17th June 2003 Archive

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Intel and Sun add X factor to mobile Java

Back to roots

There was a time when Java was seen by many as too slow for desktop applications, let alone mobile devices, writes Rob Bamforth, of Bloor Research. Over the years two things have happened to greatly improve performance. The general implementation of Java has evolved and matured. Secondly, widespread adoption has led to …

Mobile 17 Jun 2003, 07:24
Shop VAT fraudsters (or else)

Customs crackdown

Small firms should be aware of possible VAT fraud by their suppliers or they may be landed with a large tax bill themselves, according to accountancy firm Grant Thornton. The warning follows a decision by Customs and Excise to pursue companies for unpaid VAT if they were aware of, or had reasonable grounds to suspect, tax wasn’ …

Channel 17 Jun 2003, 07:31
3G phones. Another staff headache

No, it's not the radiation

A 3G phone could give an unscrupulous employee the opportunity to photograph or film someone in work and send it instantly to a colleague or friend, breaching employee confidentiality. More seriously, 3G phones could be used as a means of sexual discrimination such as a male employee sending an image of a female colleague to …

Small Biz 17 Jun 2003, 07:37
Cube protection cracked by pirates?

Let's see you actually play it

Hackers working on breaking the copy protection systems employed by Nintendo's GameCube have caused a stir by posting binary images of several Cube games to the Internet - but their claims are more than slightly exaggerated. Several sources reported yesterday that online piracy group "StarCube" has effectively broken the thus- …

Personal 17 Jun 2003, 07:54
Ingres: the forgotten database

The untold story

Ingres (technically, Advantage Ingres Enterprise) is, arguably, the forgotten database. There used to be five major databases: Oracle, DB2, Sybase, Informix and Ingres, writes Phil Howard, of Bloor Research. Then along came Microsoft and, if you listened to most press comment (or the lack of it), you would think that there were …

Hardware 17 Jun 2003, 08:44
Hynix to boost DDR 400 production

Big demand in wake of 800MHz FSB chipsets

Hynix is ramping up the production of 400MHz DDR SDRAM on the back of expectations that demand for this type of memory will balloon during the rest of the year, the company said yesterday. The Korean chip maker believes demand for 400MHz DDR will be driven by Intel's latest Pentium 4 chipset families, the i865 and i875, which …

Channel 17 Jun 2003, 09:00
Roll up for LinuxUser & Developer Expo

June 24-26

The line up for a major Linux conference in Birmingham this month is taking shape. To paraphrase The Two Ronnies, there's a packed programme ahead. Heavyweight in the open source community such as Alan Cox, Jon 'Maddog' Hall and Tim O'Reilly are down to present keynotes at the show, which is part of the Networks for Business …

Software 17 Jun 2003, 09:56
Linus Torvalds leaves Transmeta

Full-time job

Linus Torvalds, creator and chief maintainer of the Linux kernel is moving on, ending a six year association with chip company Transmeta. "I've decided to take a leave-of-absense after 6+ years at Transmeta to actually work full-time on the kernel," he wrote in a posting to the kernel mailing list. Larry Augustin has found a …

Software 17 Jun 2003, 10:45
Motorola appoints insider as chip unit chief

25-year Moto veteran to replace 33-year Moto veteran

Motorola has quickly replaced outgoing Semiconductor Products Sector (SPS) chief Fred Shlapak with Scott Anderson. Shlapak announced his decision to quit his post as SPS' president just a couple of weeks ago. He took the job on in September 2000, replacing interim president Fred Tucker who himself took over from Hector Ruiz …

Channel 17 Jun 2003, 10:45
Energis lodges new broadband complaint with Oftel

Taking on BT

Energis has submitted a new complaint to Oftel under the Competition Act in a bid to increase the pressure on BT to loosen its "stranglehold on the [UK's] wholesale broadband market". The latest complaint - backed by Tiscali and Your Communications - highlights what Energis describes as the "exclusionary and anti-competitive …

Telecoms 17 Jun 2003, 10:53
Torvalds leaves Transmeta

Kernel boogie

Linux creator Linus Torvalds is to quit Transmeta after six years to work full time on the open source operating system's kernel. In an email posted on the Linux Kernel Mailing List, Torvalds announces the long-awaited 2.5.72 kernel release. But tucked down toward the bottom, he says: "The other big news - well, for me …

