Jersey’s undersea internet cables severed by ship’s anchor

Jersey’s undersea internet cables severed by ship’s anchor

A ship dragging its anchor on the seabed in the English Channel has cut the three main internet cables to the Channel Islands overnight.

Broadband speeds are expected to be slower as a result and telecom company JT said it could take up to a week to repair. Engineers have already been dispatched to repair the cables.

All communications traffic from JT, the main operator in Jersey, is going through a single link to France. JT says insurance will cover the cost of repairs and if they are able to track the ship then the owners insurance will pay for the work.

A spokesman for Jersey’s second largest telecom provider, Sure, says they are also having problems and there are likely to be issues with off island phone calls.

www.bbc.co.uk/technews (29th November 16) 

900,000 customers affected by Deutsche Telecom fault

900,000 customers affected by Deutsche Telecom fault

Deutsche Telekom has confirmed up to 900,000 customers have had their broadband service cut off following a possible hack of its hardware.

The number fell to 400,00 as security measures were implemented. Internet access, phone connections and TV reception for those with a certain router have been affected since Sunday.

Deutsche Telekom has issued a software update and is asking affected customers to disconnect their routers. In a statement, the company said that ‘based on the error pattern, we cannot exclude the possibility that the routers have been targeted by external parties with the result that they can no longer register on the network.’

www.bbc.co.uk/technews (29th November 16)

Ofcom order BT to legally split from Openreach

Ofcom order BT to legally split from Openreach

Telecoms regulator Ofcom has ordered BT to legally separate from its Openreach division – which runs the broadband infrastructure. It wants Openreach to become a distinct company with its own board, with non-executives and a chairperson not affiliated with BT. Ofcom also wants Openreach to have control over its branding and budget allocation. It should also have a duty to treat all customers equally.

Ofcom is preparing a formal notification to the European Commission to start the process. It has resisted calls from other telecoms companies to split Openreach off entirely.

Ofcom said BT had not gone far enough to address its concerns about BT’s ability to favour its retail business when making investment decisions in Openreach.

BT has said that they put forward proposals in July which were fair and sustainable in meeting Ofcom’s objectives. They will continue to work with Ofcom to reach a voluntary settlement that is ‘good for customers, shareholders, employees, pensioners and investment in the UK’s digital future.’

www.bbc.co.uk/technews (29th November 2016)

 

 

LingLong launches DingDong smart home speaker

LingLong launches DingDong smart home speaker

A Chinese firm, Beijing LingLong, has unveiled the country’s first voice-activated smart home speaker – its answer to Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Home.

The Ding Dong uses voice interaction to do tasks such as playing music and switching on home appliances. The device is said to understand Mandarin, Cantonese and basic English.  A study by Juniper Research suggests that China’s smart home market could be worth £18.3 bn by 2018.

Like Echo and Home, it can be used to control light switches, thermostats and home appliances, as well internet search, traffic and weather information, directions, online shopping, and music streaming,

So far though, it is the name of the product that has garnered more interest than the actual product itself!

www.bbc.co.uk/technews (24th November 2016)

 

iPhone ‘prank’ video crashes Apple smartphones

iPhone ‘prank’ video crashes Apple smartphones

A link to a video, which when watched slows down any iPhone until it crashes, is being used as the latest iPhone crash prank. The video from the Sina Weibo-backed video-sharing app Miaopai plays normally in the iPhone’s video player, but once the video is finished it can take up to a minute for the iPhone to lock up, requiring a forced reboot to recover it. Most people are unaware that anything has happened and continue to use their smartphone until it either won’t turn back on or locks up in an app, the home screen or with a spinning loading logo on a black screen.

The bug appears to involve the media handling functions of iOS, affects versions of the operating system as far back as iOS 5 and devices from the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 7. The older the smartphone – the faster the lockup occurs.

The lockup is not permanent, but requires a soft reset or forced reboot to recover the functionality of the iPhone. Once the iPhone reboots, everything appears to function as normal.

www.theguardian.co.uk (22nd November 2016)