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27th May 2003 Archive

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  • E-Plus offers i-mode handset – for €1

    Siemens S55

    KPN subsidiary E-Plus has launched the Siemens S55 handset with i-mode browser in Germany for EUR1. E-Plus customers who take out a 24-month contract for GPRS data bundles can purchase the Siemens S55 handset -- with i-mode browser, integrated camera and MMS -- for €1. The i-mode enabled handset costs €79 for pay-as-you-go …

    Mobile 27 May 2003, 07:21

  • Why enterprise WLANs need wireless gateways

    Security, management, scalability and bandwidth

    Tight wireless LAN security and an open systems approach to wireless authentication are claimed by Bluesocket for the WGX-4000, its latest WLAN gateway. The device sits between the WLAN access points (APs) and the wired LAN, and can support hundreds of simultaneous users. It acts as a firewall and VPN for wireless clients, and …

    Broadband 27 May 2003, 07:24

  • Getting a grip on WLAN futures

    Proxim talks wireless TLAs and security upgrades

    The Register's Wireless LAN Channel The wireless LAN world is a pretty bad offender when it comes to Alphabet Soup, what with 802.11b preceding 802.11a, and neither being the same type of thing as 802.11e*. So it was useful to hear Jan Haagh, a senior product manager in Proxim's WLAN division, talk through some of latest …

    Broadband 27 May 2003, 07:26

  • World wakes up to true speed of WiFi

    Just as it gets faster

    The Register's Wireless LAN Channel Last week, at the WLAN Event in London, chip maker Intersil demonstrated - live - a mixed mode WiFi service, running at full speed. That is, the 802.11b (legacy) system runs at around 3-5 megabits per second, while the just-approved 802.11g circuits are running around 15 to 20 megabits. The …

    Broadband 27 May 2003, 07:32

  • Cyber insurance between the lines

    Close call

    It's a security professional's nightmare. Not a new virus or worm. Not a hacker from outside trying to penetrate perimeter defenses. Not even an attempted denial of service attack. The nightmare scenario is the "Jayson Blair" syndrome -- the trusted insider gone bad. That can mean stealing information, destroying files, or …

    Small Biz 27 May 2003, 07:39

  • Enter the Matrix games sells a million

    Despite critical drubbing

    Atari is claiming that Enter The Matrix has already sold a million units in the USA and Europe after only a week on sale, representing 25 per cent of the four million units which the company shipped to retail so far. The second Matrix movie, The Matrix Reloaded, which the game ties in with, opened last week in the USA and on …

    Personal 27 May 2003, 08:01

  • AMD cuts Athlon XP prices by up to 31.8 per cent

    Follows Intel's Celeron price cuts

    Many of AMD's Athlon XP processors just got cheaper. The chip maker today cut the prices of all but the fastest and slowest CPUs - the 3200+ and the 2000+, respectively - in the family by up to 31.8 per cent. The cuts leave 333MHz frontside bus parts well below the recently introduced 400MHz FSB Athlon XP 3200+. That chip …

    Channel 27 May 2003, 09:50

  • Anti-Dixons blogger gets TV back

    Finally...

    Marie Griffiths - the anti-Dixons consumer champion - has finally got her telly back. Almost three months after it was taken away to be fixed (it went titsup before Christmas just days after she'd bought it) Dixons finally, finally returned it. Here's Marie's entry in her blog on Friday: "Hey guess what! I just received my TV …

    Media 27 May 2003, 10:02

  • Linux heats up the enterprise apps space

    Maturing fast

    According to Scott Handy, director of IBM's Linux solutions marketing group, Linux has now matured sufficiently to be hailed as an "industrial enterprise-class Internet server for web applications", writes Fran Howarth, of Bloor Research. Handy says that this has happened in a remarkably short period of time: three years ago, …

