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16th May 2005 Archive

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  • 60 companies want to wire up the Tube

    LU overwhelmed by interest

    More than 60 companies have applied to wire up London's underground network for mobile phone and other whizzy digital services. London Underground (LU) has been so overwhelmed by the response from technology companies it has extend the deadline for companies looking to make a pitch. In March, Mayor Ken Livingstone announced he …

    Mobile 16 May 2005, 07:06

  • Where's my robotic maid?

    Softly softly, catchee monkey

    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/technology/2005/05/13/cx_lh_0513robotmaid.html?partner=theregister.

    Science 16 May 2005, 07:50

  • UK games industry must adapt or die

    Beancounter speaks

    Independent games developers and publishers in the UK must adapt or die as the market gets ever more cut-throat. According to research from accountants Grant Thornton there are three key issues facing the industry: protecting intellectual property, finding alternative sources of funding and moving to more professional and …

    Consoles 16 May 2005, 08:16

  • BOFH: You can't outbastard the bastard

    Episode 15 Career-limiting strategy

    Life as the Acting Head of IT, Acting Manager of Systems and Networks as well as my normal role as Systems Administrator has its ups and downs, and as such I'm starting to appreciate the complexity of the roles which I've disparaged so greatly in the past. At one time I may have heaped scorn on my seniors, but now that I'm in …

    BOFH 16 May 2005, 09:26

  • Judge rejects Mac OS X 'Tiger' ban demand

    Apple operating system and PC reseller 'distinctly different'

    US reseller Tiger Direct has failed in its attempt to seek an injunction against Apple banning the Mac maker from selling Mac OS X 10.4 'Tiger'. Last week, the US District Court of Florida, Judge Joan Lenard presiding, ruled that "there is greater risk of damage to Apple from granting the injunction than any potential harm to …

    Mac Channel 16 May 2005, 09:32

  • Transmeta narrows loss on cost cuts

    Improves loss-limitation lookout

    Transmeta lost $21.1m (11 cents a share) on sales of $6.9m during the three months to 31 March 2005, the processor technology developer said late last week. By comparison, Transmeta lost $28.1m (15 cents a share) on Q4 FY2004 revenues of $11.2m, and $23.4m (14 cents a share) on Q1 FY2004 sales of $5.2m. Almost all of the most- …

    Financial News 16 May 2005, 09:53

  • Yahoo! hires Phoenix to recruit system builders

    Boxmakers to include Yahoo's start page

    Yahoo has done a deal with Phoenix Technologies to get its toolbar and start page included on machines made by Phoenix partners. Phoenix provides software bundles for Original Equipment Manufacturers - the people who make computers. Phoenix partners ship over 100m units per year. Eleven PC makers have expressed an interest, …

    Channel Register 16 May 2005, 09:56

  • Name your SMS heroes and zeroes

    Nominations invited for txt hall of shame/fame

    Nominations are invited to name and shame the best and the worse players in the global messaging industry. Mobile messaging forum 160characters is running the contest as part of its 2005 Global Messaging Awards on 15 June. Any company or person can be nominated either for pushing the industry forward - or hindering its …

    Mobile 16 May 2005, 09:58

  • EU puts squeeze on animal testing

    Seeking alternatives

    The EU's scientists are facing a challenge to think up ways of reducing the animal testing element in the biggest piece of legislation to pass through Brussels in a decade. REACH (registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals) proposes to register, label and authorise the 30,000 chemicals used by industry in the …

    Science 16 May 2005, 10:06

  • AOL UK offers phone service

    Simple as that

    AOL UK has joined the growing list of companies offering phone services to residential customers. Just like Tele2, Tesco, Carphone's TalkTalk and a host of other providers, AOL UK is giving users the chance to cut the cost of their phone bills by ditching BT. Available from tomorrow, AOL Talk includes unlimited UK local and …

    VoIP 16 May 2005, 10:09

  • HP confirms jobs to India move

    No longer 'rumour and speculation'

