27th October 2003 Archive

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Reg Review Asus A620BT Bluetooth Pocket PC

Asus launched its MyPal A620 PDA on the back of Microsoft's summer launch of Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC. Wireless connectivity was one of the key improvements the software giant made with the new version of its operating system, but without a built-in radio the A620 wasn't best able to demonstrate those communications …

Reviews 27 Oct 2003, 07:36
Logitech Pocket Digital 130 digicam

First UK Review Ultra-compact 1.3 megapixel model

Logitech's Pocket Digital digicam was always intended to be cheap and cheerful. Credit-card sized, it was design to slip into your pocket, to be used at any time to quickly capture moments of your life. Take out the camera, slide open the case to expose the lens, point and click. Download later at your convenience. Cheap and …

Reviews 27 Oct 2003, 07:36
Palm Tungsten T3 PDA

Reg Review Golly, what big screen you have

Palm's innovative enterprise-oriented Tungsten T PDA had a good screen, but at a resolution of 320 x 320, it look rather small compared with Pocket PC devices' larger displays. While last summer's T2 replaced the original display with a much superior transflective LCD, the size remained the same. Instead, Palm chose to wait …

Reviews 27 Oct 2003, 07:37
Palm Tungsten E PDA

Reg Review 'Razor' reborn

While the focus of Palm's marketing has centred on newly released machines, the company has maintained steady sales of its older products, not only to buyers seeking a cheaper machine but corporates who want to buy solid, established products in bulk. Cottoning on to this trend, when Palm launched its first colour PDA, the m505 …

Reviews 27 Oct 2003, 07:37
Creative SoundBlaster MP3+

Reg Review Enhanced audio for your notebook?

While the Mac has long offered a fine audio experience, the PC was for many years limited to bleeps and warbles issued from its single built-in speaker. The work of sound card companies, in particular Creative, helped redress the balance, and desktop PC users have now come to take good sound quality for granted, first through …

Reviews 27 Oct 2003, 07:39
Micro MP3 Players

Reg Group Test Wanted: very small pockets

Apple's iPod has drawn buyers' attention to the hard drive-based music player market over the last few years. However, the Flash-based player market hasn't stood still during this time and has continued to evolve from the iPod-sized Rios of old into more compact form factors and squeezing in more music capacity. Today, a typical …

Personal 27 Oct 2003, 07:42
Viewsonic V35 Pocket PC

Reg Review New PDA

Viewsonic's first PDA, the V35, was released in the US a wee while ago, but it finally made it to these shores a couple of months back. Pitched as one of the cheapest and thinnest Pocket PC devices around, we thought the V35 merited a closer look. The unit itself is just 1cm (0.4in) thick, and a trim 12 x 7.5cm (4.8 x 3in) face …

Reviews 27 Oct 2003, 09:29
A Reg in-depth review The Palm Zire 71 PDA

Palm's budget-priced Zire PDA has proved a popular addition to its consumer-oriented product line-up. The Zire 71 is the follow-up, adding a colour display, an integrated digicam and a little multimedia-friendly processor horsepower, all designed to tickle the fancy of buyers with more cash and a desire to spend it on the latest …

Reviews 27 Oct 2003, 09:32
Intel takes axe to P4, Celeron prices

Desktop and mobile

Intel yesterday cut not only its desktop Pentium 4 prices yesterday, but trimmed what it charges for the mobile version. Desktop prices fell by up to 35 per cent as anticipated. Mobile Pentium 4 prices were reduced by similar amounts. The chip giant also tweaked mid-range Celeron prices - and those of top-of-the-line Mobile …

Channel 27 Oct 2003, 09:32
Palm Tungsten C Wi-Fi PDA

A Reg in-depth review

Each member of Palm's Tungsten line of pro-oriented PDAs offers wireless connectivity of one form or another. The original member of the family, the Tungsten T, has built-in Bluetooth. Earlier this year, Palm shipped the W, which can talk to cellular networks. The newest addition to the line, the Tungsten C, sports integrated …

Reviews 27 Oct 2003, 09:33
Joe Average User Is In Trouble

Opinion Where's my security blanket?

