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30th July 2004 Archive

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  • Deutsche Telekom Passport hole exposes 120,000

    Temporarily closed

    Deutsche Telekom this week was forced to suspend all activities of its Online Business Service Operation Centre (OBSOC), a German version of the Microsoft's Passport system, which enables customers to order and pay for online services and products. German Chaos Computer Club (CCC), Europe's largest hacker group, discovered a …

    Security 30 Jul 2004, 07:45

  • IBM shuffles top execs

    Musical chairs

    The top brass running Big Blue are still reshuffling executives in the aftermath of the departure of Mike Lawrie, formerly the senior vice president of sales and distribution. IBM likes to cross-train its key executives in different geographies, job types, and lines of business every couple of years, but there could be more to …

    Data Center 30 Jul 2004, 07:57

  • Bsquare axes WinXP GSM handheld

    Sold too few, cost too much

    Bsquare is to drop its Power Handheld (PH) Windows XP-based wireless PDA. The company will instead offer the device's design to other vendors under licence and sell them the application and utility software it had developed for the device. The company made the announcement just before posting a quarterly net loss of $5.1, $4.5m …

    Mobile 30 Jul 2004, 09:07

  • Elitegroup lets slip 2.13GHz Pentium M details

    And the 1.3Mp digicam-equipped notebook it will be used in

    Taiwan's Elitegroup has revealed that Intel is indeed planning to release a 2.13GHz Pentium M 770 processor this autumn - possibly as early as September 2004. The PC maker this week announced what it claims is the first notebook to offer an integrated 1.3 megapixel digicam. The ECS G220 is pitched at businesspeople who do video …

    Channel 30 Jul 2004, 09:41

  • 64-bit WinXP set-back forced Intel to delay 4GHz P4?

    Pentium 4 580 now set for Q1 2005 debut

    Intel has delayed the arrival of the 4GHz Pentium 4 to Q1 2005, the chip giant has admitted. The part was originally intended to ship in Q4 2004, but it now appears that that deadline was unfeasible if Intel wanted to ship the part in significant volume. "To get to the volume we want to, we are telling [customers] we're moving …

    Channel 30 Jul 2004, 10:09

  • 180solutions answers pop-up charges

    Letter Right to reply

    Our recent story Pop-up goes the commission reported on allegations that 180solutions' permission-based search assistant application Zango may have been dowloading itself onto users' computers without their knowledge. We further reported on allegations that 180solutions "violated the policies of two affiliate marketing networks …

    Letters 30 Jul 2004, 10:15

  • BT shaves a quid off VoIP service

    'Better value' for punters

    BT has cut the cost of its voice over IP (VoIP) service in a bid to make it "better value" for punters. BT's Broadband Voice product - which was launched in December - lets phone users make calls using a touch-tone telephone. But since it uses their broadband connection (rather than the traditional telephone line) to connect …

    Broadband 30 Jul 2004, 10:22

  • Sasser kid blamed for viral plague

    70 per cent of activity down to one teenager

    A staggering 70 per cent of viral activity in the first half of this year can be linked to just one German teenager, according to anti-virus firm Sophos. Sven Jaschan, 18, the self-confessed author of the NetSky and Sasser worms is blamed by Sophos for the vast majority of viral reports it recorded during the first six months …

    Security 30 Jul 2004, 10:26

  • GameCube sales leap doubles Nintendo Q2 profits

    Lower prices push Cube shipments up 712%

    A surge in sales of its GameCube console pushed Nintendo's second-quarter income almost 100 per cent over the same period last year. For the three months to 30 June 2004, Nintendo achieved a net income of ¥22.6bn ($202m), 96.5 per cent up on Q2 2003's ¥11.5bn ($103m). Driving the gain was a 712.5 per cent increase in unit …

    Financial News 30 Jul 2004, 10:35

  • DNA codebreaker Francis Crick dies at 88

    Adieu to Nobel prize winner

    Francis Crick, described by some as the father of genetic science, has died after a long battle with colon cancer. He was 88. Crick, along with James Watson and Maurice Wilkins, first revealed the famous double-helix structure of the DNA molecule. Key to their discovery were the X-ray photographs of the molecule taken by Dr. …

    Science 30 Jul 2004, 10:39

  • Real fires back at Apple in DRM dogfight

    Company is 'Compaq' to Apple's 'IBM'

    Real Networks has compared its DRM translation software, Harmony, to Compaq's cloning of the original IBM PC to rebuff Apple's claims that the technology may infringe the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). "Harmony follows in a well-established tradition of fully legal, independently developed paths to achieve …

