10th May 2004 Archive
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Intel launches Dothan with Pentium M price cuts
The 90nm 7xx series ships
Intel today knocked up to 30.5 per cent off the prices of its 130nm Pentium M processors to make way for the 90nm version of the chip, codenamed 'Dothan'. As anticipated, Dothan was formally launched today and began shipping to notebook vendors worldwide. Intel is offering three new Pentium Ms, sold as the Pentium M 735, 745 …
Channel 10 May 2004, 07:54
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German police arrest Sasser worm suspect
Updated Alleged Phatbot perp also nabbed
An 18-year-old German student has admitted writing the infamous Sasser worm, following his arrest by local police on Friday. The man (since named as Sven Jaschan) from the village of Waffensen, between Bremen and Hamburg, in the northern German state of Lower Saxony is also suspected of releasing all 28 versions of the equally …
Malware 10 May 2004, 08:28
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(Almost) everything may go, as Longhorn rushes to release
Rearranging the wish list
If Microsoft had counted on this week's WinHEC hardware conference to raise enthusiasm for the next release on Windows, then the event can certainly be judged a success. The build that found its way into developers' hands isn't the leviathan some feared: it purrs along happily with 512MB and a modest 16MB graphics card, although …
Operating Systems 10 May 2004, 08:31
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AMD to parade Socket 939 at Computex
Chips at show shocker
AMD looks set to launch its Socket 939 Athlon 64 and 64 FX processors early next month at the Computex show in Taipei. So claim Taiwanese mobo-maker sources cited by DigiTimes today, following speculation around the web that AMD has earmarked the week of 1-5 June for the 939-pin debut. We'd point out that the story talks about …
Channel 10 May 2004, 08:43
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Sony unveils tiny wireless pen PC
Reg Kit Watch Look, ma, no keyboard
Sony will ship a keyboardless PC in Japan later this month. But it's no Tablet PC - instead, this pen-operated, wireless-enabled Windows XP machine will be pitched at mobile media consumers. The consumer electronics giant is billing the Vaio VGN-U70 as the world's smallest full-function Windows PC. The unit measures 16.7 x 10.8 …
Mobile 10 May 2004, 09:30
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Sony US music service an 'embarrassment'
Damning report
Sony's US online music service, Connect, has been slammed as an "embarrassment" by the Washington Post. The review (registration required) criticises the online service - which is coming to Europe on 7 June - for its poor catalogue, its format and hardware limitations and its "bloated, bug-ridden" download software. The WP …
Music and Media 10 May 2004, 10:13
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PalmOne Zire 31
Reg Review Colouring the consumer PDA market
PalmOne Zire 31 PalmOne's first Zire was launched as the acme of low-end PDA. Its slow but sure Dragonball processor, 8MB of RAM and "two-colour" - ie. black and white display allowed the handheld maker to put it out for under $100, widely seen as a key price point to attract a whole new constituency of consumers to the PDA …
Reviews 10 May 2004, 10:22
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Dollar decline stunts Symbian growth
Performance 'in line with expectations'
The strength of the pound against the dollar left Symbian's Q1 results looking less impressive than would be justified. However, the company is still losing money and may need to raise more capital. This could prove a crucial point in the company's relationship with leading shareholder Nokia. Symbian said on 6 May that …
Mobile 10 May 2004, 11:07
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Oops! BT bills man £25,000 for cut cable
Garden fence project totals 2km of fibre optic
BT is looking to recoup more than £25,000 from a Cambridgeshire man after he severed a fibre optic cable while putting up a new fence in his garden. David Brown, 40, told The Sun he was "shocked" when he received the bill for £25,780 ($45,670) at the end of last month. He has just 21 days to cough up. The cable was cut in …
Bootnotes 10 May 2004, 11:07
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Ebookers sales up but jobs down
Turns a profit in skinny quarter...
