10th December 2002 Archive

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Handspring's keyboard pledge, $99 phone

Combo/PDA price cut

All future models from Handspring will feature a keyboard, the company told us last week as it took its latest GPRS software on the road. There's a small irony to this, as it's Handspring's founders Jeff Hawkins and Donna Dubinsky who popularized pen computing at Palm after high profile failures from Go, Apple, General Magic …

Personal 10 Dec 2002, 01:11
Extreme CPUs: 430 cores on a die

World's meanest chip?

British start-up picoChip has announced an extreme processor with 430 16bit cores on a die, and is testing the first silicon. It's a pretty radical and interesting approach, which involves a massively parallel array of four different kinds of processors, each of which picoChip reckons is equivalent to an ARM 9, linked by a …

Channel 10 Dec 2002, 01:55
Office 11 tools up for .NET

Dev platform consolidation

Microsoft Corp is planning tools for XML web services in the next version of Office, tying the company's popular desktop productivity suite more tightly into .NET, writes Gavin Clarke. The company yesterday announced Visual Studio Tools for Office, a set of tools that enable developers to build Word and Excel macros using …

Software 10 Dec 2002, 08:54
Peoplesoft upgrades CRM with 8.8

Stepping on Siebel's toes

In announcing the launch of PeopleSoft CRM 8.8, enterprise business applications provider PeopleSoft Inc is trying to step all over Siebel Systems Inc's toes through its emphasis on integration, usability and intelligent business processes. The largest CRM release since version 8, which ushered in the suite-wide Pure …

Hardware 10 Dec 2002, 08:54
Brocade blocks McData in court battle

Storage Wars

Brocade Communications Systems Inc has won the first round in its court battle with McData Corp, beating off McData's request for a preliminary injunction that would have forced Brocade to disable some features in some of its products. The United States District Court for the District of Colorado has denied McData's …

Storage 10 Dec 2002, 08:55
HP pencils Mid-2003 for Madison Superdome

Some slippage on PA-8800

The word inside Hewlett Packard is that a 64-way version of its high-end Superdome server using the Madison Itanium 2 processor will ship in the middle of next year, Timothy Prickett Morgan writes. We also hear that the company has slipped a few weeks on its expected ship dates for the dual-core PA-8800 processors, the …

Servers 10 Dec 2002, 08:55
NetScreen turns to SafeWeb for SSL VPNs

Security v. Convenience

NetScreen Technologies Inc has outlined its response to the emerging market for SSL-based extranets as a complement to IPSec VPNs, partnering this week with SafeWeb Inc, one of the startups that is focusing on that market, writes Kevin Murphy. Emeryville, California-based SafeWeb has been selected for NetScreen's Global …

Security 10 Dec 2002, 08:56
Hutchison 3G unveils prices, services

Founders' Day

It's been a close shave, but Hutchison 3G has got the customer ball rolling in December, just like it said it would - in the revised launch schedule. The UK's newest mobile phone network is still in pre-registration mode but today it takes the wraps off pricing option "outlines", three phones, early-adopter customer promotions …

Mobile 10 Dec 2002, 09:42
UK's 192 service opened up

All hung up

The UK's directory enquiries (DQ) service has finally been deregulated opening up the service to competition. Punters now have the choice of phoning around ten different operators for help obtaining a phone number. Deregulation is expected to deliver new services such as 'call completion' (where a customer is connected directly …

Data Networking 10 Dec 2002, 10:18
Hijacked? Fight over Poker.com URL

Royally flushed

Poker.com Inc said its eponymous domain name was hijacked and traffic redirected to another business on December 6 in an act of "technological piracy". The Canadian-domiciled gambling site will "vigorously pursue" the return of the domain name and will seek damages. In the meantime, it urges customers to use an alternative …

