Move over .org and .com, there are some new kids in town
The web is set for its biggest shake up since the arrival of the lolcat after the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) voted to dramatically increase the number of domain endings.
Currently there are 21 generic top-level domain (gTLD) names - aero, asia, biz, cat, com, coop, edu, gov, info, int, jobs, mil, mobi, museum, name, net, org, pro, tel, travel and the seedy xxx - but the move means that companies and individuals will be able to pay $185,000 to set up one of their choosing.
Any word is up for grabs, in any language and in any script. So expect to see sites such as www.refreshing.coke, www.ronaldo.football or www.bieber.annoying pop up, as well as a multitude of phishing sites with confusing names and characters set to bamboozle unsuspecting victims.
"Today's decision will usher in a new internet age," said Peter Dengate Thrush, chairman of Icann's board of directors. "We have provided a platform for the next generation of creativity and inspiration. Unless there is a good reason to restrain it, innovation should be allowed to run free."
There's a mammoth 360-page-long application form should you wish to register a new domain and companies will be required to state a legitimate claim for the domain - to stop rivals parking in their spaces.
The move does not affect the 250 or so country level domains (such as .co.uk and .fr).
Shazam has announced its first every corporate acquisition, snapping up Silicon-Valley start-up Tunezee - meaning a funky new feature for users of the popular music tagging service.
Shazam LyricPlay has hit the premium Encore version of Shazam, meaning that as well as being able to tag tunes on the go, Shazamers can also now see the lyrics to a particular tune in real-time when listening to the song. It's like a Karaoke machine in your pocket.
It syncs with whatever music source your desired tune is playing from and currently has 25,000 of the most tagged tracks in its lyrics database.
Andrew Fisher, Shazam’s CEO said: "Shazam leads the marketplace for mobile discovery and we constantly strive to develop even greater consumer experiences.?
"We are committed to make the necessary investments to build or acquire innovative technology in order to enhance these experiences as we continue to innovate and enhance the world’s leading mobile discovery service."
Shazam LyricPlay is available for free within the Shazam Encore and (Shazam) RED Apps for iOSand is available in the US, Canada, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.
One of the hacking scene's new kids on the block, i0n1c (aka Stefen Esser), is considering including a ban on using pirated applications with his next jailbreak, for Apple's forthcoming iOS 5. He may write in a block on using Installous, the software used to install illegal versions of apps on jailbroken iDevices, such as the iPad and iPhone.
Tweeting his thoughts, @i0n1c states: "Hmmm?@milicigoran?had a very good idea. Future jailbreaks should block Installous from working."
Followed by: "The idea to create a jailbreak that blocks pirated apps is going ping pong in my head. Might be a good motivator to do the iOS 5.0 untether."
Naturally, Hackulous, the team behind Installous is upset with this idea, as i0n1c's current jailbreak is rumoured to be adopted by around 11 million iDevices.
Speaking to TorrentFreak, Dissindent, one of Hackulous' admins, said,?“The entire premise behind jailbreaking is that you’re able to do whatever you want with your device. It’s your device, you own it and you should be able to manipulate the software in any way that you like.
“That doesn’t necessarily mean everything you do with it is legal, but that the manufacturer of the software and the hardware has no place in telling you how you use the device.”
He also believes that the idea of adding a block into jailbroken code is?tantamount?to?hypocrisy: "If a jailbreak author decides to add DRM to it, they are being extremely hypocritical," he added.
Clearly, a large amount of those who use Esser's jailbreaks are not pleased at the thought of blocking the use of pirated applications - he has been subjected to a stream of offensive tweets ever since.
Not that it bothers him though, it might even have made up his mind to add the Installous block: "In that line of thought, releasing a jailbreak that is only useful for people not into?piracy would be a way to maximally annoy the bad people inside the jailbreaking community," he told TorrentFreak,?mischievously.
