6th September 2002 Archive

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Microsoft courts Hollywood with Windows Media 9

Ab Fab

Microsoft Corp late Wednesday used a high-profile gathering in Los Angeles to announce the launch of Windows Media 9 Series, which the company promises is faster and more functional than previous versions of its digital media software. The Hollywood hills setting of the launch reflects the fact that Microsoft is hoping to …

Music and Media 6 Sep 2002, 07:43
Intel shaves Q3 forecasts

Not that bad

Intel Corp trimmed back its expectations for the third quarter yesterday but insisted chip sales will return to seasonal demand patterns this year after 24 months of chaos. The Santa Clara, California-based vendor said revenues for the third quarter would be "slightly below the midpoint of the previous range of $6.3bn to $ …

Channel 6 Sep 2002, 07:43
AOL inks 5-Year DSL pact with Covad

Covad shares jump

America Online Inc is to buy wholesale DSL services from Covad Communications Group Inc for five years, the companies announced yesterday. The deal is the latest in a series of tie-ins between ISPs and broadband network operators in the US, and highlights AOL's desire to get internet users signing up for higher speed, …

Telecoms 6 Sep 2002, 07:44
NTT DoCoMo slashes 3G targets – probably

FOMA at the mouth

NTT DoCoMo Inc said yesterday that it might not hit the 1.38 million-user target it set for its FOMA 3G network by the end of its fiscal year next March, and will probably formally revise the figure when it announces first-half figures in November. At a Tokyo press conference reported by Bloomberg, DoCoMo's president Keiji …

Mobile 6 Sep 2002, 07:44
Single chip phones in 2004 – TI

Holy Grail

Texas Instruments Inc said it expects to produce a single-chip wireless handset by 2004, and will offer handset makers a two-chip solution as early as net year. The single-chip phone has become a holy grail of the communications industry, which currently requires four processors and a host of auxiliary components to build …

Mobile 6 Sep 2002, 07:44
Vodafone makes €12.6bn bid for Cegetel

Confirms talks

Vodafone Group Plc has confirmed that it has started talking with Vivendi Universal SA and BT Group Plc about acquiring their stakes in Cegetel SA, the French mobile operator. Earlier this week, market watchers were alerted to moves that suggested Vodafone was planning a hostile $8bn bid for Vivendi's 44% stake in Cegetel …

Mobile 6 Sep 2002, 07:45
Court sentences £50m MS piracy ring to 10 years

Confiscation looms

The UK end of a huge Microsoft software counterfeiting ring has been brought to book, with four convicted of conspiracy to defraud. Akbal Alibahai, 34 of Palmers Green, London and Nabil Bakir, 29, of Ascot,Berkshire, directors of a company called PC Software, were each sentenced to four and a half years in prison. Two …

Channel 6 Sep 2002, 09:54
Xbox Linux project releases SuSE 8.0 howto

You weren't doing anything this afternoon, were you?

The Xbox Linux Project has now produced a tutorial on installing SuSE 8.0 on an Xbox, and from the look of it, although getting SuSE running is something of a triumph, the Project still has a way to go before it can be said to have turned the Xbox into a cheap, low-hassle Linux client. First you need a mod chip, the XBE …

Software 6 Sep 2002, 10:08
NTL to emerge from Chapter 11 in October

Green light from US bankruptcy court

NTL is expected to emerge from Chapter 11 protection next month after receiving the thumbs up from a US bankruptcy Court. Almost four months after filing for Chapter 11 after being faced with a $10.bn debt mountain, NTL is within weeks of beginning a new life as two separate groups, NTL Europe and NTL UK and Ireland. While …

Business 6 Sep 2002, 10:23
Nokia preps colour 3510i for consumers

Picture play

Nokia today announced the 3510i, its first colour screen handset for the consumer market - i.e. it has to be cheap enough for teenagers to successfully pester their parents to buy the phone for Christmas. This is an inference - the 3510i is launching in Europe and Africa in Q4 and no prices have been announced yet. Nokia has …

Personal 6 Sep 2002, 10:51
PGP app yields remote root on Windows

Patch early, patch often

A curious flaw in a PGP application's handling of file names could allow an attacker to own a remote Windows machine with a malicious, encrypted archive. File names over 200 characters in length will cause a buffer overflow, which, if exploited properly, could allow running arbitrary code on the target machine. A typical …

Software 6 Sep 2002, 11:00
Big discounts on PC upgrade, repair books

20 titles at 30 per cent off

This week's featured titles from IT-Minds.com kick off with some of the biggest names in computer hardware publishing. The mighty Mueller has just released the 14th Edition of his best-selling title 'Upgrading & Repairing PCs' which can be yours for just £27.51 - a saving of 30 per cent. Preston Gralla is also back with his …

Site News 6 Sep 2002, 11:01
Bosses should stop snooping on staff email – MP

Stoppit

Tory MP Michael Fabricant is looking to introduce a Bill that would stop employers from snooping on employees' email. The Lichfield MP wants to give the same level of privacy in law for emails, as currently exists for conventional mail and telephone calls. Mr Fabricant says he is looking to introduce the legislation at a time …

Music and Media 6 Sep 2002, 12:06
Nokia launches 3650 Symbian phone

Image Conscious

Good news today for Symbian from Nokia which today announced the Nokia 3650, a feature-rich handset built with a integrated digital camera, and powered by the operating system. In essence, The 3650 develops Nokia's imaging phone story beyond the 7650, launched earlier this year in Europe and Asia Pac. The handset is pitched at …

Mobile 6 Sep 2002, 13:19
Pipexwoe bitch site renamed Pipexwow

Heavens

Pipexwoe - the site set up for people to hurl insults or praise at the ISP - has changed its name to Pipexwow in an amazing turnaround of fortune. Launched last month Pipexwoe was set up in response to the "growing number of problems facing Pipex as a Service Provider". Now, though, it's changed its name and URL to Pipexwow …

Bootnotes 6 Sep 2002, 13:22
Kid-chipper Cap Cyborg reported to police, social services

And we feel a 'how many laws would he be breaking' comp coming on...

An electronics expert is attempting to unleash various authorities, including the General Medical Council, local social services and the police on Professor Kevin Warwick for his proposed kiddie-chipping activities. According to the Reading Evening Post Bernard Albrecht started with the General Medical Council to confirm there …

Personal 6 Sep 2002, 13:38
O2 customer service reps are not working very hard today

Computer failure

O2 has been hit by a computer problem that has resulted in customer service staff being unable to access account details for as many as 400,000 customers. The glitch outage occurred at around 4.00am this morning, affecting part of the customer service platform. Engineers are working to resolve the problem, but at this stage O2 …

Mobile 6 Sep 2002, 13:58
Psion produces netBook refresh, OS upgrade

Small but perfectly-formed twiddle indicates it's still alive

Psion's highly-regarded but barely heard of netBook has been updated - not a lot, but it shows it's not dead. The netBook, for new readers, is a handy little EPOC 5 box with VGA colour screen, PC Card slot and very good battery life. It is not cheap, but it's useful for people who need something with instant on and a decent …

Personal 6 Sep 2002, 15:12
Forgot to renew your domain? Never mind, it did it itself

The Register.com road to customer retention

This morning (and indeed yesterday morning) The Register received a nice email from our doppelgangers at Register.com, telling us our registration of theregister.ws is about to expire (on October 16th, something of a loose definition of 'about') and that it'd be renewed via the automatic renewal program on September 27th. The …

Music and Media 6 Sep 2002, 16:30