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7th January 2005 Archive

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  • Brocade to fix two years of earnings after audit

    Stock snafu

    Brocade is to restate two years worth of financial statements after discovering that it improperly accounted for stock-based employee compensation. The storage networking firm today said that an internal audit turned up two specific ways in which it miscalculated the stock compensation. In one case, it granted stock to new …

    Storage 7 Jan 2005, 00:05

  • Nappletizer users - getting physical?

    CD sales up in US

    You've heard the sampler, now buy the real thing. CD sales rebounded for the first time in four years in the United States in 2004, according to Nielsen Soundscan, defying the predictions of big label executives. Overall music sales rose 1.6 per cent over 2003 but CD sales, which account for 98 per cent of all new music sold, …

    Music and Media 7 Jan 2005, 02:12

  • Apple music store smacked with antitrust suit

    Steve Jobs made me buy an iPod

    An iTunes Music Store customer is suing Apple for anticompetitive behaviour, arguing that music purchased from the store obliges him to use Apple's iPod. That much at least is true, but Thomas Slattery, who filed the lawsuit in a California District Court this week faces a difficult task convincing the court of its merits. …

    Mac Channel 7 Jan 2005, 02:15

  • Phone biz agrees on $1 DRM levy

    Plus a penny per download

    The mobile phone industry has already agreed on a DRM standard for locking down media - and it'll cost $1 per handset, plus a percentage of each piece of media downloaded. The secretive Open Mobile Alliance, which represents 200 industry heavyweights, actually agreed its first-generation DRM specification back in July last year …

    Mobile 7 Jan 2005, 02:58

  • Gio debt demands pulled

    ISP owes NTL cash too

    Wescot Credit Services Ltd is no longer collecting money on behalf of troubled ISP Gio Internet. The debt collection agency had sent out letters before Christmas demanding cash it said was owed to Gio Internet. But the Hull-based firm was flooded with complaints from people who disputed the demands - some of which ran to …

    Telecoms 7 Jan 2005, 09:13

  • Microsoft Anti-Spyware?

    Column Admit defeat now

    Microsoft has jumped into the anti-spyware market, but is this a new approach to thwarting bugs, or is it gearing up to profit from a dubious industry it helped create? The ink is barely dry from Microsoft's acquisition of the GIANT Company Software, and already they are offering the first public beta release of a new …

    Enterprise Security 7 Jan 2005, 09:35

  • The government open source dynamic

    Trend analysis

    The news just broke that the Venezuelan government is planning to migrate to Open Source, having issued a decree to central government organizations to draft plans for migration. The decree involves three phases of migration beginning with central government, then regional government and finally municipal government. Central …

    Software 7 Jan 2005, 09:43

  • Former Worldcom directors cough up $18m

    Personal contribution to $54m settlement

    Ten former directors of WorldCom have agreed to cough up $18m (£9.5m) of their own cash to help settle a class action lawsuit following the collapse of the telecoms company in 2002. According to reports from the US, the ten weren't directly involved in the accounting scandal that rocked the corporate world, although they were …

    Financial News 7 Jan 2005, 11:33

  • Tesco offshores 400 IT jobs to India

    'Transitioned out of the UK'

    UK supermarket chain Tesco is to move hundreds of IT support jobs to India. The UK retailer has set up a subsidiary company to provide service and support, which already employs 190 people. Tesco says that by the end of 2005 its Indian operation will have 770 employees in total. The Times of India reports that 400 of the new …

    IT Director 7 Jan 2005, 11:37

  • Mozilla and Firefox flaws exposed

    Mixed bag

    Mozilla and Firefox users were warned of a number of potentially troublesome security vulnerabilities this week. The most serious flaw involves a buffer overflow bug in the way Mozilla processes the NNTP (news) protocol. The bug creates a means for hackers inject hostile code into vulnerable systems, providing they trick users …

    Enterprise Security 7 Jan 2005, 12:14

  • OFT rattles sabre over 'free flights' web offer

    Fones4Free must withdraw 'misleading' promotion

    A UK website flogging mobile phones is facing legal action from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for failing to pull a misleading "free flights" promotion. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which has requested the intervention of the OFT, claims Fones4Free.com's "free flights" promo requires punters to pay taxes and …

    Music and Media 7 Jan 2005, 13:04

  • Gates holds forth on Red Menace of IP law reform

    Sort of thought processes detect sort of communists

    It must be wonderfully simple inside Bill Gates' head. In the world outside the debate over patents and copyright may be raging, but at Bill Brain Central there's no need for reform, the system works fine and is becoming more popular, and the opposition consists of "communists" threatening the American Way. Bill added this …

