27th January 2005 Archive

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Office 2003: one year on

Reseller roundup...

Richard Glew, Microsoft's worldwide director of partner marketing, told The Reg how the introduction of Office 2003 has changed the way the software giant's reseller partners work with customers. Glew said Office 2003 was the first time the desktop applications came with a proper developer platform, enabling independent …

The Channel 27 Jan 2005, 08:48
Police launch site to tackle net pervs

Kids can fight back

An international police taskforce has launched a website where children can report possible online paedophile activity. The site's logo will appear on AOL BT, Vodafone and Microsoft websites, providing a hotlink to the home page of Virtual Global Taskforce. Virtual Global Taskforce aims to make the internet a safer place for …

Media 27 Jan 2005, 08:49
eXeem Lite promises spyware-free P2P

Get it while you can

Developers this week released a spy-ware free version of popular P2P app eXeem. The official version of eXeem, which entered into public beta this week, is contaminated with an adware app called Cydoor. eXeem Lite 0.19 is smaller - 1.9MB compared to 2.5MB - and promises file trading without search hijacking and pop-up ad …

Media 27 Jan 2005, 09:30
900 BT biz punters snagged by BT 'system problem'

SNAFU

Some 900 UK businesses have been left without broadband following a BT cock-up. The firms affected were all BT Business Broadband static IP punters who were due to have their service speeds doubled between January 14 - 19. BT had previously announced plans to double broadband speed at no extra cost for business users, in its " …

Small Biz 27 Jan 2005, 10:29
HomeChoice extends VoD reach

Investing in LLU

Video Networks Ltd (VNL) is ramping up its investment in local loop unbundling (LLU) by rolling out its service to an extra one million homes in the London area. Through its HomeChoice brand, VNL currently passes 1.4m homes in London and Stevenage and aims to target 2.4m homes by June 2005 as it sticks more of its kit in BT …

Broadband 27 Jan 2005, 11:13
T-Mobile flourishes in the US, wilts in Germany

Numbers up, market share down?

T-Mobile USA has added more than a million net new subscribers in its fourth quarter, the company said today, the vast majority being post-pay subscribers. It reported annual customer base growth of 32 per cent despite a slight increase in churn rates among both post and pre-pay customers. T-Mobile is investing heavily in the …

Financial News 27 Jan 2005, 11:17
MS mulls charging for anti-spyware app

Jury's out

Microsoft is leaving its options open on charging for full versions of anti-spyware and virus disinfection tools. Speaking in London yesterday, Detlef Eckert, chief security adviser for Microsoft EMEA, revealed there will be a second beta of Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware application. However, the company remains unsure how the …

Security 27 Jan 2005, 11:30
Lizard Army invades Alaska

Iraq threatened, Scotland under attack

Those who still doubt our assertion that technology - in the service of the lizard people - is about to turn on humanity and enslave mankind in a post-apocalyptic nuclear winter where the relentless whine of the chill wind will be broken only by the distant screams of naked, hysterical survivors being consumed by murderous …

Science 27 Jan 2005, 11:42
Pipex in DSL migration promo

Unhappy punters no longer stuck with ISP

Pipex is offering broadband subscribers the chance to switch to its DSL service for free, along with the added bonus of up to two months net access for nowt. Residential customers can get one month free subscription (if they need a modem or router) or two months free if they have their own kit. Business users can expect one …

Broadband 27 Jan 2005, 12:18
Ellison confounds sceptics over PeopleSoft

Larry keeps promise shocker

The long-running Oracle-PeopleSoft saga is drawing to an end with the integration of PeopleSoft into the Oracle organisation. With this, Oracle has achieved its ambition of becoming the number one enterprise applications vendor in the US at least and it now boasts that it has 23,000 applications customers worldwide. When this …

Applications 27 Jan 2005, 12:44
German court protects P2P ne'er-do-well

ISP not obliged to name filesharer

ISPs are not obliged to reveal the identity of internet users who offer downloads of music files on the web, a Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt ruled this week. The Court overturned a lower court order to reveal personal information about an ISP customer who operated an illegal music server from his home. The Court ruled …

Media 27 Jan 2005, 12:45
Intel gets it right for once

Opinion Gold star for processor launch

Intel has, quite unusually, got it right for the launch of a new processor family: it has timed the release sufficiently late. Normally, it ruins the PC market's Christmas by making everything obsolete in November; the new Centrino, however, is nicely scheduled. But nonetheless, the market may have hiccups, because of pricing, …

PCs 27 Jan 2005, 13:14
Alarm over anti-theft busting belt

Dutch shoplifters go hi-tech

A Dutch retail association has raised the alarm over a new device that Eastern European shoplifters use to turn off retail theft detection systems at a shop's checkout or exit. According to the RND, which represents the interests of the larger retailers and franchise organisations in the Netherlands, Eastern European gangs have …

