Technology, Working and Twerking

Entering the short working week following the last bank holiday of the year can seem like the official beginning of the end of the Summer. However, as it turns out it was a rather exciting week in the world of technology.

We have a roughly 50/50 Apple vs Android split in our office. So, for half of us the opportunity to get our hands on the New Google Nexus 7 tablet, launched on Wednesday, was a mouth-watering prospect. Yet, I don’t think the guys at Asus or Google would have expected all of their efforts to improve the screen resolution and processor speed to have been put to use in order to find out what the hell twerking is, or the odd lunchtime game of hugely addictive Minion Rush! It would seem that for all of the jargon, buzzwords and acronyms we know everyone was oblivious to this one. The Nexus 7 is a fantastic 7inch slate and thoroughly recommended, although we are now waiting with bated breath for the UK launch of the Chromecast.

Meanwhile, EE was joined by Vodafone (who were also hitting the headline for talks with Verizon Communications about selling its stake in their joint US venture) and O2 as they began the rollout of their 4G offerings in the UK, prompting debate on Radio 4 mid-week on the future of 5G, as well as internally in the office whether Wi-Fi only or LTE tablets are the way forward.

One of the most popular types of App on any tablet is mobile banking. In fact it is projected that more than one billion people will be using these services by 2017. So, it was with interest that we read the initial findings of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) looking at concerns over the security and user friendliness of these programs. The full report is due early next year.

However, the biggest surprise of the week was the revelation from BT that it will turn off its dial-up internet access service on 1^st September, making us first wonder who has the patience for dial up these days (certainly no-one here) and then reminiscing on the sounds the old modem would make and the anticipation of the webpage loading.

So a short week that I am sure has felt rather long, but the weekend and the end of the month is nigh, and I have a new tablet to play with and will be installing my mobile banking with a little more trepidation to check how much is left after payday.