The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

7th June 2005 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

  • DARPA picks 40 robot hopefuls for $2m race

    Build the impossible dream

    A wiser and more methodical DARPA has released a final list of competitors that will vie for a spot in the second running of the $2m Grand Challenge. Out of 118 applicants, DARPA has picked 40 teams to battle in a qualification event that will determine which teams actually race come October. The $2m prize and unique nature of …

    Science 7 Jun 2005, 01:34

  • Siemens finds BenQ for mobile phone spin off

    Take this phone business. Please.

    Siemens has found a partner for its mobile phone business: Taiwanese giant BenQ, formerly Acer. The new operation will be similar to the Sony Ericsson joint venture founded in 2001, but there is a difference. According to a German report, BenQ will be the majority share holder, with Siemens retaining just a 10 per cent stake. ( …

    Mobile 7 Jun 2005, 05:00

  • Intel today, Microsoft tomorrow for Apple?

    Probably not

    The trading of barbs is a well-honed sport in Silicon Valley - but it is just that - a sport. CEOs often skewer their opponents in the arena of public opinion only to settle their differences through business alliances that leave us shaking our heads and saying things like: "So what were the last eight years all about, then …

    Mac Channel 7 Jun 2005, 08:32

  • Cisco restructures into theatres

    More Dad's Army than amateur dramatics

    Networking giant Cisco is restructuring itself to align with four geographical areas or "theatres". Its business will now be run within: Emerging markets, European markets and United States and Canada. The existing Asia Pacific and Japan theatre will not change. Ex-UK MD and channel specialist Paul Mountford is taking charge …

    Data Networking 7 Jun 2005, 08:33

  • Microsoft loses Excel patent case

    $8.9m damages

    Microsoft has been found guilty of patent infringement and ordered to pay a Guatamalan inventor Carlos Armando Amado almost $9m in damages. The US District Court of Central California court ruled that Microsoft had infringed on his intellectual property and ordered it to pay him $8.96m. This figure relates to software sold …

    Applications 7 Jun 2005, 08:37

  • Wireless on the beat in the Big Easy

    Calling all laptops

    New Orleans is a murder hotspot, with killing rates ten times higher than the US average. Now the cit is deploying motion detection video surveillance transmitted over a wireless network to tackle crime. The Big Easy has the highest murder rate of any city its size - defined as areas with a population of 250,000 plus. Murder …

    Broadband 7 Jun 2005, 08:48

  • Citibank admits: we've lost the backup tape

    Details of 4m customers. No, it wasn't encrypted

    The retail finance division of Citigroup has admitted that a backup tape containing personal information on almost 4 million customers in the US has gone missing. The United Parcel Service lost the tape on May 2nd, and it hasn't been seen since. CitiFinancial only noticed the tape was missing on May 20. The tape contains Social …

    Storage 7 Jun 2005, 09:06

  • Swiss neurologists to model the brain

    Somebody call the Scarecrow

    Swiss scientists are plotting to develop a three dimensional model of the human brain, specifically of the circuitry in the neocortex. Researchers at IBM and The Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) will build the model using IBM's Blue Gene supercomputer. The goal is to gradually expand the model until it encompasses …

    Science 7 Jun 2005, 09:09

  • Carphone profits soar

    Taking on BT

    The Carphone Warehouse is looking to corner ten per cent of the UK's fixed line market within the next three years as it continues to challenge BT's dominance of the sector. TalkTalk UK - Carphone's fixed line subsidiary - now has more than 920,000 users after the company recorded what it described as an "outstanding year". And …

    Financial News 7 Jun 2005, 10:16

  • France raises €3.4bn with France Telecom sale

    Still owns hefty stake

    The French government has sold some of its stake in France Telecom, raising €3.4bn to cut debt. The sale was announced on Sunday and the shares went for €22.5 each, the lower end of the expected range. The French government's share of France Telecom shrinks from 41 per cent to 35 per cent. It intends to remain a shareholder in …

    Financial News 7 Jun 2005, 10:19

  • Study: Flaw disclosure hurts software makers' stock

    But for how long?