    HP has finally confirmed that it is shunting its customer support for UK punters to India. Last week El Reg reported how hundreds of technical support workers in the UK could lose their jobs within the next six months following HP's decision to move more work overseas. Insiders who now face an uncertain future revealed how …

    IT Director 16 May 2005, 10:15

  • Oracle settles whistleblower suit for $8m

    Done and dusted

    Oracle is to pay $8m to settle a troublesome whistleblower lawsuit, which saw the company accused of fraudulently billing government agencies in the US for training between 1997 and 2003. The suit was sparked by a then employee of the company, Robert Makheja. Makheja claimed he was relieved of his job when he challenged the way …

    Business 16 May 2005, 10:26

  • Sober infected PCs spew right-wing 'hate spam'

    Neo-botnet

    Virus writers turned PCs infected with the Sober-P worm into relay stations for right-wing propaganda using backdoor access into compromised machines to load malicious code. Sober-Q was downloaded from Saturday (14 May) onwards onto computers infected by recent Sober-P worm. The mass mailing Sober-P worm tricked recipients into …

    Malware 16 May 2005, 10:39

  • SMT vulnerability 'not critical' - Intel

    Got to 'own' a machine to make use of it

    Intel has pledged to work with operating system vendors to prevent its HyperThreading system being used by malware to snoop for sensitive data. However, it claimed the problem, revealed in a paper published last week, is a minor one: it can only be exploited once the security of the targeted desktop or server has already been …

    Channel Register 16 May 2005, 10:43

  • UK search market growing fast

    SMEs getting on board

    The UK search market will grow to almost £600m by the end of 2005 - growth of 70 per cent compared to last year. E-consultancy believes revenue from search will hit £598m as companies start to see search engine placing as a central part of marketing strategy. Growing broadband use is also pushing growth. Demand for specialist …

    Financial News 16 May 2005, 11:23

  • Crytek: new ATI chip will support Shader 3.0

    R520 not far off?

    Far Cry developer Crytek has tacitly confirmed ATI's Shader Model 3.0-supporting graphics chips are not far off. The comment comes in a patch Crytek posted last week to update the 64-bit version of its popular game, targeted at AMD and Intel processors. According to the release notes, Far Cry 1.32 fixes "a Shader Model 3.0 …

    System Builder 16 May 2005, 11:27

  • Online ticket touts fleece punters

    Massive mark-ups from dodgy dealers

    Punters are being warned that buying tickets from illegitimate online sources will cost them almost 70 per cent more than buying pukka tickets. Tickets for entertainment events cost 112 per cent more if bought through a dodgy website. Sporting tickets cost 73 per cent more and concert tickets cost an average 63 per cent more. …

    Financial News 16 May 2005, 11:35

  • Dutch military defies MS Enterprise ban

    Open standards govt sidestepped

    The Dutch Ministry of Defence intends to sign a large (6500 seat) Enterprise Agreement with Microsoft for the use of Windows XP, MS Office and several of Microsoft's servers despite a government ban on such renewals, Dutch IT weekly Automatisering Gids disclosed last Friday. Although the Dutch parliament in 2002 voted …

    Public Sector 16 May 2005, 11:54

  • Nintendo makes Revolution revelation

    Some beans spilled, but not all

    Nintendo last week revealed that its next-generation console, 'Revolution', will be a slimline unit as thick as three DVD cases when it ships next year. That's undoubtedly a dig at Xbox 360, launched last week and which - despite its gently concave contours - is not exactly a small unit. That said, this three-case thickness …

    Consoles 16 May 2005, 11:57

  • Local authorities offered outsourcing benchmarks

    Performance monitoring

    Local authorities wondering if they are keeping up with The Joneses in the outsourced IT stakes will soon be able to find out through a new performance benchmarking service from the Society of IT Management (Socitm). As well as keeping an eye on how other local authorities are handling outsourced projects and partnerships, the …

    Public Sector 16 May 2005, 12:01

  • easyMobile.com takes aim at easymobile

    Brand wars

    Stelios Haji-Ioannou is threatening legal action against a Welsh business unless it ditches its name. Dave Evans runs a company called Esus which trades under the name easymobile. Up and running since 2003, Evans employs some 50 people in Swansea and Port Talbot, reports Ananova. Stelios finally began accepting punters for his …

