9th June 2004 Archive

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PalmOne blinds Treo smartphone for Sprint

I am not a camera

Sprint today unveiled a camera-less version of the Treo 600 for its CDMA network in the United States, priced at $599. The device is targeted at businesses nervous about employees taking pictures of sensitive information, or even more sensitive situations. Sprint will continue to offer a version with camera, which it calls the …

Mobile 9 Jun 2004, 01:13
World safe from nanobot 'grey goo'

U-turn by prophet of doom Eric Drexler

Eric Drexler, the man who made nanotechnology synonymous with 'grey goo', now says there is no need for self-replicating machines at all. So the world is in no danger of being mined indiscriminately for all its carbon, and we can all breath a sign of relief. Phew. Drexler is known as one of the leading thinkers in …

Science 9 Jun 2004, 08:54
UK chemists detect air fingerprints

I love the smell of VOC in the morning

Chemists at Leicester University have developed a new electronic nose, a piece of kit that can identify the components of a sample of air, including perfume or an individual's breath, in less than a minute. The team, led by Dr Paul Monks, Reader in Chemistry, and Dr Andrew Ellis, Senior Lecturer, has developed a new test for …

Science 9 Jun 2004, 08:57
Join the software development revolution

Site Offer XP and UP guides at 30% off

A revolution in software development is underway which is shaking up how software is built. The new methodology includes Extreme Programming (XP) and the Unified Process (UP), united under a common theme: iterative and agile development. Agile and iterative methods have emerged as the most popular approaches to software …

Site News 9 Jun 2004, 09:04
Microsoft confirms EC appeal

'Significant new obligations'

Microsoft has confirmed that it is taking the EC back to court to appeal against the €497m fine imposed on the company. It also wants to overturn the EC competition ruling that it must offer a version of Windows without its Media Player and supplies competitors with more information about the internal workings of Windows. …

Operating Systems 9 Jun 2004, 09:14
MS hatches June patch batch

Moderate risk

Microsoft released a brace of security alerts last night. Neither is particularly serious. First up there's a flaw in the Application Programming Interface (API) of Microsoft DirectPlay. Software which implement this API are typically network-based multi-player games An attacker who exploited the vuln could cause a networked …

Enterprise Security 9 Jun 2004, 09:23
Beatles mull online music store

Will we still love them when they're 64? Not long to go now...

The Beatles are in talks to make their music available legally for download on the Internet for the first time. The band are considering their own branded store, possibly run by one of the existing providers, according to CNET, which broke the story. MSN is likely to emerge as the winner, according to anonymous sources cited by …

Financial News 9 Jun 2004, 09:33
Storage buoys InTechnology

Sales up, losses down

Network and storage specialist InTechnology increased turnover by 42 per cent to £223.5m for the year ended 31 March 2004 and credited increased demand for storage services for the growth. The company reduced group operating losses for the year to £3.8m from £6.6m for the year before. Charles Cameron, chief executive at …

Storage 9 Jun 2004, 09:36
Scottish dealer jailed for chip VAT fraud

Gets porridge...

A Scottish businessman has been sentenced to four years in jail for failing to pay VAT on computer chips he imported from EC countries, sold to UK customers with VAT included and then failed to pass the tax onto the Revenue. Michael George Voudouri, 36, from Bridge of Allan, Stirling evaded £3m in VAT payments. Trading as …

Channel 9 Jun 2004, 09:40
Apple security patch problems fixed

What to do if the update appears to leave holes open

Register readers experiencing problems with Apple's Security Update 2004-06-07 can take heart that the update does work, and its apparent inability to cope with some exploits can be solved using a little Terminal trickery. We were not alone in having troubles with the update when we applied it to our own Mac yesterday. A number …

Mac Channel 9 Jun 2004, 09:44
EC relaunches Intel antitrust probe

New evidence means a 'fresh' investigation

The European Commission has re-opened its investigation into allegations of unfair trade practices made against Intel. The move follows fresh complaints from the chip giant's arch-rival, AMD, which claims Intel used rebate deals and marketing funds to coerce European PC makers into only buying Intel processors. In April, AMD …

Channel 9 Jun 2004, 10:06
Commissioner 'increasingly alarmed' by ID card scheme

Thomas gives evidence

David Blunkett's ID card draft bill came under fire yesterday from Information Commissioner Richard Thomas, who told the Home Affairs Committee ID cards inquiry that his views on the subject had changed from healthy scepticism to "increasing alarm." Thomas, who intends to publish a critique of the draft next month, attacked the …

Music and Media 9 Jun 2004, 10:09
BT to save £1bn a year with IP network

Five Year Plan

BT is to migrate its national phone network to an Internet Protocol (IP) platform. The move will take five years to complete and should produce savings of £1bn a year for the UK's dominant fixed line telco. The new multi-service IP-based network will carry both voice and data services and will replace the UK's public switched …

