12th August 2003 Archive

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Microsoft fined $520m for infringing patents

Will appeal Eolas verdict

Eolas Technologies and the University of California were yesterday awarded $520.6 million after a jury agreed that Microsoft had infringed patents held by both organisations. Eolas and Microsoft came to court on 8 July (see Microsoft to face patent violation claims today), the result of a complaint filed by Eolas in February …

Software 12 Aug 2003, 08:07
Transmeta to brand TM8000 ‘Efficeon’

Update Half as fast again as Crusoe

Transmeta has revealed to the world the name under which its next-generation TM8000 chip - codenamed 'Astro' - will be marketed. That name is Efficeon. "The Efficeon name and look communicate the ideal of efficient computing," explained Arthur L Swift, Transmeta's Senior VP of Marketing. For what it's worth, Efficeon is eight …

Channel 12 Aug 2003, 08:24
AMD unveils Athlon 64 logo

New CPU to be orange

AMD has unveiled the logo it will use to market the 64-bit Athlon 64 processor when the chip is launched on 23 September. It also launched a logo marketing programme for its broader AMD64 technology, on which the Athlon 64, along with AMD's Opteron family, is based. AMD64 is AMD's name for its 64-bit extensions to the old 32- …

Channel 12 Aug 2003, 08:43
Hynix to ship ‘first’ 1Gb DDR II chip during Q1 2004

Sampling in Q4

Hynix has just put the finishing touches on what it claims is the industry's first 1Gb DDR II chip. Easy to say, of course, since the part won't be available until Q4, and then only in sample quantities. Full-scale production is not due until early next year when, Hynix says, Intel will release its "DDR II chipset". That's a …

Channel 12 Aug 2003, 09:00
IT systems constantly need greater protection

Layered security model essential

Increased interest in security solutions amongst enterprises globally has ensured that security product revenues have exceeded those of many other IT solutions. Ian Williams, program manager for Datamonitor's Enterprise Security team, looks at the growing awareness of the constant need to offer greater protection to IT systems …

Security 12 Aug 2003, 09:16
Blaster worm spreading rapidly

Exploiting Remote Procedure Call flaw

A worm that exploits a critical Remote Procedure Call (RPC) flaw to infect vulnerable Windows machines is spreading rapidly across the Internet this morning. Although serious, the effects of the Blaster worm are expected to be less than that caused by the infamous Nimda worm. The Blaster worm (AKA Lovsan, MSBlast or Poza), …

Malware 12 Aug 2003, 09:27
Wireless hotspots begin at home

Telewest points the way

If the dream of universal public wireless LAN access is to become a reality, one thing's for certain: there will have to be more Wi-Fi access devices used more widely by the general mobile public. That means more laptops with Wi-Fi, more PDAs with Wi-Fi and more games consoles with Wi-Fi. It also means that sitting comfortably …

Wireless 12 Aug 2003, 09:41
IT Minds knocks 30% off Oracle DBA SQL Quick Ref

Site offer Syntax in a snip - and more...

If you're a working Oracle DBA, here's the Oracle SQL reference you've been searching for - simple, straightforward and incredibly easy to use! There's no faster way to discover the exact syntax you need... refresh your memory about that option you haven't used lately... find the name of that view you know exists... start using …

Site News 12 Aug 2003, 10:04
UK heatwave strains servers

Scorchio!

The heat wave under which the UK is wilting could have an adverse effect on network and server equipment. Hosting firm Interxion - who we congratulate on being the first IT firm to get a news angle out of Britain's red hot, hot summer - is warning that unwelcome outages will result if equipment is allowed to overheat. An …

Servers 12 Aug 2003, 10:39
Dutch anti-piracy group targets file swappers

Just threatening?

Dutch anti-piracy organisation Protection Rights Entertainment Industry Netherlands (BREIN) is going after individual music files swappers and will bill or prosecute people who offer large amount of files through services as KaZaA, Gnutella and Grokster. BREIN has an impressive track record of battling counterfeit software, CDs …

Music and Media 12 Aug 2003, 11:31
SiS samples integrated Athlon 400MHz FSB chipset

Reg Kit Watch Ageing DirectX graphics

Chipset SiS today unwrapped its latest 400MHz frontside bus chipset for AMD's Athlon XP, an integrated product based on the company's Real 256E graphics engine. The chipset, the SiS741, supports 400MHz DDR SDRAM, along with 266MHz and 333MHz memory. It offers an external AGP 8x graphics bus, but internally its graphics engine …

