Up to 7th January

Filling in the news stories of the last week or so:

Internet:
Youtube ordered by Brazilian judge to take down video of a model on a beach (5th Jan): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6233693.stm

Future Technologies:
Bill Gates predicts a future of home-help robots (5th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1983267,00.html

Internet:
ecommerce doing well - more evidence that UK shoppers are moving online (5th Jan): http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1983183,00.html see also (31st Dec): http://www.guardian.co.uk/christmas2006/story/0,,1980362,00.html

Television:
The first hybrid DVD player, able to play both blu-ray and HDDVD is announced by the South Korean firm LG whilst Warner Bros have announced new double-side hybrid discs (4th Jan): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6230925.stm

Mobile Phones/Internet:
Some US mobile phone users will now be able to access and update their Myspace page via phone after the deal with Cingular Wireless (4th Jan): http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/biztech/12/18/cingular.myspace.ap/index.html

Mobile Phones:
Record numbers of texts sent in the UK over Xmas and the New Year (4th Jan): http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1982212,00.html

Television:
TV companies will be offered digital adverts (rather than on video tapes), making it easier to put commecials on air and perhaps attracting advertisers back onto TV from the net (4th Jan): http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1982293,00.html

Cinema/Internet:
Movie studios agree on trhe use of the Content Scrambling System (CSS) for downloaded movies to enable burned discsto be played without problems on DVD players. The story forgets to highlight how it also helps the studios by adding DRM to the discs ... (4th Jan): http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/internet/01/04/movie.downloading.ap/index.html

Television/Internet:
ITV poaches digital chief to mastermind UK's first free video-on-demand service. ITV, suffering on terrestrial television, recognises the need for an early lead in television delivery over the internet. The proposed servcie will let viewers download all of ITV's programmes, 'heralding the end of prime time TV'. All content from its four channels will be available on PC via the net either live or over a 30 day watch-again window (3rd Jan): http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article2121717.ece

Internet:
Rising numbers of UK broadband users. 'More than 69% of UK net users have broadband connections according to the latest figures from the UK's Office of National Statistics' (3rd Jan): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6228367.stm

Internet:
Ryanair fails to shut down critical website - Ryanair has lost a fight with a disgruntled customer. The World Intellectual Property Organisation ruled that Michael Coulston's website ryanaircampaign.org did not use the trademark in bad faith, and it was unlikely customers would mistake it for the company's website. "Tarnishment in this context does not mean criticism. If it did, every website critical of a brand owner could be branded a tarnishing use." Mr Coulston said he hoped the company would get the message. "I think they don't understand the human nature of people who don't happen to be driven by greed or fear," he said (2nd Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1981108,00.html

Internet/Mobile Phones:
Vodafone becomes the next mobile phone provider to begin offering broadband access to attract new customers and cling on to existing users (2nd Jan): http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1981018,00.html

Mobile Phones/Cinema:
Orange adds its internet users to its cinema deal, as part of the mobile phone company's strategy to retain/increase customers in a highly competetive market - synergy between media plus special offers are becoming the new marketing tool (2nd Jan): http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1981017,00.html

Theory:
An essay by Zizek on Time magazine's decision to give the 2006 award for person of the year to 'You' - to user generated content. Zizek provides a critique of this claimed digital democracy (30th Dec 2006): http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1980156,00.html

Internet:
The number of Chinese web suers grows by a third, rising to 132m people online, up 30% on last year (30th Dec 2006): http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,1980144,00.html

Music:
Making claims of its demise look premature, iTunes is overwhelmed by shoppers in the holiday season (all of whom want to fill their new ipods ...) (28th Dec 2006): http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/12/28/itunes.slowdown.ap/index.html

Internet:
News of a court case starting soon over a sex blog by a woman in Washington DC. She's being sued for invasion of privacy by one man she slept with and wrote about on her blog: 'The case dating from the 2004 blog is expected to go to trial soon. In establishing whether people who keep online journals are obliged to respect the privacy of those they interact with offline, the case could have a profound effect on the content of social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook'.(28th Dec 2006): http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1979111,00.html

Mobile Phones:
Vodafone tries to move into the Indian mobile phone market - the fastest growing market in the world (22nd Dec 2006): http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1977422,00.html although their bid is challenged within days (28th Dec): http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1979086,00.html