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6th October 2004 Archive

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  • IT managers hate buggy software

    Shock results from small survey

    Pressure to get to market at the lowest possible cost means that much software is released too early and in an unfinished and untested condition. This, according to The Corporate IT Forum (tif), is the view of three-quarters of its members, many of whom are senior IT managers and directors across Europe. Although tif has around …

    Management 6 Oct 2004, 07:33

  • Orange's big push into push-to-talk

    From Guildford to Guadeloupe

    How about this for a business idea? Take a very useful service, like mobile phones, make it less good by making it one-way, like a walkie-talkie. Charge more for it. Make it jumpy, more expensive to run, and only available in half the country. Call it something baffling like say, push-to-talk, which is a pretty good description …

    Mobile 6 Oct 2004, 07:40

  • AMD dual-core Opterons gain SSE 3 support

    Prescott New Instructions coming to AMD64

    AMD's dual-core AMD64 chips will provide instructions compatible with Intel's SSE 3 technology, the chip maker announced at the Microprocessor Forum yesterday. SSE 3 debuted with the 90nm Pentium 4 processor, 'Prescott', in February 2004. So far, AMD's 64-bit processors support the original Streaming SIMD Extensions and SSE 2 …

    System Builder 6 Oct 2004, 09:22

  • Reg in free (ish) wine giveaway

    Cash'n'Carrion Sign up for newsletter, get £20 Virgin plonk voucher

    We're delighted to announce today that we have established a new Cash'n'Carrion merchandising email newsletter. This gives readers the chance to take advantage of discounted previews of new lines, exclusive offers and other tantalising apparel teasers. It's pretty simple - sign up here for our monthly mailshot and you will …

    Site News 6 Oct 2004, 09:39

  • ATI readies 'Rialto' PCIE-to-AGP bridge chip

    Update Paves way for Radeon X800 XT on AGP?

    To date, ATI executives have skirted around the issue of providing AGP versions of the company's currently PCI Express-only top-end graphics chips, neither confessing plans to release, say, a Radeon X800 XT AGP nor, more importantly, ruling it out. Currently, say company staffers, the AGP-based Radeon 9800 family is satisfying …

    System Builder 6 Oct 2004, 10:10

  • 3G VAT appeal goes to Europe

    We'd like a rebate on those licences, please

    UK mobile operators seeking billions of pounds in tax rebates on their 3G licences will have their case heard before the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. The operators claim that the cost of the 3G licences included VAT, and that they should be able to reclaim that money from the government. In total, the operators …

    Mobile 6 Oct 2004, 10:21

  • Gasping for a pint? Text GOODPUB

    Life-saving service for Morris dancers

    Imagine this nightmare scenario: you and your Morris-dancing mates are in the minibus having just completed a seven-hour stick-bashing session at the Little Pizzle Cyder Fayre. Your throats are drier than a silica gel maker's handshake, the Hobby Horse needs the loo sharpish and the heavily-embearded driver has been struck by …

    Mobile 6 Oct 2004, 10:37

  • SiS readies November AMD PCIE chipset launch

    Volume production of discrete part scheduled

    SiS will next month join ATI, Nvidia and VIA in becoming a supplier of PCI Express chipsets for AMD processors. November will see the company commence volume production of its SiS761 North Bridge, which will support a PCI Express x16 bus for the addition of an external graphics card. Following the SiS716, the company plans to …

    System Builder 6 Oct 2004, 10:41

  • Transmeta: 2GHz Efficeon to offer SSE 3 support

    Intel rivals gain Prescott New Instructions

    Transmeta will launch an updated version of its 90nm Efficeon TM8800 processor later this year that supports Intel's SSE 3 instructions, the company said yesterday. AMD's 90nm 64-bit processors are set to support SSE 3 technology, which was introduced in February 2004 with the debut of Intel's 90nm Pentium 4 processor, ' …

    Business 6 Oct 2004, 11:11

  • Oi, Chav! Check out me website!

    A user guide to Britain's new ruling class

    Those readers who are from the Garden of England™ - aka Kent - will be more than familiar with "Chavs". Or, if you prefer, Neds, Townies, Kevs, Charvers, Steeks, Spides, Bazzas, Yarcos, Ratboys, Kappa Slappers, Skangers, Scutters, Janners, Stigs, Scallies and Hood Rats. Our non-UK readership will have to bear with us for a …

    Bootnotes 6 Oct 2004, 11:30

  • Carphone Warehouse rings up higher sales

    Leap in new connections

    Europe's biggest mobile phone retailer, Carphone Warehouse, said in a trading update today that sales are up on the back of a 25 per cent leap in new connections. The UK-headquartered company, which runs over 1,300 shops across Europe, said that pre-pay connections were up by almost 30 per cent in the 13 weeks to 25 September, …

    Financial News 6 Oct 2004, 11:38

  • eBay asks for new patent trial

    Difference of opinion over infringement

    eBay has asked an appeals court for a new trial over claims that its online auction house infringes patents held by Virginia-based MercExchange. After a month-long trial last year, a jury ruled that eBay's direct sales transactions, the "buy it now" option, did involve an already patented process. The court ordered eBay to pay …

