23rd May 2003 Archive

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Java client offers cheaper, faster mobile email

Trimming off the fat

An optimised email client for Java-capable phones could drastically cut the cost of reading and replying to email on the move, according to British developer Imhotek. Called IXPLite, the software is a cut-down version of Imhotek's existing mail client, and it saves connection costs by trimming off all the fat from messages, so …

Mobile 23 May 2003, 08:31
Drop MS Passport, advises Gartner

Wants 6-month freeze for bug-ridden sign-on system

The Gartner Group has advised customers to avoid Microsoft's Passport authentication system for at least six months. If businesses continue to use Passport, they should bolster their defences with "an additional, more secure form of identification for all issued Passport identities," says Gartner. The advisory note was issued …

Software 23 May 2003, 08:32
Open Source Content Management arrives

Bricolage is the Daddy

The rise and rise of Linux is opening up the whole software market to open source products, writes Martin Langham, of Bloor Research According to a recent CIO survey of 375 IT professionals, the IT community is growing more comfortable with the open-source development model, reporting that open source will dominate their Web …

Data Center 23 May 2003, 08:50
Web standards move forward

UDDI and BPEL4WS

Two meetings of OASIS have moved web services standards forward significantly, writes Peter Abrahams, of Bloor Research. UDDI V2 was ratified as an OASIS standard. BPEL4WS V1.1 was submitted to an OASIS technical committee, the first step towards ratifying it as a standard. These standards are two of the five basic pillars of …

Data Center 23 May 2003, 08:50
Let's all go to India

Offshore IT: bowing to the inevitable?

Offshoring, which has been popular in the financial services industry for years, is arguably the biggest threat to indigenous IT careers in North America and Europe. IT workers will want to try to prevent the mass exodus of jobs to cheaper labor markets, but such protests are likely to have minimal effect in the end. Hardly a …

Data Center 23 May 2003, 08:53
PayPal scam rises again

Hit and Run

PayPal users are once again the targets of a hit-and-run e-mail scam aimed at conning them out of their personal and financial information. On Thursday, netizens began receiving a convincing forgery of a PayPal e-mail, with the subject line "PayPal Verification" and the false return address verification@paypal.com. The text of …

Security 23 May 2003, 08:58
Mobile messaging revenues carry on climbing

A $70bn market by 2007

Mobile messaging revenues will double by 2007 to $69bn, according to Analysys forecasts. But the research firm inserts an important caveat: the operators must take "immediate action to drive service growth and control cannibalisation of existing revenues", if the rosy prediction is to turn into hard cash. SMS text messaging …

Mobile 23 May 2003, 09:31
E3: Sony announces PlayStation handheld

'Walkman of the 21st Century'

"This is the Walkman of the 21st Century," said Ken Kutaragi, as journalists amassed at Sony's pre-E3 conference stood there gazing, dumbfounded at the wily SCE chief. PlayStation Portable, or PSP, due out in Q4 2004, finally signals Sony's large-scale entry into the handheld gaming market. And we have a hunch they'll give …

Personal 23 May 2003, 09:54
Blunkett to intro UK ID cards, via £25 passport tax

Consultation? What consultation?

UK Home secretary and award-winning serial threat to freedom David Blunkett is set to foist identity cards on the UK public under the cloak of dealing with ilegal immigration. The UK public prints (here's one) report that the legislation will be brought in this autumn, "as part of a package to tackle illegal working by migrants …

Media 23 May 2003, 10:48
Google pulls anti-Dixons adwords

Too little too late

Google is pulling anti-Dixons ads run by consumer champion, Marie Griffiths, because they fail to meet its Ts&Cs. So says the The Australian Financial Review which picked up the story of Marie's crusade against the giant electrical retailer. As it happens, it seems Marie isn't all that fussed at the ads being dropped since she …

Media 23 May 2003, 11:41
Software piracy ‘kingpin’ captured in Bangkok

US pushes for extradition

A Ukrainian man alleged to be the mastermind behind a multi-million dollar computer software piracy racket has been captured in Thailand. Maksym Vysochansky, 25, who was arrested in Bangkok Monday evening, allegedly sold US$ 3 million worth of computer software, "resulting in damage worth up to $1 billion to the US software …

Channel 23 May 2003, 11:44
Small.biz needs help with chip and PIN

Banking on the banks

Banks are being urged to help more small firms embrace new point-of-sale terminals designed to eradicate credit card fraud. The new chip and PIN system combats the use of stolen and counterfeit credit cards by requiring customers to tap in a four digit number when paying for their goods. It's currently on trial in Northampton …

Small Biz 23 May 2003, 11:57
Tiscali's email probs sorted

C'mon, who left on the filters?

