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9th June 2005 Archive

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  • Wall St. does a numbers job on Linux

    Not so big after-all

    It's been a short ride, but if investment-banking house SG Cowen & Co is to be believed, then the North American Linux market has stopped growing. The number of corporate first-time users of Linux has dropped for the first time in two years, according to an SG Cowen survey. Just seven per cent of companies currently without …

    Servers 9 Jun 2005, 00:09

  • HP to drop 3,000 staff in fiscal '05

    And for just $236m

    HP will finish laying off close to 3,000 workers by October, the company said today in a regulatory filing. The printer company dropped 1,600 workers by April 30 with many of its staffers taking voluntary severance packages. Another 1,400 employees will be let go by the end of HP's fiscal year in October. These moves forced HP …

    Hardware 9 Jun 2005, 01:20

  • Perens joins open source start-up

    Home to the baiter

    Linux evangelist and "Microsoft baiter" Bruce Perens has joined start-up SourceLabs, as it attempts to make headway in the field of open source certification. Perens, critic of stodgy corporate thinkers and government-backed software patent policies, will forge a community of business and open source developers for SourceLabs …

    Operating Systems 9 Jun 2005, 01:30

  • Mobile roaming charges to fall

    Which is nice

    The cost of making mobile phone calls while abroad will fall, as operators create roaming-friendly tariffs and face up to regulatory pressure on overcharging. Operator groups have started to formulate roaming-friendly tariffs, to bring about price transparency and lower prices for their roaming customers, according to Informa's …

    Mobile 9 Jun 2005, 07:08

  • BEA thinks liquid with SOA rollout

    New look, new products, same BEA?

    BEA today introduces the AquaLogic-branded range of messaging software, services registry, data integration and security software. AquaLogic combines existing BEA products, notably Liquid Data, while introducing web services-based software under BEA's Liquid Computing strategy. The fluid message is being beefed-up with a new …

    Developer 9 Jun 2005, 07:32

  • Chip sales to hit $226bn this year

    SIA pumps up previous flat forecast

    Chip sales are running better than expected this year, prompting the Semiconductor Industry Association to up its 2005 forecast. The trade group now expects sales to grow 6 per cent this year to $226bn. Back in November it had forecast 2005 sales would be flat on 2004’s $213bn. Growth should continue for the next few years, …

    PCs 9 Jun 2005, 08:32

  • Netcell accelerates into Europe with Avnet, Scan

    Distie round up Also, Target goes notebook crazy, C2000 touts networking for voyeurs

    Avnet Computing Components has picked up the franchise to distribute the XFX Revo64 storage accelerator card across Europe. The card is made by XFX, a division of the Pine Group, and is built around the Netcell Revolution storage processing unit (SPU). Netcell is a California start-up - you can read more about its technology …

    Channel Register 9 Jun 2005, 09:57

  • Europe spanks Yanks

    ...for broadband

    Europe is spanking the US after leapfrogging "The Americas" to become the world's second-largest broadband region. With 48 million high-speed net users, Europe has moved into second place beating the US, with 47.53 million broadband users, for the first time. According to research by TelecomPaper, there are now more than 158 …

    Telecoms 9 Jun 2005, 10:26

  • White House sexed-down climate change reports

    Surely not...

    Official White House policy documents on climate change were altered by a former oil-industry lobbyist to play down the link between greenhouse gases and global warming, it emerged yesterday. Philip Cooney, the chief of staff for the White House council on environmental quality, altered several draft reports in 2002 and 2003, …

    Science 9 Jun 2005, 10:36

  • STMicro to axe 2300 Euro jobs

    And 700 more to go in the US?

    STMicroelectronics is to rid itself of 2,300 European workers by the middle of next year, part of the chip company's already announced plan to cut 3,000 jobs outside of Asia. The firm made the announcement yesterday during a meeting of its European Work Council. It didn't say where the remaining 700 jobs would be lost, but the …

    Financial News 9 Jun 2005, 10:39

  • Intel preps 'low-end dual-core chipset'

    Celeron dualies ahoy?

    Intel is to grow its line of 945 chipset with a low-end part due to ship early next year. Unnamed sources cited by DigiTimes say the part, the 945GZ, will integrated Intel's GMA 950 graphics chip but, unlike the currently available 945G integrated chipset, will not support an external graphics card too. The low-end chipset …

    PCs 9 Jun 2005, 10:42

  • Symantec ask court to rule Hotbar.com as adware

    Test case

    Symantec has filed suit in defence of its right to produce tools that classify programs from Hotbar.com as adware. Symantec is not seeking damages as part of the suit. Instead the security giant is asking a court to rule that certain Hotbar program files are indeed adware and can be treated as computer security risks. "By …

    Malware 9 Jun 2005, 10:50

  • Punters fear doorstep selling

    Wanna switch phone companies? Do ya? Do ya?

