Welcome

Welcome to another edition of the Prompt newsletter.

We've got a great issue for you this week. We look at government plans to log all phone and internet communication, how UK shopping centres are already tracking us through our mobile phones and Microsoft's new Live Search cashback scheme.

We also report on why Greenpeace is upset with games console makers, Gordon Brown's utilisation of YouTube, and new wee-controlled games booths from Belgium. And yes, we mean wee, not Wii.

If you enjoy reading this newsletter, why not take a look at our blog?

Hazel Butters, CEO - Prompt Communications

Technology News

UK government plots huge data silo
By Dave Wilby

Following last week's story about data privacy concerns in the US, this week brings news of a security concern on the other side of the pond. According to New Scientist, the UK government is considering a massive database to store everyone's emails, phone calls, text messages and internet usage details as a tool to help tackle crime and terrorism.

Phone records are already kept for up to 12 months by telecommunications companies in compliance with an EU anti-terrorism directive, but the new Home Office proposal would see providers handing over records containing billions of emails as well as internet use and VoIP data.

A Home Office statement reads: "The changes to the way we communicate, due particularly to the internet revolution, will increasingly undermine our current capabilities to obtain communications data and use it to protect the public. To ensure that our public authorities and law enforcement agencies can continue to use this valuable tool, the government is planning to bring forward the Communications Data Bill."

The draft bill is expected to be released later in the year, but the plan has yet to be discussed by MPs.

It's 1984... in a shopping centre
By Duncan Heaney

It's not only the government that is tracking us. The Times reveals that customers in shopping centres in the UK are being tracked by a new type of surveillance. This technology monitors signals from shoppers’ mobile phones, and can tell when people enter a shopping centre, what stores they go to, and the routes they use to get there. They can also identify the country in which the phone was registered.

The technology comes in the form of small receivers of around 30cm square. These dishes, placed on walls in the shopping centres, monitor the signals produced by mobile handsets and locate the phone by measuring the distance from three of the receivers. The devices have already been deployed in two shopping centres in the UK.

Path Intelligence, the company that makes the technology, claims that it is intended to be used as an intelligence gathering tool. For example, the shopping centre could use the device to identify the number of people in the centre at any one time and lengthen or reduce opening hours accordingly. One of the shopping centres that has already deployed the device is Gunwharf Quay in Portsmouth. It discovered that a significant number of its shoppers were German, and added German instructions in the car park as a result.

Path Intelligence is also quick to reassure people that the tool is for intelligence gathering, and is incapable of identifying individuals.

Apprentice UK Quote of the Week

"You won because your horrible advert, your horrible box, threw it in the people's face.”

Sir Alan Sugar reveals how this week's victors won the task. By default, essentially.

US Media News

By Tarryn Morley

Robert Thomson has been appointed managing editor of the Wall Street Journal. He replaces Marcus Brauchli, who resigned from the post in April. Thomson will also be editor-in-chief of Dow Jones' newswire services. Prior to taking on his new role, Thomson served as publisher of the WSJ. Thomson has almost 30 years of experience in journalism and has previously served as editor of the Times and has headed up the US edition of the Financial Times.

Katie Hafner has left her role as a reporter for the New York Times in a recent spate of lay-offs. Hafner has worked for the paper for ten years covering technology. She has previously worked as a technology correspondent for Newsweek and as a staff editor at BusinessWeek. Hafner has also worked at the San Diego Union-Tribune and Computerworld.

Michael Barton has been appointed senior editor, new media at Computerworld. Prior to joining Computerworld, Barton worked as a senior editor for PC World since October 2007.

Greg Huang is the new Seattle editor for Xconomy, a blog focused on New England area business, life science and technology. Huang has previously worked at Technology Review and New Scientist.

UK Media News

By Tarryn Morley

Gareth Jones has been appointed editor of Haymarket's Revolution. Jones previously served as both news editor and digital editor at Marketing Magazine, another Haymarket title.
Prior to joining Haymarket, Jones worked for New Media Age as a deputy news editor.

Zoe Strimpel is the new features and lifestyle writer at City A.M., a daily freesheet distributed in London's financial district. Prior to joining City A.M., Zoe worked as a freelance journalist.

Mark Holgate, currently a senior fashion writer at US Vogue in New York, has been appointed editor of the Times' quarterly glossy magazine, Luxx, and style director of the Times magazine. Holgate has worked at Vogue for five years and was previously fashion director of New York magazine for four years. He has also worked at British Vogue as fashion features editor. Holgate replaces Tina Gaudoin, who left in January to join the Wall Street Journal to launch a new glossy magazine for the newspaper.

Jamie Dunkley has been promoted from reporter to senior reporter at Post magazine, a weekly title providing news and analysis about the insurance industry.

