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24th February 2004 Archive

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  • EC warms to Microsoft

    Smoke signals over eventual punishment

    European Commissioner Frits Bolkestein has intervened to ensure that any punishment meted out to Microsoft by the European Competition Commission is not too harsh. Bolkestein, Europe's single market commissioner, is worried that remedies imposed on Microsoft as part of any settlement may infringe the software giant's …

    Software 24 Feb 2004, 09:52

  • Veritas retools its past with Storage Foundation 4.0

    Solaris fans rejoice

    Veritas rearranged its roots this week with the release of Storage Foundation 4.0 - a rebadged version of the volume manager and file system combination that helped grow the company into a software giant. Veritas is billing the new software as "the most feature packed" release since Version 1.0 launched more than ten years ago …

    Storage 24 Feb 2004, 09:52

  • PeopleSoft writes a letter

    Please, please, please don't sell us to Larry...

    Peoplesoft is writing to all its shareholders urging them to oppose the takeover attempt by Larry Ellison and Oracle. The letter, sent out yesterday, asks shareholders to vote in favour of the nominees to the board and to reject Oracle's proposed takeover. Oracle is trying to get five new board members elected in order to push …

    Data Center 24 Feb 2004, 09:55

  • Intel sneaks out 2.4GHz Prescott

    Boxed and certified for sale around the globe

    Intel has begun offering even lower clocked Prescott Pentium 4s than originally outlined on the company's roadmaps. The information comes from Intel's own web site - specifically its International Declarations of Conformity page. Listed among the chip giant's boxed processor offerings is a 2.4GHz Pentium 4 with the E suffix …

    Channel 24 Feb 2004, 10:30

  • IBM to contract Asustek for notebook production

    Lots of ThinkPads during H2

    Taiwanese notebook manufacturer Asustek has won the support of IBM, which is expected to contract the firm to make ThinkPads. So claims the Chinese-language Commercial Times newspaper today, adding that an initial production run will encompass at least 200,000 units a year. IBM will begin to receive the machines during H2. …

    Channel 24 Feb 2004, 10:36

  • Motorola debuts Wi-Fi smart phone

    Microsoft-powered MPx, MPx100 launched

    Motorola launched its long-awaited MPx100 Windows Mobile smart phone yesterday, promising to ship the handset by the end of the year. It also unveiled the MPx, a second Windows Mobile-based device, but one that features not a slick "dual-hinge" clamshell design for a more PDA-style feel but also integrates Wi-Fi. Despite the …

    Mobile 24 Feb 2004, 11:12

  • Service provider kit sales to hold steady in '04

    Fierce price competition

    Sales of high-end networking equipment to service providers jumped in the second half of the year, delivering some respite after a dismal 18 months for makers of switches and routers. Sector sales were $1.4bn in the last quarter of 2003, up 13 per cent year-on-year and the second consecutive quarter to produce 13 per cent …

    Data Networking 24 Feb 2004, 11:13

  • Mandator turns to stock market

    Cash needed for future growth

    Systems integrator Mandator has reported falling revenue for 2003, and announced plans to turn to the stock market in the hope of raising enough cash to ensure future growth. But the company is not well placed to get more money from the stock market, and may find itself targeted by a larger rival. For FY2003, Mandator reported …

    Business 24 Feb 2004, 11:19

  • VeriSign takes token stance

    Pick-n-mix authentication products

    VeriSign is to start selling hardware authentication tokens and is leading a group of security companies in a standards initiative. The move appears to be an effort to soften RSA Security's dominance of the authentication market. VeriSign has announced the formation of the Open Authentication Reference Architecture (OATH) …

    Security 24 Feb 2004, 11:23

  • 3 claims rip-off as you go ‘scandal’

    You are paying £500m a year too much

    The UK's 36 million or so Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) mobile phone punters are being ripped to the tune of £500m, video mobile network operator 3 claims Unveiling its own PAYG tariffs, the mobile outfit said that punters were being hit by a £500m penalty simply because they choose to pay up front. In its report the Great British Pay- …

    Mobile 24 Feb 2004, 11:36

  • Orange kicks off 3G trials in UK and France

    Villes Orange 3G

    Orange has set up commercial trials of its 3G network in France and the UK, ahead of a full launch later this year. In France, Orange is running the trials, called 'Villes Orange 3G', with 4,000 subscribers. The basic trial package is designed to test the customer experience of 3G, and to answer questions about the tariffs, the …

    Mobile 24 Feb 2004, 11:51

  • The Beast must buy? Fear and loathing in the Symbian shareholdings

    Or not, because they all love one another. Really.

