Broadband for all by 2012 (Reported by Interim Digital Britain)

Lord Carter's eagerly awaited interim Digital Britain report arrived today, promising broadband to every house in the land by 2012. First impressions are that the report is more than a little vague, and although we were surprised by such a concrete commitment to universal broadband access, we're left with as many questions as answers. Such as whether we really need broadband for all? How will it work? Is 2012 realistic? And the elephant in the room: who's going to pay for it? There is a recession on, after all. Bear in mind this is only a precursor to a final report due in late spring. Objectives include 'upgrading and modernising our digital networks



-- wired, wireless and broadcast', which is what's been grabbing the headlines. Other goals are to encourage UK investment and content, advance universal access and necessary IT skills, and push online interaction with public services and government. But what will Carter the Unstoppable Techs Machine actually be doing? Well, we're getting a strategy group and an umbrella body -- hurrah! You can never have too many of those -- and before the final report appears, everyone involved has promised to have a jolly hard think. Mainly about how they can get someone else to pay for all this, we'd imagine. The report includes a hint at a possible digital switchover for radio, after television moves over from analogue. And there's more on the hot-button issue of copyright, piracy and the surrounding brouhaha. A rights agency is mooted, crucially to be funded 'through a modest and proportionate contribution' by 'distributors and rights-holders'. Meanwhile, Action 13 of the report sets out the intention to legislate against copyright infringers, including a requirement for ISPs to collect data on 'serious repeat infringers', whose personal details will only be made available to rights-holders on receipt of a court order. But it's universal broadband that has us talking, with the report anticipating a 2Mbps connection to every house by 2012. It's starting to look like 2012 will be make-or-break time for UK plc, with the country's economy, international standing and public consciousness invested so heavily in the Olympics and its associated hoopla. Who's paying for it is unclear, as is how those currently paying for broadband will react to possibly subsidising or paying more than others. Meanwhile, some are unconvinced as to whether we really need universal broadband.



As fully paid-up Net nerds, we're on board with the idea of superfast connections we can push to the limit with cloud computing, Web video, downloading and sharing content -- wherever we are, and whatever device we're using. But our dear old mums just want to check their email, and of the 17 million people who aren't online, how many simply don't want to be? So the idea of broadband being as important as electricity, water and gas seems a stretch right now. But then people probably said that about TV and even the telephone, and the idea of providing Internet access to the less well-off or less educated is a noble one. We're not sold on the report's argument that a universal broadband infrastructure will lift us out of recession and make us greener, but the idea of future-proofing the nation is squarely in our wheelhouse. Early adopters already get TV, music and on-demand content via the Web, as well as working, VoIPing, and interacting with companies and services. The report includes an ominous mention of public-sector 'efficiencies', which hopefully for the sake of those who aren't so online-inclined won't mean real-world public services will be efficiencied out of existence in favour of virtual versions. We hope the idea of universal broadband is more sustainable than, say, universal healthcare. Still, as the online generation matures, we'll all grow into silver surfers, and the notion of separate TVs, phones and computers will be as quaint as black-and-white TV or gas lighting. Hopefully we'll have hoverboards by then too.

Logitech Harmony 1100

Touchscreen, tablet-style universal remote control

When Logitech brought out its touchscreen, tablet-style Harmony 1000 in 2007, it was clearly taking a stab at the high-end of the universal-remote-control market. We liked the 1000, but it did have a few kinks. Enter the Harmony 1100, an upgrade to its older brother. The 1100 is available now for around £350.

Design:
The 1100 is about twice the size of a typical smart phone, at 140mm by 18mm by 104mm, but feels pretty light. The screen measures 89mm (3.5 inches) diagonally and features QVGA resolution (320x240 pixels). That's not super-sharp, but, considering you're not watching video on the screen, it looks very good. The brightness is adjustable, and, even at a moderate setting, the screen is easily viewable. On the surface, the biggest differences between the 1100 and 1000 are that the 1100 is black instead of silver; has a white, instead of blue, backlight for illuminating the buttons in the dark; and the volume and channel buttons have swapped places in response to "customer research". Logitech has also added small, tactile guides on the side of the screen to make it easier to find the right button. We're not sure what the point of this is, since you're dealing with virtual buttons.


