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28th April 2003 Archive

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  • Letters Corrections and Carrionifications

    A couple of apologies are in order. 1. Software Engineers re: Why Intel Doesn't Write Stuff Down (Because They're Smart) Reader "oberon" wrote me a very angry letter indeed:- "While most of the articles are timely, accurate, and insightful, this trash should never have been published," he writes. "What do you have against …

    Letters 28 Apr 2003, 07:10

  • KPN shuns H3G UK loan request

    No surprise here

    KPN is still not lending any more money to Hutchison 3G, the greenfield 3G network in which it is a minority shareholder. Last September, the heavily indebted Dutch telco said it would no longer fund H3G, so it's rejection of the March cash call from H3G comes as no surprise. H3G's service, live in the UK and Italy, is late, by …

    Mobile 28 Apr 2003, 08:43

  • Apple attempts to patent iPod-like ‘scroll-disk’ mouse

    Coming to market sooner than we think?

    Is Apple about to change the face of user-computer interaction? That's certainly one (albeit exaggerated) interpretation of the patent application the company filed in the US, and revealed by MacObserver. The patent application, number 20030076303, can be read here. The headline date of the application is 24 April 2003, but the …

    Mac Channel 28 Apr 2003, 09:32

  • Q1 chip sales up 13%

    Sighs of relief

    Global chip sales rose last month, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reported yesterday, leaving Q1 2003 sales totalling $36.4 billion, 13 per cent higher than Q1 2002's total of $32.19 billion. That said, the quarter's sales total was down on the previous quarter's figure, by just 3.2 per cent from $37.6 billion. …

    Channel 28 Apr 2003, 10:10

  • Nvidia reaches ‘tentative’ deal with SEC

    Don't do it again

    Nvidia has reached a broad agreement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that in return for agreeing to be a good boy in future, the stocks and shares regulator will not fine the company this time. The agreement, revealed in Nvidia's annual report, filed with the SEC on Friday, was tabled earlier this month. It is …

    Channel 28 Apr 2003, 10:49

  • Intel slashes Celeron prices

    Predictions proven

    Intel yesterday cut the prices of its 1.8GHz to 2.4GHz Celeron desktop chips, as predicted. That lends credence to forecasts that the chip giant will slash 533MHz frontside bus Pentium 4 prices on 11 May. The Celeron prices fell by up to 23.9 per cent. The 2.4GHz chip fell from $127 to $103, a reduction of 18.9 per cent. The 2. …

    Channel 28 Apr 2003, 11:04

  • OFT probes MS school licensing rules

    Anti-competitive complaints

    The Office of Fair Trading last week began a formal investigation into Microsoft's alleged abuse of its dominant position in the UK's education market. Following industry complaints, the OFT is to examine Microsoft's Schools Agreement for alleged violation if section 26 of the 1998 Competition Act. "The OFT has reasonable …

    Software 28 Apr 2003, 11:07

  • Web giants to declare war on spam

    Yahoo! AOL and MS team up

    Three of the world's largest technology companies -- Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft -- are to announce details of a major offensive designed to combat unwanted e-mail. The initiative, details of which are expected on Monday, will see the three rivals cooperating and calling on other technology leaders to participate in measures aimed …

    Security 28 Apr 2003, 11:12

  • BT Midband to cost £35 a month

    Exclusive Capped service disappoints

    BT's "midband" service - a 128k Net access product based on ISDN and aimed at people who can't get broadband - is to cost significantly more and do even less than the telco's entry-level ADSL service. When details of BT Midband were first raised in November last year it was suggested that the service would cost around £25-£30 a …

    Telecoms 28 Apr 2003, 11:18

  • Importers warned over GBA Pokemon titles

    Could harm UK sequels launch

    Nintendo has issued a warning to retailers importing copies of Pokemon Sapphire and Pokemon Ruby for the GBA, indicating that the company will take legal action if importing becomes widespread. Game Boy Advance cartridges carry no region protection, and with the UK launch of the eagerly awaited Pokemon titles still two months …

    Personal 28 Apr 2003, 11:46

  • Windows Server 2003 – Secure by Default

    Opinion MS delivers

    With Windows Server 2003, Microsoft has finally produced an operating system that isn't begging to be hacked on the first boot, writes SecurityFocus columnist Tim Mullen. One of the biggest criticisms of Windows 2000 was its "everything on" default installation state. For a consumer operating system, it made sense: people …

    Security 28 Apr 2003, 12:21

  • MS security patch slows XP systems to a crawl

    Nasty side effects

    Microsoft last week attached a health risk to one its own security patches, following widespread complaints that the fix slowed systems to a crawl. The problematic patch, designed to fix a flaw in the way the kernel passes error messages to a debugger, was issued on April 16. The vuln affects Windows NT 4.0, NT 4.0 Server, …