    Software makers stand to lose significant market value whenever a flaw is found in their products, two university researcher said in a paper published last week. The study analyzed the release of 146 vulnerabilities and found that a software company's stock price decreases 0.63 percent compared to the tech-heavy NASDAQ on the …

    Management 7 Jun 2005, 10:24

  • Fujitsu Services ups profits in '05

    Good growth, good prospects

    Fujitsu Services made a profit before exceptional items of £73.8m in the year ended March 31 2005, a decent increase on the £54.3m it brought in last year. Total turnover was £1.986bn - 14.5 per cent up on last year. More work from the UK government and an upturn in new business, especially in retail and financial services, …

    The Channel 7 Jun 2005, 10:38

  • Hi-tech bullies target young victims

    Mobile bullying on the rise

    Bullies are increasingly using phones with built-in cameras to torment their victims. One in ten children has felt threatened or embarrassed after bullies snapped their picture using a camera phone, according to a survey published today by children's charity NCH. Seven per cent of those harassed by bullies in this way believe …

    Mobile 7 Jun 2005, 10:40

  • AOL launches free 2GB webmail service

    Taking AIM at Gmail and Hotmail

    AOL has gone into competition with Gmail, Yahoo! and Hotmail with the launch of a free web-based email service offering up to 2GB of storage. AIM Mail offers spam and virus protections plus integration with the AOL's AIM Instant Messenger Service. Users can use their AIM screen name as their email address. It was launched …

    Broadband 7 Jun 2005, 10:43

  • MEPs to vote on 'invasive' data retention plans

    We don't need no stinkin' database

    The European Parliament is scheduled to vote today on a report that calls for the abandonment of the proposed directive on data retention. The report, put forward by MEP Alexander Alvaro, describes the proposed legislation as disproportionate and unnecessary. The parliamentary civil liberties committee has already accepted the …

    Media 7 Jun 2005, 10:45

  • Windows 2000: Microsoft's most successful failure

    Comment Battle-hardened hymn to the public

    Someone once asked Pable Picasso which one of his many paintings was his favorite. His reply: the next one. Ask Steve Ballmer which version of Windows is the most secure and guess what his answer will be? I noticed that Microsoft is ready to release Security Rollup 5 for Windows 2000. It's not a service pack, it's more of a …

    Security 7 Jun 2005, 11:37

  • Business Serve morphs to Legend Communications

    £50k makeover

    Lancaster-based Business Serve plc is to change its name to Legend Communications plc in a £50,000 makeover. The ISP and converged comms provider has acquired a string of companies recently and feels it's time to rebrand the whole lot under a new corporate identity. Or as the company said in a statement today: "The disparate …

    Broadband 7 Jun 2005, 11:40

  • SOA is not open - discuss

    Mix don't match?

    Of course SOA is open; its whole raison d'être is to enable services from different sources to work together with ease. The development of Web Services standards SOAP, WSDL etc. have made this possible and a practical reality. But the ability to connect to services is only the basic building block of SOA. The really interesting …

    Developer 7 Jun 2005, 12:00

  • Security and backup for Small.biz

    Quocirca’s Changing Channels Some singing, some dancing

    Few small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) have the luxury of managing their different IT requirements separately. Often a single person, with responsibility for IT, will have to cope with everything and it may not even be their primary function. All the better then if they can single source their requirements from a reseller or …

    Small Biz 7 Jun 2005, 12:16

  • Firefox spoof bug returns from the dead

    The Seven Year Itch

    A seven year-old type of vulnerability has been inadvertently re-introduced in the latest versions of Mozilla and Firefox. The resurrected flaw could be used by hackers or potential fraudster to spoof the contents of websites, Danish security alert firm Secunia says. The security bug - "moderately critical", Secunia says - …

