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15th February 2005 Archive

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  • HP celebrates Opteron, IBM doesn't

    Intel cheered at Big Blue

    While HP and IBM turn to both AMD and Intel for chips, it's easy to tell that all relationships are not equal between these vendors. This week, for example, HP rolled out three, new systems based on AMD's Opteron processor. It showed off the two-processor DL385 and BL25p and BL35p blade servers. These boxes have been in the …

    Servers 15 Feb 2005, 04:50

  • SAP plays down Microsoft threat

    India and China are real competition

    Microsoft will take a long time to get a grip on the market for enterprise software, SAP boss Henning Kagerman says. Henning Kagermann, chief executive at Europe's largest software firm, believes Chinese and Indian competitors will present a bigger threat. Despite Oracle's recent takeover of PeopleSoft, and Microsoft's aborted …

    Applications 15 Feb 2005, 09:25

  • US info-sharing initiative called a flop

    Deepest darkest secrets

    Nearly a year after its launch, a federal office created as a conduit for corporate America to provide the government with sensitive information about critical vulnerabilities has been all but rejected by the technology industry that helped conceive it. The Protected Critical Infrastructure Information (PCII) program allows …

    Security 15 Feb 2005, 10:05

  • More advisories, more security

    Should not be seen as bad news

    More and more, we see articles questioning the security of a given platform based solely on the number of advisories published - and this approach is simply wrong, writes Thierry Carrez, of Gentoo Linux. In recent news we have seen evaluations of security metrics for various software publishers and operating system families. In …

    Security 15 Feb 2005, 10:25

  • Sony Ericsson preps Walkman phone

    Watch out, Apple and Motorola

    Sony Ericsson is to target Motorola's upcoming iTunes-compatible mobile phone and other handsets developed to cash in on the digital music phenomenon by leveraging Sony's Walkman brand. The handset, due to be formally launched next month, will sport sufficient storage for six to ten CDs' worth of songs encoded in MP3 or AAC …

    Mobile 15 Feb 2005, 10:30

  • Broadband a go-go: Orange goes mad on EDGE, TV, video

    3GSM But, friends, how wise is this?

    Orange is beginning a rollout of EDGE in France, with the aim of providing mobile broadband access covering the entire country, via EDGE, 3G and WiFi, by the end of 2006. The rollout begins in this half, with Alpes Maritime scheduled to be the first department with 100 per cent EDGE/3G coverage by the tend of March. EDGE is the …

    Mobile 15 Feb 2005, 10:39

  • Ebbers trial halted 'till Wednesday

    Sullivan faces cross-examination

    Defence lawyers in the WorldCom fraud trial will have to wait until Wednesday to cross examine star witness Scott Sullivan after Judge Barbara Jones suspended the trial yesterday. No reason was given for the halt to proceedings. Former CFO Sullivan has already pleaded guilty for his part in the $11bn (£5.8bn) accounting scandal …

    Telecoms 15 Feb 2005, 11:18

  • Carly's landing cushioned by 45m dollar bills

    But she's no Jack Welsh

    If HP's erstwhile CEO, Carleton Fiorina, feels like sobbing as she contemplates life after ink cartridges, she can blow her nose on a golden parachute worth roughly $45m. As well as existing stock options, a cash payout of $14m, plus $7.38m in other bonuses, Carly gets to keep her computer, with three months of tech support. …

    Financial News 15 Feb 2005, 11:45

  • XGI signs partner for US sales push

    Needs to grow market share

    Graphics chip maker XGI has moved into the US market in response to what it claims is "growing demand" for its products. The Taiwanese company today said it has signed ASI to distribute in the US its Volari-branded V8, V5, V3 and V3XT boards, pitched at the high-end, mainstream and budget segmentst, respectively. During Q4 …

    System Builder 15 Feb 2005, 11:51

  • Macrovision to tout lock-down DVD tech

    Update Kills 97 per cent of all known DVD rippers, apparently

    Anti-rip software company Macrovision will today claim it can prevent almost all attempts to copy movie DVDs on a PC. The new technology, dubbed RipGuard DVD, prevents ripper software from working. It isn't fully effective, Macrovision admits, but with a claimed effectiveness rate of 97 per cent, the technique should act as a …

    Music and Media 15 Feb 2005, 12:25

  • FCC investigates VoIP squashers

    Old skool networks blocking VoIP calls

    US regulator the Federal Communications Commission is investigating allegations that telco networks are deliberately killing off Voice over Internet Protocol calls on their networks. Network management software means telcos could, in theory at least, stop or degrade traffic identified as voice calls. The complaint was made by …

    Telecoms 15 Feb 2005, 12:43

  • Dell grows Celtic fringe

    850 jobs in Glasgow by 2008

    Dell will create more than 850 jobs in Scotland by 2008 with a new sales and support call centre operation in Glasgow. The first 400 jobs will be in place by 2006, the company said. The new centre will provide sales and support services for Dell's enterprise and public sector customers. It will be housed in the old Imperial …