Tiscali UK has admitted that a problem with its email service over the last couple of days was its own fault. Concerned punters thought that the ISP might have fallen victim to yet another attack after they struggled to access their email earlier this week. Their concerns were confirmed when entries in Tiscali's status page …

Media 23 May 2003, 12:01
Madge Networks goes titsup, flips up as Madge Ltd

Token Ring's last stand

Madge Networks N.V., almost the last man standing in the Token Ring market, has gone bust in the Netherlands. An administrator appointed by the Dutch courts in April 17 was yesterday granted a bankruptcy order in Holland, in a process similar to that of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy under US law. Madge's operating business has been …

Channel 23 May 2003, 12:08
AOL's ‘Connie’ faces uncertain future

Is this the end, sniff?

AOL UK has denied that the omission of "Connie" from its current series of TV ads spells the end of the road for its annoying advertising cyber-genie. A spokesman for AOL UK insisted that Connie was still with AOL but conceded that "she may not have quite a high profile in the future". "She's taken a bit of a back seat - but …

Media 23 May 2003, 13:06
Credit card firms ‘profit from Net fraud’

Racketeering claims in US class action

A class action lawsuit against credit card firms alleging merchants are unfairly left to shoulder the burden of credit card fraud has begun in the US. The suit, filed by North Carolina-based law firm Triangle Law Center, in the US States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, alleges all manner of misdeeds …

Small Biz 23 May 2003, 13:11
EC moots trackable cyber euro

Lost your wallet? Help may be at hand...

The European Central Bank (ECB) is considering embedding tiny radio tags into euro notes in a bid to combat counterfeiters and money launderers, a report today notes. The ECB is in talks with Hitachi, whose 0.3mm "mu-chip" responds to radio signals by sending out a 128-bit number. This information could include a serial number …

Business 23 May 2003, 13:31
Fujitsu tarts up mobile line

A brace of Centrinos

Fujitsu Siemens has refreshed its mobile line up with a brace of Centrino notebooks. The notebooks are an ultraportable, the LIFEBOOK S6120, and a desktop replacement, the E4010. The S6120 incorporates 'multi-bays' - in other words there's space to insert a second battery. Which is cool. And there's a 13.3in TFT-XGA display …

Broadband 23 May 2003, 14:13
Invisible GIs to heal selves, leap tall building with nanotech

Yes folks, hollywood.mil is back, and it wants your money...

Their shared love of expensive tech toys and massive grants to buy them with meant it was only a matter of time before the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and us.mil* got together. And so it came to pass - yesterday saw the unveiling of an MIT army contract to set up the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, and an …

Bootnotes 23 May 2003, 15:28
Pay-as-you-go rural wireless broadband

Bring me Sunshine

The Register's Wireless LAN Channel Lincolnshire-based WRBB this week announced a wireless rural broadband service, with plans to launch a pay-as-you go, subscription-based service by the start of July. WRBB's Sunshine is based on readily available WiFi technology, but uses a different business model to the crop of similar …

Broadband 23 May 2003, 16:08
Tiscali calls in debt collectors over ‘unpaid’ bills

What unpaid bills, punters demand

Tiscali UK customers are up in arms after some received letters from debt collectors demanding they pay-up - or else. Said one hacked-off Tiscali customer, who's received a demand even though she downgraded to a pay as you go service a year ago: "It would appear that Tiscali has a billing fiasco on their hands and are now …

Media 23 May 2003, 16:11
Tablet PC chat bug scuppers Tablet PC chat

Please call back later

Tablet PC enthusiasts eager to chat online with Microsoft managers were disappointed this week. A bug in the Tablet PC software meant that Tablet PC users couldn't join the scheduled session, "Take All Your Notes Electronically with Tablet PC". Session moderator Ken McGrath explained:- "Unfortunately, customers should not use …

Bootnotes 23 May 2003, 19:08
Analyst, three men at airport to acquire Sun

Speculation on demand

Three middle-aged men were waiting at the SFO baggage claim, when one asked, "So, who's going to buy Sun?" This felt like a set-up for a mediocre IT joke, but The Register was intrigued and moved closer to the gentlemen. "I guess it would be IBM, HP or Dell," one man said. "That McNealy has been spouting off for years, and it …

Servers 23 May 2003, 20:30