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11th December 2001 Archive

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  • The hidden world of long-term bit-saving

    Benchmarks for storage

    The sheer volume of data that is now collected has brought a fresh focus to the hidden world of long-term bit saving. The eruption of data requirements has led to a corresponding demand for both hardware storage platforms to hold the data and recognition of the fact that there is an even greater need to manage these storage …

    Hardware 11 Dec 2001, 09:41

  • Pressplay backs CD burning

    Will permit music downloads to be stored on disc

    Digital music company Pressplay has said it will allow users to burn downloaded tracks onto CD in a bid to compete more effectively with its rivals. You'd have thought Pressplay's decision would be unlikely to please the music industry, but since it’s a joint venture between Sony and Vivendi Universal, it must have had their …

    Music and Media 11 Dec 2001, 11:16

  • Cornwall gets DSL

    It's Kernow or never

    A BT project to roll-out ADSL in Cornwall could become the blueprint for the phased introduction of broadband Net access in rural Britain. The project - a public/private sector partnership including BT and the South West of England Regional Development Agency - will invest £12.5 million to help get small and medium sized …

    Telecoms 11 Dec 2001, 11:39

  • Chinese take sip of Linux tea

    XTeam's penguin push

    XTeam, a Linux software developer, will list on Hong Kong's Growth Enterprise Market today, as part of its bid to push penguin-power into Mainland China. Having shifted its focus from trying to attain market share on the desktop level, the company is now hoping to target the burgeoning server market in the region, using the HK$ …

    Business 11 Dec 2001, 11:42

  • Intel pushes 845D DDR chipset over PC133 predecessor

    Plug your P4s into the new chipset, not the old one

    Intel appears to be working hard to wean motherboard makers and system integrators off its SDRAM-based 845 chipset and on to the part's DDR-based successor, the 845D. The 845D has been shipping for some weeks now, we hear, in preparation for its official launch early next year - though boards based on the part are likely to …

    Channel 11 Dec 2001, 11:58

  • Sophos updates snag unwary

    Viral order

    Sophos users on standalone PCs should remember that they need to download virus definitions after they install their monthly update CD. During a local (single user) install of Sophos Anti Virus (SAV) the package automatically removes old virus signature definition (IDE) files. The advice comes from a Reg reader who had had …

    Malware 11 Dec 2001, 12:06

  • Single EU telecoms market edges closer to reality

    Compromise deal just days away

    The plan to build a single European market for telecoms and Internet services has edged closer to reality with the European Parliament welcoming last-minute changes by member states to new laws. Parliament will vote on the revised legislation tomorrow and it will then be sent back to all individual countries for final approval …

    Data Networking 11 Dec 2001, 12:11

  • Intel insider trader fined $12,000

    Pridgeon makes total Ancor of himself

    Ex-Intel staffer Brian Pridgeon was yesterday ordered to pay a $12,000 fine and sentenced to six months at home after being found guilty of insider trading. Pridgeon, 37, admitted passing inside information to his cousin, Stephon Carradine, concerning a deal to be struck between Intel and Ancor Communications, now part of …

    Business 11 Dec 2001, 12:27

  • Sony preps online gaming

    Ties up with NTT

    Sony Computer Entertainment and NTT Broadband will launch an online gaming service for the PlayStation 2 in Japan next April. The service is linked with the release of an add-on module for the PS2 which includes a 40GB hard drive and an Ethernet port. Sony released a revised PS2 model this year with the ability to handle the …

    Personal 11 Dec 2001, 12:59

  • Palm's wireless i705 launch imminent?

    Now on Staples' product list, apparently

    Palm's follow-up to its wireless-enabled VII and VIIx PDAs, the i705, codenamed Skywalker, has apparently turned up in Staples' product database. A source said to be a Staples employee gave the i705's product code as SKU 479208 and its price as $450, Web site Palm Infocenter reports. A separate, plug-on Mini Keyboard is also in …

    Personal 11 Dec 2001, 13:04

  • Sagem upbeat over mobile sales

    Very good fourth quarter

    The CEO of France's second largest telco group Sagem, Gregoire Olivier, has overturned current misery in the mobile industry by saying he expects a surge in phone sales to put the company at break-even over the year. In direct contrast to how all his rivals see the market, Mr Olivier - who took over as CEO in April after his …

