Project 2020 is a study launched by the International Cyber Security Protection Alliance (ICSPA) and led by Europol, and in particular it’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3). Launched in 2012, the project participants include City of London Police, ENISA and experts from the International Information System Security Certification Consortium (ISC) and the International Association of Public Prosecutors.

The news that BlackBerry has entered into a letter of intent with a consortium led by Fairfax Financial is only surprising in its speed. BlackBerry shareholders would receive $9 per share in cash, making the transaction worth approximately $4.7 billion. The Consortium is permitted 6 weeks to conduct due diligence and BlackBerry entitled to go-shop during due diligence period, subject to payment of a termination fee in the event an alternative offer is accepted.

When the SDN/NFV buzz started, it seemed that only the WebScale operators could leverage such things, because after all, one needed data centers that are measured in acres with Avogadro’s Number of servers.   But these turns out not to be the case.  In fact, small operators should take a close look at virtualization technology beginning with the Network Services Plane. 

A year ago the popular assumption was that NFC was dead because it was not included by Apple in its then new iPhone 5.  I am still seeing this as a topic of discussion with the announcement last week of the iPhone 5S (and 5C) and the fact that ocne again Apple has missed an opportunity to demonstrate its as a market leader in this space.  However, for me it is no longer a relevant question and those that argue so are a) being a little lazy, and b) ignoring the facts.

Firstly this must be one of the most underwhelming Apple announcements with a general response of “Meh” to yesterday’s announcements- no-one overly surprised, angry or excited by anything announced. The primary reason is that Apples strategy is focused on profit margins and share prices rather than exciting the end-user. Good for Tim Cook, because this may be what he can best bring to the role of Apple CEO- the quicker he stops worrying about being Steve Jobs the better for Apple.

Apple announced two devices today, the iPhone 5C and the iPhone 5S. The iPhone 5C is essentially the iPhone 5 with a plastic shell that follows Apple’s historic pricing paradigm of taking $100 off the price of the latest model. The iPhone 5S is the classic step improvement of better processor, better camera and a new marquis feature (this time it is finger print scanning).

Today (Sept. 9, 2013) Sony unveiled a new smart STB/game console hybrid, named PS Vita TV.  The device is slated to launch on November 14^th and cost 9,480 Yen (~US$ 95.18) in Japan – the only confirmed market to date.  The device is billed as an entertainment solution to compete with other smart STBs, but at its heart is the PS Vita, less the touchscreen and controls – the device will be controlled with a DualShock 3 controller and includes a Vita card slot.  Beyond playing Vita games and OTT content the micro-console/STB will also allow users to play the upcoming PS4 via “Remote Play” (with an update expected to arrive after launch).