    Media 30 Jul 2004, 11:07

  • US green-lights Sony BMG merger

    Implementation starts Monday

    The US Federal Trade Commission has given the thumbs-up to the proposed merger between Sony Music Entertainment (SME) and Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG). The FTC ruling comes a week after the European Commission approved the deal, which will create a company controlling a quarter of the global recorded music market. Sony BMG - …

    Financial News 30 Jul 2004, 11:18

  • Telewest brags of record broadband sign-ups

    New entry-level product fingered for success

    The launch of a cut-price, entry-level broadband product in March has helped Telewest rack up a record three months for attracting new customers. In the three months to the end of June cableco Telewest added 72,000 new high-speed Internet punters, compared to 51,000 in the first quarter (Q1). As of 30 June, Telewest had 538,000 …

    Broadband 30 Jul 2004, 11:56

  • IE patch 'imminent'

    Download.Ject fix less than a fortnight away

    Microsoft may break its normal patch cycle to issue a fix for the vulnerability infamously exploited by last month's Download.Ject (AKA Scob) attack. Internet.com cites Dean Hachamovitch, Microsoft group product manager for Internet Explorer, in support of a story that a patch is imminent. It reports that patch to be released …

    Security 30 Jul 2004, 12:23

  • Intel 'Nocona' Xeon to get 'no execute' support

    Core update due late September

    Intel will ship Xeon processors capable of supporting Windows XP Service Pack 2 Data Execution Prevention (DEP) security feature from 24 September, company documents seen by The Register reveal. On Monday, Intel will begin shipping its 90nm 'Nocona' Xeon DP chip. Derived from the 'Prescott' Pentium 4, Nocona will support an …

    Servers 30 Jul 2004, 12:43

  • Canadian pomp rock tops Reg music poll

    Poll result Cue Rush for the exits

    Well, the results of our Mother of all Music Polls are in, and they make sobering reading indeed. More than 7,000 of you voted and we can now confirm beyond any doubt that - despite previous reports to the contrary - developers do not play air guitar to Megadeth. No, it's much, much worse than that. The shocking truth is that …

    Bootnotes 30 Jul 2004, 12:56

  • Wi-Fi Alliance cracks down on ‘standards-plus’ kit

    Better late than never

    The Wi-Fi Alliance is rather belatedly seeking to crack down on ‘standards-plus’ products that achieve extended speed or range through proprietary add-ons, yet still claim to be fully interoperable. The Alliance has threatened to remove its certification from any product that interferes with another Wi-Fi product. The action …

    Broadband 30 Jul 2004, 13:39

  • Apple - Moto ‘iPhone’ deal full of promise...

    ... and unanswered questions

    Apple and Motorola left a lot unsaid as they jointly announced this week that they will work together on an iPod-style player for Motorola music phones, due next year. The two referred to the device as a new iTunes mobile music player, and the fact that Apple chose Motorola to work with comes as no surprise to anyone who has …

    Mobile 30 Jul 2004, 13:41

  • AMD Sempron desktop CPU

    Review As exciting as the speculation suggested?

    AMD's new budget processor, the Sempron, has finally arrived. The speculations behind what the Sempron would be were confusing and didn't seem to make sense at the time, and it's still not quite clear why AMD has released some of the models, writes Lars-Goran Nilsson. A range of different speed chips were made available at …

    Channel 30 Jul 2004, 13:42

  • US cyberstalker pleads guilty

    Used PC 'to annoy, abuse, threaten and harass'

    A US man has pleaded guilty to cyberstalking a former girlfried. Believed to be the first person to be fingered under US laws prohibiting Internet stalking, Robert James Murphy, 38, of Columbia, South Carolina, originally denied a hearing in April 26 counts of using his computer "to annoy, abuse, threaten and harass" Joelle …

    Media 30 Jul 2004, 13:45

  • The battle for email privacy

    You've got company

    Ah, humanity. We are a sneaky species, forever attempting to get a leg up on everyone else in as underhanded a manner as possible. If there's a way to listen in to conversations not meant for us, watch the actions of others furtively, or read someone else's secrets, we do it. In January, it was reported that a 24-year-old thief …

    Security 30 Jul 2004, 13:57

  • Your data online: safe as houses

    In an earthquake

    A decision by a federal court in Minnesota may have profound repercussions for the ability of consumers and others to rely upon promises of security and privacy made on corporate or governmental websites - and that's just for starters. On 21 June, 2004, the United States Senate Governmental Affairs Committee was told that a …

    Media 30 Jul 2004, 13:59

  • ID cards: a bad idea, but we'll do it anyway

    The Select Committee reports

    The National ID Card programme will be too expensive, has been shrouded in secrecy and lacks sufficient safeguards against abuse. So says a report from the Home Affairs Select Committee, which describes the Home Secretary David Blunkett's secretive approach as "regrettable". The report criticises the Home Office for its …

