Tech Companies Need to Recycle and Reuse

Chances are, the gizmos you love using and owning are polluting the environment more than you might imagine. Your mobile phone, your trendy new iPad, the shiny iPod etc are all made from virgin plastic. This is because the tech companies that manufacture these gadgets don't want to use recycled materials.

Only Samsung Products are Green, To Some Extent
Greenpeace recently published its annual report in which it rated almost all tech companies very poorly in respect of their use of recycled materials. The "Green Gadget Guide" gave top marks to Samsung because 15 percent of its products are made from recycled materials. Samsung also has a schedule in place to increase this figure from 15 percent right up to 25 percent. Therefore, any company that has such a robust plan for using recycled materials is given top marks.

Samsung plans to make 25 percent of its goods from recycled materials in the near future. This includes pre and post-consumer plastic. As the name suggests, pre-consumer plastic is where the factory recycles its own waste and post-consumer plastic is sourced from consumers for example, used bottles that we send for recycling and so forth.

Only Samsung qualified for this, beating hundreds of other IT and tech giants in the process. Other organisations failed to make the grade just because they don't want to increase the amount of recycled materials they use. This would make them accountable to the public and they wanted to avoid this since they probably don't want a repeat of the public criticism they received following the PVC and BFR problem recently.

Even Samsung got pretty poor marks, actually, and what pulled them through was their robust recycling of post-industrial scrap. The other companies probably don't want to use recycled plastic in the products, like mobile phones, because it makes their products look different.

Recycled plastic looks a bit different from virgin plastic so companies will only use recycled materials in places that cannot be seen by the human eye. They might only use it inside mobile phones, for example, as it might interfere with the sleek and shiny look of the product if they use it extensively on the outside as well.

Please Recycle!
But the point they fail to realise is that many consumers are highly aware of the ecological disaster that awaits mankind if we don't recycle and reuse. Therefore, such consumers might buy recycled phones and some might even pay a premium for such products.

In fact, we would love to buy and use mobile phones and laptops that were made only from recycled materials. Wouldn't you?

Source by: www.arabia.msn.com

Facebook puts brakes on clickjackers

Facebook has put the brakes on "clickjackers" that were duping people with a fake status update about someone getting revenge on an ex-girlfriend.

"We've disabled the page," Facebook said in an email response to an AFP inquiry.
"As always, we advise people not to click on suspicious-looking links, even if they're from friends."

The scam enticed Facebook users with a titillating status update of "OMG This GUY Went A Little To Far WITH His Revenge On His EX Girlfriend" that appeared to be from a friend.

In order to connect to the link provided, people were prompted to verify themselves by clicking on colour coded boxes that actually triggered Facebook users' Share and Like buttons, spreading the message.

Tricking people into clicking on computer links that do other than what is promised is referred to as "clickjacking".

Source by: news.smh.com.au

Queenslanders stung by Microsoft scam

Queensland Police has warned of a surge in fake Microsoft phone scams targeting home computer users in the state.

The scam occurs via a phone call from a person claiming to represent a well-known computer company, commonly associated with Microsoft, who claims the victim's computer is infected by a virus and offers a fix.

The victim is then directed to a website that enables the scammer to control the victim's computer and cause fake problems to appear, which can be rectified for a fee, or with a software purchase.

Fraud and corporate crime group detective superintendent Brian Hay said attackers will also load malware or trojans onto the victim's computer.

"This is all just a scam. Microsoft has confirmed they are not cold-calling members of the community regarding viruses, computer problems or any other issue," Hay said.

"Quite simply, these offenders are just looking to trick you into giving them money."

"Giving someone you don't know remote access to your computer is basically the same as handing your credit card details over to them," Hay said, adding that scammers could easily steal banking and personal details from a victim's computer.

Source by: www.zdnet.com.au

Telstra to run Tas NBN pilot

    

Telstra says it will run a trial of the National Broadband Network (NBN) in three Tasmanian towns to test how its customers can use the infrastructure.

The telecommunications giant says it will run the pilot program in 100 homes and businesses in the Tasmanian towns of Scottsdale, Midway Point and Smithton, which are already connected to the NBN.

Telstra CEO David Thodey announced the trial on a visit to Hobart on Tuesday, saying the company wanted to see how it could use the network.

"The pilot is an opportunity for Telstra to assess how BigPond broadband services and next-generation digital home products ... perform over the NBN," Mr Thodey said.

