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15th April 2005 Archive

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  • IBM spooks market with dismal Q1

    Beware the Ides of March

    A sharp drop in sales during March crushed an otherwise fair first quarter for IBM, the company said today. IBM's inability to close late quarter deals caused it badly to miss analyst expectations. IBM pulled in $22.9bn during the period - a 3 per cent rise over the $22.2bn posted in the same period one year ago. Removing …

    Financial News 15 Apr 2005, 02:33

  • Tory backs down in political cybersquatting row

    Election 2005 Are you thinking what we're thinking?

    The cybersquatting jiggery pokery that has thrust Winchester to the forefront of political dirty trickery appears to have been resolved. The Conservative's prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC), George Hollingbery, has now handed back the domain belonging to Lib Dem Mark Oaten, reports the BBC. Hollingbery had snaffled up …

    Music and Media 15 Apr 2005, 09:52

  • Payup, says Meetup

    Emergent people seen heading for the exit

    Scott Heiferman's Meetup.com - the site beloved by Howard Dean supporters, Segway enthusiasts, and Flame Warrior Coffee Klatches, is to begin charging for its services. A Meetup meeting organizer must now pay $19 a month to use the software. Not surprisingly, a phlegmatic Heifermann is braced for a rush towards the exit door …

    Financial News 15 Apr 2005, 10:01

  • Fujitsu seals £170m deal with Lloyds TSB

    Horses for courses

    Fujitsu Services has confirmed that it has won a five-year, £170m contract to manage, update and maintain the IT systems at retail banker Lloyds TSB. Under the terms of the deal, 300 staff from Lloyds TSB's existing IT teams and suppliers will move to Fujitsu. They will retain their existing terms and conditions of employment …

    IT Director 15 Apr 2005, 10:08

  • Sony Ericsson slips on stockpiled handsets

    Quarterly sales, profits slump

    Sony Ericsson saw its income halve during its most recently completed quarter, the first of fiscal 2005, on the back of falling sales and falling handset prices. SE shipped 9.4 million phones during the three months to 31 March 2005, down 25.4 per cent on the previous quarter, but up 6.8 per cent on the year-ago quarter's total …

    Financial News 15 Apr 2005, 10:28

  • Reader survey - spare us five minutes

    Reg Reader Studies 'Operational impacts for mobile technology'. Crikey

    This month's quick tap on the IT barometer addresses a few mobile issues, hence the snappy title: "Operational impacts for mobile technology". However, despite the unmouthwatering come-on, we need you, our beloved and tech-savvy readership to answer a few questions of import, including: "What best describes your current …

    Tech Panel 15 Apr 2005, 10:30

  • Digital camera market 'running out of steam'

    Boffins speak

    The digital camera market is "running out of steam", according to research from Strategy Analytics, which has recorded a surge in demand for camera phones. It seems demand for camera phones could hit demand for digital cameras with the major players struggling to maintain current growth rates. Four in ten of all mobile phones …

    Mobile 15 Apr 2005, 10:43

  • Samsung sales, income slump

    Won too strong, apparently

    Samsung's profits were well short of expectations in the first quarter, as it suffered in its three key markets: displays, chips and phones. Sales for the quarter fell 4.2 per cent year on year to KRW13.8tr ($13.54bn), down just 2.6 per cent on the previous quarter. Operating profits were down 46 per cent to KRW2.15tr ($2.11bn …

    Financial News 15 Apr 2005, 10:49

  • IM worm hits Reuters

    Breaking news

    Reuters was temporarily forced to shut down its instant messaging service Thursday after a computer worm spread across its network. The culprit - Kelvir-U - is a variant of a worm family that targets MSN and Windows Messenger clients and previously posed no risk to Reuters' tightly-controlled messaging network. This is the first …