    Media 30 Jul 2004, 14:35

  • Sysadmins need love too. No, really

    Celebrate System Administrator Appreciation Day

    It's that time of year again when we are all invited to appreciate that most unlauded of colleagues: the humble sysadmin. Yes indeed, they may play air guitar to Rush, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Pink Floyd and Megadeth, but 30 July is the day when all that is temporarily forgiven to allow a heartfelt celebration of all things …

    Management 30 Jul 2004, 14:49

  • US.gov plans DES's retirement

    Pipe and slippers for venerable algorithm

    The ageing Data Encryption Standard (DES) is no longer secure enough for use by government and should be replaced by Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) instead, according to a key US government standards agency. The National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) yesterday proposed to withdraw the Federal Information …

    Security 30 Jul 2004, 15:15

  • Researcher ups world mobile sales forecast

    But warns component shortages may yet spoil things

    Mobile market watcher Strategy Analytics (SA) has upgraded its forecast for world mobile phone sales to 670m. The not only represents a 14 per cent jump on the researcher's previous forecast, made last January, of 586m units, but a 29.5 per cent growth rate over SA's total for 2003. Last year, it calculates, vendors shipped …

    Mobile 30 Jul 2004, 15:26

  • HK customs seize £600k fake mobile phone kit

    Bound for Argentina

    Customs officers in Hong Kong have seized fake mobile phone accessories worth HK$8.5m (£600,000) after searching a container bound for Argentina. Officers found around 130,000 suspected counterfeit batteries and cartridges yesterday morning, according to Chinese state media. Officers are investiging the haul although no arrests …

    Mobile 30 Jul 2004, 15:43

  • Segways are brilliant, you idiots

    Letters Whatever you say...

    Seems young Ashlee upset a few people with his latest article about Segway Polo. Turns out there are a lot of people out there with scooter envy, who take umbrage on behalf of Segway Poloists. We still think its a bit silly, to be honest, but that might just be us. You must be really proud of your ability to pour scorn on …

    Letters 30 Jul 2004, 15:45

  • The Segway: glorified scooter or democracy on wheels?

    Poll The People must decide

    It has come to our attention that some readers are a bit miffed with our stateside correspondent Ashlee Vance's controversial coverage of the Segway scooter and how it has contributed to the advancement of humanity in so many ways. To be honest, this has taken us a bit by surprise over here in Blighty, because the Segway has …

    Bootnotes 30 Jul 2004, 15:47

  • Alcatel offloads telecoms fraud biz to India

    Subex Systems coughs up $3m

    Alcatel this week sold its telecoms fraud management business to Indian telecoms software firm Subex Systems for $3m cash. With the acquisition, Subex leapfrogs Hewlett-Packard to become the world's largest supplier fraud management software to telecomms carriers, at least in terms of number of customers and installations. The …

    Security 30 Jul 2004, 15:53

  • NYT writer challenges Reg hack to hobby-horse race

    Letter Remember that happy Wi-Fi user?

    Regular readers may recall Andrew Orlowski's reaction to a New York Times article concerning the wonderful news that someone out there liked Wi-Fi. The NYT ran a heartwarming story about a man who happily used Wi-Fi to access his email during his daily commute. No problem there, except that the man was tied rather more closely …

    Letters 30 Jul 2004, 16:05

  • IBM preps new Xeon kit, returns to iSCSI game

    Hardware love for LinuxWorld

    IBM next week will kick off Linux World with a hardware charge, announcing new servers and storage systems. On the server front, IBM's moves are fairly expected. The company will upgrade its existing Xeon processor-based server line with Intel's upcoming processor code-named Nocona. The Intel chip will debut at 3.6GHz and, of …

    Servers 30 Jul 2004, 17:09

  • Microsoft makes up for 64-bit delays with OS upgrade plan

    Buy now, address more memory later

    In a bid to placate AMD, Intel and its own customers, Microsoft has voiced plans to let users upgrade from the current Windows Server 2003 to a 64-bit version of the operating system at no charge. Customers that purchase a new server running on either AMD's Opteron chip or Intel's new 64-bit Xeon processors are eligible for …

    Operating Systems 30 Jul 2004, 21:14

  • Cray pours Red Drizzle over anxious investors

    Anxiety upgrade

    Some vendors try to defuse a bad quarter by screaming at the press, demanding recognition for myriad customer wins and products shipped. This is not the model embraced by Cray. The supercomputer specialist appears to prefer a whimper over a scream. Earlier this week, Cray watched as investors took a hatchet and reduced its …

    Servers 30 Jul 2004, 22:23