18th May 2004 Archive

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Motorola taps Big Blue talent for chip biz

My Michel

Motorola has pinched former IBM executive Michel Mayer to head its Freescale Semiconductor operation. Mayer, the former general manager of IBM Microelectronics, has been tapped as Freescale's chairman and CEO. Freescale is a Motorola chip-making subsidiary that is expected to become a publicly traded company later this year. " …

IT Director 18 May 2004, 00:00
Camera added to USB Flash drive

A spy cam for your key ring

We've seen MP3 players and Wi-Fi adaptors integrated into USB Flash drives, but now Taiwanese manufacturer Transcend has extended the format with a digicam/storage combo. The JetFlash DSC is a typical 8 x 2.9 x 1.6cm, 26g Flash drive, but there's a 640 x 480 digicam built in there too, along with a tiny rechargeable battery to …

Peripherals 18 May 2004, 09:15
Flying car less likely than flying pig

Letters It's a scam!

Flying Cars? Flying pigs are more likely, according to readers of our report Flying Car more economical than SUV. David Barnhart doesn't believe either the economics or the physics. A little research would reveal that Moller has been scamming the press, investors, and the taxpayer for 40 years. Here are some back-of-the …

Letters 18 May 2004, 09:15
BT man coughs to Google share scam

The mind Boogles

A business development manager for BT faces more than five years in jail after pleading guilty to Google share scam. Dutchman Shamoon Rafiq, 30, told a US court yesterday that he did sell non-existent Google stock prior to the company's impending IPO. He admitted that he told his victims that, due to his "connections", he was …

Financial News 18 May 2004, 09:19
One Macromedia Studio fits all

Site Offer 30% off a suite of titles

At The Register bookshop we like to make sure that you are completely up-to-date with the latest goings on in the computing world. That's why this week we've selected THE ULTIMATE bookshelf of ten unbeatable titles - covering the latest suite of releases from Macromedia. Macromedia's Studio MX 2004 aims to provide a suite of …

Site News 18 May 2004, 09:21
UK fraud laws to get millennium facelift

Closing loopholes for Net age

The Home Office today announced plans to bring fraud laws into the 21st Century with a major overhaul in existing legislation. The government reckons the overhaul is necessary because "existing laws do not adequately tackle the wide range of possible fraudulent activity or keep pace with rapidly developing technology". …

Public Sector 18 May 2004, 09:29
DCC ups profits

IT wot did it

Irish distribution company DCC has increased profits for the year by 14 per cent. This reversed losses of more than ten per cent in the first half of the year. It made an operating profit of €120.9m on sales of €2,198m for the year ended 31 March 2004. DCC's IT division accounted for more than a quarter of this profit. Jim …

Financial News 18 May 2004, 09:31
IBM, Logica spar for £80m MoD deal

Military digital medical record contract up for grabs

Logica and IBM have been named by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) as the final two contractors in a £1m project to propose an online medical records system for military personnel. At the end of a six-month assesment period, one of them will be awarded the final contract worth a cool £80m over ten years. The snappily entitled …

Public Sector 18 May 2004, 09:34
ISPA: users should report dodgy content...

...but not to ISPs

Net users must take a greater role in combating unlawful and illegal online content by reporting dodgy material to watchdogs, according to a study from the Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA) published yesterday. The study, conducted by ICM Research, highlights widespread public confusion about UK Net governance. …

Music and Media 18 May 2004, 09:42
Bull boss flees

Insists his job is done

French server and services group Bull has lost its head. Chairman-to-be Didier Pineau-Valencienne resigned yesterday, after only two months in the job. Pineau, who has overseen a debt reduction programme, was widely expected to be made chairman at a shareholders meeting on 25 May. That meeting is also expected to approve Bull's …

