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11th May 2005 Archive

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  • Ingram Micro gets closer to AMD

    Expands global agreement

    Ingram Micro is expanding its worldwide agreement with AMD. The two firms will work to widen AMD’s footprint and work to generate demand in Europe, the Americas and “select areas within Asia Pacific”. Sven Hollemann, director of components for Ingram Micro Europe, said: "Previously we could only sell AMD processors in central …

    The Channel 11 May 2005, 07:46

  • O2 creates 1,500 Glasgow jobs

    Flushed with success

    O2 is creating 1,500 new call centre jobs in Scotland as part of plans to be more cuddly towards its customers. A new call centre opens in Glasgow's Skypark business complex at Finnieston in the autumn. Over the next two years the cellco is pumping £18m into the centre, backed by £7m in "Regional Selective Assistance". The …

    Mobile 11 May 2005, 07:49

  • Telewest punters 'unaffected' by spam blacklist

    For now anyway

    Telewest's internet punters appear to be unaffected by Telewest's recent naming and shaming by anti-spam organisation SPEW. More than 900,000 Telewest email addresses have been blacklisted by the Spam Prevention Early Warning System (SPEWS) reports the BBC. Although Telewest admits there's a problem, it claims that its …

    Security 11 May 2005, 07:53

  • IBM moves onto JBoss turf with Gluecode buy

    JBoss relishes challenge

    JBoss hopes to rally competitors to IBM around its open source middleware stack following IBM's purchase of application server start-up Gluecode. Bob Bickel, JBoss vice president of corporate strategy and development, told The Register his company already has deals in place with systems integrators that will be announced early …

    Software 11 May 2005, 08:59

  • Fiorina regrets nothing

    Carly talks stereotypes

    Free of corporate PR controls, Carly Fiorina has called on graduate job seekers to beware of institutionalized racism and sexism in her first speaking gig since losing the top job at Hewlett Packard Co. Speaking in North Carolina, HP's recently departed chief executive officer has - according to reports - urged graduates to …

    Management 11 May 2005, 09:00

  • Microsoft releases Windows Mobile 5.0

    More Windows in more places

    Microsoft has launched the latest edition of Windows for mobile devices, with improvements to attract service providers eager to customize devices. Windows Mobile 5.0 features tools for "push-to-talk" and video conferencing, support for 3G and WiFi, and improvements in soft-key operation and landscape display orientation. …

    Mobile 11 May 2005, 09:04

  • Swift catches birth of black hole on camera

    Living up to its name

    Astronomers working on the Swift mission have photographed a gamma ray burst they think is likely to be the formation of a new black hole, 2.2bn light-years away. There was a flash of X-Rays just moments after the burst, which itself was very short-lived, followed by an optical afterglow. Astronomers think the explosion was …

    Science 11 May 2005, 09:16

  • Michael Dell slips $100m into Red Hat

    Personal endorsement?

    Michael Dell is investing $100m of his own cash in Linux distributor Red Hat. The investment is a private investment rather than a strategic corporate move by Dell. Dell is investing $99.5m in Red Hat through his personal investment firm MSD Capital LP. MSD invests on behalf of the Dell family in public and private equity and …

    Financial News 11 May 2005, 09:23

  • Apple settles Eminem lawsuit

    'Out-a-court'

    Apple has settled its other music-centric lawsuit, with Eminem. The two parties have reached an out-of-court settlement, it emerged this week. Apple will pay the rapper's recording company, Eight Mile Style, an undisclosed sum, lawyers said yesterday. The settlement was described as "amicable". EMS sued Apple in February 2004 …

    Media 11 May 2005, 10:04

  • Weak consumer spending hits Dixons

    Oh dear, oh my

    Dixons has been hit by weaker consumer spending and warned of tough times ahead, the high street electrical retailer said today. In the six months to the end of April like-for-like sales in the UK - with stores including Currys, Dixons, PC World and The Link - fell two per cent. Demand for gear such as flat screen TVs helped …

    The Channel 11 May 2005, 10:48

  • Yahoo! declares! digital! music! price! war!

