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12th October 2004 Archive

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  • Apple iPod grabs 82% US retail market share

    49 percentage points up on August 2002

    Apple's iPod took 82 per cent of the US retail hard drive-based digital music player market in August, adding 18 percentage points to its share during the preceding 12 months alone. Its share of the overall digital music player market is fractionally under 42 per cent. So says US research firm NPD. August 2004's figure compares …

    Mac Channel 12 Oct 2004, 08:38

  • Teen eBay fraudster pleads guilty to £45k scam

    Another day, another eBay con

    A teenager from south Wales used eBay to steal £45,000 by selling non-existent goods, a court in Newport heard yesterday. The lad, 17, who cannot be named for legal reasons, conned more than 100 people by offering cheap phones, computers, games consoles and other electrical stuff. Although the cash was handed over, the gear …

    Music and Media 12 Oct 2004, 08:46

  • Virgin unveils 5GB mini music player

    'Plays for Sure' DRM-compatible

    Virgin will ship an own-brand 5GB HDD-based mini digital music player later this month. The device, the Virgin Player, comes from the group's US-based Virgin Electronics subsidiary. The unit plays MP3 and WMA files, and includes support for Windows Media 10's 'Janus' DRM technology, branded 'Plays for Sure', by Microsoft. That …

    Mobile 12 Oct 2004, 09:02

  • Broadcom reveals 'VoIP over Wi-Fi' chipset

    So we really don't need Agere, OK?

    Broadcom introduced its first two-chip voice-over-IP (VoIP) chipset yesterday, pitching the product at consumer Wi-Fi phones. The move also appears to send out a signal that the company really has no need to acquire rival Wi-Fi chip maker Agere, contrary to recent speculation. The chipset comprises Broadcom's new BCM1160 VoIP …

    Mobile 12 Oct 2004, 09:29

  • Global Crossing in trouble (again)

    Shares take a beating

    Global Crossing shares lost a quarter of their value yesterday after the compay announced 600 job cuts and that it needs $40m funding to get it through the year. Global Crossing shares fell $4 to $11.88 The troubled telco, which only left Chapter 11 bankrupcy protection in December, is restructuring to move away from voice …

    IT Director 12 Oct 2004, 09:44

  • Was Bush packing Wi-Fi in TV debate?

    Opinion Miraculous clarity arouses suspicion

    Wireless technology might explain why US President George W. Bush performed better than usual in the last two presidential debates with his opponent, Senator John Kerry. Unless he's reading a well-rehearsed speech, the President is normally much given to malapropisms and incoherent syntax. When confronted with questions for …

    Wireless 12 Oct 2004, 09:58

  • Elpida announces '$990m' IPO

    Share sale to fund 'world's biggest fab' expansion plan

    Memory maker Elpida today formally announced its intention to IPO, having been granted permission to do so from the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The share offering will take place 15 November and is set to raise around ¥108bn ($990m), based on an anticipated share price of ¥3400 ($31). Some 29.15m new shares will be issued, with a …

    Financial News 12 Oct 2004, 10:24

  • Business Serve buys VoIP outfit

    Pipemedia sucked in

    Lancaster-based ISP, Business Serve, has snapped up yet another trinket this time splashing out £600,000 in cash and paper for telecoms and VoIP outfit Pipemedia. Today's acquisition - which includes an extra £1.5m in performance-related payouts - is the twelfth for Business Serve over the last two years and the sixth since it …

    Telecoms 12 Oct 2004, 10:24

  • Chinese man cannot name son '@'

    You must be bloody joking @ chinagov.cn

    A man in central China has been refused permission to name his son "@" because it cannot be translated into Mandarin - as the law demands. According to the Beijing Morning Post, the nomenclative dissident from Zhengzhou argued that the symbol is in common use on keyboards and therefore fair game. Mercifully for the infant in …

    Bootnotes 12 Oct 2004, 10:33

  • Orange moots 3G delay

    Handsets better for cooking than talking

    L'Orange might delay the consumer launch of 3G handsets until after Christmas if technical glitches are not sorted out. Orange chief executive Sanjiv Ahuja told Reuters: "If the overall customer experience is not right, I would feel comfortable pushing the 3G launch to next year." He said problems would have to be sorted out by …

    Mobile 12 Oct 2004, 10:34

  • Botched maintenance - not worm - blamed for MS IM glitch

    No Funner

    MSN Messenger, Microsoft's instant message service, is back up and running this morning after a routine maintenance operation went wrong, rendering the service sporadically unavailable for three days. A glitch, which created problems logging onto the service from Saturday afternoon until Monday evening, appeared following …

    Malware 12 Oct 2004, 10:37

  • MS to launch final Windows Media Player 10 today

    Play for Sure DRM - aka 'Janus' - goes primetime

    Microsoft will announce the final version of its Windows Media 10 software today when it launches Windows XP Media Center 2005. Central to the announcement is Windows Media Player 10, which integrates MS' latest DRM technology, 'Janus', and, in a bid to appear to be nice to rivals, will include links to other online music …

