12th January 2005 Archive

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Mac rumour sites get it completely right

Macworld 'This is what they want. Stripped down, no display'

The rumour sites got it completely right. Steve Jobs on Tuesday morning unveiled both a stripped-down Macintosh, the Mac mini, for $499 (£339 in the UK) - sans display, keyboard, mouse - and a Flash-based iPod, the iPod shuffle, with 512MB or 1GB of storage, priced at $99 and $149 (£69 and £99 inc VAT). He also unveiled new …

Mac Channel 12 Jan 2005, 00:05
BMC buys French identity software maker for $33m

Calendra heading to Houston

BMC has plunked down $33m in cash to acquire French identity software maker Calendra. Calendra is best known for its Directory Manager software suite that, as the name suggests, handles things such as company directories of employees and goods. The small firm boasts more than 200 customers and 5m managed users. "The acquisition …

Applications 12 Jan 2005, 00:11
Full disclosure put on trial in France

Security research faces the guillotine?

The trial of a French security researcher last week has become a cause celebre. Its outcome will decide if interested parties can "peek under the bonnet" in testing the road-worthiness of security products without falling foul of French law. The case began more than three years ago when Guillaume Tena (AKA Guillermito) released …

Anti-Virus 12 Jan 2005, 00:16
Printing for camera phones

Standards, dear boy, standards

Mobile phone makers and printer companies have teamed up to ensure that consumers will be able to easily print photos taken with camera phones. Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Siemens, Korea Telecom and NEC have joined forces with Hewlett-Packard, Lexmark and Epson to form the Mobile Imaging and Printing Consortium (MIPC). The new …

Mobile 12 Jan 2005, 00:26
Kids phone pulled over safety concerns

'Foolish, ignorant to ignore these findings'

A mobile phone targeted specifically at young children has been withdrawn from sale in the UK over safety fears. Communic8 Ltd, the Kent distributor for the MYMO phone, pulled the product today following concerns contained in an official report headed by the Government's radiation experts warning about the dangers faced by …

Mobile 12 Jan 2005, 09:17
MEPs call for fresh start on software patents

A new year's resolution, no less

A group of MEPs has asked the European Parliament for a fresh start in the debate on computer-implemented inventions. The 61 members, from 13 countries, have tabled a "motion for a resolution" to restart the legislative process, effectively taking the debate on software patents back to square one. The group is "of the opinion …

Developer 12 Jan 2005, 09:23
Hacker breaches T-Mobile systems, reads US Secret Service email

And downloads candid shots of celebrities

A sophisticated computer hacker had access to servers at wireless giant T-Mobile for at least a year, which he used to monitor US Secret Service email, obtain customers' passwords and Social Security numbers, and download candid photos taken by Sidekick users, including Hollywood celebrities, SecurityFocus has learned. Twenty- …

Enterprise Security 12 Jan 2005, 09:47
Rambus board plays musical chairs

Who'll be in the CEO's seat when the tune stops?

Rambus announced a boardroom shuffle yesterday, as the memory technology company's chairman quit and replaced by its CEO, who, in turn, was succeeded by another board member. Former chairman Bill Davidow retains his place on Rambus' board, but his role is now assumed by erstwhile CEO Geoff Tate. Tate's old job is now held by …

IT Director 12 Jan 2005, 10:06
Boxed 533MHz FSB Dothans seen on sale

Tokyo shops offer new mobile CPUs a week early

Upcoming Intel Pentium M processors with support for a 533MHz frontside bus speed have gone on sale in Japan, a week before their formal introduction. This is no great surprise. With Sonoma, the second generation of Intel's Centrino platform, launching on 19 January, the chip maker has been shipping the key components in plenty …

System Builder 12 Jan 2005, 10:44
Carrera goes titsup

Not keen to admit it, though

Digital Network PLC - which flogs computer gear through its CarreraSSC, ORDER 247 and Demonite brands - has gone into administration, according to UK hardware site Hexus.net. It reports that the company has fallen into difficulty after the Midlands-based system builder over-stretched itself financially. Separately, a reader …