    Software 7 Jan 2005, 13:17

  • Innovation Prize: entry deadline looms

    £50k up for grabs

    There are just three weeks to go before the closing date for entries in the £50,000 MacRobert Award 2005 The competition, organised by the Royal Academy of Engineering, seeks to recognise groups (of up to five people) or individuals who have "exploited a major engineering breakthrough". Last year, the £50k prize was scooped by …

    Science 7 Jan 2005, 13:59

  • Shuttle launch moves closer

    NASA takes delivery of 'safest' fuel tank

    NASA has taken a big step towards the relaunch of its shuttle fleet with the delivery of a new, Improved Shuttle External Tank to the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. The tank is due for deployment on the May "Return to Flight" mission to the ISS, dedicated mainly to "testing and evaluating new procedures for flight safety" …

    Science 7 Jan 2005, 14:00

  • BBC staff asked to lay off BBC news ticker

    Not compatible with BBC desktop. Blimey

    BBC techies are advising staff not to use the corporation's own news ticker service, Newsline. Our sources inform us an item in the corporation's internal mag Ariel reported that high network load because of the application had prompted the advice. However, the BBC says the only reason staff are told not to use Newsline …

    Data Networking 7 Jan 2005, 14:14

  • UK e-spend on the up-and-up

    Record online sales during 2004

    A record number of Brits last year eschewed the pre-Xmas high street shopping stampede in favour of online shopping, and the trend is set continue during the traditional January sales. An estimated 12m Britons shopped online during 2004, and their Yule spend alone - during the last three months of the year - contributed £2.6bn …

    Small Biz 7 Jan 2005, 14:36

  • Kids warned about street thefts

    Let's be careful out there

    British kids are being warned to keep their hi-tech gadgets under wraps to protect themselves from being robbed. Although many will have been given brand spanking new mobile phones and dinky MP3 players for Christmas, a Government-led campaign kicking off next week is warning them no flaunt them when out on the streets. "SAFE …

    Security 7 Jan 2005, 14:39

  • Canadian scientists build nano-propeller

    Really small aircraft sought

    Canadian researchers have built a tiny, working propeller out of gold and nickel nano-rods. It is not the first time a nanoscale rotor has been made, but previous efforts have involved a biological process, which this one does not. The device is kept in solution, anchored to a silicon wafer. It spins when hydrogen peroxide is …

    Science 7 Jan 2005, 14:55

  • Plugs to be pulled on EU biometric visa scheme?

    Look ma, no wires... Aaaaargh!!!

    The European Union is poised to accept that its current plans for biometric visas are unworkable, reports Statewatch.. Last year a Council of Ministers technical group concluded that multiple RFID chips in passports would render the whole snooping match unreadable, which effectively killed a plan everybody had been poised to …

    Music and Media 7 Jan 2005, 15:05

  • Three jailed in Saudi rape film case

    Used video mobe to record assault

    Saudi Arabia has jailed three men convicted of organising the rape of a teenage girl and later peddling footage of the assault across mobile networks. Two Saudi men used a video mobile to film the assault of a 17-year-old girl by a Nigerian man, a Saudi court heard. The subsequent distribution of this video across mobile …

    Mobile 7 Jan 2005, 15:28

  • Man stabs long-lost Friends Reunited mate 7 times

    Great to see you - now drop dead

    A UK man who traced his long-lost best mate via Friends Reuinted, then stabbed him seven times in a drunken rage because he thought he had attacked his sister, was jailed for three years today at the Old Bailey, Reuters reports. Noel Duff was lucky to survive the assault by Brendan Walsh during which he received a stab wound to …

    Music and Media 7 Jan 2005, 15:29

  • SanDisk offers USB-friendly SD flash memory

    CES 2005 No reader required

    SanDisk - the original inventor of flash storage cards - has introduced a SD flash memory card with built-in USB connectivity. Consumers can just use the SD card in their digital camera, then whip it out and plug it into any USB port, without needing an SD card reader. SD memory card and USB flash drive shipments will total 235 …

    Storage 7 Jan 2005, 15:55

  • iTunes launches in Ireland

    Better late than never

    An Irish version of the iTunes Music Store was quietly launched on Thursday night after Ireland was previously omitted in a euro-zone roll-out in October. The launch of iTunes Music Store (ITMS) will be welcome news to the many iPod owners in Ireland following the disappointment in October when last minute issues with artists' …

    Financial News 7 Jan 2005, 17:13

  • Ofcom readies spectrum review

    More trees slaughtered...and for what?

