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30th March 2005 Archive

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  • Intel and server pals welcome beefy 64-bit Xeon

    Ready for four-way battle

    Intel and friends today did their standard dance to welcome a new Xeon processor meant for largish servers to the market. The Intel collective held an event in San Francisco to unveil the "Truland" platform. Intel has started to use the "platform" label for describing a family of chips and complementary chipsets. In this case, …

    Servers 30 Mar 2005, 00:51

  • Centrica wants you

    To work in Staines...

    Utility group Centrica is looking to recruit as many as 300 hundred people to bolster its IT department. The firm is looking for CRM specialists, particularly people with experience developing and maintaining SAP and Siebel systems for call centres. The utility is also looking for people with good integration and Microsoft …

    Management 30 Mar 2005, 08:43

  • On Novell and Tally

    Comment Tally me banana

    In recent years Novell has quietly built up its ZENworks systems management capabilities. Last week, the company made public another significant advance in ZENworks when it announced that a definitive agreement to acquire Tally Systems Corp. The significance of this moVe should not be underestimated. Tally Systems is one of …

    Applications 30 Mar 2005, 09:10

  • Transmeta to re-organise

    Burning through cash

    A near doubling in Transmeta's technology licensing revenue during its fourth quarter proved insufficient to stem the chip maker's losses, it reported Tuesday. And the company held out the prospect of radical changes to its organisation. It will spill the beans tomorrow, it said. During the three months to 31 December 2004, …

    Financial News 30 Mar 2005, 09:30

  • Micron remakes a profit

    Profits up despite falling prices

    Memory chipmaker Micron made a profit in the second quarter of fiscal 2005 ended 3 March, despite the continuing fall in memory prices. The company made net income of $118m on sales of $1.3bn compared to a loss of $28m for the same period last year. This works out to 0.17 cents per diluted share. The profit is impressive …

    Financial News 30 Mar 2005, 09:35

  • Select Committee criticises ID Cards Bill

    House of Lords weighs in

    Government plans for a national identity cards scheme will change the fundamental relationship between the State and the individual, according to a report published last week by the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution. The Committee, which considers whether draft laws will have unexpected or ill-advised …

    Policy 30 Mar 2005, 09:37

  • Eidos bidder wins second major backer

    SCi gain will force Elevation to lift its offer

    UK-based games publisher SCi has won a second major backer, adding weight to its £80.4m bid for rival publisher Eidos. SCi has already gained Schroder's thumbs-up - the investment house owns around 20 per cent of Eidos. Now it has Merrill Lynch's backing, the Financial Times reports this morning, and with it ML's 4.87 per cent …

    Financial News 30 Mar 2005, 09:37

  • Charlotte Church topless pic busts onto mobes

    Angel's assets on UK phone tour

    UK tabloid The Sun says it has refused to pay £20,000 for a topless picture of Voice of an Angel Charlotte Church which is currently doing a tour of the UK mobile phone circuit. The "Page Three" style snap was snaffled from Church's squeeze Gavin Henson's mobile phone after he mislaid it on on a night out in Cardiff. As is the …

    Media 30 Mar 2005, 09:46

  • AMD to reveal 'Pacifica' processor virtualisation spec

    Virtually ready

    AMD will next month detail its answer to Intel's Virtualisation Technology (VT) with the publication of its AMD64 platform's virtualisation system spec. Dubbed Pacifica, the technology will allow AMD's 64-bit server, desktop and mobile processors to host multiple operating systems - or many instances of the same OS - …

    PCs 30 Mar 2005, 10:00

  • Bulldog to resubmit BT complaint

    BT fails to budge on fault repairs

    A row between Bulldog and BT over fault repair times is rumbling on even though the formal complaint has been pulled - for now at least. Last week the Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator (OTA) announced that the dispute was withdrawn by Bulldog "due to significant progress having been made on the BT LLU (local loop …

    Broadband 30 Mar 2005, 10:46

  • Griffin launches iVault to encase iPod Shuffle

    Lock up your datas

    iPod accessory maker Griffin Technology will ship its first add-on for Apple's iPod Shuffle in two months' time: a range of brightly coloured aluminium "armour" cases. The iVault entirely surrounds the Shuffle, locking the MP3 player in place with four screws that bond the holder's front and back halves together. Anodized red, …

    Peripherals 30 Mar 2005, 10:50

  • Welsh villages lose analogue services

    Teledu digidol - that's digital telly to you...

