9th March 2004 Archive

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HP nips and tucks low-end servers

Blade play

HP has pepped up the low-end of its server line with a new blade system and a new box aimed at small businesses. The ProLiant BL30p was designed to let customers cram up to 192 processors in a single rack. Customers can fit 16 of the dual-processor blades in 6U (10.5 inches) of rack space. The server uses Intel's Xeon …

Servers 9 Mar 2004, 00:48
AT&T Wireless users balk at ‘compulsory downgrade’

Going a bungle

AT&T Wireless has drawn the ire of some smart phone customers who have been offered an inferior replacements as the network upgrades. As the final chapter of its upgrade from TDMA, AT&T is adding some prime 800MHz spectrum alongside its 1900MHz GSM. This spectrum was previously used for TDMA. But only a handful of the most GSM …

Mobile 9 Mar 2004, 08:40
Martha Lane Fox sells £4.6m in shares

No more budget travel for her, then

Martha Lane Fox, co-founder of online travel agent lastminute.com, has sold some of her stake in the company for £4.6m. Lane Fox stepped down as MD late last year but is still on the board. She sold 20 per cent of her stake in the company - 2m shares at 230p each. Lane Fox still owns 2.7 per cent of the company. She told the …

Business 9 Mar 2004, 08:43
PayPal forced to apologise for dodgy small print

Fined $150,000

Payment provider PayPal has had its wrists slapped for misleading customers with dodgy small print. The e-Bay subsidiary will pay $150,000 to New York State as punishment and to pay for the states' investigation. The controversy centres on what happens when customers buy goods which fail to arrive. If such a purchase was made …

Music and Media 9 Mar 2004, 09:28
Yorkshire Forward accused of BT favouritism

'It's just a draft'

Plans to hand out grants to help communities in Yorkshire and Humber campaign for broadband services have come under fire from community campaigners. They say the terms are skewed in favour of dominant telco BT and ADSL, effectively shutting out other technologies, such as wireless. Critics claim the Regional Development Agency …

Small Biz 9 Mar 2004, 09:39
I'd recognise that ear, anywhere

Boffins crack ear identification

Never mind retinal scans, finger printing or facial recognition: we'll have our ears on a national database, soon. Boffins at the University of Leicester, working with K9 Forensic Services, have developed a computerised ear image and ear print identification system. Their technology is capable of recognising partial earprints …

Security 9 Mar 2004, 11:00
Channel round-up C2000 gears up for Microsoft sales binge

Computer 2000, Tech Data's UK subsidiary, is gearing up for a flurry of activity around renewing Microsoft Software Assurance contracts. These were introduced two years ago and many come up for renewal between now and July. C2000 will provide detailed customer information to the resellers who sold the original contracts. …

Channel 9 Mar 2004, 11:24
BT climbs down in Tiscali ad spat

When 'No comment' means 'It's a fair cop, guv'

BT has agreed to change "factually inaccurate" ads that took a pop at rival ISP Tiscali. Tiscali threw a wobbly last week after the UK's monster telco ran an ad entitled "The truth about Tiscali's notquitesobroadband". The ad went on: "So you've seen you can get broadband from Tiscali for under £20 a month. Sounds goods doesn' …

Telecoms 9 Mar 2004, 11:26
Reseller are chipper about future

Confidence rises

Europe's computer dealers are more confident about business prospects than they were at the beginning of the year, According to the latest Context Europe survey. Resellers were asked in February to estimate the growth in sales in the first quarter, compared to the same period a year ago. The average figure was 12.1 per cent - …

Channel 9 Mar 2004, 12:01
DVD Forum provokes HDD spec punch-up

MS Windows Media 9 codec is catalyst for strife

The infamous DVD Forum has almost certainly provoked all-out warfare within the consumer electronic community with its latest decision - to include Microsoft Windows Media 9 codec in its new high density disk standard. This move by the self-styled standards body for DVD technology is tantamount to saying that the Japanese …

Personal 9 Mar 2004, 12:05
Court backs telcos in US network wars

Big four take on FCC

A full-scale war for cheap communications interconnection has broken out in the US. The FCC demands it and has issued as set of regulations on the matter. Last week, however, judges ruled in favour of local US telcos to strike the rules out. BellSouth, Verizon SBC and Qwest all felt that they would end up offering competitors …

Data Networking 9 Mar 2004, 12:09
SAP and MS line up for and against Oracle

Letters to the DoJ

Oracle has won the unexpected support of SAP in its fight to oppose a Department of Justice (DoJ) ruling blocking its $9.4bn bid for PeopleSoft. SAP has written in support Oracle's contention that the market for enterprise applications software is more diverse and much bigger than a three-way fight between Oracle, PeopleSoft …

Hardware 9 Mar 2004, 12:25
No US patent for the patently obvious

US to fall in line with Europe?

