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1st June 2005 Archive

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  • Microsoft keeps mum on EC deal

    Midnight deadline passes

    Microsoft played its cards close to its chest on a possible antitrust deal with European regulators last night, as an EU midnight deadline came and went. A Microsoft spokesman told The Register at midnight, that Microsoft is working to comply with the EU's 2004 ruling but had nothing to "announce or comment on". European Union …

    Operating Systems 1 Jun 2005, 07:47

  • Future features for Visual Studio 2005

    Nice product - shame about the availability

    Microsoft has brought forward features for its Visual Studio 2005 developer suite, originally planned for a later edition, helping refine the delayed suite. The next version of Microsoft's IDE will see “edit and continue” added for the Visual C# .NET language along with a set of new icons that provide general access to new …

    Developer 1 Jun 2005, 08:19

  • Borland shoots Peloton down roadmap

    JBuilder goes Eclipse

    Borland Software will roll out its first Java development tools based on Eclipse within the next year, answering growing competition from open source products. A version of Borland's core JBuilder suite, codenamed Peloton, is planned for the first half of 2006, Borland said Tuesday. Peloton is part of roadmap that will see an …

    Developer 1 Jun 2005, 08:31

  • Vonage promises a million

    Keeps on growing

    Voice over Internet Protocol provider Vonage will have a million subscribers by the end of the year. Chief executive Jeffrey Citron told Reuters the firm would easily exceed a million subscribers by year end. He said Vonage gained 249,000 subscribers in the first quarter, up from 114,000 in the fourth quarter. He said price and …

    VoIP 1 Jun 2005, 08:34

  • London Undergound to trial wireless services

    Cockfosters

    London Underground (LU) looks set to begin mobile phone service trials next year after receiving 70 bids to wire up the capital's Tube network for mobile phone and other wireless services. The deadline for "expressions of interest" in carrying out the major project passed yesterday after being extended by a month due to the …

    Mobile 1 Jun 2005, 09:53

  • Shift2Ingres takes Oracle migration prize

    CA hails 'outstanding' offering

    Computer Associates has announced the results of its $1m challenge for open source Ingres developments. In case you missed the initial announcement, the idea of the challenge was for independent developers to produce migration kits from other popular database environments to Ingres. In practice, the challenge was both a …

    Applications 1 Jun 2005, 09:59

  • US tries to shoot down OnAir

    Airbus mobile phone system takes flack

    The CTIA has asked the US authorities to ban the use of systems like the Airbus-developed OnAir system, which makes it safe to use cellphones while flying, claiming that "currently no solution exists that safeguards terrestrial wireless services against interference". The OnAir system is a joint European development with Airbus …

    Mobile 1 Jun 2005, 10:14

  • ALTO seeks Eircom break-up

    Old idea, new impetus

    The association representing alternative operators in the Irish communications market has called for the separation of Eircom's retail and wholesale divisions. In spite of various actions taken by the communications regulator ComReg, Tom Hickey, the newly-elected chairman of ALTO, the association representing alternative …

    Broadband 1 Jun 2005, 10:26

  • US gov wants to refang Patriot Act

    Appeals ISP data ruling

    The US Justice Department wants to obtain sensitive customer records from ISPs, according to the Associated Press. It is asking a court to overturn a ruling that struck down sweeping investigative powers in the Patriot Act as unconstitutional. The Patriot Act is properly called the USA Patriot Act, an acronym for Uniting and …

    Media 1 Jun 2005, 10:32

  • Inmarsat OKs £1bn float

    Satellite of lurve

    Inmarsat is to float its shares on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) valuing the satellite operator at £1bn. The company intends to use the cash it raises from the initial public offering (IPO) to refinance part of its debt and to fund future investment. Shares are expected to be sold at between 215p to 245p helping the global …

    Financial News 1 Jun 2005, 10:36

  • HP fills NonStop gear full of Itaniums

    PA-RISC fears the Reaper

    HP this week confirmed that there's no turning back with its 'bet the company on Itanium' strategy as both its NonStop and PA-RISC server lines went in the direction of Intel's 64-bit chip. HP has outfitted its NonStop servers with Intel's third-generation Itanium processor code-named Itanium. The new chips replace the MIPS …