    When is 51 per cent not a majority? At the 3GSM World Congress in Cannes this week Symbian CEO David Levin strove manfully to convince the world that when it comes to his company, the number is in fact 70 per cent. He is of course absolutely correct from a Symbian corporate governance point of view, but the exercise is …

    Mobile 24 Feb 2004, 12:14

  • Nokia lures premium developers with sneak peeks and goodies

    Forum bait

    Lee Epting and her new recruits at Nokia continue to shake up the company's developer program, and yesterday introduced a raft of sweeteners in the form of a new Club Forum Pro scheme. It's no longer a Nordic summer camp for dabblers. For €3000, developers can expect early NDA access to betas and prototypes, business …

    Mobile 24 Feb 2004, 12:26

  • TechnoDepot restocks bug and binary

    Cash'n'Carrion Amazing shirts of many sizes

    UK apparel wits TechnoDepot have just delivered fresh stocks of their best-selling Bug and Binary t-shirts. The former offers the timeless Bug? It’s an undocumented feature on an ash grey premium 100 per cent cotton T, while the latter explains There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those …

    Site News 24 Feb 2004, 12:29

  • US ecommerce sales on the up-and-up

    Outstrip retail sales in Q4 2003

    US ecommerce retail sales reached $17.2bn (€13.6bn) during Q4 2003 - an increase of 25.1 per cent on same time last year. Total retail sales for the period - which includes Christmas - were estimated at $918.2bn, an increase of just 6.2 per cent over 2002. Ecommerce sales for the whole of 2003 increased by 26.3 per cent to an …

    Small Biz 24 Feb 2004, 12:30

  • UK fixated with ADSL roll-out – Ofcom

    Need to look further ahead, says regulator

    Ofcom chairman David Currie reckons the UK has become fixated about the roll-out of ADSL without any regard for what society really needs. He doesn't believe 512k ADSL is true broadband, describing it as a "convenience product" that will do for the time being until the UK is hooked up to something much, much faster. Addressing …

    Broadband 24 Feb 2004, 12:36

  • My best friend is a PC

    We love computers, we do

    There is a good chance your kids think more highly of their computer more than they do of you, according to a survey published today. Children in Britain are bonding, en masse, with technology: nearly half (45 per cent) consider their computer a friend, and nearly two thirds (61 per cent) say they are extremely fond of their …

    Personal 24 Feb 2004, 12:40

  • Napster song sales hit 5m

    Some way to catch up with Apple

    Napster has sold over five million songs since the once infamous file sharing software company was relaunched as a digital music store last October, it said yesterday The operation, a subsidiary of CD-burning software company Roxio, also forecast it would yield $20m in music sales during its first year of business. As a …

    Media 24 Feb 2004, 12:42

  • Can a phone have too many hinges?

    3GSM Hands on with Moto's Symbian and Microsoft communicators

    Of the new phones showcased by Motorola yesterday, two very different communicators stole the show. The company promises that its third pen-based Symbian UIQ phone, the A1000, corrects many of the deficiencies of its predecessors. The specs are certainly impressive: it does video conferencing, with the main camera weighing in at …

    Mobile 24 Feb 2004, 13:01

  • Nokia 'fesses up to poor N-Gage sales

    But exact figures somewhat hazy

    Nokia has given the first official indication that sales of the N-Gage game deck are not living up to expectations, but says that the platform must be given until November 2005 to prove itself. "The sales are in the lower quartile of the bracket we had as our goal," Nokia chairman and CEO Jorma Ollila, told the Financial Times …

    Personal 24 Feb 2004, 13:22

  • PalmOne preps Zire, Tungsten ‘updates’

    Rumored to be ditching sliders, too

    PalmOne is preparing a range up updates to its Zire consumer PDA family and new versions of its popular Tungsten E and T pro devices, according to a variety of web sites publishing snippets of what are alleged to be leaked product specs. If accurate, the rumours indicate the company will soon drop the T series' trademark slider …

    Mobile 24 Feb 2004, 13:30

  • T-Mobile signs roaming deal with … itself

    US subscribers can work in Europe - and vice versa

    T-Mobile has at last linked its US and European hotspot networks to allow subscribers based in either territory to continue using the service when the travel to the other. Something of a no-brainer, you might think. But only now has the Deutsche Telekom subsidiary managed to connect European and US billing and access systems to …

    Broadband 24 Feb 2004, 13:40

  • E-crime costs UK business billions

    Say electric detectives

    Detective Chief Superintendent Len Hinds, head of the National High Tech Crime Unit(NHTCU), warned British business today that denial of service attacks, coupled with threats of extortion are the fastest growing threat faced by IT departments. Hinds said: "We're seeing a marked increase in distributed denial of service attacks …

    Security 24 Feb 2004, 13:45

  • Siemens touts ‘Push to Flirt’

