The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

27th October 2004 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

  • EDS polishes 9,000 gold watches

    Anyone fancy early retirement?

    EDS is offering 9,000 workers early retirement as it struggles to control costs. The services giant said yesterday it was delaying posting its accounts until it can work out how much it has lost providing the US Navy with a new intranet. The firm is hoping about 4,600 employees, out of 9,000 who are eligible, will take up the …

    IT Director 27 Oct 2004, 07:36

  • Broadcom nicks Philips boss

    Chip head jumps ship

    Chip maker Broadcom has poached the boss of arch-rival chip maker Philips. From 3 January next year Scott A McGregor will take over the jobs of president and chief executive from current incumbent Alan E "Lanny" Ross. He also joins the Broadcom board. McGregor announced his retirement from Philips Semiconductors last month and …

    Business 27 Oct 2004, 08:19

  • Apple opens Euro iTunes stores

    Update Canadian store in November

    Apple has launched the iTunes Music Store's pan-Europe incarnation, as it promised to do last June when it opened UK, French and German online stores. And the company said it would open a Canadian store in November. The new version, which was heralded in September by Apple's ITMS chief, Eddy Cue, targets Italian, Dutch, …

    Music and Media 27 Oct 2004, 08:20

  • When Dinosaur telcos ruled the Earth

    Cingular megamerger prompts VoIP warning

    If you need a guide to the future of telecoms, it seems, just remember the old anarchist joke: "Whoever you vote for, the government gets in." In this case, it doesn't seem to matter how "revolutionary" or "disruptive" the technology is that's giving Emergent pundits a hard-on this month; for at the end of the day, the dinosaur …

    Telecoms 27 Oct 2004, 08:33

  • iTrip FM beamer back in black for U2 iPod

    The dark side

    With a pledge to make your car... er... "rattle and hum", hip accessory maker Griffin Technology has released a "none more black" version of its iTrip FM broadcaster pitched (geddit?!?!) at the new U2 edition iPod. The iTrip plugs onto the iPod and when tuned to a (relatively) empty band of the FM radio spectrum transmits the …

    Mac Channel 27 Oct 2004, 08:42

  • AT&T and Cingular tie the knot

    Down the aisle at last

    Cingular Wireless has finally taken over AT&T Wireless, making it the largest mobile carrier in the US. The new firm has 46m customers who will see no immediate changes to charges or tariffs. AT&T shareholders will get $15 per share, valuing the telco at $41bn. Stan Sigman, chief exec of Cingular, promised customers bigger …

    Telecoms 27 Oct 2004, 08:45

  • Schoolkids need science, says Royal Society prez

    Scientific reasoning a 'critical skill'

    The president of the Royal Society has told the government that scientific reasoning must be a core part of school education up until the age of 19. Lord May of Oxford said that he was alarmed that the government had not explicitly committed to tackle the crisis in science in the proposed diploma system for 14 to 19 year olds. …

    Science 27 Oct 2004, 08:49

  • Scammers fined £125k for premium-rate fraud

    Watchdog bites pair of 'free holiday' outfits

    Premium rate watchdog ICSTIS has fined two companies a total of £125,000 for running scam telephone services that ripped off punters. Reading-based Power Promotions copped a £75,000 penalty for a dodgy service that offered consumers a bogus "free" holiday worth £2,000. Punters complained that they received spam phone calls …

    Mobile 27 Oct 2004, 09:07

  • China Netcom drops IPO share price

    Fading interest in Chinese companies

    China's second largest fixed line telco has cut the likely price of shares in its Initial Public Offering (IPO). US shares in China Netcom will go on sale for between $20.24 and $23.12. Netcom is selling 47m American Depositary Shares, representing 941.39m ordinary shares. This values the company at about $1bn, substantially …

    Financial News 27 Oct 2004, 09:26

  • Global smart phone sales soar

    PalmOne leads in the US - Nokia everywhere else

    Worldwide sales of mobile phones and other handheld devices rocketed during Q3, market watchers reported this week, but its clear that its voice-enabled machines that are winning the hearts and minds of most consumers. According to Canalys, mobile device shipments grew 83 per cent in that quarter compared to Q3 2003. While PDA …

    Mobile 27 Oct 2004, 09:58

  • Cassini glimpses Titan's face

    First surface features emerge

    The first pictures from Cassini's fly-by of Titan have been beamed back to Earth. The pictures reveal glimpses of surface features, with some clearly delineated dark and light areas tantalising the earth-bound scientists. According to Associated Press reports, NASA's imaging team leader, Carolyn Porco, described the pictures …

