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20th June 2003 Archive

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  • DataCore waves the flag for Windows 2003

    But brings a long spoon to dinner

    DataCore has reaffirmed its ties to Microsoft, releasing version 5.2 of its SANsymphony storage management software which makes use of new storage-related features in Windows Server 2003. "It means we can run on and serve to Windows 2003," says Chris Lentz, DataCore's European technical product marketing manager. He says the …

    Storage 20 Jun 2003, 07:20

  • Web, email more important than phone

    So where are the SLAs?

    Internet and email services are now so vital to small firms that they are considered to be more important than the telephone, according to a new survey. The research, conducted by internet provider VIA NET.WORKS, found a loss of web and email functions would cause havoc among 72 per cent of small firms, while only 69 per cent …

    Small Biz 20 Jun 2003, 07:26

  • Guess settles with FTC over cybersecurity snafu

    A little hacking goes a long way

    A little hacking went a long way this week when the Federal Trade Commission announced that Guess Inc. has agreed to overhaul its information security practices, to settle a rare FTC action kindled by young Southern California programmer who discovered a security hole on the fashion retailer's e-commerce site last year. …

    Security 20 Jun 2003, 07:30

  • IP Telephony – next gen heats up

    Vast opportunity

    Revenues from overall IP-based solutions in Western Europe will be just under $6 billion in 2005. The convergence of voice and data networks presents a vast opportunity for voice and data vendors, service providers, value-added resellers, system integrators, and consultants. Those vendors who can "IP enable" a legacy PBX system …

    Channel 20 Jun 2003, 07:37

  • Apple graphical glitch reveals Power Mac G5 specs.

    Updated New PowerBooks coming too

    Apple inadvertently revealed its hand last night, posting - albeit briefly - specs. for upcoming Power Macs on its online AppleStore. The new desktops will indeed be branded 'G5'. A graphic on the Power Mac G4 page detailing that computer's current spec. was swapped with the equivalent image. The image was presumably being …

    Mac Channel 20 Jun 2003, 08:41

  • South Korea appeals to WTO over Hynix DRAM tariffs

    US, EU 'illegal'

    The South Korean government is to complain to the World Trade Organisation over the punitive tariffs imposed by the US government and expected to be levied by the European Union on imports of Hynix DRAM products. The South Korean Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said on Wednesday it would launch an official complaint …

    Channel 20 Jun 2003, 08:58

  • Nvidia source confirms ATI Xbox 2 design win – report

    Console's Japanese release set for 2006

    Internet gaming site Spong.com has claimed its recent story ATI will provide the chipset and graphics technology for the Xbox 2 has been confirmed by an unnamed "senior source close to Nvidia". Microsoft's own chief, Steve Ballmer, has said that the follow-up to the original Xbox will ship in Japan in 2006. According to Spong. …

    Personal 20 Jun 2003, 09:24

  • Back to the Future with the MS Real-Time Communication Server

    PC phone home

    If you saw the film "Back To The Future Part 2", you may remember the episode where Marty McFly was sacked by a combination of FAX, email video, mobile-phone, etc. - a true multimedia sacking, Martin Langham Bloor Research writes. This was a perceptive vision of the future because it is certainly not possible yet. Today we …

    Data Networking 20 Jun 2003, 09:27

  • Wireless fun and Games at JavaOne

    Timely step

    While the number of phones is large compared to the number of personal computers, the market for developers of sophisticated mobile applications has been struggling to find its place, writes Rob Bamforth, of Bloor Research. Two major challenges are the diversity of proprietary platforms that mobile phones are based upon, and …

    Mobile 20 Jun 2003, 09:27

  • 70 jobs ‘at risk’ at Telewest Business

    Glum news

    Up to 70 jobs are under threat at Telewest's business division following a decision by the cableco to restructure the operation in a bid to cut costs. As well as a management reshuffle, the company is also proposing to merge different parts of its operation in a bid to streamline its business. Staff were told of the changes …

    Business 20 Jun 2003, 09:53

  • Oracle vs. Peoplesoft: Linux wins, no matter what

    When push comes to shove

    Oracle is a vociferous Linux supporter. PeopleSoft is busily porting all of its applications to Linux. If Oracle manages to buy PeopleSoft, we'll see a growing push toward more Linux in the enterprise. And if PeopleSoft stays independent, we'll see... a growing push toward more Linux in the enterprise. If you have any doubt …

    Hardware 20 Jun 2003, 10:15

  • Terrifying outbreak of rebranding madness in France

    LogoWatch Corporate Black Death now out of control?

    Our story earlier this week about a serious outbreak of rebranding madness in Spain has clearly failed to alert French authorities as to the seriousness of the threat. Chillingly, it may already be too late. Oil monolith Total - the new front for merged Total, Elf and Fina - displays all the classic symptoms of having being in …

    Bootnotes 20 Jun 2003, 10:17

  • Freeserve gets frisky at AOL's expense

    VAT fun and games

    Freeserve has had yet another mischievous pop at AOL UK's VAT-free status ,claiming that thanks to a loophole, the ISP has avoided paying £150m in tax since it was established in the UK in 1996. According to Freeserve, that £150m "uncompetitive advantage" amounts to 600 million sausages, one pint of beer for everyone in the UK …

    Music and Media 20 Jun 2003, 10:55

  • Meet Stumbler: Next Gen port scanning malware

    55808

    Security experts are tracking the spread of a mysterious piece of malware which has been linked to an upsurge in distributed port scanning on the Internet. Little is known about the malware - dubbed 55808 because of its Windows size, or Stumbler - other than that it appears to be a client capable of scanning and receiving …