One of the many hats I wear here in St. Louis is that of college instructor, writes SecurityFocus columnist Scott Granneman. I teach courses in technology at Washington University, recently ranked the ninth best overall college in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, and at St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley, …

Malware 27 Oct 2003, 10:26
Email scammers target Halifax, Nationwide, Citibank

Open season for 'phishing'

Scam emails trying to con customers of Halifax, Nationwide and Citibank into handing over sensitive account information circulated widely over the Internet this weekend. The emails, posing as a security check from the banks involved, take the same form as other 'phishing' scam emails which targeted NatWest bank customers last …

Security 27 Oct 2003, 10:29
Google: the challenges of the proposed IPO

Monopoly money

At one level the news that Google is considering holding a massive on-line Initial Public Offering (IPO) is, hopefully, a barometer of the growing revival in technology stocks and Internet-related stock in particular, writes Bob McDowall of Bloor Research. Two other challenges are likely to dominate the news surrounding the …

Music and Media 27 Oct 2003, 11:16
Tide turns for enterprise apps vendors

Worst is over?

The quarterly business results are coming in and, for enterprise application vendors, it looks as if the worst is over, writes Fran Howarth of Bloor Research. Although we are not likely to be seeing the high growth rates common two to three years ago for some time, the business climate appears to be steadily improving. SAP …

Hardware 27 Oct 2003, 11:29
BOFH and The Boss's Porn

Episode 15 I said Water skiing!

BOFH 2003: Episode 15 So I'm wandering past The Boss's office one day, when I notice that tell-tale puzzled-yet-vaguely-interested-but-revolted expression on his face which that can only mean one thing. Hard Core Porn. Improvising, I grab a sheet of paper from his PA's desk and barge in. "If I could just get your signature …

BOFH 27 Oct 2003, 12:50
BOFH and The Conference

Episode 14 Gimme some Pens!

BOFH 2003: Episode 14 So The PFY and I have been shafted by The Boss who's signed us up to a one-day "conference" in the city which is so airy-fairy it should really just be called a trade show. Ordinarily, as a computing professional, you'd expect to disagree with people on matters of technology on occasion. For instance, …

BOFH 27 Oct 2003, 12:51
Opera mobile makes breakthrough with Nokia 6600

First shot at built-in mass market

The mobile phone version of the Opera browser will ship as standard with Nokia's forthcoming 6600 smartphone. The triband phone is due out in Europe, Africa and Asia-Pacific this quarter, and is the 'official' Nokia packaging of the camera smartphone for the business market. In addition to looking OK for business users (a major …

Mobile 27 Oct 2003, 13:17
Halifax suspends e-banking site after phishing attack

Self-actuated denial of service?

Halifax has taken its web site offline in response to the widespread circulation of fraudulent emails targeting its customers this weekend. In a statement emailed out to customers on Saturday, Halifax said: "In the interests of the security of our customers we have temporarily closed the online service in order that we can …

Security 27 Oct 2003, 13:34
Buffalo's Airstation ISDN

Wi-Fi for the ADSL-less

It sometimes feels a little ironic to me that the state-of-the-art wireless network I have at home is connected to a socket on the wall that can barely outrun a modem, writes Jon Collins of Quocirca. Believe me, this is not through choice. One of the 'benefits' of living in the heart of rural England is that ye olde branche …

Wireless 27 Oct 2003, 13:51
Sony sued by US university over PS2 chip tech

Toshiba targeted too

The University of Wisconsin Madison has filed a suit against Sony and Toshiba, claiming that technology being used in the creation of the PlayStation 2's Emotion Engine processor infringes a patent which was filed by the university in 1986. Little information about the lawsuit or the patent it deals with is available at the …

Personal 27 Oct 2003, 13:57
Longhorn to erase Cairo mis-step with 1995 ship date

Like Bobby returning to Dallas, or something

Speculation about the ship date of Windows Longhorn, Microsoft's next big 'make or break' (Surely just 'break' - Ed) operating system reached fever pitch today when, hours before Bill Gates' big speech at PDC, the New York Times' Steve Lohr confidently asserted that it is "not expected to be shipped until late 1995 or 1996." …

Bootnotes 27 Oct 2003, 14:27
Next DVD spec. to offer Net access not more capacity

DVD Forum taking DRM to the next level?