    Science 27 Oct 2004, 10:25

  • Virus experts fret over Myfip

    Previously-unknown packing utility

    The Myfip worm which was discovered in the wild a month ago is starting to spread, according to email security firm MessageLabs. The worm assumes the guise of an email from a webmaster at eBay. The email asks the recipient to take part in a 'Multiple Item Auction' with the chance of winning a prize. But the worm's most worrying …

    Malware 27 Oct 2004, 10:26

  • Man erects 10ft origami penis

    World-beating paper phallus wows London

    Pornogamist Nick Robinson - practitioner of saucy paper-folding and author of new guide Adult Origami - has wowed Londoners by pulling off the world's biggest paper penis outside the city's London Assembly building. Robinson took half-an-hour to erect the 10ft phallus, after which he delighted tourists and locals alike by …

    Bootnotes 27 Oct 2004, 10:27

  • Bush website adopts isolationist stance

    Non-US-based surfers locked out

    International access to the official re-election website of Us President George W. Bush (www.georgewbush.com) has been blocked. Surfers from outside the US trying to reach the site receive an "access denied" message. Netcraft reports that the site, hosted at SmarTech Corporation, began using the Akamai content distribution …

    Music and Media 27 Oct 2004, 10:30

  • World mobile phone shipments up 25%

    Upgrades, emerging markets drive Q3 volumes up

    World+Dog bought more mobile phones during Q3 2004, market watcher Strategy Analytics (SA) said this week. Shipments from vendors reached 168m units, up 24.7 per cent from the year-ago quarter. The researcher reaffirmed its earlier forecast that some 670m handsets will ship worldwide in 2004. It said the Q3 shipments were led …

    Mobile 27 Oct 2004, 10:33

  • AOL UK cuts cost of broadband

    Follows Wanadoo and BT

    AOL UK has cut the cost of its entry-level broadband service following in the footsteps of similar moves by big-boy rivals BT and Wanadoo UK. Its 256k service - AOL Broadband Silver - now costs £17.99 a month, down from £19.99 a month. The service is uncapped, comes with no upfront fees and also benefits from a free customer …

    Telecoms 27 Oct 2004, 10:35

  • Airborne blogger has wings clipped

    Delta Airlines suspends snap-happy trolley dolly

    A Delta Airlines air stewardess has been suspended without pay for including photos of her in airline uniform on her weblog. She received no warning or request to remove the pictures until she was called to a meeting 6 October and suspended without pay or health benefits. Delta described the photos as "inappropriate" and said …

    Music and Media 27 Oct 2004, 10:39

  • Sony to ship PlayStation Portable for under $200

    PSP debut set for 12 December, company says

    Sony will ship the PlayStation Portable for ¥20,790 ($195), the Japanese consumer electronics giant said today. The PSP-1000 - to give the device its official model number - will go in sale on 12 December, achieving Sony's goal of shipping the handheld by the end of the year. It is due to debut in the US and Europe by the end …

    Consoles 27 Oct 2004, 10:57

  • Blunkett sets out store on compulsory ID cards

    To ship with passports, new agency to run scheme

    The Home Office today confirmed, as first reported here, that the UK national ID card is to be issued alongside passports.* This effectively pre-empts a future Parliamentary decision on whether or not they should be made compulsory, because anyone who needs to renew their passport will be 'volunteered'. The move, which comes …

    Music and Media 27 Oct 2004, 12:16

  • NASA's Columbia benchmarks 43 teraflops

    Just in time for new Top 500 list

    NASA's Project Columbia supercomputer, which went online yesterday, has clocked a top speed of 42.7 teraflops, or 42.7 trillion floating point calculations per second. Recent progress in the super computing field means that the current Top 500 list of the world's best performing super computers is well and truly out of date. …

    Science 27 Oct 2004, 12:42

  • Nildram launches SDSL promo

    Incentive scheme

    Nildram - part of Pipex Communications - has cut the cost of SDSL in a bid to stimulate the take-up of the business broadband product. So far, the take-up of Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL) - which is aimed at SMEs that need to send (as well as receive) large amounts of data - has been patchy. Nildram hopes that its …

    Telecoms 27 Oct 2004, 12:48

  • Big.biz struggles against security threats

    It's all a bit of a worry, says security consultancy

    Most large companies are struggling to protect themselves against security threats, a survey from security consultancy NetSec published today reveals. Failure to patch and update systems effectively after the identification of known threats is the single largest operational risk UK-based companies with operations overseas and …

    Enterprise Security 27 Oct 2004, 12:54

  • ATI trounces Nvidia in desktop, mobile, integrated markets

    Intel still ahead of them both...

