22nd May 2003 Archive
Browse by publication date, or search the site.
-
The FAQ on UK data retention czar's shady video past
Lack's substance...
Privacy International is concerned with some pretty serious issues, so it's understandable that it's ordinarily pretty serious itself. But the appointment of Bob Lack to run the UK Home Office's data retention consultation has moved it to produce a Lack FAQ, which is amusing in a knockabout sort of way until you remember that …
Music and Media 22 May 2003, 08:28
-
Catalan wireless broadband takes to mobile masts
Rural solution?
The Register's Wireless LAN Channel Network infrastructure costs are a big concern - not only for those building the networks, writes Rob Bamforth of Bloor Research. Local authority plans and those people who live in the back yards that are being dug up or having masts built upon are also affected. New services seem to demand …
Wireless 22 May 2003, 09:00
-
Hey! You! Get onna The Cloud
WiFi access in UK pubs scheme goes live
The Register's Wireless LAN Channel The Cloud, the UK-wide broadband WiFi hot spot network, yesterday began offering its services at 200 pubs in the UK. Service is free for the next six weeks. Meanwhile The Cloud, which is part of the Inspired Broadcast Networks and Leisure Link Group, will roll out its services to 1,000 sites …
Wireless 22 May 2003, 09:04
-
HP embraces and extends with BEA
No OS is safe
Hewlett-Packard has extended a deal with BEA Systems that provides a free trial version of BEA's WebLogic Server with its Unix hardware to the rest of its server line. Users can try out BEA's application server on HP's Intel-based ProLiant servers running Linux and AlphaServers running OpenVMS. Come June, NonStop server users …
Hardware 22 May 2003, 09:07
-
UK has 2 million BB connections – Oftel
Oh, no we don't - Oftel
The UK now has two million broadband connections, Oftel has announced today, with new connections running at around 35,000 a week. Garbage. Oftel doesn't rate 128k services as broadband (there are around 400,000 or so at NTL) but still includes them in figures so that the regulator can be "in line with statistics on broadband …
Telecoms 22 May 2003, 09:08
-
BT Broadband is a flop
Turn off, tune out
BT Broadband - the no-frills, access-only high-speed Net service - is a flop failing to live up to the telco's own expectations. Since its £30m launch in September last year, the monster telco has flogged just 171,000 lines. A spokesman for the monster telco told us that this was acceptable since it was a "new product". What …
Telecoms 22 May 2003, 09:09
-
SCO pulps Caldera-MS trial archives
History is toilet tissue...
The Caldera antitrust lawsuit included some of the most damning evidence of Microsoft misconduct; breakware, black propaganda, all was there, the potential embarrassment being such that there was good reason for Microsoft to settle, then try to pretend it never happened. Now, however, maybe it didn't ever happen - because the …
Software 22 May 2003, 09:20
-
So Mr Blair, you really think techies can all get jobs?
