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1st June 2004 Archive

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  • 3 won't flee UK

    Categorical denial

    Hutchison Whampoa has issued a denial that it is considering pulling out of "3" - its UK third generation phone service. The Business, a UK Sunday newspaper, this week claimed that the company was mulling the closure of 3 UK to focus on faster-growing countries. Hutch was stung to reply: "In response to unfounded market …

    Mobile 1 Jun 2004, 08:29

  • Sasser cripples Computex

    Computex System collapse, anarchy, despair

    How's this for irony? The Taiwanese authorities boasted on Saturday that they'd caught a notorious hacker, author of the Peep Trojan program and the Randex series of email worms. In Germany, around the same time, they were celebrating the capture of the author of Sasser and the author of Netsky. So it was painfully ironic that …

    Security 1 Jun 2004, 08:52

  • The IT spend time bomb

    Provision for costs, or pay the price

    The end of the nineties were a boom time for IT spending in financial services technology as front-office technologies surged ahead on the back of advancing Web and state-of-the-art screen-based technology. This all came to a rather abrupt end around the year 2000. Firstly the brakes were applied by the dotcom crashes; general …

    Data Center 1 Jun 2004, 09:22

  • Hynix cashes in its chips

    But not memory chips...

    South Korean giant Hynix is selling its non-chip business to a Citigroup subsidiary for over $820m. Hynix shareholders rejected an offer in mid-April for the business but 75 per cent voted in favour of the latest bid. Citigroup Venture Capital gets Hynix flat-panel display chips and sensors for camera-phones. Two thirds of the …

    Financial News 1 Jun 2004, 09:26

  • Email on a memory stick

    Xkey 2.0 for people on the move

    Moving data between computers has always posed problems, particularly to those charged with ensuring that systems (especially Personal systems) run efficiently and legally whilst any valuable data is sufficiently protected. In the old days of the early nineties floppy disks were employed to shift information (and viruses) …

    Storage 1 Jun 2004, 09:44

  • Sony and McDonalds do download deal

    Burger, fries and Britney, please

    Burger behemoth McDonalds is doing a marketing deal with Sony to promote its download music service. Under the terms of the agreement buyers of Big Macs will receive a voucher for a free download, according to the Financial Times. Sony's Connect service launched in May and goes head-to-head with Apple's iTunes service. It …

    Media 1 Jun 2004, 09:51

  • ATI unveils Axiom

    Not just for graphics, apparently

    ATI took the wraps of Axiom, its alternative PCI Express-based modular notebook graphics add-in system top Nvidia's MXM today, as expected. Axiom - which stands for 'Advanced eXpress IO Module', apparently - is electrically compatible with PCI Express, but appears to use its own "connector implementation". Whereas Nvidia has …

    Channel 1 Jun 2004, 09:59

  • ATI unwraps latest GPU technology

    Mobile and desktop launches

    ATI brought its latest GPU technology to the mobile market today when it launched the Mobility Radeon X600. The chip maker also unveiled a series of low-end desktop chips. Formerly codenamed 'M24', the mobile chip is a cut-down version of the X800 Pro graphics processor ATI launched last month. The X600's graphics core …

    Channel 1 Jun 2004, 10:00

  • Sony settles Walkman patent case

    German awarded 'a few million euro'

    Having recently announced its first hard disk drive-based portable media player to support both audio and video, Sony settled a decades-long dispute with a German who claimed to have invented the technology which led to the Walkman. In 1977 Andreas Pavel applied for a patent for a "portable small component for the hi-fidelity …

    Financial News 1 Jun 2004, 10:04

  • Two arrested in Softbank data leak probe

    Suspected extortionists get collars felt

    Two men have been arrested amid allegations that they were involved in a bid to extort billions of Yen from Japanese outfit Softbank Corp. Yutaka Tomiyasu (24) and Takuya Mori (35) were arrested at the weekend in connection with the leak of confidential information concerning Internet users earlier this year. Some 4.6m …

    Security 1 Jun 2004, 10:09

  • Bank of Ireland chief quits over PC porn

    Compromised during 'routine maintenance'

    The chief executive of the Bank of Ireland, Michael Soden, has quit his job after porn was found on his company PC. Shares in the bank have been buoyed up by the news, which has sparked speculation of a takeover. The material was discovered during routine maintenance of his machine, and the results of the internal investigation …

    Financial News 1 Jun 2004, 10:25

  • EU hands airline data to US

    European Parliament bypassed

    European Community officials signed off a deal to transfer airline passenger data (passenger name records, PNR) to the US authorities last Friday. The controversial agreement goes into effect despite a vote by the European Parliament last month to refer the deal - which quite clearly breaches EU privacy legislation - to the …

    Media 1 Jun 2004, 10:42

  • Carphone Warehouse in minimum wage 'sting'

    Staff paid less than legal requirement

    Staff at Carphone Warehouse are not getting paid the minimum guaranteed by UK employment law. The phone shop tops up staff salaries if they fail to meet the legal requirement of £4.50 an hour but takes the money back from later payments if their commission increases, according to the Scotsman. James Edgerton worked in Carphone …

    Management 1 Jun 2004, 10:57

  • BOFH: Psst! Wanna buy an encryption device?