Americans will have to try harder if they want to patent business method software, following the refusal of the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to grant a patent for a method of plotting a point on the graph. The PTO ruled that applications must be tied clearly to 'technological art or environment'. Bowman, the graph …

Software 9 Mar 2004, 12:38
300GB drive: now it's Fujitsu's turn

MAP and MAS lines to be replaced

Fujitsu is refreshing its enterprise hard drives with two new 3.5in lines to replace the MAP and MAS series. The MAT range is available in three capacity points: 300GB, 147GB and 73GB and either Ultra 320 SCSI or Fibre Channel 2 interfaces. The 300GB takes Fujitsu head to head against Hitachi, which launched a 300GB drive of …

Storage 9 Mar 2004, 12:54
NY Times in ‘My job went to India’ shirt outrage

Born in the USA, apparently

We at Vulture Central were shocked this morning to read that our magnificent My job went to India and all I got was this lousy t-shirt had not in fact been designed here in Blighty and lovingly hand painted in Indonesia by eight-year-old children working 27-hour days for a mere $10 per week. In fact, according to Thomas L. …

Bootnotes 9 Mar 2004, 13:01
BOFH: Protecting bodily waste in the public domain

Episode 8 Counting the cost of excrement

BOFH 2004: Episode 8 "You’re looking pretty cheerful," the PFY observes, as the Boss rolls into mission control. “Mmmf!” he responds, between mouthfuls of a large apple. “Mmm?” “It’s this fruit, it’s delicious!” he burbles. “What, the cafeteria’s run out of fried lavatory paper?” I ask. “Someone’s going to have to update …

BOFH 9 Mar 2004, 13:34
Dealers win High Court VAT action against Customs

Next round, Europe

The FTI (Federation of Technological Industries) has won the right to take its legal battle with Customs and Excise to the European Court. The trade body was set up in response to the Finance Act which made brokers responsible for VAT payments through the entire supply chain. Customs' intent was to destroy widespread and …

Channel 9 Mar 2004, 14:47
Sony Ericsson – credible camera maker?

New camera phones aim to bridge perception gap

Would you list Sony in your top five names of camera makers? Sony Ericsson just launched a bunch of camera phones which depend (they say) on the consumer's recognition of this as a genuine camera brand. The new phones, which will roll out over the next nine months, almost all have "dual fronted" design. One side is a phone; but …

Mobile 9 Mar 2004, 14:51
Cognos buys Softa

Oxford company takes the dollar

Canadian business intelligence company Cognos has bought Softa, a British 'corporate performance management' provider. Oxford-based Softa was spun out from Deloitte Consulting in 2003. No value was put on the deal but a price could emerge when Cognos announces results at the end of the month. The transaction will be absorbed …

Hardware 9 Mar 2004, 14:55
France Telecom cleared to buy back Wanadoo

Some T-Online stuff as well

France Telecom's (FT) plan to acquire the outstanding shares in its ISP division, Wanadoo, was given the thumbs-up by the regulator of the French Stock Exchange yesterday. This paves the way for FT to move ahead in its plan to acquire the minority interests in Wanadoo (29.4 per cent). Like other incumbent telcos, FT's …

Business 9 Mar 2004, 14:58
We're just innocent techies, say accused spammers

AOL begs to differ

Lawyers for a Florida firm accused of inundating AOL users with spam have hit back with a motion seeking to dismiss the lawsuit. According to dismissal papers filed yesterday, AOL's lawsuit against Connor Miller Software in Orlando federal court is "essentially the same" as a case "dismissed" by a Virginia judge last December …

Security 9 Mar 2004, 15:04
Experts give developers a Kick Start

Site Offer 30% off books for technology professionals

The Register bookstore is pleased to offer readers 18 Kick Start titles all with 30 per cent off. Kick Start books offer a casual, task-oriented approach for programmers, web developers and administrators. These books are written by experts who teach you the fundamentals as quickly and as painlessly as possible. Kick Start …

Site News 9 Mar 2004, 15:08
MS listens to PC OEMs – two years later

Nothing to do with investigations, honest...