    Mobile 16 May 2005, 12:06

  • UK workers in IM flirt, gossip, bitchfest

    And a bit of work, too

    The increasing use of Instant Messaging (IM) in the workplace is exposing UK companies to fresh security and legal threats, a study out Monday claims. One in six (16 per cent) of 2,000 UK consumers quizzed in a YouGov survey admitted using IM at work to send or receive sensitive company information or documents. A quarter of …

    Security 16 May 2005, 12:53

  • Irish distie DCC cheers, a bit

    Profits hit by IT division...

    Irish distribution giant DCC increased profits by 8.5 per cent for the year ended 31 March 2005. But results for the diversified group were dragged down by a 12 per cent fall in profts from its IT distribution business. IT distribution brought in €27.5m, a fall of 11.9 per cent on last year. By contrast the group’s healthcare …

    Channel Register 16 May 2005, 13:17

  • Canada says oui to VoIP

    Meaning yes

    Canada’s telecoms regulator will not regulate Voice Over Internet Protocol providers but will restrict how the incumbent telcos charge for services. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) decided to take the action to protect new entrants to the business from the two incumbents Bell Canada and …

    Data Networking 16 May 2005, 14:08

  • Fortinet disputes Trend Micro patent ruling

    Anti-virus vendors in legal bun fight

    A judge has ruled in favour of Trend Micro in a patent infringement lawsuit against rival security appliance vendor Fortinet. An International Trade Commission judge made a preliminary ruling last week finding that Fortinet has infringed Trend Micro's patent covering server-based antivirus technology (US patent 5,623,600). As a …

    Music and Media 16 May 2005, 14:17

  • EU disgorges internet stats

    Fascinating

    The European Union has spewed out some stats on net usage - making even the hardest Sudoku seem like a piece of cake. To put it simply, the Nordic countries of Sweden, Denmark and Finland had the highest density of net use for both residential and business punters. Propping up the bottom of the net table is Greece followed by …

    Music and Media 16 May 2005, 14:41

  • GoogleNet - the ultimate embrace and extend?

    End of the web nigh - again?

    We've been reading stories about the "end of the internet" ever since the internet was exposed to the public more than a decade ago. Telcos, media companies, infrastructure hardware providers, and operating systems monopolists have all taken their turn as the villain in this particular drama. So far not one has succeeded. But …

    Music and Media 16 May 2005, 14:49

  • So, you want to be a computer scientist...

    Brain Academy 2005 is go

    It's that time of year again: BrainAcademy is back. This is the now-regular competition where A-level students and others compete for a fees-paid place at Queen Mary's University, London. However, the organisers have for the first time opened the competition to include post-graduates, and not just those from computer science …

    Developer 16 May 2005, 15:07

  • EMC finally finds its virtual voice

    Invista: switch friendly and not cheap

    EMC has arrived late to the storage virtualization party but, after months of hype, has delivered a product with such a unique set of technology and lofty price tag that it's sure to garner plenty of attention. Close storage watchers have heard about the kit code-named Storage Router for a long time. Well, as of today, that …

    Storage 16 May 2005, 16:19

  • HP can only afford 3,000 Gwen Stefani cameras

    Longing for the BonoPod

    Most companies are not as cool and pretentious as Apple and can't arrange deals to sling Bono-branded iPods. These poor, less exciting vendors are forced to turn to second-rate stars. And when they do, disaster can sometimes ensue. Just check out HP, which on Monday put out a press release touting its Gwen Stefani custom- …

    Bootnotes 16 May 2005, 18:17

  • Brocade to restate four years of financials as DoJ and SEC look on

    Option issues linger

    For the second time this year, Brocade Communications will have to restate past financial statements to correct the way it accounted for stock-based compensation. In addition, the storage switch maker today revealed that the US Department of Justice has joined the Securities and Exchange Commission in an investigation of the …

    Financial News 16 May 2005, 21:25