Reports are circulating that the Samsung Galaxy S Plus could be coming to Britain "later this year".
That's according to website Fonehome, who claim to have confirmation from Sammy itself.
The Samsung Galaxy S Plus / Samsung Galaxy S 2011 Edition (model number I9001) isn't quite the Samsung Galaxy S's sequel - that's the job of the S II - but rather a tweaked up version of the original, packing in all that was good about the handset and giving us more.
More in the way of power for starters - with a 1.4GHz Scorpion processor with the Qualcomm MSM8255T Snapdragon chipset as opposed to the 1GHz chip in the original, and a 1650mAh Li-Ion battery, up 150mAh.
There's also the prospect of Android 2.3 out of the box, although the original (which shipped with 2.1) is now upgradable. The 2011 Edition is all wrapped up in a metallic black chassis.
Apart from that, it's more of the same - so a 4-inch, 480x800 Super AMOLED screen, a 5-megapixel camera with 720p video shooting, 512MB of RAM and 8GB of on board storage.
It's not likely to shake any branches at the top end of the smartphone tree, but it could be a decent mid-level option.
We'll let you know when we hear anything official.
Should your shiny new PC have an AMD sticker on it?
Any new PC or laptop purchase means being confronted with devices adorned in shiny stickers. Search closely and you will spot a trend; most have a big Intel logo slapped on them. But there are a rebellious few that are adorned with the words AMD.
The processor underdog has long sat beneath Intel's crown, but now, with AMD Fusion and its clever APUs, it looks like they might just have something to take on the all powerful Sandy Bridge.
To the average shopper however, the decision between Intel and AMD is far from clear, most will opt for a logo they know, safe in the knowledge that if Intel works on a friends PC, it will work on theirs. But breaking from the Intel safe-house is by no means a bad move. AMD have some really great processors on offer with their A-series APUs. The problem is, what exactly do they do differently to Intel?
The Fusion APU explained
Perhaps best to start by explaining what exactly an APU, or Accelerated Processing Unit, is. Ever noticed all those boards and fans inside your computer? Well an APU shrinks most of that down and sticks it on a single chip. This means graphics and the majority of other computing tasks can all be managed from one single place. The result is a whole heap of benefits that make day to day computing much easier. Admittedly both AMD and Intel manufacture APUs, the difference is most associate Intel with the idea of CPUs, so they just didn't adopt the moniker.?Both companies' processors make a significant difference to your computing capabilities. With AMD Fusion however there are a few that really stand out as useful.
Power
The first real benefit is laptop battery life. What AMD is calling "All Day" power essentially means 11 hours of idle battery, or about two and a half when the system is under very heavy load. AMD says that they get an extra hour over Intel options when putting laptops to the test. But until we really push a laptop through its paces and draw our own comparisons, we would take some of this with a pinch of salt. The bottom line is, a Fusion APU means longer times between laptop charges.
Vision
Video fans in particular will like this element of AMD's A-series processors. AMD has made things highly video-centric, meaning 1080p high definition playback is always smooth. YouTube video for example can be dealt with on-the-fly by the APU and subsequently smoothed out. Colour correction and one click video fixing is also very well supported by the processors.?
AMD has kept its nomenclature as simple as possible with the A-series processors. Doing away with GHz and all the other complexities of techie-speak, things simply go up in steps from an A4 to an A8. The bigger the number, the more computing grunt.?
Gaming
Those computers or laptops with numbers high up AMDs A-scale should be more than capable of running the latest games. AMD are well known for their gaming fan club and it looks like they haven't disappointed with their Fusion setup. The A8 in particular is mightily powerful.
At a recent AMD event we got a chance to put a few laptops boasting the top of the line processor through their paces. Particularly impressive was their ability to run demanding games like that of Dirt 3 at full 1080p resolution with no slow down whatsoever. This means those who fancy a bit of gaming, but don't wan't the complexities involved in choosing a powerful gaming rig, should look to the A8 for a simple solution.
