21st February 2002 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

Microsoft seeks new phone boss, cuts PocketPC supporters adrift

Exclusive Corporate push leaves grassroots, MVPs unchuffed

A re-organization of Microsoft's Pocket PC marketing operation has left some of the platform's most enthusiastic supporters out in the cold. It's even caused concern amongst The Beast's brownshirt vanguard - its army of unpaid MVPs ("Most Valuable Professional"s) - who in return for advanced technical information and the hope …

Personal 21 Feb 2002, 09:05
Energis poised to flog Euro ops

Announcement due later today

Energis is reportedly set to confirm later today that it is to sell its European operations. The troubled alternative telco confirmed this morning that it would issue a statement later today about its future. The FT reports that Energis has blown around £1 billion on its European operations but has little choice but to flog …

Business 21 Feb 2002, 10:26
Freeserve chuffed with user numbers

Or is it just putting on a brave face?

Freeserve is crowing with delight that it now has 2.4 million customers – 60 per cent more than arch-rival AOL UK. Freeserve has chucked megabucks in recent months at marketing campaigns (remember the naked ramblers and, more recently, the hippies?) promoting its £12.99-a-month Net access package. Despite all this activity, …

Music and Media 21 Feb 2002, 10:27
Mobile security needs to change with GPRS

Gap-Plugging

Does the security architecture used in mobile networks need to change? Our question is sparked by the line-up of new products from security vendors announced at this week's GSM Congress. Check Point Software announced a wireless security product family designed to ensure secure communications and roaming between mobile …

Security 21 Feb 2002, 10:36
Text messaging used to cut through court bureaucracy

SMS for briefs to cut costs

Text messaging is being used to reduce court delays and witness waiting times in a government-backed pilot project, which was launched yesterday. The £2.4 million scheme is being piloted at Chelmsford Crown Court, in Essex, over the next six months and will be extended to Basildon and Southend during March. Court clerks …

Music and Media 21 Feb 2002, 10:38
‘Push off Sarah’ , says naked civil servant

Not interested

Steve McPherson – who appeared stark bollock naked when a picture of him appeared on the Web next to an impassioned plea to get hitched – has turned down the chance to wed Sarah Jay. Miss Jay, as you’ll recall, posted the picture (which later carried a fig-leaf to cover his dangly bits) alongside the caption: "This is Stephen, …

Music and Media 21 Feb 2002, 11:08
AMD preps Hammer chipsets

Big bandwith 8000 series

AMD does not usually go big on designing its own chipsets: its making a big exception with Hammer, its so-called eighth generation 64-bit server CPU , with the 8000 series. A fat CPU of course needs big bandwithd chipsets to maximise performance. AMD is trying to ensure no nasty bottlenecks with a liberal sprinkling of …

Channel 21 Feb 2002, 11:28
Hewlett Jr outlines Merger Plan B

It's Plan A - but with more Printer Ink

There's still a month to go before Hewlett Packard and Compaq shareholders get to vote on the Sircam merger, but the battle lines are now more clearly drawn. After months of sniping, DNA-approved dissident Walter B Hewlett has proposed his own personal course of action for HP, and what do you know, it radically differs from …

Business 21 Feb 2002, 11:32
Actebis stops making desktop and server PCs

Carries on with notebooks

Actebis, the German-owned PC components distributors, is to withdraw from making desktop and server PCs. The company says that its diversification into own-label PC building - it sells under the Peacock and Targa brands - has not been unsuccessful. By contrast, own-label notebooks and monitors - it imports more than a million a …

Channel 21 Feb 2002, 12:07
Small MS DVD privacy invasion, not many dead

Caught collecting and not using preference data?

Windows Media Player 'phones home' when you're watching DVDs, but whether or not this is either a surprise or a serious privacy issues kind of depends on your point of view. Security consultant Richard Smith thinks it is, and documents what WMP does, and the data it sends. It contacts a Microsoft server to get title and chapter …

Software 21 Feb 2002, 13:00
VIA forecasts rapid take-up of KT333

Making it easy for mobo makers

VIA yesterday officially launched the Apollo KT333 chipset. It's the world's first to support new fast memory DDR333 for Socket A (i.e. AMD Athlon and Duron) processors. Here's some KT333 benchmarks, supplied by VIA: 8% faster than KT266A in StreamD 2000 7% faster in SoSoft Sandra 2001 14% faster in JKBench Write DWord 3 …

