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29th November 2004 Archive

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  • Youth jailed for court camera phone pics

    Six months to think about it

    A nineteen year-old has been given a six month custodial sentence for using his camera phone to take pictures in court. Shaun Nash, who was at a Bristol Crown Court for the robbery trial of a friend, was taking pictures and videoing proceedings from the public gallery. One of the jurors noticed what he was doing, and the trial …

    Mobile 29 Nov 2004, 09:31

  • China moots foreign software crackdown

    It's a local shop, for local people...

    Microsoft has reportedly lost a contract to supply Beijing council with software. The $3.5m deal was announced last week and was heavily criticised by local software providers and government officials. They called on local authorities to do more to support local software companies. The contract is now on hold, Hong Kong business …

    Operating Systems 29 Nov 2004, 09:57

  • World chip sales edge up in October

    PC chip inventory correction over?

    Worldwide chips sales hit $18.8bn in October, up 1.5 per cent on September's total, possibly a sign the industry may be moving out of the mini downturn that it has suffered through the most of the latter half of 2004. Or possibly not - the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), which published the October sales figure this …

    PCs 29 Nov 2004, 10:28

  • Kazaa trial opens with 'massive piracy' claim

    Sharman 'encouraged' illegal file-trading, lawyers allege

    Kazaa owner Sharman Networks was back in the Australian Federal Court in Sydney today facing allegations that it had not only created the world's largest music piracy network, but also knew for what illegal purpose its software was being put and even encouraged such usage. So stated lawyers acting for the world's four biggest …

    Media 29 Nov 2004, 10:30

  • PCCW to spend £21m on UK wireless broadband

    60 base stations

    Hong Kong-based telco PCCW Ltd is to splash out US$40m (£21m) on wireless broadband in the UK next year. Speaking to the South China Morning Post PCCW deputy chairman Jack So Chak-kwong said the cash would be used to establish up to 60 base stations in the UK although he declined to say exactly where or when. PCCW has so far …

    Broadband 29 Nov 2004, 10:33

  • QXL sells itself for £12m

    Management buyout

    Online auctioneer QXL looks set to be sold to its managers for £12m. The offer values the firm at £11.9m, or 700p per share. QXL shares jumped to 670p on the news. Jim Rose and Tom Power - QXL's independent directors - both recomend the offer. The company was launched by ex-journo Tim Jackson in 1997, before eBay landed in the …

    Financial News 29 Nov 2004, 11:04

  • IBM, Sony to detail 'Cell' PS3 CPU February 2005

    Massively parallel, 64-bit POWER-based processor to debut at ISSCC

    IBM, Sony and Toshiba - the three companies behind the 'Cell' microprocessor - will formally detail the chip's workings at the International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) on 6 February 2005, the trio said today. IBM and Sony also said they were now ready to announce the promised Cell-based workstation, which should …

    Consoles 29 Nov 2004, 11:17

  • Sony points to 2006 PS3 ship date

    Cell production timeline indicates PS3 release

    Sony's PlayStation 3 will not appear until 2006 at the earliest, the company tacitly confirmed today. The company's joint announcement with IBM and Toshiba that the PS3's processor, 'Cell', will be detailed at February 2005's International Solid State Circuits Conference focuses on the chip's features. However, it also notes …

    Consoles 29 Nov 2004, 11:48

  • SCO hacked in apparent IP protest

    'We own all your code - pay us all your money'

    Visitors to SCO's website this morning were treated to a rare moment of corporate self-awareness after hackers apparently replaced an image linking to the undoubtedly scintillating "Extending Legacy Applications and Databases to the Web and Wireless Devices with SCOx Web Services Substrate" with a graphic bearing the rather more …

    Security 29 Nov 2004, 12:06

  • easyMobile set for March launch

    T-Mobile confirmed as network operator

    A new discount mobile telephone business from the man behind no-frills airline easyJet is set to open for business next March following confirmation today that T-Mobile is to be the network operator for easyMobile service. The mobile service is to be run by Danish telecoms outfit - TDC - based on a wholesale service from T- …

    Mobile 29 Nov 2004, 12:20

  • Dutch actress's breasts confound doubters

    X-ray proof of authenticity

    Dutch actress Georgina Verbaan has confounded those critics who doubted the authenticity of her mams by publishing impressive x-ray profiles of the suspect assets on her website - as promised last week. The results are conclusive proof that the 25-year-old did not surgically enhance her jubs in advance of a €200,000 photo shoot …

    Media 29 Nov 2004, 12:26

  • New lab to study mobile mast risks

    Essex uni health project

    A new electromagnetics and health laboratory will open today at the University of Essex. The lab will house a system, designed by Cellular Design Services (CDS), that will be used to study the effects of mobile phone masts on human health. The Department of Health awarded Sussex-based CDS a £100,000 contract to design and …