The DVD Forum, the body that oversees the DVD specification, has decided to stick with red laser technology and current storage capacities rather than make the move to blue light and more capacious discs. Instead, it will offer Internet integration to tempt upgrade-hungry consumers. The Forum, which counts consumer electronics …

Personal 27 Oct 2003, 15:17
US Army ‘going to Linux’ after OS switch for GI PDA

It's more stable, says officer about to hear from Microsoft

The US Army has abandoned Windows and chosen Linux for a key component of its "Land Warrior" programme, according to a report in National Defense Magazine. The move, initially covering a personal computing and communications device termed the Commander's Digital Assistant (CDA), follows the failure of the previous attempt at …

Personal 27 Oct 2003, 15:45
Packard Bell preps Athlon 64 notebook

For now in Belgium

Packard Bell is set to become the first major notebook vendor to offer a portable PC based on AMD's Athlon 64 chip. According the company's Belgian web site, the EasyNote M3308 will contain an Athlon 64 3000+, along with 512MB of DDR SDRAM, a 60GB hard drive and a DVD-RW optical unit. The machine's 15.4in 1280 x 800 screen is …

Personal 27 Oct 2003, 16:27
Casio extends Exilim digicam to four megapixels

Reg Kit Watch Plus Fujitsu's new Athlon XP-M notebook

Digicam Casio yesterday updated its Exilim slimline camera family with the EX-Z4U. The new model brings a four megapixel CCD capable of taking pictures up to 2304 x 1728 to the Exilim line-up. The EX-Z4U also features a 3x optical zoom Pentax lens and new audio snapshot and voice recording capabilities. There's also a built-in …

Personal 27 Oct 2003, 16:27
US govt. can't ‘search and destroy’ leaked secrets

The shoplifting ex-spy and the myserious overseas mission

A US judge has turned down a Justice Department request to seek out and delete online records about classified information that temporarily became public as the result of a lawsuit. AP reports that legal experts considered the government motion "highly unusual" because it failed to name the computers on which the information …

Music and Media 27 Oct 2003, 16:36
SuSE sinks hooks into Veritas

Unix threat

SuSE Linux has burrowed its way into a key ISV account by partnering with Veritas. By the first quarter of 2004, Veritas plans to sell its file system, volume manager and cluster software products for SuSE Enterprise Server. This deal should put SuSE on relatively equal ground with Red Hat, which already works with Veritas. All …

Storage 27 Oct 2003, 17:21
Symantec buys ON Technology

ON message for $100m

Symantec today bought security management firm ON Technology for approx. $100 million cash. ON Technology markets products for centralized and unattended management - including auto-discovery, OS and application deployment, ongoing updates such as patches, and software usage and license management - for sundry computing …

Security 27 Oct 2003, 17:27
Novelty farting dog sparks US terror alert

Malodorous mechanical mutt mayhem

Osama bin Laden will doubtless be absolutely gutted to learn that any plan he may have had to destroy a US airliner using a life-size novelty mechanical farting terrier is doomed to failure. Yup, the ever-vigilant airport security officials in Norfolk, Virginia, responded instantly when Brit passenger Dave Rogerson's flatulent …

Bootnotes 27 Oct 2003, 19:01
EU develops cyber crime forensics standards

Best practice

The IT industry has teamed up with academics and the European Union researchers to develop standards for the investigation of cybercrime. The EU Cyber Tools On-Line Search for Evidence (CTOSE) project, a research project funded by the European Commission’s Information Society Technologies (IST) programme, has developed a …

Security 27 Oct 2003, 19:09
Cray preps new Opteron-based product line

Behind the Red Storm

Cray has given AMD's Opteron chip a big vote of confidence, saying it will roll out a new line of supercomputers based around the product. In 2004, Cray will begin selling systems with anywhere from 64 to more than 10,000 Opteron processors. All of the supercomputer-style systems will have a custom interconnect developed by …

Servers 27 Oct 2003, 20:21