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14th April 2005 Archive

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  • Memory woes color AMD's Q1 red

    Adios, Spansion. Hello, dual-core Opteron

    AMD stumbled back into the red during its first quarter, as sluggish memory sales weighed down robust processor sales. AMD pulled in $1.23bn during its first quarter and posted a $46m operating loss. These totals compare to $1.24bn in revenue and a $61m profit in the same period last year. AMD's results were impacted by an …

    Financial News 14 Apr 2005, 01:31

  • MPEG LA cuts mobile phone DRM tax

    But far enough?

    In the face of strong protest from GSM operators and handset manufacturers, IP rights holders have cut their proposed rates for mobile DRM. The MPEG Licensing Authority (LA) says that it will cut the rate payable per handset to 65 cents (from $1) and to 25 cents per subscriber per year, payable after the first year. Previously …

    Mobile 14 Apr 2005, 06:18

  • It's official: ChoicePoint, LexisNexis rooted many times

    Calif disclosure law puts a stop to cover-ups

    Privacy invasion behemoths ChoicePoint and LexisNexis have lost control of sensitive data in the past, but deliberately covered it up because no law required them to come clean, executives from both outfits confessed Wednesday during Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the recent epidemic of ID theft plaguing the USA. …

    Enterprise Security 14 Apr 2005, 06:21

  • Flakey Flickr goes down. Again

    The now you see it, now you don't photo website

    Flickr, the popular photo sharing web site that spends more time on the canvas than a pulverized Frank Bruno, is down again. It's the third serious outage this year. In January the site notified users with this message, "The Flickr database is at the spa: Treatment includes a full-body exfoliation scrub, followed by an avocado …

    Music and Media 14 Apr 2005, 06:59

  • Intel pledges to fix WiMAX mode muddle

    Analysis 802.16 mobile and fixed forms not compatible

    Intel this week pledged to "solve in silicon" the incompatibilities between the mobile and fixed versions of WiMAX, the wireless broadband contender. According to Sean Maloney, the head of Intel's Mobility Group, these two WiMAX modes are not the same. How come? First, a recap. WiMAX is the brand name given to the 802.16 …

    Wireless 14 Apr 2005, 07:13

  • Amazon wins reprieve against Toysrus.com

    Injunction lifted

    An appeals court this week lifted an injunction from Amazon.com in its dispute with Toysrus.com, according to the Associated Press. It follows a lawsuit filed last year by the toy seller, accusing Amazon.com of breaching an exclusivity agreement. Toysrus.com, the internet subsidiary of Toys 'R' Us, sued Amazon.com in May 2004. …

    Financial News 14 Apr 2005, 07:49

  • Wyse changes ownership, appoints new boss

    Thin deal for thin clients

    Wyse, the veteran thin client hardware maker, is now owned mostly by a California private equity firm, which has bought “a controlling stake” in the company for $35m. As Wyse has a turnover of $175m, the purchase price for this unspecified stake appears to be on the thin side too, perhaps reflecting a less than sunny outlook …

    Hardware 14 Apr 2005, 09:31

  • Mesh Broadband 'ceases trading'

    Bedfordshire Council 'disappointed'

    Wireless broadband outfit Mesh Broadband has "ceased trading", according to a notice issued by Bedfordshire County Council (BCC). Southend-on-Sea-based Mesh - which was a sub-contractor for Cable & Wireless - had been working with BCC to bring broadband to rural areas within the county using wireless technology. The project was …

    Telecoms 14 Apr 2005, 10:06

  • Snook leaving Carphone

    Bye bye now

    Former Orange chief Hans Snook is stepping down from Carphone Warehouse from July. The former chief exec of mobilephoneco Orange joined Carphone as chairman in 2002 and has seen pre-tax profit rise from £46.8m to £76.3m during his tenure. The retiring Snook will be replaced as chairman by non-exec director John Gildersleeve. …

    Financial News 14 Apr 2005, 10:21

  • Apple iTunes sales tally passes 350 million

    Analysis Half a billion downloads by June?

    Apple yesterday revealed its iTunes Music Store has now sold more than 350 million songs worldwide since it opened its doors to US consumers in April 2003. The latest figure, mentioned last night during the Mac maker's Q2 FY2005 earnings conference, represents an increase of 50 million or so songs since the company said it …

    Financial News 14 Apr 2005, 10:40

  • AMD expands Mobile Athlon 64 line-up

    Skips 3500+, 3600+, goes straight to 3700+

    AMD today extended its Mobile Athlon 64 processor family with a further chip at the top of the range. The 90nm, 754-pin 3700+ is pitched at mid-range notebooks, between chunky desktop-replacement jobs and the more svelte, thin'n'light machines AMD is targeting with its Turion line. The chip itself is clocked to 2.4GHz, and …