"It's unusual for Telstra to access another network rather than use our own, so it's important we ensure our products and services work smoothly."

Mr Thodey said the NBN gave Tasmania an "enormous opportunity" in the fields of health and education.

Source by: news.smh.com.au

Mobile broadband fastest growing sector: ABS

Mobile wireless broadband is the fastest growing internet access technology according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). 

A survey based on more than 300 internet service providers noted an increase in mobile broadband usage to 3.5 million users in June, 21 per cent higher than in December 2009, out of a total of 9.6 million active internet subscribers.

Digital subscriber line (DSL) is the major technology for connections, according to the statistics, accounting for 44 per cent of total connections. The percentage share has decreased since December last year when DSL represented 47 per cent of the total connections.

The results also found that 92 per cent of Australians have switched to broadband and 71 per cent have faster download speeds of 1.5 Mega bits per second (Mbps) or more.

Some 8 per cent of users are still accessing the internet via dial-up connections.

Source by: www.computerworld.com.au

Google Voice returns to the iTunes App Store

In the wake of Apple's revised developer guidelines, Google Voice apps are now being accepted into the iTunes App Store.

Back in July of '09, Apple stirred up some controversy when it removed a number of Google Voice apps from iTunes for "duplicating features that come with the iPhone." What soon followed was Google CEO Eric Schmidt resigning from Apple's board of directors along with an FCC investigation into the matter. At the time, Apple maintained that Google Voice apps hadn't been "rejected" from the app store, but rather that Apple needed time to make a more informed decision on the matter. Of course, Apple never actually made that informed decision, and Google Voice apps were, in essence, rejected out of hand. 

 

But then something funny happened. Perhaps feeling the pressure from the FCC and wishing to avoid a legal tussle, Apple recently loosened up many of the iTunes App Store restrictions that had previously frustrated a number of developers. Not only are iOS developers now allowed to use cross-platform development tools, but a number of previously rejected/removed/pending review apps are now finding their way back into iTunes, chief among them Google Voice.

Last week, Apple informed Google Voice Mobile developer Sean Kovacs that he could resubmit his app to iTunes and that it would most likely be accepted. True to form, Kovacs recently submitted GV Mobile to the iTunes App Store where it was subsequently welcomed back with open arms.

Early on Sunday morning, Google Voice Mobile appeared on iTunes where it's now available as $2.99 download. You can check it out over here.
  

Source by: www.digg.com

Apple's latest iPhone to go on sale in China on Saturday

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China Unicom said it will launch Apple's latest iPhone in China on Saturday, as it attempts to claw back market share with a rollout of the U.S. company's popular smartphones.

The iPhone 4 will be sold through China Unicom on two-year phone contracts and also through Apple retail stores in China, the world's largest mobile phone market with more than 790 million subscribers.

China Unicom will sell the latest iPhone 16 gigabytes version at 3,899 yuan ($579.9) with a monthly fee of 96 yuan for 2 years. Alternatively, subscribers can sign up for a 2-year plan of 286 yuan per month and get the phone free.

"Looking at the pricing, it is still relatively expensive. People can still come to Hong Kong to buy it for less," said Marvin Lo, a Hong Kong-based analyst with Daiwa Capital Markets.
Lo expects the new iPhone 4 to stimulate 3G monthly net additions of 1 million subscribers for China Unicom and expand the firm's average-revenue-per-user in the short term.

"It is still expensive stuff, whether it can stimulate net additions over 6-7 months remains to be seen," Lo said.

Apple will also open two new stores in China on Saturday that will sell the new iPhone, Apple said in a statement.

The Cupertino firm currently has two stores in mainland. Apple will open an Apple store in Hong Kong Plaza in Shanghai and one in Beijing's Xidan Joy City.

At the stores, the phones will be sold without contracts at 4,999 yuan ($743.6) for a 16 gigabytes version and 5,999 yuan for a 32 gigabyte version.

In Hong Kong, a 16 gigabytes iPhone 4 is cheaper than its Chinese counterpart at HK$4,988 ($642.4) at the Apple store.

China Unicom, the sole telecom distributor of Apple's iPhone in the country, had seen slow sales for the handset because of high subscription fees and stiff competition from lower priced Android handsets.

Apple opened its second flagship store in China in July and is on track to have 25 retail outlets in the country by the end of next year. Apple executives said in April that they saw the Chinese market as a major growth opportunity.

Source by: au.news.yahoo.com