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11th June 2003 Archive

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  • Munich airport offers choice of WISP

    But will multiple ISP hotspots take off?

    The Register's Wireless LAN Channel Munich Airport has set up a WiFi hotspot that provides air passengers with a choice of ISP. The World's First Multiple ISP Hotspot, as it is being billed, was built as an extension to the airport's own wireless LAN using technology from Cisco Systems. Unlike most hotspots the system is …

    Data Networking 11 Jun 2003, 07:47

  • Dell and EMC renew their vows

    Marriage made in storage

    Something must be going right between Dell and EMC with both companies agreeing to extend the length of their storage partnership. The vendors did not muck around with fanfare or too much self-promotion in announcing the deal on Monday and with good reason. Extending a storage reselling agreement can only be so exciting. Dell …

    Storage 11 Jun 2003, 07:56

  • ReplayTV to forbid ad skipping

    New owners, new values

    The single most distinguishing feature of ReplayTV, namely its ability to skip commercial propaganda automatically, will be dropped from the next line of DVR boxes, Reuters reports. "Due in August, the new ReplayTV 5500 series will remove the 'Commercial Advance' and 'Send Show' options present in models that are currently for …

    Personal 11 Jun 2003, 08:51

  • What constitutes the mid-market?

    Sliced and diced

    As enterprise application vendors have seen their licence revenues slip recently and average transaction sizes plummet, many have turned their attention to focus on the "mid-market". Notwithstanding the recent flurry of acquisition announcements in the enterprise applications space, many of the vendors in this market, including …

    Hardware 11 Jun 2003, 08:59

  • Text complaints on the up, up, up

    Growing problem

    Complaints concerning premium rate email, SMS and fax services have gone through the roof in the last year as more and more people have been diddled by unscrupulous operators. The number of complaints about dodgy text message jumped eight-fold in 2002 to more than 1,200. And reports about spam scams - including ones tricking …

    Mobile 11 Jun 2003, 08:59

  • Chip makers to increase spending this year

    Up 13 per cent from last year's 55 per cent cut

    The world's chip makers will spend 13 per cent more on plant and equipment this year compared to 2002, market watcher Strategic Marketing Associates (SMA) has forecast. Last year, semiconductor companies spent $28 billion on capital expenditure. This year, they will spend $31.6 billion. The increase in spending will take place …

    Channel 11 Jun 2003, 09:02

  • Nvidia preps NV40 for PCI Express migration

    Coming late 2003/early 2004

    Nvidia will move from today's AGP 8x interface to the next-generation PCI Express buys during the last three months of 2003 and the first three months of 2004, according to roadmaps revealed by German web site HardTecs4U. The product that will lead that transition will be the NV40, the site says. Speaking at an AMD road show in …

    Channel 11 Jun 2003, 09:25

  • Glow-in-the-dark keyboard lights up nightly Quake sessions

    Reg Kit Watch Plus: Smart Display PCs come to the UK

    Illuminated keyboard Auravision's EluminX illuminated keyboard isn't entirely new, but since we've not come across it before and as the company plans to show off its wares at CeBIT USA next week, we thought we'd mention it anyway. Taking a leaf out of Apple's 17in PowerBook, the EluminX keyboard glows in the dark, back-lit for …

    Personal 11 Jun 2003, 09:52

  • Microsoft enters AV market

    Trojan horse

    Microsoft has entered the anti-virus market with the surprise acquisition of little known Romanian AV firm GeCAD Software. Financial terms of the deal, announced yesterday, were not disclosed. In addition to developing new solutions, Microsoft said it would use GeCAD's expertise and technology to "enhance the Windows platform …

    Malware 11 Jun 2003, 10:06

  • New WPA wireless security on its way

    Not a moment too soon

    The Register's Wireless LAN Channel Virtually no one has a kind word to say about Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), the standard for securing data transmissions on Wi-Fi networks, writes Anne Zieger. WEP, which relies on cryptography that can be cracked with a half-hour of laptop time, isn't well-defended, but until recently it's …

    Odds and Sods 11 Jun 2003, 10:35

  • Intel touts early access to new tech

    One Generation Ahead

    Intel's services division, Intel Solution Services (ISS), has launched One Generation Ahead, an initiative developed to provide businesses with access to future technologies and the company's "business expertise". The goal: to help firms roll out new technology more quickly and maximise ROI while they're about it. According to …

