13th November 2003 Archive

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Subpoenas fly in SCO vs IBM

Linus gets the call

After IBM sent a blizzard of subpoenas to analysts and investment companies this week The SCO Group followed suit today. IBM, which is filing a countersuit against SCO, says it is frustrated by SCO not revealing its hand. Although SCO has attempted to collect a fee from Linux users, and claimed that IBM owes it $3 billion, the …

Software 13 Nov 2003, 07:47
Nokia unveils walkie talkie phone

Half-duplex planet

Nokia has launched the first GSM phone that supports the inaptly-named 'Push To Talk' features natively. PTT is a half duplex feature, like a walkie talkie - only one person can speak at any one time - that allows conference calls to be set up very quickly with a dedicated button. It's a Voice over IP service that uses the phone …

Mobile 13 Nov 2003, 07:49
Opinion Microsoft's New Security Mojo

Recently, Microsoft announced a program to offer rewards in exchange for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those who exploit its flagship Windows product through viruses, worms, and other forms of malicious code. Yet, despite the software giant's own executives saying publicly over a year ago that their …

Security 13 Nov 2003, 08:06
Wireless hacking bust in Michigan

Warparking

In a rare wireless hacking prosecution, federal officials this week accused two Michigan men of repeatedly cracking the Lowe's chain of home improvement stores' nationwide network from a 1995 Pontiac Grand Prix parked outside a suburban Detroit store. Paul Timmins, 22, and Adam Botbyl, 20, were charged Monday with penetrating …

Wireless 13 Nov 2003, 08:11
Exeter dominates UK Wi-Fi scene – Intel

Many hotspots, small population, spurious survey

Exeter has been dubbed Britain's Wi-Fi Capital by Intel. The chip giant came to choose the county town of Devon because it has more hotspots than any other place in the country. Sorry, that should read 'more hotspots per person', which explains why London comes a mere 33rd on the list. It has more hotspots than any other …

Wireless 13 Nov 2003, 10:35
Intel Centrino 2 to offer 533MHz FSB – report

Sonoma slips

'Sonoma', the second generation of Intel's Centrino platform, may now appear later than anticipated, according to the latest roadmap information to leak onto the web. Announced in September at Intel Developer Forum, Sonoma comprises a second-generation Wi-Fi adaptor, Calexico 2; the 'Alviso' chipset; and 'Dothan', the 90nm, 2MB …

Channel 13 Nov 2003, 10:59
Sharp to update Zaurus PDA line this month

Adds Japanese-to-English translation code

Sharp will release a third member of its series of Linux-based, clamshell-cased Zaurus PDAs later this month. The SL-C860's unique selling point is integrated English-to-Japanese (and back again) translation software, which appears to operate across all applications. Receive a Japanese e-mail and the Zaurus will convert the …

Mobile 13 Nov 2003, 11:36
Yes, it's the BOFH quiz!

Episode 28 Do you know your Computing Personalities?

BOFH 2003: Episode 28 The Bastard wants to know: do you know your Computing Personalities? The following set of questions is aimed at determining whether you're up to the task of recognising a professional in their line of work. Select the correct response from the 'technical professional' to each initial statement in the …

BOFH 13 Nov 2003, 11:53
ATI ships its first DX9 mobile workstation chip

Mobility FireGL T2

ATI yesterday took the wraps off its first DirectX 9 mobile-oriented Workstation-class graphics accelerator package, the Mobility FireGL T2. Based on the FireGL 9600 chip, the Mobility T2 provides four parallel pixel pipelines and two side-by-side geometry engines. But according to ATI, the accelerator can handle only six …

Channel 13 Nov 2003, 12:40
BT faces ‘challenging’ times as revenues dip

Pre-tax proft up, though

BT is feeling the heat from increased competition and lower pricing, the UK's dominant telco admitted today. Publishing Q2 results for the three months to the end of September, the company reported that turnover had fallen by two per cent to £4.57 billion. In particular, revenues in BT's traditional phone business fell six per …

Telecoms 13 Nov 2003, 12:43
UK govt calls for 100% broadband coverage by 2005

Easy to say, harder to do

Everyone in the UK should be able to access broadband by the end of 2005. So says eminister Stephen Timms, who reckons that a constructive, working together kind of approach will help roll out high-speed Net access to those living in rural and semi-rural areas. Addressing Cambridge MIT Institute's third Annual Competitiveness …

Telecoms 13 Nov 2003, 12:48
Final iQue details emerge from China

Nintendo's entry into the Chinese market takes shape

Further information regarding Nintendo's latest console, the iQue, has emerged from China, including details of the software which will ship with the system and a revised price point. The device, which is due to launch before the end of the year in Shanghai, with other regions of China to follow later, is effectively a Nintendo …

Personal 13 Nov 2003, 12:58
Intel vs Motorola

This time over ultra-wide band wireless

The authorities are positive: the ITU will, this week, plump for the Motorola-endorsed ultra-wide band (UWB) technology. Meanwhile, the IEEE, which is also examining this direct-sequence CDMA UWB proposal in the IEEE 802.15.3a study group, is said to favour the Intel-sponsored MultiBand OFDM Alliance (MBOA) with Texas …

