The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

23rd April 2004 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

  • Microsoft's Q3 hurt by settlement costs

    Sun puts small dent in golden egg

    Microsoft celebrated solid revenue growth in its third quarter but felt the pains of recent legal settlements with net income falling year-over-year. Microsoft reported $9.18bn in revenue for the period ended 31 March. This marks a 17 per cent increase over the $7.84bn posted in the same quarter a year ago. The company's net …

    Financial News 23 Apr 2004, 01:12

  • TIBCO swoops on Staffware

    Offers £128m for UK firm

    Staffware shareholders are due for a nice windfall, following its agreed takeover by TIBCO. TIBCO is doing its bit for consolidating the enterprise software market by offering approx. £128m in cash and shares ($217m) for the British software house - a premium of 41 per cent on Wednesday's closing share price. US-based TIBCO is …

    Mobile 23 Apr 2004, 07:56

  • Nvidia acquires network processor maker

    High-end content creation

    Nvidia took a step to broaden its product line beyond its traditional graphics offerings by acquiring the technology assets of networking and storage processor developer iReady. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it encompasses all of privately held iReady's intellectual property, including patents both granted and …

    Data Networking 23 Apr 2004, 09:24

  • Will Opteron's first birthday be its most memorable?

    Analysis Dream on...

    AMD's Opteron processor has enjoyed more success in one year than most thought possible, but any notion of a guaranteed, glorious future should be dismissed. It's easy to be impressed by the gains AMD has made in the server market over the past 52 weeks. This time last year, AMD was a vague afterthought in the minds of server …

    Servers 23 Apr 2004, 09:30

  • VIA NET.WORKS UK to axe 40 staff

    'Realigning skills base'

    Around 40 staff are facing redundancy at business-focused ISP VIA NET.WORKS UK after the company announced plans to restructure the organisation. Although it's hoped that most of the job losses will be voluntary, the company is unable to rule out compulsory redundancies. Following the job losses, around 70 people will work at …

    Broadband 23 Apr 2004, 09:33

  • Consumer grade *nix: powder keg

    Desktop time-bomb

    Is "Ship it then fix it" a good business model? It is likely an approach to get a product to market early, or perhaps more honestly, to market on time. But after an experience I had on the weekend, I wonder about the sense of this approach and worry that the push to get Linux and Unix adopted on the desktop, through low cost …

    Operating Systems 23 Apr 2004, 09:48

  • ATI R420 slips from April to May

    Even as piccies appear on Web

    ATI is unlikely to release its next-generation R420 chip until May and not 26 April, as previously thought, The Register has learned. But to lighten the burden of waiting a week or so, pictures of the part have already begun to surface on the Web. Earlier this month, sources said to be familiar with ATI's roadmap claimed that …

    Channel 23 Apr 2004, 09:52

  • Toshiba debuts dinky 100GB disk

    Low-power job for notebooks

    Toshiba's storage division yesterday introduced a 2.5in hard drive offering up to 100GB of storage capacity thanks to an "industry leading" density of 80Gb per square inch. The 9.5mm high, 99g unit - dubbed the MK1031GAS - is pitched at notebook vendors. That's not just because of its size. The drive features a "load/unload …

    Channel 23 Apr 2004, 10:26

  • 419er Struck By American Headline Disorder

    Allah Be Praised

    An interesting addition to the 419 email genre has just dropped onto the Vulture Central doormat - apparently written by someone who once trained in the US news industry. Having skilfully resisted the temptation to WRITE EVRYTHING IN CAPS, Abass Aziz obviously decided his missive lacked a certain punch and that it would be more …

    Bootnotes 23 Apr 2004, 10:26

  • What has IT ever done for business?

    Apart from the roads and the aqueducts...

    IT may not be as isolated from the decision-making process in the UK as is commonly believed, according to research by the Help Desk Institute (HDI). More than two thirds (70 per cent) of the IT managers and directors surveyed feel IT plays an integral role in project planning stages, supported by a reported 62 per cent of …

    Business 23 Apr 2004, 10:27

  • Amazon opens online bijouterie

    Profits up for diamond geezers

    Amazon continues to prove that punters love shopping online as the Internet giant reported increased sales and profit for the first three months of the year. And now shoppers have got even more retail choice after Amazon opened the doors to its new Jewellery Store flogging all sorts of gear from rings and necklaces to earrings …

    Financial News 23 Apr 2004, 10:38

  • Laptop + bath = death?

    Letters No idea. Any volunteers?

