The BBC iPlayer and 4OD have broadened the appeal and the outreach of multimedia uses of the internet and taken high-end web behaviour to the masses, according to one expert.

Michael Philips, product director of Broadband Choices, explained that downloading had previously been seen as "minority activity", and ISPs may not have expected them to be so popular so quickly.

Mr Philips said: "I think that’s why consumers are expecting more of their ISP’s and potentially ISP’s weren’t expecting customers to start doing these high-intensity web surfing activities."

He added that the BBC has now made downloading a mass market, an activity that was previously done in the minority while people did "a bit of surfing in the evening."

The demand for faster broadband due to this success means that consumers will shop around ISPs for the best deals, concluded Mr Philips.

A recent survey by uSwitch found that five million broadband customers feel short-changed by their provider, and half are not happy with the service they receive.

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Canon’s new range of office machines has been described as "neat" and "value for money" by an industry expert.

Upon reviewing the Canon Pixma MX850, CNet has said that the range of machines was "ideal" for the small office market it has been tailored for.

CNet’s Alex Serpo added: "Scanning is quick and quality is excellent, for both colour and black and white - and this endears the MX850 to us as an office printer.

"Colours seemed to be reproduced more faithfully when images printed on the MX850 were colour photocopied. Colour photocopying also seems to be faster than straight colour printing."

The MX850 can print, scan, fax and copy a wide range of documents and photos. It comes complete with five separate printer cartridges.

Last month, Canon announced a deal with technology firm eCopy which will enable new document imaging software to work on a range of products from Canon’s back catalogue of office products.

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A study by Epson expects the data projector market to continue to expand at an annual rate of 15 per cent.

It says the growth in the use of projectors has brought with it demands for higher resolution, wider displays and greater brightness due to the increasing situations where they are needed.

As a result, Epson has announced volume production of high temperature polysilicon TFT panels for front projectors compatible with super extended graphics array (SXGA+) display.

By putting the new panels into volume production they are fulfilling the market need for higher resolution.

The issue of greater brightness will be solved by utilising D7 processes to achieve higher aperture ratios from LCD materials that improve light resistance. The aperture is the opening on the machine through which the light is admitted.

Earlier this month, Epson announced the launch of its upgraded EMP-1825 projector which had undergone significant improvements to its wireless features and network capabilities.

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Microsoft has got a Hollywood producer to generate content for Xbox Live.

The company software giant has signed a deal with Safran Digital Group, a web production and distribution firm launched by Peter Safran, to produce a series which will premiere on Xbox Live during the summer.

Mr Safran, a producer on recent film Meet the Spartans, said in a press statement that the deal will serve as a "proof of concept" for the Xbox’s future. He added: "The Xbox is unique. It operates at a level outside of what we generally consider web entertainment."

At present users can purchase and download movies and episodes of TV shows via Xbox live, but to date no original series have been available.

Figures from Microsoft say that ten million users have signed up for Xbox Live around the world.

Mr Safran is the latest Hollywood filmmaker to delve into the digital entertainment market. Director/producer brothers Joel and Ethan Cohen recently got involved in web-based companies, and actors such as Will Ferrell have also shown an interest


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Samsung has launched a new scheme to increase the number of office machines and printer cartridges which are recycled around the world.

The technology firm has launched Samsung PrintCycle to help businesses reuse old office products, and also to replace harmful machines with more eco-friendly products.

Jay Shears, director of marketing and digital printing systems at Samsung, said in a press release: "By offering easy ways to help the business professional support environmentally safe options, we are providing a service to our customers and a continuing commitment to the environment."

He also stressed Samsung’s continuing policy to find new ways to be environmentally-friendly.

All of its future products will use new technologies to minimise their impact on the planet, according to the company.

Forecasts from Samsung have predicted that the company will exceed last year’s net income figures of $7.5 billion (£3.7 billion), but will still be below previous analyst expectations for the year.

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The nation’s offices can get close to producing "zero waste" by stepping up their green efforts, a leading environmental publication has suggested.

