Week in Review: The death of Oyster and the ‘free’ laptop bonanza

Is it already the end of the Oyster card? TfL tells the London Assembly that it is looking at new technology which could possibly replace the Oyster swipe card by 2010. Smartcards, bank cards or mobile phones are some of the options being considered after TfL ended its contract with TranSys, which managed the Oyster system.

If there is one rule in the universe it is that everybody likes free stuff, and it looks like this Christmas there will be a definite push to offer mobile broadband contracts with a free laptop or netbook. Although it is effectively just deferring the cost of the laptop through the contract, it seems to be boosting sales.

BT are also going down the free' route by offering free mobile broadband to small and medium businesses (SMBs) - but, alas - only if they sign up for specific fixed-line packages.

However it is good to know that the phone operators are really acknowledging the importance and productivity benefits that having mobile broadband can bring. BT is a company that looks like it is trying to pick up the baton when it comes to internet on the move as it also announced cheaper Wi-Fi tariffs.

Not quite free, but very worthwhile pilots start for the 300 million project which aims to offer funding to low-income families so that they can purchase computers and access the internet. Becta aims for every child between five and 18 to have home internet access within the next four years.

And lastly security news reports that French president Nicolas Sarkozy's bank account was hacked shows that nobody is safe from cybercriminals. And SQL injection is in the headlines again the Adobe website was hosting malicious code which had the capability to infect visitor's computers.