    Data Center 27 May 2003, 10:03

  • Elpida cuts mobile DDR power drain by 90 per cent

    Big boost to PDA battery life

    Elpida has begun shipping the latest generation of its mobile-specific Mobile RAM memory chips aimed at PDAs, digital cameras, cellphones and other small form-factor devices. The 256Mb parts come in single data rate SDRAM and 400MHz DDR SDRAM flavours and are fabbed at 0.11 micron. The chips are 90 per cent of the size of …

    Channel 27 May 2003, 10:10

  • Memix launches 128MB Flash drive watch

    Reg Kit Watch Plus the World's first FM mouse

    Data Watch UK-based Memix Direct has begun shipping its USB Memory Watch - a wristwatch with a built-in keychain-style USB solid state hard drive. Available in grey and black, each watch contains 128MB of Flash memory. The watch's strap contain an integrated USB connector, and Memix bundles a USB extension cable for folk …

    Personal 27 May 2003, 10:39

  • Paris moots city-wide Wi-Fi

    Metro piggyback

    The Register's Wireless LAN Channel A French telco is to assess the feasibility of setting up a city-wide public Wireless LAN (WLAN) network for Paris. The company, Naxos, is to piggyback off the data networking cabling system installed in the Paris Metro to deliver Wi-Fi access points above ground in a year-long trial. The …

    Broadband 27 May 2003, 10:45

  • Vodafone loss narrows

    A mere £9.8bn

    Mobile phone behemoth Vodafone posted better than expected full-year results on Tuesday, although its loss still totalled £9.8 billion. The full-year loss for the world's largest mobile phone company was a substantial improvement over 2002, when its full-year loss totalled £16.2 billion. For the year ended 31 March, turnover …

    Mobile 27 May 2003, 11:04

  • Adobe ships Acrobat 6.0

    Update New Reader too

    Adobe has begun shipping its Acrobat 6 product line, including an updated version of its reader software for the Palm OS. Adobe announced Acrobat 6 back in April. The new line-up contains just three versions of the software: Professional, Standard and Elements, aimed at pre-press and high-end users, mainstream business …

    Software 27 May 2003, 11:38

  • CSC wins £450m Marconi outsourcing gig

    10 years. 10 years!

    CSC has won a £450m ($735m) worldwide IT helpdesk and telecoms services outsourcing deal from Marconi, the incredible shrinking networking company. CSC will take 360 Marconi staff onto its books, while BT, a subcontractor for the gig, will take on another 40. The mega-deal lasts for 10 years, which shows remarkable confidence …

    Data Center 27 May 2003, 12:04

  • Tiscali's debt collectors demand cash from ‘PC Plod’

    You couldn't make it up

    Tiscali's debt collectors have sent a threatening letter demanding £14.98 - to "PC Plod". Greg Palmer from Peterborough was shocked when he received a bill demanding £14.98 from NCO Financial Services (UK) Ltd on behalf of Tiscali UK Ltd. Although the bill was sent to his home address it was sent to "PC Plod". To make matters …

    Media 27 May 2003, 12:15

  • Free Wi-Fi punted to pubs and hotels

    War supping

    The Register's Wireless LAN Channel Café owners and publicans can offer Wi-Fi access free of charge, courtesy of the European launch of FREESPOT. FREESPOT's first European location is the Kingsway Hall Hotel in Covent Garden, London. Punters will be able to get Internet access from the bar and lounge area of the Kingsway Hall …

    Broadband 27 May 2003, 12:18

  • ATI admits it ‘optimised’ drivers for 3DMark 03

    The 3DMark 03 cheating controversy continues

    ATI has admitted that it tweaked its Catalyst drivers to generate better 3DMark 03 scores and said that it will remove the modifications before the next release of the drivers. The admission followed 3DMark creator Futuremark's audit of graphics card drivers from ATI and arch-rival Nvidia. The audit was prompted by an …

    Channel 27 May 2003, 12:58

  • DRM-less MP3s from $3.99

    Viva Espana

    A new Spanish music service is offering commercial music downloads for as little as $3.99 for an eight hour session. Monthly subscriptions begin at $24.99. Unlike Apple's Music Store, which offers DRM-encumbered files, Puretunes also offers obscure back catalog artists such as The Beatles, and an agreement with publishers …

