15th June 2004 Archive

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AMD sets date for dual-core CPUs

Strategy outlined... broadly speaking

AMD has come clean and painted in - albeit with rather a broad brush - its dual-core processor strategy. The company has already admitted such chips are "inevitable", and even given a "late 2005" timeframe for their introduction. Today, the chip maker split that debut to "mid-2005" for the Opteron line and "the second half of …

Channel 15 Jun 2004, 08:52
AMD updates public roadmap

More codenames and dual-core CPUs

AMD yesterday updated its public roadmap, adding the dual-core processors its expects to ship next year, and filling out its collection of 90nm core codenames. Much of the rejigged roadmap mirrors the previous edition: 90nm Opteron 100, 200 and 800 parts will ship in H2 2004, codenamed 'Venus', 'Troy' and 'Athens', respectively …

Servers 15 Jun 2004, 09:13
Yahoo! inboxes get 25 times bigger

Fighting off Google

Yahoo! is increasing the amount of storage its email subscribers get to fight off the challenge from Google's Gmail service. From today free email accounts will be increased to 100MB, from 4Mb now. Some people with older accounts have 6MB. Yahoo! Mail Plus users, who pay for the service, will see their inboxes grow to 2GB of …

Financial News 15 Jun 2004, 09:28
VoIP suffers identity crisis

Analysis Enterprise network or PC application?

Two very different people, from vastly different backgrounds, described two virtually identical ways of working at the VON show for VoIP in the UK. Both are appealing, but very different in price, technology and approach. And the key to the future of voice over IP, is perhaps in knowing which one is right. It may shock you to …

Data Networking 15 Jun 2004, 09:33
Your UNIX application programming guide

Site Offer Plus essential iPod companions

UNIX application programming requires a mastery of system-level services. Making sense of the many functions in the current UNIX specification is a daunting task (in excess of 1,100). For years, programmers have turned to Advanced UNIX Programming for its clear, expert advice on how to use the key functions reliably. Since 1985 …

Site News 15 Jun 2004, 09:35
RealNetworks to premiere movie service

Lights, camera, buffering, action

RealNetworks has finally got its hands on a movie service to show-piece its own video player alongside its market leading Rhapsody online music service. It has done it in a deal with Starz Encore, the cable TV film supplier, which was cut two years ago, but which is finally going ahead after what appear to be legal delays. The …

Financial News 15 Jun 2004, 09:37
Sony ditches illegal flyposting

Lambs gambol through the sparkling streets of Camden

Sony will stop all illegal flyposting after a London council got Anti-Social Behaviour Orders against its executives. Catherine Davies and Jo Headland, UK managing director and marketing director at Sony, were both threatened with Asbos to force them to stop flyposting campaigns or face prison for breaching the order. Asbos are …

Music and Media 15 Jun 2004, 09:44
Google's Gmail: spook heaven?

Keyword scanning scrambles black helicopters

Google's plans to run targeted advertising with the mail that you see through its new Gmail service represents a potential break for government agencies that want to use autobots to monitor the contents of electronic communications travelling across networks. Even though the configuration of the Gmail service minimises the …

Enterprise Security 15 Jun 2004, 09:46
Teenager gets three years for eBay scam

Natural born conman

A Californian teenager was sentenced to three years for defrauding users of eBay's auction services. The 19-year old, Cole Bartiromo, was ordered to pay $20,000 back to his victims and spend 33 months in prison. The teenager pleaded guilty in February to putting items up for sale on eBay, collecting payment and not sending out …

Music and Media 15 Jun 2004, 09:50
New liquid crystal promises faster LCDs

As predicted by IBM, apparently

Researchers have observed a new type of liquid crystal - long theorised, but not observed until now - that they say promises faster and cheaper liquid crystal displays. The team, Dr. Satyendra Kumar, from Kent State university; and Dr. Andrew Primak, from Pacific Northwest National Lab. Dr. Bharat R. Acharya, of Platytus …