    Servers 1 Jun 2005, 11:12

  • Use Cases: work smart to deliver quality

    Site offer Top title at 30% off

    You can dramatically improve software quality and value by integrating use cases with best-practice software quality engineering disciplines. In Succeeding with Use Cases, Richard Denney presents practical, cost-effective techniques that help your entire development organization deliver superior software. Using realistic …

    Site News 1 Jun 2005, 11:14

  • Public beats private for IT pay rises

    Fringe benefits not bad, either

    Local authorities might not be able to match the salaries on offer to IT staff at private companies, but they are still managing to recruit more people, and retain quality workers, a survey has found. Fringe benefits are still a very important part of the package in the public sector - with the vast majority of authorities …

    Management 1 Jun 2005, 11:16

  • Skype enables video calling

    Free plug-in

    Skype users can now download a free plug-in from Dialcom that will enable video conferencing using the Skype P2P engine. The Spontania Video4skype, allows any users with a webcam connected to their PCs and a Skype account and broadband internet access, to make video-calls using the Skype client. Dialcom’s Sponania video plug-in …

    VoIP 1 Jun 2005, 11:18

  • Itanium and Opteron fight for significance

    Almost there

    The new chips on the block - Itanium and Opteron - continue to make their presence felt in the server market, although still not on the level their producers would have hoped. Total sales of Itanium-based servers hit $472m in the first quarter, according to Gartner. Opteron server sales came in at $314m. Overall, $12.3bn worth …

    Servers 1 Jun 2005, 12:10

  • MS's IPTV strategy in tatters

    Analysis Delays leave Redmond standing

    Beneath the covers, Microsoft’s TV strategy appears to be in tatters. Fastweb can manage it in Italy, Homechoice can manage it in the UK, Maligne and Free have managed it in France, Telefonica in Spain and Bell Canada have also launched IPTV services, while Telenor has managed it across the face of Scandinavia and Ella …

    Personal 1 Jun 2005, 12:30

  • Notebook prices keep falling

    Market grows as prices fall

    Prices for notebook computers in Europe are still falling and in the first quarter of 2005 one in five laptops were sold for less than €800. Researchers from Context saw the market in the top eight European economies grow by 19.2 per cent. Jason Harcourt, senior analyst at Context, said: "We see prices continuing to fall, not …

    PCs 1 Jun 2005, 13:17

  • Nottingham uni powers up £5m supercomputer

    Lots and lots of flops

    Nottingham University officially launches its shiny new £5m high performance computing facility today. The machine has a peak performance of 3.14 Teraflops, according to the LINPACK test, making it the fastest academic machine in the UK. The university has had other smaller clusters within departments, but this is the first …

    Science 1 Jun 2005, 14:02

  • Azlan teams up with Nortel for SMB IP telephony push

    Distie round up Also new franchises for Enta and Mitek

    Nortel has awarded Azlan pan-European distribution rights for Nortel’s Business Communications Manager 50 (BCM 50), its new IP telephony box for smaller companies. BCM 50 is a voice-data combo capable of handling up to 76 users, and is a scaled-down version of Nortel IP telephony products aimed at corporates. Azlan promises …

    The Channel 1 Jun 2005, 14:05

  • Bulldog unveils 8 meg broadband

    Sheesh!

    Cable & Wireless (C&W) is challenging BT's dominance as a major broadband provider by unveiling an 8 meg service available to a third of the UK. The unbundled product - which cuts BT out of the telecoms loop - means that punters can get broadband at speeds up to 8 meg starting from £15.50 for eight hours online a month. An …

    Broadband 1 Jun 2005, 14:09

  • Ingram Micro improves software offers

    It's June, so it must be software month

    Ingram Micro Europe is promising June will be software month at the disty. Ingram is encouraging dealers to make the most of software sales. It is laying on marketing campaigns, bundled deals and other promotions to increase software sales. The disty chose June because it is a traditionally busy month both for software sales …

    The Channel 1 Jun 2005, 14:21

  • Sober worm tops May viral charts

    Free World Cup offer is virus world's Crazy Frog

    The new Sober-N worm, which poses as offers for free tickets for the 2006 World Cup, toppled Zafi-D as the most popular, sorry, prevalent virus on the internet last month. Zafi-D, showing the sort of chart topping success that record industry execs would give their right nostril for, spent five straight months in the top spot …