IT Director 18 May 2004, 09:45
AMD restates dual-core CPU scheme

Double-die Opterons, Athlons in 2005

AMD has re-iterated its plan to ship dual-core Opteron chips next year. The move was signalled way back in September 2003 at the launch of the Athlon 64, but what with Intel talking up its own dual-core release schedule, AMD server and workstation VP Ben Williams this week stressed again his company's own scheme. Interviewed …

Channel 18 May 2004, 10:04
Yahoo! and Google escalate portal wars

Fierce competition for eyeballs

The gloves are off in the battle between onetime friends Google and Yahoo!, with each of the companies rolling out upgrades, feature changes and alliances that indicate both firms are fiercely competing for eyeballs. The portal wars that dominated the Web in the late 1990s are back, it seems. Google has approached the point …

Music and Media 18 May 2004, 10:19
Lycos cuts ribbon on 1GB email service

Snook cocked at Yahoo! and Google

Lycos Europe today unveiled a 1GB email service and cocked a snook at US rivals Yahoo! and Google. According to the PR guff, the Lycos email service will be free of ads and comes protected by anti-spam and anti-virus software. The service costs £3.49 ($6.17) per month. Both Google and Yahoo! have already announced plans for …

Telecoms 18 May 2004, 10:20
ARM unveils multi-core chip design

License now, punch out silicon in Q2 2005

ARM yesterday announced that it is ready to sign licensees for its first multi-core processor, but it admitted it will be a year before silicon derived from the technology begins to appear. The multi-core design, dubbed the MPCore, was co-developed with NEC to support single-core to four-core processors. Based on the ARMv6 …

Mobile 18 May 2004, 10:37
O2 rings up first profit

Jolly good...

Mobile provider mmO2 has rung up its first pre-tax profit and is even talking of paying out a dividend in November. Turnover was up 22 per cent to £5.65bn and profits were £95m, up from losses of £10.2bn last year. mmO2 signed up an extra 2.5m customers last year, giving it a total of 20.7m. The company saw decent customer …

Financial News 18 May 2004, 10:39
AMD launches x50 Opterons

Last 130nm server chips?

AMD today launched the top-end Opteron processors that its last round of price-cuts, made earlier this month, had paved the way for. The Opteron 150, 250 and 850 target uni-processor, two-way and four- or eight-way systems, respectively. They are likely to be the last 130nm Opterons before AMD introduces 90nm versions in the …

Servers 18 May 2004, 10:58
Congress hears DMCA testimony

Compromise amendments likely

The Digital Millenium Copyright Act is under threat from key changes sought by opponents, and a Congressional committee was hearing testimony this week. Faultline has campaigned not only for the re-drafting of key elements of the DCMA, but also for changes to all of the other "photocopy" legislation (using precisely copied …

Music and Media 18 May 2004, 11:19
Music biz waves axe at goose that laid golden egg

iTunes price hike a big, big mistake

The maths just do not add up. The ungrateful record labels that were so desperate to beat piracy, but which overpriced all their own efforts at online music, are now working behind the scenes to drive up the price of music on Apple iTunes. It is a mistake and it will backfire; and judging by statements that are coming out of …

Music and Media 18 May 2004, 11:24
US gov helps CSC to profit

Two thirds of sales go to Uncle Sam

CSC brought in revenues of $4bn, up almost 30 per cent, for the fourth quarter ended 2 April 2004. The company made a profit of $190.6m in the period. This contributed to annual revenue of $14.8bn, up 30.2 per cent on 2003, or 25 per cent in constant currency. Profits were $519.4m after the after-tax special charge. 65 per cent …

Financial News 18 May 2004, 11:25
University gets £1m complex systems grant

Boost for UK research

The University of Bath's maths department has been awarded a £1m grant to fund multidisciplinary research into complex systems. The money is earmarked for a new Institute of Complex Systems, and is the largest ever grant made to a mathematics department. The new Institute will bring together researchers from maths, statistics, …