    Two villages in Wales are the first in the UK to lose their analogue TV signal - it was switched off early this morning. The government has been running a trial since November to see how people react to the changeover. If the people of Ferryside and Llansteffan are anything to go by all the government needs to do is give …

    Bootnotes 30 Mar 2005, 10:59

  • NHS chief cans patient control over health record access

    Opt out guarantees downgraded?

    Government claims that patients would be able to opt out of the new National Health Service care records service (NHS CRS) have been undermined by the Department of Health's head of digital information policy. Assurances on privacy and confidentiality have previously been made by the Minister responsible for the NHS Programme …

    Policy 30 Mar 2005, 11:26

  • Tiscali France sale imminent

    'Expected to be formalised shortly'

    Tiscali's sale of its French operation is expected to be done and dusted shortly, the European ISP confirmed today. Publishing its draft results for 2004 the company said: "The Board of Directors of Tiscali SpA has analysed the offers received for the acquisition of the French subsidiary, Liberty Surf, and has empowered the …

    Financial News 30 Mar 2005, 12:14

  • Buffalo TeraStation Network-Attached Storage

    Review Large capacity, low price

    The Network-Attached Storage (NAS) appliance may be the easiest way to communal storage to your network, but these products are often overly expensive, particularly for small businesses. Take Iomega's NAS 200d, for example. It offers an impressive range of storage management features but the bottom line is you're getting barely …

    Reviews 30 Mar 2005, 12:15

  • Webcam Aussie fights UK crime

    Mean streets of Exmouth remotely purged

    A public-spirited Australian has ensured that the streets of Exmouth are safer for decent, God-fearing citizens after tipping off local cops about an incident he spotted on a webcam in the Devon town. Andrew Pritchard, 52, hails from Boorowa, New South Wales. According to the BBC, his little piece of the Lucky Country has only …

    Media 30 Mar 2005, 12:23

  • Onliner gamer stabbed over 'stolen' cybersword

    Virtual theft, real death

    A Shanghai man stabbed to death a fellow online gamer who sold a virtual sword they had jointly won while playing "Legend of Mir 3", Reuters reports. Qiu Chengwei, 41, repeatedly stabbed Zhu Caoyuan after discovering that Zhu had sold the "dragon sabre" for 7,200 yuan (£464). Qiu had lent his friend the cybersabre last February …

    Media 30 Mar 2005, 12:30

  • ATI settles financial misconduct claims

    Ontario Securities Commission handed large-ish cheque

    ATI has agreed to cough up CAD900,000 ($743,000) to the Ontario Securities Commission to settle allegations that it failed to disclose key financial performance information and made "misleading statements" to the Commission. The payment, agreed at an OSC hearing in Toronto yesterday, will see ATI pay CAD400,000 to cover the …

    Financial News 30 Mar 2005, 12:42

  • Bahnhof slams antipiracy ambush

    Swedish antipiracy agency receives death threats

    Swedish ISP Bahnhof is considering legal action after it emerged that illegal material uncovered in a raid on its premises was placed there by a paid informant of the antipiracy group that mounted the operation. Swedish anti-piracy organisation Antipiratbyrån has confirmed to The Register that it has used a paid informant, …

    Broadband 30 Mar 2005, 13:31

  • Science too hard for juries

    Judges seem to be struggling too

    A group of British MPs has called for juries to be dropped from trials involving complicated scientific evidence. The Commons select committee on science and technology argues that jury members are often unable to evaluate this kind of testimony, and can be swayed by the charisma of the witness. It says that the effect of a …

    Science 30 Mar 2005, 13:53

  • Brits talk posh on the blower

    Oh I say

    Brits talk posh when chatting on the dog and bone, according to research by Privilege Insurance. More than a half of punters quizzed said they changed their accents while making calls with one in three 'fessing to making their voices sound "posher". Women are the worst offenders and almost twice as likely as men to stick a plum …

    Bootnotes 30 Mar 2005, 13:55

  • In the red states, no-one can hear you scream

    Ohio pol would chip parolees with GPS

    Small-town meanness and technological illiteracy have come together in Ohio, where Butler County Commissioner Michael Fox believes that GPS "microchips" should be implanted in former convicts on parole and probation, so that they can be monitored remotely, and denied opportunities for rehabilitation more effectively. "People …

    Policy 30 Mar 2005, 14:07

  • Juniper snaps up Kagoor

    Hurrah!

