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Microsoft Azure now generally available in China, operated by data Internet services provider 21Vianet

Mar26
by on March 26, 2014 at 1:46 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Asia, Insider

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Microsoft today announced Azure is now generally available in China. The cloud computing platform is operated by data Internet services provider 21Vianet. 21Vianet, a Chinese company, last year claimed to be the “largest carrier-neutral Internet data center services provider” in the country. It has 81 data centers in 42 cities in China, although that number is likely growing. The duo calls the news a “significant milestone” because it means Microsoft is the first global company to make onshore public cloud services available to customers in China. Here is what the company has to say about its partner: To ensure a…

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Fitbit sprints past 1M Android app downloads, is now compatible with 44 Android and iOS devices

Mar26
by on March 26, 2014 at 1:28 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Gadgets

Nike, Jawbone, Withings, Samsung and Apple. All of these companies – and many more besides – are building hardware to track your health. While that puts an ever-increasing amount of pressure on Fitbit, the fitness tracking startup said today that it had passed one million app downloads on the Google Play store. The Android app was released in March 2012, but until now, Fitbit has only supported a select number of smartphones. As of January, syncing only worked with 26 Android and iOS devices, which no doubt limited its growth . To coincide with the one million milestone, Fitbit today…

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Facebook VP: The only limit with Oculus is our imaginations

Mar26
by on March 26, 2014 at 1:01 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, FTMedia2014, Insider, Profiles and Interviews, Roundups

US-IT-CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW-CES
At the FT’s Digital Media 2014 event in London today, Nicola Mendelsohn, Vice President of Facebook, EMEA, took to the stage to discuss all things, well, Facebook. Mendelsohn’s appearance was less than 24-hours after Facebook announced its intention to acquire Oculus VR for $2 billion, so naturally this was always going to be high on the conversation agenda. “The reason we’re very excited about it [Oculus], is the fact that gaming is a huge part of the Facebook business, and what it allows developers to do is to really get inside and create whole new worlds for people to enjoy…

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UK telecoms watchdog says BT was most complained about broadband and pay TV provider in Q4 2013

Mar26
by on March 26, 2014 at 11:33 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider, Mobile, UK

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The UK telecoms regulatory body Ofcom today published its quarterly review of the number of complaints it receives about fixed-line broadband, pay TV and monthly mobile packages. UK residents might have expected to hear that TalkTalk’s service topped the list of complaints, but that actually wasn’t the case for Q4 2013 (October – December). Instead, BT was the most complained about broadband provider as a proportion of its customer base (0.32 per 1,000 customers), followed second by EE with an above industry average of 0.29 complaints per 1,000 subscribers. TalkTalk did still generate above average complaints too, with 0.21 per 1,000 customers,…

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Turkish court overturns the country’s ban on Twitter, but it may only be temporary

Mar26
by on March 26, 2014 at 11:05 am
Posted In: Around the Web

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Turkey controversially banned Twitter last week, but it looks like the social network could soon be freely accessible in the country again. The AFP reports that a court has ordered the government to unblock the social network, though Hurriyet Daily News clarifies that the decision is merely a stay of execution on the ban, which suggests that any unblocking could be temporary. The ban was not initially successful, and only appeared to encourage Turks to flock to the microblogging site en masse using VPN software and Google DNS. However, reports suggest that activity has dropped by nearly 50 percent after Turkey blocked…

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