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15th January 2004 Archive

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  • Sun lures faithful with workstation price cuts

    Cheaper than Itanic

    Sun Microsystems is trying its best to nudge customers' upgrade plans into action with a new trade-in discount on workstations. Customers moving from old Sun workstations to the new Sun Blade 1500 or 2500 systems will receive a 20 percent price cut. The offer applies to customers around the globe and will run through June 30. …

    Servers 15 Jan 2004, 05:34

  • Dell tops up PC market in 2003

    We sell TVs too, you know

    The good news is that the PC market grew in 2003; the bad news, for the vendors, is that it took intense price cuts to push shipments higher. That's the word from analyst firm Gartner, which this week released a preliminary take on worldwide PC sales. In total, vendors shipped 169 million units in 2003 - an 11 percent increase …

    Personal 15 Jan 2004, 06:02

  • Europe in Brief Munich Linux setback

    Last year, the city of Munich, Germany opted to go with Linux instead of Microsoft software on more than 14,000 desktop computers. This was seen as a significant setback for Microsoft and a clear sign of Linux' increasing viability. But now the project is in trouble, according to Computerwoche. This Spring, Munich needs to …

    Software 15 Jan 2004, 09:51

  • New PSP spec to feature 32Mb of RAM

    Enough to stop developer complaints

    Rumours circulating in the game development community suggest that Sony is set to upgrade the specification for the PlayStation portable to feature 32Mb of RAM - bringing the system closer in line with the PS2. It emerged last autumn that the Japanese giant was considering increasing the main memory capacity of the device, …

    Personal 15 Jan 2004, 09:59

  • Pru in talks to sell Egg

    MBNA, UK banks are interested

    Prudential yesterday said it was in talks to sell Egg, its Anglo-French online banking subsidiary, following a big jump in its share price. The Financial Services Authority is not saying yet if it will launch an insider trading investigation, according to wire reports. Around 10 per cent of Egg's shares are floated on the stock …

    Business 15 Jan 2004, 10:20

  • Wireless lamp posts take over world!

    Startup company corners the future

    Computerised lamp posts look like being the basis of the biggest data network ever, as the world's traffic monitors set about controlling cars with wireless. And the result could be an absolute windfall for a startup company which, it seems, owns all the relevant patents. The excitement about WiFi has, at last, started …

    Wireless 15 Jan 2004, 10:35

  • ISPs urged not to forget dial-up users

    Who?

    Dial-up punters shouldn't be ignored by ISPs even though many operators are increasingly focusing more and more of their attention and resources on pushing broadband. So says a report by IDC, which confirms that while the decline of consumer dial-up Internet access is now well underway, it will be a long-term process before it …

    Music and Media 15 Jan 2004, 10:59

  • Microsoft loses $521m Eolas patent appeal

    Patently unfair?

    Microsoft has failed to overturn a court ruling that it should pay Eolas $521m for infringing a patent in its Internet Explorer browser technology. A federal judge yesterday denied a Microsoft motion to suspend the decision until the US Patent Office completed a re-examination into Eolas' patent 5,838,906. Judge James Zagel …

    Software 15 Jan 2004, 11:42

  • DRM: who needs it? UK label stands up for its customers

    Warp Records catalog - come and get it, restriction free

    Pioneer British electronic label Warp Records has struck a blow for computers users by making its entire back catalog available for download - unencumbered by the toxic DRM restrictions that the pigopolists insist on. The Sheffield label carries quite some commercial clout, as it's home to international draws such as The Aphex …

    Music and Media 15 Jan 2004, 11:53

  • BT in 1Mb ADSL launch

    Promo too

    BT has unveiled a 1Mb broadband product for its BT Yahoo! Broadband service and the frill-less BT Broadband. Available from January 19, the service will cost £40.99 a month. The monster telco reckons that around 75 per cent of existing broadband users should be able to sign up to the faster service. Apparently, the 1Mb service …

    Small Biz 15 Jan 2004, 11:55

  • Today is Personal Firewall Day

    Port blocking party

    Today is the first Personal Firewall Day, an event dedicated to educating consumers about protecting themselves from online threats. Personalfirewallday.org features vendor-neutral advice on the benefits of personal firewalls to ward off hackers and virus writers. There are also discussions on the need to apply anti-virus …

    Security 15 Jan 2004, 12:18

  • The end of the PC desktop is nigh

    Déjà vu anyone?