That said, opting for an Nvidia and Intel setup, whilst being more complicated and possibly more expensive, will get you the best top of the line gaming experience.
So should I buy one?
We recently spoke to Lesley Sobon, AMD's vice president of product and platform marketing, about exactly what Fusion means for the company, to try and get a better idea if it's worth picking one up.
It looks like AMD is desperate to simplify the computer purchasing experience as much as possible.
"If you wan't basic browsing, HD, you watch video online, here you go, pick an A4," said Sobon.
The problem is, most that pick up a computer for precisely those reasons will find it has an Intel processor already stuck in it.
Ultimately the choice between the two at an affordable consumer level will make relatively little difference. It's the things you won't initially notice that might be enough to sway you in AMDs direction. Perhaps one day you'll get that extra hour of battery and be glad you chose a Fusion setup. You might even be editing video or watching a movie and notice things look extra nice.
In the end, though, the decision is up to you. Personally what we think should sway it is what else the laptop has to offer. In a computer market, where just about everything has more than enough power for day to day tasks, it should be things like size, colour and build quality that force that final decision.
Panasonic has been turning out its Toughbook laptops for some time now to those that need something a little more study. The almost invincible range of computers are famed for their reliability and battery life. Weight and size however has always been a problem.
Enter the Toughbook tablet, an enterprise grade portable from Panasonic that will make use of Google's Android OS. Aimed at those who need a bit of hardiness to their electronics, the tablet will undoubtedly turn up in the hands of soldiers, government personnel, Everest climbers, desert crossers, and Fringe Division. The clumsy will probably also appreciate the Toughbook tablet.
The tablet incorporates a 10.1 inch XVGA high-brightness daylight viewable screen and even an active stylus suggesting a resistive rather than capacitive screen. The Toughbook is also ultra-secure, at a hardware level, has satellite based GPS, integrated 3G/4G connectivity and 'full-shift battery life'.
Sadly no idea of cost of release date just yet, but don't expect things to be particularly cheap, all this toughness comes at a price.?
Advance Notification Service information on 16 bulletins (nine Critical in severity, seven Important) addressing 34 vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, .NET, SQL, Visual Studios, Silverlight and ISA. All bulletins will be released on Tuesday, June 14, at approximately 10am PDT. Come back to this blog on Tuesday for our official risk and impact analysis, along with deployment guidance and a video overview of the release.
One of the issues we start to address in this release is ?cookiejacking,? which allows an attacker to steal cookies from a user?s computer and access websites the user has logged into. The Internet Explorer bulletin will address one of the known vectors to the cookie folder. Given the prevalence of other types of social engineering methods in use by criminals, which provide access to much more than cookies, we believe this issue poses lower risk to customers. Further, based on a signature that has been released to millions of Microsoft Security Essentials and Forefront customers, the Microsoft Malware Protection Center (MMPC) has not detected attempts to use this technique.
Available for the first time on three platforms – Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, Mass Effect is back (well kind of if you count a March 2012 release date being back). Still will it be any good, will the wait be worthwhile, and what happens to Commnander Shepard? Pocket-lint was invited to a behind closed doors sneak peek of the game at the E3 gaming convention in Los Angeles, to show us what it’s all about. Read on to find out the key details, and what we thought.
Name
Mass Effect 3
What platform is it on?
Xbox 360, PS3, PC
When's it due out?
9 March 2012
What other game is it like?
Mass Effect 2
Does it use any new tech like 3D, PlayStation Move, or?Kinect for Xbox 360?
Yes. You’ll be able to talk to the game using the Microsoft Kinect.
The pitch
The Mass Effect franchise is set in an epic science fiction universe, filled with dangerous alien life and mysterious, uncharted planets. Featuring intense action, a rich, futuristic storyline, space exploration and emotionally engaging character interaction, the franchise delivers an unparalleled cinematic experience.
