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26th November 2001 Archive

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  • XML database: big fish lose out to the minnows

    Could do better

    XML is increasingly being positioned as the next territory for the Microsoft/Oracle/IBM database war. However, the companies aren't telling you this, because none of them are very good at the technology yet. Oracle is expected to roll out a raft of announcements around XML and the way it is being used to improve its database at …

    Software 26 Nov 2001, 09:36

  • CP/M collection is back online with an Open Source licence

    Walk down memory lane

    When CP/M enthusiast Tim Olmstead died from cancer on September 11 this year, the Unofficial CP/M Web site he had been maintaining had to be taken down because of licensing issues with the software collection. Now, Lineo has granted unrestricted use of the technology and the site is back up. CP/M (Control Program for …

    Software 26 Nov 2001, 09:55

  • Chrysalis, 365 knock sports Net ops together

    The state of pupation

    Chrysalis and 365 Corporation are to merge their sports web businesses, creating Europe's 'number one' sports portal. In effect, the two companies are funding an MBO - the management will have 20 per cent of the enlarged business, and Chrysalis and 365 will have 40 per cent each. But they are to take no operational role in the …

    e-Business 26 Nov 2001, 10:45

  • Intel preps transistor for 20GHz+ CPUs

    Terahertz burst

    Intel boffins will next week describe two new techniques that, if implemented in mainstream chips, may herald the arrival of 25GHz and faster processors by 2005. They will outline a new transistor structure and the material that makes it more efficient than existing models. The transistor - called by the researchers a " …

    Channel 26 Nov 2001, 11:57

  • WinXP effect sends PC sales up and down in Japan

    Let us explain...

    Good news! Windows XP's launch prompted a 24.3 per cent increase in sales of PCs in Japan, according to Asiabiztech. Bad news! sales of PCs in Japan were down 16.9 per cent following the Windows XP launch. The problem is that the ups or downs depend on whether you compare the launch week with the week before, or with the same …

    Software 26 Nov 2001, 12:12

  • Infineon slams Samsung DRAM ‘artificial pricing’

    Scapegoat?

    The recent surge in DRAM prices is the result of manipulation by Korean producer Samsung, rather than a ramp-up in demand, Ulrich Shumacher, chief executive of Infineon, claims. According to Schumacher, DRAM pricing should have dropped due to chip supply still exceeding demand when Hynix's creditors rescued it last month. …

    Channel 26 Nov 2001, 12:16

  • Linux app makes Xbox net gaming a reality

    A little ahead of the official MS roadmap

    Next year's launch of Microsoft's network gaming service for Xbox has been pre-empted by an open source/Linux development, Xbox Gateway. Bill is no doubt absolutely ecstatic about this, but he can console himself with the thought that at least all the work XboxGW has put into the system is on the outside - the box itself remains …

    Software 26 Nov 2001, 12:48

  • Broadband Britain ‘as bad as UK railways’

    Steady on

    Telecoms regulator David Edmonds has been warned that he faces the blame for the UK becoming the broadband 'sick man of Europe'. In a letter today, Ebone CEO Duncan Lewis told Mr Edmonds that he must act quickly to resolve a dispute over the local leased market. Failure to do so will result in Broadband Britain going the way …

    Telecoms 26 Nov 2001, 12:49

  • Sony cuts Japanese PS 2 pricing

    15% off

    Sony will cut the price of a PlayStation 2 in Japan by 15 per cent to ¥29,800 ($240) on Thursday. And next month the Japanese giant will roll out the console in other Far Eastern countries. Sony last cut the PS2's price in June, when it sliced ¥4800 off the ¥39,800 price-tag. The latest cut is designed to help the console …

    Personal 26 Nov 2001, 12:52

  • Sales surge drives TSMC profit boost

    Who are the customers?

    TSMC reckons will now make more than 55 per cent more profit this year than it announced in its most recent forecast. In September, the world's largest chip foundry forecast pre-tax income would hit NT$6.04 billion ($174.78 million). Now, it believes it will make NT$9.40 billion, an increase of 55.6 per cent on its past …

    Business 26 Nov 2001, 12:53

  • BadTrans virus bites Windows users hard

    Mass mailer outbreak

    Computer users turned on their PCs this morning to find their In-boxes flooded with copies of the latest mass mailing virus. BadTrans.B is spreading rapidly after infecting a large number of home users in the UK over the weekend. BTOpenworld shut off an email system today, but not before infecting many customers with the virus …