    PCs 14 Apr 2005, 10:43

  • Infosys reports red-hot Q4 results

    Expects $2bn in revs in FY2006

    Infosys, the Indian software firm, has reported net income of $127m for the quarter ending 31 March, up from $77m in the same period last year. Revenues for Q4 jumped 50.2 per cent to $455m, against $303m a year ago. Full year performance was also strong, with revenues for FY05 topping $1.5bn, up over $500m on the year before. …

    IT Director 14 Apr 2005, 10:56

  • Ofcom acts to combat 'slamming'

    Not good enough, says BT

    Ofcom is introducing new industry rules to stamp out slamming and other dodgy sales techniques following complaints about the antics of some fixed line telcos. From the end of May all telcos flogging fixed line telco services must adhere to a mandatory code of practice to prevent punters being duped into switching telephone …

    Telecoms 14 Apr 2005, 11:25

  • AMD to 'cut' Socket 754 Sempron prices

    Paving the way for 'Palermo'?

    AMD is planning to charge up to 15 per cent less for certain Sempron processors from early next month. So claim those ever chatty sources from Taiwan's motherboard manufacturer community, as cited by DigiTimes. The price cuts will apparently be applied to Socket 754 Semprons, to make them even more attractive purchases when …

    PCs 14 Apr 2005, 12:29

  • AMD dual-core desktops to be branded 'X2'

    Athlon 64 times two

    AMD will brand its dual-core Athlon 64 chips 'X2' when they go on sale later this year. So suggest sources close to the company, cited by Hexus. According to the site, three CPUs are due to be launched, all branded X2 and stamped with 4400+, 4600+ and 4800+ model numbers, respectively. The top-end part will be clocked at 2. …

    PCs 14 Apr 2005, 12:36

  • Beware of toxic blogs

    Plan 9 from cyberspace

    Toxic blogs are been used to distribute malware and keyloggers, censorware firm Websense warns. Websense Security Labs said it has discovered "hundreds of instances" of blogs involved in the storage and delivery of harmful code this year. Anti-virus firms question why Websense has singled out blogs as a particular security risk …

    Security 14 Apr 2005, 12:41

  • NASA fuels up Discovery for tank-tests

    One step closer to lift-off

    Space Shuttle Discovery is moving a step closer to returning to flight today. Its fuel tanks will be filled with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, so that engineers can evaluate the performance of the redesigned tanks under "cryo-load". The shuttle is now sitting on the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Centre, waiting for its …

    Science 14 Apr 2005, 12:45

  • Clarke calls for ID cards after imagining huge poison terror ring

    Analysis Hunt for cream tubs of death continues

    Yesterday's conviction of Kamel Bourgass for terrorism offences prompted some spectacular spin from the security services, an al-Qaeda ricin feeding frenzy in this morning's press and - of course - claims from Home Secretary Charles Clarke that the case highlighted the need for ID cards. The snag is that there was no ricin, the …

    Music and Media 14 Apr 2005, 13:08

  • Patent injunction knocks Longhorn

    Smokin' Chimney

    Silicon Valley start-up Alacritech has won a preliminary injunction against Microsoft over the use of advanced networking technologies due to feature in Longhorn, the next version of Windows. The ruling (PDF), which is subject to appeal, temporarily blocks Microsoft from developing or selling systems based on the disputed …

    Operating Systems 14 Apr 2005, 13:14

  • Watchdog fines prize call telco £100k

    You've won a Spanish cruise, honest

    A Midlands-based phone operator has blamed "naivety rather than malicious intent" after being fined £100,000 for running a dodgy premium rate service. Premium-rate watchdog ICSTIS received 244 complaints about "World Travel" after punters received a spam phone call telling them they'd won a prize including a Spanish cruise. To …

    Telecoms 14 Apr 2005, 14:02

  • Belkin iPod Digital Camera Link

    Review Cheaper than 40 gigs' worth of memory cards

    You're a digital photographer, you're out in the field and you've just filled up your CompactFlash, SD card or whatever storage format you happen to be using. That's it, you can't take any more pictures unless you delete some first, writes Stuart Miles. The Belkin Digital Camera Link hopes to get you out of this bind by …

    Reviews 14 Apr 2005, 14:10

  • Frozen polar waste gets Wi-Fi hotspot

    Santa and elves said to be pleased

    Intel has rigged up a Wi-Fi hotspot just 80km from the North Pole, presumably so that Sir Ranaulph Fiennes and his ilk can check his email next time they take a little stroll across the ice-pack. The hotspot was set up by two Intel employees who recently went on an expedition to ninety degrees north. The adventurous staffers …

    Wireless 14 Apr 2005, 14:52

  • Acer TravelMate 8100 'Sonoma' notebook

    Review Feature-packed and fast - and a bargain too?