    Malware 15 Apr 2005, 11:00

  • Legal costs cut Rambus earnings

    Q1 revenues up, though

    Memory technology developer Rambus said its income and earnings dipped during the first quarter of its fiscal 2005, despite a strong year-on-year gain in revenues. The three months to 31 March 2005 yielded $39.6m in revenues, up 22 per cent on the year-ago quarter, but made for a more modest increase of three per cent on Q4 …

    Financial News 15 Apr 2005, 11:07

  • Morse shares tumble on channel exposure

    Hardware blues

    Shares in UK IT services group Morse took a tumble yesterday, after the company warned that conditions in the hardware reselling business would continue to be tough. In a sales update the company reported flat revenues of £96m for the quarter (Q3) ending 31 March, and its announcement that it would take "radical action" to …

    Financial News 15 Apr 2005, 11:09

  • ISS relief crew blast off on Soyuz spacecraft

    Last Soyuz mission before Shuttle's comeback

    The next inhabitants of the International Space Station blasted off from Baikonur in Kazakhstan aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket, just after one o'clock this morning (BST). The Soyuz capsule reached orbit about nine minutes after lift-off, NASA reports. Russian space controllers said that the craft's solar arrays had deployed …

    Science 15 Apr 2005, 11:21

  • BOFH: I declare this junket season...

    Episode 12 ... open!

    "I officially declare this junket season... open!" the PFY slurs, leaning out the pub window and releasing the bottle of lager tied to our office window across the road. >smash< "Sh*t, the string was too long!" he slobbers as we watch the glass and lager slide down the side of the Boss's car. Junket season is a fantastic time …

    BOFH 15 Apr 2005, 12:16

  • George Bush fears email privacy breach

    'I don't want you reading my personal stuff', prez tells press

    US prez George Bush has admitted he does not send personal emails to daughters Jenna and Barbara for fear that his "personal stuff" might end up in the public domain. Bush made the admission on Thursday to the American Society of Newspaper Editors during a discussion centring on whether the US government is sufficiently …

    Bootnotes 15 Apr 2005, 12:21

  • Dixons looks to Russian Eldorado for growth

    'Imaginary land of wealth' apparently

    Dixons is considering expanding its electrical retailing empire to Russia and the Ukraine following the inking of a long-term co-operation deal with the Eldorado Group. Dixons has until 2011 to acquire the Russian consumer electronics retailing group for £1bn. Under the agreement Dixons does not have to acquire Eldorado. …

    Financial News 15 Apr 2005, 12:26

  • Carphone Warehouse confirms Orange SPV C550

    Shipping next month, apparently

    Orange's second-generation SPV C5xx series Windows Mobile-based smart phone will ship next month, a UK mobile phone reseller has let slip. The existence of the SPV C550 emerged in February, courtesy of an allegedly leaked picture of the handset and some specifications that slipped out too. At the time, we noted its similarity …

    Mobile 15 Apr 2005, 12:36

  • 3G mast wars ahoy!

    Brace for protests, me mobile buckaroos

    If you think the mobile phone mast wars have been bad so far, you ain't seen nothing yet. That's according to 3G equipment and software suppliers, who estimate that if 3G is to replace GSM as planned, the networks will need three to four times as many transmitters as they have today. Peter Jones, strategy and marketing director …

    Mobile 15 Apr 2005, 13:29

  • Ralph Lauren, HSBC in data breach debacle

    Another week, another 300,000 victims

    Pseudo-preppie clothier Polo/Ralph Lauren has been named as the latest target in a string of data security breaches, this time involving the loss of hundreds of thousands of customer credit transactions, the Associated Press reports. HSBC North America is advising 180,000 holders of its General Motors branded MasterCards that …

    Enterprise Security 15 Apr 2005, 13:32

  • IBM wins $125m car black box deal with UAE

    Drivers alarums

    IBM has won a $125m deal with the government of the United Arab Emirates to install tracking devices into tens of thousands of cars by the end of next year. The four-year deal is believed to be the largest in the telematics sector to date. IBM will equip cars and trucks in the state with a telematics device and global …