    Subscriptions a third of the price of Napster's

    Yahoo! today opens the virtual doors of Yahoo! Music Unlimited (YMU). And it has immediately issued a challenge to rival music download subscription services to lower their prices in response to its own bargain-basement "introductory" tariffs. The US-only service is backed by MusicNet, the online music distributor formerly …

    Financial News 11 May 2005, 10:50

  • Sybase buys UK company

    Search firm

    Sybase has bought two firms to help it expand beyond its straight database business. No financial terms disclosed but Sybase has bought Avaki and London-based ISDD. Avaki is a data integration firm - it makes it easier for applications to get information from various sources. ISDD is a London company which offers a Bayesian …

    Financial News 11 May 2005, 10:52

  • Squirrels blamed for gnawing through BT phone line

    Maybe, maybe not

    A BT engineer has blamed squirrels for gnawing through phone cables cutting off a Berkshire couple. John and Christina Gaff from Finchampstead told Get Wokingham that they have been without a phone service for eight weeks. When a BT engineer finally came round to sort out the problem he told them squirrels had nibbled through …

    Bootnotes 11 May 2005, 11:11

  • Strong Euro sales lift Cisco profits

    Steady growth

    Cisco Systems yesterday reported an unspectacular but healthy rise in sales and profits helped by strong sales in Europe, particularly to service providers. For the period ended April 30, 2005, Cisco reported sales of $6.19bn, compared with $5.6bn for Q3 2004, an increase of 10.1 per cent. Net income for Q3 2005 pegged out at $ …

    Financial News 11 May 2005, 11:12

  • Congress passes Gestapo ID legislation

    Comment Papers, please!

    House and Senate Republicans have rammed through the so-called Real ID Act - a legislative Trojan horse that lets the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) dictate drivers' license standards to the states - by attaching it to a $76 billion military spending package for Iraq that no one in the Senate dared oppose. In addition to …

    Media 11 May 2005, 11:12

  • Dell to launch 19in widescreen notebook 'next year'

    Apple to get there first?

    Dell is preparing a monster 19in widescreen notebook for release next year, according to moles, cited by DigiTimes, claim the beast will be produced by Compal, which is already producing a range of widescreen notebooks for Dell. Little more is known about the enormous notebook, which is arguably unlikely to be used beyond the …

    PCs 11 May 2005, 11:19

  • HTC unveils 3G PocketPC phone

    Windows Mobile 5.0 on board

    HTC today formally introduced 'Universal', the palmtop-like PocketPC phone a number of European network operators have already announced, but on which the handset's vendor has kept quiet. Microsoft's announcement yesterday of Windows Mobile 5.0 - aka 'Magneto' - provided the motivation for HTC, which claimed Universal is the " …

    Mobile 11 May 2005, 11:22

  • Toshiba unveils 45GB HD DVD

    Layer cake

    Toshiba yesterday introduced a higher capacity version of its HD DVD blue-laser disc format to meet the challenge posed by rival optical storage system, Blu-ray Disc (BD). The prototype holds 45GB, just shy of BD's 50GB storage capacity. But unlike BD, which requires only two 25GB data-storage layers to provide that capacity, …

    Storage 11 May 2005, 11:26

  • Canada mulls VoIP regs

    Big telcos get prices fixed

    Canada’s telecoms regulator is likely to rule that Voice over Internet Protocol services should be regulated in the same way as traditional telcos. The official decision is expected later this week but anonymous sources told the Globe and Mail that the regulator will restrict prices. It fears that incumbents Bell Canada and …

    VoIP 11 May 2005, 11:41

  • VESA readies next-gen display interface

    Handy connector and not-so-handy copy-protection

    The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) has begun work on DisplayPort, a new digital display interface, designed to enable all forms of screen technology to be easily hooked up to computers. Actually, most of the development work is nearly done, says VESA, which notes that ATI, Nvidia, Dell, HP, Molex, Samsung and …

    Peripherals 11 May 2005, 11:48

  • Travis Bickle makes gaming debut

    Shoot-'em-up? More than likely

    The citizens of videolandia can sleep safer in their beds tonight with the news that Travis Bickle is about to make his gaming debut, courtesy of Majesco Entertainment Co. Yup, the hero of cult flick Taxi Driver will debut at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2005 in LA between 18-20 May, thereby joining Dirty Harry and 50 Cent …

    Consoles 11 May 2005, 11:50

  • Google launches mini search-in-a-box

    One for the smaller businesses

    Google has launched the Google Mini, a scaled-down version of its enterprise search appliance, to the UK. The small, blue box is designed to provide a search function for the intranets or public websites of small to medium businesses. The asking price of just under £2,000 includes a year of support, and hardware replacement …

    Small Biz 11 May 2005, 11:51

  • Microsoft issues solitary patch

    All quiet on the security front

    Microsoft's patch Tuesday brought just one security update yesterday, a fix for a script injection vulnerability rated by Microsoft as "important". The vulnerability in the Web view component of Windows Explorer (MS05-24) affects Windows 2000, Win 98 and Me users1 but Win XP punters are off the hook. The solitary security …

