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20th February 2004 Archive

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  • Intel to kill off Mobile Pentium 4 ‘around Q1 2005’

    IDF Make way for Dothan...

    The 90nm Prescott version of the Mobile Pentium 4 processor will be the last to bear that name, according to the chip maker's mobile products chief, Anand Chandrasekher. Well, maybe. Speaking to reporters at IDF, Chandrasekher said that the company will probably kill off the Mobile P4 "around Q1 2005 or maybe a little later". …

    Channel 20 Feb 2004, 00:01

  • Intel prototypes portable ‘Tele-Phone’

    IDF Radio powered wonder-device banishes wires, operators, etc

    Intel boffins gave us a glimpse of the future today. It's a small, battery-powered box that fits in the pocket allowing people to talk to each other - as long as they have a similar box, too. Incredibly, no wires are involved. That's because like the newly-invented 'Tele-Vision', the 'Tele-Phone', as Intel calls it, uses …

    Bootnotes 20 Feb 2004, 00:26

  • Abolish Free TV – Intel lobbyist

    IDF TV and Tech industries remain two utopias apart

    Nothing illustrates the gulf between logician Americans and metaphysical Europeans like their respective approaches to spectrum policy. The idealistic US deregulation lobby rallies round concepts such as "freedom", as if they're absolutes, rather that social agreements. Networks must be open and free, and vested interests …

    Mobile 20 Feb 2004, 02:09

  • HP prints its way to profit in Q1

    Servers and PCs do their part

    HP's first quarter proved that printing and imaging products drive the company's growth but also that other parts of its business can chip in at times. HP reported $19.5bn in revenue for the period ended January 31. This is a nine per cent rise year-on-year and matches guidance given last week by HP. The operating profit gains …

    Business 20 Feb 2004, 08:42

  • Chancellor under fire for IR591 tax terror

    'Fess up, Gordon

    MPs and pressure groups have roundly condemned the Chancellor for his refusal to consult with UK firms over plans to introduce a controversial and potentially punitive tax regime for owner managers of small-incorporated businesses in his impending 2003 Pre-Budget Report. The tax, dubbed IR591 by the Professional Contractors …

    Small Biz 20 Feb 2004, 09:03

  • Staff must have hotspot access – Gartner

    No, you can't get off the hamster wheel

    Companies should sign up for Wi-Fi hotspot services in airports and public areas, to increase the daily productivity of travelling workers by up to 30 minutes. According to a new report by technology analyst firm Gartner, the number of hotspot users worldwide will more than triple in 2004, from only 9.4 million in 2003. To …

    Wireless 20 Feb 2004, 10:27

  • TI claims phone power breakthrough

    While Nokia frets over batteries

    Despite the expected release of dual-mode Wi-Fi/cellular handsets later this year, Finnish giant Nokia is more concerned about improved power technology than hybrid devices. That, at least, is according to one senior executive who says that such an improvement is necessary to enable not just Wi-Fi but multimode and WiMAX phones …

    Mobile 20 Feb 2004, 10:32

  • MS Compact Framework squares up to Java

    Battle to dominate the mobile platform

    Nokia's increased control over Symbian has sent a clear signal that the Finnish company aims to woo developers in the battle to dominate the mobile platform. With Symbian OS so closely bound up with Java J2ME, much of Microsoft's response will depend on the upcoming new release of its own alternative, .Net Compact Framework. …

    Mobile 20 Feb 2004, 10:57

  • Comet chasers seek secret of life

    ESA mission launches next week

    Next Thursday, a rocket carrying a robotic explorer will launch, marking the start of the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission to land on a comet. The mission will take 10 years, with the lander making three fly-bys of earth and one of Mars before it reaches its destination, Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, in 2014. The …

    Science 20 Feb 2004, 11:16

  • Intel downbeat about 64-bit extensions

    No pyrotechnics at IDF

    Intel couldn't have tried any harder if it wanted to give the impression that its launch of 64-bit extensions for the 32-bit Xeon this week was something it had been forced to do in the face of indifference bordering on hostility to its Itanium project... At the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco this week, Intel had senior …

    Servers 20 Feb 2004, 11:21

  • Enterprise security spend to hit $6bn

    Big investment in firewalls and VPNs by 2007

    Increased publicity of IT threats has highlighted the deficiencies in current security solutions and clarified the need for them. Enterprises are taking note, especially in sensitive industries. Datamonitor's Helen Toft explains why the government, utilities and pharmaceutical sectors are set to see the most rapid rise in …

    Security 20 Feb 2004, 11:22

  • Red-letter day for Microgen

    Losses down, growth up

    Microgen, a billing software and consulting services company, has reported a reduced net loss for 2003 of £1.9m from £2.6m in 2002, on revenue that grew 4 per cent to £26m. Continued growth should not be taken for granted, but the outlook is good for its consultancy business. Microgen's revenue growth was due mainly to a £3.2m …

    Business 20 Feb 2004, 12:33

  • Exel trials RFID in House of Fraser

    Garments tracked from China to hanger

    Exel is embarking on a project with House of Fraser to trial RFID in the retailer's international supply chain. RFID, although not a new technology, is capturing the imagination of several leading retailers in Europe and the US who see it as a potentially revolutionary supply chain tool. Although the technology is neither proven …