Although the 1100 is a touchscreen remote, you'll find a handful of hard buttons on the device for frequently used functions -- such as moving the channel or volume up and down -- and a five-way navigation pad to get through menus. All of these buttons, including the small 'activities' button just below the screen, are backlit. As with many remotes, the identically sized channel and volume buttons are right next to each other, so we occasionally hit one when we meant to hit the other. Like some of Logitech's more expensive Harmony models, the 1100 includes a docking station -- the same one that comes with the 1000 -- for charging its removable lithium-ion battery. The 1100 also has a motion sensor -- when you pick up the remote, it automatically turns on. Logitech has designed the remote to have a maximum of four layers of menus, so users don't get buried in an over-complicated menu tree. All in all, it seems like a good system but, as with any new remote, it will take some getting used to.

Features:
With the 1100, Logitech has boosted users' ability to customise commands on every screen. While you can't exactly create your own interface -- you can't upload your own button images, for instance -- you can customise labels and choose from the 90 icons provided by Logitech. Plus, you can add favourite-channel icons.


To customise the look of your screen, you can add your own digital image as a background, but we preferred to stick with one of the several monochrome backgrounds that Logitech offers. You can also add a series of images that will appear in a slide show when your remote goes into a screensaver-style mode. In most other respects, the 1100 is very similar to the 1000, so much of what we said about that earlier model applies to this one as well. We're still disappointed that Logitech has yet to upgrade the desktop software to allow you to store all your Harmony remotes in one master account and easily clone settings, so you can swap in a new remote without completely having to reprogram it. Logitech does offer some cloning features, but since the 1100 has a totally new operating system, we couldn't just copy over our old settings from the 1000, or any other Harmony remote, to this model. As with other Harmony remotes, you program the 1100 by connecting it to your Internet-connected Windows PC or Mac via the supplied USB cable, installing the model-specific version of Harmony software, and answering a fairly simple online questionnaire.

Nokia Smart phone - E71

Feature-packed smart phone with a Qwerty keypad


The Nokia E series has traditionally been an uninspiring collection of boxy phones, but last year saw a dramatic upturn in its fortunes. The Nokia E51 and E65 took the market by storm -- and it wasn't just businessmen buying them. The E series is beginning to look as attractive as its multimedia N-series siblings. The Nokia E71 is the Finnish giant's latest addition to the E series and will be available in July. Pricing is set to be around €350 (around £280) SIM-free, and it will most likely be free on a monthly contract.

Design:
The E71 is one of Nokia's most attractive smart phones to date. Many phones with Qwerty keypads lack a certain finesse, but the E71 wouldn't look out of place in an Aston Martin. Not only does it look good, its attractive metal casing feels very classy and it's not too heavy or too light. A 10mm thick profile ensures it fits inside a pocket comfortably, even though it's wider than your average handset. The screen and Qwerty keypad are well laid-out -- a series of shortcut keys below the screen make it easy to access your emails, calendar and contacts.

Although the keys are small, they're very usable, because each is raised, making it easy to distinguish between them. In fact, the E71's keypad is one of the best Qwerty keypads we've ever laid fingers on. We inadvertently dropped the E71 a few times from waist height and it carried on working as if nothing had happened, thanks to its resilient casing. It truly is a stunning looking phone that will stand the test of time.

Features:
Email-centric, business-oriented phones can be dull as ditchwater, but the E71 isn't lacking exciting features. Like the Nokia E90, this smart phone boasts more features than your average Nokia. Having said that, it gets the basics right first. We can happily say that setting up your personal email, such as Gmail or Yahoo, is really easy. All you have to do is put in your email address and password -- that's it. The E71 also supports Microsoft Exchange, although it's a little harder to set that up, so you might want to get some help from your office IT guy, depending on your phone skills.

Connecting to the Internet to receive emails and browse Web sites is possible almost everywhere you go, via HSDPA (3.5G) or Wi-Fi. Using the built-in Wi-Fi scanner, it's easy to find a hotspot and connect to it.


To save battery life, you should turn off Wi-Fi scanning when you're not using it. Surfing the Net is better than with most built-in browsers. Pages are displayed in full and, interestingly, the E71's browser supports Flash and lets you watch YouTube videos, although it's fairly sluggish -- audio streams faster than video.