Security 27 Jan 2005, 13:44
Nokia smiles through falling profits

Only US disappoints

A poor performance in the US marred an otherwise better than expected set of results, Nokia said today. The world's biggest mobile handset maker reported net income of €1.02bn, down 13 per cent on the same period last year (€1.17bn). Sales were up three per cent to €9.06bn (Q4 03:€8.79bn). The company slashed handset prices in …

Financial News 27 Jan 2005, 14:35
Ebbers' financial know-how probed

'I'm a PE graduate, not an economist'

The prosecution in the Bernie Ebbers fraud trial wheeled out an analyst yesterday who testified that the ex-WorldCom boss seemed to know a thing or two about the firm's accounting procedures. Adam Quinton, an analyst at financial giant Merrill Lynch & Co, told the court that when Ebbers was quizzed on some fairly complex …

Management 27 Jan 2005, 14:53
Crooked Microsoft worker masterminded $7m racket

Stolen software financed life of luxury

A former Microsoft staffer yesterday pleaded guilty to conspiring with three others to run a massive software piracy ring that raked in millions through the sale of stolen software between April 2001 and November 2002. Finn Contini, 36, of Redmond, Washington yesterday pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail …

The Channel 27 Jan 2005, 14:57
Apple website points to PowerBook G5

Exclusive Tracking interest?

Is the PowerBook G5 near at hand? A tentative clue from Apple's own website suggests that it might be. One eagle-eyed Register reader noted the following section of HTML code tucked away in Apple's main PowerBook page:  <IMG HEIGHT="1" WIDTH="1" SRC="http://switch.atdmt.com/action/apple_g5_powerbook …

Mac Channel 27 Jan 2005, 15:13
mmO2 posts 'strong' Q3

Users, ARPU, SMS activity up

UK-based mobile phone network mmO2 today announced "strong" third quarter, pointing to its latest customer and average revenue per user figures as evidence. During the three months to 31 December 2004, mmO2's O2 networks in the UK, Ireland and Germany were joined by 1.18m new customers, taking the group's total to 23.2m. In …

Financial News 27 Jan 2005, 16:01
Sony Q3 profits plunge as sales slump

Customers favour films more than electronics

Sony's third-quarter earnings rose 55 per cent, but more on the back of content than the kit used to play it back. Sales for the three months to 31 December 2004 totalled ¥2.15tr ($20.9bn), down 7.5 per cent on the year-ago quarter's total, ¥2.32tr ($22.5bn). Net income came to ¥143.8bn ($1.4bn), up 55.3 per cent from ¥92.6bn …

Financial News 27 Jan 2005, 16:38
Sony preps PlayStation 'music download service'

Message: 'don't buy an iPod, buy a PSP'

Sony is to make a second attempt to challenge Apple's lead in the digital music download market and the Mac maker's almost-ubiquitous iPod courtesy of the PlayStation Portable. According to a Marketing magazine report, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) plans to launch a music service specifically for the PSP, which is …

Financial News 27 Jan 2005, 16:58
'Brave' BitTorrent hub coyly looks for suitors

Your cash up for sale at Loki

The BitTorrent hub that has been begging users to fund its legal fight with the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) has put its domain up for sale. Interested suitors can currently bid on LokiTorrent.com at domain registration site sedo.com. This might shock many of you who have contributed to LokiTorrent's MPAA legal …

Media 27 Jan 2005, 19:30
Verizon reports 'strong' growth

Wireless goes bananas

Verizon, the giant US telco, reported a strong set of results today boosted by double-digit growth in its wireless division. For the fourth quarter 2004, Verizon notched up earnings of $3bn compared to a loss of $1.5bn in the same period in 2003. For the full year, Verizon reported earnings of $7.8bn compared with $3.1bn in …

Financial News 27 Jan 2005, 21:21
Spanish police arrest worm suspect

'Tasin' man taken in

Spanish police have arrested an unemployed 20 year-old man on suspicion of creating and spreading the "Tasin" computer worm. The suspect (known only by his initials A.R.B.) from Ejica, near Seville, is being questioned by the Spanish Civil Guard over his role in the November 2004 virus outbreak, El Mundo reports. The Tasin worm …

Security 27 Jan 2005, 21:23
Microsoft halves R&D spending, posts record profits

MSN, Xbox in the black

Microsoft recorded its highest-ever profits in the last quarter of 2004 (FY 2Q 2005), with net income doubling from $1.5bn a year ago to $3.46bn in the most recent quarter's earnings. Revenue was up slightly to $10.8bn from $10.15bn in the last three months of 2003. But belt-tightening measures - which included halving …

Financial News 27 Jan 2005, 23:17
Services sling Veritas to steady Q4

But profits slide

Veritas today dealt a mixed bag to investors, reporting that its fourth quarter revenue increased, but that its net income fell 32 per cent. Veritas posted $574m in sales during the period. This compares to $502m posted in the same period one year earlier. The 14 per cent revenue gain was somewhat offset by a decline in net …

Financial News 27 Jan 2005, 23:17