    Music and Media 12 Oct 2004, 10:51

  • French cinemas to jam mobile phones

    Without blocking emergency calls

    The French government will allow cinema, theatre and restaurant owners to install technology to block mobile phone calls from their premises - so long as there is no interference with emergency calls or to phones outside the building. Industry minister Patrick Devedjian announced the change on Monday, previously the devices …

    Mobile 12 Oct 2004, 10:53

  • UK reseller sues over Great Fujitsu HDD Fiasco

    The story that won't die - unlike the MPG3xx

    A British computer dealer is suing Fujitsu over the failure of its notorious MPG3xx hard drives. Bournemouth-based Technology Europe Ltd has found a lawyer willing to take the case on a “no-win no-fee” basis. The firm bought 350 MPG3xx drives between late 2001 and September 2002 which it fitted to systems it then sold on. …

    System Builder 12 Oct 2004, 10:56

  • Seven dead in net suicide pact

    Japanese police probe web link

    Seven young Japanese found suffocated to death in a car are believed to have died as a result of an internet suicide pact, Reuters reports. The seven - four men and three women - were discovered in the vehicle in Minano, near Tokyo. The deceased sealed the car windows from the inside and lit charcoal burners. They succumbed to …

    Music and Media 12 Oct 2004, 10:58

  • NHS IT costs skyrocket

    So who's paying?

    The final cost of the NHS National Programme for IT could top £30bn, and local NHS Trusts will have to find the bulk of the extra cash. The NPfIT is a multi-billion pound overhaul of the NHS' IT systems. The government first announced £2.3bn of central funding for the project over three years. This has now risen to £6.2bn over …

    Public Sector 12 Oct 2004, 11:06

  • PayPal hit by coding glitch

    'Working furiously' on fix

    Online payment outfit PayPal has been explaining why its service has been ropey since last week, leaving users struggling to access the service. A statement on the eBay subsidiary's site reads: "A technical problem has caused intermittent availability for members attempting to use the site. Activities such as accessing account …

    Financial News 12 Oct 2004, 11:10

  • MPAA asks Supreme Court to crush P2Pers

    Overturn District Court, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals verdicts, please

    The Motion Picture Ass. of America (MPAA), along with its audio alternative, the Recording Industry Ass. of America (RIAA) are appealing against their failed appeal in a bid to make P2P software suppliers accountable for the actions of their users. Unsatisfied with the Los Angeles District Court's April 2003 ruling that, since …

    Music and Media 12 Oct 2004, 11:36

  • TechnoDepot restocks for winter offensive

    Cash'n'Carrion Lots of lovely, warm, black shirts

    Our old chums down at TechnoDepot have been busy at the silk-screen presses and have restocked their entire range of droll IT-related apparel just in time for the approach of Jack Frost. Top-quality offerings include the ever-popular There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those who don't, the …

    Site News 12 Oct 2004, 11:38

  • Toshiba Gigabeat F 60GB

    Preview HDD size is everything?

    There comes a time when you must get fed up of other people taking all the credit for your hard work, and it seems that time has come for Toshiba with the announcement that its latest hard drive - a whopping 60GB model won't be destined for the iPod has we had all predicted, but instead be saved for its own MP3 player range - …

    Reviews 12 Oct 2004, 12:37

  • Red Flag Linux plumps for Real

    RealPlayer 10 now available

    RealNetworks his week signed a deal with Red Flag Software, the top Chinese Linux distributor to license RealPlayer 10 for distribution with the Red Flag Linux desktop. This extends the existing RealPlayer lead on Linux the company says. The move was announced alongside RealPlayer 10 for Linux coming out in nine new languages, …

    Operating Systems 12 Oct 2004, 12:53

  • ComReg keeps tabs on NTL's 'overheating' phones

    Hot news

    Ireland's telecoms regulator is to keep an eye on NTL after it suspended the phone lines of 2,000 customers in Dublin because of concerns over the safety of some telecoms equipment. ComReg told NTL to minimise the disruption of those affected by seeing if other phone providers could help provide new services and to reimburse …

    Telecoms 12 Oct 2004, 12:56

  • Coral Consortium, the world's biggest DRM talking shop

    Working for interoperability

    We're not quite sure how the name Coral came to be associated with Digital Rights Management last week, as the name taken on by a group of consumer electronics companies, one computer company, a DRM specialist and one of the content majors, but perhaps it's the way a coral under water seems to branch out and connect seamlessly …

    Financial News 12 Oct 2004, 13:02

  • Linksys readies Media Center WLAN link

    Stream content to TVs, hi-fi

    Linksys today updated its PC-to-TV Wi-Fi connectivity system with a version that works with its combined 802.11a and g WLAN products and Windows XP Media Center 2005, due to be launched later today. The Wireless A/G Media Center Extender supports both 802.11a and 802.11g wireless networks - in particular Linksys' own Wireless A …

    Wireless 12 Oct 2004, 13:13

  • From DRM to Driving lessons

    Letters And rare praise for Chinese Govt's @itude

    Mostly when people write to us, the letter is very obviously a reaction to a particular article we've run on the site. Sometimes, we get a letter like this first one up today. Although this article about Steve Ballmer's vastly amusing remarks about iPod users and DRM probably prompted the sending of this letter, we suspect the …

    Letters 12 Oct 2004, 13:22

  • Sony ships 'world first' PC/PC-less DVD burner

    Just connect a VCR and go...

