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29th July 2004 Archive

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  • UK resellers go for growth

    Reg Reader Studies Supply lines

    A Register Reader Study of people working for UK resellers, conducted by research company Quocirca, has found that more than half believe the market is improving. More than 50 per cent say their customers have increased spending in the last twelve months, and even more think this trend will increase in the next 12 months. Over …

    Channel 29 Jul 2004, 08:39

  • Security fears holding back online travel market

    Cyberspace is a nice place to visit, but...

    Security fears are holding Brits back from buying holidays online, preventing the industry from fully benefiting from the lower sales costs associated with Internet transactions. Around half of bargain-hunting Brits could be persuaded to book their holidays online if there was a bigger online discounts, a recent survey …

    Financial News 29 Jul 2004, 08:51

  • Chip foundries post positive Q2 gains

    Higher shipments and prices

    TSMC, the world's largest chip foundry, saw revenues reach record levels during is second fiscal quarter. Arch-rival UMC and fellow Far Eastern Foundry Chartered Semiconductor also posted big year-on-year and sequential gains. TSMC's Q2 sales came to TWD64.87bn ($1.9bn), up 12.8 per cent on Q1 and 30 per cent on Q2 2003. Net …

    Channel 29 Jul 2004, 08:52

  • Hynix overtakes Micron in world DRAM chart

    Outgrows Infineon too

    South Korean memory maker Hynix has knocked the USA's Micron off the number two spot in Gartner's global DRAM manufacturer chart, the market watcher reported yesterday. Hynix also managed to out-grow its other arch-rival, Germany's Infineon, the researcher said. However, Japan's Elpida was the real growth winning, notching up a …

    Channel 29 Jul 2004, 09:34

  • MoD deploys £10m on virtual battlefield

    Like Battleships, but real

    The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has asked Rayethon Systems to develop a pilot version of the Joint Effects Tactical Targeting System (JETTS), software the MoD says could change the way the armed forces do battle. The £10m contract covers a 36 month assessment period. In an effort to dodge the risks of a large scale software …

    Science 29 Jul 2004, 09:36

  • US wins David Blunkett Lifetime Menace Award

    Big Brother awards 2004 VISIT program honoured

    The UK's sixth annual Big Brother awards last night honoured outstanding achievement by those individuals and organisations who make your business their business, and generally interfere with, snoop on, aggravate and irritate the public with their activities. Laurels were bestowed to recipients in five categories: Worst Public …

    Public Sector 29 Jul 2004, 09:47

  • Asus announces PDA with VGA LCD, Wi-Fi

    MyPal A730 formally launched at last

    Asus has formally launched its Wi-Fi PocketPC, the MyPal A730, in its home state of Taiwan, the company said today. The successor to the company's A716 wireless PDA, the A730 incorporates Intel's latest XScale processor technology, a 520MHz PXA270, and runs Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition. The A730, which was first shown …

    Mobile 29 Jul 2004, 09:59

  • Line up for some PayPal settlement pie

    North Americans only need apply

    PayPal sent a long email to its US customers this week with details about how to get a piece of the $9.25m settlement fund the lawyers have created. It is possible to get a chunk of it even if you have no specific complaint related to the lawsuit. PayPal sent the notice to anyone who opened an account in the US between October …

    Music and Media 29 Jul 2004, 10:03

  • BT punters flee

    100,000 a month wave bye bye

    One hundred thousand people a month are ditching BT and opting for alternative telephone providers as the UK's dominant fixed line telco admitted that the business environment "remained challenging". BT's share of home phone users fell by 1.5 per cent to 66 per cent in the three months to the end of June, as the former monopoly …

    Telecoms 29 Jul 2004, 12:14

  • Mobiles in hospitals now safe: official

    You're not all going to die

    Using mobile phones in hospitals is safe after all, according to new official guidance. Until now, the use of mobile phones in hospitals was prohibited because of fears that they could interfere with medical equipment. Today, though, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued new advice that a total …

    Mobile 29 Jul 2004, 12:20

  • New date for SCO v IBM hearing

    Progress? Maybe

    A new court date has been set for the SCO v IBM motion hearing. Originally scheduled for 4 August, the hearing has been moved to 2pm on 15 September. Coming after eighteen months of legal wrangling, the September hearing will be a defining moment in the dispute, with SCO having by far the most to lose. In March, IBM asked the …

    Operating Systems 29 Jul 2004, 12:53

  • Cisco drops Huawei lawsuit

    Legal attack called off

    Cisco is dropping its patent infringement lawsuit against Chinese networking firm Huawei in exchange for a promise from its rival to modify its product lineup. The settlement comes 20 months after Cisco sued Huawei for allegedly using stolen Cisco's technology to develop a line-up of routers and switches sold in competition to …

    Data Networking 29 Jul 2004, 13:14

  • US online pharmacies take fight to Canadians

    Battle for cross-border customers hots up

    The trade in discounted prescription drugs between Canada and the US has elicited considerable controversy on both sides of the border. Yet recent figures show that sales of drugs via Canadian pharmacies have not been as great as some had predicted. However, as Datamonitor's David Deon explains, pharmaceutical companies could go …

    Financial News 29 Jul 2004, 13:19

  • BOFH: Might as well face it, you're addicted to smut

    Episode 24 The browser's on, but you're not home...