    Security 20 Feb 2004, 12:33

  • Spamhaus crowned Internet heroes of 2003

    ISPA awards: The good, the bad and the ugly

    Steve Linford and Spamhaus were crowned the Internet's heroes of 2003 at the Internet Service Providers' Association's annual awards ceremony in London last night. ISPA said Spamhaus was chosen "for educating people about spam, endeavouring to thwart spammers and urging the US to reject the opt-out approach to spam legislation …

    Music and Media 20 Feb 2004, 12:44

  • A million i-mode users in Europe

    Slow uptake

    KPN Telecom today announced its one millionth European i-mode customer, the target it originally set for December 2003. KPN extended its reach in the market in the second half of 2003 with the introduction of i-mode for prepaid customers in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. Customers can surf i-mode sites, email and chat, …

    Mobile 20 Feb 2004, 13:52

  • Firewall VPN sales soar

    Minding the perimeter

    Global spending on firewall and virtual private network (VPN) technology will double over the next three years to reach almost $6bn in 2007. According to a study by market analysts Datamonitor, increased publicity of threats and security breaches, recent worms and viruses have highlighted the deficiencies in enterprise's …

    Data Networking 20 Feb 2004, 13:56

  • Shrunken rods make batteries better

    Grow your own

    A plastic polymer and an extremely hot oven are behind a research breakthrough that will see lithium batteries get a significant power boost. The new technique allows researchers to grow miniature carbon pillars. These are used to build an array of terminals between which current can flow. The terminals would float in a sea of …

    Science 20 Feb 2004, 14:18

  • Stob: Pirated 'Wron number yours for free

    Stob McDosh condemns Beard's 'numerical terrorism'

    It's been a bad week for beleaguered, bedraggled and be-loathed Softwron chief Rock McDosh. On Monday it was admitted that the 'Wron number had been let loose on the Internet; today comes the news that Dylan Beard of the Free Number Association has already made an imitation of the nefariously nicked number and plans to give it …

    Bootnotes 20 Feb 2004, 14:28

  • Q: What's the AV industry's definition of happy?

    Analysis A: Debunking cybergeddonists during MyDoom viral pandemic

    If you'd like to see the personification of happy, then look no further than an AV product or service vendor in the middle of a viral pandemic. You might think that during the MyDoom outbreak even industry insiders would lose at least little sleep over the lack of progress there has been in stemming the flood of malicious code …

    Malware 20 Feb 2004, 15:20

  • Infinium Labs gets litigious with HardOCP

    News site accused of 'false and defamatory' piece

    The company behind the forthcoming Phantom game platform, Infinium Labs, has stated that it may file a lawsuit against news website HardOCP over an article in September 2003 which cast doubt on the firm's real intentions. The article revealed details of Infinium founder Tim Roberts' business background, including the bankruptcy …

    Personal 20 Feb 2004, 15:42

  • Are Apples healthier than Pepsi?

    Letters We got some mail in our spam!

    Fortunately, in addition to the tonnage of email we received about the recent coverage of the Swastika-removing patch issued by Microsoft, there are other issues which you, our readers, have taken the time to write to us about. In a week where spam seemed to be everywhere – inboxes and headlines alike – the following seems like …

    Letters 20 Feb 2004, 15:55

  • Cisco VoIP kit open to ‘snooping attacks’

    DoS risks too

    Security researchers have identified serious security concerns with widely-used Internet telephony equipment from networking giant Cisco. According to tests conducted by pen testing outfit Secure Test on its own VoIP network, Cisco 7900 VoIP phones are susceptible to both DoS attacks and communications interception …

    Security 20 Feb 2004, 17:28

  • EU thundering down information superhighway

    Broadband roll-out on target for 2005, says EC report

    Broadband roll-out across the EU is progressing nicely and is on course to meet its 2005 targets. That's according to a mid-term progress report on the eEurope 2005 Action Plan issued by the European Commission. Broadband is one of seven areas, including e-learning, e-commerce and e-health, dealt with in the action plan, which …

    Music and Media 20 Feb 2004, 17:46

  • Intel and HP color self-preservation as customer choice

    Analysis Ignorance today, customer demand tomorrow

    The marketing theme of IDF this week has been customer choice, but vendor self-interest would be a more accurate description of the affair. Intel muddled its way through the birth of the new Xeon (now enhanced) processors. CEO Craig Barrett, during a IDF keynote, slipped the 64-bit extensions on a slide covered with future Xeon …

    Servers 20 Feb 2004, 19:11

  • Dell plots cheap SAN attack

    EMC to help?

    Dell plans to dip below partner EMC in the low-end of the storage market with a new SAN-in-a-can product bundle, a top executive said today. Details are still thin, but Dell has confirmed that it will come out with a storage system priced below its current low-end CX300 SAN (storage area network) product. The box will also be …

    Storage 20 Feb 2004, 20:37

  • Traces of Guilt: computer crime from the front line

    Book review Computer forensics dissected

    It's rare to read a book about computer security that captures the spills and thrills of hunting cyber-criminals. Neil Barrett's Traces of Guilt conveys the intellectual excitement of the chase and sheds light on the real extent of computer crime and the use of computer evidence in a wide varietyof cases. An ex-hacker in his …

    Security 20 Feb 2004, 23:55