    Oh boy - the letters on the Creative advert just keep coming. For those just joining us, this is the debate over the question of whether you could drop a laptop (battery-powered) into a bath occupied by a person without killing said person. The only conclusion it is safe to draw from all the various explanations is that (short …

    Letters 23 Apr 2004, 10:53

  • Network Associates sells Sniffer

    ...and becomes McAfee. Again

    Network Associates (NAI) is selling off its Sniffer networking tools division to private investors, and will now concentrate solely on the security market. NAI will rechristen itself as McAfee on completion of the sale, due to close in Q3. Silver Lake Partners and Texas Pacific Group are to buy NAI's Sniffer product line for …

    Security 23 Apr 2004, 11:13

  • Firms prep Wi-Fi Internet radio tuners

    Reg Kit Watch 10,000 stations without a PC

    Wi-Fi is not only freeing up notebook and PDA users to connect to the Internet from anywhere in the home, it's also making Internet radio work (almost) like the real thing. British start-up Reciva is currently pitching its standalone Net radio receiver to a variety of consumer electronics companies, ISPs and network providers, …

    Broadband 23 Apr 2004, 11:17

  • German postie punts pilfered parcels on eBay

    You ain't got mail

    A German postman who failed to deliver parcels to his punters has coughed to flogging the items on eBay instead. The 37-year-old postie, who has not been named, was rumbled after a musician - whose clarinet mouthpiece failed to show in the post - stumbled across the item on the e-auction house. The musician bought the item but …

    Media 23 Apr 2004, 11:46

  • LINX links smaller ISPs

    'Piggy-back' onto the information superhighway

    The London Internet Exchange (LINX) this week launched a service to allow smaller ISPs across the world easier access to Europe’s largest Internet exchange point. The LINX from Anywhere services will allow such ISPs to exchange data – known as peering – with other ISPs far more efficiently. The service promises cost savings to …

    Data Networking 23 Apr 2004, 13:10

  • Open Sourcerers get UK trade body

    'Great synergies' expected

    The open source movement now has its own UK trade association, Zope UK, launched this week in London. Like all trade bodies, its primary purpose will be to represent the open source community to the outside world, and provide a forum for the exchange of experiences and ideas. According to the founders of the Zope UK Association …

    Operating Systems 23 Apr 2004, 13:15

  • Swazi King gives PM SMS order of boot

    U R sakd, now push off m8

    The former Prime Minister of Swaziland was sacked by text message last September following a political reshuffle by the southern African nation's King. Details of the e-sacking have only just emerged, according to a report by Reuters, but it's caused a certain amount of anger among the nation's political class. It seems King …

    Bootnotes 23 Apr 2004, 14:38

  • Spiders inspire eight-legged Post-it notes

    Arachnid molecular adhesion

    Scientists have discovered that spider on a ceiling could hold 170 times its own bodyweight before gravity would pull it from its perch. And what use is this fascinating piece of information being put to? The betterment of mankind perhaps? Not a chance: it'll be used to make Post-it notes that stick even when wet. Despite the …

    Science 23 Apr 2004, 15:26

  • Telescopes at the ready, it's Astronomy Day

    Stargazing extravanganza

    Tomorrow is Astronomy Day 2004, which the organisers say is all about sharing the joy of astronomy with the general population. Astronomy clubs and associations, universities, planetariums and so on, host events designed to highlight what it is about stargazing that has them hooked. The idea is that by showing people in their …

    Science 23 Apr 2004, 15:58

  • Boffins test voice-activated secure credit card

    Give me the bl**dy money!

    Boffins have developed a credit card that works only when it hears its owner's voice. A prototype card from Santa Monica, California-based Beepcard comes with a built-in voice recognition chip, miniature battery, microphone and speaker. To operate the card a user would need to press a button on the card's surface and provide a …

    Security 23 Apr 2004, 16:36

  • JPEG patent holder renews royalty offensive

    'We will never Forgent'

    Forgent Networks, which two years ago said it would pursue royalties on its JPEG patent, has renewed its offensive. The compression patent used in the popular image format, (USPTO 4,698,672, or '672), was filed by Compression Labs in October 1986. This dormant company was acquired by Forgent Networks in 1997. In June 2002, …

    Media 23 Apr 2004, 19:48

  • US trade pressure kills China's home-grown tech

    3G angst

    Protectionist US technology companies won a significant lobbying victory through the US Trade Department this week, as the Chinese government pledged not to promote its home-grown TD-SCDMA technology for 3G and not to interfere with royalty negotiations between Chinese carriers and foreign interests. China has invested heavily …

    Mobile 23 Apr 2004, 20:48

  • IBM infiltrates EMC's storage systems

    API swap pays off

    After years of trying, IBM has finally found a way for its own storage boxes to tap into those of EMC. The method of the EMC pentration has not occured as first planned. IBM is using its TotalStorage SAN Volume Controller software to link IBM systems with EMC's Clariion and Symmetrix boxes. IBM once thought its magical SAN File …

    Storage 23 Apr 2004, 22:52