18th August 2003 Archive

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Palm to rebrand as ‘PalmOne’

Once PalmSource goes

Palm will become PalmOne when its operating system division, PalmSource, finally becomes in independent company later this year. It's not yet clear whether PalmSource will continue to describe PDAs based on its technology as 'Palm-powered', since that description will be technically meaningless. Effectively, the Palm name will …

Mobile 18 Aug 2003, 08:27
OSU Four PC hostage situation enters month three

Enough example making

Four PCs are rotting away in a Franklin County evidence room, and there is little their owners can do about it. The computers and the four Ohio Student University (OSU) students who once used them are victims of the War on file-trading sweeping across the US. The PC hostage situation began in May when OSU police stormed into …

Personal 18 Aug 2003, 08:37
IBM's Nvidia, Apple chip timetable hit by blackout

Plant OK, but production delayed

IBM's 300mm wafer fabrication plant in East Fishkill, New York was shut down for a two days last week in the wake of Thursday's massive blackout. The plant's production line cycled into what IBM call "maintenance mode" after the mains power failed. Emergency back-up generators took over immediately, allowing wafers passing …

Channel 18 Aug 2003, 09:14
AMD scores Chinese server design win

Dawning selects Opteron over IBM Power, Intel Pentium

Chinese server maker Dawning plans to target the local market with a series of one- and two-way Opteron-based machines, AMD said today. Four models are planned initially: two single-processor machines and the same number of dual-CPU boxes. All six will carry the Dawning-A brand name. The entry-level I110A and R120A are based …

Servers 18 Aug 2003, 09:42
Asia to drive mobile data biz in 2010

Market watcher sticks neck way out...

Do you know what 'mobile data' will mean in seven years' time? Here's someone who reckons they do; and it's all Asia, says research company, Telecompetition. "Europe may have started the interest in mobile multimedia services with the 3G auctions, and the US may have first advertised 'mobile Internet', but it's Asia Pacific …

Mobile 18 Aug 2003, 10:06
Pocket Wi-Fi sniffers end missing hotspot misery

Reg Kit Watch No need to boot up first

Road warriors know the frustration: you're in a foreign city and want to find a Wi-Fi access point. Normally that means looking on the Internet for site directories that can tell you where the nearest hotspots are located, such as WiFinder or WiFiMaps. Most of the time, it's trial and error. Now, there is a much easier solution …

Mobile 18 Aug 2003, 10:12
Wi-Fi gets on the right track

Analysis Arrving on platform one, the mobile hotspot

What sort of investment in public transport would make you swap from plane to long haul trains or from car to bus or commuter train? asks Rob Bamforth of Bloor Research. How about fast mobile data access using Wi-Fi? Mobile users at mobile hotspots. It might be a challenge delivering high bandwidth networking to a moving target …

Wireless 18 Aug 2003, 10:34
Invisible Networks confirms restructuring

'Changing demands of projects' to blame for job cuts

Invisible Networks - the Cambridge-based wireless networks outfit that helps bring broadband to rural areas - claims it was forced to lay-off staff because of the "changing demands of projects" it was working on. In a statement issued on Friday, the company said that the restructuring has enabled it to "refocus its expertise" …

Telecoms 18 Aug 2003, 10:40
Microsoft preps PlaceWare conferencing strategy

Providing for public access

PlaceWare became a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft on 30 April, and last week Bruno Giverns of PlaceWare discussed with me the role that PlaceWare will have in the newly formed Information Worker Division of Microsoft, writes Martin Langham of Bloor Research. Microsoft had already been active in the web conferencing space …

Software 18 Aug 2003, 10:41
Windows Update still standing despite Blaster

Misses the mark

The Blaster worm failed to knock Microsoft's Web site over this weekend, with an attack programmed to swamp Windows Update with useless traffic missing the mark. Unknown coders programmed Blaster to attack Windows Update's windowsupdate.com site via a referring address, which Microsoft has since pulled. In the event, the attack …

Anti-Virus 18 Aug 2003, 10:55
Airgo to double Wi-Fi bandwidth to 108Mbps

Boosts range too, company claims

US-based Airgo Networks today began sampling a WLAN chipset it claims can improve the speed, range and reliability of 802.11-based wireless networks. The part, the AGN100, employs multiple antennae to boost, say, 802.11g from a maximum throughput of 54Mbps to 108Mbps, the company claims. The part also boosts 802.11a and 802.11b …