    Malware 26 Nov 2001, 12:55

  • Hynix assets less than estimated – Arthur Andersen

    Debts more than three times liquidation value

    If Hynix's creditors allowed the chipmaker to go to the wall today, it would be worth 3.66 trillion won ($2.855 billion), Arthur Andersen reckons, according Korea's Maeil business newspaper. Unfortunately, as Hynix owes some 12.35 trillion won, closing it down and selling off what's left would still leave its owners in the red …

    Business 26 Nov 2001, 13:32

  • Law firm urges caution over BSA piracy forms

    Not as serious as tax return

    A major corporate law firm is advising UK companies which receive a software audit form from the Business Software Alliance to "Proceed with Care!" when deciding whether to complete it. According to DLA, anyone who returns the form in good faith "could simply be providing the BSA with the evidence it needs to take action …

    Software 26 Nov 2001, 13:43

  • One2One mulls Europe for 3G court battle

    Interest over payment delay

    One2One is threatening to take its ongoing 3G court battle to the European Court of Justice after it lost a High Court ruling for "lost" interest over 3G licences last month. The last step left to the company in the UK is the Law Lords in the House of Lords, who have the power to overturn the appeal judges in the High Court or …

    Data Networking 26 Nov 2001, 13:51

  • NEC kick-starts Hutchison 3G UK campaign

    Handsets available Q3 next year

    Japanese mobile manufacturer NEC may kick-start the European 3G revolution from the third-quarter next year when it releases a dual-mode 3G phone, which works over the existing infrastructure as well as allowing next-generation features likes video. Interestingly, NEC has publicly announced it will supply the Hutchison group …

    Data Networking 26 Nov 2001, 15:19

  • Galeon zips while Mozilla slips

    Software libre browser reaches milestone

    The software libre web browser Galeon reached a milestone on Friday, reaching 1.0 status after eighteen months in public beta development. We've found Galeon to be horribly addictive for a while now, and it's the only Linux application we truly miss when away from the OS. (There are lots of UI features we miss away from a non-* …

    Software 26 Nov 2001, 15:24

  • DDoS protection racket targets online bookies

    Extortionate demands

    Organised criminals are using distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks to force online bookmakers into protection rackets, a British security consultancy claims. Information Risk Management says it is aware of DDoS extortion attempts against three, unnamed, online bookies. According to Neil Barrett, technical director, this …

    e-Business 26 Nov 2001, 15:47

  • BTopenwoe emails virus to customers

    BadTrans hits telco - again

    BTopenworld accidentally sent its customers emails carrying BadTrans-B, the latest Trojan horse virus this weekend. Dozens of Register readers have written in to inform us they were sent a copy of the BadTrans-B from BTopenworld support, pointing to infection of an unknown numbers of PCs in the telco's consumer broadband …

    Security 26 Nov 2001, 15:53

  • Next-gen Nvidia nuggets appear on Web

    NV17, NV25

    Details of Nvidia's next-generation GeForce graphics processor have leaked onto the Web. Numerous sites have passed the information down the line, but the source appears to be German magazine c't. The technology will apparently be offered in two forms: a low-end part codenamed NV17 and a high-end chip codenamed NV25. The NV17' …

    Channel 26 Nov 2001, 17:20

  • VIA beats off Intel legal attack

    But not in the P4X266 suit...

    Intel has failed in one of its other legal attempts to bring to book chipset maker VIA for allegedly ripping off its intellectual property, its arguments damned by the trial judge as "confused". Last week, Judge William Alsup of the US District Court for Northern California threw out Intel's claim that VIA had infringed its …

    Channel 26 Nov 2001, 18:43

  • Kevin Spacey loses pivotal cybersquatting court case

    Movie star unable to sue in US

    Movie actor Kevin Spacey has lost a landmark court battle over ownership of www.kevinspacey.com. Judge Gary A Feess, of the United States District Court of the Central District of California, ruled on 14 November that if Mr Spacey wished to take ownership of the domain to court he would have to file in a Canadian court, where …

    Music and Media 26 Nov 2001, 20:22

  • Want to know more about the world's first underwater phone?

    Then click here

    It may sound like a demented Tomorrow's World feature, but France Telecom (and Amphicom) have invented the world's first underwater telephone. The French telco research department assures ease of use and a clear connection from any landline or mobile phone to someone at any depth of water. Seriously. So, what you want to know …

    Data Networking 26 Nov 2001, 20:27

  • Steve Gibson accidentally creates DoS tool

    ShieldsUp ripe for malicious use

    Techno hypemeister Steve Gibson, who clamored for headlines some months back with a dramatic prediction that the misuse of Win-XP's raw sockets would destabilize the entire Internet, has made his own inadvertent contribution to the malicious hackers' tool chest. Gibson's Web site is littered with hyped-up bells and whistles to …

    Security 26 Nov 2001, 21:01