Music and Media 10 Dec 2002, 10:57
AMD takes on Xeon space with Athlon 2400+MP

Low-end multiprocessor

AMD today intro'd its fastest multiprocessor to date, the AMD Athlon MP 2400+. And it's a real live launch - 47 system builders worldwide are expected to show immediate availability for product incorporating the chip. In 1,000 unit quantities, it costs $228. The Athlon MP 2400+ CPU supports DDR memory and is rolling off the 0. …

Channel 10 Dec 2002, 12:10
Aussie Net libel writ extends to world+dog

Freedom of speech etc

Australian entrepreneur, Joseph Gutnick, has won the right to have a defamation case against US online publisher Dow Jones heard in an Australian court. Dow Jones lost an appeal after the High Court ruled that the news organisation was subject to Australian law because the article in question was downloaded in Australia. Dow …

Music and Media 10 Dec 2002, 12:20
Mydomain.com, NamesDirect.com felled by DOS Attack

Firewall overflow

Mydomain.com and NamesDirect.com are back on air, after recovering from a "HUGE" Denial of Service attack. This is the explanation for what went wrong with the sites which were offline most of yesterday, posted in service announcement on the Mydomain.com support forum. About 3am Pacific, a Denial Of Service attack/ HUGE influx …

Music and Media 10 Dec 2002, 12:42
DeCSS show trial opens in Oslo

DVD Jon in the dock

The trial of a Norwegian teen accused of developing a utility that enables people to illegally copy DVD movies opened in Oslo yesterday. Jon Johansen has pleaded not guilty to charges that carry a maximum sentence of up to two years in jail or huge fines and compensation for his role in creating and distributing the "DVD …

Music and Media 10 Dec 2002, 13:22
Fujitsu preps Symbian 3G smartphone

For NTT Docomo

The first Symbian OS 3G smartphone is to start shipping to NTT DoCoMo. Made by Fujitsu the F2051 FOMA phone is also the first Symbian OS handset designed specifically for the Japanese market, incorporating a jointly developed "wholly new user interface" (what, the Japanese language?). No pricing yet but quite a lot of spec - …

Mobile 10 Dec 2002, 15:07
Hand back ITV Digital set tops. Or else!

Knock, knock,

The liquidators of failed digital TV outfit, ITV Digital, want customers to cough up £40 to keep their set top boxes (STB). According to Grant Thornton, the million or so former ITV Digital punters never actually owned their STBs but were merely "lent" the kit. The STBs are regarded as "potentially a major asset in the …

Telecoms 10 Dec 2002, 15:10
Nigerian 419 fraudster baiting – Olympic sport?

The Graham Douglas Fraud Masterclass

Those readers who agree with us at El Reg that Nigerian 419 fraudster baiting desrves recognition as an Olympic sport will find plenty to chuckle about at the The Graham Douglas Fraud Masterclass - a classic chronicle of Lagos-based scammers being led gently up the garden path to ridicule. The man with access to the obligatory …

Bootnotes 10 Dec 2002, 15:46
Nokia in Q4 sales warning

Shares dip

European mobile telecom stocks dipped on Tuesday morning after Finnish bellwether Nokia said that fourth quarter sales may fall below expectations. Finland's Nokia, which makes about a third of the world's mobile phones, said on Tuesday that it now sees fourth quarter sales for the group at between €8.8bn and €9bn. These …

Mobile 10 Dec 2002, 16:07
Anti-Pirates – now they're coming for your kids

Growing problem

Forget the facts of life - parents now need to tell their kiddies about the facts of the Net and how pirating software could land them in trouble. The Business Software Alliance (BSA) says more and more juveniles are being fingered for pirating software and it's calling on parents to be more vigilant about their children's …

Software 10 Dec 2002, 16:09
'I'm no hacker', Sklyarov tells US court

Elcomsoft in DMCA test case

Dmitry Sklyarov, the Russian programmer at the centre of the first Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) prosecution, yesterday delivered his long-awaited testimony in the trial of his former employer, ElcomSoft. ElcomSoft is charged with supplying a tool which circumvents the copy protection in Adobe eBooks, which can be …

Security 10 Dec 2002, 16:49
Honduras bans Quake etc.