    Security 20 Jun 2003, 11:28

  • Openwaves goodbye to 180 jobs

    Mobility allowance

    Mobile software developer, Openwave Systems, is to cut 180 jobs. The US company said on Thursday that it was making the lay-offs, which amount to around 12 percent of its workforce, as part of an attempt to reduce its expenses. Openwave said the 180 lay-offs will reduce its quarterly costs by about USD10 million within the next …

    Mobile 20 Jun 2003, 12:39

  • Intel to launch 3.2GHz P4 on Monday

    ATI to announce 800MHz FSB Radeon IGP chipsets, too

    Intel is expected to announce a 3.2GHz Pentium 4 on Monday at $637 a pop. And it is believed that ATI will unveil its latest Pentium 4 chipsets on the same day. The new processor will support a 200MHz frontside bus quad-pumped for an effective 800MHz frequency. It will contain 512KB of on-die L2 cache and be produced using a 0 …

    Channel 20 Jun 2003, 13:16

  • Dell patent ‘infringement’ comes to trial

    Tulip in Delaware

    Dutch PC manufacturer Tulip will face Dell in court on Monday (June 23, 2003) as its $17 billion intellectual property infringement case finally comes to trial in the US District Court of Delaware. In a complaint issued in November 2000, Tulip alleges that Dell violated its patent (number 5,594,621, 'Motherboard for a computer …

    Business 20 Jun 2003, 13:22

  • USB Forum speeds up USB by renaming it

    Full speed behind

    The trade group responsible for marketing the USB peripheral interface has given the older 1.1 specification a speed-boost -simply by changing its name. Of course 1.1, superseded by the much speedier 2.0 specification, hasn't really got any faster. But the USB Implementors Forum (USB-IF) has decided that vendors can describe …

    Personal 20 Jun 2003, 13:47

  • NTL axes nthellworld.com feedback forums

    Only 'non-product related' chat permitted

    NTL has effectively pulled the plug on its customer feedback site nthellworld.com in a move that has angered many of its punters. The cableco has announced that from July nthellworld.com will only deal with "off-topic" discussions. The result is that in future the site won't be used to discuss any "product related" matters such …

    Telecoms 20 Jun 2003, 14:18

  • Public opposes ID cards, govt admits

    Two in three yays becomes 5 in 7 nays on vote recount

    The UK government has finally admitted that the majority of responses to consultation on its ID card scheme were strongly opposed to the controversial idea. For months the government has neglected to include responses generated via the Stand Web site in its official figures, despite earlier assurances that such responses would …

    Business 20 Jun 2003, 14:23

  • Polish researchers launch game-phone concept

    Reg Kit Watch Plus: Iomega ends DVD recording format misery

    Game phone Polish hardware developer ATELAB Research has announced Chameleon, a gaming-oriented mobile phone concept, and the company is looking for a manufacturer to help it develop the device commercially. ATELAB says it is seeking "patent protection" for the device, but its key feature, a five-way game controller mounted …

    Personal 20 Jun 2003, 16:40

  • Moto to make hybrid WLAN phones

    OMAP-based

    Motorola is to partner with Texas Instruments to produce hybrid WiFi cellphones. The phones use VoIP when on a wireless network, then revert to using 2.5G and 3G networks when outside the campus or office. Motorola will use TI's smartphone platform, OMAP, rather than its own processors. It prefers the description "dual system" …

    Wireless 20 Jun 2003, 16:59

  • Vendors in Wireless G upgrade scramble

    And they're off!

    Vendors are scrambling to upgrade their equipment following last week's ratification of the 802.11g wireless LAN standard. They are reassuring their customers that their draft 802.11g kit is all updateable to the hi-speed networking standard via (at worst) a firmware upgrade. D-Link, Linksys, Proxim, Buffalo Technologie and …

    Wireless 20 Jun 2003, 17:05

  • Come up and see me some time

    WebCamNow password vuln

    WebcamNow, a streaming image service with more than 1.5 million users a month, stores user ids and passwords in plain text in the registry of users' computers. The coding snafu, first spotted by bugwatcher Donnie Werner, was posted on BugTraq on June 12. The error had not been fixed on June 18, when we signed up for the service …

    Security 20 Jun 2003, 17:14

  • McNealy slams Sarbanes-Oxley

    Get your hands out of my pants

    Neither IBM, Intel nor Microsoft has what it would take to drive Sun Microsystems' CEO Scott McNealy out of the tech industry, but Uncle Sam does. McNealy last week told The Register that legislation aimed at corporate reform has CEOs feeling like the government has put an uninvited hand in their pants. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act …

    Business 20 Jun 2003, 17:38

  • Evesham hijack gang jailed for 99 years

    Take them down

    Nine men convicted of the gunpoint hijack of a lorry containing thousands of pounds worhth of PC equipment from Evesham Technology were sentenced to prison for a combined total of 99 years at Worcestershire County Court today. Last Summer the gang kidnapped at gunpoint the driver of a lorry with £171,000 worth of Evesham …

    Channel 20 Jun 2003, 17:42

  • Senate decries FCC big-media coup

    While Hillary Rosen becomes a TV journo

    The US Senate is shocked, shocked, by the FCC's recent pro-big-media decision basically enabling America's TV and radio broadcasters, big Internet content providers and newspaper publishers to merge into a monolithic and self-serving commercial propaganda machine. Senate Commerce Committee Member Byron Dorgan (Democrat, North …

    Music and Media 20 Jun 2003, 17:56

  • Congressmen turn on ICANN

    And why only the Internet will suffer

    Incredibly, after nearly five years of well-documented and widespread abuse by the organisation charged with running the Internet, ICANN, US Congress has decided it doesn't like what's going on and two Congressmen have introduced legislation "to ensure healthy competition in the Internet naming market". The Fair Transparent and …

    Music and Media 20 Jun 2003, 21:52