4th October 2004 Archive
Browse by publication date, or search the site.
-
PalmOne unveils 256MB Flash drive T5 PDA
Update Organiser and file-store in one
PalmOne launched the Tungsten T5, its first PDA to ship with 256MB of memory and the first to operate as a USB Flash drive, this morning, as anticipated. The launch confirms what pre-release photos of the device purported: that the T5 uses the slider-less casing of the Tungsten E. The latter's 320 x 320 display is dropped in …
Mobile 4 Oct 2004, 08:42
-
Kodak wins Sun Java patents case, wants $1bn
Sun to appeal
Kodak is returning to court this week to claim $1bn in damages and unpaid royalties from Sun Microsystems. The court found in favour of the camera company on Friday and ruled that Sun had infringed Kodak's Java patents. The case hinged on patents Kodak bought from Wang Laboratories in late 1997. >Kodak welcomed the verdict and …
Developer 4 Oct 2004, 08:45
-
Mitac's Mio preps next-gen GPS PocketPC
Pictures leak out
Mitac's PocketPC and smart phone subsidiary, Mio, is working on a second-generation GPS-enabled PDA, if picture posted on a GPS-oriented web site are accurate. Mio's Mio 168, launched almost a year ago, become the first PocketPC device to feature a built-in GPS antenna, although Garmin holds the record on the first GPS-enabled …
Mobile 4 Oct 2004, 09:06
-
Alleged Apple Flash iPod 'partner' signs with Rio
SigmaTel's chips claimed to have won Apple's support
Hopes that Apple may be preparing a Flash-based iPod appeared to be dashed on Friday when the company's alleged MP3 chip partner announced a deal with Apple portable player rival Rio. Late last week, it emerged that analyst Jason Pfaum of investment house Thomas Weisel had reported that Apple will use MP3 chip maker SigmaTel's …
Mac Channel 4 Oct 2004, 09:36
-
When IT departments go bad
Opinion It can only end in tears
Despite what vendors and management consultancies say and believe the most important people in the IT industry are the IT departments. These make the ultimate decisions about what to buy and who to buy from. They also, even more importantly, play a key role in choosing what IT applications to implement. For these reasons the …
IT Director 4 Oct 2004, 09:44
-
Lastminute seeks £13m savings
Trading update
Lastminute.com says it is on track to meet targets for Q4, albeit at the lower end of its expected range. Today it will tell analysts and investors how will save around £13m in the 2005 financial year to reduce costs by 10 per cent. Finding an extra £13m per year will cost the firm £9m, including £5m relating to the integration …
Financial News 4 Oct 2004, 10:01
-
US cybersecurity czar quits
Spending more time with his family
US cybersecurity czar Amit Yoran announced his resignation on Friday after a year in the job. The Department of Homeland Security said Yoran's departure was amicable but there's speculation that his exit was prompted by the Bush's administration's failure to treat IT security as much of a priority. Since becoming director of …
Security 4 Oct 2004, 10:08
-
AT&T and Vonage do battle
VoIP price war
Voice over IP calls are getting cheaper - Vonage and AT&T both announced lower monthly charges late last week. AT&T said it would reduce its monthly charge by five dollars to $30 a month for unlimited local and long distance calls in Canada and the US. In response competitor Vonage announced it would also knock five dollars off …
Data Networking 4 Oct 2004, 10:09
-
WorldPay struggles under DDoS attack (again)
Systems safe but running at a crawl
WorldPay, the Royal Bank of Scotland's internet payment transaction outfit, is continuing to fight a sustained internet attack which has left its services largely unavailable for a third successive day. Since Saturday (2 October), WorldPay's online payment and administration system has been reduced to a crawl, due to a …
Enterprise Security 4 Oct 2004, 10:18
-
Sproqit readies real-time PC-to-PDA remote access
Even when the connection drops
Sproqit will next month ship the first major release of code which allows wireless PDAs to access and manipulate PC-based data in real time, the company said today. The Register first saw Sproqit Personal Edition (SPE) demo'd in April 2003, and the software has taken longer than planned to come to market. But it remains an …
Mobile 4 Oct 2004, 10:18
-
BT cuts Basic broadband by £2
Bows to competition
BT has cut the monthly cost of its entry-level broadband service in a move that underlines the competitive pressure in the UK's broadband sector. The telco has shaved £2 off BT Broadband Basic cutting the cost of the service from £19.99 to £17.99 a month. BT reckons the move "proves our commitment to delivering the best …
Telecoms 4 Oct 2004, 10:24
-
SpaceShipOne goes for X-Prize glory
Second flight today