    Mobile 29 Nov 2004, 12:37

  • Blair's broadband scheme canned

    The ADITs have 'ad it

    The Government's broadband plans are in tatters today following the implosion of a key strategy designed to aggregate public sector demand for broadband. In January, nine regional Government bodies (ADITS) and an umbrella organisation at the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) began work pooling £1bn of public sector …

    Broadband 29 Nov 2004, 12:55

  • Creative Zen Micro 5GB music player

    Reg review Mobile phone styling comes to the MP3 world

    Some market watchers say that mobile phones will eventually supersede standalone MP3 players. Creative's latest device certainly anticipates such a move, in design if not functionality. If ever there was a digital music player that looks and feels like a handset, it's the Zen Micro (ZM). With it's compact size, gently curvaceous …

    Reviews 29 Nov 2004, 13:18

  • Major studios back HD DVD

    Owners of 45 per cent of US pre-recorded disc market signed

    Warner, Paramount, Universal and New Line Cinema have all agreed to issue movies in the upcoming HD DVD format, the disc's co-creator, Toshiba, said today. The four represent 45 per cent of the major studios' DVD output in the US, the Japanese giant said. Pre-recorded HD DVDs are at least a year away, but with Sony …

    Storage 29 Nov 2004, 13:49

  • iTunes, Band Aid battle over Xmas song price

    CD sales will be huge in any case

    Apple has refused to offer the re-recorded Band Aid single Do They Know It's Christmas? because the charity won't let it sell the track at its standard price. While the song is available from other digital music suppliers for £1.49, Apple told the Band Aid Trust that it was unwilling to offer the song for more than the 79p it …

    Mac Channel 29 Nov 2004, 14:45

  • BIG has a pop at BT dominance

    Report sticks the boot in

    The Broadband Industry Group (BIG) reckons Ofcom's got a tough job ahead knocking BT down to size and opening up the UK's telecoms market to competition. In a report published today BIG - made up of Cable & Wireless, Centrica, Energis, Wanadoo, Tiscali and Brightview - concludes that BT "maintains an alarming 90 per cent …

    Broadband 29 Nov 2004, 14:52

  • Autonomy offers desktop search

    For things that are right under your nose

    UK search specialist Autonomy is joining the battle for searching on corporate desktops by launching IDOL Enterprise Desktop Search. Google and Microsoft have both announced desktop search engines in recent months. Autonomy uses Active Folders which automatically update themselves with relevant information. The folders will …

    Software 29 Nov 2004, 15:53

  • Germans crucify Jesus on mobile mast

    Bavarians unimpressed by Calvary antenna

    A new solution to "mast hysteria" might be (they think in Germany) to make phone antennae look more like religious icons. As Deutsche Welle shows, you can go too far. "The latter crosses the line for some congregations," wrote the news site.Yes, but does it solve mast hysteria? For €25,000, you can get a crucifix (the item …

    Mobile 29 Nov 2004, 16:13

  • Is Microsoft creating tomorrow's IE security holes today?

    Opinion Seeds of disaster

    Internet Explorer's problems can be traced to Microsoft's shortsightedness during the browser wars of the 1990s. Is the company sowing tomorrow's security woes today? One day early last summer, I looked out my window and saw my neighbor planting a seedling just two feet from the side of his house. I knew that decades from now …

    Security 29 Nov 2004, 16:16

  • MS wins Isle of Man government IT deal

    Open Source didn't make the shortlist

    The Isle of Man government is to migrate its IT infrastructure onto the Windows Server 2003 platform. It has begun the move from its current mix of Novell, Sun and UNIX and expects to complete the transfer by 2006. The contract with Microsoft covers around 200 application servers. Allan Paterson, director of information systems …

    Applications 29 Nov 2004, 17:25

  • UK's biggest spammer goes AWOL

    Peter Francis-Macrae wanted by the police and Nominet

    Britain's most prolific spammer, 23-year-old Peter Francis-Macrae, is on the run from both the police and UK domain registry Nominet after he finally pushed his luck too far. Francis-Macrae, who lives in the small town of St Neots in Cambridgeshire with his father, failed to turn up to a hearing at Huntington Magistrates court …

    Security 29 Nov 2004, 17:40

  • Work begins on Hubble's replacement

    Mirrors for the James Webb telescope

    Work has begun on the primary mirror of the James Webb Space Telescope at a new, state-of-the-art facility in Alabama. The mirror pieces will be shaped, but not polished, in a $1.2m, 20,000 square foot facility opened this month. The primary mirror is 6.5m in diameter, and composed of 18 hexagonal pieces. Each of these 1.3m …

    Science 29 Nov 2004, 18:01

  • Sun snacks on SevenSpace's software services

    Ready to outsource

    Sun Microsystems today made a somewhat unusual move by acquiring a small software outsourcing firm - SevenSpace. Sun is looking to have SevenSpace operate as part of its managed services business. SevenSpace specializes in managing business software such as Oracle, SAP, PeopleSoft and BEA on a wide variety of operating systems …

    Software 29 Nov 2004, 18:40