    Media 27 May 2003, 15:45

  • Critics set up anti-SPEWS Web site

    This time it's impersonal

    Critics of the SPEWS blacklist have set up a Web site highlighting their grievances against the popular service. SPEWSMonitor.info has been established to "counter the growing number of out-of-date, inaccurate and often malicious listings by SPEWS of entire subnets". Critics are aggrieved at what they say is SPEWS' hard-line …

    Security 27 May 2003, 15:48

  • Church gives blessing for phone masts

    Radiation and porn concerns raised

    The Anglican Church has given its blessing for mobile phone masts to be erected in two of its church towers in Yorkshire - just as long as they're not used to transmit porn. Around 50 people protested to plans by Vodafone to erect masts within the towers of St Margaret, Hawes in the Yorkshire Dales and Holy Trinity, …

    Mobile 27 May 2003, 15:49

  • Operators falling short of ambitious Wi-Fi roll-out plans

    Bumpy ride

    The Register's Wireless LAN Channel Operators are in risk of failing to deliver on over-ambitious public Wi-Fi access business plans. According to Ross Pow, Managing Director of telecoms consultancy Analysys Research, some over-ambitious Public WLAN roll-out plans could fall short by as much as 50 per cent. "Hot spot …

    Broadband 27 May 2003, 16:00

  • Data retention: Irish DP rep threatens to sue over secret order

    Unconstitutional, illegal...

    Irish Data Protection Commissioner Joe Meade has twice threatened to bring High Court proceedings against the Irish Government over an "invalid" order on data retention, secretly issued a year ago. According to a report by Karlin Lillington in the Irish Times, Meade claims the order is in breach of the Irish Constitution, lacks …

    Media 27 May 2003, 16:24

  • Backroom deal selects unknown for Euro data ‘supervisor’

    Wouldn't some governments find a toothless stooge handy in the post?

    A Brussels fudge threatens to parachute a virtually unknown Spanish magistrate into the key post of European Data Protection Supervisor. Earlier this month Joaquín Bayo Delgado was selected via secret ballot by the European Parliament's Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs, despite deep obscurity …

    Media 27 May 2003, 16:27

  • IBM injects Power4+ into low-end

    Let all our servers be refreshed

    IBM's Power4+ processor has managed to slither all the way through the company's Unix server line. A pair of new low end servers - the p615 models 6E3 and 6C3 - are the latest systems to have 1.2GHz Power4+ chips, IBM announced on Tuesday. The Power4+ processor is a follow on to the Power4 chip IBM introduced in 2001. IBM has …

    Servers 27 May 2003, 17:13

  • WCs meet PCs: converged tech toilets show promise

    Bodily_function()

    Microsoft's decision to flush away its iLoo project may have disappointed many readers, but some of the boldest technology research is taking place in our restrooms. MIT's Dan Maynes-Aminzade is just one pioneer putting the PC into the WC. He's the co-author of " You're In Control " - the pun is intentional - a research project …

    Personal 27 May 2003, 17:36

  • Broadband by blimp idea floated

    A lot of hot air?

    York-based telecoms outfit SkyLINC wants to build a network of base stations in balloons, tethered 1.5km high, as a platform for delivering broadband to rural communities. SkyLINC's LIBRA (Low-Cost Integrated Broadband Radio Access) platform could be used to provide symmetrical broadband connections of 1Mbps and above to the …

    Broadband 27 May 2003, 17:43

  • Itanic: Enron's Golden Albatross

    Shipping volumes

    There's a dark specter of doom looming from Itanic's past. The history of Itanic is dotted with various foibles, follies and disasters (Itanium 1 - Ed), so it's easy to miss a snafu or two. It would, however, take the dullest of eyes to overlook the word ENRON on the Intel 64 Fund Web site. The $250 million Intel 64 Fund was …

    Business 27 May 2003, 21:49