    Small Biz 11 Jun 2003, 10:43

  • Reg to attend 3rd Annual Nigerian Email Conference

    Get rich quick scheme: Brush up on your 419 skills

    Those readers interested in the potential fiscal benefits of unsolicited e-mail marketing might like to join key members of the Register Strategy Boutique in Nigeria this November for the 3rd Annual Nigerian EMail Conference. We can heartily recommend this event - hosted by Mr. Laurent Mpeti Kabila, a senior assistant leader of …

    Bootnotes 11 Jun 2003, 11:21

  • BB growth doubles in Europe and US

    Beckham-free story

    2002 was a bumper year for broadband in Europe as the number of punters hooking up to high-speed Net access more than doubled to 13.4 million and access revenues topped $4bn. The increasing availability of broadband services, greater customer choice, more affordable packages, and increasing Internet usage were all cited as …

    Telecoms 11 Jun 2003, 11:23

  • Orange flogs cheapo voice/data leased line combo

    Powered by Cisco

    Orange UK and Cisco have developed a service which enable companies to access both voice and data services through a single leased line. Customers can save up to 30 per cent by using this fixed line package, compared to buying voice and data networks separately, Orange says. Orange Link Voice and Data is an intelligent network …

    Data Networking 11 Jun 2003, 11:33

  • Find! A! Date! On! Yahoo! UK! France! Germany!

    Matchmaker, Matchmaker Make Me a Match

    Yahoo! today launches a dating agency for its UK and Ireland, French and German properties. Called Yahoo! Personals, subscription will cost between €15 and €25 per month. But the service is free for the first few months. Yahoo's! move into the European dating scene makes sense. In the US, it claims 16.3 million users (as of …

    Music and Media 11 Jun 2003, 12:04

  • Taiwanese gather sales in May

    SiS overtakes VIA

    Taiwanese companies issue regular monthly sales reports, and the latest figures, for May, from the leading chipset and chip makers are now in. VIA sold $32.1 million worth of kit during May, down 34.96 per cent on May 2002's figure of $49.4 million. SiS sold $33 million, putting it just ahead of its rival. It also saw sales …

    Channel 11 Jun 2003, 12:21

  • Hutch sues KPN over 3 funding (or lack of)

    The Fund Boy 3

    Hutchison Whampoa is sueing Royal Dutch KPN over its alleged partner's decision to stop funding 3. KPN is a shareholder in Hutchison 3G, the European greenfield 3G mobile network operator mostly owned by Hutchison Wampoa, the Hong Kong conglomerate. Last year the Dutch telco said it would not pump any more money into the 3 …

    Mobile 11 Jun 2003, 12:24

  • E-Plus snaps up Mobilcom's 3G hardware

    Bargain abasement

    E-Plus, KON's German mobile network operator, is taking over Mobilcom's 3G infrastructure in Germany for the knockdown price of €20m E-Plus is getting 3,273 3G sites of which 931 are fully-equipped. The company says it is saving tens of millions in capex costs, but it has to splash out on kit which can actually use the Mobilcom …

    Mobile 11 Jun 2003, 12:37

  • Suicide chicken terrorises NZ

    Kamikaze poultry the new face of international terror?

    A suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand, was brought to a standstill earlier this week by a suicide-bombing chicken. A member of the public alerted the authorities after seeing a fanatical fowl charging around the city sporting canisters and wires. Quite rightly, the police responded in force and, after cornering the bird in an …

    Bootnotes 11 Jun 2003, 12:39

  • WLAN alert! Get your helmets on

    Somerset in safety scare over wireless networks

    The Register's Wireless LAN Channel Somerset County Council (SCC) has advised its employees not to install wireless networks in the county's schools and offices until it's carried out a full investigation into the safety of the technology. Details about the warning remain sketchy since Health and Safety officials at the …

    Wireless 11 Jun 2003, 13:11

  • Tony Blair like ‘Robert Mugabe and Fidel Castro’

    Wot? No email addy?

    Tony Blair has been lumped in with the likes of Robert Mugabe and Fidel Castro - and all because he doesn't have an email address. In a personal attack the Conservative Party "named and shamed" the PM today as the only major world leader without a public email address. Tim Yeo, the Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and …

    Music and Media 11 Jun 2003, 13:11

  • Telewest hit by ‘particularly large’ DoS attack

    All sorted now...