    IT Director 15 Feb 2005, 12:53

  • PalmOne Treo 650 Euro debut delayed to Q2

    Smart phone to ship through Orange

    The European release of PalmOne's Treo 650 smart phone has been delayed, the company said this week. Launched in the US in October 2004, the 650's European debut was initially pegged for February 2005, according to comments made at the time by Ed Colligan, the company's president and soon-to-be interim CEO. However, PalmOne …

    Mobile 15 Feb 2005, 13:00

  • Nominet responds to internet strategic plan

    This is how Britain sees the net's future

    Nominet has responded to the strategic plan [pdf] written by internet overseeing organisation ICANN to pitch what it sees as the future of the internet. In a four-page letter [pdf] written last week by Nominet chief executive Lesley Cowley to ICANN's chief exec Paul Twomey, ICANN was given broad support but a number of …

    Financial News 15 Feb 2005, 14:49

  • 3G sets Cannes smoking again

    3GSM Not yet run out of puff

    If the thick fug of cigar smoke in the lobby of the Majestic Barrière is anything to go by, the good times are coming back to the mobile phone industry as it makes its final visit to Cannes. 3G is finally taking off, GSM Association CEO Rob Conway told those 3GSM World Congress attendees who got up early enough to hear his …

    Mobile 15 Feb 2005, 15:21

  • Orange to offer 3G, Wi-Fi palmtop smart phone

    It's a phone! It's a PDA! It's a (very small) laptop!

    Orange has confirmed that it will release later this year a Windows Mobile-based handset engineered for 3G networks and that the device will be produced by HTC. The announcement, tucked away in the company's device roadmap for the coming year, almost certainly refers to 'Universal', HTC's upcoming palmtop/phone that T-Mobile …

    Mobile 15 Feb 2005, 15:37

  • PalmSource's sideways shuffle to Linux

    3GSM Cobalt, we hardly knew ye

    Wave goodbye PalmSource the PalmOS company, say hello to Palm the Chinese Linux company. That judgment may be a little premature, but there's no doubting where the company sees the future. PalmSource's takeover of China MobileSoft makes it a significant player in the Chinese market, trebling the number of offerings it can take …

    Mobile 15 Feb 2005, 16:07

  • T-Mobile launches WiMax net access for UK trains

    Massive hotspot expansion plan too

    T-Mobile has pledged to take its global Wi-Fi hotspot tally to 20,000 sites by the end of the year, including both fixed locations and mobile access points on UK trains connected to the net via WiMax. The 20,000-hotspot target is double the company's goal for 2004. In fact, it exceeded its expectations thanks to a burst of …

    Wireless 15 Feb 2005, 16:35

  • Toshiba gets tough with notebooks

    Coffee-repelling, impact-beating Tecras launched

    Toshiba today launched a new line of business-oriented notebooks, claiming the systems offer better connectivity, data security and reliability than rival products. Notebooks equipped with the EasyGuard system are intended to appeal to IT departments fed up with fixing or replacing damaged laptops. The new machines feature …

    PCs 15 Feb 2005, 16:45

  • New top dog for MS Europe's public sector

    New blood in battle with OSS

    Microsoft has appointed Jan Muelfeit as its new head of public sector sales in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Muelfeit will oversee Microsoft's continuing efforts to counter the threat open source software poses in this sector. He replaces Peter Hayes, who has moved on to join Citizens Communications. Muelfeit joined …

    Software 15 Feb 2005, 16:58

  • Notebook love won't save PC makers in 2005

    Slowdown begins - again

    PC makers should brace for a significant sales slowdown in the next couple of years, according to research firm Gartner. Gartner has pegged the PC market to grow at 9 per cent in 2005 and 7 per cent in 2006. These rates are down from the 11.6 per cent rise in sales enjoyed during 2004. What's the cause for the drop off? “ …

    PCs 15 Feb 2005, 17:02

  • MS: we are not blackmailing Denmark

    Says reports are untrue

    Microsoft has denied reports that it told Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen it would pull Microsoft jobs out of Denmark if the government continued to oppose the European directive on Computer Implemented Inventions (CII). According to an article in Danish financial newspaper Børsen on Tuesday, during a November 2004 …

    Developer 15 Feb 2005, 17:20

  • Software patents law dodges another rubberstamping

    Not on the agenda

    The directive on Computer Implemented Inventions will not appear on the agenda of the next Council of Ministers meeting in Brussels, further delaying resolution of the bill's tortuous progress. The directive was set to appear as an A-point item - that is, one that would be voted on without further discussion - at the meeting of …

    Developer 15 Feb 2005, 17:46

  • Gates: security concerns propel IE7 launch

    RSA 2005 Bill goes phishing for Jolie

    Information security concerns have prompted Microsoft to release a new version of Internet Explorer before the next version of Windows ships. Contrary to previous plans, Microsoft will release IE7 as a beta in "early summer" 2005. Longhorn, the next iteration of Windows, isdue late next year. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates today …

    Enterprise Security 15 Feb 2005, 19:17

  • Yahoo! creates 400 jobs in Ireland

    Staffing European opos

    Search giant Yahoo! is to create around 400 jobs at its newly-announced European operations headquarters in Dublin. The announcement was made today at a press conference held by Micheal Martin, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The new jobs will be created over five years and will focus on areas such as website …

    IT Director 15 Feb 2005, 20:25