Ebookers increased sales for the first quarter by 47 per cent and is confident about the year ahead. Despite the positive results the company is cutting 270 jobs, 200 in the UK and 70 in India, as business processes are increasingly automated. The cuts should save ebookers £2.5m this year. Gross sales for the quarter were £160m …
Financial News 10 May 2004, 11:14
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Cisco offers WLAN switching
Finally putting pressure on start-ups
After a year of talk, Cisco has finally released long awaited wired/wireless switch capabilities and taken a major step towards an integrated enterprise network. A key part of the Structured Wireless Aware Network (Swan) roadmap, the new modules - previously codenamed Screaming Eagle and now called WLAN Services Module (WLSM …
Data Networking 10 May 2004, 11:14
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New version of Sasser undermines lone coder theory
Worm turns up after arrest of prime suspect
The appearance of a new version of the infamous Sasser worm shortly after the arrest of its admitted author has fuelled speculation that its creator worked with other virus writers. Sasser-E was first spotted three hours and 45 minutes after the arrest of Sven Jaschan, 18, from Rotenburg in northern Germany at 2pm on Friday …
Malware 10 May 2004, 11:16
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E-voting promises US election tragicomedy
Brace yourselves
New DRE (Direct Recording Electronic) voting machines came under fire in Washington this week, with expert witnesses giving contradictory testimony to the US Election Assistance Commission on the perennially entertaining and confusing topic of touch screen balloting. The Commission is a tiny outfit charged with the very great …
Public Sector 10 May 2004, 11:17
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Royal Bank of Canada dumps SCO Group shares
BayStar moves in
Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has washed its hands of SCO Group (SCOX), dumping all 30,000 recently-acquired shares into the lap of BayStar Capital. The venture capital firm, which considered walking away last month, is now in a powerful position to influence SCO's future direction. RBC has sold 20,000 Series A-1 stock to BayStar …
Financial News 10 May 2004, 12:16
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Sun and Veritas bury the hatchet
Licensing love-in
Server maker Sun Microsystems and clustered file systems maker Veritas Software have something of a love-hate relationship, but the two buried the hatchet this week. While Sun cannot afford to buy Veritas, attempting to license its technologies may be an idea worth looking into. Veritas and Sun are now working to port the …
Storage 10 May 2004, 12:32
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Nokia quits WiMAX Forum
Shock move by enthusiastic founder member
In a shock move, Nokia has left the WiMAX Forum, indicating a U-turn on the technology it once promoted enthusiastically. Nokia was a founding member of the Forum, before Intel joined and raised 802.16's profile beyond recognition, and during 2003 was bullish about the technology, with development projects surrounding base …
Wireless 10 May 2004, 12:34
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BT in broadband free flight promo
Get connected, then leave country
BT is giving away free flights as part of time-limited promo to plug its broadband service. Any new punters signing up to BT's consumer broadband products within the next six weeks can get a return flight to a string of destinations in Europe and the US including Barcelona, Boston and New York. The deal runs from today until 20 …
Telecoms 10 May 2004, 12:52
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FTC fines porn spammers $112k
A small price to pay?