The storyline
In?Mass Effect 3,?an ancient alien race known only as “Reapers”, has launched an all-out invasion of the galaxy, leaving nothing but a trail of destruction in their wake. Earth has been taken, the galaxy is on the verge of total annihilation, and you are the only one who can stop them. The price of failure is extinction. You, as Commander Shepard, must lead the counter assault to take it back. Only you can determine how events will play out, which planets you will save from annihilation and which alliances you will form or abandon as you rally the forces of the galaxy to eliminate the Reaper threat once and for all.
Trailers, demoes, and video
Our first impressions
We were actually treated to three demos of Mass Effect 3 at E3 this year. The first was a preview of the game working with Microsoft’s Kinect accessory at the Microsoft press conference. The second was at EA’s own press conference, and the third was a behind closed door demo with Corey?Gasper, the games lead combat designer, and Casey Hudson, the games executive producer walking us through a further three levels.
Xbox 360 gamers will be pleased to see that if they’ve got the Kinect sensor they will be able to talk directly to the game when it comes to making decisions. No longer will you have to press a button to decide what action you want Commander Shepard to take, but simply read it. If that sounds like a bit of an extra faff it’s not the only use of the sensor. Gamers will be able to shout tactical orders at the rest of their squad and have them act on those orders. Bill move up, Bob take out that turret. It’ looks very tasty.
On stage in a live demo it all seemed to work fine, however that was the only time the technology was being shown. In our two other viewing the Kinect functionality wasn’t mentioned, presumably because EA wants to make sure PS3 gamers don’t feel they are being left out.
On the EA stand, and huddled into a room that had been designed to look like a space shuttle Pocket-lint was invited to a behind closed doors preview of 3 levels of Mass Effect 3. A replay of one of the levels shown at the EA press conference and a further two that briefly show up in the latest trailer from Bioware the games developers.
To add to the experience EA has rolled in a 103-inch Panasonic television. It’s huge making watching the gameplay unfold even more lifelike that you’ll ever likely to get in your home (well unless you also happen to own a 103-inch telly).
Our demo started with the same level we had seen at the EA press conference. Shepard has infiltrated a Reaper base and it’s your job to try and destroy it.
Needless to say it all goes wrong and a monster the size of a football stadium is soon chasing you down. It’s fast paced and action packed with Gasper blasting his way out of trouble on the back of a spaceship with a mini-gun.
We never do find out whether or not Gasper has what it takes as the demo cuts short.
What we learn from this level is that the vistas and graphics are stunning, that you can move around fast, and we mean fast, and that there are going to be enemies that you just can comprehend beating.
Level two in our demo is slightly less subdued, but by no means calm. We’re on an alien planet trying to evacuate a female alien that needs to be saved before the Reapers come in and mess everything up.
Here we see the Omniblade in action, the ability to give movement orders via a power wheel, and notice that enemies appear to be considerably smarter than previous outings – something that another American journalist in our demo keeps saying “Oh shit” to in a very excited voice. Gasper is having to flank them, use a series of weapons to stun the destroy them, and basically work a lot harder than we would have expected.
There’s also a hand grenade – a first for the Mass Effect series – and more weapons to manage.
Those weapons have, like characters in an RPG, the ability to be upgraded and managed and this is far more advanced that previous outings. You can manage your gear, find new weapons, buy new weapons and then sell them as well.
All this is in addition to your own skill sets and that of your crew, which can be managed in minute detail.
We also note that there is a lot more vertical movement in this level than we’ve seen before with Shepard having to climb levels, ladders, and staircases to get through it all.
The third level we are treated to is back on earth. The Reaper is attacking and it’s not looking good.
Here you are working the level with another soldier, and the proceedings happen after you’ve been suspended from duty – we aren’t sure why. It’s near the very start of the game and shows the destruction of earth.
