, which puts parts of west London to shame.

The company envisages passengers being able to use the portal and onboard wi-fi to read up on their holiday destination and even buy tickets for local attractions. While eating pain au chocolat - don't forget the pastries.

In other non-travel news - illegal music downloads are being fuelled by file-sharing applications that allow people to share tunes online.

That bombshell comes courtesy of the British Recorded Music Industry (BPI), the UK's fluffier version of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Remember them?

A further revelation from the BPI was that more people than ever are able to swap their music collections because BitTorrent clients are now so easy to use. Pretty shocking stuff, the Round-Up's sure you'll agree.

The BPI's improbably named internet investigations executive Jollyon Benn said increasing numbers of people are sharing music over clients such as LimeWire in the false belief they are not breaking the law.

"We talk to a lot of people who say 'We thought that it was legal…because we got the premium version of LimeWire'. It is one of our challenges to make people understand the implications of what they are doing."

How very British. Let's not accuse people of stealing music. Let's call them misguided chaps who have inadvertently fallen from the straight and narrow.

The BPI is working with the international recording industry body the IFPI to develop bots and agents that are able to sniff out networks illegally sharing music online.

The Round-Up likes to think the scoundrels operating these networks may yet get a strongly worded very British email stating: "Look old chap, you appear to be under the impression that it's legal to allow your electronic music files to be copied by other equally misguided good eggs. It's not, unfortunately - that nice Ms Spears has a family to support."

Troubles in the server room? Just not talking to your supplier anymore? Not a problem. You can simply hire a counsellor.

Remember the old mantra that the customer is always right? Forget it. That's an ex-mantra, it has ceased to be, it has joined the choir eternal.

The latest vogue for CIOs and IT vendors who simply can't kindle the old romance is to get counselling.

An increasing number of companies buying IT products and services are hoping to avoid contract problems or even a messy divorce by setting up a vendor management office (VMO) to keep tighter control of suppliers.

VMOs are essentially marriage counsellors for IT vendors and clients, helping to stop them from straying from the bliss of their contract service level agreements.

Not only is the Round-Up not making this up - it’s all in report by Forrester Research - it's also happy to report that more than half of the 1,000 IT decision makers queried had already formalised a VMO to deal with the fallout from an unhappy marriage between client and vendor.

So is it just the Round-Up that thinks this counselling between vendors and clients is another symptom of the world gone mad? Statistically, it would appear to be pretty much the case.

The Round-Up will just get its coat and slip quietly out the back...

In other news this week the Round-Up can't go into in any detail because silicon.com's editors shout at it if it exceeds its word limit:

Coaker and McCurdie. Like Dempsey and Makepeace, it sounds like a top name for a gritty TV cop show about a couple of maverick police officers tracking down scumbags.

Actually, that's not far from the truth, it's about the government cracking down on cyber crime. Or at least talking the talk.

A record breaking teeny-tiny, itsy-weeny mobile phone. So wee…

Web 2.0: Imperative for business. Another of technology's big boys joins the marketing band-wagon.

Until next week, take a moment to enter the caption competition - this week's is particularly ripe the picking.

And check out the Round-Up in its slightly hipper podcast incarnation.