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16th December 2004 Archive

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  • HP confirms that Itanium is Intel's responsibility

    You deal with it

    HP and Intel have confirmed earlier reports that located a massive migration of HP Itanium boat people making their way to Intel. True to speculation, Intel has agreed to hire hundreds of HP's Itanium engineers working at a Ft. Collins, Colorado facility. This move puts all of Itanium's future development in Intel's hands and …

    Servers 16 Dec 2004, 08:01

  • BT appoints phone Czar

    'Arranging deckchairs'

    BT has appointed a director of Wholesale Line Rental (WLR) to liaise with the industry and regulator Ofcom concerning the development of a genuine wholesale voice telephony service. At the moment, many rival telephone services such Tele2 One.Tel and Centrica already provide alternative phone services to some 4.5m end users. …

    Telecoms 16 Dec 2004, 09:32

  • Websites strain under net traffic load

    I can't stand up for falling down

    Internet traffic overload is putting a severe strain on ecommerce websites. A survey of 1,900 global companies published yesterday reveals that 86 per cent of organisations saw an increase in Internet traffic over the last year. Much of the extra traffic came from website transactions. As well as greater website activity (78 …

    Data Networking 16 Dec 2004, 09:38

  • Clarke takes charge of Blunkett's Fear Agenda

    Analysis Horizontal drinkers rejoice

    British Home Secretary David Blunkett's resignation last night casts doubt over his ambitious and controversial plan to implement a compulsory biometric ID card scheme. The plan has been deemed "technologically impossible" by the Government's own IT chief. Blunkett was also viewed as Tony Blair's most senior political ally. He …

    Music and Media 16 Dec 2004, 09:39

  • Apple ships Mac OS X update

    10.3.7 fixes bugs, fills security holes

    Apple has released Mac OS X 10.3.7, the latest version of its Panther operating system. The 26MB upgrade to version 10.3.6 is available now via the OS' Software Update control panel and from Apple's support web site. A separate installer, designed to take any previous Panther release up to the new version is also available here …

    Mac Channel 16 Dec 2004, 09:40

  • US FCC to rethink in-flight mobile phone rules

    New ground to air data links coming too

    The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) did not issue a ruling this week that finally permit in-flight Wi-Fi - contrary to hundreds of reports on the Internet and elsewhere. The FCC's ruling covers something altogether different, but that didn't stop a host of non-technical hacks claiming that the organisation's ruling …

    Mobile 16 Dec 2004, 10:22

  • US broadband blimp test flight planned next month

    Georgia Stratellites

    Way back in September 1998, we reported on a plan to provide cities with blanket wireless data coverage using base-stations mounted on cheap aeroplane rather than expensive satellites. The company behind the scheme, St. Louis, Missouri-based Angel Technologies, calls the system Halo, and has been quietly developing the system …

    Wireless 16 Dec 2004, 11:13

  • Laptops cause infertility: official

    Attack of the ‘nad-roasting killer PCs

    Pretty well every IT news site worth its salt has in the last week reported on the chilling conclusions of a report in the Oxford Journals online into the long-term effects of laptop use on male fertility. To summarise, laptops roast your gonads and that will be an end to your reproductive career unless you take immediate …

    Bootnotes 16 Dec 2004, 11:18

  • You can't move for desktop searches out there

    Ask Jeeves and Microsoft squeeze onto bandwagon

    Desktop Searches are nothing like buses. Not even buses arrive five at a time. But with Ask Jeeves and Microsoft both launching new desktop searches to rival Google's, and with Yahoo! and AOL running around shouting about how they will have one as well early next year, you have to wonder whether the whole IT industry has gone …

    Developer 16 Dec 2004, 11:24

  • Michigan Wi-Fi hacker jailed for nine years

    Abortive attack 'could have cost $2.5m'