Software 17 Jun 2003, 10:54
Winners named in £300m Laptops for Teachers gig

Jumping first hurdle

The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) has named 28 new suppliers for its Laptops for Teachers scheme. This is simply the first hurdle: the dealers and system builders have sailed through value for money, build quality, battery life and financial solvency tests to join 10 incumbent suppliers. Now …

Channel 17 Jun 2003, 11:15
Lawyers must be culled like rabbits – Nokia VP

Regulators too

Nokia's Erik Anderson, an American Finn, has enlivened many a presentation in the past. Now that he's Senior Vice President for business applications, the company's best communicator shows no sign of getting dull. Anderson spoke to The Register about the deregulation lobby, which is girding its loins for a fight ahead over the …

Mobile 17 Jun 2003, 11:51
Power failure leads to BTo blackout

Fitting

BT Openworld went titsup yesterday afternoon after power problems at a data centre in Ealing crippled the service. One reader was told by tech support that BT Openwoe's ADSL service was "down for half the country" yesterday afternoon hitting both home and business users. Unfortunately, no one at BT Openwound was available to …

Telecoms 17 Jun 2003, 11:57
Software is king – Check Point

Gunning for SSL VPN vendors

Check Point, the firewall vendor, is planning a marketing assault on the clientless remote access market. SSL VPN appliance start-ups such as Aventail, Netilla Networks and Neoteris dominate this sector, but Check Point yesterday voiced its ambition to leapforg to the head of the pack. SSL VPNs are emerging as a simpler …

Security 17 Jun 2003, 12:05
FAST buys AltaVista's enterprise search biz

Sound of loose ends tying

FAST has bought the enterprise search business of AltaVista from Overture. The company is to migrate AltaVista's 200-plus customers to its own FAST Data Search suite. Terms of the deal are undisclosed but it's reasonably safe to infer that the purchase price was considerably less than the $100m (plus the promise of $70m …

Music and Media 17 Jun 2003, 13:53
Brits flash the Net cash – £2bn a month

Hey, Quite Big Spenders

British adults are buying £2 billion a month worth of stuff over the Net. Research from the Royal Bank of Scotland discovered 51 per cent of men with internet access used the Web every single day compared to around 41 per cent of women – another 26 per cent of men used the Web at least three times a week. Most respondents …

Music and Media 17 Jun 2003, 14:10
IT subbies out of work and out for the count

UK.gov 'ignorant'

The UK Government is ignorant of the true scale of unemployment and the downturn in IT industry. So says the Professional Contractors Group (PCG), which claims that inaccurate unemployment figures has given Government a false impression about the true health of the UK's IT sector. Yesterday PCG Chairman, Simon Griffiths, wrote …

Small Biz 17 Jun 2003, 14:12
Privacy in the workplace is a 'myth'

Analysis Email surveillance ruling fails to resolve muddle

Doubts about the effectiveness of regulations designed to safeguard privacy in the workplace have surfaced just days after the long-delayed rules were introduced. Last week the UK Information Commissioner published a code of practice on surveillance in the workplace. This requires companies to inform employees if they are …

Music and Media 17 Jun 2003, 15:23
AMD extends Athlon XP-M mobile line to 2800+

Launches two more low-voltage chips too

AMD introduced three new mobile Athlon XP-M chips today, taking the line to 2800+ performance and beefing up the chip?s low-voltage product family with 1900+ and 2000+ models. The introductions take AMD?s Athlon XP-M family up to 23 models, comprising chips aimed at desktop replacement notebooks, mainstream portables, and sub- …

Channel 17 Jun 2003, 17:43
Staff unrest at Lastminute.com

Up the workers

Lastminute.com could be facing legal action among call centre workers amid allegations that the online bucket shop has imposed new working conditions without proper consultation. A lawyer told the Guardian that there was "massive industrial unrest" at the call centre in Farringdon in London. There is even speculation that …

Business 17 Jun 2003, 19:06
Microsoft takes 15 spammers to court

Improving e-mail from Microsoft support

Microsoft is taking on spammers on behalf of its beloved customers. Fifteen complaints were filed in the U.S. and U.K. against alleged spammers said to have sent out more than 2 billion e-mails. Microsoft held press conferences on both sides of the Atlantic to promote its campaign against "flooding Microsoft's customers and its …

Music and Media 17 Jun 2003, 19:23