Welcome

Microsoft surprised the world this week by embracing freeconomics with version 10 of its Office suite. James looks at what Microsoft is learning from the open source movement.

Laura and Becky, meanwhile, have been looking through your waste paper baskets - or at least bringing you news of a new project that lets people track what happens to their trash after it's been thrown away.

There's been good news for the music industry this week as new research suggests that illegal file-sharing is finally on the wane. Ellie investigates why.

Finally, Dave honours Bletchley Park's World War II codebreakers and contemplates what astronomers have done for us, as a new exhibition opens at London's Science Museum.

For more of our thoughts on what's happening in the world of business, science and technology, visit our blog or follow us on Twitter at @PromptLondon and @PromptBoston.

Hazel Butters
CEO
Prompt Communications

Microsoft Office in the clouds

By James Gerber

In a surprise move, Microsoft is offering its upcoming Office 10 online for free. Previously, it had offered tools under its Live umbrella for free online, but as online applications such as Google Docs and Zoho have steadily been eroding its user base,

Microsoft has decided to make a proactive move.

In a surprise move, Microsoft is more seriously working to fend off Google by offering its upcoming Office 10 online for free. Previously, it had offered tools under its Live umbrella for free online, but as online applications such as Google Docs and Zoho have steadily been eroding its user base, Microsoft has decided to make a proactive move.

Office has always been one of Microsoft's most profitable products. But as free competitors have moved in, its value has dropped. Businesses have seen that they can store documents online using Google Docs and even use them as a collaboration tool. One Prompt client has dropped its entire Office suite for Google's products. ZDNet's Dana Blankenhorn is dead on when he says that Microsoft "cut the bottom rung off the ladder because it had to."

As time goes on, fewer companies will be willing to pay an exorbitant license fee for their products. Microsoft is almost taking an open source approach here (albeit using software as a service model) by offering the software for free in order to make money from the add-ons.

And make money it will - from supporting Office 10 and from all of the products that tie into it. The future looks bright for Microsoft if it continues to take this innovative approach to opening up its products.

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How much trash can the Trash Track track?

By Laura Beynon and Becky Cheers

For most people, the garbage disposal system starts and ends with a black bag in a plastic bucket. But do you ever think about where your trash ends up and how it gets there?

Well, now you can find out, thanks to researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who have developed a sophisticated new electronic tag to track household waste on its journey through the disposal system.

The 'Trash Track' project aims to educate people about waste disposal and get them thinking about the impact their detritus has on the environment and where it ends up. It will monitor patterns of trash removal and the costs associated with it. The MIT researchers hope that it will spur people to throw less stuff away and start recycling everything they can.

"Trash is almost an invisible system today," Assaf Biderman, one of the project leaders at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told the BBC. "You throw something into the garbage and a lot of us forget about it. It gets buried, it gets burned, it gets shipped overseas."

To start with, 3,000 items will be thrown away by volunteers in New York, Seattle and London will be fitted with electronic 'smart tags' that will constantly broadcast their location to a central server. The public will be able to monitor the journey taken by each thrown-away item as its movements are plotted in real-time on an online map.

The results of the project will be presented during September 2009 at two exhibitions at the Architectural League in New York City and in the Seattle Public Library.

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Streaming is the new sharing

By Ellie Turner

Free music streaming sites are dramatically reducing illegal file-sharing among teenagers, according to a new study by The Leading Question, MusicAlly's consumer research division.

The study discovered that 42 percent of 14-18 year olds illegally shared music in December 2007, but this fell to just 26 percent in January 2009.

So what's driving this increase of conscience among music fans? Simple: there are now easier ways to access free music on the internet, from YouTube to the relatively new, ad-supported streaming service Spotify, which has proved to be a big hit across all age groups.

It seems to be solving the new problem faced by the music industry - how to control the spread of illegal file sharing and how to prosecute successfully.

"Kids find services like YouTube much more convenient for checking out new music than file sharing," Paul Brindley, chief executive of MusicAlly, told the Daily Telegraph.

The survey did find that 13 percent of respondents confessed to sharing albums illegally while only 10 percent said they buy them. But the increasing availability of new albums on Spotify may help to reverse this trend too.

The music industry still has a long way to go to put a structure in place to crack the piracy problem, but streaming seems like a definite step in the right direction.

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Bletchley Park code breakers finally recognised

By Dave Wilby

More than 70 years after the elite 'Station X' cryptography unit was established at Bletchley Park to decipher enemy codes in the Second World War, the surviving heroes are finally to be honoured. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said:

"We owe a debt of gratitude to all who served at Bletchley Park and its out-stations. I am proud to acknowledge their skill and determination which helped our country in its time of greatest need."

Some might argue that the recognition is too little and too late for the men and woman who worked tirelessly to break the Enigma code of German communications and deliver 'Ultra material' into the hands of the Allies.

According to V3.co.uk, military and civilian workers will now receive a special "commemorative badge" from the government. However, Simon Greenish, director of the Bletchley Park Trust, told TimesOnline he welcomed the announcement: "These people made an enormous contribution to the outcome of World War Two, the 20th century and freedom in the West. After many years of having to keep their critical wartime work top secret, it is tremendous that this contribution has finally achieved recognition."

