Computeractive 632

One advantage Google will always have over DuckDuckGo is that it’s easier to use as a verb. If millions of people start saying “I’ll just DuckDuckGo it” when searching online, then cover me in white feathers, stick me in a sailor suit and call me Donald. But that’s not going to dent the rise of DuckDuckGo, nor other excellent Google alternatives like Brave Search and Startpage. As Robert Irvine reveals in our Cover Feature, they offer accurate results without tracking what you search for, and provide clever tools for improving the browsing experience. We also explain what’s gone wrong with Google Search. Most damning is that its results just aren’t as relevant as they used to be. I now use DuckDuckGo and Brave Search not just for privacy reasons (compelling though they…

Broadband providers and other utility firms will be fined hundreds of thousands of pounds for leaving potholes or poor quality roads after carrying out work such as laying fibre cables. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is setting up an inspection unit to tackle what he calls the “the plague of potholes” on the country’s roads. He said: “I’m ensuring companies who create them and leave roads in a poor state can be held to account more easily – protecting drivers from unfair repair costs” (www.snipca.com/41978). The Department of Transport said that engineers fail to return roads to a minimum standard on nearly one in 10 occasions. It didn’t name the worst companies, and doesn’t plan to in future, claiming it’s “commercially sensitive information”. In addition, companies and local authorities will have to state when work…

Microsoft has advised people not to use a leaked edition of its One Outlook email client, which will eventually replace all existing versions across both Windows 10 and 11 and online. It said this early release is “unsupported” and is missing “some of the features and enhancements that will be available later for our customers in the Beta Channel”. The warning was published on its site for IT admins, and subsequently posted on Twitter by Finnish tech expert Tero Alhonen (www.snipca.com/41979). Microsoft says One Outlook will merge Outlook, Calendar and your contacts into a single app. Preview versions (www.snipca.com/41980) show it looking far simpler than the current Outlook for Windows (see screenshot). It said it expects to “provide more news in the coming weeks”. You’ll like this… Cambridge scientists are using algae to power a computer…

The Court of Appeal has dismissed BT’s call for customers to ‘opt in’ to be part of a mass compensation claim, which could see the company pay affected individuals £500 each. BT was appealing against the decision in September by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) that gave the green light for a legal bid to seek compensation for 2.3 million customers who have been “overcharged” for their landline between 2015 and 2018. The company argued that customers must be contacted and then sign up to the legal action in order to be eligible for a payout. But Justin Le Patourel, who’s leading the case against BT as the head of Collective Action on Land Lines (CALL, www.callclaim.co.uk), claimed that this would greatly reduce the number of people who would sign up, making it…

Customers leaving Sky Broadband for a new provider save the biggest amount in internet bills, paying on average £9.26 a month less. The figure comes from Ofcom, which calculated the price difference in contracts for customers who switched as a result of receiving a notification that their existing contract would soon end. Virgin Media customers also ended up paying less (£7.74 a month on average), while both TalkTalk and BT customers paid more (£7.81 and £2.45 respectively). The effect on customers leaving EE and Plusnet was “statistically insignificant”. Ofcom’s research (www.snipca.com/41934) aims to highlight the benefit of providers contacting customers several weeks before their contract is due to expire. The regulator introduced this measure in February 2020 in an attempt to tackle the so-called ‘loyalty penalty’ that sees long-term customers get moved on…

GET £250 FOR SWITCHING TO THREE Phone network Three will give you up to £250 on a prepaid Mastercard if you join from another network by 7 July. The amount you get depends on the plan you sign up to, with the biggest cashback coming for packages with Apple, Samsung, Honor and Xiaomi phones. The offer is also available for its 24-month unlimited SIM-only deal, which gives you £100. For details visit www.snipca.com/41938. NEW SITE SHOWS QUEEN’S HISTORICAL VISITS You can see historical photos of the Queen’s visits across England on a map (www.snipca.com/41940) launched to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee. Made by Historic England, the ‘Story Map’ shows the Queen visiting 220 sites (including unveiling the statue of Eric Morecambe, pictured), stretching back to 1932 when she was just six years old. TOMORROW’S WORLD If…