Internet World show 25/04/2012

Earl's Court Exhibition Centre was hosting the 20th Internet World show this week, as well as two other events at Earl's Court at the same time - Information Security Europe and Service Desk and IT Support (IT Service Management).

This had a lot to offer for people using website hosting, development, e-commerce, content management, social media, mobile data, Search Engine Optimisation, digital marketing and web analytics.  

There were some blank spaces in the exhibition hall, suggesting that times are hard even in this sector of the industry.  I saw a couple of presentations that were very poorly put together; one guy was pointing out details from data listings in a tiny font size that only he could read, and another just ploughed through features of his solution with no attempt to tie them to anyone's needs.  One of the handouts had only a US toll-free number on it; unlikely to gain many calls from Europe.

Despite that, there was still plenty to interest the visitor, and I enjoyed these:

• Brightstarr, using Sharepoint to give consistent customer branding, and lots of other good things
• Dave Coplin of Microsoft Bing on the subject of the digital consumer, and how things like location-based searching will change the ways in which we use information
• Frank van den Berg of Dutch-based Salesupply talked lots of common sense about web localisation; his firm wasn't in the exhibitor list so far as I can see
• Rick Osterloh of Skype on the changing mobile ecosystem, and a fascinating insight into the potential impacts of lower data pricing;  he also described experiences of 4G communications (known as LTE - Long Term Evolution technology) in New York

More about the show here.  Despite the soaking received from Wednesday's downpours on the way there, it was worth the time spent.

Blogger on iOS

Well done to Google for releasing a Blogger app for the iOS platform. It promises to synch between devices, which will allow users to create and edit blogs on the go as well as when sitting at a desk.

Only two cheers out of three, because at the moment it's only designed for the iPhone (and presumably iPod touch) screen factors, and not the more user-friendly appearance given by the iPad. But it's still very welcome, and has just been used (on the iPad) to make this posting. :-)

XBRL filing for all UK companies?

The Computing newspaper and its sister publication Accountancy Age are highlighting the change in Corporation Tax filing regulations that Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is introducing with effect from 01 April 2011. I've bookmarked some relevant articles here on delicious.com.

The new regulations will affect all firms, and those that file using reporting or accounting package software will need to update and maintain their software to produce returns in the required XML and iXBRL formats.

Most small companies and organisations will be able to use the free HMRC Corporation Tax Online Service to file a Company Tax Return. This can be used by companies or organisations that file a Company Tax Return form (CT600), supporting documentation, and (if necessary) any of these supplementary pages:

CT600A (Loans to participators by close companies)

CT600C (Group and consortium) - parts one and two

CT600J (Disclosure of tax avoidance schemes supplementary pages)

Supporting documents can be supplied in Acrobat (PDF) format.

You can see a demonstration here on the HMRC site.

However, it's not clear from the information on the HMRC site whether PDF format can be used by companies that have to submit the other CT600 supplementary pages:

CT600B - Controlled Foreign Companies (an interest of 25% or more in a foreign company controlled from the UK)

CT600D (2006) - Insurance: company involved in overseas life assurance business (OLAB)

CT600E - Charity and Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs)

CT600F - Tonnage Tax

CT600G - Corporate Venturing Scheme

CT600I - Supplementary charge in respect of ring fence trades

There's clearly a cost of change in all of this. The HMRC online filing service looks clear and straightforward, and it should present little problem either for small businesses or for small accounting firms that submit returns on behalf of their clients. However, new methods will have to be learnt, registrations made, and experience gained, in order for this to work efficiently. Larger companies, or small companies with complex affairs, may well face more serious change costs, including the updating of accounting or reporting software packages, and the introduction of new processes and accounting treatments.

All in all - if you're not sure, the time to consult your accountant has come!

(Disclaimer: I'm not an accountant, but a small business owner with an interest in technology.)

Using AVG 8.5 (paid for) with iTunes 8.2

I couldn't find any way to update podcasts using iTunes 8.2.0.23 on a Windows XP laptop with AVG 8.5.387 (paid for). I kept receiving the message "there was a problem downloading (podcast). The network connection could not be established"

The problem lay in the firewall settings: iTunes was set to 'Allow for safe'. When I changed the setting to 'Allow for All', the problem went away.

Mobile phone chargers - one size fits all (The Times)

At last, some sanity is to be imposed on mobile phone chargers. For years, I've specified Nokia phones for business use. This was convenient for all sorts of reasons, including similar menu/navigation structure and chargers that were all compatible. That started to go wrong a few years ago, and now we have a spread of different plug sizes, power ratings, and shapes. So here's some applause for the GSMA, the trade association for the mobile phone industry. Most phones should use the new chargers by 2012.