Mobile 13 Nov 2003, 13:00
Asian first-timers prefer Linux to Windows

Cost and community: we're all hippies now

Microsoft recently broke its global pricing policy for the Thai market, offering steep discounts in the Royal Kingdom for its Windows and Office products. From a report at Linux Insider, we learn why. First-time computer users are flocking to a government-subsidised programme to bring cheap PCs to the public. Although pirate …

Software 13 Nov 2003, 13:07
T-Online to buy AOL – report

Rubbish, says T-Online

T-Online - the ISP of German telecoms outfit Deutsche Telekom - is in talks to buy AOL Time Warner's Internet operation, according to a report in German rag Sueddeutsche Zeitung, by way of AFX. Apparently, senior execs from both companies have already met to discuss a deal that would see T-Online acquire a 70 per cent stake in …

Music and Media 13 Nov 2003, 14:18
Don't put app protection on your firewall, Mr Jones

Top Layer touts standalone IPS appliance

Networking security firm Top Layer this week announced plans to boost the speed of its intrusion prevention appliances in repelling both network and application-level cyber attacks. Top Layer's Attack Mitigator IPS 5500, due to be released in the first quarter of 2004, is designed to complement end users' existing firewall and …

Security 13 Nov 2003, 14:51
Europe in Brief

ICT roundup from the Continent

Germans Stressed Germans are known to be hard-nosed and hard-working people, but apparently they too are not immune to the much feared New Economy Depression Syndrome (NEDS), a form of work-related stress that is caused by information overload and continuous interruption. Many Germans complain about stress, caused by the use …

Music and Media 13 Nov 2003, 15:51
Can't get a shag? Get nTAG!

Electronic aid for the socially awkward

Do you have trouble interacting with members of the opposite sex? Do you find it hard to start conversations in social gatherings? Well, help may be at hand in the form of the ice-breaking nTAG. The nTAG is something you hang round your neck like a conference badge. The devices talk to each other by infrared and are connected to …

Bootnotes 13 Nov 2003, 15:52
UK students – fancy a trip to Brazil?

Or a jolly to the German Grand Prix 2004?

If you're a UK university student and have a penchant for rum, football, samba and programming, although not necessarily in that order, then check out Microsoft's Imagine Cup. The competition is "designed to show the ease and innovation of development of the Microsoft Developer Tools platform". It's open to any team of students …

Bootnotes 13 Nov 2003, 15:53
Wi-Fi turns us into busy worker bees

We need a bigger a honey pot

Companies that take the plunge with widespread Wireless LAN deployments can expect to enjoy "significant productivity gains and increasing financial returns". According to the 2003 Wireless LAN Benefits Study conducted by NOP - but commissioned by Cisco - WLANs will create a nirvana of increased employee productivity, combined …

Wireless 13 Nov 2003, 16:04
Things to do on the Net when you're dead

Mylastemail.com

A new service designed to send emails out to your loved (or loathed) ones after you die went live this week. Mylastemail.com enables subscribers to set up a series of final messages online which it promises will be forwarded only when they are dead. Members can leave "love messages, words of appreciation and encouragement" to …

Music and Media 13 Nov 2003, 16:09
Microsoft releases Virtual PC 2004 to manufacturing

Migration patterns

Microsoft has released its Virtual PC operating system virtualization software to manufacturing. Virtual PC 2004 is the new version of the operating system virtualization software Microsoft acquired in February 2003 along with Connectix. It is due to be generally available by the end of the year and Microsoft is concentrating …

Software 13 Nov 2003, 16:15
Iomega revs removable HDD challenge to tape

The very Rev

Iomega announced its Removable Rigid Disk (RRD) system last August. Three months on, it has finally unveiled a product that will feature the system - which won't ship for another four months. The Rev is an alternative to tape back-up systems and archival storage rigs for SMEs and enterprise workgroups. Iomega will bundle back- …

Storage 13 Nov 2003, 16:33
Wal-Mart turns customers into RFID lab rats

P&G's watchful eyes

Have you ever wondered what it's like to buy lipstick while in a petri dish? Consumers in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma know this experience all too well. They were part of a real-world RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) experiment conducted earlier this year by Wal-Mart and Proctor & Gamble. The two U.S. giants placed hidden RFID …

Data Networking 13 Nov 2003, 18:15
MS to ship substandard Windows if EU axe falls

Windows without Media Player, like a bike without a phisycle...

Well, here's a puzzle. At the close of today's European antitrust hearing Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith popped up and told reporters: "It is a confidential proceeding as you know, so I really can't talk about what we or others are saying inside the room, and as result, I'm sorry but I am really not in a position to answer …

Software 13 Nov 2003, 21:47
Sun's Linux desktop off to flying start

Exclusive Renting Linux for profit

Some say Sun Microsystems should give up on its Linux desktop ambitions, but there are serious signs of life that indicate the company may be on to a good thing, The Register has learned. Well placed sources have confirmed that Sun is teaming up with service providers to roll out a whole new set of "rented" desktop services. As …

Servers 13 Nov 2003, 23:39