* Posts by Dave123

10 publicly visible posts • joined 13 Sep 2017

Ten years ago Microsoft bought Nokia's phone unit – then killed it as a tax write-off

Dave123

Re: Software updates

Nokia benefitted from being leader in both network and handset. They didn't need to update the handset software as they knew it would work as they had tested it in house against the incumbent network vendor, themselves.

Lesser handset manufacturers were faced with having to pay mobile networks to patch their networks whenever they had screwed up, as it was near impossible to rollout patches to handsets.

For me, the irony was Nokia laid off most of Nokia Networks (including me) in 1999 to focus on the profitable handsets side. To then have to pivot back to networks after the handsets side shrivelled away.

Doom turns 30, so its creators celebrate seminal first-person shooter’s contribution to IT careers

Dave123

Beginnings of networked games heaven

This game came out when I was in uni. My flatmates all had PCs and at the time NICs were quite expensive for student budgets. In the elec eng department, there were lots of aged PCs laying about with NICs, so we gave the NICs a better life and blew my project budget on coax and bnc connectors.

On the subject of networked games, Lemmings was awesome too.

UK comms regulator rings death knell for fax machines

Dave123

Re: TTY?

There’s an app for that now.

Relay uk

https://www.relayuk.bt.com/

Why can't passport biometrics see through my cunning disguise?

Dave123

It’s not what it seems...

‘Automated facial recognition’?!?! You’ve fallen for the techno hype. The reality is spelled out here:

while a camera takes a picture of the traveller and an officer at a control station behind the gates checks that the image captured by the camera matches the one on the passport (facial recognition).

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPassport_gates

So they have 1 person manning multiple gates, so the delay is that person checking the other photos before yours.

Whoa! Google to power Amazon's internet. Wait, oh, not that Amazon. The other one. The rainforest

Dave123

I’m sure the lumberjacks can’t wait to have internet access. They’re the ones with cash to pay for the service, not the locals.

Halfords invents radio signals that don't travel at the speed of light

Dave123

Re: Definition

No different to DVB. Like DAB, if you have an old receiver that doesn’t have the new codec, fear not as the channels you’re missing are no loss.

Vodafone UK links arms with Openreach to build out its full-fibre network

Dave123

Re: Hmmm

If you’re surrounded by houses, the bottleneck is probably the wifi connection. The free routers are rubbish at coping with interference.

Probably for the best: Apple makes sure eSIMs won't nuke the operators

Dave123

I expect the main reason for not having eSIM in China is that the profile downloads would be blocked by the great firewall due to being encrypted.

Rather than the eSIM slot being secondary to the physical slot, it is the physical SIM slot that is secondary - it is there to allow these early eSIM devices to still work on networks that are not eSIM ready. It also means your £1000+ iPhone isn’t going to be bricked if something goes wrong with the eSIM. I’d give it a year or two before the physical SIM slot joins the headphone socket in the history books.

Apple: Our stores are your 'town square' and a $1,000 iPhone is your 'future'

Dave123

Re: Watch cellular??

Multiple devices with the same number has been supported for a long time. It's usually implemented using IN/CAMEL or for termination services only via functionality on the HLR. Most networks didn't bother investing in this type of functionality as their focus shifted to providing faster data services instead.

Apple's adoption of Qi signals the end of the wireless charging wars

Dave123

Re: A bloody nose for Analists?

I believe the analysts got the half speed charging bit right.