    Within two years the majority of enterprises will have ditched desktop PCs in favour of laptops, tablets or thin clients. According to META Group, by 2006, only 45 per cent of corporate users will rely on a traditional desktop as their primary information device, while 40 per cent will mainly use a notebook or tablet PC. The …

    Hardware 15 Jan 2004, 12:23

  • OFT intros simpler terms for Home Computing Initiative

    Less red tape, no income tax liability

    The Office of Fair Trading has cut at least some of the red tape tangling up employers trying to implement schemes which allow staff to work from home using company PCs. OFT yesterday unveiled a consumer credit licence that will, for the first time, cover employers' Home Computing Initiative (HCI) schemes and allow firms to …

    Small Biz 15 Jan 2004, 12:32

  • Samsung waves goodbye to 425 Teessiders

    Shuts monitors plant

    Samsung is shutting down its computer monitor factory in Teesside with the loss of 425 jobs. The plant also makes microwave ovens. It shuts in April. The Korean electronics group said that falling world prices for both products made it impossible for its Teesside plant to compete against imports from eastern Europe and the Far …

    Business 15 Jan 2004, 12:49

  • UK e-tailers 'lose £300m' in Xmas sales

    Bit careless, what?

    Top UK e-tailers are estimated to have lost more than £300 million over the busy Christmas shopping period because of flaky website performance. According to research which tracked 35 top retail sites over December, around ten per cent of the sites experienced "severe problems" with their performance and download times. Given …

    Small Biz 15 Jan 2004, 12:56

  • 419ers stun with blinding return to form

    Reports of their demise premature, it seems

    It appears our report last week on the death of the great 419 email may have been somewhat premature. In fact, apologies are in order for the suggestion that advance fee fraudsters had lost the creative edge which had seemingly guaranteed them immortality in the pantheon of spammers. Try this, hot from the inbox: Subject: DR H …

    Bootnotes 15 Jan 2004, 13:11

  • Stob: Something for the ladies

    Stob Overdoing the sweet sherry

    (Previously: Sam ‘The Spam’ Osborne, the notorious spamillionaire, is being surprisingly frank about the goods he pushes.) I asked Osborne: "So are all your medical products aimed at men?" "By no means." He pushed a leaflet towards me. I read: Want to lose weight quickly and painlessly? What could be more natural or …

    Bootnotes 15 Jan 2004, 13:46

  • Suing grannies for MP3 swapping – will it start in the UK?

    It's increasingly likely, says BPI

    Since the RIAA started suing children and senior citizens, the British music industry has been giving the impression that it was unlikely to do anything quite so reputation-threatening this side of the pond. But on the other hand... British Phonographic Industry (BPI) director general Andrew Yeates has been busy this week, …

    Music and Media 15 Jan 2004, 14:02

  • Siemens wins £200m Welsh National Assembly gig

    Admin and e-democracy systems overhaul

    Siemens Business Services has won the tender to upgrade the IT at the National Assembly of Wales. The gig will be performed by a consortium including PA Consulting, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and Siemens Communications. It runs for 10 years and is worth £200 million. According to SBS, the contract is unusual in "covering the …

    Hardware 15 Jan 2004, 14:20

  • Intec bolts on niche printer ops

    In Brief Channel buy

    Intec, the Fleet, Hampshire reseller, has bought the business of MK Data Systems for an undisclosed sum. MK Data Systems supplies printer and connectivity solutions for IBM midrange systems and its business has been sold, following the wish of dealer principal Mike Watts to retire. Intec is taking on two techies. You can read …

    Channel 15 Jan 2004, 14:58

  • Captain Cyborg faces Canadian challenge

    Toronto Terminator to lower Warwick into molten steel?

    Our old mate Kevin "Captain Cyborg" Warwick would be well advised to charge his laser pulse rifle, put on his shades and leathers and get aboard his Harley because if he doesn't run for the hills it's a definite date with the molten steel for the cybernetic self-publicist. Warwick's nemesis comes in the form of equally media- …

    Bootnotes 15 Jan 2004, 15:01

  • MiMail: yet another one

    Download variant

    The saga of Mimail and PayPal continues with a new variant doing the rounds today. This is an email purporting to come from PayPal with the subject header "PAYPAL.COM NEW YEAR OFFER". Attached is a file "paypal.exe". Rather than containing the well-documented and well detected Mimail.P worm, the attachment actually contains a …

    Malware 15 Jan 2004, 15:20

  • TechnoDepot unleashes amazing XXXL t-shirt

    Cash'n'Carrion Make like a Zeppelin and, er, buy one

    You know how it is with buses - you wait ages for one and then sixteen come at once. Well, it works exactly the same with t-shirts. Except, of course, you can't get fifty-three people in a t-shirt. Until now. Yes indeed, Reg apparel associate TechnoDepot has just unleashed it's best-selling "Mac OSX. I’ve upped my standards. Up …

    Site News 15 Jan 2004, 15:21

  • MS aims at Linux, Unix with free SFU download

    When Redmond embraces free software, you probably won't enjoy it...