    Telewest was hit by a "particularly large" DoS attack yesterday evening causing problems for thousands of users in the North of England, London and the South East. The cableco is still investigating the incident, which is believed to have affected a sizeable chunk of Telewest's 300,000 broadband punters, denying them access to …

    Security 11 Jun 2003, 13:41

  • Oracle says PeopleSoft keeps legal attack dogs on leash

    Ellison at it again

    Oracle has cranked up the spin machine to full throttle, announcing PeopleSoft's decision not to pursue legal action against the hostile takeover bid made last week. The tactics used by Oracle in its $5.1 billion bid for PeopleSoft are awe-inspiring. The top brass at the database giant must ease back into their plush chairs …

    Hardware 11 Jun 2003, 13:47

  • 3Com stokes Cisco Huawei fire

    Gimmee legal shelter

    3Com has asked a Federal judge to rule that products created as part of the joint venture between 3Com and China's Huawei Technologies are outside the scope of a legal dispute between Huawei and Cisco. Lawyers for 3Com have filed a motion with the US Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Marshall seeking legal assurances …

    Data Networking 11 Jun 2003, 14:03

  • Intel brings 533MHz FSB to Mobile P4

    Cuts 400MHz FSB P4-M prices by up to 38%

    Intel today extended its mobile Pentium 4 family with faster clock frequencies and a 533MHz frontside bus, as anticipated. The launch follows reductions to the prices of older mobile P4s earlier this week. The 533MHz bus models are dubbed 'Mobile Pentium 4' processors, rather than the existing members of the family, all called …

    Channel 11 Jun 2003, 14:46

  • What G? Fone fraction fragmentation

    Think of a number

    Ready for 4G? Unstrung's Justin Springham shares our bafflement at the appropriation of the term in a recent column> for the online wireless mag. He points out that 4G has to date meant the as yet undefined successor to 3G, loosely scheduled to come on stream as many of the ten year 3G licenses expire in 2012. The 4G comes from …

    Mobile 11 Jun 2003, 15:07

  • NTL working on ‘intermittent’ email problem

    Punters fed up

    NTL claims it is working as "quickly as possible" to rectify an "intermittent" email problem that's dogged users since the weekend. Punters claim this is just the latest issue in a long line of problems to hit the cableco. What's more, they're fed up. Said one reader who contacted The Register: "I have been having intermittent …

    Music and Media 11 Jun 2003, 16:06

  • Dell, HP see the Java light

    Sun goes behind Microsoft's back

    Dell and Hewlett-Packard are to make life easier on their customers by shipping a JVM (Java Virtual Machine) made this century with their PCs. Dell and HP have been locked in the past with the old Microsoft JVM that stood at the heart of the conflict between Redmond and Sun Microsystems. The executives at Sun, however, appear …

    Software 11 Jun 2003, 16:29

  • Reports slam WorldCom corporate culture

    Poster child for corporate governance failures

    Two reports into the collapse of WorldCom argue that a strong culture of secrecy saw management repeatedly burying financial data from its board and auditors. The second report of Dick Thornborough, the bankruptcy court examiner for the disgraced telcom, calls WorldCom a "poster child for corporate governance failures" and …

    Business 11 Jun 2003, 16:39

  • Moto scrubs own Java for phones – buys in Aplix

    Big win for JBlend

    This week's Java One show will be a triumph for Aplix Corporation, a specialist in deploying the Java application environment in mobile phones. It has displaced Motorola's own version of Java in Motorola phones, it announced at the show. Aplix sells the JBlend platform which has been licensed by Motorola's Personal …

    Mobile 11 Jun 2003, 16:45

  • UK.gov funds nanotech study

    Better late than never

    The government today launched a new independent study to examine the benefits and risks of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology involves working with materials on the nanoscale - 80,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. The government believes the technology has the "potential to improve our health and wealth" but wants …

    Hardware 11 Jun 2003, 16:50

  • Sun finds its networked computer

    Bandwidth delivered at Godspeed

    Sun Microsystems has found its networked computer and done so in style. Yesterday, The Register was forced to expose Sun's lack of network connections and bandwidth at the JavaOne conference. Sun preaches the value of the network with unrelenting vigor and makes billions as a result. So it does not seem out of line that it …

    Bootnotes 11 Jun 2003, 17:57

  • New Sun workstation lurks in the channel

    Jalepeno on your desktop

    Sun Microsystems has a new workstation geared up and ready for delivery. Sun has yet to announce the Sun Blade 1500, but a keen Register reader made us aware of the new kit, and other users say it can be ordered at this time. The new workstation will ship with Sun's latest UltraSPARC IIIi processor - code-named Jalepeno - …

    Servers 11 Jun 2003, 21:19

  • Cracking down on cyberspace land grabs

    Old scam turns nasty

    The people who keep the Internet running are coming to terms with address space hijacking, an old scam that's turned suddenly nasty, writes Kevin Poulsen of SecurityFocus. Earlier this year an expanse of Internet address space belonging to the County of Los Angeles was put to some uses that had little to do with effective …

    Security 11 Jun 2003, 22:47