    Security 28 Apr 2003, 12:34

  • Virgin Mobile up on youth popularity

    Wicked, etc

    Virgin Mobile - the joint venture between Virgin Group and Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile - reckons it's the DeeBees (dog's b******s) after signing up more than a quarter of a million new punters in the first three months of the year. That brings its total customer base in the UK to more than 2.6m punters who, between them, helped …

    Mobile 28 Apr 2003, 13:17

  • Dell targets gamers with consumer 800MHz FSB kit

    Reg Kit Watch Intel's latest chipset and ATI's Radeon 9800 Pro

    Desktop PC Dell has introduced its most powerful consumer desktop, the Dimension XPS. Based on Intel's 800MHz frontside bus Pentium 4 running at 3GHz and Intel's i875P chipset, and with a 128MB ATI Radeon 9800 Pro graphics card and Creative Audigy 2 sound card, the box is aimed squarely at gamers. More consumer-friendly …

    Personal 28 Apr 2003, 13:49

  • T-Mobile fights UK union bid

    Imports US union buster

    T-Mobile has hired "union avoidance labor consultants" The Burke Group to fight a union recognition vote in the UK. The Burke Group claims a 96 per cent strike rate in fighting 700 union recognition campaigns, although its hit list is entirely American. The Communications Workers Union has been recruiting among T-Mobile's 6, …

    Mobile 28 Apr 2003, 13:51

  • Dixons won't repeat misleading credit ad

    OFT wins 'informal undertakings'

    Dixons Stores Group (DSG) has received a ticking off from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) over misleading advertising. Currys, one of DSG's stable of retailers, was found to be advertising misleading ads for interest-free credit - something the OFT won't stand for. Why? Well, although the "no interest" or "0%" loans might …

    Small Biz 28 Apr 2003, 14:15

  • Conman caught by rogue mobile redial

    Dial D for dumb

    An incompetent conman spilled the beans on a fraudulent insurance claim when he accidentally redialled the company he was trying to rip off. The man, who can't be named for legal reasons, inadvertently redialled the call centre of claims adjustors Loss Management Group, moments after phoning in a fraudulent claim. He proceeded …

    Mobile 28 Apr 2003, 15:32

  • Intel gives away lip-reading speech recognition code

    Lip service

    Intel has released lip-reading visual speech recognition software under an open source licence. Called Audio Visual Speech Recognition (AVSR), the software is part of Intel's OpenCV computer vision and facial recognition code library. Essentially, it tracks the speaker's mouth movements as individual character and syllable …

    Software 28 Apr 2003, 15:50

  • Spinning network centric warfare in the peace

    Smart weapons getting better at detecting big budgets

    Do we detect the beginnings of a spin campaign to 'prove' that network-centric warfare (ETA 2010, according to Pentagon documentation) won its spurs in the Iraq war? Sadly, we fear we do. The US Department of Defense was probably even more disappointed than we were that the 'first digitized division,' the 4th Infantry, was …

    Music and Media 28 Apr 2003, 16:17

  • Apple launches 99c a song music service

    Great service... if only you can get the songs you want

    Apple launched its online music service today, providing almost unlimited usage rights, CD quality audio and reliable downloads for just 99 cents a song. But you're out of luck if you live outside the US - the only territory in which the service is available. It's Mac-only too. It will come to Windows by the end of the year, …

    Mac Channel 28 Apr 2003, 18:39

  • MS issues Visual FoxPro OS statement …

    To VFP fan sites

    Microsoft has issued a statement designed to stop developers from running one of its development tools on Linux. The controversy kicked off earlier this month when Microsoft executives warned software developer Whil Hentzen, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, against demonstrating how to run Microsoft's Visual FoxPro (VFP) on Linux …

    Software 28 Apr 2003, 19:24

  • Freeserve nears 70k BB punters

    Wanadoo advances

    Freeserve chalked up an extra 19,000 broadband customers in the first three months of the year bringing its total to 68,000 punters in the UK. That might not seem a lot for the outfit that calls itself the UK's number one ISP, but Freeserve insists that the growth rate is in line with increases elsewhere in the UK's broadband …

    Telecoms 28 Apr 2003, 19:25

  • McNealy on Project Orion, Sun's Database hole

    Interview Databases are MIRVing, don't ya know

    Later this year, Sun will start shipping almost every piece of software it makes from the Sun One Application Server and Directory Server to grid computing and clustering products as part of a giant bundle with its Solaris operating system. This Microsoft-like bundling exercise has the potential to change the way both software …

    Software 28 Apr 2003, 19:29

  • Apple takes iPod to 30GB

    Adds recharge/sync dock and USB 2.0 support, as predicted

    Apple introduced a new, slimmer generation of its iPod personal music player, as predicted. The new design sports a touchpad-based "solid-state" scroll wheel and four backlit control buttons: track skip/rewind, Menu, play/pause and track skip/fast forward. The updated iPod is available not only with 15GB and 30GB hard drives, …

    Mac Channel 28 Apr 2003, 19:56