23rd October 2003 Archive

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Small companies' cash is not good enough for SCO

You'll pay when we're good and ready

SCO is dead serious about making companies pay up for their Linux use. That is unless they are a small or medium-sized business. It turns out that the Utah clean crusaders will only accept payments from companies that make up the Fortune 1000 list. Call it a curse; call it a blessing - small businesses simply cannot buy the …

Servers 23 Oct 2003, 03:05
Accounting, DRAM price rise puts Hynix in profit

Big operational loss though

Hynix yesterday reported net third quarter income of KRW 134 billion ($113 million) despite an operational loss of KRW 21 billion ($18 million). That compares to a net loss of KRW 530 billion ($454 million) and an operating loss of KRW 258 billion ($221 million) in the previous quarter. The memory maker explained the …

Channel 23 Oct 2003, 08:50
US software centre to open in Belfast

Don't outsource - set up your own base abroad

US firm ASG is to create 200 software development jobs in Northern Ireland. The privately-held company is opening a development centre in Belfast and plans to hire 60 to 70 staff there annually for the next three years, with the possibility of moving support staff in as well later. According to ASG president, CEO and owner Art …

Business 23 Oct 2003, 09:19
AMD to cut Athlon XP prices Monday

Update Chinese whispers

AMD will cut its Athlon XP prices on 27 October, a Chinese web site has claimed. The reductions will come to the 2700+, 2800+, 3000+ and 3200+, it reports. The claim has since been confirmed by our UK sources. The report gives no details as to how much AMD will lower prices, but a reduction to follow the Pentium 4 price cuts …

Channel 23 Oct 2003, 09:20
Justice e-censorship gaffe sparks controversy

Uncut and unpaste

A government watchdog group Wednesday accused the Justice Department of improperly censoring portions of a key report on internal workplace diversity, after online activists successfully unmasked the blacked-out portions of an electronic copy of the document. The 186-page report was released to the public under the Freedom of …

Security 23 Oct 2003, 09:37
Slammer and Sobig boost Symantec

It’s an ill wind…

Symantec yesterday posted bumper earnings on the back of recent viral epidemics - like Sobig and Slammer - that have boosted consumer demand for its anti-virus products. For the quarter ending October 3, 2003 (Q2 2004). Symantec posted revenue of $429 million, up 32 per cent from 325 million in the same quarter last year. Net …

Security 23 Oct 2003, 09:44
Nvidia GeForce FX 5950 Ultra goes on sale

Pre-order offer reveals all

Nvidia's GeForce FX 5950 Ultra - aka NV38 - may be launched as early as later today, we hear, but whenever it arrives, Creative will be offering a 3D Blaster 5 graphics card powered by the part. That Nvidia was preparing such a chip has been known for some time, but the company gave the game away itself recently when it …

Channel 23 Oct 2003, 10:33
The Met takes safer surfing to the classrooms

Goodie bag

The Metropolitan police is to hand out mouse mats, pencils and temporary tattoos to children in a campaign to make them more aware of the dangers of Internet chatrooms. The goodies accompany a software program, "Safer Surfing", which officers will use when they visit classrooms. The software - aimed at ten and 11-year-olds - …

Music and Media 23 Oct 2003, 10:37
Toshiba launches VGA, Wi-Fi PDA

e805 offers 802.11b, 480 x 640 display

Toshiba this morning launched its e805 PDA, bringing a 4in transflective 480 x 640 VGA screen to the Pocket PC platform for the first time. Bizarrely, Toshiba is emphasising not the device's screen size but its wireless capabilities, probably because - as we noted yesterday - there's almost no application support out there for …

Mobile 23 Oct 2003, 11:00
Thus creates 250 jobs in Glasgow

Call centre boost

THUS plc is to create 250 new jobs at its call centre in Glasgow. The news from the Scottish telco is a resounding thumbs-up for Scottish workers. especially at a time when more and more companies are migrating their call centre operations overseas. Thus says it is recruiting the extra staff to meet increased demand for its …

Business 23 Oct 2003, 11:12
Sony unveils slim, speedy 5MP digicam

Reg Kit Watch Plus: Toshiba's other new PDA

Digicams Sony yesterday launched what it claims is the world's smallest five megapixel digicam. It's also one of the fastest, apparently. The slimline Cybershot DSC-T1 measures 9.1 x 6 x 2.1cm (3.6 x 2.4 x 0.8in) and weighs 180g (6.4oz) with a memory card and battery installed. Despite its size, the camera sports a 2.5in LCD …

Personal 23 Oct 2003, 11:25
Nokia figures claim massive N-Gage sales

Independent numbers don't...

Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia has released its first set of sales figures for the N-Gage since the device launched earlier this month, claiming that the device sold some 400,000 units worldwide during its first two weeks on sale. These figures paint a completely different picture to those published by independent market …

Personal 23 Oct 2003, 11:29
Nvidia comes clean on GeForce FX 5700, 5950

It's official

It's official - Nvidia has just launched the GeForce FX 5950 Ultra chip and the GeForce FX 5700 family, the first Nvidia processors to roll off IBM's 130nm 300mm wafer fab in East Fishkill, New York. The 130nm 5950 - also known by its codename, 'NV38' - and is being pitched as the leading 5900-series chip. As we reported …

Channel 23 Oct 2003, 13:54
BT Openzone to cut hotspot charges for business

£5 a month, 5p a minute tariff on way

BT's Openzone Wi-Fi service is to introduce new tariffs designed to attract occasional business users put off by paying large up-front subscription fees. Openzone currently offers an unlimited access package for a whopping £85 a month. Cheaper packages are available, down to £10 a month, but these bundle fixed amounts of access …

Mobile 23 Oct 2003, 14:28
Meet the guinea pig man of Flanders

What former L&H boss did next

Belgian taxpayers will be relieved to know that Jo Lernout, former director of speech recognition specialists Lernout & Hauspie, made positive use of his brief spell in prison. While serving time on remand during an international fraud investigation, Lernout invented a robotic guinea pig called Gupi. Since his release without …

Bootnotes 23 Oct 2003, 14:48
European Commission publishes its guide to OSS migration

Highly detailed how-to and why-to

The European Commission has published a detailed guide to open source migration, with the objectives of helping administrators decide whether a migration makes sense in the first place, then giving them an overview of the the procedure and a better understanding of the nuts and bolts involved. The publication of the guide is a …

Software 23 Oct 2003, 14:54
US Senate cans spam

'Great news for the war against spammers'

The US Senate voted unanimously yesterday to get tough on spam. The vote gave the green light to a number of anti-spam measures including tagging all emails with an abbreviation enabling punters to filter them out. It also passed measures that would attempt to stop spammers remaining anonymous and providing false return email …

Site News 23 Oct 2003, 15:04
Remote access provider expands Euro Wi-Fi coverage

Gric picks Cloud, PicoPoint, Monzoon

Three European Wi-Fi networks - UK's The Cloud, Switzerland's Monzoon and the Netherlands' PicoPoint - have agreed to allow US enterprise-oriented remote access solutions provider Gric Communicatins to offer its customers WLAN access via their hotspots. Gric currently has over 3000 Wi-Fi and fixed network access points in 20 …

Wireless 23 Oct 2003, 15:13
Veritas fattens revenue in Q3

Software strength

Software maker Veritas enjoyed a strong third quarter, riding license and services sales en route to record revenue. Veritas reported $451 million in revenue for the period ended Sept. 30. This marks a 23 percent increase over the $366 million posted in the same quarter a year ago. "Leveraging the revenue upside, we delivered …

Storage 23 Oct 2003, 15:46
Pointsec takes crypto to Symbian

PIN down

Pointsec today upgraded its encryption software to cover Symbian mobile devices. The mobile device security firm already offers security software for Windows-based computers, Pocket PC and Palm OS. With the release of Pointsec for Symbian OS in December, the company will be able to claim it offers protection for all leading …

Security 23 Oct 2003, 20:37
SafeNet seeks gold in Rainbow

Urge to merge

SafeNet, the networking security firm, is scooping up rival Rainbow Technologies for $457 million (at today's prices) in new stock. Post-merger, Rainbow shareholders will own approx. 43 per cent of the enlarged company. Both companies have strong ties to the US government and military. Rainbow Technologies worked with the NSA …

Security 23 Oct 2003, 20:43
Tablet PC OEMs chafe at low sales, costly Windows

With sales like these, they're not a happy lot

Microsoft has garnered an impressive range of OEMs for its Tablet PC initiative, but they're not a happy lot. From Day One relationships have been fraught: the Tablet PC launch day was the occasion for one of Carly Fiorina's finest hissy fits. After winning a seat at the right hand seat of Bill Gates, HP's CEO refused to …

Channel 23 Oct 2003, 23:18