Microsoft has described its removal of the 'you can't sue us' clause from its licensing deals just as the Japanese Fair Trade Commission took an interest in it as "pure coincidence" - but if so it's a very strange coincidence indeed. The clause in question is the 'non assert' clause in the company's arrangements with PC …

Software 9 Mar 2004, 15:33
UK unions calls time on offshoring

Here are some demands

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is calling on the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to carry out a proper investigation into the impact of offshoring on British jobs. Offshoring is the practice of moving call centres and other business support functions abroad to save money. The DTI should provide best practice advice for …

Business 9 Mar 2004, 16:02
Fujitsu shifts helpdesk jobs to South Africa

Skills shortage blamed for transfer

Fujitsu Services is to transfer its internal helpdesk operation in the UK to South Africa in a bid to free-up workers to serve the company's own customers instead. The IT services company insists it's not following in the footsteps of other companies that have sent IT jobs overseas. Instead, its internal helpdesk support for …

Business 9 Mar 2004, 16:02
Microsoft's high-risk security strategy

Between a rock and a hard place

Fighting to protect its operating system monopoly by making Windows more secure, Microsoft this year finds itself sitting between the rock of inevitable antitrust oversight, and the hard place of its reputation regarding security. Bill Gates has said that the next big upgrade to Windows XP, Service Pack 2, will have personal …

Security 9 Mar 2004, 16:20
Microsoft v. Minnesota

Another day, another court case

Microsoft is back in court, this time in Minnesota accused of overcharging on its Windows operating system. The class action case - brought by a group of seven people and businesses - seeks recompense for Microsoft using its monopoly position to profiteer. The group wants $400m in damages. The case could last until mid-June, …

Software 9 Mar 2004, 16:24
MEPs wave through IP rights enforcement

Hunting season opens in two years

The European Parliament has passed the IP Rights Enforcement Directive, unchanged from its mid February draft. It includes none of the amendments proposed by civil liberties and consumer rights groups, and sets the scene for a European version of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The directive will become EU law in two …

Software 9 Mar 2004, 16:40
Cisco tops 2003 VPN sales league

Market moves towards appliances

Cisco Systems overtook Check Point Software as market leader in the burgeoning VPN sector in 2003, with both companies ahead of third place Netscreen. Worldwide VPN and firewall appliance and software revenues rose to $2.4bn last year, up 13 per cent on 2002. Nokia (Check Point's key appliance partner), Nortel, SonicWALL, …

Data Networking 9 Mar 2004, 16:42
MS, Linux, board battles – Psion boss lists the threats to Symbian

Defence of deal paints picture of company up agin it

Psion's tussle with shareholders irate over its proposed sale of its Symbian stake to Nokia is throwing up some interesting background to the deal. In a meeting with shareholders Psion chairman David Potter suggested that some of the shareholders in Symbian were effectively blocking an IPO, that it was therefore "very unlikely …

Mobile 9 Mar 2004, 16:51
Fiorina touts HP advances

Figures show retreat

Hewlett Packard's CEO Carly Fiorina has been spinning like a top to impress us with market share gains. But it's hard to see that the blessed good news is a result of anything other than cost cuts. "We are now growing our business, and all of our businesses are profitable," Fiorina told a technology seminar in Singapore today …

Servers 9 Mar 2004, 18:57
Telefonica buys Bell South's Latin American mobile ops

Numero uno

The consolidation that began in the North American market with Cingular's acquisition of AT&T Wireless has moved south. It emerged at the weekend that Telefonica's protracted deal to purchase BellSouth's Latin American wireless assets is set to go ahead, making Telefonica the leading mobile operator in the region. Telefonica …

Mobile 9 Mar 2004, 19:18
Sony Ericsson unveils megapixel flagship, EDGE kit

High-end swivel

Sony Ericsson has unveiled the high-end handset it hopes can steal some limelight and market share from Nokia's Series 60 platform, and other feature-packed rivals. The S700 is a compass-style design with the same "swivel action" rotating display introduced by Motorola with its v70 and v80 handsets. Although it won't be out …

Mobile 9 Mar 2004, 20:40
Intel's Xeon Extender promises to enlarge your memory size

Pump it up

Intel has tossed its hat into our Xeon (now enhanced) naming contest, asking the world at large to refer to the chip as Intel® Extended Memory 64 Technology (Intel® EM64T). "The Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology is a feature that will be included in our forthcoming uni-processor and dual-processor IA32 server and workstation …

Servers 9 Mar 2004, 21:58