    Data Networking 11 Dec 2001, 13:22

  • Death of an expert IT witness

    Computer forensics infighting

    The Home Secretary's plans to recruit top-flight computer forensic experts to work on complex cases as part of reforms of the police service may suffer a hitch. An acrimonious dispute has erupted between the UK's leading computer crime experts. On his web site, Jim Bates, MD of Computer Forensics and a long-time police expert, …

    Security 11 Dec 2001, 13:41

  • Totalise ends free share offer

    Throwback of a bygone age

    Totalise plc is to stop issuing free shares from April next year in a move to underpin the Internet company's share price. In a statement issued today Peter Gregory, CEO of Totalise, said: "The tradeable marketing shares have proved themselves to be a very effective marketing incentive, and some 185,000 customers have been …

    e-Business 11 Dec 2001, 14:55

  • Cisco IOS loadable modules pose hacker risk

    Cracker sniffing

    Rootkits and loadable kernel modules which could allow a cracker to obtain administrator level access to routers will become a greater threat as Cisco develops its technology. That's the warning from Nicolas Fischbach and Sebastien Lacoste, both of the security team of COLT Telecom. Future attacks are also likely to include …

    Security 11 Dec 2001, 14:58

  • AOL launches Mac OS X software

    North Americans only, please

    AOL today officially released the Mac OS X version of its Net access software, despite the UK operation's complaints that the market for Apple's new operating system is too small to be bothered with. The release marks the culmination of a long beta testing programme and follows Apple's recent release of an updated version of …

    Mac Channel 11 Dec 2001, 15:17

  • Microsoft licenses profiling software for digital TV

    Privacy issues over Predictive contract

    Microsoft is to install profiling software from Predictive Networks in all its digital TV set-top boxes. Predictive's technology enables a company to profile individuals through their viewing habits and so provide digital TV providers with useful demographics to sell onto marketing agencies. Both companies point out that …

    Telecoms 11 Dec 2001, 15:43

  • Toshiba to cut managers' salaries, bonuses

    Will it make much difference?

    Toshiba has cut managers' salaries, asking these employees to bear the burden as it faces a "crisis" and "the more sever situatuation since the founding of [the] company". So said company president Tadashi Okamura in an email to senior staffers. The email went on to detail cuts of between 1.5 per cent and three per cent. The …

    Business 11 Dec 2001, 16:43

  • Intel offers open source software for PCs with vision

    May need spectacles

    Intel has released to the open source community software which can allow computers to see. Sort of. Intel's Open Source Computer Vision Library (OpenCV) 2.1 enables computers with optical detection mechanisms to be programmed to recognise both 2D and 3D images. Intel has also included tools to perform facial gesture recognition …

    Software 11 Dec 2001, 17:05

  • NetBenefit denies seeking fresh funds

    'Misleading press speculation'

    NetBenefit, the Internet names and domain hosting outfit, has denied a newspaper article which says that it needs to raise extra cash to support the business. Today's Independent reported: "According to gossips, NetBenefit...is in need of extra funding...[and] is looking to raise about £2.5m via a deeply discounted rights issue …

    e-Business 11 Dec 2001, 20:16

  • Check Point touts firewall for home broadband users

    S-box looks expensive

    Check Point Software has entered the consumer appliance market with a firewall targeted at residential broadband users. The S-box, from Check Point subsidiary SofaWare, uses a cut-down version of Check Point's stateful inspection firewall technology and is been positioned as a secure and easy way for consumers to protect …

    Security 11 Dec 2001, 20:19

  • Can cellphones kick start the IT revival?

    Nokia's good news lifts cellphone manufacturers

    Cellphone stocks rebounded today on the back of a bullish earnings estimate issued by Nokia. The market leader, which accounts for one in three of all mobile phones sold, said it should beat its revised figures for the current quarter, and said it expected to shift between 105 and 110 million handsets in Q4 2001. In turn, that …

    Business 11 Dec 2001, 20:43

  • Online libel: the American Way

    Freedom is a virtue that very few possess

    Oh to be a journalist in America, where online reporters have the same protection against libel charges as their offline counterparts. The New York Supreme Court decision today made this freedom-of-the-press right explicit, when it threw out a court case between the Bank of Mexico and Narconews.com, a site which investigates …

    Music and Media 11 Dec 2001, 22:27