    Security 1 Jun 2005, 14:36

  • m-commerce security risks exposed

    Stacking the odds against safety

    Vulnerabilities in mobile applications offer a way to attack otherwise secure web sites, according to independent security consultancy SecureTest. SecureTest has demonstrated how hackers can break into a mobile phone application, modify the code and use this as a tool to manipulate the website itself. The demo featured a …

    Security 1 Jun 2005, 14:45

  • Spaniards stick sword in P2P website

    Adios Weblisten

    Spanish P2P music website Weblisten is - as of right now - closed by order of the 3rd Criminal Court of Madrid for intellectual property violations. The judgement, as recorded on Libertad Digital (Digital Freedom), prohibits Weblisten from further music distribution activities, and orders the destruction of those databases …

    Media 1 Jun 2005, 15:21

  • Buzz Aldrin takes giant leap into kids' books

    Space, without the special effects

    Buzz Aldrin has beaten Neil Armstrong at last - with the publication of a book about his experiences in space aimed at the kids' market. Aldrin reckons that sci-fi films crammed with special effects are giving youngsters an unrealistic impression of life in space, and wants to inspire them with something a little more tangible …

    Science 1 Jun 2005, 15:27

  • Northern Ireland gets own VC fund

    Ulster says YES

    Invest Northern Ireland is putting £7.5m into a fund to help get early stage technology companies in Northern Ireland off the ground. Crescent Capital has raised £22.5m in total for the new fund, called Crescent Capital II, which will invest in local hi-tech companies. Other investors include Queen's University, University of …

    Financial News 1 Jun 2005, 15:31

  • BT comes clean on 'bulky' LLU promo

    Finally...

    BT has finally managed to reveal key details about its money-off promo aimed at local loop unbundling operators (LLUO) migrating users onto new unbundled services. Last week the UK's dominant telco announced plans to cut the cost of migrating broadband users onto unbundled phone lines. The promo offer kicks off on July 1 and …

    Broadband 1 Jun 2005, 15:49

  • SF hosts 'Masturbate-a-thon'

    What a bunch of wan...

    Those readers who like their Reg stories with a firm IT angle would do well to look away now. On the other hand, those readers who like their stories with a something-firm-in-in-hand angle will doubtless be delighted that US capital of libertines, degenerates and homosexualists San Fran last week hosted the city's "Masturbate-a- …

    Bootnotes 1 Jun 2005, 15:50

  • IBM cuts software price on Opteron and OpenPower kit

    Multicore embrace

    IBM has put a Big Blue stamp on a new licensing policy that treats certain kinds of multicore processors as a single chip. The company this week officially notified customers of the licensing change. It had spoke of such plans last month, emphasizing that its x86 servers running on Opteron and Xeon chips would be affected. As …

    Servers 1 Jun 2005, 16:24

  • Parliament slapped for rubbish web presence

    Seriously out of order

    The Hansard Society issued a report today calling for a complete overhaul of the UK Parliament's online presence, as part of a wider review of how the institution is run. The report accuses Parliament of failing in its democratic duty, and says that in particular it has failed "to respond adequately to the opportunities …

    Policy 1 Jun 2005, 16:26

  • Mobile plane ban protects us from terrorists - FBI

    The unfriendly skies

    The FBI is objecting to plans to relax the current ban on the use of mobile phones on planes. In a joint submission with the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI says that unless carriers set up systems to allow law enforcement to wiretap phones owned by designated people then the proposals open up a loophole that might be …

    Media 1 Jun 2005, 16:33

  • Nvidia preps GeForce 7800 GTX

    Computex 2005 Next-gen part seen behind closed doors

    Nvidia's upcoming G70 chip will be dubbed the GeForce 7800 GTX when it ships, sources close to a number of graphics card makers mentioned to The Register. Quite a few even had boards based on the part humming away and rendering 3DMark demos in machines kept behind closed doors. The latest alleged leaks suggest the part will …

    Peripherals 1 Jun 2005, 18:10

  • Tyan samples eight-way Opteron board

    Computex 2005 'Graphics supercomputer'

    Tyan has begun shipping what it claims is the first PCI Express motherboard for eight-way AMD-based servers, the company announced today. Quantities are limited, however. Only customer samples are available now, with full-scale production commencing in Q3, the company admitted. The following quarter it will ship a barebones …

    Servers 1 Jun 2005, 18:20