    Episode 17 Easy money the BOFH way

    BOFH 2004 So I’m tootling through the crowd at a security conference, minding my own business and getting down as many lagers as I can before the end-of-night gong sounds. It’s an impressive turnout, with stacks of the industry represented, and, more importantly, lots of those mini-kebabs on a stick. I cruise past some …

    BOFH 1 Jun 2004, 11:28

  • Eclipse unveils flexible, boostable broadband

    On-demand acceleration

    Eclipse Internet has unveiled a boostable broadband service that lets punters increase the speed of their broadband connection whenever they want. Its new "Flex" broadband range - which has no restrictions or hidden charges on download capacity - means that punters can decide to up the speed of their connection on demand …

    Broadband 1 Jun 2004, 11:32

  • AMD unveils Socket 939 processors

    Computex Boosts Athlon 64 to dual-channel memory, too

    AMD today used the Computex show in Taipei to introduce its first Socket 939 processors, as expected, and announced that the first three will be available to buyers immediately. The company also added the latest CPU to its Socket 754 line-up. As expected, the three Socket 939 parts are the Athlon 64 3500+ and 3800+, along with …

    Channel 1 Jun 2004, 11:40

  • Makers tout i925, i915-based mobos ahead of Intel launch

    Computex Grantsdale and Alderwood on display

    Intel's 'Grantsdale' and 'Alderwood' may officially be nothing more than codenames for as-yet-unreleased product, but the chipsets were widely on display this week at Computex. The chip giant will not formally announce the two Pentium 4-oriented parts until 21 June, but today mobos based on them both were on display at the …

    Channel 1 Jun 2004, 11:40

  • Notebook makers want a place in your living room

    Computex Move over, small form-factor PCs...

    The notebook, not the desktop, could become the ideal living room PC form-factor if a number of new high-end machines from Asus, Acer and Elitegroup prove to be market leaders. All three used Computex Taipei this week to demonstrate large-screen, slimline notebooks that are not only styled like consumer electronics hi-fi …

    Channel 1 Jun 2004, 11:41

  • New self-destructing DVD launched

    Suicidal after eight hours

    A French company has developed a disposable DVD, or DVD-D, which self-destructs after a few hours. Like the classic DVD, DVD-D is made of polycarbonate, but it contains an extra layer of coating that reacts to an oxidisation process which begins as soon as the disc is exposed to air. The self-destruct process can be pre-set to …

    Storage 1 Jun 2004, 11:43

  • Viruses up - or down

    Take your pick on malware activity figures

    The Sasser worm dominated virus incident reports last month, according to anti-virus firm Sophos. The prolific worm accounted for over half of the support calls to Sophos in May. Variants of the NetSky worm occupied positions two to seven in Sophos' monthly chart. NetSky also featured strongly in monthly stats from email …

    Security 1 Jun 2004, 12:49

  • Clouds cloud climate modelling

    Caltech scientists seek answers in moonshine

    Caltech scientists looking to the moon for insights into the Earth's climate say they have observed unexpectedly large fluctuations in the planet's cloud cover over the last two decades. Contrary to computer models of the climate system, the team found that Earth's average albedo (the amount of light reflected back into space, …

    Science 1 Jun 2004, 12:51

  • Messing with the hackers' heads

    Site Offer 30% off Honeynet Project literature

    For centuries, military organizations have relied on scouts to gather intelligence about the enemy. In the field of information security, few scouts have ever existed. Very few organizations today know who their enemies are, how they might attack, when they might attack, and, perhaps most important, why they attack. The Honeynet …

    Site News 1 Jun 2004, 12:52

  • Zimbabwe blocks emails

    Laughing Bob Mugabe at it again...