Like the previous levels we learn a lot here too. The graphics are again stunning with the action being set by a harbour in a sprawling metropolis. Wave after wave of Reapers we get a small rest bite. It’s the option to save a small boy we’ve found in an air duct. Gasper tries to help but the boy runs away. It’s enough to drop the tension, while at the same time showing us that Mass Effect 3 isn’t just about murder death kill all the time. 10 minutes later and we’re coming to the end of the mission having just destroyed a Reaper craft that’s the size of a skyscraper. The cut scene sneaks back in and we once again see the small boy, this time climbing into the safety of a police shuttle carrier. Phew we think, until that shuttle is blasted from the sky moments later. The boy is dead, the battle continues, and you’ve got to move on.
It’s gut wrenching stuff and shows us that Mass Effect 3 isn't going to hold any punches come launch day. This is the games industry taking on Hollywood at what they do best. Hollywood better be ready.
Our demo over it’s clear that Mass Effect 3 is going to be one of “the” games of 2012. The storyline looks to be there and the action certainly is. Hudson explains that this is the best Mass Effect yet and that the previous two outing have been building up to this moment. Worried that might mean people thinking they have to play the first two to understand what the hell is going on Hudson adds that you won’t. Still with almost a year to go until number 3, you’ve got plenty of time to get up to speed.
Please note
The E3 games convention is a fantastic chance to see the latest games due out over the coming year, as well as, letting us get a glimpse into what is going to be the big titles and the ones to avoid like the plague.
The big problem however is that for most of the titles that glimpse is, well, just that. At the show you'll get to play a level here or a multiplayer map there or even have a product manager walk you through a specific level.
So with that in mind we present you with our Quick Play.
What we've done is broken down the key facts you need to know and then given you our first impressions based on around 15 minutes of?gaming. For us that 15 minutes isn't enough to do a First Look review or even a review. How can you rate a game that offers over 30 hours of gaming on just 15 minutes of play? However it should hopefully give you an idea, a feeling, a notion, of what to expect come launch day.
For those of you yet unawares of the currently unfolding TVShack trial, here is a quick roundup:?
Richard O'Dwyer, a 23 year old British student at Sheffield Hallam University, founded TVShack, a website that provides links to illegal copies of movies and tv shows. The site itself doesn't host any material, instead pointing to other websites that do - a bit like a curated search engine.
US authorities have accused him of criminal copyright infringement and are now attempting to take O'Dwyer to America for trial.?
According to O'Dwyer's mother Julia, her son was arrested at his student?accommodation?in November last year and subsequently questioned by police and officers from the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Department.
New charges were laid against O'Dwyer on 23 May, he subsequently answered bail but not before spending a night in Wandsworth prison whilst his family paid the ?3000 required.?
The trials' move to the US could drastically change the situation for O'Dwyer, who could end up waiting years in jail before his case is heard. O'Dwyer's legal teams are currently fighting the extradition, pointing to the fact that TVShack was not hosted on American servers.?
TVShack.net currently has a note from the US Immigration and Customs Department which states it has been seized. It also explains that, "it is unlawful to reproduce or distribute copyrighted material".
Oh dear, we'll put this one down as a PR disaster that everyone can just forget about shall we?
Just one day after stating that the HTC Desire would not be getting the Android 2.3 Gingerbread update, the Taiwanese company has backtracked and said that, in fact, it will.
Speaking via its UK Facebook page the company said:
"Contrary to what we said earlier, we are going to bring Gingerbread to HTC Desire."
It's good, if somewhat bizarre news. We wonder what happened to the memory issues that the company talked about only one day prior when it said:
"Our?engineering teams have been working hard for the past few months to find a way to bring Gingerbread to the HTC Desire without compromising the HTC Sense experience you’ve come to expect from our phones.
"However, we’re sorry to announce that we’ve been forced to accept there isn’t enough memory to allow us both to bring Gingerbread and keep the HTC Sense experience on the HTC Desire. We’re sincerely sorry for the disappointment that this news may bring to some of you."