    Security 11 May 2005, 12:02

  • Mobile operators fight DRM corner

    Challenge MPEG LA proposals

    The GSM Association tried a dangerous game of bluff this week in an attempt to gain concessions from the licensing authority that claims to hold the essential patents for the Digital Rights Management system favored by mobile operators everywhere. Put simply, the GSMA, which says it speaks for 1.3 billion mobile customers, …

    Mobile 11 May 2005, 12:42

  • IWF cracks down on illegal porn at work

    'Shocking' results of survey

    The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has launched a campaign to crackdown on child porn in the workplace. It claims that many IT managers are unsure about what to do if they found illegal material on their servers and wants to raise awareness about to do. A survey of 200 IT managers found that three quarters of those quizzed …

    Management 11 May 2005, 12:45

  • Yahoo! fudges video search

    From Russia with lots of unwanted results

    This week there is news that Yahoo! has joined the hunt for the video search engine, but like all those before it, not counting Google, which we have yet to see operate, as it is only just collecting content right now, it is a bit of a fudge. On Yahoo!, the snippets of video that are indexed are all very short and all of them …

    Financial News 11 May 2005, 12:59

  • DiData triples profits

    Revenues up too...

    Dimension Data, the giant networking equipment reseller, tripled profit and increased turnover in the first half of the year ended 31 March 2005. In the first six months DiData brought in $1.3bn in revenues, up 15.7 per cent on the first half of last year. Net profit for the six months was $6.3m compared to $1.4m last year. …

    Servers 11 May 2005, 13:03

  • Dutch academics declare research free-for-all

    Open access

    Scientists from all major Dutch universities officially launched a website on Tuesday where all their research material can be accessed for free. Interested parties can get hold of a total of 47,000 digital documents from 16 institutions the Digital Academic Repositories. No other nation in the world offers such easy access to …

    Media 11 May 2005, 13:06

  • No 'sorry' from Love Bug author

    Five years on, Spyder keeps schtum

    Five years ago, a new "supervirus" hit the headlines. It had the two successful - but evil - elements: destructive virus coding coupled to an enticing title and the simple fact that it arrived from someone the recipient knew. The combination was virus dynamite. Most viruses start slowly and then build power; "I Love You" hit …

    Security 11 May 2005, 13:09

  • SQLite - destined for PHP glory

    Site offer Read all about it at 30% off

    SQLite is the next big thing in the PHP web development world - the popular, easy-to-use database is supported by, and bundled with PHP 5. SQLite is a small, fast, embeddable database and differs from most SQL database engines in that its primary design goal is to be simple. What makes it popular is the combination of the …

    Site News 11 May 2005, 13:10

  • Readers retell their squirrel pest stories

    Ugly, real ugly

    The problem of tufty-tailed squirrels gnawing through BT phone cables drew some interesting emails from readers. No sooner had we run the story of the couple from Berkshire troubled by a furry pest, Sean wrote to tell us that he also suffered "squirrel damage" which cost him £150 to repair. David recalls a similar experience, …

    Bootnotes 11 May 2005, 14:35

  • Orange snuffs out Wildfire

    €148m up in smoke

    Orange is pulling the plug on Wildfire - its voice activated digital personal assistant that does all sorts of clever things on the end of a mobile phone. The system drummed up an army of fans who relied on the voice activated system to take messages, place calls and store information. Like a "real" PA, Wildfire also became …

    Mobile 11 May 2005, 14:36

  • Nominet appoints new chairman

    Lawyer Bob Gilbert joins after long search

    Nominet has at last found someone to fill its chairman post - retired top company lawyer and experienced chairman Bob Gilbert. Gilbert, 57, was until last year a high-flying senior partner of Birmingham law firm Wragge & Co, becoming its youngest-ever partner aged 25. He is also one of Birmingham's most well-known businessmen …

    Media 11 May 2005, 14:37

  • EC wants €70bn for science

    Double the budget over 10 years

    The EU's science budget could be doubled to €10bn a year, the European Commission says in its initial proposal for the next science programme, Framework 7 (FP7), to cover the years 2007-2013. The EC has costed the total for FP7 at &euro:70bn. However, much debate is expected in the snakepit of EU politics before details of how …

    Science 11 May 2005, 14:38

  • DoD hacker jailed for 21 months

    TK worm suspect taken down

    A US hacker convicted of infecting Department of Defense with a computer worm was last week sentenced to 21 months imprisonment. Raymond Paul Steigerwalt, a 21 year-old Indiana resident and former member of the Thr34t Krew hacking group, was also ordered to pay $12,000 to the DoD in compensation for the damage he'd caused at a …

    Security 11 May 2005, 14:40

  • VXers make a monkey out of gullible surfers

    Gorillas in the malware

    Social engineering tricks by virus writers took a strange twist this week after hackers bundled malicious code with pictures of a famous dead albino gorilla. The Wurmark-K email worm displays a picture of Snowflake (AKA Copito de Nieve), an inmate of Barcelona Zoo until his death in November 2003, as it goes about its job of …

    Security 11 May 2005, 15:33

  • Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2 gaming notebook

    Review Phew, what a scorcher!