    A 21-year-old Michigan man was sentenced to nine years in federal prison yesterday in federal court in Charlotte, North Carolina for his role in a failed scheme to steal credit card numbers from the Lowe's chain of home improvement stores by taking advantage of an unsecured Wi-Fi network at a store in suburban Detroit. Brian …

    Enterprise Security 16 Dec 2004, 11:26

  • Revolting customers slam dunk Dell

    Reasons to be cheerful

    Following our story yesterday about the way Dell handled the sale of a discounted PowerEdge server we've been inundated with emails from readers completely lacking in any seasonal festive spirit or goodwill for the mega computer corp. Take this for example: We probably spend over £200k a year with Dell and projected to spend …

    Letters 16 Dec 2004, 11:41

  • The Reg launches downloads site

    Site offer Vulture Central overcome by spirit of Xmas

    We’re absolutely delighted in the run-up to the Festive Season™ to be able to offer our readers a little something from the Vulture Central “get-something-for-free-pay-nothing-ever” department. Indeed, we’re sure that fans of El Reg will find this a refreshing change from the inexorable “buy-now-pay-2020-at-86%-APR” Yule orgy …

    Site News 16 Dec 2004, 12:05

  • PCI Express 2.0 to double bandwidth

    Overseers back 5Gbps spec

    The guardian of the PCI Express specification, the PCI Special Interest Group (PCI-SIG), has agreed to increase the bus' single-lane, one-direction data rate to 5Gbps - double its current throughput. The increase will come when the PCI-SIG finalises the next generation of the specification, expected by the end of 2005, though …

    System Builder 16 Dec 2004, 12:21

  • Google hails adwords victory

    Judge dismisses bulk of trademark case

    A district judge has ruled that Google can continue selling advertising triggered by searches for trademarked brand names. Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that the adwords program does not violate US federal trademark laws. Car insurance company Geico brought the case against the Google, claiming that sponsored links - search …

    Financial News 16 Dec 2004, 12:23

  • Aussie police get spyware powers

    Trojan offensive

    Australian police can use spyware and Trojans to gather evidence under new powers introduced last week. The Surveillance Devices Act authorises Federal and state police to obtain warrants to plant back doors or keylogging on the PCs of suspects, The Age reports. Warrants can be obtained to investigate offences with a maximum …

    Security 16 Dec 2004, 12:27

  • Ofcom orders BT price cuts for broadband rivals

    'Significant operational problems' hamper LLU

    Communications regulator Ofcom has confirmed a new set of charges today that will form the basis of local loop unbundling (LLU) in the UK. Ending a seven-month consultation into LLU which has seen charges for rival operators come down by as much as 70 per cent, it should pave the way for other operators to invest and provide …

    Telecoms 16 Dec 2004, 12:31

  • Toshiba trumpets world's fastest lift

    Taipei 101 enters the record books

    Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corporation is today somewhat inadvisedly trumpeting the world's fastest elevator in the world's tallest building - a 60.6km per hour express lift in Taipei 101. The Taiwanese megascraper is now officially the tallest man-made structure anywhere, weighing in at an impressive 508 metres - …

    Bootnotes 16 Dec 2004, 12:32

  • The rise of the rat-brain controlled android

    Be afraid

    There are two further indications today that the inexorable Rise of the Machines™ will certainly lead to the eventual subjugation of humanity. According to a BBC report, Honda's roving roboambassador Asimo has now acquired the ability to run - another step towards it finding "gainful employment in homes and offices", or, as we …

    Rise of the Machines 16 Dec 2004, 13:14

  • Serco splashes £235m on ITNet

    Eyes outsourced IT

    Serco Group, the public sector services contractor, is to acquire ITNet, the computer services firm, for £235m in cash and shares. Serco is to pay 320p per share, a premium of 10.9 per cent on ITNET's closing price of 288.5p yesterday. ITNet is probably best known for being sacked by the Cabinet Office this summer, after …