Answers wanted over PMQs
The Professional Contractors Group (PCG) is calling on Prime Minister Tony Blair to explain why he believes there is full employment in the IT sector. During Prime Minister's Questions yesterday Tory backbencher, Andrew Selous asked: "Does the Prime Minister share the concern of a number of my constituents, who are well …
Small Biz 22 May 2003, 11:22
-
Slow Cube sales drag down Nintendo profits
PSP looms
Nintendo has reported a 36.8 per cent fall in net profit for the year ended March 31 due to poor sales of GameCube hardware and games - but the company still posted a 67.72 billion Yen (€494 million) annual profit. The results are broadly in line with Nintendo's most recent forecasts, made in April, although they are well …
Personal 22 May 2003, 11:42
-
US anti-terror law used against hackers, thieves
Secret searches
The enhanced search and surveillance powers Congress gave the Justice Department in the USA-PATRIOT Act haven't just been used in the war on terror: it turns out they're helpful in everything from spying on credit cards fraudsters to tracking down computer hackers. On Tuesday lawmakers on the House Judiciary committee publicly …
Security 22 May 2003, 11:45
-
EURid wins .eu domain contract officially
Two-month delay in confirmation yields a few more details
Brussels-based consortium EURid was today officially announced as the organisation that will run the new .eu domain registry. This may cause a sense of deja-vu for many who read back on 20 March that EURid had won the contract. But that was a leak of the official document and the now the official document has been officially …
Music and Media 22 May 2003, 13:00
-
Baltimore seeks White Knight
Quick sale wanted, needed
Troubled Irish tech firm Baltimore Technologies is up for sale, with the company seeking a strategic partner to help develop its sales potential. The stock market reacted well to the plan, with Baltimore's stock up nearly 40 per cent on the London Stock Exchange by 3.30pm. Baltimore said at its AGM today that it is commencing …
Hardware 22 May 2003, 15:42
-
E-minister calls on Comms.biz to bridge Digital Divide
Pass that buck
E-minister Stephen Timms is to call on the communications industry to invest in developing countries to help bridge the global digital divide. At an industry dinner this evening Mr Timms is expected to say that he would like to see more ICT businesses investing in overseas markets. And while he acknowledges that such moves are …
Telecoms 22 May 2003, 15:42
-
Future of WiFi? – it's the mobile phone
VoIP is key driver
The Register's Wireless LAN Channel David Hughes normally sells WiFi hotspots for BT. Today, at the WLAN Event, he predicted that WiFi was the future of the mobile phone, not just the laptop computer. And he said that voice applications would cover the country using hotspots. Hughes was one of a panel of four talking about the …
Wireless 22 May 2003, 15:57
-
Gates justifies stronger chains for hardware makers
PC companies obeying orders equals partnership, equals better integration
The Register first noted Microsoft's plans to seize control of the PC standards-setting process over two years ago, and we're therefore pleased to see the final confirmation that this process is now in place - Bill Gates is denying it. Actually the denial, which comes in an interview with Associated Press, represents a welcome …
Software 22 May 2003, 17:29
-
DRM is your fluffy friend – Ballmer stakes out MS' turf
Why disappearing documents are good for you
Sooner or later it had to happen. Microsoft is putting a lot of money into Digital Rights Management, and expects to get a lot more money back out so long as it can persuade consumers that DRM is their fluffy friend, and most certainly not a fiendish plot to allow the music companies to squeeze even more money out of them. This …
Software 22 May 2003, 17:29
-
SGI renders 400 redundant
Visualizing departure
Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) wants to return to profitability and thinks a ten per cent cut in its workforce can help. Listed under "Today's Highlights" on the SGI Web site Thursday was the announcement that 400 workers would lose their jobs. As a result, SGI will trim quarterly expenses by close to $10 million, starting with …
Servers 22 May 2003, 17:46
-
GSM heads for 50pc of US phones
Analysis Portability churn will change the landscape
While the battle to set Iraq's mobile phone standard may be over, Nokia thinks that GSM can grab 50 per cent of the market back in the Homeland. And analysts seem to agree it's far from impossible. You might be as skeptical as we are, but the global GSM standard and its variants are indisputably on the rise in the United States …
Mobile 22 May 2003, 19:11
-
Gray Panthers gun for MCI
Crime pays
The Gray Panthers carry a big cane and have waved their geriatric wood at MCI (WorldCom), calling for the US government to cut back business with the troubled telco. A series of ads cropped up this week in which The Panthers chastised MCI for shrinking the retirement savings of thousands of seniors. The oldies also gave the …
Business 22 May 2003, 21:22
-
US Robotics doubles up on 802.11g data rates
Foot down on the accelerator
The Register's Wireless LAN Channel US Robotics today launched 802.11g wireless LAN kit designed to double the throughput of connections. The company's 802.11g Wireless Turbo range is powered by "Accelerator Technology" which increases performance level from 54Mbps to 100Mbps on a single 802.11g channel. The technology is …
Wireless 22 May 2003, 21:48