SpaceShipOne will today attempt to reach an altitude of 100km for the second time in less than a fortnight, and thereby claim the $10m X-Prize for the first private space vehicle to accomplish the feat. The flight is due to blast off from Mojave, California, later today following its ascent last Wednesday to 102.8km. The first …
Science 4 Oct 2004, 10:33
-
eBay UK is five
We wander down memory lane
Online auctioneer eBay, celebrates its fifth UK birthday today, and what an interesting five years it has been. While in the US, happy bidders can get their mitts on the highly prized letters from LINDOWS, (now Linspire, of course) we in the UK have access to the manure from an Olympic champion horse, a couple of housewives, or …
Financial News 4 Oct 2004, 10:52
-
Oracle asks court to remove PeopleSoft poison pills
Another day, another battle
Oracle is back in court this week as its hostile bid for PeopleSoft starts to turn in its favour. Last week saw the ousting of Craig Conway, PeopleSoft's chief executive who strongly opposed the takeover. PeopleSoft shares rose sharply on the news. More good news came last week from the US Department of Justice - it has decided …
Applications 4 Oct 2004, 10:56
-
Intel ships 'execute disable' Pentium 4s
Socket T Celerons arrive, too
Intel yesterday introduced its first desktop processors to support what it calls Execute Disable Bit (EDB) technology - essentially the same code-disabling technology found in AMD, Transmeta and other CPUs, and used by Windows XP Service Pack 2 to render some viruses ineffective. The update was expected: Intel documents seen by …
System Builder 4 Oct 2004, 11:11
-
PalmOne Wi-Fi SD Card
Review Wireless networking for your Zire 72, Tungsten T3 or T5
With more and more of us turning to PDAs to give us access to our contacts book and diary when out and about it's only natural that we would start to want Wi-Fi being built in to the units, writes Stuart Miles. Of course you can get wireless enabled PDAs already, but for the most part they are expensive. PalmOne is hoping that …
Reviews 4 Oct 2004, 11:26
-
Business Serve snaps up Vital Online
Kon solly day shun
Lancaster-based ISP, Business Serve, has snapped up its fifth acquisition since it floated on AIM in February 2004. It's paying £200,000 in cash and a bundle of shares for business-focused ISP Vital Online Ltd. Vital - which has a turnover of around £700,000 and flogs stuff like leased lines and broadband - will continue to …
Telecoms 4 Oct 2004, 11:56
-
ZigBee in danger of falling apart
802.15.4 standard faces fragmentation
The domination of the 802.16 process by a handful of vendors is often criticized, but at least it has resulted in a measure of unity that is looking increasingly enviable as the other key IEEE wireless efforts fall prey to dangerous fragmentation, which could significantly devalue the role of the standards body itself. We have …
Wireless 4 Oct 2004, 12:42
-
Working for El Reg
We're hiring
The Register is always on the look out for talent. If you'd like to work for us, please take the time to read about our current vacancies below. If you believe you have the skills that we're looking for, send us your CV/Resume and we'll give it due attention. We're only looking for people to fill the vacancies below so please …
The Company 4 Oct 2004, 12:43
-
Patent landrush threatens Wi-Fi standards
Tim Berners-Lee demands royalty-free fix
We have examined before how patent lawsuits are threatening to stifle the adoption of wireless standards. Symbol, fresh from an intellectual property victory over rival Proxim, is the latest to assert sweeping licensing rights in 802.11 technology, while VIA is seeking to extend its proposed ‘intellectual property pool’ to WiMAX …
Wireless 4 Oct 2004, 12:45
-
BOFH tests the law of redundant supply
Episode 33 P45s at the ready
BOFH 2004 Exciting times... It seems the power supply of our webserver crapped itself and, in an excellent example of superior technology, grounded the phase for the rack - which in turn tripped the breaker and took out all the non-redundant powered systems within. The PFY is on the job in a flash having seen exactly this …
BOFH 4 Oct 2004, 12:50
-
Web to get dose of plain English
Simple as that
The Plain English Campaign is stepping up its war against linguistic obfuscation with a new campaign in association with ebiz outfit TechnoPhobia. The plan is to promote user-friendly websites which conform to the amended Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) of 1995. As of 1 October, the DDA requires, for instance, that job …
Financial News 4 Oct 2004, 13:19
-
Sex toy creates Oz airport pandemonium
'Adult novelty device' sparks security alert
A discarded vibrator at Queensland's Mackay airport caused pandemonium after cleaners noticed a rubbish bin humming in a suspicious manner, the Herald Sun reports. Cafeteria manager Lynne Bryant said: "It was rather disconcerting when the rubbish bin started humming furiously. We called security and next minute everybody was …
Bootnotes 4 Oct 2004, 13:52
-
Sage loses small business head
Brief It's musical chairs at the top...