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Stop your snooping, advises Berners-Lee

By Dave Wilby

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web and all round good egg, this week called on governments and businesses to stop snooping on web users, or else.

Speaking at the launch of Digital Revolution, a new BBC2 series exploring the history of the web, Berners-Lee said: "When you use the internet it is important that the medium should not be set up with constraints. The canvas should be blank. The trend over the years is that the internet in the end goes around censorship and openness eventually triumphs, but it is by no means an easy road."

Watch Sir Tim's keynote speech video yourself for further insights.

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17th July 2009

Welcome

Technology News

Microsoft Office in the clouds

How much trash can the Trash Track track?

Streaming is the new sharing

Bletchley Park code breakers finally recognised

Stop your snooping, advises Berners-Lee

Cosmos & Culture

Media News

US

UK

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By Laura Beynon

5,000: Estimated number of digital 3D screens worldwide today

10,000: Estimated number of 3D screens worldwide by end of 2011

30%: estimated additional cost to consumers for 3D films

17: Number of 3D movies expected to be released during 2009

'More than 30': Number of 3D films expected to be released in 2010

Five stars: My own personal rating for 3D films

Sources: Digital Signage and Slashfilm

US

By Laurie SantaLucia

Shuffles at The New York Times have seen its deputy Washington bureau chief Doug Jehl depart for The Washington Post. Jehl will take up his position as assistant managing editor for foreign news at the end of July. He is replacing David Hoffman, who is moving to a contributing editor role at the Post.

Andrea 'Andi' Wang has left her position as editorial assistant at Gizmodo. Previously, Wang covered consumer electronics for the site, which discusses everything related to gadgets, gizmos and cutting-edge consumer products. A replacement has not been named.

Deborah Gage has accepted a buyout and left the San Francisco Chronicle. As senior technology reporter she covered green technology, security, privacy, venture capitalists and Silicon Valley start-ups. Gage joined the Chronicle in 2007 from a senior writer role at Baseline. She will continue to cover business and technology topics for the paper as a freelancer.

West Coast correspondent Jeff Segal is no longer with the New York Bureau of Breakingviews, an online source for financial commentary. U.S. editor Rob Cox and correspondent Robert Cyran will handle technology coverage until a replacement for Segal is named.

Chris Nichols has been appointed assistant managing editor of Yahoo! Finance. Nichols was previously managing editor of TheStreet.com.

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UK

By Laura Beynon

The UK media pages are still awash with alleged phone tapping and how British tabloid News of the World sourced some of its stories - with the most recent revelation being that it eavesdropped on Rebekah Wade, the editor of The Sun (its sister paper).

Wade - regarded as one of the most powerful women in the UK media - is set to leave The Sun as she has been promoted to chief executive of News International Ltd, which owns The Sun. In her new post, effective 1st September, she will be responsible for the Times, the Sunday Times, The Sun and the News of the World.

Her successor at The Sun hasn't been named yet - but there's plenty of rumours - for example she sat a few seats away from one of The Telegraph's editors at Wimbledon (Will Lewis), so his name has been linked, Dominic Mohan - The Sun's current deputy - is also cited as a runner.

The editor of The Sun holds a powerful position in British media and British politics. This new appointment comes at a time when the paper's support for either Prime Minister Gordon Brown or his challenger, David Cameron, could be pivotal.

Elsewhere in the UK media landscape, Emap appointed Alastair McLellon as group director and editor. His new job will involve managing the Health Service Journal, the Local Government Chronicle and Nursing Times, all in print and online.

And, finally some good news for The Times and The Sunday Times which were named as the most recognised newspaper in the UK by the public by a survey. The Times was voted top in the 12th annual Superbrands report, ranking 131 out of the 500 strongest brands in the country - the highest score for a newspaper this year. The overall top brand was Google.

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Cosmos & Culture

With Dave Wilby

Living in London has its downsides, as anyone who battled the District Line this week will be only to happy to share with you. But it is also home to some incredible national institutions, not least the Science Museum, a very special place capable of turning even the most cynical adult into an awe-inspired child.

But don't take our word for it. Get yourself down to the museum's next special exhibition. 'Cosmos & Culture: how astronomy has shaped our world' will open on 23 July, and is being previewed online right now. Explore how astronomy has changed the way we see our universe, trace the history of people and the stars, get to grips with key scientific concepts, or just mess around with all the cool instruments and space stuff.

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In a recent podcast, we investigated clients' real-world experiences of doing business across the Atlantic. As a team spanning 5,370 miles we've decided to share some of the language differences we stumble across.

We're starting with a word beloved by both sides of the Atlantic - 'pants'. Of course, everyone knows that, in the US, pants are a respectable item of clothing. But in the UK, you certainly wouldn't want to display your pants in public. Well, you might want to, but you probably shouldn't - people tend to look down on people that run around in their underwear. Especially if they wear it on their head.