System Builder 12 Jan 2005, 11:00
Napster UK pares prices

Paves way for local debut of Napster To Go service

Napster UK today cut the prices of its digital music downloads, bringing them into line with what Apple's iTunes Music Store has been charging since day one. The online music company also confirmed plans to bring its Napster To Go service, so far only available in the US, to the UK later this quarter. From today, the service …

Financial News 12 Jan 2005, 11:52
O2 falls for Blackberry 'Charm'

Handset-styled email gadget to ship as 7100x

UK mobile phone network O2 has followed rivals Vodafone and T-Mobile and launched a version of Research in Motion's handset-like Blackberry 7100, aka 'Charm'. Called the 7100x by O2, the black handset sports RIM's QWERTY two-characters-per-key keypad system, SureType, which it claims enables faster, more accurate text input …

Mobile 12 Jan 2005, 11:52
Microsoft patches critical flaws

External testers give 'em the once over

Microsoft's first security patch roundup of 2005 brings with it three security updates, two of which are critical. Most importantly, the software giant (at least partly) fixed a flaw with a HTML Help Control function in Windows, which recently became the target of a readily available exploit. The security bug creates way for …

Enterprise Security 12 Jan 2005, 12:17
BT savaged for 'poorly run' free flights promo

Tut, tut

BT's handling of a "free flights" promotion, used to plug its broadband service, has been savaged by the UK's advertising watchdog, which upheld four separate complaints from 11 hacked-off punters. In May last year BT began giving away free flights to destinations in Europe and the US, including Barcelona, Boston and New York. …

Telecoms 12 Jan 2005, 12:19
Festive sales boost Dixons

iPods and flat screen TVs a hit

Dixons has posted better-than-expected figures for the crucial Christmas trading period as shoppers raided their stores for a string of digital goodies. The high street electrical retailer - which includes brands Currys, Dixons, PC World and The Link - increased UK sales by two per cent in the eight weeks to January. At Currys …

Channel Register 12 Jan 2005, 13:15
iRiver PMC-120 Portable Media Center

Review Is the world ready for portable video?

We've no qualms about saying we like the iRiver PMP-140. The screen is good, the storage capable sufficient, the battery life great, and as a handheld unit for watching movies you can't get much better, writes Stuart Miles. What's the catch? It runs Linux and while for some this is a good thing - Microsoft still hasn't managed …

Reviews 12 Jan 2005, 13:34
Punters warm to online poker

Industry comment Big bucks in growth industry

Steve Cook from poker experts Tribeca Tables Software Development reviews the online poker industry and why the new igaming zone (ICEi) at the International Casino Exhibition in London’s Earls Court 2 between 25-27 January will be a hive of activity for poker companies. In the two years since online poker first tempted punters …

Financial News 12 Jan 2005, 13:38
Microsoft CFO off to join VC firm

More time with family etc.

John Connors, Microsoft's CFO, is leaving the company to join Ignition, a VC firm based near Seattle. According to reports, the 45 year-old works a 55-hour week at Microsoft, and now wants to spend more time with his family. Connors spent 16 years at Microsoft, the last five as CFO. He's gonna help his bosses find a replacement …

Financial News 12 Jan 2005, 13:46
US jails Brit credit card fraud mastermind for 14 years

Why are they calling it identity theft, these days?

An expatriate Brit who helped mastermind the US's biggest credit card fraud has been sentenced in New York to 14 years imprisonment. Former computer help desk technician Philip Cummings, 35, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, wire fraud and fraud offences last September over his central role in a scam believed to have hit more than …

ID 12 Jan 2005, 13:49
London menaced by flaming DVD players

The Rise of the Machines™ continues inexorably

The lizard army has been busy mobilising its forces of technology in London this week with a terrifying attack on the population's domestic appliances, the Evening Standard reports. Readers who have been following our coverage of the Rise of the Machines™ will recall the case of Canneto di Caronia, where panic-stricken …

Rise of the Machines 12 Jan 2005, 13:51
Scientists train Japanese-speaking rats

Well, sort of...