    Developer 6 Oct 2004, 12:37

  • Kalido repackages product set

    Kalido M makes debut

    Kalido has recently announced Kalido 8. For those of you unfamiliar with Kalido, which is pronounced as in kaleidoscope, it is a spin-off from Shell. At the product’s heart is a data warehousing solution that provides an associative layer on top of the warehouse itself. This allows you to implement and change business models …

    Applications 6 Oct 2004, 12:41

  • Fujitsu Siemens hails H1 growth

    Clawing market share

    Fujitsu Siemens Computers had a good first half year with sales up 15 per cent between April and September to €2.56bn, compared with last year. Pre-tax profits climbed 60 per cent to €18m. Which is nice, but profits should be much bigger for a company of Fujitsu Siemens' size. Even if it is in the cut-throat computer hardware …

    Business 6 Oct 2004, 12:47

  • Ballmer calls for horse-based attack on Star Office

    'Email me immediately and we’ll send in the cavalry'

    Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer told resellers at the European Partner conference that anyone in danger of losing business to Star Office should email him and he would send in the cavalry. In a question and answer session after his closing speech a delegate asked what he should do faced with public sector customers …

    Applications 6 Oct 2004, 13:24

  • T-Mobile boosts public WLAN security

    Adds 802.1x to protect business data

    T-Mobile has begun using 802.1x security to authenticate users logging on to its US pubic Wi-Fi hotspots in a bid to make it harder for hackers to obtain legitimate users' names and passwords. The move replaces the company's traditional web-based login system with an updated version of its own utility, Connection Manager, or …

    Broadband 6 Oct 2004, 13:46

  • IBM launches Websphere 6

    Bigger, better, Bluer

    IBM today announced that Websphere 6, the long awaited-update to its application server software, will be available by the end of the year. It has been two years since the last rollout, and IBM has used the time to stuff this next version full of new features. Websphere 6 has been designed to detect problems - like power supply …

    Developer 6 Oct 2004, 13:51

  • Wi-Fi hotspots hit with page redirect royalty claim

    Patent owner demands cash

    US wireless internet service providers have been hit with demands for hefty royalty payments from an intellectual property exploitation company claiming it owns gateway page redirection. Acacia Technologies last week began sending details of a patent it owns which details the process by which a WISP's servers redirect connected …

    Broadband 6 Oct 2004, 14:20

  • Indie music label rejects lock-down CDs

    'NO copy protection - respect the music'

    A European indie music label is taking an unusual approach to the issue of CD copy protection - it is branding all its releases with a sticker proclaiming the absence of any such control measure. While the major labels and other indie labels are considering the use of copy-protected CDs in order to prevent disc contents being …

    Media 6 Oct 2004, 14:47

  • CA forks out $430m for Netegrity

    Security play

    Computer Associates (CA) is to acquire Netegrity, a computer security firm in an all-cash deal valued at $430m, or $10.75 per fully diluted share. The deal sees the company add to its security product portfolio, following the $50m purchase of anti-spyware firm PestPatrol, this August. CA last week announced 800 redundancies in …

    Financial News 6 Oct 2004, 16:26

  • Virus writers seek cash from chaos

    Capitalist pigs

    Last month Trend Micro, the anti-virus firm, recorded a six-fold increase in malware compared to September 2003. It detected 1,485 new items of malware last month, compared to 250 new types of malicious code in the same period last year. TrendLabs attributes the increase in malware to a change of motives among virus writers. …

    Security 6 Oct 2004, 17:52

  • McNealy: Microsoft needs Sun to beat IBM and Red Hat

    It's business, not a conspiracy

    Whatever pleasantries once existed between Sun Microsystems and Red Hat have vanished. This won't come as a shock to many of you. The companies have been jawing in the press for some time. The extent, however, of Sun's loathing for Red Hat is more profound than many imagine, with Sun's CEO Scott McNealy largely confirming a …

    Operating Systems 6 Oct 2004, 18:15

  • Mobile add-ons star in SUSE LINUX Professional 9.2

    Fireworks promised with November release

    Novell today announced the November release of SUSE LINUX Professional 9.2, described as an all-in-one Linux product suitable for both Linux newbies and technical enthusiasts. SUSE LINUX Professional 9.2 will come with latest open source functionality, including 2.6 Linux kernel enhancements and the KDE 3.3 and GNOME 2.6 desktop …

    Operating Systems 6 Oct 2004, 20:22

  • Open-source IP Telephony slashes costs

    LinuxWorld Linux guru predicts 'next big thing'

    IP Telephony systems based on open source technology will eclipse revenues from Linux over the next two years, a leading open source guru predicted today. Jon 'Maddog' Hall, president of Linux International, told delegates at the LinuxWorld conference in London today that open source VoIP technology, such as Asterisk, would …

    Applications 6 Oct 2004, 20:26

  • BBC wants help developing open source video codec

    LinuxWorld Dirac attack

    The BBC demoed an early version of an open source codec it hopes will give proprietary video technology a serious run for its money at the LinuxWorld exhibition today. Dirac, currently alpha software, can deliver equivalent results using only 50 per cent of the bandwidth needed for video files encoded using the MPEG-2 format, …

    Developer 6 Oct 2004, 20:31