22nd January 2003 Archive

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Dude, your cryptic hand gestures are baffling and utterly inadequate

Letters Dell won't tell

Re: Dude, you've got selective amnesia! Michael Dell might think he can wave away - or twirl away questions about Dell's aborted consumer Linux strategy - but Register readers aren't impressed. The question remains, why devote 150 staff to a business unit, spend millions investing in start-ups, only to can the exercise a few …

Personal 22 Jan 2003, 01:16
Oracle and customers still at odds over 10.7

Don't leave us this way

First-day announcements from Oracle AppsWorld in San Diego, California were low key with Oracle Corp continuing with its long-held theme of customer take-up for 11i, and customer satisfaction, supplemented with the announcement of additional product and service bundles aimed at easing implementation. The Redmond, …

Hardware 22 Jan 2003, 09:34
HP rolls out Versastor, by way of Brocade

Game on

Signaling the start of what is very likely to be the year that big suppliers begin shipping storage virtualization products, Hewlett Packard Co yesterday said that it is finally set to roll out its long-awaited Versastor technology, writes Tim Stammers. The announcement also gives Brocade Communications Systems Inc a boost …

Storage 22 Jan 2003, 09:34
C&W waves goodbye to Wallace

Better late than never

Cable & Wireless Plc is parting company with chief executive Graham Wallace, a man held responsible by angry investors for bringing the company to its knees by burning its cash pile on a series of internet acquisitions that have left it nursing huge losses. The company said yesterday that Wallace would continue to be …

Business 22 Jan 2003, 09:35
Search firms upgrade relevance, bells, whistles

ASK FAST

Fast Search & Transfer ASA and Ask Jeeves Inc both yesterday introduced upgrades to their web search engines, hoping to attract and retain more users as search becomes an increasingly lucrative web business. Jeeves said it has launched version 2.0 of the Teoma search engine it acquired late 2001 and went live with a year …

Music and Media 22 Jan 2003, 09:37
RealNetworks goes live with Helix DNA Server

Open source volley

RealNetworks Inc will today release the third and final piece of its Helix open-source streaming media system, with which it hopes to become the de facto standard streaming media software provider on the internet, Kevin Murphy writes. CEO Rob Glaser is set to make the announcement at the LinuxWorld trade show in New York …

Software 22 Jan 2003, 09:48
Yahoo! offers! small! biz! hosting!

Gunning for Verio, Interland

Yahoo! is to offer Web hosting services for small businesses in US. Three tariffs are available, costing $11.95, $19.95 and $39.95 each per month and set up fees ranging from $15 to $25. Support for PHP and MySQL is provided with the most expensive plan. Yahoo! is looking for a hefty slice of a US web hosting market segment …

Music and Media 22 Jan 2003, 09:57
Oftel orders cut in mobile phone charges

Operators threaten judicial review

The UK's four mobile phone operators have been ordered to slash their charges for making calls to their mobile networks because they're overcharging punters by a whopping 40 per cent, the telecoms regulator confirmed today. The decision comes as the Competition Commission agreed with Oftel that consumers pay too much for calls …

Mobile 22 Jan 2003, 11:16
Firstnet agrees to buy Liberty Broadband

Too shy to talk though

Liberty Broadband - the fixed wireless operator formally known as Tele2 (UK) - was formally placed into liquidation on January 10. Six days later the liquidators agreed to sell the business to Leeds-based ISP Firstnet, although this has yet to be finalised. However, a spokeswoman for the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI …

Telecoms 22 Jan 2003, 11:21
‘Pattern Language for Web Usability’ at 30 per cent off

Website design essentials from IT-minds

This week's must-have offer from Reg associate IT-minds.com is 30 per cent off the unique Pattern Language for Web Usability - a book that uses design patterns to achieve web usability. The book will show the reader how to design great websites using software patterns as a guide with the aid of stunning full colour design …

Site News 22 Jan 2003, 11:26
SuSE launches Office for SMEs

Cheaper, more secure

SuSE, the big German Linux distro, yesterday announced its open source Office desktop productivity tool. Called SuSE Linux Office Desktop 8.1 (the version number refers to SuSE's take on the Linux OS, not to the suite), this is available in a retail-friendly box for $129 (€139.90) for a single license +90 days support. The pitch …

Software 22 Jan 2003, 12:06
Microsoft launches CRM (in US)

H2,03 for Europe

Microsoft Corp finally launched its delayed customer relationship management (CRM) software yesterday, the company's first foray into this area of e-business software. Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft CRM for North America was delayed from its planned end-of-2002 launch at the last minute, as the company said it wanted …

Software 22 Jan 2003, 12:06
Vodafone, Orange seeks judicial review over phone charges

O2 delays 3G roll-out

Vodafone UK is to seek a judicial review following the Competition Commission's ruling that mobile phone companies are overcharging consumers for making phone calls. Vodafone - the UK's largest operator - "strongly disagrees with the outcome of the Competition Commission report" and believes the conclusions are "fundamentally …

Mobile 22 Jan 2003, 13:19
Verizon to appeal in music download ID case

'Chilling effect on private communications'

US ISP, Verizon, is to appeal against a court ruling which forces it to reveal the identity of one of its customers who is alleged to have illegally made available more than 600 copyrighted music files over the Internet. Yesterday, US District Court Judge John Bates ruled in favour of the Recording Industry Association of …

Music and Media 22 Jan 2003, 16:09
Web-based single sign-on sales shoot up

ebiz enablement

Web-based single sign-on (SSO) is emerging as the key driver within the security 3A (authentication, authorisation, and administration) market. An IDC survey predicts the value of the Western European security 3A software market will increase from $721 million in 2002 to $1.2 billion by the end of 2006, growing around 13 per …

Security 22 Jan 2003, 16:13
US startup plans new console launch

But is it really a console?

A Florida-based startup, Infinium Labs, has announced its intention to launch a new broadband-enabled console in the US games market by the end of the year which will compete directly with the offerings from Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft. The system, codenamed "Phantom", will be unveiled in March and released commercially in …

Personal 22 Jan 2003, 17:13
bet365 sends Avril Lavigne worm to punters

Bad tip

Online betting firm bet365 has apologised after sending out a copy of the Avril Lavigne worm to punters on its mailing list last night. The embarrassing security breach occurred by accident during a process to decommission a Linux box formerly used by the company to run its mailing list. In normal operation the box prevented …

Malware 22 Jan 2003, 17:29
On Windows, Nynorsk, Sami and Catalan

Letters A shprakh iz a diyalekt mit an armey un MS Office

Our recent-ish article Windows comes to Nynorsk, prompted a big response, mostly from Norwegians and Brits with a smattering of Catalans responding to our call to arms. According to the old saw, a language is a dialect with an army and a navy, a criterion by which Nynorsk and Catalan are both found wanting. By the more modern …

Letters 22 Jan 2003, 23:32