Accounting giant Sage has lost the managing director of its small and medium business division. Adrian Grace has left the firm to take up a job elsewhere, according to a Sage spokesman. Grace has been replaced by Jo Ray - she starts her new job today. Ray was previously marketing director at Sage. Usually such moves are …
Channel Register 4 Oct 2004, 13:58
-
Sun signs Interface for Opteron dealer push
Takes aim at HP
Sun Microsystems UK has signed up Birmingham-based distie Interface Solutions to wholesale Sun servers, desktops and workstations. The two firms will particularly target HP resellers by offering Sun AMD Opteron servers and workstations. Rob Tomlin, enterprise business manager at Interface Solutions, said Sun's relationship …
Channel Register 4 Oct 2004, 14:28
-
UK gov ads warn kids of net perils
It's a jungle out there
The government has announced a new radio and web advertising campaign which warns kids of the perils of the internet. The ads are launched today to coincide with Parents Online Week, and "reflect real life scenarios" to make young users aware of the dangers of net paedophiles. Paul Goggins, the Home Office minister charged with …
Music and Media 4 Oct 2004, 14:30
-
SpaceShipOne claims X-Prize
Triumph for private space vehicle
Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne appears to have today claimed the $10m Ansari X-Prize as the first private space vehicle to successfully make two trips to above 100km within a two-week window. The triumph came on the anniversary of the 1957 launch of Sputnik - the first man-made object to leave Earth's atmosphere. The craft was …
Science 4 Oct 2004, 15:24
-
Lessig launches Creative Commons for the UK
Licences available 1 November
Larry Lessig, Professor of Law at Stanford University and all-round intellectual property guru, was in London today to announce the launch of the UK version of the Creative Commons licence. It will be available for use from 1 November, and the public consultation on the final draft begins today. Comments are invited before 18 …
Music and Media 4 Oct 2004, 15:56
-
PalmOne preps Bluetooth GPS bundle
Sat Nav market explodes
PalmOne Europe has continued its push into the emerging market for PDA-based satellite navigation systems with two new bundles. PalmOne launched its first GPS package earlier this year, pairing its Tungsten E PDA with a wired GPS receiver. The first follow-up takes the same approach, combining a colour Zire 31 device with …
Mobile 4 Oct 2004, 16:01
-
Most songs on iPods 'stolen' - Microsoft CEO
And Windows DRM will cure cancer, end war, eliminate famine
It's official. All iPod users are music thieves - according to Microsoft CEO Steve 'Monkey Boy' Ballmer. "The most common format of music on an iPod is 'stolen'," he told reporters in London today, according to a Silicon.com report. Ballmer conveniently ignores not only that there are many non-Apple music players out there, on …
Music and Media 4 Oct 2004, 16:04
-
Time to RAID PVRs, says Silicon Image
Not so dumb consumer PVRs
Silicon Image is looking to make dumb consumer storage devices a little smarter with the introduction of a new processor that adds sophisticated technology for protecting data to systems like Tivo. The company is using the fabled system-on-a-chip concept for its new SteelVine design. This basically lets a chip handle storage …
Storage 4 Oct 2004, 18:13
