Tech Brief
On Tech Brief today: RIP the net, Iranian robots and more tablets on offer.
• It seems the world is going tablet crazy. LG is the latest firm to reveal that it is working on an Android-based tablet which should be available later this year.
The mobile phone manufacturer joins Dell and Samsung in jumping on the iPad bandwagon and that it will be bigger and better, or should that be thinner and better, than its rivals?
"It will deliver vastly superior performance than other similar devices currently on the market while still managing to be thinner and lighter than competing devices."
Watch this space.
• Google thinks there is room on the internet for another Facebook, which is perhaps unsurprising given the growing speculation that it is about to launch a rival, which the rumour mill has already named Google Me.
Talking didn't devote many column inches to the rumours but neither did he shoot them down in flames, so of course his few words on the matter have been picked up around the web.
"Facebook is an absolute phenomenon but there are other social networks which are successful too. We've got Orkut, which is fantastically successful in India and Brazil... I think what we'll see is the internet becoming more of a social place, as well as people being social within the context of social networks."
• Iran has once again proved itself to be on the cutting-edge of tech with the unveiling of its very own walking, if not talking, robot.
Surena 2 is a new version of a robot built by students at Tehran University two years ago. has already been enjoying a bit of celeb status.
"Surena 2 was unveiled by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week, its purpose unknown. Named after a famous Persian warrior, the robot stands 4.7 feet tall, and can walk about slowly carrying its own weight of 99 pounds. Gulf News reports the robot will get vision and speech modules later on down the road."
• It sometimes seems that BT can do nothing right. The telecom firm has been roundly criticised about its tardiness to roll out fibre-optic networks and now that it is (sort of) it seems people don't like the look of it.
Residents in Brighton have complained about the "monster cabinets" which BT needs to install to house the cables for the super-fast broadband update.
"[T]he impact that these monster cabinets could have, both within and outside conservation areas, if they are simply installed wherever Openreach finds most convenient."
• And finally, Tech Brief has to report the sad demise of the internet. Yep it's all over for the net, at least as far as pop icon Prince is concerned.
Prince has been no fan of the internet, filing lawsuits against YouTube, eBay and Pirate Bay for allowing users to download his music for free.
Now Mashable reports an interview
"The Internet's completely over. I don't see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won't pay me an advance for it, and then they get angry when they can't get it."
Worse still, the internet is not even cool, according to the diminutive popstar.
"The internet's like MTV. At one time, MTV was hip, and suddenly it became outdated."
And to mark his protest against all things webby, Prince has shut down his official website. It may be the beginning of the end although whether for the web or Prince's music career Tech Brief is undecided.
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