    Security 7 Jun 2005, 12:23

  • Veritas embraces 64-bit Windows/Linux on Opteron

    Ready to fly

    Veritas has modernized its storage and server software this week by moving large parts of its product lines behind AMD's 64-bit Opteron processor and Microsoft's latest software. Fans of both Veritas and the Opteron chip will be pleased to see 64-bit versions of the company's major products readied for both Windows and Linux. …

    Storage 7 Jun 2005, 13:14

  • Vendors enjoy storage swell again in Q1

    EMC and Dell charge hard

    Storage sales shot up once again during the first quarter, as customers continued to shell out major cash for systems big and small. Worldwide sales of external disk-based storage systems hit $3.8bn in the quarter - up 7 per cent from the same period last year, according to researcher IDC. Total disk-based storage system sales …

    Storage 7 Jun 2005, 13:35

  • HP UK details direct customers

    It's got a little list...

    Hewlett-Packard has at last come clean about how many customers it will serve directly in the UK. HP's channel partners have been concerned since the proposal was announced earlier this year. HP has now revealed that there are 445 companies on the list. These are entitled to buy kit and services directly from HP without going …

    The Channel 7 Jun 2005, 14:30

  • Ofcom 'fails to support consumers' over mobile charges

    Lack of de-termination

    Ofcom has been slammed for failing to force mobile phone operators to cut the cost of making calls. The giant communications regulator confirmed today that it will stick with current price controls until at least March 2007 and not impose lower charges on operators. Last year Ofcom ordered cellcos to slash the cost of calls by …

    Mobile 7 Jun 2005, 14:34

  • Los Alamos whistle blower hospitalised in attack

    Geek hate crime

    A Los Alamos Laboratory employee has been badly beaten up in an attack his lawyer says was designed to keep him from testifying before Congress about alleged financial irregularities he uncovered at the facility. According to his wife, 52-year-old Tommy Hook was lured to a bar in Santa Fe late on Saturday night, the …

    Management 7 Jun 2005, 14:35

  • Mac OS X 10.4 'Tiger in depth

    Review Part two: Automator, AppleScript, iSync, iCal and Address Book

    The Register's in-depth look at Apple's Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger continues. Last time, we looked at 10.4's headline features - Spotlight and Dashboard - and here we'll explore Automator, the latest attempt of the OS at system scripting. Automator and AppleScript In the early 1980s, computers were largely sold on the basis that …

    Mac Channel 7 Jun 2005, 14:38

  • Netgear RangeMax MIMO wireless router

    Review Does it live up to the hype?

    Netgear's marketing hype about its latest wireless router makes for good reading. It claims a 1000 per cent improvement in coverage and speed over standard 802.11g products and a total of half a million square feet of uninterrupted coverage, writes Dave Mitchell. As expected, MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output) is the …

    Reviews 7 Jun 2005, 15:08

  • Kodak axes 180 UK jobs

    Digital revolution keeps rumbling on

    Kodak has axed amother 180 UK jobs as it continues to rejig its business to meet growing demands for digital imaging. Some 130 of the job losses involved in graphic film finishing will be outsourced from Harrow to Mexico, while 50 services and technical staff are also facing the chop. The giant camera company announced today …

    Management 7 Jun 2005, 15:49

  • Garingdell goes titsup, resurfaces as Maypace

    Rescue package leaves creditors out of pocket

    Failing IT reseller Garingdell Systems has been bought out of administration by a group of investors who will resurrect its business as Maypace Systems. The surprise move follows the collapse into administration by Berkshire-based Garingdell last month after 20 years in business and with debts estimated to run into seven figures …

    The Channel 7 Jun 2005, 15:51

  • IBM and Sun dangle their blades at telcos

    SuperComm Acronym frenzy

    It's wooing time for IBM and Sun Microsystems here in Chicago as the server vendors this week did their best to tempt telco customers with their latest wares. The Supercomm conference tends to bring out the finest NEBS-compliant, SIP-ready, xSP gear. And this year is no different, IBM has prepped a new blade system for telco …

    Servers 7 Jun 2005, 15:52