    Microsoft has gone freeware with Windows Services for Unix 3.5, released today as a download in the run-up to next week's LinuxWorld Expo in New York. SFU is a long-standing Microsoft Windows-Unix 'coexistence' product, intended largely to reduce the negatives for Unix shops associated with the introduction of Windows servers, …

    Software 15 Jan 2004, 15:50

  • The SCO IP license: now it's Europe's turn

    'Introductory pricing'

    SCO is to extend its controversial IP licences into the UK, France and other European countries from today. SCO plans to make SCO Intellectual Property License available to many more countries and regions by February 1. The SCO IP License is offered at an "introductory pricing" of $699 per server processor and $199 US per …

    Hardware 15 Jan 2004, 16:00

  • US using EU airline data to ‘test’ CAPPS II snoop system

    Commission less than candid about deal within deal

    Airline data on EU citizens is being used by the US Transport Security Administration for "testing" of the controversial CAPPS II (Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-Screening System). This is quite handy for the TSA, given that Congress won't let it use CAPPS II on US citizens yet, but is not quite what we understood from the deal …

    Music and Media 15 Jan 2004, 16:31

  • IBM holds its own in Q4

    Solid showing

    Like Intel before it, IBM enjoyed a strong fourth quarter across most of its product lines, giving some indication that the big boys are back to a healthy level. IBM posted revenue of $25.9 billion for the quarter, which is a 9 percent hike over the $23.7 billion reported in 2002. Income rose to $2.7 billion versus $1.9 billion …

    Business 15 Jan 2004, 16:34

  • Sun slumps in Q2

    So very flat

    Sun Microsystems continued to have a tough time in its second quarter as revenue fell and a small round of layoffs were announced. Sun posted revenue of $2.9 billion for the quarter - a slight decrease from the $2.92 billion reported a year ago. The net loss for the quarter was $125 million or $0.04 per share compared with a …

    Servers 15 Jan 2004, 21:17

  • Get your name.name domain

    New service goes live

    The constraints have been taken off the .name domain and anyone is now able to buy their own joebloggs.name domain. UK company Global Name Registry has opened up the global top-level domain to second-level addresses, so you no longer need be restricted to john.smith.name, you can get johnsmith.name or just smith.name. At the …

    Music and Media 15 Jan 2004, 21:40

  • Niue is dead! Long live .nu!

    The weird and wonderful world of minority domains

    The tiny island of Niue was all but wiped off the map at the end of last week when cyclone Heta sent 300kph winds and 20-metre waves smashing into a population of just 1,200 people. Now, with many islanders deciding to move to nearby New Zealand, there is a question over Niue’s independence, granted in 1974 when the population …

    Music and Media 15 Jan 2004, 21:40

  • Adobe anti-counterfeiting code trips up kosher users

    Banks say yes. Photoshop CS says no

    Adobe's decision to add special code into its software to prevent currency counterfeiting prevents even authorised users from using the technology, according to Register readers. Currency detection code in Photoshop Creative Suite (CS) which prevents "unauthorized" processing of bank note images is proving a frustration even …

    Software 15 Jan 2004, 21:44

  • Late-starting US pulls ahead in phone tech?

    Nokia updates 6600

    Strange things are happening in the US, which for some years has been wearily resigned to receiving bleeding edge phone technology many months after the rest of the world, if at all. No more. Not only do potential GSM buyers here now have access to a nationwide network that leaves GPRS in the dust, but the handset manufacturers …

    Mobile 15 Jan 2004, 22:33

  • Centrino2 slips again

    Late spring launch for Dothan

    The successor to Banias, has been delayed again, Intel's Paul Otellini confirmed yesterday. The second-generation Centrino processor will be built on a 90 nm process, allowing it to be faster - thanks to more room for L2 cache - and cooler. Dothan had been slated to ship last Fall, and after a slippage, became a Q1 launch. Now …

    Channel 15 Jan 2004, 22:56