Hasta La Gadget!

British politician and former Mayor of Caerphilly, Wales, Colin Elsbury, has been ordered to pay a fine for the charge of libel against an opponent. The lawsuit was filed by Eddie Talbot, an independent challenging Elsbury, after Talbot claimed that Elsbury had Tweeted that Talbot had been forcibly removed from a polling place by police. Well, Elsbury definitely Tweeted that, but, unfortunately for him, the person was not Eddie Talbot. Although Elsbury quickly and publicly corrected himself, Talbot took him to court, and in Cardiff on Friday that Elsbury will have to pay a £3,000 fine plus costs of around £50,000. A cursory glance over Elsbury’s recent Tweets indicates that he still may not have the hand of the medium, but we’ll keep our eyes on his stream for any new instances of #twibel.

First fine for libel via Twitter issued against politician by British court originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 07:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Yahoo! News  | Email this | Comments

The Independent is starting our week off on a sour note with the information that Apple’s next iPhone won’t have NFC hardware built in. Near Field Communication has found itself coming to the fore this year, thanks in large part to the Nexus S touting it as a major feature, however sources at “several” of the UK’s major carriers have told the newspaper that Apple intends to skip on it for this year. That intel is reportedly coming directly from meetings with the Cupertino brain trust, which is said to be dissatisfied with the current lack of a clear, universal NFC standard. It’s generally been Apple’s wont to omit or delay features it doesn’t feel it can implement well, and NFC looks fated to be another one on that list.

iPhone 5 won’t have NFC, say insiders at UK carriers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 03:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink 9to5Mac  |  The Independent  | Email this | Comments

It’s a common problem, not having as much cash as you want to, and Skype‘s solving it with a common web solution: advertising. It may come as a surprise to hear that the eminently popular voice and chat service doesn’t peddle stuff to its users already, but it’s now formalizing a plan to introduce a carefully controlled measure of paid-for display ads on the Home tab of its Windows desktop client. You heard that right, there’s no mention of Mac or mobile services here, and it’s further limited to the nations of Germany, the UK, and USA. Anonymous data may be collected as part of the new scheme to target ads to specific audiences (you can, however, opt out), while Skype promises that user experience remains paramount to its future goals, though clearly that looming Initial Public Offering isn’t too far from its thoughts right now either.

Skype to start serving ads in US, Germany and UK ahead of upcoming IPO originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 12:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Download Squad, AFP (Yahoo! News)  |  Skype  | Email this | Comments

The internet, it’s kind of a big deal. So much of a big deal, in fact, that UK property search site Rightmove is said to be planning to list broadband speeds as part of its standard information package for homes up for rent or sale. This would be done in partnership with BT, reports the Daily Telegraph, though neither company is yet ready to make the deal official. BT would have little trouble providing the data in question since most of the UK is connected to its ADSL lines — every ISP in the country outside of Virgin Media just resells BT’s copper wire — or newfangled Infinity fiber optic services. Part of this new agreement will involve Rightmove displaying whether or not homes are capable of connecting to the newer, faster Infinity network — which mirrors Virgin’s efforts at informing people whether they’re covered by its cable internet through deals with independent estate agents. Soon there should be no excuses for Brits getting stuck in a picturesque home with a grotesquely slow web connection.

British property search engine Rightmove will soon list broadband speeds alongside standard home info originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 08:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Daily Telegraph  | Email this | Comments

Yesterday we saw the WiFi-only Xoom get its UK pricing straightened out at £500 via PC World, and today Carphone Warehouse is putting up pre-order availability of the 3G-equipped version at a nice round hundie more. The £600 Xoom 3G is listed as “in stock” now, but deliveries will likely take until the first week of April to get going, assuming Moto is delivering both SKUs of its Android 3.0 tablet at the same time. We’ve also come across an Amazon.de pre-order for the Xoom, asking for €700, but alas there’s no hint as to whether it includes 3G connectivity or not — no hint other than the price, that is.

[Thanks, Yosef]

Motorola Xoom 3G arrives in UK for £600, gets enigmatic listing on Amazon.de for €700 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Mar 2011 06:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Carphone Warehouse, Amazon.de  | Email this | Comments