Dubbed “Quality Assurance: Extensive Tests”, a new one-minute video made by Samsung shows a Galaxy S7 Edge being put through a barrage of tests, including being dropped, bent, drenched in water and operated under extreme temperatures.

In between these torture tests, text explains that “our phones are extensively tested, retested, and then tested again” and the video ends saying “innovation is our legacy. Quality is our priority.”

All of which, clearly, is an attempt to rebuild trust in the brand, as the launch of the Galaxy S8 looms ever closer.

https://youtu.be/Hkmp8SmtXSg

Make or break

Samsung likely has more riding on this phone than any previous handset, as not only is it a flagship, but the company will be looking to make up some of the lost earnings from the Note 7.

It could also be a make or break moment for the brand, where the company either rebuilds its reputation, or – if the S8’s launch isn’t buttery smooth – damages it beyond repair.

Convincing the public that the phone won’t explode in their pocket, as this video clearly aims to do, is just half of that battle. The other half is actually making sure it doesn’t.

But there’s evidence Samsung’s working on that too, from the 8-point battery safety check it announced it would be implementing, to reportedly keeping the battery size relatively small for safety reasons. So it seems the firm isn’t taking any chances, the question now is whether would-be buyers will take a chance on Samsung.

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The selected companies include Boosh 365, CCS MPW, Comm-Tech Voice & Data, Connected Telecom, DRC, Excalibur Communications, Pescado, PMGC Technology Group, Pure Business Services, Olive Communications, Onecom, Redsquid Communications, Trinsic and Vohkus.

Phil Mottram, Enterprise Director of Vodafone UK, said: “Over 100 Partners have achieved new Status accreditation in the first phase of our programme, which has been designed to specifically recognise capabilities and specialisms.”

Pictured: Vodafone UK’s elite grouping, with Phil Mottram (front centre).

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The bill marks the third attempt by a Government to expand the United Kingdom’s existing telecoms snooping laws by forcing broadband ISPs into logging a bigger slice of everybody’s online activity and then keeping that log for up to 12 months, irrespective of whether or not you’ve committed a crime.

On top of that the IPB would also make this data (ICR – Internet Connection Records) more easily accessible for law enforcement agencies through a complex “Request Filter” (not unlike a central database) and Police would not require a full warrant in order to gain access. But a warrant would still be needed for more targeted and detailed interception of an individual’s communications.

More recently ISPs have also warned that the predicted costs of implementing the bill (upwards of£175m) are far too low (here) and that some of the measures could impose an effective ban on encrypted end-to-end communication services (not even the service provider can view these). A recent meeting between smaller ISPs and the Home Office also suggested that the Government didn’t yet have a full grasp of the technical challenges involved (here).

Into this battle steps the Science and Technology Committee, which has today published the outcome from their inquiry into the IPB and echoed the above concerns.

Nicola Blackwood MP, Chair of the Committee, said:

“It is vital we get the balance right between protecting our security and the health of our economy. We need our security services to be able to do their job and prevent terrorism, but as legislators we need to be careful not to inadvertently disadvantage the UK’s rapidly growing Tech sector.

The current lack of clarity within the draft Investigatory Powers Bill is causing concern amongst businesses. There are widespread doubts over the definition, not to mention the definability, of a number of the terms used in the draft Bill. The Government must urgently review the legislation so that the obligations on the industry are clear and proportionate.

There remain questions about the feasibility of collecting and storing Internet Connection Records (ICRs), including concerns about ensuring security for the records from hackers. The Bill was intended to provide clarity to the industry, but the current draft contains very broad and ambiguous definitions of ICRs, which are confusing communications providers. This must be put right for the Bill to achieve its stated security goals.”

Interestingly, on the subject of encryption, Blackwood states: “The Government needs to do more to allay unfounded concerns that encryption will no longer be possible,” particularly in regards to the impact upon end-to-end encryption. “The Government should … state clearly in the Codes of Practice that it will not be seeking unencrypted content in such cases,” says the report.

Blackwood also loosely notes the risk to international competition if UK tech companies are effectively required to limit the security of their hardware and software products in order to meet the Government’s new rules, particularly in regards to weakening encryption. Rival products from other countries that do not impose such measures would naturally look more competitive.

The Committee also ruled that the Government should pick up the tab for all of the additional data storing costs involved in the IPB’s implementation, especially for smaller ISPs, and clarify some of the bill’s more confusing terms (e.g. what exactly does an ICR constitute?). It also demands further examination of the costs in order to arrive at a more accurate figure.

In keeping with all that the report recommends that the bill adopt Detailed Codes of Practice, which should for example “clearly set out the requirements for protecting ICR data that will have to be retained and managed by [ISPs], along with the security standards to keep them safe“.