    3GSM Push my button

    It's not unusual at telecoms trade shows to see lots of products that are never seen again. And we don't mean 'concept devices' or labs projects which are clearly not intended to be products. We mean stuff that simply stalls en route to the runway. Siemens has a particularly rich tradition of these, given its long industrial …

    Mobile 24 Feb 2004, 13:54

  • T-Mobile spearheads university WLAN project

    3GSM Campuses across Europe to get unwired

    T-Mobile, Cisco, IBM and Intel today used 3GSM in Cannes to announce an initiative to roll out broadband WLAN and mobile networks across European university campuses. The plan will enable students to work and communicate wirelessly and off-campus, using either WLAN, UMTS or GPRS. A total of 100 universities are targeted and …

    Broadband 24 Feb 2004, 14:04

  • Search engine results reveal Anglo-Saxon ignorance

    It's official: Brits don't know f***

    In a depressing rundown of the top ten words typed in an online dictionary, it would seem that despite people using the f-word more than ever before, they don't understand its meaning. The English language's most flexible word came top on Freesearch's review of how quite how illiterate we as a nation are. And in a second blow …

    Bootnotes 24 Feb 2004, 14:44

  • Venture capitalists mob Cannes bandwagons

    3GSM Over-the-air and games provoke excitement

    Nothing flags a bandwagon more than a mob of venture capitalists trying to climb aboard. Cannes has them in hordes for the 3GSM Congress this year. Games - that's definitely a bandwagon. Over-the-Air is another. Camera technology is spreading. Here's a little sampler: Infra-Worlds, a French games specialist, believes that peer- …

    Mobile 24 Feb 2004, 14:55

  • eBay and PayPal go after auction fraudsters

    Dodgy dealers in their sights...

    eBay customers will get better protection from fraud with the launch of a guarantee service from PayPal. PayPal is offering punters up to £250 of protection from non-delivery or for goods that are not as described on the auction site. But to qualify for protection you must be buying from a Buyer who qualifies. PayPal-approved …

    Small Biz 24 Feb 2004, 15:09

  • Card maker pre-announces Nvidia GeForce FX 5700LE

    GeForce FX 5500 too

    Taiwanese graphics card maker Sparkle has neatly announced a pair of products that utilise Nvidia's upcoming - but as yet unannounced - GeForce FX 5500 and 5700LE chips. According to Sparkle's published specifications, the 5500 is clocked at 270MHz, while the memory runs at 400MHz across a 128-bit bus. The part is believed to …

    Channel 24 Feb 2004, 15:13

  • UK small.biz blows £1.5bn on useless software

    Staggering annual cost of ill-advised expenditure

    British small and medium-sized companies are wasting £1.5bn a year on badly-designed business software that does not meet their commercial needs. According to a poll of 400 UK SMEs conducted by software developer Benchmark Software, the problem is due to a chasm opening up between what companies need from technology and what …

    Small Biz 24 Feb 2004, 15:15

  • Birmingham seeks partner for £500m IT love-in

    Expert analysis

    Birmingham City Council is inviting tenders for an IT project to overhaul its support services. The project is worth up to £500m over 15 years and will begin with a spring-clean of the council's internal systems: IT support, HR and payroll. It also wants to update its contact centre. The improvements will roll out in stages, …

    Data Center 24 Feb 2004, 15:26

  • AMD chip targets data security

    Alchemy line extended with VPN engine

    AMD today unveiled its latest Alchemy embedded processor, this one pitched at network security applications. Based on the existing Alchemy Au1500, the Au1550 integrates an IPsec- and SSL-standard VPN packet processor in hardware, connected to a true random number generator. Together, these features are dubbed the 'Security …

    Channel 24 Feb 2004, 15:32

  • Intel adds Wireless MMX support to XScale tools

    Paving way for Bulverde

    Intel is clearly gearing up to announce - and hopefully ship - its next-generation XScale processor, codenamed "Bulverde". The part may have failed to warrant a mention during the appropriate Intel Developer Forum keynote last week, but today the chip giant began shipping the software tools needed to write applications and …

    Channel 24 Feb 2004, 15:45

  • Eminem sues Apple

    It's a rap

    Eminem's publishing company claims Apple used one of his songs in a TV ad without the hip-hop star's "yo!" The Mac maker now faces a copyright infringement lawsuit, don'cha know. Eminem's publisher, Eight Mile Style, filed the suit this past Friday. Also named are MTV and Apple's ad agency, TBWA Chiat Day. The song in …

    Media 24 Feb 2004, 16:08

  • Pop-up ‘suicide’ can kill your brand

    Marketing-speak for 'ditch the critters'

    Employing pop-up ads to target punters is like playing Russian roulette with your brand, according to Web behaviour consultancy Bunnyfoot Universality. They reckon companies that use - or host - pop-up advertising are a big turn-off, risking "suicide" for their brand. Bunnyfoot's research found that pop-ups were the "single …

