18th June 2004 Archive

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Red Hat revenue surges in Q1

Not enough for investors

Red Hat made solid strides over the past year, posting a boost in revenue and income for its first quarter. Red Hat reported total Q1 revenue of $41.6m - a 53 percent rise over the same quarter last year. Net income surged as well, increasing 603 percent to $10.7m. Red Hat managed to pump out $30.1m in cash during the quarter, …

Financial News 18 Jun 2004, 02:55
Wanadoo rapped for 'misleading' search results

Sponsored links must be clearly flagged

Wanadoo UK has been told to ensure that sponsored links from its search engine are "clearly identified in future" so as not to mislead punters. The ruling by the ASA, the UK's advertising watchdog, follows a complaint against Freeserve (the ISP has since been rebranded as Wanadoo) which alleged that the summary of its search …

Telecoms 18 Jun 2004, 08:36
Police to trial plasma stun gun

Set phasers to stun

Police in the US and Europe could soon be testing a stun gun capable of delivering 50,000 volts to its target without using wires. The gun, developed by XADS for the US Marine Corps as a crowd control device, has concerned human rights groups because of its potential for indiscriminate use. Furthermore, according to a report in …

Science 18 Jun 2004, 08:48
Nanotech frauds imminent, warns VC

Except the ones I've invested in, of course...

Vinod Khosla, the co-founder of Sun Microsystems who wrote its first business plan, and one of the pivotal figures in Silicon Valley capital, has warned that nanotech frauds are on their way. The first IPO in the much-touted sector will shortly take place, with the flotation of Nanosys, a Silicon Valley company which has gained …

Science 18 Jun 2004, 08:54
Acer brings Bluetooth to PocketPC line

Reg Kit Watch Slimline PDA

Acer has updated its PocketPC family with a model it has already dubbed the "wireless wonder", launching the device in Taiwan today. The hyperbole isn't entirely warranted, however: while the new n30 brings Bluetooth to the line-up, it's missing the Wi-Fi and GPRS connectivity you might expect such a named device to carry. …

Mobile 18 Jun 2004, 08:54
Lock-down CD scores No.1 hit

DRM-tastic!

Although common in Japan and parts of Europe, lock down CDs have finally landed with a splash in the United States. Bertelsmann Music Group's fourteenth CD to feature the customer-unfriendly measure, Velvet Revolver's Contraband (no, this isn't Spinal Tap, although the group contains lots of old lags) has reached No.1 in the US …

Music and Media 18 Jun 2004, 08:56
Intel EOLs 3.06GHz Pentium 4

But not waving goodbye to the 533MHz FSB just yet

Intel has notified system builders that it is discontinuing its 3.06GHz Pentium 4 chip. The part, which operates across the ageing 533MHz frontside bus and is based on Intel's 130nm 'Northwood' core, will be phased out through the rest of the year, with the chip giant finally refusing to take orders for the part on 15 October …

Channel 18 Jun 2004, 09:14
Intel to update 90nm Mobile P4 core

Will gain speed-boosting E-0 stepping

Intel only began shipping 90nm Mobile Pentium 4 processors at the start of June, but it has already signalled its intention to upgrade the parts' core. Like the desktop 'Prescott' CPUs, the mobile versions are due to move from the current, 'D-0' core stepping to a new one, 'E-0', later this year. Intel will begin sampling E-0 …

Channel 18 Jun 2004, 09:27
NTL outsources broadband tech support to IBM

500 on the move

Some 500 NTL broadband tech support staff at the cableco's call centre in Swansea are to be shunted to IBM as part of an outsourcing deal between the two companies. Workers at NTL's broadband technical support team will make the move in September under TUPE (Transfer of Undertaking - Protection of Employment) rules. While some …

Telecoms 18 Jun 2004, 09:45
Wi-Fi to come late to Grantsdale party

Access-point components due Q4

Intel's much-vaunted software-based Wi-Fi access point technology, once touted as a key feature of the upcoming 'Grantsdale' and 'Alderwood' Pentium 4 chipsets, will not be available when products are formally announced this weekend. What's missing, Intel officials admit, are the add-in cards needed to equip mobos based on the …

Channel 18 Jun 2004, 10:00
AMD and Intel meet in lavatory

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

Something a little off-the-wall to end the week: an uncomfortable encounter between chipcos at a Vulture Central anniversary bash at our old stomping ground in London's Maddox Street. Those of you who were lucky enough - if lucky is the word - to visit our extensive suite of luxury premises in Mayfair will remember that the …

Bootnotes 18 Jun 2004, 10:09
Nokia to rejoin WiMAX Forum

Founder member comes home

Nokia is once again a member of the WiMAX Forum, having quit the organisation just over a month ago. It's reason for returning to the fold? Everyone else is getting involved, so Nokia feels it has to play too. Nokia's move to leave the Forum, made in early May, was something of a U-turn in its own right. As one of the Forum's …

Wireless 18 Jun 2004, 10:29
Strategy Boutique relights apparel joss-stick

Cash'n'Carrion Whalesong-inspired t-shirt back in stock

A breathless Cash'n'Carrion operative armed with laser pointer and Powerpoint presentation has just emerged from the joss-stick fuelled haze at our Merseyside warehousing facility to declare that the paradigm-busting Strategy Boutique t-shirt is back in stock in all sizes from medium to XXL: Magnificent. Here's how our own …