    Mercury Research will today publish market data putting ATI well ahead of its arch-rival Nvidia in the graphics chip business. Both, however, are still some way behind the market leader, Intel. Mercury's numbers put Intel's Q3 market share at 39 per cent, up a single percentage point over the previous quarter, separate well- …

    Peripherals 27 Oct 2004, 13:50

  • Orange Mobile Office 3G data card

    Review Broadband on the move?

    Vodafone's Mobile Connect 3G data card is an invaluable tool for anyone who needs to stay connected on the move. One of the things that make the Mobile Connect so great are reduced connection prices. The reason for the drop in tariffs was increased competition, in particular from Orange's Mobile Office Card, writes Riyad Emeran …

    Reviews 27 Oct 2004, 14:17

  • HDTVs and iPods set to be Xmas crackers

    Yule gadgets and gizmos

    High-definition televisions (HDTVs), plasma TVs and iPods are set to become the must-have electronic Christmas gifts this year, according to a report by Forrester. Its survey of gadget lovers in the US and Europe found that digital gear is once again set to pour out of shops in the run-up to the annual shopping splurge. As well …

    Personal 27 Oct 2004, 14:20

  • Hospital networks Wi-Fi patients

    Tracking system promises to reduce medical errors

    A UK hospital is tagging patients with Wi-Fi transmitters and tracking their movements with a wireless network in a bid to reduce medical errors and reduce litigation costs. When patients arrive for an operation at the Heartlands Hospital in the Midlands, they will be snapped with a digital camera and tagged with a transmitter. …

    Wireless 27 Oct 2004, 14:32

  • iPass to link phones, PDAs to corporate LANs

    Buys Mobile Automation for device security code

    Corporate remote access provider iPass this week announced a move into the mobile device management sector after revealing rising Q3 revenue and income. For the three months to 30 September 2004, iPass realised revenues of $41.9m, up 3.7 per cent on the previous quarter and 19.7 per cent on Q3 2003's $35m. Q3's sales yielded $5 …

    Data Networking 27 Oct 2004, 15:04

  • Introducing the fighting, drug-taking virtual footballer

    Football Deluxe - just like the real thing

    Argentinian computer games publisher Evolution is developing a football management game that presents a "warts-and-all-version" of the beautiful game. Football Deluxe players have to contend with fights on the training ground, financial problems and demanding fans as well as the team strategy decisions that are the mainstay of …

    Consoles 27 Oct 2004, 15:12

  • Wobbly Aussies fail squat-to-pee test

    Westerners' imbalance ruins research programme

    Australian research into the perfect peeing position has faltered because a third of the study's volunteers couldn't squat properly. Apparently, a third of the 100 women who were taking part couldn't hold the squat position for even 30 seconds before falling over, leading the researchers to conclude that Westerners cannot squat …

    Science 27 Oct 2004, 15:53

  • Dell pushes Linux into the data centre

    Going a bundle on SUSE Enterprise 9

    Dell is to certify and pre-install Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 on select Dell PowerEdge servers worldwide, the system vendor announced today. The deal, an extension of the previously announced relationship between the two companies, means Dell customers will be able to buy Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 with …

    Servers 27 Oct 2004, 15:54

  • Spanish MP3 site owner to pay RIAA $10m

    Puretunes.com settles lawsuit

    Four men who attempted to use what they believed was a loophole in Spanish law to allow them to sell MP3s online legally, along with the company behind the site they ran, have agreed to pay music labels $10.5m to settle the copyright infringement case brought against them by the Recording Industry Ass. of America (RIAA). The …

    Music and Media 27 Oct 2004, 16:28

  • Bush website conspiracy theories darken skies

    Black helicopters circle Vulture Central

    The official Bush re-election website - which blocked access to most of the world outside the US this week - is still visible to Canadians. We don't know if it's fears about future attacks by hackers, concerns about keeping bandwidth costs to a minimum or an aggressive response to pinko UK broadsheet The Guardian's recent …

    Music and Media 27 Oct 2004, 16:33