Data Networking 9 Jun 2004, 10:20
The curse of MSN strikes another MS VP

It was five years ago today... 9 June 1999

There was a time when the life expectancy of an MS exec could apparently be measured in days. It was all a bit like Caligulan Rome with bloody assasinations and mysterious disappearances, although Bill Gates never, to our knowledge, appointed his favourite horse to the board. Of course, this being the 20th century, errant …

Applications 9 Jun 2004, 10:21
Czechs indulge in Wi-Fi swapping

Europe in Brief Hotspot action hots up

Wi-Fi has reached the Czech Republic, but with one remarkable difference, according to Prague Post. Ad hoc groups such as CzFree.Net and companies like WideNet and My Net are allowing hotspot owners to swap Wi-Fi signals. You can get online for tariffs as low as 200 to 500 Kc ($7.50 to $19 per month). Users who pay for a Wi-Fi …

Wireless 9 Jun 2004, 10:22
German fined €8000 for Kazaa uploads

More cases pending across Europe

A 23-year-old man has become the first music sharer to be successfully convicted in Germany for uploading songs to Kazaa. And expect more such cases across Europe, the International Federation of Phonographic Industries (IFPI) warned today. The unnamed German was fined €8000 ($9814/£5351) for making thousands of songs …

Music and Media 9 Jun 2004, 11:05
BT to trial fibre-to-the-home

Details trials of 21CN

BT is begin limited trials of fibre-to-the-home to assess its technical and commercial viability. Up to 1,500 homes and businesses in Martlesham Heath in Suffolk, Milton Keynes and London's Docklands are to have fibre lines up and running in October. New fibre optic cables are to be installed between BT exchanges and the …

Telecoms 9 Jun 2004, 11:22
Sony - BMG wedding hit by EC spoiler

Competition concerns remain...

Sony and Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) have denied that they work together to fix CD prices and that a merger of the two record companies would reduce competition. Last month the EC sent the companies a "statement of objections" detailing its concerns about the proposed merger. Competition Commissioner Mario Monti believes the …

Financial News 9 Jun 2004, 11:29
Apple rebuked over G5 speed-lead claim - again

'Not justified', rules UK watchdog

Apple today had its wrist slapped for running a series of magazine adverts which falsely alleged that its Power Mac G5 was the "world's fastest computer". The UK's advertising watchdog, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), received two complaints about Apple's ads, both challenging not only the Mac maker's speed claim but …

Mac Channel 9 Jun 2004, 11:30
Oracle discounts revealed in court

Depends how much competition there is...

Oracle was in court yesterday trying to overturn the Department of Justice decision that it can't buy PeopleSoft. But video evidence from Oracle exec Keith Block revealed that the database giant is prepared to cut prices by as much as 70 per cent - because of competition from other vendors. The DoJ is opposed to the deal …

Applications 9 Jun 2004, 11:31
Amazon turns camcorder on shaven nudists

You bought the kit, now read the book

We at El Reg are fully aware that 97 per cent of all digital stills/video/phone camera purchases are made by foaming-at-the-mouth perverts who use them purely to capture sunbathing beach nudes and upskirt shots. This would explain why - when you go to www.amazon.co.uk and search for "Panasonic NV-GS55B Digital Camcorder" - you …

Bootnotes 9 Jun 2004, 11:42
Report raps Wi-Fi providers for 'location inflation'

Multiple location - multiple location-counting schemes

Wi-Fi hotspot aggregators' coverage claims have been taken to task after independent research has revealed that the way they count access locations and covered sites diverges widely. In particular, remote-access provider GoRemote - formerly known as Gric - has come under fire from Wi-Fi Networking News, which conducted the …

Wireless 9 Jun 2004, 12:21
Police to monitor chat rooms

International co-operation in paedo crackdown

Police around the world are to join forces to monitor Internet chat rooms in a bid to deter paedophiles from "grooming" young victims online. The National Crime Squad (NCS) in the UK will work with the FBI in the US and officers in Australia to keep tabs 24 hours a day on chat room conversations and intervene if necessary, …

Music and Media 9 Jun 2004, 12:40
Nokia takes bullet for hijack victim

Anti-killer mobile app?