Hmmmm. Is there suddenly more memory available? Or has HTC figured out a way to botch Gingerbread and Sense together on the Desire to quieten down the uproar the cancellation statement caused?
Let's hope there's not going to be a compromise on user performance just to alleviate some bad press.
Google really wants you to use Gmail to call your dad to wish him a Happy Father's Day. On the front page of Google search (which features a Dad-themed Doodle), Google has a message underneath the search box "Dad. Father. Pops. No matter what you call him, call your dad from Gmail." If you click on the message, you are taken to a page that shows you how you can call your Dad for free (in the U.S. and Canada) from Gmail. Google has even added a note in your Gmail chat roster, right under the ?Call phone? link, to remind users to call their Dad.
A small book publisher from New York is suing Apple over its use of the term "iBooks" for its e-book store and e-reader app for iOS. John T. Colby, Jr., owner of several small independent publishing imprints, filed a federal lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York on Wednesday for trademark infringement.
Colby is the owner and founder of Brick Tower Press and J. Boylston & Company. According to the lawsuit, between 2006 and 2007, Colby bought the assets of publisher Byron Preiss, which included an entire library of sci-fi and fantasy books published under the "ibooks" imprint. Those books date back as far as 1999.
The Internet is abuzz with chatter that this, the tablet in the pic above, is the Xoom 2. It's featured in a new Verizon ad (embedded after the link) and while it lacks any branding besides the large Verizon logo on the back, it at least looks like a Xoom. It has the same matte black color scheme, contured back and, as Droid-Life points out, the same unique speaker found on the Xoom. But please-oh-please do not let it be the Xoom 2. Or rather, please don't release the damn thing anytime soon. The original Xoom started slowly rolling out back in late February. It was supposed to be the ultimate Honeycomb tablet -- a sort of Nexus product. But it isn't and the sales reflected that. It's stupid expensive, hard to hold, lacks a USB host port and functional microSD card slot. Then there's Honeycomb, which isn't exactly fully cooked even now thanks to the lack of apps. It only makes sense that Verizon and Motorola would want to quickly recover from the Xoom disaster, but launching the Xoom 2 anytime soon would do just the opposite.
For everyone hoping that Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates will make a Steve Jobs-like comeback to Apple, the answer is no, according to an interview Gates did with the Daily Mail.
In an interview with the U.K. publication, Gates said his full time work for the rest of his life will be with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Here is the excerpt from the Daily Mail:
"I ask him whether this is it now ? is Microsoft history to him, replaced in his heart by his philanthropy? He retired from the day-to-day running of Microsoft in 2008, with many believing it has since lost its edge to companies like Apple and Google.
My full-time work for the rest of my life is this foundation.
Will he ever return to helm Microsoft?
I?m part-time involved. But this is my job now.? "
Here is another nugget from the interview: Bono stayed at Gates' house in Medina when U2 came to Seattle to perform this month. Here is an excerpt from the Daily Mail where Gates talks about the U2 concert.
" 'We went to the concert with my daughter and three of her friends, so there were six of us and we took the minivan. I drove.?
Did Bono invite them backstage? A long pause, then: ?Umm, no ? actually, he stayed at our house.? "
So many websites, so little time. Now you don?t have to worry about falling behind on Windows Phone news. Today we?re kicking off a new blog feature?a weekly news round up. Each Friday I?ll recap some of the posts and announcements around the web that caught my eye. Let me know what you think?and what interesting ones I missed. Have a great weekend!
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More U.S. carriers get Windows Phones
U.S. Cellular this week began selling the HTC 7 Pro, its first Windows Phone 7 device. The handset, available for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate, features a 3.6-inch WVGA touchscreen, 1GHz processor, 5-megapixel camera (with 720p video capture), and a sweet slide-out keyboard. Buy it on their website
The much-anticipated note-taking app from Evernote is now available for Windows Phone 7. The free app lets you capture and save notes, photos, clippings, and other inspirations while you?re on-the-go, and can then seamlessly share them with your social profiles. Of the 13 or so versions of Evernote, ?this is the most feature-rich debut we?ve ever had,? the Evernote crew said on their blog.