    I've looked at quite a few gaming notebooks, some of them good, some of them not so good. I've looked at mobile gaming solutions from hardcore players like Voodoo and Alienware, as well as lightning-fast machines from the likes of Rock and MV. But sitting before me right now is, without a doubt, the best gaming notebook I have …

    Reviews 11 May 2005, 16:13

  • Oz iPod users denied access to quality pop

    Comment No download of No.1 hit

    Despite all the huff and puff emanating from the Australian music business about illegal file-sharing, it's comes as a bit of surprise to learn that you can't legally downloaded a number one single, even if you're prepared to shell out hard-earned cash for the privilege. Jesse McCartney is a harmless enough young pop star and …

    Media 11 May 2005, 16:20

  • Gadget express rolls into Gizmoville

    Tech Digest Tasty kit

    Certified gadget obsessives Tech Digest and Shiny Shiny scour Gizmoville for the oddest digital goodies, while Bayraider keeps tabs on the best and worst of eBay. Read on in wonder: Obligatory iPod Accessory of the Week: Noreve's iPod Love case Want to pay six times more for your iPod case than you did for your iPod? Noreve's …

    Personal 11 May 2005, 16:21

  • Lastminute.com rocks following bid approach

    Time to dust off those share certificates

    Shares in Lastminute.com jumped 45 per cent today following news that an unnamed suitor has been sniffing round the one-time dotcom darling. By 4.30pm this afternoon shares in the online travel and gift outfit were up 47.75p (45 per cent) at 153p. A statement issued to the Stock Exchange at lunchtime today said: "The Board of …

    Financial News 11 May 2005, 16:28

  • Google goes to China

    Try searching for 'company ethics'

    Google has snagged a licence to do business in China, and has registered the URL www.google.com.cn. According to reports, is planning to open an office there by the end of the year. Web consults at Shanghai iResearch note that Google already has more than 21 per cent of the Chinese search market, which ranks it in third place, …

    Financial News 11 May 2005, 16:28

  • IBM thinks ahead with speedy midrange storage dynamo

    Cracks 4Gbps barrier. Rivals scoff

    In the sometimes dull world of storage, IBM has made a bold move against competitors such as EMC and HP by releasing the first four gigabit per second Fibre channel box from a Tier I vendor. Well, "release" isn't the best word. IBM won't actually deliver the new TotalStorage DS4800 until June 17. So that gives rivals a bit of …

    Storage 11 May 2005, 17:53

  • Symbian revenues soar on smartphone sales surge

    Royalty boost

    Symbian sold 6.75 million smart phone licences during the first quarter of 2005, almost three times more than were shipped during the same quarter of 2004. The upswing helped the firm to post revenues of £24.8m for the three months to the end of March, compared to revenues of £12.9m in the same quarter of the previous year. …

    Financial News 11 May 2005, 19:07

  • Macintoshes are 'hot' amid slow April PC sales

    Lack of AMD kit drags down HP

    This story has expired from The Register's archive. You can now find it at its original location on the Forbes.com website: http://www.forbes.com/markets/2005/05/11/0511automarketscan07.html?partner=theregister.

    PCs 11 May 2005, 19:58

  • Poachers turn over Microsoft Gatekeeper security test

    All in jest

    Microsoft last week pulled the plug on an online security competition after it emerged that system flaws enabled entrants to manipulate their scores. The Gatekeeper Test was an entertaining test of wits for security pros: A series of progressively trickier multiple choice questions (two per working day) were to be offered …

    Security 11 May 2005, 21:16

  • Kodak lets Carp loose, hooks new CEO

    HP vet rising

    Kodak has tapped its current president and former HP executive Antonio Perez to be the company's next CEO. The photo giant today announced that Perez will replace Daniel Carp as CEO on June 1. He will also gain the Chairman role from Carp at the start of next year after Carp retires. Shares of Eastman Kodak rose almost 5 …

    Management 11 May 2005, 21:53