    Sony will next month ship what it claims is the world's first external DVD recorder that can also operate without a host computer. The DVDirect ships with a suite of Windows XP/2000 DVD authoring and CD burning tools. It hooks up a PC using a USB 2.0 link. The drive supports DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW. 'Plus' support also covers …

    Storage 12 Oct 2004, 13:47

  • Firstnet founder buys 186k, Onyx, others

    Marrocco bound

    Dominic Marrocco - who sold ISP Firstnet Services Limited to Pipex (then named GX Networks) a year ago - has bought telecoms outfit 186k from Data Centre Holdings (UK) Limited. Mr Marrocco, 31, has also acquired a major stake in Middlesborough-based Onyx Internet and snapped up two as yet unnamed ISPs and an ASP provider in his …

    Telecoms 12 Oct 2004, 13:50

  • Webroot: Spyware is Windows-only

    Macs and Linux spyware non-existent, firm claims

    Spyware, those annoying programs that snoop on a user's actions, remain a Windows-only phenomenon. Prominent anti-spyware developer Webroot says it has yet to detect a single Apple or Linux spyware app. In comparison, Webroot's Spy Sweeper software protects against 15,000 Windows threats. Although Apple and Linux server worms ( …

    Enterprise Security 12 Oct 2004, 14:25

  • Philips boasts solid Q3

    But LCDs, consumer electronics are tough

    Third quarter net income at Dutch conglomerate Philips was up by over €1bn ($1.2bn) - thanks mainly to the IPOs of Navteq and LG Philips LCD. In the three months to the end of September, net income was €1.17bn ($1.44bn), or €0.92 ($1.13) a share, compared with net income of €124m ($153m), or €0.10 ($0.12) a share, in the same …

    Financial News 12 Oct 2004, 15:13

  • Scientists learn to bend it like Beckham

    Football spin scrutinised

    David Beckham need fret no more about dodgy penalty shots, or scary pre-freekick moments. Scientists at Loughborough University have developed a system that will measure a football's speed and spin, something they say has not been accomplished before. In this article (pdf), the team describes an image recognition system that …

    Science 12 Oct 2004, 15:26

  • Beckham + strumpet pic actually Trojan

    Compromising 'snap' latest wheeze

    Virus writers have moved on from using Osama bin Laden's or Arnold Schwarzenegger's supposed suicides as a lure to trying a similar trick involving "compromising pictures" of football superstar David Beckham. VXers have seeded multiple Usenet groups with messages claiming that they have photographic proof Becks (AKA Golden …

    Malware 12 Oct 2004, 15:31

  • Google goes Froogle in the UK

    Retail therapy

    Google, the search-engine-cum-advertising broker, has launched a UK beta version of its Froogle catalogue search site. Froogle is a natural extension of Google's sponsored links and advertising. Search for an item and it'll return a list of UK retailers that sell it somewhere online, along with related paid-for advertising. The …

    Financial News 12 Oct 2004, 16:42

  • EMC makes run for SMBs with Dantz buy

    Another day, another acquisition

    EMC has made yet another software acquisition, picking up Dantz Development Corp. today for help in the backup market. Dantz is the 15th software maker EMC has picked up since 2000, along with big names such as VMware and Legato. Dantz should give EMC an edge in the small- to medium-sized business market - a space traditionally …

    Storage 12 Oct 2004, 18:20

  • IBM slays Shark, intros Power5 storage monster

    It came from the Deep Blue

    IBM has hit out against EMC and Hitachi with a pair of new storage systems meant to revitalize the high-end of its product line. Come December, customers will be able to start purchasing the DS6000 and DS8000 systems - IBM's marketing department clearly pays little attention to the storage side of the house. These boxes will …

    Storage 12 Oct 2004, 21:57

  • Developers finger Google's text service

    Analysis Cheaper than 411. So who cuts the cake?

    When The New York Times leaked Google's intentions to create a branded mobile phone handset earlier this year, executives were furious, and heads rolled. Incredibly, the outrage wasn't synthetic. Only in a backwater like California - where the entrepreneurial, technological and social awareness of mobile phones lags slightly …

    Mobile 12 Oct 2004, 23:33

  • Laptops, servers buoy Intel's results

    Bobbing along

    Laptop and server processor sales helped Intel deliver a moderately successful third quarter. Th chip giant posted $8.5bn in revenue for the period, which is a 8 per cent rise over the same period last year. The total is also in line with a forecast provided by Intel in September when the company lowered its revenue expectations …

    Financial News 12 Oct 2004, 23:34