    Network equipment maker Juniper Networks is to acquire Kagoor Networks to give its VoIP business a little more oomph. Kagoor - which generated $5m in revenues last year - is big into internet telephony. In particular, its session border control (SBC) technology is vital to delivering security to VoIP and other rich media …

    Financial News 30 Mar 2005, 14:26

  • Brits voice fraud fears over high-tech voting

    MORI poll reveals love of ballot box

    The vast majority of Brits think new, high-tech voting methods, such as voting by email or through a dedicated website, will make it easier to commit electoral fraud, according to research. A MORI poll, commissioned by fraud specialists, Detica, also found that almost forty percent of the voting population in the UK is already …

    Policy 30 Mar 2005, 14:35

  • Spectrum-starved US prepares to feast

    Broadband floodgates open

    From being one of the most spectrum starved nations on earth, the US is racing towards offering a range of frequencies for wireless services that is in line with other developed economies. The opening up of the 3.6GHz band a few weeks back, with a simple ‘light licensing’ scheme and relatively generous power allowances, is a …

    Broadband 30 Mar 2005, 14:44

  • Switzerland launches EDGE nationwide

    Edge on the abyss

    Swisscom has announced a broadband mobile network based on EDGE technology with nationwide coverage. Live television, video streaming and the transmission of large files to phones are now possible nearly everywhere in Switzerland. EDGE data rates are three times faster than GPRS and increase mobile bandwidth from 30 to as much …

    Mobile 30 Mar 2005, 15:08

  • UK street scum face wrath of shouting lamppost

    'Leave the area now!'

    Graffiti artists, prostitutes, drug dealers and miscellaneous street scum across the UK face a new challenge to their nefarious activities today - the Q Star FlashCam-530 shouting lamppost currently being deployed across the nation. The vociferous US-developed FlashCam has already been attached to street furniture in 52 …

    Bootnotes 30 Mar 2005, 15:11

  • Analysts slam hacker law changes

    I 'ate you Butler...

    Technology darling Derek Wyatt MP is proposing changes to the Computer Misuse Act next week but analysts from the Butler Group says the changes don't go far enough. Wyatt, generally seen as a "tech-friendly" MP, is chair of the All Party Parliamentary Internet Group. He wants to increase sentences for hacking from six months …

    Security 30 Mar 2005, 15:18

  • Microsoft, Intel and HP unite for small biz

    Weird alliance helps SMEs get EC moolah

    Microsoft, Intel and HP have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to help Europe's smaller businesses get access to European Community grants for investing in technology. The EU Grants Advisor Consortium will have a dedicated website and offer consulting advice on technology, employment and business grants. It will even help …

    Small Biz 30 Mar 2005, 15:28

  • Galactic prang fingered in star formation mystery

    Gas + shock waves = shiny things

    Astronomers now have direct evidence that stars form when galaxies collide. Data from the ISO, the European Space Agency's (ESA) infrared observatory, has shown that the shock wave caused by the collision of two galaxies has excited the gas from which new stars form. The discovery could shed light on how the first ever stars …

    Science 30 Mar 2005, 16:00

  • Carphone takes on calling cards with cut price calls

    International calls a go-go

    The Carphone Warehouse has unveiled a new mobile phone network geared to punters who make lots of international calls. With no line rental or contract, calls from Mobile World are up to 98 per cent cheaper than some rivals, claims Carphone. For instance, a call to the US or Canada via Mobile World costs 5p a minute. For 6p a …

    Mobile 30 Mar 2005, 16:21

  • HP's Hurd lets us pretend Compaq never happened

    Tricks are for Fiorina

    HP's board hired Mark Hurd as the company's new CEO for three main reasons - he's duller than Carly Fiorina, he's supposed to have more operational expertise than Fiorina, and he's not at all associated with the Compaq acquisition Fiorina engineered. Hiring reason number three stands out after Hurd today held his first press …

    Management 30 Mar 2005, 19:23

  • IBM sells storage software to partner Cisco

    EMC responds

    As promised, IBM today came out swinging against EMC in the storage software wars, saying it achieved a "watershed moment in the storage industry" by establishing sales momentum. A watershed moment in the history of gwana-gwana, perhaps, as new products were nowhere to be seen. IBM decided to take a shot at rival EMC by …

    Storage 30 Mar 2005, 23:12