Science 18 May 2004, 11:27
Opera settles legal claims

'Too much information' not a danger here

The techy's favourite browser Opera has settled a legal dispute with an unnamed international company. The settlement sees the anonymous company pay $12.75m to Opera. The statement, on the Oslo Stock Exchange site, gives little else away. It says the other party is not a customer of Opera's and so the settlement will not have …

Financial News 18 May 2004, 11:28
AMD narrows 90nm ship window

Q3 availability

AMD will ship 90nm Opterons in Q3. Quoted in the company's announcement of its Opteron 150, 250 and 850 processors today, AMD's Microprocessor Business Unit chief, Marty Seyer, says: "We have already begun initial production of 90nm AMD64 processors, and we are on target to begin shipping 90nm processors for revenue in the …

Servers 18 May 2004, 11:31
BT, Voda confirm mobile link-up

Fixed-mobile convergence now 'reality'

BT has confirmed that it is to hook up with one-time rival Vodafone to offer punters a new phone product that blurs the boundaries between fixed line and services. The UK's dominant fixed line telco hopes the prospect of this converged fixed-mobile service will help it generate £1bn in revenues a year. For BT, the tie-up with …

Telecoms 18 May 2004, 11:48
Police probe Sasser informant

Reward booty under threat

The informant who led police to the self-confessed author of the infamous Sasser worm is himself under investigation. Marle B. - the man who provided the tip-off to Microsoft that led to the arrest of Sven Jaschan, 18 - has become a suspect in the German police's computer sabotage inquiry. Munich-based weekly Focus reports that …

Anti-Virus 18 May 2004, 11:52
Dell readies 624MHz Wi-Fi PocketPC

Axim x30 due today

Dell will today update its Axim PocketPC line with faster Intel processors, Microsoft's Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition and broader wireless support. The new machines, together labelled as the x30 series, are based on Intel's PXA270 processor, aka 'Bulverde', clocked at 312MHz and 624MHz. While the former is numerically …

Mobile 18 May 2004, 12:00
MS Office virus could infect...

It was five years ago today... 18 May 1999

Remember when viral threats were news - as opposed to simply another stitch in life's rich tapestry? Let's face it, these days you can't even look at an email through a lead shield without running the risk of bringing down the world's entire IT infrastructure. So, happy Russian New Year to you all: MS Office virus could infect …

Anti-Virus 18 May 2004, 12:15
Dolphin skin key to subaquatic speed

Flipper fights 'form drag'

Dolphin skin will be key in future designs of marine vessels, thanks to Japanese research. Fortunately, this does not spell the end for the sea-going mammals: physicists at the Kyoto Institute of Technology have discovered how the surface of a dolphin's skin reduces drag as it swims, and the findings will help scientists to …

Science 18 May 2004, 12:30
Work induces catatonia: official

Wake up and read this...

Online recruitment site Monster asked browsers across Europe if they had ever fallen asleep at work. The results suggest it was an impressive achievement to find 21,000 Europeans awake enough to click on an online survey. British and Irish surfers are the most likely to be dribbling onto their keyboards. Forty per cent of Irish …

Bootnotes 18 May 2004, 13:24
UK terminally unready for Chip and PIN

Not ringing the changes

A quarter of UK retailers are still confused about the benefits of migrating to Chip & PIN only six months before the deadline to embrace the next-generation credit card standard comes into effect. The Chip and PIN scheme, which began in October 2003, is designed to make credit and debit card purchases more secure by asking the …

Business 18 May 2004, 13:58
UK forensic scientists to strike over pay

Q-tips in pockets on 2 June

Unions representing the employees of the UK's Forensic Science Service (FSS) have called a one-day strike in protest over a below inflation rate pay increase. At the end of April 2004, Prospect, the union representing scientists in the FSS balloted members on the industrial action. Today, support staff, represented by Public …