Finally the report calls on the Government to review the composition of its Technical Advisory Board to “ensure that it will have members from industry who will be able to give proper consideration, not just to the technical aspects of appeals submitted to it from CSPs concerned about ICR or other interception or ‘interference’ notices, but also any concerns raised about costs“.

Nicholas Lansman, ISPA Secretary General, said:

“We are pleased parliament recognises that the Bill, as drafted, risks undermining the competitiveness of the UK tech sector. We now expect the Home Office to take on board these recommendations, along with those of the upcoming Joint Committee report, to produce a clearer Bill that is clear, technically feasible, proportionate and maintains trust in online services.”

In Blackwood’s words, “There are good grounds to believe that without further refinement, there could be many unintended consequences for commerce arising from the current lack of clarity of the terms and scope of the legislation.”

UPDATE 10:31am

Fibre optic ISP Gigaclear has added some thoughts.

Matthew Hare, CEO of Gigaclear, told ISPreview.co.uk:

“For the UK to remain the best place to do business online, investment and focus needs to be on building a better broadband infrastructure, not on data storage measures that are unlikely to deliver the security we all want.

Gigaclear will connect 55,000 properties to its pure fibre network this year, but if the data storage measures outlined in the IPB have to be enacted, we will have to divert resources away from this important work. The focus for our engineers will be on monitoring data, rather than the expansion of our network, which is so crucial to the UK.

I am also concerned that capturing and retaining Internet Connection Records (ICRs) will actually create a security risk, not solve one. The data could be vulnerable to criminals. It will also undermine trust in the use of the Internet in the UK. Businesses will be reluctant to base themselves here in Britain, which will have a hugely damaging knock on effect to the wider economy.

Finally, such data storage demands will only become more burdensome in the future. Our Gigaclear customers, who have ultrafast broadband with speeds of up to 1Gbps, use the Internet up to 15 times more than the UK average. This shows a direct correlation between broadband speeds and Internet use. As the UK infrastructure is updated during the BDUK rollout and more people have access to faster speeds, so data usage will rocket and the task will become even more onerous for companies like ours. This has to be taken into account.”

The post UPD Science and Tech Committee Warns of UK Internet Snooping Bill Costs appeared first on United Networks.

Readers might recall that Joe Garner, who had only been in the role for around a year, suddenly announced his intention to step down last November 2015. Garner said he was leaving in order to pursue the same position of responsibility at the Nationwide Building Society.

However the change came at a pivotal point for the telecoms infrastructure giant, which is currently facing the possibility of a split from the wider BT group (Ofcom’s on-going Strategic Review). Never the less Garner is officially expected to take up his new post at some point during Spring 2016 and that left BT to hunt for a replacement.

Thankfully BT appears to have found their man in the shape of Clive Selley, who just so happens to be the operator’s current Group Chief Information Officer (CIO) as well as CEO of BT’s Technology, Service and Operations division. This should make him a good fit for the role.

Clive Selley said:

“I am honoured to have been asked to lead Openreach at this important point in its history. The huge investment it has made over the past decade has made the UK a broadband leader, and we need to build on those foundations by deploying fibre to further communities and by rolling out ultrafast broadband. Customer service is a top priority of mine and I am committed to delivering further improvements by working closely with all industry partners who rely on our network to serve their customers.

Openreach is at the heart of the UK economy with our open access network underpinning a ferociously competitive broadband market. That has benefited consumers and businesses greatly. The engineers are the lifeblood of Openreach and I have been hugely impressed by their tireless work in challenging circumstances during the current floods. They will play a crucial role in the coming decade as they have done to date.”

Gavin Patterson, BT Group CEO, said:

“Clive is a hugely talented individual and I am delighted he has agreed to lead Openreach. He has an unrivalled knowledge of networks and engineering and is ideally suited to take the UK from a superfast nation to an ultrafast one. He supports our vision for the UK’s digital future and will play a key role in ensuring that businesses, consumers and communities receive the services they need and deserve.”

It’s noted that Clive’s appointment coincides with the 10th anniversary of Openreach, which was established following Ofcom’s last strategic review in 2005. As such BT’s press release makes a point of praising the impact that “highly regulated” Openreach has had on the market and also touts its plans for deploying 300-500Mbps G.fast broadband technology to “majority of the UK” by 2025.

However none of that escapes the fact that Ofcom are currently in the driving seat of deciding Openreach’s fate and whether or not BT even retains control of its infrastructure. A decision on that is expected by around the end of February 2016, which is sure to give Clive Seller a few headaches. Whatever the outcome, further change is definitely coming.

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