Channel 21 Feb 2002, 13:25
Crunch time loom for BT's broadband plans

They better be good

Ben Verwaayen is facing his first real test as BT’s new CEO. Two weeks ago he put his reputation on the line by declaring that he would "substantially" reduce the cost of broadband. Many industry watchers sensed that this signalled a new direction for BT with its future strategy tied to broadband. Which makes the imminent …

Telecoms 21 Feb 2002, 13:30
Biometric passports for Brits – by 2006

Smart cards for travellers

UK citizens may be asked to carry smart cards carrying biometric information alongside conventional passports within four years. Bernard Herdan, the chief executive of the UK Passport Service, said the proposals fitted in with plans by Home Secretary David Blunkett's to introduce an "entitlement" card, which critics see as …

Security 21 Feb 2002, 13:33
Tripod account hijack risk patched

'No-brainer' security hole

Lycos has patched a gaping security hole with its Tripod homepage service which would have allowed crackers to bypass authentication checks and control a victim's homepage. Security consultants Interrorem discovered it was possible to hijack a user's account by manipulating a URL string. Russ Spooner, a consultant at …

Security 21 Feb 2002, 13:40
Nokia to share mobile network technologies with rivals

Jumping before it's pushed

Nokia Oyj yesterday promised to "share" core mobile network technologies with its competitors in a "de facto standardization" effort that it claims is necessary to reduce network industry cost structures, and hasten the realization of next-generation mobile data services. It also unveiled its own range of "open" network modules …

Data Networking 21 Feb 2002, 13:58
EU thumbs nose at US with software patent proposals

High Hurdles

The European Commission has released proposals for updating regulations regarding software patents that seem set to infuriate US software vendors. The proposals from the European Union's policy body, which are designed to harmonize rules across member states, would set a standard that vendors will have to clear before they can …

Software 21 Feb 2002, 13:59
Caldera case expert to review Windows XP source code

It's that man again...

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kottely has followed up her interesting decision that Microsoft should allow Windows source code to be independently reviewed by appointing someone characterised by Microsoft as a professional anti-Microsoft expert witness to review it. Which is possibly even more interesting. She has however denied the …

Software 21 Feb 2002, 14:00
Google gives its twist on pay-per-click

Spot the difference

Google Inc has brought its unique flavor to the pay-per-performance search/ad model, yesterday outlining how it plans to tackle the market currently dominated by Overture Services Inc. The search engine firm has changed its AdWords keyword-based service to make it more attractive to advertisers. AdWords Select has two major …

e-Business 21 Feb 2002, 14:00
Energis culls 400 jobs

Confirms sale of Euro ops

Energis is to axe 400 UK jobs in a bid to save £25 million a year. The telco also confirms that it is to sell its continental European business, following a month-long strategic review. National Grid Group plc – which owns around a third of Energis – said it could not be relied upon for additional financial support. Investors …

Business 21 Feb 2002, 14:58
Mass ICQ ‘hack’ baffles world+dog

Accounts sent to deathrow.com

We have received evidence which suggests a mass hack of ICQ has taken place - but neither AOL or security experts can come up with an explanation. A Register reader last week discovered that both of his accounts had suddenly become disconnected and the passwords no longer work. The email addresses for both accounts were changed …

Security 21 Feb 2002, 16:31
HP, Gateway: MS Seattlement terms screw us too

No it doesn't - MS

Microsoft is seeking to have all patent claims waived by the top 20 PC vendors which license its operating system. And it says the new terms and conditions are a direct consequence of the Seattlement terms which decree inter alia that Microsoft should offer uniform licenses to its major customers. But the PC vendors - some of …

Personal 21 Feb 2002, 17:03
SNMP exploit causes printers to jam

Buggy firmware means restart needed

A denial of service vulnerability has been reported in some versions of the firmware for Hewlett-Packard JetDirect printers. According to a note on the BugTraq security mailing list, HP printers are far more susceptible to SNMP vulnerabilities than was at first believed when general problems with the protocol surfaced earlier …

Personal 21 Feb 2002, 19:27
Terror talk stalks RSA Conference

Computer security Czar Clarke frets

The official theme of the eleventh annual RSA Conference evokes the Elizabethan Era -- complete with costumed minstrels and acrobats wandering the San Jose, Calf. convention center. Unofficially, the security event opened Tuesday with a more serious theme, with U.S. cyber security czar Richard Clarke warning about the …

Security 21 Feb 2002, 21:02