Wireless 18 Aug 2003, 11:56
Europe and China fuel DSL growth

Kit costs come down, too

Worldwide demand for DSL equipment is growing, strongly buoyed by take-up in Europe and China. But as demand increases the cost of kit is coming down. "Cost is clearly the key in the DSL equipment market," said Jouni Forsman, principal analyst for Gartner's worldwide Telecommunications and Networking group. "The average …

Telecoms 18 Aug 2003, 12:01
The sad tale of a security whistleblower

Opinon Tell users about a security risk - and go to prison

Previous articles in this space have discussed whether security professionals can go to jail for doing things like demonstrating the insecurity of a wireless network, or conducting a throughput test on a system without permission. Now, a new and unwarranted extension of the US computer crime law shows that you can go to jail for …

Security 18 Aug 2003, 12:20
Chip biz recovery shuffling forward

We told you so, cry analysts

Having had a chance to ponder the numbers, market researchers are cautiously forecasting continued recovery for the chip industry. "Noteworthy improvements in market conditions during the last few weeks confirm that the industry is continuing its recovery as expected and is about to enter a more accelerated growth phase," said …

Channel 18 Aug 2003, 12:58
NGSSoftware unleashes Typhon III

Anti-hacker toolkit

UK-based security company Next Generation Security Software (NGSSoftware), which is best known for discovering the underlying flaw exploited by the Slammer worm, today released the latest version of its vulnerability scanner, Typhon III. The software has been designed to fill the gap between vulnerability scanning, application …

Security 18 Aug 2003, 13:34
Palm, RIM strong despite Q2 PDA global sales dip

Trend-bucking growth

World PDA shipments fell 7.3 per cent year on year during Q2 - a traditionally slow period - but the quarter brought impressive gains for Palm and Research in Motion, market watcher Gartner said today. The overall decline in sales mirrors IDC's findings, published last month. While the two researchers disagree on exact figures …

Mobile 18 Aug 2003, 14:57
Tories mull broadband tax breaks

And force BT to make it available to all

BT could be forced to ensure that broadband is available to everyone in the UK as part of a beefed-up universal service obligation (USO). It's just one of the ideas Tory MP and Shadow Minister for Trade & Industry, Michael Fabricant, is looking at to help accelerate the roll-out of broadband in the UK. Mr Fabricant is also …

Telecoms 18 Aug 2003, 15:17
Apple ships first Power Mac G5s

100,000-plus pre-ordered

Apple has begun shipping Power Mac G5s to pre-ordering punters, the Mac maker said today. Over 100,000 of the machines have been ordered since CEO Steve Jobs unwrapped the aluminium-clad beauties on 23 June. Jobs promised that the 64-bit systems would go out in August, and ship in August they have. Initially, only the single- …

Mac Channel 18 Aug 2003, 15:33
Online gripe forum tackles mobile spam

Site of the Day Grumbletext

If you've being ticked off by poor service or peeved by annoying mobile spam messages, help is at hand. Grumbletext provides a forum to publicise UK mobile phone scams. It's a Vmyths for the mobile generation, with more interactivity built in. So next time you receive an annoying mobile spam messages that tells you that you …

Music and Media 18 Aug 2003, 15:39
Rural wireless BB service delays launch

Not enough kit certified

Lincolnshire-based ISP WRBB has delayed the launch of its rural wireless broadband service because it is still waiting for equipment to be officially certified. The service - called Sunshine - was due to go live at the end of September, covering East Midlands and East Anglia before being made available nationwide by the end of …

Telecoms 18 Aug 2003, 15:51
Sun to blast off Gemini in 2004

Viagra in short supply till 2005

Sun isn't getting radical just yet, but it is prepping the first of its multicore low-end processors for delivery in 2004. As expected, the Gemini processor will combine two UltraSPARC II cores on a single piece of silicon. The chip is due sometime next year, coming in at about 1.2GHz and consuming but 32 Watts of power at …

Channel 18 Aug 2003, 17:28
IBM tells 600 workers to cash in their chips

Semiconductor slowdown

Six hundred heads will roll right out of IBM's gimpy semiconductor business over the next 60 days. Close to 500 workers will be axed from IBM's Essex Junction, Vermont fab with another 100 workers being trimmed elsewhere. A total of 3,000 employees will be asked a take a week off without pay to help the struggling unit. IBM's …

Business 18 Aug 2003, 19:56