Dear Reader,

Welcome to another edition of the Prompt Communications newsletter. Red Hat's announcement of a desktop Linux for emerging markets this week illustrates that while Microsoft may be the defacto standard for desktop computing in the western world, things are looking very different in the developing nations. These potentially huge markets are extremely price sensitive, and in that respect desktop Linux is highly competitive.

For any feedback on our newsletter, or to discuss how we can help you with your technology PR, marketing, copywriting or surveys, please email me at hbutters@prompt-communications.com. We are always delighted to hear from you.

Best regards,

Hazel Butters
Prompt Communications

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Technology Update

By Lance Concannon and Sean McManus

Give banks own high level domain

Writing in the current issue of Foreign Policy magazine, Finnish IT security researcher Mikko Hypponen suggests a simple method to combat online banking fraud. In order to make it blindingly obvious to web users whether they are logging onto a legitimate financial services website or being duped into entering their personal details into a fake site, he suggests that a new high level domain should be introduced specifically for the use of established financial establishments.

Phishers often set up fraudulent websites which use exactly the same page design as genuine banks and official looking domain names, designed to trick users into entering their login details, which are then used by criminals to gain access to their accounts. Because anybody can register a '.com' domain name, it's easy to create a fraudulent web-address. By creating a '.bank' domain name and ensuring that only genuine organisations had access to it, web users could quickly and easily ensure that they were logging onto a legitimate site.

University of Essex offers online degrees

The UK's University of Essex will offer foundation degree courses online from this July. The university is promising to use the internet to make studying more flexible and accessible to those who cannot study on campus, even part-time. There will be multiple start dates throughout the year, and tutors will be available outside class hours in chat rooms and audio conferences. The first courses will be Business and Management; Entrepreneurship; Marketing and Sales Management; and Internet Marketing. Students can take an optional third year of study to supersize the foundation degree to a bachelor's degree. To offer the courses, the university has partnered with training company Kaplan, a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company. The US-based Kaplan University has 26,000 online students.

Red Hat looks to desktops in emerging markets

Leading Linux vendor Red Hat this week announced plans to push into the entry level desktop space, specifically targeting emerging markets. The Red Hat Global Desktop operating system is designed to run on a wide range of hardware, starting with low specification entry level machines. Red Hat worked with Intel to ensure compatibility with the chip giant's low-cost Classmate PC and other budget platforms.

The open source vendor has developed strong competencies in producing software for this kind of entry level hardware thanks to its participation in the One Laptop Per Child initiative, and now plans to use that expertise to launch itself into potentially lucrative emerging markets in the developing world.

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Consumer Technology Update

By Dave Wilby

Strangled spectrum quashes big hopes for small screen

Despite predictions that mobile TV will soon usurp gaming and music to become the most popular consumer application on mobile phones, spectrum issues look likely to delay UK adoption for another five years. A new report from AV analyst firm Screen Digest predicts there will be 140 million global subscribers generating revenue of £3.1bn by 2011, but admits that in the UK at least, a shortage of spectrum needed for mobile TV could delay adoption until 2012. In Japan and South Korea there are now 5.8m people watching TV on their mobile phones, and even more on other hand-held devices and in-car systems. "The spectrum allocation issue is unique to the UK and it means the UK is behind in terms of mobile TV," claimed principal analyst David McQueen. Watch the BBC's video report on the story.

HP unleashes 20-inch stonker

The first ever DirectX 10 laptop from the HP stable was revealed in Singapore this week and the Pavilion HDX Entertainment Notebook PC - codenamed Dragon - certainly didn't disappoint. The Dragon, a huge 20-inch widescreen desktop replacement built with entertainment in mind, looks like serious competition for the incumbent Dell XPS M2010. The impressive 1680x1050 dual-hinged screen and powerful graphics performance will soon have the crowds gathering around your desk, which is handy because at around 8Kg this is one beast you won't be rushing to lug around on a daily commute. Check out a video of the Dragon in action on PCPro's site (if the constant registration screens don't dissuade a casual visit). HP is threatening to launch another dozen new notebooks in 2007, and the early signs are certainly promising.

Spore slow to germinate

Despite losing £12.5m ($25) on revenues of £322m ($641m) in the last quarter, games publisher Electronic Arts has been forced to admit that its crucial Will Wright god game Spore will now be delayed into 2008. EA had previously suggested the long awaited title would be available by Christmas. Spore will let players nurse creatures from single cell twinklings to interplanetary conquerors, but the game's own development now seems to be crawling along at an equally evolutionary speed. EA has now admitted it can no longer depend on profits from Spore in the financial year ending March 2008.

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Marketing Update

By Lisa Facinelli

A new way to sync advertisements and consumers

This week advertising network Tumri launched a new way for website publishers to customise the ads displayed on their site and to cater to their target audience. By using Tumri's AdPod, publishers can control which products they want to include and modify the size, format, and overall display of the advertisement itself.

Marketers reap the obvious benefit of increased sales without doing the leg work of customising the ad themselves. Publishers get a cut of the revenue which is to be determined by clicks or placed orders of the product. And the consumers? Well they get another advertisement, except this one is disguised as a product they might actually want.

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US Media Report

By Lisa Facinelli

Small business owners, managers and entrepreneurs have a new resource at their fingertips courtesy of the New York Times online www.nytimes.com, which has launched a new section with news, tips, references and resources. See more here.

Writers and editors from the New York Times will contribute to the new section, including big hitters such as Paul Brown, Brent Bowers, Marci Alboher and James Flanigan: Flanigan's monthly print-based column, covering all things entrepreneurial, will extend into the new online section.

The LA Times has promoted John Corrigan to the position of deputy business editor. Corrigan, who has reported for the Los Angeles Business Journal the Orange County Register and the Daily News joined the LA Times business section in 2001 where he has held positions including senior news editor and senior markets editor.

John Tebeau takes the reins of Inc., the popular title read by CEOs of small and medium-sized businesses across America, as the magazine's new publisher. Tebeau previously held the role of national advertising director at the magazine.

Lawrence Carrel, previously a reporter for SmartMoney.com, has joined TheStreet.com as a senior writer. Carel has a strong track record of financial and lifestyle reporting, having worked for a range of titles including the grand-daddy of business reporting, The Wall Street Journal, and the grandmother of style, Vogue.

UK Media Report

By Annie Kasmai

Future Publishing has promoted managing director Robert Price to the newly created role of chief executive of Future UK, while group publishing director Simon Wear moves to the position of chief operating officer.

David Prosser has been announced as the new deputy business editor of The Independent. He replaces Michael Harrison who is leaving the publication to work in PR.

Nicholas Watt has been appointed political editor of The Observer.

Best of the 'Net

By Sean McManus

Mars as Art

For forty years we've been sending craft to Mars. NASA has produced an online exhibition of the most striking images to be returned. The pictures were nominated by scientists but filtered by artists, photographers and photo editors, purely for their aesthetic appeal.

The result is a fresh insight into an eerie landscape. Make sure you download the high resolution panorama (warning: 30MB) that was created by stitching together images from 2004's Rover landing. Viewed full screen, it is the closest thing to being there.

You can't help wondering whether there's a little green man just behind the camera, kicking the rocks.