sector - CCS (Leeds)

NEWS
UK push for
Commodore
Big hopes to revolutionise mobile media market with wi-fi
enabled streaming portable device...
by Scott Bicheno
A NEW CONCEPT sporting an
old brand has been launched
into the UK market.
Anyone who remembers the
80’s will be familiar with the
Commodore brand, but other
than the logo this version has
nothing in common with the
computing company of old.
Today’s Commodore
describes itself as a wi-fi
entertainment platform and
aims to redefine the way people
consume their media on the
move. Its unique proposition is
to do away with storage and
have everyone stream their
media live over wi-fi.
“This is a completely new
concept,” sales director Frank
Akihary said. “By emphasising
streaming and video-on-demand
we’re changing the way content
is accessed.”
The launch product will be
the Commodore Gravel In
Pocket, a device with a 2.8inch
TFT screen and full wi-fi
connectivity. It is designed to
access the CommodoreWorld
media portal via wi-fi and
stream video and audio from it.
For the concept to work
there has to be good wi-fi
News Bytes
Save energy
Fujitsu Siemens Computers
has revealed the most
energy efficient server in
the world – the PRIMERGY
TX120 tower server. It
apparently sets new
standards in
environmentally conscious
design with the smallest
carbon footprint of any
server available today.
www.fujitsu-siemens.com
“By emphasising streaming and
video-on-demand, we are
changing the way content is
accessed.”
hotspot coverage, but just as
important is a commercial
model which spares the user
the need to establish a new
commercial arrangement every
time they pass from one
hotspot to another. Akihary
believes the current hotspot
paradigm is destined to change.
Commodore has deals with
Boingo – a hotspot aggregator
CeBIT speaks
In the words of Ernst Raue,
the Deutsche Messe board
member in charge of
CeBIT, the 2008 show is
gearing up to “underscore
its outstanding role as the
digital community’s No. 1
marketplace”. The newlook
CeBIT will aim to be
more user-centric than
ever from next year.
www.cebit.de
that provides flat-rate access to
public hotspot providers – and
FON – a wi-fi community in
which people share access to
their personal wi-fi.
It is estimated that the
Gravel will retail for around
£200, a price that will include
a router and, initially free,
access to CommodoreWorld.
commodore-gravel.com
Microsoft Blowout
Microsoft’s COO, Kevin
Turner, has revealed a triple
software launch for
February 27th 2008. Turner
announced that Windows
Server 2008, Visual Studio
2008 and Microsoft SQL
Server 2008 will launch at
an event in LA, kicking off
hundreds of launch events
around the world.
www.microsoft.com
Green group
targets the
tech industry
ENVIRONMENTAL advisory
group the Energy Saving
Trust is offering its ‘Energy
Saving Recommended’
accreditation to the most
efficient 20 per cent of
technology products.
The not-for-profit
organisation identified
technology products as being
major contributors to power
consumption in the UK. It is
hoping its accreditation will
encourage retailers to stock
only the ‘greenest’ products,
as it can serve as a powerful
differentiator between
otherwise similar products.
In its report, snappily
entitled The Ampere Strikes
Back, the trust listed
information, communication
and entertainment as major
energy consumers,
estimating that by 2020 they
will account for almost half
of domestic power
consumption.
The Energy Saving Trust
states as its mission
statement ‘to reduce UK
emissions of carbon dioxide,
one of the greenhouse gases
responsible for climate
change, by 20 per cent of
1990 levels by 2010’.
Your Dell
Dell is preparing to launch
a line of laptop and
desktop computers aimed
at small businesses called
Vostro. The range of is being
targeted at businesses with
25 or less employees and is
tipped to come with
subscription-based services
and a dedicated tech
support staff.
www.dell.co.uk
The Trust wants
to reduce UK
emissions of
carbon dioxide
by 20 per cent
of 1990 levels by
2010.
Major retailers such as PC
World, Currys and Comet
have already joined the
initiative and it is looking to
recruit new members.
It believes the
‘Recommended’
accreditation could be
especially valuable to smaller
retailers, who can explain
the significance of it to their
customers.
www.energysavingtrust.
org.uk
Shoppers up
The latest Retail Traffic
Index from research group
SPSL reveals that June saw
retail footfall rise by three
per cent year-on-year and
by 4.4 per cent on May. The
quarter two numbers were
up 2.2 per cent against
2006, a reverse of the 0.9
per cent drop recorded for
Q1.
customercounting.com
6 PCRetail August www.pcretailmag.com