    BOFH 2004 I get so bored at times… The sort of bored you are when you can't even be stuffed firing up a browser and seeing what's new at smuttysmuttychicks.com. But if I don't do it, who's going to care about the girls?! The Boss comes in mid browse, and starts rabbiting on about how it's not acceptable workplace behaviour, …

    BOFH 29 Jul 2004, 13:41

  • AOL: customers down, ad sales up

    They went thataway

    AOL's European ISPs in the UK, Germany and France lost 88,000 customer in the three months to June, parent company Time Warner Inc announced yesterday. Unfortunately, that's all it said on the matter and didn't provide any more detail on the individual performances of its European country operations. Overall, America Online …

    Financial News 29 Jul 2004, 14:57

  • EA swallows Criterion Software

    Games behemoth gains control of RenderWare

    Electronic Arts has acquired UK-based Criterion Software Group from current owners Canon. The move gives EA control of Criterion's portfolio which includes games series Burnout and - most significantly - the company's RenderWare technology. EA chairman and CEO Larry Probst said: "This is a great fit. Criterion offers us studio …

    Consoles 29 Jul 2004, 15:00

  • HP Compaq nc4010

    Review Nice notebook, shame about the price

    Anyone that has to travel a lot with a notebook in their bag will appreciate that a super powerful desktop replacement machine is not always the best option. If you always need to have your computer with you, no matter where you are, something sleek and portable is definitely the preferred solution. The HP Compaq nc4010 falls …

    Reviews 29 Jul 2004, 15:01

  • Scientists call for nanotech caution

    No grey goo apocalypse likely, but still...

    A new report has called for more research into the effects of nanoparticles on the environment and on human health. The Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineers (RAE) asks for tighter regulation of nanotechnology research, and has recommended to the British government that production of 'free' nanoparticles should be …

    Science 29 Jul 2004, 15:11

  • Retailers bans Manhunt after murder link claim

    Updated Only allowed to sell it to adults in any case

    UK consumer electronics retail chain Dixons and games retailer Game have pulled the computer game Manhunt from its shelves after the parents of a murdered schoolboy blamed the title for their son's death. Stefan Pakeerah, 14, was stabbed and beaten to death in a Leicester park in February. Warren Leblanc, 17, of Braunstone …

    Music and Media 29 Jul 2004, 15:29

  • Phishermen net bumper catch of Americans

    Hook, line and sinker

    US consumers are still easy prey to fraudsters using phishing emails to lure consumers into handing over valuable financial information. In a survey sponsored by anti-spam outfit MailFrontier, 28 per cent of US adults were unable to distinguish phishing emails from legitimate correspondence. Scam emails that form the basis of …

    Spam 29 Jul 2004, 15:31

  • Apple blasts Real DRM translator

    Investigating Harmony's 'legal implications'

    Apple today described itself as "stunned" that Real Networks has dared to reverse engineer its FairPlay DRM system in order that Real's online music subscription service can be made compatible with the iPod. Real launched its Harmony Technology earlier this week. The software essentially converts songs protected by Real's Helix …

    Music and Media 29 Jul 2004, 15:53

  • IBM snags software maker Cyanea

    17 buys and counting

    IBM's acquisition machine has swallowed another victim with software maker Cyanea now set to join Big Blue's fold. IBM plans to take Cyanea's products for improving the performance of business software and bundle them with its Tivoli systems management software line. This deal marks the seventeenth software acquisition IBM has …

    Applications 29 Jul 2004, 15:54

  • BBC Technology strike off

    New ballot called

    A two-day strike by BBC techies scheduled to begin tomorrow has been called off after employers made a second revised offer to staff. Lawyers for the broadcasting union BECTU said that this new offer needs to be put to workers before any industrial action can take place. Industrial action - which could have disrupted the BBC's …

    IT Director 29 Jul 2004, 16:01

  • Wobbly sun causes plasma jets

    127-year-old mystery solved

    A group of scientists has come up with a new explanation for the origins of spicules - jets of plasma that shoot up from the solar surface at speeds of around 90,000 kilometres per hour: the solar matter is propelled into space by sound waves entering the solar atmosphere. Using observational data from two satellites (TRACE and …

    Science 29 Jul 2004, 16:28

  • Russian extortion gang faces 15 years

    DOS villainy hit UK bookies for millions before net closed

    A Russian cyber extortion gang arrested last week cost British bookmakers tens of millions in lost revenues, according to the head of a Russian police agency. Three men suspected of masterminding a cyber-extortion racket targeting online bookies were arrested last week in a joint operation between the UK's National Hi-Tech …

    Enterprise Security 29 Jul 2004, 16:43