    Robert Mugabe's government is trying to force Zimbabwean ISPs to block politically sensitive emails. So far ISPs claim to be resisting such moves. The move is important because the Web has become the only uncensored source of information now that opposition newspapers and other media have been closed down. The Zimbabwean …

    Media 1 Jun 2004, 12:55

  • Ofcom orders mobile phone charge cut

    'Bout time too

    The cost of mobile phone calls could fall after communications regulator Ofcom ordered the UK's four major operators to cut termination charges. Today's announcement - which apply to mobile network operators' wholesale charges for connecting incoming calls to their networks - ends a regulatory saga that has dragged on for six …

    Mobile 1 Jun 2004, 13:36

  • Chinese government censors online games

    And Britney's wardrobe gets the once-over

    The Chinese government is setting up a special committee to review and if necessary censor online games. Games which break the constitution, threaten national unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity will be banned. Anything which threatens "state security, damaging the nation's glory, disturbing social order and infringing …

    Media 1 Jun 2004, 13:55

  • IBM beats CapGemini to Defra deal

    300 IT staff on the move

    Over 300 government IT staff will transfer to IBM as part of an outsourcing deal that will see the tech giant take over the day-to-day running of IT systems for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), for up to 17 years. Under the terms of the contract, IBM will manage, support and upgrade Defra's …

    Policy 1 Jun 2004, 14:00

  • Not just free software under threat

    Letter Richard Stallman writes

    Dear Editor, In my speech about the danger of software idea patents, I explained how these patents obstruct all software developers, restrict all computer users, retard software progress, and tie up e-commerce in unnecessary bureaucracy. Your article describes a very different speech from the one I gave, one that …

    Letters 1 Jun 2004, 14:13

  • Sage founder buys Nordic Data

    Wylie expands business

    Graham Wylie, co-founder of Sage, has bought IT services company Nordic Data. Wylie made the purchase through Technology Services Group which he established last autumn. Wylie, who left Sage last year, says he wants to make TSG the IT reseller of choice for small and medium businesses in the north-east. Nordic Data, based in …

    Channel 1 Jun 2004, 14:38

  • Ofcom calls for universal e-content label

    ISPs to join working group

    Ofcom wants to "challenge" the UK's communications industry to devise a universal content labelling scheme that can apply to TV, Internet, the mobile and games industries. Setting out its latest consultation, Ofcom's bid to examine media literacy is based on bringing about a "better public understanding of the nature and …

    Broadband 1 Jun 2004, 15:18

  • Outsourced IT staff fingered porn stash banker

    Outsource this, mate

    Porn-surfing bank supremo Michael Soden was caught with his browser down last week by the very same staff he outsourced to HP at the start of his reign at the Bank of Ireland. Soden hit the headlines last year in Ireland when staff took industrial action in protest of the department's shift to Hewlett Packard. Staff were …

    Bootnotes 1 Jun 2004, 15:28

  • Ireland to build register of 3G phone users

    So perverts, stick to MMS

    The Irish government is to build a national register of 3G mobile phones - and by extension, their users - that are capable of carrying video clips. The protection of minors is an "absolute necessity" which outweighs concerns over costs and practicality, Dermot Ahern, communications minister, said. "A national register of …

    Mobile 1 Jun 2004, 16:02

  • Court dismisses DirecTV whistleblower case

    Legal setback for former anti-piracy 'bag man'

    A California judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought against satellite TV giant DirecTV by a former worker. The case revolves around DirecTV's controversial anti-piracy tactics. DirecTV is targeting consumers who used smart card programmers and other equipment to get free or expanded satellite TV service. Passive reception of …

    Media 1 Jun 2004, 16:19

  • Codebreaking Colossus returns to Bletchley Park

    World's first programmable computer on show

    Colossus Mk2, the first ever programmable computer and a crucial piece of WWII history, has been rebuilt. Old code breakers who worked with the machine during the war were given an preview of the machine in action, as part of the D-Day celebrations in at the Science Museum in London. Colossus will go on display alongside a …

    Science 1 Jun 2004, 17:03

  • F5 snaps up MagniFire

    Firewall under new management

    Networking firm F5 Networks today announced that the acquisition of Web application firewall hardware firm MagniFire WebSystems in a $29m all-cash deal. F5 said it will use MagniFire's TrafficShield security appliances to offer its customers better protection against application level attacks, such as fast spreading worms like …

    Security 1 Jun 2004, 17:50

  • Sony exits global PDA biz

    Clie - we hardly knew you

    Sony is walking away from the PDA market in the United States and Europe, citing flat sales. It will continue to develop its PalmOS-based Clie range in Japan, but won't develop any new models outside its home country beyond the most recent addition to the range, the TH-55 that it released in February. The global PDA market …

    Personal 1 Jun 2004, 18:27

  • Sun and Fujitsu to SPARC together

    Sun Network Goodbye UltraSPARC, Hello SPARC64

    Sun Microsystems has filled a large gap in its processor roadmap and solved some financial problems by announcing today a deal with Fujitsu that will see Sun pick up Fujitsu's version of the SPARC processor for high-end servers. With the SPARC partnership, Sun and Fujitsu have put an end to more than six months of speculation …

    Servers 1 Jun 2004, 21:25