For you Tomás, the war game is over

Honduras has issued a blanket ban on all violent videogames and toys, which is set to come into effect next June - giving retailers in the country a six month grace period to clear stocks of the games from their inventories. Among the banned games named are Resident Evil, Shadowman, Street Fighter, Turok, Perfect Dark, Quake …

Personal 10 Dec 2002, 17:20
Hi-tech crime threatens UK plc – survey

Sabotage, virus attacks, fraud

British companies consider sabotage of data or networks, virus attacks and financial fraud as a real threat to the future of their business. A survey of 105 firms conducted by NOP for the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) yielded reports of more than 3,000 separate incidents with virus attacks accounting for 1,305. Hacking …

Security 10 Dec 2002, 17:35
CPW to run Pogo services

That's what customer services says

Carphone Warehouse is to take over the running of the online services of Pogo, the UK PDA maker from tomorrow. That at any rate is what CPW's Customer Services are telling Pogo customers who ask. The news has yet to percolate through to CPW's press office, which has promised to find out the score. But unless CPW's customer …

Personal 10 Dec 2002, 17:51
UK e-tailers offered cheaper CC processing

'Rip-off'

Independent e-commerce outfit Netshopper claims that its new Netpayments service will halve the costs of processing online debit and credit card sales. Current charges on online sales can run up to around 6 per cent. Netpayments says it can do it for 2 per cent. Why? Because it says it's an independent company with lower costs …

Music and Media 10 Dec 2002, 17:53
A bumper bag of GlowRings from Cash'n'Carrion

Plus details on last Xmas dispatch dates

It's been quite a month down at Cash'n'Carrion since we first stocked the remarkable Traser GlowRings Indeed, so popular have they proved that we are now offering those looking for a bumper bag of stocking fillers the chance to buy 25 GlowRings in any single colour at a knock-down £80 (£94 inc VAT) - that's just £3.76 each. …

Site News 10 Dec 2002, 17:59
VCISP.NET: Good news for Mac and Linux users

Site News Windows not compulsory

There has been some confusion surrounding the availability of our Vulture Capitalist ISP services to Mac and Linux users. It appears at first sight that running Windows is a prerequisite for signing up with VCISP.NET. Not so. This apparent outrage is due to some poorly-written copy for which we take full responsibility. We …

Site News 10 Dec 2002, 17:59
MS fights Open Source with freebies – an eyewitness writes

Letters But there's Free Software and there's free software...

One of Microsoft's special strengths is the speed and intensity with which the sales team (right the way up to Bill, for government and really big accounts) goes in whenever a defection is threatened. As we noted last week Open Source is currently in the counter-insurgency SWAT team's crosshairs, with who knows what discounts …

Software 10 Dec 2002, 18:01
BOFH and the Nigerian 419

Episode 24 Help the PFY launder his ill-gotten gains

BOFH 2002: Episode 24 Dear Reader, Allow me the opportunity of presenting a commercial proposition to you that would be mutually beneficial. I got your name and contact from the heeeuge database of Register readers which they use to send unsolicited email and dob people in to their bosses for wasting company time on the web all …

BOFH 10 Dec 2002, 18:02
DALnet debilitated by DoS attacks

Enough is enough

DALnet, one of the world's biggest IRC service providers, has apologised to its users for disruptions caused by an unusually fierce DDoS attack over the weekend, whose effects are continuing to be felt. "It is a sad fact that it has been somewhat difficult to connect to DALnet for some time," a notice to its users explains. " …

Security 10 Dec 2002, 19:53
MS un-denial leaves Linux option open

Feasible

Meta Group has made a bold prediction that Microsoft will deliver some server-side software to run on Linux beginning next year, but Redmond's official "denial" leaves the option wide open. It revives a rumor that's been doing the rounds for two years. Starting with .NET, thinks Meta Group, Microsoft will eventually move SQL …

Hardware 10 Dec 2002, 22:36