Science 15 Jun 2004, 09:51
BOFH: Downsizing the human deadwood

Episode 19 Ethical relocation policy

BOFH 2004 "Oh yeah, he's been with us a couple of years now and I have to say that he's got a fantastic grasp of IT!" I burble down the phone. "Second to none!" . . . "S.A.P?" I continue. "Yeah, Phil practically installed and configured it singlehandedly - in under three months!!!!!" . . . "Team Player - hell yes! Though …

BOFH 15 Jun 2004, 10:28
Germany debuts Creative Commons

Berlin 'This time, we win'

The German version of the alternative license system Creative Commons was formally launched during the third Wizard of OS conference in Berlin last week. Larry Lessig, Stanford Law School Professor and Creative Commons wizard, presented the license as a simple idea to mark content with freedoms bestowed upon users by authors - …

Music and Media 15 Jun 2004, 10:52
Offshoring a growing option

Europe warms to sunnier climes

European companies are increasingly keen on offshoring business processes to cut costs, and British companies are even keener. Almost half of the top 500 European companies plan to move more jobs offshore in the next few years. But Britain and Europe are also a destination for European companies looking to relocate certain …

IT Director 15 Jun 2004, 10:55
Inverclyde IT staff fight outsource threat

Drop plan or we strike

Public sector union Unison is threatening strike action if a local council decides to privatise its IT services. Inverclyde Council is meeting tomorrow to discuss whether it should privatise its IT department, a decision which would affect 28 staff employees. A Council committee will meet to discuss a report from the director …

IT Director 15 Jun 2004, 10:58
Broadband to dominate UK by 2005

Will outstrip dial-up

The number of broadband subscribers in the UK is set to overtake narrowband punters during 2005 as more and more people hook up to high-speed Net services. But while broadband growth continues its upward curve, there are still challenges facing the industry that need to be addressed. Delivering an opening keynote speech to the …

Telecoms 15 Jun 2004, 11:02
UK gov backs solar power projects

£2.2m from dwindling cash reserves

The government has allocated £2.2m of funding to solar energy projects, Energy Minister Stephen Timms announced today, but the solar power industry has called for more clarity about what will happen once the funding runs out. The grants are the latest to be made from the government's major photovoltaics (PV) demonstration …

Science 15 Jun 2004, 11:35
Emails damage your health

It was five years ago today... 15 June 1999

Continuing this week's loose theme of the detrimental effect email has had on society since the first electronic message came thundering down the phone lines way back when it was all fields round here, we are reminded of a 1999 warning that if we didn't lighten up on the mass communication, we'd all be dead within as year. Or at …

Music and Media 15 Jun 2004, 12:01
Virus attacks mobiles via Bluetooth

Don't panic, it's just a proof-of-concept jape

Some useful citizen has written a virus which targets mobile phones running the Symbian operating system. Anti-virus groups received the worm from its authors but it is not yet "in the wild". The Cabir worm is the first network worm for mobile phones, according to Kaspersky Labs. It was written by 29a, a group of virus writers …

Anti-Virus 15 Jun 2004, 12:07
Hunt on for London's oldest PC

Wanted: steam-driven antiquity

IT outfit Kinitron Total IT Care Limited is on the hunt for London's oldest PC. Launching its quest for a digital antiquity at the Internet World show in London today, the company reckons there could be some real old beasts out there still helping to keep businesses ticking over. "Our research tells us that there are probably …

PCs 15 Jun 2004, 12:11
Apple iTunes details prices

European launch at last

Steve Jobs was in London today for the launch of Apple's iTunes service for the UK, France and Germany. iTunes will carry 700,000 songs from the five major record labels and independents, and prices for the download service start at 79 pence or 99 euro cents per song. The launch has been marred by the refusal of some …

Financial News 15 Jun 2004, 12:17
Apple opens iTunes in the UK, France and Germany

Here at last, iPod, Mac owners

Apple pressed the 'on' button for the UK, French and German incarnations of its iTunes Music Store today, and promised to turn the online download shop up to eleven when it opens a pan-European store and announces a series of deals with car makers later this year. With a further 23 per cent of the world music market now added …

Financial News 15 Jun 2004, 12:37
Wanadoo ties distie knot with Evesham

Aaaahhh!

