Welcome to the Weekly Tech Update with me, Mike Walmsley. It’s a look at everything that has happened in the world of technology, the Internet, Search Engines and social media over the last week. I’ve got stories for you from Sony, the possibility of a new UK top level domain, Google, Facebook, 4Square on Mars and much more as well…

Technology

A UK Sony exec has admitted this week that 3D TV has not proved as popular as they had hoped. The exec said that it is thought that having to wear glasses in the home was one of the reasons that put people off due to the expense of kitting everybody in the family out with a pair. I think there is also an element that 3D works best on bigger screens and while there are large screen TV’s on the market you really need something that completely fills your field of vision to make 3D compelling and most TV’s cannot do this.

HP are due to release a Windows 8 tablet, the ElitePad 900. What is clever about this particular tablet is that like Optimus Prime it is able to transform into something else. It has what HP describe as “smart jackets” which are different cases with different docking accessories including one that turns it from a tablet into a laptop. By running Windows 8 it is likely to be popular with the corporate market. I don’t have a price for this tablet yet, in fact there are few specs but it is starting to generate quite a bit of chatter on the Internet, so keep your eyes peeled for more on this Windows 8 device.

Internet

Would you like a new top level domain? Nominet have proposed the introduction of a .uk extension. Only UK based businesses will be able to use the domain and there will be a variety of security features that will be included with each domain purchased. The aim is to provide a domain that users can trust, this is important in a world where online transactions are accounting for a larger percentage of total sales every year. Nominet are running a 3 month consultation period to canvass the views of people on this introduction and you can get more info from their website at www.nominet.org.uk

PayForIt is a micropayment scheme that is supported by all the UK mobile operators and they have announced this week that they have integrated their service into Facebook. PayForIt allows you to make purchases using a single click on your smartphone and instead of paying by card the money is added to your mobile phone bill. Anybody who has ever tried to enter their card details into a mobile phone browser will appreciate how much easier this system will be.

Search Engines

As well as a Panda update Google has also released a change to its algorithm that is designed to penalise exact match domains (EMD’s) that provide low content. An example of an EMD would be say bestwebdesigncompany.co.uk which has relevant keywords in the domain name. Once again I find myself telling you that quality content is an important part of your Search Engine Optimisation strategy. If you would like more information on this do get in touch.

Google has started to warn some users that they may be at risk from state sponsored cyber attacks. The messages started to appear on Tuesday on the Google homepage, in Chrome and Gmail. The message read “Warning: We believe state-sponsored attackers may be attempting to compromise your account or computer”. What is not clear is whether this is just Google being proactive in trying to get users to be more security savvy online or if they were responding to a specific threat.

Social Media

Facebook reported today that it had one billion users who in turn had uploaded 219 billion photos and there were 600 million mobile users. All Facebook needs to do now is figure out a way to make money out of all those users.

And finally, is this the most unusual check in on 4Square? The Mars Curiosity rover has checked in at Gale Crater on the red planet. The rover has even left a tip for future visitors “Mars is cold, dry and rocky. Extra moisturiser would be a good idea, plus oxygen for those of you who breathe”. I dread to think what the first Tweet from Mars is likely to be “Just had beans for tea, need to get out of this capsule fast”.