    Ofcom is due to publish next week yet another review covering the UK's radio spectrum. In November, the UK's communications regulator published the Spectrum Framework Review - its strategy for securing the best use of the civilian radio spectrum. In that review Ofcom outlined how it wanted to use market forces to eliminate …

    Mobile 7 Jan 2005, 17:16

  • Oracle finally puts PeopleSoft in its pocket

    All is well that ends

    At long last, Oracle really has its prize. Oracle today completed its acquisition of PeopleSoft. More than 97 per cent of PeopleSoft's outstanding shares have been tendered in favor of the deal. Oracle has been forced to extend its tender offer deadline twice as it looked to gather the 90 per cent of PeopleSoft shares needed to …

    Software 7 Jan 2005, 17:20

  • Blu-ray Disc maker to 'abolish cartridges'

    CES 2005 TDK debuts scratch-resistant coating

    TDK pledged to render recordable Blu-ray Discs more resilient yesterday when it announced a new coating material that it claims eliminates the need for protective cartridges. The material, dubbed Durabis, makes BD-R and BD-RE (rewriteable) discs significantly more resistant to scratches, TDK claimed. Durabis also contains anti- …

    Storage 7 Jan 2005, 18:54

  • Game firms back Blu-ray

    CES 2005 Better format because... Sony says so?

    Two major games publishers yesterday lent their support to the Blu-ray Disc format, along with a number of lesser players, as the other companies behind the medium began in earnest their efforts to talk-up the technology ahead of its debut later this year. Electronic Arts and Vivendi Universal both announced their membership of …

    Consoles 7 Jan 2005, 19:01

  • Studios announce HD DVD movie release lists

    CES 2005 Quality content coming to new format. Van Helsing too

    While games publisher Vivendi Universal was touting its support for the Blu-ray Disc format yesterday, the movie business in which it owns a 20 per cent stake, Universal Studios, was announcing plans to release 16 HD DVD titles in the US. It was joined by Paramount, which will ship the first titles from its initial 20-strong …

    Music and Media 7 Jan 2005, 19:07

  • U3 launches USB drive-hosted app 'standard'

    CES 2005 The Microsoft of Mass Storage?

    A US-based start-up said today it wants to unify attempts to evolve USB Flash drives from storage devices into application delivery products. U3, founded by Flash memory and Flash-based device firms SanDisk and M-Systems, will develop and licence "mobility and security" APIs, hardware specifications and underlying intellectual …

    Storage 7 Jan 2005, 20:09

  • IBM buys into spookware

    Bringing home the Kevin Bacon

    IBM will soon be keeping a close eye on you thanks to its purchase of SRD (Systems Research and Development). SRD, a small privately-held company based in Las Vegas, is best known for its ERIK and NORA identity management products. This spooky software collects data about an individual from various sources and is billed as a " …

    Applications 7 Jan 2005, 20:56

  • Microsoft's Ballmer beat off Asian genital challenge

    More truth in jest

    We've all wanted to say it. "Hey, Steve Ballmer, Why don't you suck my tiny yellow balls?" Only the chosen few, however, get the chance to flaunt their undercarriage in front of Microsoft's CEO. One of these chosen few was Hiroshi Yamauchi - the former CEO of Nintendo - who apparently told Ballmer to taste his tadpoles, during …

    Bootnotes 7 Jan 2005, 21:41

  • A boutique PC for only $50,000

    Big OEMs seek couture inspiration

    In the cut throat world of PC retail, where margins are razor thin, major OEMs are looking at a small boutique outfit with close interest. Truvia's designer PC, which blends furniture with a high-end desktop from VoodooPC, doesn't immediately look like a promising avenue for the big box shifters. Truvia's custom PCs start at $50 …

    PCs 7 Jan 2005, 22:44

  • Thin client firm NCD becomes invisible

    Exclusive Old hands create new software biz

    This year started with a major member of the thin client market missing. Onetime high-flyer NCD (Network Computing Devices) has met its end and done so with no fanfare at all. NCD officials still refuse to take any calls regarding the company's fate. This silence has been NCD's policy since The Register first discovered that …

    Hardware 7 Jan 2005, 23:25