A South African man has proved that yakking on your mobile while driving may not be the threat to road safety many claim it is. In fact, it could save your life. André Steyn owes his current wellbeing to his mobile phone after the selfless device took a bullet for the merchant during an attempted hijack. In early May, Steyn …

Mobile 9 Jun 2004, 12:41
Apple launches liquid-cooled G5 Mac

Power Mac family goes fully dual-processor

Apple today updated its Power Mac G5 desktop line, equipping each machine with two processors, as expected, including a top-end model clocked to 2.5GHz. What was not anticipated, however, is the introduction of liquid cooling technology, which potentially calls into question the energy efficiency of the G5 processor at high …

Mac Channel 9 Jun 2004, 14:03
Norwich Union axes 950 IT jobs

Insurer offers tea and sympathy, little else

Norwich Union is to axe some 950 IT jobs to reduce costs and make the insurance firm more nimble in "changing market conditions". Many of the jobs - predominantly software development and application support - are to be transferred to other companies and shunted overseas to India, Europe and the US. Staff were told of the jobs …

IT Director 9 Jun 2004, 14:07
The Wi-Fi explosion: a virus writer's dream

Opinion Perfect stealth

With the consumer Wi-Fi explosion, launching a virus into the wild has never been easier and more anonymous than it is today. Like a sneeze in a crowded subway, it's hard to find the human source of the latest viral infection. On the Internet it's not much different. The people who write these nasty little programs and release …

Anti-Virus 9 Jun 2004, 14:08
PC Card maker touts 'seamless' Wi-Fi, 3G access

Option card to ship through Swisscom

Option, the developer of Vodafone's 3G add-in card for notebook PCs, has launched a version of the product that also support Wi-Fi and GPRS network technologies. Crucially, its driver software allows the host notebook to flip transparently between each technology on the basis of whichever one is offering the highest bandwidth …

Mobile 9 Jun 2004, 14:28
Global P2P jihad claims success

Winning the file-sharing war?

The number of music tracks available through file-sharing networks has fallen 27 per cent compared to the same period last year. The figures from the International Federation for the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) show there are 800m illegally copied songs or files available compared to 1.1bn in June last year. The research …

Music and Media 9 Jun 2004, 14:51
Paedophiles face credit card blacklist

Fiscal attack

Paedophiles who use credit cards to pay for access to child abuse sites risk having their credit cards withdrawn. National Crime Squad Assistant Chief Constable Jim Gamble said UK police were working with banks and credit reference agencies on procedures to blacklist offenders. The same credit cards sometimes feature in …

Music and Media 9 Jun 2004, 14:51
Medion MDPPC250 PocketPC GPS Bundle

Reg review Best value PDA-based GPS rig yet?

During 2003, German electronics manufacturer Medion came from nowhere to wrest a significant share of the European PDA market from PalmOne, HP, Sony, Dell and co. The secret of its success was no revolutionary new PDA technology, but the simple move of offering an own-brand PocketPC with a separate GPS antenna and navigation …

Mobile 9 Jun 2004, 15:31
IT workers' morale hits rock-bottom

Cheer up, worse things happen at sea

Staff morale among IT workers is at rock-bottom as companies have cut budgets and ditched staff in a bid to ride out the prolonged downturn in the industry. So says IT research and advice outfit Meta Group which reckons that companies should do more to lift the spirits of workers. Not only will staff be chirpier, such a move …

IT Director 9 Jun 2004, 15:35
Airlines ground online ticket price gouging

Postcode discrimination eliminated, EC asserts

Price discrimination in the sale of airline tickets online is no longer a problem in Europe, the European Commission confidently asserted today. Last year the Commission received numerous complaints from citizens who felt that they had been discriminated against when buying plane tickets purely because of where they lived in …

Financial News 9 Jun 2004, 15:47
Apple: no 3GHz G5 'any time soon'

Broken promise

Apple CEO Steve Jobs' promise to announce a 3GHz Power Mac G5 within a year of the processor's launch will not be made, a senior company staffer has admitted. The reason: the "challenges" of moving to the 90nm node have proved rather less surmountable than they appeared almost 12 months ago when Jobs made his prediction. Says …

Mac Channel 9 Jun 2004, 15:57
SCO trumps Sun's open source Solaris bid

Sun trumps SCO by not knowing its own plans

With so few friends in the world, The SCO Group made the obvious decision today to go after one of its largest behind-closed-doors allies - Sun Microsystems. A SCO marketeer has seized on Sun's vague plans to open source Solaris, saying it will not permit Sun's version of Unix to go under the GPL (General Public License) knife …

Developer 9 Jun 2004, 18:49
AMD bags Chinese giant

Lenovo embraces Athlon

AMD has worked its way into the heart of the Chinese computer market, announcing a deal today with leading manufacturer Lenovo. Lenovo is set to roll out the Feng Xing V series of consumer PCs running on AMD's Athlon 64 and Athlon XP processors. AMD, for the first time, joins Intel as a supplier for Lenovo - the largest PC …

PCs 9 Jun 2004, 23:21