Tech Totals

By Zachariah N. Hofer-Shall

61%
Amount of all online searches made through Google.com, the largest market share the search giant has held

20%
Yahoo's share of online searches, a distant second to Google

40%
Google's year-on-year increase in search market share

Source: Silicon Alley Insider

Will Microsoft's paid search pay off?
By James Gerber

In an attempt to compete with Google and Yahoo, Microsoft is now paying people to use its search, says the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The new Microsoft program announced this week will return money to users who find and buy products through its Live Search Engine. Its 'Live Search Cashback' site promises to pay back between two percent to more than 30 percent of the purchase price for what people order.

Already in place is a long list of participating merchants, including the online sites of Barnes & Noble, Sears, Home Depot, J&R Electronics, and Office Depot. The foundation for Microsoft to make this move was laid when it acquired Jellyfish.com.

This cashback idea is old, having been available on smaller sites for several years but this is the first time that one of the top three internet search engines (granted, the very distant third) has established such a program.

The problem, as those other sites have found, is that people inevitably ask the question: "Why are you paying me cashback?" That question is even on Microsoft's FAQ. Many people are wary of sites that pay you to do something that you do for free elsewhere, and distrust them. They ask themselves: "If it's any good, why are they paying me?” The truth is, they won't pay you if it's any good. Microsoft is desperate for web users, and this is a nice feature, no doubt about it. If it does get those users, it will no doubt discontinue the service.

Gordon Brown is kickin' it on YouTube
By Oliver Greaves

Finally, the chance we've all been waiting for: we can ask British prime minister Gordon Brown anything we want. But will we be answered? That's the real question.

According to WebProNews, Gordon Brown will use YouTube from his home in Downing Street to answer the questions of the nation. The 'Ask the PM' concept allows citizens to post a video question to Gordon Brown on YouTube. At the end of June, the questions with the most votes will be answered.

Gordon Brown said, "Politicians get a chance in prime minister's question time and other question times - I think it's time the public had a chance."

The government is hoping that by using YouTube he will be able to relate more to the hip, happening world of today's youths. It also hopes that older members of the public will use the service as well as a serious way of communicating their concerns with the Prime Minister directly.

Console makers not playing the green game
By Dave Wilby

Leading games consoles might technically comply with European law, but are still made from unnecessarily harmful chemicals and metals, Greenpeace claimed this week. In a news story on the BBC website, the pressure group called on Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo to take immediate action to eliminate toxic materials from their most popular games machines.

In laboratory tests, Greenpeace's global assessment of 'green' technology companies found that all three consoles contained at least some toxic elements, including bromine, beryllium and phthalates. Many toxic materials are not permitted in toys sold in Europe but under EU regulations games consoles are not classed as toys.

Greenpeace said it was also concerned that there was no "safe way" to dispose of old consoles and called on games console makers to introduce return and recycle policies.

New wee game makes a splash
By Fatima Khanum

The Register is reported on a new interactive gaming unit, Place to Pee, in which video games are controlled by players... passing water.

The wacky gaming concept has been developed by two Belgians, Werner Dupont, a software developer, and Bart Geraets, an electrical engineer, both of whom, we're sure, are flushed with pride. The game, which takes place in a booth and allows for one or two players at a time, relies on players 'hitting' sensors on both sides of a urinal to control the game. Gamers have a small screen positioned in front of them and the only rule seems to be aim well.

For the time being, only a few game options are available, one of which is a space battle (think along the lines of Space Invaders here) in which gamers 'fire' at approaching aliens. This makes us wonder how long each game actually lasts. A more important question, however, is whether ladies can also take part in the fun? The answer is yes – ladies looking to get their share of the thrills can go with the flow too, albeit with the aid of a paper cone.

So where does it go from here? Well, the Place to Pee unit featured in last year's GamePower Expo (Belgium's biggest gaming event) and its developers have plans for renting out booths for universal use as game consoles.

The question remains, is this simply a one-off craze or will it really make a big cross-over here in the UK and elsewhere? Whatever the outcome, many Belgians think it's number one.

Website of the Week

By Sean McManus

Blockposters

This is a great way to cover your blank walls with something personal and distinctive. Blockposters enables you to make giant pictures by uploading any image and downloading it as a multi-page PDF enlargement. Printed on A4 or US letter paper, using a standard black and white or colour printer, the pages can be stuck close together on your wall to recreate the original image larger than life. The results are fantastic, and enable anyone with access to the internet and a simple printer to create the kind of displays that would normally require specialised printing equipment. Visit the site's gallery for inspiration.

We hope you find the Prompt Communications newsletter an interesting read. For any feedback on our newsletter, or to discuss how we can help you with your technology PR, marketing, social media/blogging initiatives, copywriting or surveys, please contact us using the details below. We are always delighted to hear from you.