Science 18 May 2004, 14:21
US rocket pioneers hit 100km

First space flight for privately-built GoFast

The US Civilian Space eXploration (CSXT) team yesterday became the first private outfit to send a rocket into space. Its 6.5m GoFast missile blasted off from the Nevada desert and is reckoned to have exceeded 100km in altitude - the official boundary of space. Federal Aviation Administration officials witnessed the lift-off …

Science 18 May 2004, 15:16
UK.biz must address broadband

IT depts left to decide company strategy

Three out of four SMEs now recognise that broadband is essential for making businesses more efficient. Despite this, decisions about broadband are still being left to IT departments with little or no input from senior management, according to a report by telecoms outfit Telefonica UK. While it welcomed the fact that businesses …

Telecoms 18 May 2004, 15:19
IBM and Cisco team up for VoIP

Backing 'the next big thing'

Cisco and IBM are working together to sell Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phones. VoIP offers business the chance to make big savings on long-distance phone calls by routing calls over the Internet rather than through a telco's expensive network. They are being heavily hyped as "the next big thing". The main advantage of …

Data Networking 18 May 2004, 15:21
Microsoft UK plans 'open and honest' Linux debates

Says here, anyway...

The latest stage in Microsoft's quest to establish The Facts regarding open source software is a series of seminars to be held throughout the UK, and tantalisingly billed as "Microsoft Windows and Linux - An open and honest technology discussion." Feedback The Register has received from (admittedly partisan) spies at previous …

Software 18 May 2004, 15:25
Ministers thwart MEPs, OK EU-US airline data deal

CAPPS II, here we come...

In a salutary reminder of how democratic the European Union really is, EU foreign ministers have rubber-stamped the European Commission's deal with the US to hand over airline passenger data (passenger name records, PNR). The Commission had deliberately constructed the deal in a way that allowed it to be implemented without the …

Music and Media 18 May 2004, 15:41
London sees red as Orange service goes crash

Software update blamed

Orange has apologised to its punters in London after its service went titsup for 12 hours following a software update on its network. Orange mobile phone users in London began experiencing problems from midnight last night. The problems - which led to intermittent problems with making and receiving calls - were sorted by midday …

Mobile 18 May 2004, 15:48
US, Belgian biometric passports give lie to UK ID scheme

There goes the tech leadership...

Belgium is to begin issuing biometric passports before the end of the year, while in the US (which could be said to have started all this), the State Department is to begin a trial run this autumn, with full production hoped for next year. Belgium has been reported elsewhere as being the first EU country to roll with biometric …

Music and Media 18 May 2004, 16:01
UK police lack e-crime savvy officers

No-one to slap on the e-cuffs

A hi-tech skills crisis in law enforcement threatens to set back the wider fight against crime, a report out today warns. e-crime is on the rise and digital evidence is playing a greater and greater role in mainstream criminal investigations. There are around 140,000 police officers in the UK. Barely 1,000 of them have been …

Public Sector 18 May 2004, 16:20
Symbian hands out certificates

Symbian Signed rewards good little applications

Mobile phone OS company Symbian has launched Symbian Signed, an application approval programme under which it will endorse applications and content that meet its best practise guidelines. More than 300 Symbian apps have been retrospectively given this seal of approval. There are several certification schemes out there at the …

Applications 18 May 2004, 16:31
Thus ADSL - the price cuts with a funny echo

Making broadband affordable. Later.

There's a funny echo to Demon's broadband price cuts, apparently. Stick with the company and your reward could be not benefiting from them until 12 months after they're implemented. And, they tell me, this is "standard across the industry." I pass this information on in my capacity as occasional Reg mystery shopper. Working (or …

Telecoms 18 May 2004, 19:01
HP sets revenue record in Q2

More than just a printing face

Solid sales across its major product lines pushed HP to a tidy second quarter. HP pumped out $20.1bn in revenue during the period - a 12 percent year-over-year rise and a record for the company. The second quarter profit came in at $1.1bn, which was a 77 percent rise over the same period last year. In last year's Q2, HP booked …

Financial News 18 May 2004, 23:01