    Financial News 16 Dec 2004, 13:50

  • Symantec buys Veritas for $13.5bn stock

    Security and storage mega-merger

    Security firm Symantec and storage software firm Veritas have agreed to merge. The all-stock transaction is valued at approximately $13.5bn, based on Symantec’s stock price of $27.38 at market close yesterday. The combined company (to be called Symantec) will be able to do a better job at reducing the complexity of securing and …

    Applications 16 Dec 2004, 14:54

  • Apple iTunes sells 200m songs

    Sales growth continuing to rise

    Apple's iTunes Music Store has notched up more than 200m paid-for song downloads, the company said today. The last total Apple made public came in mid-October. Then, ITMS customers around the world had bought 150m songs, at an average rate of 4m songs a week. Today's figure raises that rate to 4.76m a week. In October, Apple …

    Mac Channel 16 Dec 2004, 15:35

  • Nokia hologram to expose fake, unsafe batteries

    Power pack market... er... booming

    Nokia has begun applying a holographic sticker to its mobile phone batteries in a bid to prevent fake power packs being inadvertently purchased as the real thing. The mobile phone giant is pitching the move as a safety matter rather, though it's clearly just as interested in winning back the revenue lost to other battery …

    Mobile 16 Dec 2004, 16:12

  • Samsung shows 2.5m monster monitor

    Where would you put yours?

    Samsung has unveiled what's possibly the world's largest plasma monitor screen - a monster 255cm (102in) high density panel codenamed 'Atlas'. The resolution is a mere 1920 x 1080, little bigger than most larger PC monitors, but with a contrast ratio of 2000:1 and a 1000 candlepower per square metre brightness rating, the giant …

    Peripherals 16 Dec 2004, 16:44

  • Microsoft buys anti-spyware firm Giant

    Gimme shelter

    Microsoft today announced its acquisition of anti-spyware firm Giant Company Software for an undisclosed amount. Redmond said it would use Giant's technology to develop tools that will help users to keep spyware and other deceptive software off their computers. A beta version of a spyware protection, detection and removal tool …

    Enterprise Security 16 Dec 2004, 17:48

  • Time Warner squares AOL fraud claims with $510m settlement

    Fends off SEC and DoJ

    Giant media corp Time Warner has agreed to cough up $510m (£263m) to settle claims that AOL inflated its ad earning revenue. The company will pay $60m (£31m) in penalties and has agreed to establish a $150m (£77.5m) fund to be used by the US Justice Department to settle any related shareholder or securities litigation. It's …

    Financial News 16 Dec 2004, 17:52

  • French hand Bull Itanium supercomputer survival package

    4,000 chip lifeline

    Just days after the French government announced it would once again bail out server maker Bull, it awarded Bull what is sure to be a lucrative supercomputing contract . The French Nuclear Power Agency has picked Bull to build a system capable of hitting 60 teraflops. The computer - named Tera10 - will run on Intel's upcoming …

    Servers 16 Dec 2004, 17:54

  • MS and Autodesk compare patenting notes

    Share and share alike

    Autodesk and Microsoft have signed a cross-licensing agreement that will give each company broader access to the other's patent portfolio. Terms of the deal, which is reported to have taken six months to hammer out, were kept under wraps. The two companies already have a close working relationship, Autodesk said, with many …

    Applications 16 Dec 2004, 17:57

  • Students find 44 Unix flaws as homework

    Bug hunters still flunk exacting task

    University students tasked with finding flaws in Unix applications as homework have uncovered 44 bugs. But since the University of Illinois at Chicago students were asked by tutor Daniel Bernstein to find 10 bugs each, most will likely flunk his Unix Security Holes course. The assignment counted for 60 per cent of the marks …

    Operating Systems 16 Dec 2004, 18:00

  • No more debate on EU patents directive draft

    Last barrier falls

    The European directive on software patents is another step closer to being adopted. According to The International Herald Tribune, the directive will not be debated any further before ministers vote on adopting it as a common position. The Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper) met on Wednesday night in anticipation …

    Developer 16 Dec 2004, 21:36