Site News 18 Jun 2004, 10:54
AOL France fined for unfair contract clauses

Says its will appeal

French consumer group, UFC, is claiming victory for ordinary Net users after AOL France was fined €30,000 (£20,000) by a French court yesterday over allegations that parts of the ISP's contract were unfair. UFC and its magazine Que Choisir had questioned the legality of more than 38 clauses in AOL France's contracts, including …

Telecoms 18 Jun 2004, 10:56
Millennium debuggers cry foul

Letters Plus NHS data, DirecTV and BBC fridges

We think we touched a nerve with one of the pieces we dug up from the vault this week. The implication that the whole Y2K thing was a storm in a teacup did not sit well with some of the heroes who saved us from The Bug. "As history records, or at least the history as recorded by the one person who was still sober on the fateful …

Letters 18 Jun 2004, 11:21
Italian stud seeks US sugarmamma

Eterosexual, bisexual or eventual overweight - it makes no difference

The following strange missive has just been forwarded to us by reader Webb Morris, who wonders is it a legit appeal or some form of scam? Whatever the truth, it's an entertaining tale of a handsome young Italian with few prospects, sclerotic parents and ambitions to live in the US. Nothing fancy, mind - Florida, Beverley Hills …

Bootnotes 18 Jun 2004, 12:49
Strange but charming new particle found

Scientists deploy leaky bucket analogy

Scientists working on Fermilab's SELEX experiment have found a odd new sub-atomic particle in the 'heavy-light' meson family. The researchers are intrigued because the meson lives longer than it should, weighs more than it should, and decays into unexpected particles. Typically, the heavier the meson, the faster it decays. …

Science 18 Jun 2004, 12:54
UK DQ use slides

Service improves and costs fall, apparently

Fewer people in the UK are using directory enquiries (DQ) since the old "192" service was deregulated and opened up to competition last August. While three in five punters said their use of DQ services has remained unchanged, a quarter said they didn't use the service as often as they use to. One in ten said they no longer used …

Telecoms 18 Jun 2004, 13:49
Blaggers lift 60 CCTV cameras

'Seriously sophisticated' security system goes walkies

A story in today's Daily Telegraph (registration required) leads us to suspect that roving gangs of Chinese mainland blaggers may be operating in the Wakefield area. Our report yesterday into the daring snatch of PCs from crime-busting tech expo Asia Securitex 2004 in Hong Kong came just a few days after "thieves broke into …

Bootnotes 18 Jun 2004, 14:36
US and Europe clash over online hate

Stalemate after two-day conference

Europe and the US clashed head-on over how to tackle xenophobic material found online, with the European tendency towards tough regulations at odds with US constitutional protection of free speech. After a two-day conference in Paris this week, the group of international delegates failed to reach the strong consensus people had …

Music and Media 18 Jun 2004, 14:53
BT to cut broadband prices for punters

Possibly within two weeks, industry sources claim

BT is set to cut the cost of its broadband ADSL products in the next few weeks in response to ever-increasing competition from rival ISPs. Exactly how much BT intends to lop off the cost of its packages remains to be seen. But industry sources claim the price cut is on its way and could be made within the next fortnight - just …

Telecoms 18 Jun 2004, 15:00
Intel builds laptop into surfboard

Truly daft Wi-Fi beach project

Intel has done something truly daft, and built a laptop into a surfboard. The "Oh, now you can really surf the Web" kind of gags are just too tempting in this case, so we thought we'd steer clear of them and focus on the kit. As well as a tablet PC, the 9ft Wi-Fi longboard also has built in solar panels and a video camera. The …

Bootnotes 18 Jun 2004, 15:36
Big Bruv aggro is recipe for Web success

Hits = hits

The drunken brawl in the UK's "Big Brother" house - which ended with security guards being rushed in to break up the scrap - has created a stampede of interest among viewers eager to know more about the on-screen aggro. As a result, the Big Brother website has, for the first time, made it into the top 20 most visited sites. …

Music and Media 18 Jun 2004, 15:38
Firm trials cancer-zapping nanobots

Nanoscale silicon drug-delivery system

A nanoscale drug-delivery system is being tested at Singapore General Hospital. The technology is being used to help treat cancer by carrying the treatment directly to the tumour site. The device, developed by biotech company pSivida, is based on a material they call BioSilicon. This is cheap, safe and biodegradable, the firm …

Science 18 Jun 2004, 16:18
Harvard man provides musical solace for bereft bloggers

Blogicide BPM

Let music be the food of love. Last weekend some scoundrel abruptly yanked the chain on 3,000 web logs without giving the authors any notice, or chance to save their work. Was this the action of a vandal, or a hacker, or some shadowy, self-loathing nihilist with some statement to make against society? No, in this case, the …

Music and Media 18 Jun 2004, 18:32
Software maker runs screaming from Itanium

and into Xeon's arms

It could have been the constant engine room clang or maybe the ominous ice triangles bobbing up and down off in the distance. It's hard to say exactly what made it happen, but Parametric Technology Corp. (PTC) got nervous. The software maker has abandoned the Itanic and leapt for a lifeboat marked Xeon Extender. "PTC will no …

Business 18 Jun 2004, 18:35