Virgin unveils next-gen broadband

In a story by the BBC News - Virgin unveils next-gen broadband we see the first step in higher speed broadband connection being brought to the consumer.

"Virgin Media has launched its new 50 Megabits per second (Mbps) domestic broadband service."

This has implications on the net neutrality issue, where we have already seen early backers of neutrality - Google, Miscrosoft, Amazon - back away from it and in favour of a more tiered system. Even the tech advisors to Obama who supported neutrality early on are gradually singing a new tune.

I like the idea of higher speed broadband connections and think that much of today's limited use and integration of the net at home has to do with the horribly slow speeds that cable and internet companies provide. Not any company specific speed but the general download/upload speed of the internet.

If a certain company who's name is that of a fruit, were to implement such a high speed broadband, utilizing it with its full range of products would be, well, truly wonderful. Not that it would limit content from others, but rather because of synergy with it's products and those meeting standard and similar specifications, means that such could flow at far higher speeds than delivered today, outside of Virgin.

Movie downloads/streams, game streams, large chunks of data between universities and other institutions of learning, specific b2b content....all can be done quicker and more secure.

Phone calls on your iPod Touch

As reported by the BBC "Wireless Turns iPod into a phone" and confirmed from the website, Truphone now has technology that allows 2nd Gen iPod Touch users to make calls to other iPod Touch users and Google Talk users over wi-fi - for FREE.



There's no phone bill or over the limit fees. Their aim is to make the software able to make calls to land lines, skype and other type of services within weeks. This could mean massive savings for persons who use their mobiles heavily and are constantly going over their limits. It could also mean huge savings if this software allows us to make international and long distance calls as well.

"There are a slew of new features we're rolling out for the iPod Touch that will let users call landlines, Skype users or send instant messages. We're talking weeks, not months, before these go live."



So no having to wait months for this. This would mean that this is just as good as having an actual iPhone. Well, with the one limitation that you need a wi-fi connection to be able to use this service. But it's impressive nonetheless. Though I have not tried it out yet, I think the question remains as to the quality of those calls. Is it just as good as making a regular call using the cell towers and other technology or is it choppy and bad like you would expect from most software of this type in their early stages? Let's see.

Truphone is software that you can download freely from their website and install on your mobile device which helps you save on calls by routing them over the internet. Similar to skype, let's wait to see if the voice quality is just as good. Amazing stuff. Another challenge to the phone companies. Now let's just wait for Apple to deleverage themselves from AT&T and we should be good. For now.

iTunes Free Open University

More Free Stuff on iTunes. Learning lessons for FREE!

Thanks to the guys at 9to5Mac for bringing this one to our attention. The iTunes store now has a free open university where you can go download amazing informational stuff. It's great. I checked it out and have downloaded a few myself, all within my first 5 minutes.