    Public Sector 15 Apr 2005, 13:57

  • T-Mobile steams in with WiMAX, Wi-Fi train

    Analysis The rail deal

    European rail operators love Wi-Fi. They're keen on anything that encourages more businesspeople to take the train, and wireless networking is an attractive way to provide paying travellers with ad hoc connections to the internet and company networks. A journey's duration becomes productive work time, whether it's part of a …

    Wireless 15 Apr 2005, 14:11

  • C&W to meet BCC over Mesh Broadband collapse

    Nildram takes on the channel

    Cable & Wireless (C&W) is to hold a meeting with Bedfordshire County Council (BCC) next Thursday following the collapse of wireless broadband outfit Mesh Broadband. Mesh was subcontracted by C&W to bring wireless broadband to ADSL blackspots in Bedfordshire. The project - backed by a £375,000 grant from the East of England …

    Telecoms 15 Apr 2005, 14:19

  • Prince Harry flunks army PC test

    Thick toff fails exam, plays polo instead

    Prince Harry has flunked a basic computer skills test at an army induction day. The Daily Mirror reports that the third in line to the British throne shocked instructors in failing a basic PC skills course. "Although the computer test was a lot more complex than just sending emails, instructors were amazed that Harry failed it …

    Bootnotes 15 Apr 2005, 14:57

  • We're not lazy, just busy reading (and emailing) The Reg

    Letters Procrastinate this...

    Oh, what? Letters time is it? Already? Sorry...I was in the middle of trying to beat my record on Minesweeper... Anyway, it seems that I am not alone - Brits apparently lead the world at desk skiving, that is, trying to beat personal records at Minesweeper when we should be, for e.g. going through the Register postbag. Here's …

    Letters 15 Apr 2005, 15:35

  • Readers pour water on pro-smoke lobby

    Stern response 'Also, you are dumb'

    Our newest columnist, Otto Z. Stern, seems to be on a personal mission, almost a crusade, to tackle the subjects the rest of us would rather he didn't. After taking some pot-shots at the back of the departing ex-boss of HP, he decided that a thinly disguised fan letter to the heads of the tobacco industry would be the next …

    Letters 15 Apr 2005, 16:07

  • Virus writers have girlfriends - official

    And some don't even need inflating

    The stereotype of virus writers as spotty nerds who can't pull is well wide of the mark, according to an expert on the psychology of virus writers. Sarah Gordon, senior principal research engineer at Symantec Security Response, said that the more recent idea that virus writing activity is focused mainly around money-making scams …

    Malware 15 Apr 2005, 16:27

  • IBM may fix slump by firing 10,000 - analyst

    Is it IT or IBM that's blue?

    IBM could cull up to 10,000 workers to make up for a disconcerting first quarter revenue shortfall, according to a top financial analyst. The question is whether these cuts will tidy the bottom line enough to offset what appear to be broad problems plaguing the company. During a conference call yesterday to explain a 9 cent per …

    IT Director 15 Apr 2005, 16:57

  • 'Cool it, Linus' - Bruce Perens

    Torvalds acting like an idiot - open source leader

    With Andrew Tridgell silent, apparently on legal advice, open source community leader Bruce Perens has stepped up to defend the work Tridgell did reverse engineering the protocols used by Bitkeeper. Bitkeeper is the closed source proprietary source code management tool that until last week, Linus Torvalds used to manage Linux …

    Operating Systems 15 Apr 2005, 20:47

  • Hoax paper fools cybernetic boffins

    Sokal-style bogosity metrics

    An MIT student has had a paper consisting of computer-generated gibberish accepted by technology conference WMSCI. The pretentious gathering bills itself as "an international forum where researchers and practitioners examine Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics key issues" Comp sci undergraduate Jeremy Stribling told us that …

    Science 15 Apr 2005, 22:10