    Consumers are in "fear for their personal safety" from ruthless salespeople who try to get them to switch phone companies. While three quarters of people found doorstep selling an unnecessary intrusion into their private lives, one in five said they were "nervous or worried for their personal safety when approached on their …

    Telecoms 9 Jun 2005, 10:55

  • Monster Montecito spotted on web

    Assorted 65nm Intel chippery too

    There are processor packages and then there are processor PACKAGES, as a snap-shot of Intel's upcoming dual-core Itanium, 'Montecito' reveals. The server beast, with its whopper 24MB L3 cache, will be mounted on a package containing stacks of resistors, capacitors and assorted ancillary chipage, and has all the pins at one end …

    Servers 9 Jun 2005, 11:20

  • VeriSign given control of .net until 2011

    Third special meeting grants approval

    ICANN has finally voted in favour of giving VeriSign control of the .net registry for the next six years. The Board handed back control of the registry on Tuesday at the third special meeting in a month called to sort out what has become a highly controversial issue. The decision was announced late yesterday - 36 hours after …

    Music and Media 9 Jun 2005, 11:31

  • MS announces WMP-free Windows

    Coming to an OEM near you, soon

    Microsoft is to release a version of Windows without the Windows Media Player on 15 June, the company said on Wednesday. The move is part of the company's plan to comply with the European Commission's ruling in March last year that found the company had abused its market position by bundling the player with its operating system …

    Operating Systems 9 Jun 2005, 11:40

  • Spyware probe PI in hospital after fall

    Seriously injured

    A key suspect in a spyware-linked industrial espionage case was severely injured after falling down a stairwell on Wednesday during a break in questioning by Israeli police. The Jerusalem Post reports that Yitzhak Rath, 54, boss of the Modi'in Ezrahi private detective agency, was taken for treatment at a Tel Aviv hospital …

    Malware 9 Jun 2005, 12:41

  • Big-O problems may be down to genes

    Don’t blame me, blame your grandmother

    It may well be your partner's incompetent, your job's really stressful, and yes, we do live in a patriarchal society. But if you're a woman having problems hitting orgasm, you've now got someone else to blame. Step forward Mother Nature. Biology Letters reports that researchers at St Thomas Hospital in London and Keele …

    Science 9 Jun 2005, 13:43

  • Public sector IT abuse still rife

    Viruses down, mucky picture surfing up

    Staff misuse of UK public sector computer facilities is already a problem and is getting worse, a study by the Audit Commission concludes. The public sector watchdog's report states that a 'culture of complacency' and a failure to ensure that staff understand rules is undermining improved security systems. Meanwhile new …

    IT Director 9 Jun 2005, 14:58

  • Greenies want limits on ocean sonar

    Flipper flipping out

    An international group of environmentalists has called on the United Nations to protect marine life from the potentially damaging effects of sonar. The plea comes as delegates from 148 nations meet in New York to consult on marine law. Intense sound waves are thought by many to cause dolphins and whales to become stranded on …

    Science 9 Jun 2005, 15:03

  • CA snaps up Niku

    In brief It's all about the governance

    Computer Associates is shelling out $350m to take over IT governance software vendor Niku. The buy, at a price of $21 per Niku share, is CA’s third in the last year. Previous buys have included Netegrity for $430m, and Concord Communications for $350m. Niku will be integrated with CA's Business Service Optimization (BSO) unit …

    Applications 9 Jun 2005, 15:41

  • Court rules against E-Data in 'Freeny' patent case

    Corbis off the hook

    The London Patents Court revoked the so-called "Freeny" patent yesterday, after ruling that online digital photo library Corbis did not infringe on the patent, owned by E-Date Corp. Lawyers acting for Corbis said that the rulings will have significant benefits for businesses making their money selling downloaded information. E- …

    Music and Media 9 Jun 2005, 15:51

  • Oracle cures need for speed with TimesTen buy

    In memory, we trust

    Industry giant Oracle has gobbled up smaller database player TimesTen in the hopes of using the firm's ultra-fast transaction technology to speed its software. TimesTen makes a specialized database that speeds up many types of transactions by storing data in memory as opposed to disk. Customers in the financial services, …

    Applications 9 Jun 2005, 16:23

  • Gartner lambasts security FUDmongers

    Get a grip, analyst rants

    Some organisations are holding back on the deployment of new technologies because of exaggerated IT security risks, according to Gartner. The analyst firm took aim at what it identified as the five most over-hyped threats at the end of a three-day IT security conference at its Stanford, Connecticut HQ, this week. According to …

    Security 9 Jun 2005, 17:09

  • Waiting for Intel, Apple faces massive Osborne chill

    Letters Think ... discounts

    Did Apple make an expensive mistake by announcing a switch to Intel, and a year-long wait for the first hardware? According to a survey of Register readers, Apple faces a sales chill that could cost it billions of dollars. Hundreds of emails have poured in - one every minute over the past thirty hours - representing an …

    Letters 9 Jun 2005, 19:22

  • StorageTek wants to fix your content with IntelliStore

    Sunsets old CAS kit

    StorageTek wants you to forget about Sun Microsystems for a minute and think about your CAS (content addressable storage) situation. The company - being acquired by Sun for $4.1bn - rolled out a new CAS product called IntelliStore. The system combines disk and tape archiving and is meant to go up against EMC's much-publicized …

    Storage 9 Jun 2005, 20:20

  • Get sued and earn your 'Biting the Pigopolist' merit badge

    The winners are in

    When El Reg learned that Hong Kong scouts could earn a copyright proficiency badge for pledging their allegiance to Hollywood, we decided the time was right to award some badges of our own. Sadly, our design department has been too busy designing T-Shirts to spend much time on the demanding hacks' copyright quest. So, we turned …

    Bootnotes 9 Jun 2005, 22:30

  • Intel guides Q2 revenue higher on mobile chip strength

    An Apple a day . . .

    Intel today pushed its second quarter revenue forecast higher, saying strong notebook sales have boosted demand for mobile processors. Earlier guidance from Intel pegged second quarter revenue to come in between $8.6bn and $9.2bn. That range has been narrowed and shifted up with Intel now saying revenue will fall between $9.1bn …

    Financial News 9 Jun 2005, 23:47