    Acer must be making life very difficult for other notebook manufacturers. The company has built a solid reputation for manufacturing high-quality portables at very attractive prices, and the TravelMate 8104WLMi is no exception, writes Riyad Emeran. The 8104WLMi is Acer's first 'Sonoma' notebook, and it's a pretty good first …

    Reviews 14 Apr 2005, 14:53

  • On AOL's VoIP service

    Analysis Cheap but not revolutionary

    It is Faultline's firm belief that consumers are happier buying a new cheap phone service that uses Voice over IP, from a name they know and trust, but one that is not currently associated with phone services. Step forward your ISP or other strong internet brand. So the prospect of AOL or Yahoo or even Amazon or Google …

    VoIP 14 Apr 2005, 14:58

  • HDS goes multidimensional on ILM

    No more tiers - it's a storage matrix

    Almost everyone doing ILM and data migration so far has missed the point, reckons Hitachi Data Systems. It claims its HiCommand Tiered Storage Manager is the first migration tool to let you define multiple dimensions within a multi-vendor storage set-up, and then move data between tiers without disrupting your applications. So …

    Storage 14 Apr 2005, 15:31

  • Sony to add Blu-ray and DSD to Vaio

    No shame about Ray

    At a three day press event in Bordeaux Sony this week announced it is going to add Blu-ray and DSD (Direct Stream Digital) to its Vaio series of PCs and notebooks. DSD is the core HD audio technology that is found at the heart of the Super Audio CD platform that Sony developed with Philips. Supported by over 250 record …

    PCs 14 Apr 2005, 15:39

  • SCO makes Unix revenue disappear in Q1

    SCOsource can't crack five-figures

    The SCO Group continued to lose money in its first quarter, as it suffered from lackluster Unix sales and made just a few thousand bucks in licensing revenues. SCO pulled in $8.9m during the first quarter - a major drop from the $11.4m reported in the same period one year earlier. It attributed the biggest chunk of this revenue …

    Operating Systems 14 Apr 2005, 16:01

  • Swansea IT workers lose outsourcing fight

    Gapgemini selected for Swansea IT gig

    IT staff in Swansea Council have lost their fight to remain employed by the local authority after councillors approved plans to transfer workers to IT outfit Capgemini. Up to 70 per cent of the 135 staff who work in Swansea's IT department will be shunted to Capgemini as part of an ambitious service@swansea egovernment scheme. …

    IT Director 14 Apr 2005, 16:04

  • Networks on yellow alert over ICMP flaw

    Industry reels from IP bug

    ISPs and enterprises were this week advised to update their internet communications infrastructure following the discovery of a vulnerability affecting a raft of major suppliers including Cisco, Juniper, Microsoft and IBM to varying degrees. Security researchers have discovered that multiple TCP/IP implementations fail to …

    Enterprise Security 14 Apr 2005, 16:08

  • Cisco eyes the server with $250m Topspin buy

    Deep data center invasion

    Cisco Systems has stretched even deeper into the data center by agreeing to acquire once high-flying server startup Topspin Communications. Cisco will shell out close to $250m in cash and options for Topspin with the deal expected to close by July, pending standard approvals. The buy fits in with Cisco's core networking …

    Data Networking 14 Apr 2005, 16:18

  • IBM schtum on European jobs threat

    Nothing to see here. Move along please

    IBM is contemplating an overhaul of its worldwide business operations but has refused to comment on reports that it is planning to close several of its European services sites. German magazine Wirtschaftswoche has reported that the company is looking to overhaul its European services operations, a move that could put up to 2, …

    IT Director 14 Apr 2005, 16:32

  • Labour promises 'voluntary' compulsory ID card

    You don't have to be confused to live here, but it helps

    The "voluntary" ID card returned yesterday with the publication of the Labour's Party's election manifesto, but it's once again rather difficult to find out what's voluntary about it. According to the wording: "We will introduce ID cards, including biometric data like fingerprints, backed up by a national register and rolling …

    Music and Media 14 Apr 2005, 16:36

  • Torvalds knifes Tridgell

    Kernel source row turns nasty

    Linux founder Linus Torvalds has followed up his weekend condemnation of reverse engineering with an astonishing personal attack on the integrity of one of the most respected figures in the open source community, rsync author and Samba co-lead Andrew Tridgell. Torvalds accuses Tridgell of playing dirty tricks with his …

    Music and Media 14 Apr 2005, 20:32

  • Sun's Q3 revenue down. Again

    Conversations up

    Sun Microsystems disappointed analysts and investors with a third quarter loss and lower revenue. Weak sales of storage systems and high-end servers hurt Sun during the period, executives said. Sun posted revenue of $2.63bn, which is 1 per cent less than the $2.65bn reported last year. On the plus side, Sun managed to shrink …

    Financial News 14 Apr 2005, 22:39

  • Starbucks seeks to patent loyalty card

    A patent attorney and his donkey

    Patent sleuth Theo DP writes, "Looks like Microsoft and Amazon may have some competition in the worst-Seattle-patent-ever contest." That's a tall latte, because when it comes to fatuous patents, Amazon.com and Microsoft have raised the bar very high. But he notes that this week two Starbucks patent applications seek to protect …

    Music and Media 14 Apr 2005, 23:05