    Media 24 Feb 2004, 16:41

  • IDF Spring '04 coverage in full

    We'll gather chips in the Spring

    Enterprise Systems Intel unveils 64-bit capable Xeon Intel's Barrett hints at 64-bit compatibility glitches Who sank Itanic? IBM shows Itanic love with Power4 benchmark The point of Itanium keeps floating with new chips HP to pump IDF full of Opteron boxes Function trumps form at Intel showcase Intel downbeat about 64- …

    Broadband 24 Feb 2004, 16:42

  • UI wars ‘tore Symbian apart’ – Nokia

    3GSM Tea with Mr Series 60

    Not to dwell too long on a family squabble, but it's hard to write about Nokia's smart phone endeavors without running into the labyrinthine politics of its alliance. Nokia's Mr. Series 60 - Jukka Riivari, who is director of OEM sales for the platform - acknowledges what a troubled road it has been so far. Series 60 is the …

    Mobile 24 Feb 2004, 16:47

  • Symbian releases real-time, one-chip OS

    3GSM Breakthrough

    Although Symbian's press conference was consumed by politics - which is hardly surprising as Nokia is the most powerful company in the industry, and Symbian is the runaway smart phone OS provider - the company had some significant product news. Version 8.0 of the Symbian OS now has real-time capabilities, allowing phone vendors …

    Mobile 24 Feb 2004, 16:50

  • BOFH: Infesting the secure comms room

    Episode 6 Rattus Electronicus

    BOFH 2004: Episode 6 So it's a site visit - one of those rare opportunities to check out a "superior" government installation on a brand new site which has won awards from those members of the industry easily impressed by colours and lights. What the hell, it's a couple of hours off work with the chance of a protracted visit to …

    BOFH 24 Feb 2004, 17:00

  • Eurovision smitten by rebranding madness

    LogoWatch Boom bang-a-bang

    Continental Strategy Boutiques have been hard at work recently coming up with a new image for the much-loved Eurovision Song Contest. The result of their flipchart-intensive power brunches is an inspiring, fresh brand frontage which encapsulates all that is good about the world's premier celebration of musical culture. …

    Bootnotes 24 Feb 2004, 17:07

  • Simpay eyes €1bn m-commerce bounty

    New members invited to mobile wallet scheme

    Simpay is calling for mobile operators to sign up to its mobile wallet scheme. The company, formerly the Mobile Payments Services Association (MPSA), has completed design of its payment platform, and predicts that by 2007 it will handle over €1bn of transactions. Five new operators say they are interested in signing up for the …

    Mobile 24 Feb 2004, 17:31

  • HP calls in Gartner cheerleader for Opteron launch

    EPIC backtrack

    HP today pulled out all the stops to defend its move toward AMD's Opteron processor, including putting a hired gun from analyst firm Gartner on a conference call with the press. Business as usual and customer choice were the "key" messages put forth by HP's SVP for servers and storage systems Scott Stallard, as he announced a …

    Servers 24 Feb 2004, 17:55

  • IBM out-performs HP and EMC (says IBM)

    Servers going well, too

    IBM has reaffirmed its commitment to develop its entire range of server platforms: Intel, RISC (both Unix and Linux) and mainframe, writes Bloor Research analyst Tony Lock. At a recent meeting in Barcelona, IBM highlighted its recent successes in the server and storage sectors. The company claims its Intel base grew more …

    Storage 24 Feb 2004, 19:07

  • Grey Tuesday goes on despite EMI protest

    Your price-fixing check is in the mail

    As promised, Downhill Battle went ahead with its Grey Tuesday protest against EMI, providing links to hundreds of sites making DJ Danger Mouse's Grey Album available for download. The album mixes Jay-Z's Black Album with the Beatles' White Album much to EMI's displeasure. EMI distributes Beatles' music and has sent cease and …

    Media 24 Feb 2004, 20:25

  • IBM tidies up high-end Unix kit

    Bit of Power, bit of Linux

    IBM has injected a speed and Linux infusion into its high-end server line. Starting March 5, IBM will start shipping the p690 server with 1.9GHz Power4+ processors. These are the fastest Power4 chips available from IBM at this time and provide a nice boost ahead of the Power5 launch expected later this year. Along with the new …

    Servers 24 Feb 2004, 22:43

  • Gates parades Windows security advances

    RSA Too much complexity?

    Bill Gates today announced Microsoft's latest plans to make Windows systems more resilient against worms and other security threats. In a keynote address at the RSA Conference in San Francisco, the Microsoft chairman showed security improvements that will come with Windows XP SP2. These include: Windows Security Centre; …

    Security 24 Feb 2004, 23:14