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has settled charges with Brian Westby and Dutch citizen Martijn Bevelander, who employed spam that used deceptively bland subject lines, false return addresses, and empty reply-to links to expose unsuspecting consumers, including children, to sexually explicit material. The US agency alleged …
Spam 10 May 2004, 12:52
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Japanese P2P founder arrested
Copyright rap for Winny P2P software author
Japanese police have arrested the developer of the popular Winny P2P application for breaking the country's copyright laws. Isamu Kaneko, 33, an assistant researcher at Tokyo University, and brains behind the supposedly anonymous file sharing system, is accused of developing software that aids and abets copyright infringement …
Music and Media 10 May 2004, 12:56
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Hate websites continue to flourish
More nastiness than ever, says SurfControl
A new report from UK-based e-mail filtering company SurfControl says that the number of hate and violence websites has grown by nearly 300 per cent since 2000. The company said that in 2000, it was monitoring about 2,756 websites that were categorised as hate and violence sites. By April 2004, that figure had risen to 10,926. …
Music and Media 10 May 2004, 14:01
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321 lookalike punts DVD copy software
Naughty, naughty
A new company trading as the ironically-named "123" appears to be doing exactly what 321 Studios has been stopped from doing by the US courts - offering software for making personal copies of DVDs. While 321 Studios tries to duke it out in court, claiming that personal copies are enshrined in US law, so that software for …
Personal 10 May 2004, 14:03
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BBC develops 'alternative' codec
With wavelets, 'Dirac' lessens lossiness
Just when we think that the codec wars are just about over, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has released a codec that works differently from other existing systems. In March it issued it to the open source community through Sourceforge under the name of Dirac, named after the eccentric and brilliant British physicist …
Software 10 May 2004, 14:04
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Intel pumps VC cash into JBoss
Java play
Java application specialist JBoss today received a vote of confidence from Intel - in the shape of a big investment. Intel Capital joined Accel Partners and Matrix Partners in raising $10m venture capital for the firm. The money will go on product development and marketing. JBoss also gets access to Intel hardware and expertise …
Financial News 10 May 2004, 14:13
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IBM bangs drum for client middleware
New software architecture
IBM is banging the drum for a new desktop software bundle, centred around Lotus WorkPlace and OpenOffice. The pitch is simple: it's cheaper and more secure than a Microsoft-only technology, or as IBM puts it: "Customers will no longer have to deal with separate and distinct applications on the Web and their desktop PCs - …
Applications 10 May 2004, 14:46
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BT will compensate customers for Manchester blaze
Not to blame, though
BT has agreed to pay compensation to homes and businesses following an underground fire in March that wiped out more than 130,000 phone lines in Manchester as well as disrupting emergency services. Confirmation that the UK's dominant fixed line telco is prepared to pay out to those left without a phone line for up to a week …
Telecoms 10 May 2004, 14:51
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EC opens ears on e-money directive
Suggestions on a postcard, please...
The European Commission has opened a consultation period on its controversial "e-money" directive. The EC wants businesses to tell it how the directive could be improved to "avoid unnecessary burdens for industry". Under the directive, providers of e-money will have to provide a way for people to redeem their e-money for real …
Mobile 10 May 2004, 15:13
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T-Mobile wins Heathrow hotspot siting
Wi-Fi to be installed in other UK airports too
BAA, the owner of the UK's key airports, today agreed to let T-Mobile install Wi-Fi hotspots in international departure lounges at London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports, and at Glasgow. At Heathrow, the deal covers Terminals 3 and 4, and includes American Airlines' and United Airlines' business class lounges. Punters accessing …
Wireless 10 May 2004, 15:36
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PalmOne preps Treo 600 code update
Bug fixes coming this week
PalmOne will align the software it ships with its PDAs and smart phones, the head of the company's wireless division, Ed Colligan, pledged today. Expect the handheld pioneer's data-centric and voice-centric devices to offer the same web browser, email, messaging, media and PIM apps by the end of the year, he told The Register …
Mobile 10 May 2004, 15:59
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Orange UK sorts German roaming snag
Trying times
Orange UK punters are now able to make and receive calls while travelling in Germany after the mobilephoneco was hit by technical problems over the weekend. The company has confirmed that it hit technical difficulties with three of the four networks it uses in Germany that help relay calls while punters are abroad. One reader …
Mobile 10 May 2004, 16:22
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Topspin hopes to hit winner with VFrame
Server virtualization, anyone?
Topspin Communications has boosted the software part of its product lineup with the release last week of the VFrame suite. Topspin pretty much defines the term virtualization start-up. It's best known for switching products that connect server and storage systems regardless of who makes the hardware. In the past, Topspin …
Servers 10 May 2004, 19:55