Wouldn?t it be handy if you could manage your home or small business server from your favorite coffee shop? As We Got Served reported, that?s possible now with the Windows Server Solutions Phone Connector add-in for Windows Home Server 2011 and Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials. Once you?ve installed the Microsoft-made add-in?available only as a Release Candidate for testing at the moment? and a companion app on your phone, you can get alerts, stream media from your server, and monitor health status and free disk space from the app?s Live Tile. Test it now
Check out library ebooks with OverDrive
Readers at 15,000 public, school, and corporate libraries can now wirelessly download ebooks and audiobooks directly to their Windows Phone with the free OverDrive Media Console app, new this week in Marketplace (watch a demo). The app's Get Books feature makes it easy to find a local library, and then browse and check out titles. Another bonus: since digital library books automatically expire, you?ll never pay late fees. Download it now from Marketplace
Mock up apps faster with SketchFlow
Dreaming up new Windows Phone apps just got a little easier. This week Microsoft unveiled the SketchFlow Template for Windows Phone 7, which makes it super easy to mock up and prototype new apps with Expression Blend 4. The template includes common phone features such as pivots and panoramas, date and time pickers, and the application bar. It also includes full-screen mockups of the camera, Bing, the App list, and Start screen. Download it now
And finally?
Looking for the perfect Father?s Day gift for the avatar who has everything? How about a new Windows Phone 7! In case you missed this item last week, WPCentral described how to download a free WP7 handset for your Xbox alter ego. The caveat: the trick only appears to work for U.S.-based Xbox accounts.
Email and social networks take their toll on service
Royal Mail has released its financial results for 2010-11, and one thing is clear - it has taken a hell of a kicking due to the rise in communication technologies.
In the last five years, the time period in which web 2.0, smartphones and tablets have taken hold in the public arena, Royal Mail's letter delivery service has slumped by 22.5 per cent - from 80 million items a day in 2005-06 to just 62 million items a day in 2010-11.
The delivery specialist has also indicated that it expects further decreases of 5 per cent per year going forward.
This fall in popularity for a method of "social messaging" - which is struggling to compete with the instantness of a Facebook message, an email or a direct tweet - accounted for a huge loss of ?120 million in 2010-11; almost ?2 million a week.
Royal Mail knows it is fighting a battle with technologies that it cannot compete with and has committed to spending ?400 million on modernisation this year alone.
"We have to develop new products and services to meet the needs of our customers and generate additional revenues to offset the decline in earnings from our letters business," said Moya Greene, chief executive of Royal Mail. "We will also innovate and build new partnerships with respected third parties.
Regular readers will know that we love a price comparison site. We really love a voucher code too. More than anything, we adore cashback on anything we buy.?
So, when we heard about www.ilovecashback.com (talk about a Ronseal URL!) we sat up and took notice.
For the first time, the three best ways to save money when you’re buying stuff online have been combined on one site.
Search for an item and compare the best prices. Then ?pick the best voucher code to go with it and save yourself a packet. Top it off with a nice bit of cashback and we’re struggling to find a reason not to like this site.
And these aren’t your bucket shops either – they’re top brands and household names you can save money on. From Firebox and Play.com to Asda and Boots – you can stock up and cash in at the same time.
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Google really wants you to use Gmail to call your dad to wish him a Happy Father's Day. On the front page of 
The Internet is abuzz with chatter that this, the tablet in the pic above, is the Xoom 2. It's featured in a new Verizon ad (embedded after the link) and while it lacks any branding besides the large Verizon logo on the back, it at least looks like a 