Personal 12 Aug 2003, 12:07
Slovenian hacker found shot dead

Suicide, apparently

A Slovenian hacker who ran into legal conflict with one of the country's leading banks over an alleged security weakness was found dead last week. Police believe Robert Skulj, 28, killed himself with a shot to the head from a gun found at the scene. Skulj's body was found in his locked apartment in the city of Trzic last Friday …

Security 12 Aug 2003, 12:28
Microsoft expands Mac Office line with x86 emulator

Cuts prices too

Microsoft has re-released the Mac OS X version of Office and its component applications, cutting prices and throwing in a copy of VirtualPC x86 CPU emulation software into the bargain. Office v.X, as the Mac release is styled, now comes in four varieties: Standard, Professional, Student and Teacher. The last two will both …

Mac Channel 12 Aug 2003, 13:38
Cypress ships low-cost wireless USB system

And CSR allows Blutooth devices to be used during boot-up

Chip maker Cypress has begun offering a wireless version of USB in a bid to pull the rug from under the feet of Bluetooth. Cypress' WirelessUSB product is a $2.20 system-on-a-chip part that delivers USB 1.1 connectivity through the same 2.4GHz band that Bluetooth and 802.11b operate in. By designing the system around typical …

Mobile 12 Aug 2003, 13:40
NTL boss Knapp quits

As Q2 losses narrow

NTL boss Barclay Knapp is to quit his job after claiming that his work bringing the cableco through its recent reorganisation is now complete. Although he will step down formally on Friday, to be replaced by COO Simon Duffy, the NTL chief exec will continue working at the company until the end of the year. He will advise on …

Telecoms 12 Aug 2003, 13:43
T-Online buoyed by broadband

27 per cent more BB punters

The continued take-up of broadband and helped Europe's largest ISP, T-Online, to post better-than-expected results today. Publishing numbers for the first half of the year, T-Online reported that income before taxes was €23 million ($26.13 million), compared with a loss of €130 million ($147.69 million) in the first six months …

Telecoms 12 Aug 2003, 13:47
IBM: warming Dell customers

'If Dell doesn't ship you an eight-way Xeon server, we will'

IBM has announced that it is throwing a "lifeline" to Dell customers in the high-end server market. Dell announced a few weeks ago that it did not intend to come to market with an eight-way Pentium 4 Xeon MP server that it was working on in conjunction with Intel, and now IBM is trying to make hay from that announcement. …

Servers 12 Aug 2003, 13:55
AOL Time Warner must drop AOL name, says AOL

Now you see it...

AOL - the Internet division of AOL Time Warner - has asked its parent company to ditch its name from the corporation's title. In a memo to employees yesterday, AOL boss Jon Miller said that "AOL's brand would benefit from being removed from the corporate name". The matter is currently up for discussion although there's no …

Music and Media 12 Aug 2003, 14:00
Samsung plots Ultra-wideband WLAN future

Exit 802.11, enter 802.15.3a

Samsung is to develop wireless connectivity products based on Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, the South Korean chip maker said today. Co-operating on the project is US-based Staccato Communications, which will provide the UWB know-how. Samsung's contribution is its semiconductor development expertise and facilities, not to …

Wireless 12 Aug 2003, 14:46
Michigan law chief slams ‘bogus’ anti- spam group

Shape up - or else...

Remove.org, the "Do Not Spam" list outfit that has been accused of making false claims about its offering and even spamming people itself, has been warned by the Michigan Attorney General to buck up its act. Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox yesterday issued a legal notice to Remove.org warning the company that it faces a …

Security 12 Aug 2003, 14:56
Mitac smartphone to hit Europe next month

Microsoft's first design win

The first mobile phone based on the reference design worked up by Intel and Microsoft is set to arrive in Europe by the end of September, the handset's vendor, Mitac, has revealed. Mitac's phone, branded the Mio 8380, runs Microsoft's Smartphone 2002 operating system on a 200MHz Intel PXA255 processor backed by 16MB of PC100 …

Mobile 12 Aug 2003, 16:28
Two-in-one ID theft, fee fraud scam debuts

Updated Nipped in the bud, fortunately

Scam artists who dupe users into revealing sensitive financial information have applied the social engineering tricks of 419-fraudsters in a new email scam. Reg readers forwarded us copies of an email they received this morning, purporting to come from US-based e-payment company Swiftpay International (Swiftpay.us), which …

Music and Media 12 Aug 2003, 16:39
Court tells RIAA to take subpoenas somewhere else

Legal staff does a Perry Smith

The race is on between file-traders and the RIAA's lawyers to see who can do more damage to the music labels' bottom line. As of Friday, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) legal team has captured a comfortable lead in this contest. A Massachusetts court has sided with two universities, ruling that the RIAA …

Music and Media 12 Aug 2003, 17:24