Neuroscientists at the University of Barcelona have discovered that rats can - with a little encouragement - tell the difference between Dutch and Japanese. Sadly, this newfound linguistic ability does not extend to actually understanding what is being said, thereby thwarting hopes that rat-brain-controlled stealth attack drones …

Science 12 Jan 2005, 13:52
MS takes big stick to Dutch resellers

OEM licensing policy outrage

At least a hundred Dutch hardware resellers are facing legal action by Microsoft for violation of the company's OEM licensing policy. OEM software is a special version of software that must be distributed pre-installed on the hard drive of a PC when it's manufactured or bundled with computer hardware. OEM software should never …

System Builder 12 Jan 2005, 13:52
UK firm fingered in US XXX spam probe

Assets frozen

A British-based outfit is among a dozen or so companies and individuals charged with using spam to flog access to smutty web sites. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged London-based Global Net Ventures Ltd and the other defendants with spamming hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting consumers with porno emails without …

Spam 12 Jan 2005, 15:06
PATRIOT Act author tapped for Homeland Security

Former Ashcroft aide on track for confirmation

After the Bush Administration's embarrassing nomination of the buffoon Bernard Kerik to replace Tom Ridge as Homeland Security Secretary, a far more sober nominee has emerged in the person of former federal prosecutor Michael Chertoff. The well-educated and articulate Chertoff has earned a reputation as a hard-nosed prosecutor …

Security 12 Jan 2005, 15:52
mmO2 dials up change for small investors

Plans to change name too

mmO2 is looking to buy out thousands of small shareholders. Staying in touch with so many shareholders is too costly, the cellco says. Following its spin-off from BT in November 2001, mmO2 has more than a million shareholders who own fewer that 600 shares each. While these 1.04m investors represent 63 per cent of the company's …

Mobile 12 Jan 2005, 16:01
Double trouble from Symbian virus

Two infection techniques

Virus writers have created a mobile phone worm theoretically capable of spreading via either Bluetooth or by attaching itself to files. The use of two spreading tactics by Lasco-A is common in the world of Windows viruses but previously unheard of in mobile phones. Lasco-A targets smart phones running Symbian Series 60 smart …

Mobile 12 Jan 2005, 16:03
HP and SBC pledge to service you together

Unified eye on the enterprise

HP and SBC today unveiled a services alliance aimed at outfitting large and small customers with computing and networking gear. The companies are to present customers with a "single bill" and one support number to call for their shared equipment and expertise. At first, HP and SBC plan to offer large companies PCs and servers …

Hardware 12 Jan 2005, 16:04
Opera dangles free browser in front of universities

$1 was too much

Looking to impress impressionable minds, Opera today decided to give up on trying to charge universities for its browser and will now hand out site licenses for free. The Norwegian software maker used to charge just $1 per copy of its browser for volume university purchases. That policy has been chucked in favor of a pure …

Applications 12 Jan 2005, 20:54
VMware touts PC software-in-a-can

It's a wrap!

VMware - best known for its server partitioning tools - has come out with a new product perhaps best described as a software-in-a-can maker. VMware this week officially put its ACE software package on the market. This product, previewed here in September, lets customers create a software bundle that includes an operating system …

Data Networking 12 Jan 2005, 22:52
SightSound looks to shut down Napster - again

History does repeat itself

Napster's future online has come into question once again with SightSound Technologies filing a motion on Monday to shut down the company's music download business. SightSound, which holds numerous patents for the electronic sale of digital audio and video, has asked for a preliminary injunction against Napster. The motion …

Financial News 12 Jan 2005, 23:48