According to GreenBiz, an office audit is an effective first step for organisations that wish to bring down both carbon emissions and waste levels.

"Initially, abide by the first word of the ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ mantra - cut down on the things you’re using instead of switching wholesale to eco-friendly alternatives," it advises.

Office bosses are then encouraged to lead by example by printing less in order to save paper, energy, ink, toner and time.

"The money saved through reductions could help offset the added costs of some green products or fund other green initiatives," explains the magazine.

Sustainable office supplies are another recommendation, including recycled paper, refillable pens, pencils and ink cartridges, while "environmentally intelligent" office furniture is put forward as a key way to cut landfill.

New rules recently introduced by the Environment Agency mean that office professionals must dispose of old supplies and equipment properly or risk being fined.

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LG has introduced its new ultra-slim premium notebook laptop, targeted at business professionals and the younger generation.

The P300 series is ultra-light and weighs 1.65kg together with a 12.1-inch screen. It has a 2.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4GB of memory.

Mr KW Kim, chief executive and president of LG electronics Middle East, told UAE’s Al Bawaba website: "As this new product brings together a slim and light design with high portability, ease of use and top-notch performance, it is clearly the right choice for the active business professionals of today".

He also pointed out that the P300 underlines LG’s new emphasis on creating products that are both design-led and functional.

The P300 is also equipped for the high-definition future with an LED back-light LCD display, which LG says gives a clearer screen for 3D gaming, video and picture viewing.

LG Electronics manufactures a wide range of consumer electronics and its latest figures from 2006 show global sales of $38.6 billion (£19.3 million).

Lexmark has unveiled a new range of office products specifically geared towards home and student users.

The new Z2420 range of devices will all be wireless and Lexmark promises they will print documents at both high speed and quality. It also says the products can be "installed within ten minutes" and will have the ability to print at speeds of up to 25 pages per minute.

Paul Rooke, Lexmark executive vice-president, said: "Our new home and student line offers freedom of mobility on printers that are very easy to use."

Lexmark also launched its new X3650 all-in-one, which the company says can print, scan and fax documents all with an "easy" one-touch display.

Last month Lexmark announced plans to help businesses reduce printing costs through a new range of eco-friendly output solutions.

Francois Feuillet, general manager of Lexmark Middle East, said in a press release: "We offer solutions that help our customers minimise their environmental impact without compromising productivity."

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The IT sector needs to look at its corporate responsibility and become more energy efficient, experts have warned.

John-Paul Kamath, deputy technology editor for ComputerWeekly.com, said that "the IT industry does use a lot of energy, particularly through large business data centres".

He also predicted that within the next decade, more pressure would be put on the industry to cut down its energy usage.

IBM’s climate change programme chairman Graham Whitney spoke at a conference in London last week about how the IT sector would play a key role in tackling climate change.

Mr Whitney told delegates: "A lot of the changes that you have seen so far regarding energy consumption in data centres have nothing to do with being green".

Earlier this week Xerox announced its new Sustainability Calculator, which evaluates the environment of office equipment and then measures environmental benefits that could be achieved in terms of energy and paper use, water, air and greenhouse gas emissions.


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Samsung has announced that photo compression software will be offered on trial with memory cards for its digital cameras.

The company has agreed a deal with BlueBox which will see its photographic digital data compression technology bundled with its memory cards from April.

Tim Capps, vice-president of business development at BluBox, spoke of his delight at the deal, saying: "It will enable millions of Samsung memory card and USB memory users across Europe to benefit from the massive compression of digital images which BluBox brings."

The BluBox V4 compresses photo file sizes by up to 95 per cent. The company says it detects the type of file and chooses the optimum compression technique for each data type.

BluBox uses wavelet and DCT-based compression techniques which reduce closely-grouped pixels of a similar colour to a set of pixels of the same exact colour. Long patterns form of blocks of same-coloured pixels making it able to compress the image.

Samsung is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory cards, mobile phones and LCD monitors.


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