Anyone buying a new PC from Evesham Technology will now find that it carries pre-installed Net access software from Wanadoo UK after the two firms inked an exclusive PC pre-load and distribution agreement. The deal means that Wanadoo broadband and dial-up access software will be pre-loaded on the 100,000 or so PC's and lap-tops …

Telecoms 15 Jun 2004, 13:13
Viruses and spam hit small firms harder

Costly diversion

Over a third of small businesses are suffering significant financial losses due to unsolicited emails, faxes and computer viruses. A survey by Bank of Scotland (BoS) found that 37 per cent of UK small firms were being badly hit in the pocket by spam and viruses, such as the SoBig outbreak which hit many businesses earlier this …

Small Biz 15 Jun 2004, 13:35
Yahoo! storage goes negative

Some stumbles in email upgrade

Yahoo!'s announcement that it was increasing storage limits for its email service should have been good news all round. But some Register readers got a rather strange email when they logged into Yahoo! this morning. "You are currently exceeding your Yahoo! Mail storage quota by a very large amount. You are only allowed -2048. …

Bootnotes 15 Jun 2004, 14:00
Zafi-b speaks in many tongues

All bad

Security firms have issued warnings over a multilingual computer virus that can shut down firewalls and disable anti-virus software. Zafi-b, which is also known as Hazafi or Erkez-b, spreads both as an email attachment and via peer-to-peer file-sharing systems, using techniques common to similar worms. The worm, first discovered …

Anti-Virus 15 Jun 2004, 14:01
Gateway optimistic for quarter

Trading better than expected

Gateway, the PC maker, says losses for the second quarter, ending 30 June 2004, should be smaller than and revenues a little higher than previously anticipated. The company now forecasts a loss of between 13 and 14 cents per share, rather than 15 cents. This excludes the impact of restructuring costs of $300m giving a loss of …

Channel 15 Jun 2004, 14:27
Iris scans at UK airports, says Home Office

Only trusted travellers need apply

The Home Office is to install iris scanning technology in major UK airports. It says this will speed up immigration times for those who register on the scheme, as well as providing a "substantial increase in security". It has signed a five-year contract with Sagem, the French company, to provide the Iris Recognition Immigration …

ID 15 Jun 2004, 14:31
Indie labels reject iTunes

But AOL is backing Apple

Apple's European iTunes launch went ahead today without the support of some of the UK's biggest independent labels. A spokesman for the Association of Independent Music (AIM) confirmed this morning that talks between Apple and the organisation, which represents key UK indie labels, including Beggars Banquet and XL, had broken …

Financial News 15 Jun 2004, 14:40
Akamai goes postal, kills Microsoft, Symantec, Google, Apple, Lycos...

Updated International attack claim

A major cock-up at Akamai has seen the world's biggest websites vanish from view for two hours today. From around 1.30pm, the Internet domain that Akamai uses to host content - akadns.net - disappeared and only reappeared at 3.30pm. Because a huge number of websites run through the Akamai site - including the world's four …

Data Networking 15 Jun 2004, 15:26
Veritas cleans up financials

Points to NetBackup future

In SEC statements there is truth, eventually. Veritas yesterday made good on its promise to restate past financial statements, as a result of an investigation of its accounting practices. The company charged itself with incorrectly booking professional services revenue and expenses in some periods. The restatement is Veritas' …

Financial News 15 Jun 2004, 19:47
Oracle closes year with modest revenue run

Bottom line nice and tight

Oracle strolled along in its fourth quarter, posting results best described as decent. Oracle's revenue rose 9 per cent year-over-year to $3.1bn. This came on a 12 per cent increase in software sales to $2.5bn and a 4 per cent decline in services revenue to $558m. Net income in the fourth quarter rose 15 per cent to $990m, which …

Financial News 15 Jun 2004, 21:33
Harvard man loses 3,000 weblogs

Down the plughole

Eccentric software developer Dave Winer has removed access to 3,000 weblogs hosted by the company he founded Userland at weblogs.com, without giving any prior notice. Bloggers have been told that if they ask nicely, they may have their data back next month. Winer blamed a computer for his decision. This strange story grows …

Business 15 Jun 2004, 22:31