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3rd August 2005 Archive

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  • Real finds another profitable quarter

    Revenues up 26pc

    Real Networks reported a profit of $4.7m on income of $82.6m in the quarter ending June 30, Q2 2005. That's up 26 per cent year on year. It was helped along by the $7.59m sale of its investment in MusicNet, but even without the gain, it's close to break even. The company noted that long running antitrust litigation expenses …

    Financial News 3 Aug 2005, 08:09

  • Tailwind blows over Microsoft sales shake-up

    Think vertical, not horizontal

    Microsoft has re-organized its US sales force to increase the focus on specific industries while recruiting individuals with specialized knowledge of vertical sectors. Under a project called Tailwind, Microsoft has reduced the number of sales districts from 17 to 12 whilst enlarging the size of five districts. Microsoft is also …

    Software 3 Aug 2005, 08:15

  • Search pioneers join Yahoo! - but is the web beyond search?

    Clever move - too late?

    Few visitors to IBM's Almaden research lab in 1999 and 2000 can fail to have been impressed by its lead in web search. IBM's Clever project both predated and informed what became Google: Brin and Page cited the Almaden work in their 1998 paper The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine [pdf, 124kb]. Google drew …

    Music and Media 3 Aug 2005, 08:34

  • The Java Puzzler at 30% off

    Site offer Java's traps and pitfalls explored

    How well do you really know Java? Are you a code sleuth? Have you ever spent days chasing a bug caused by a trap or pitfall in Java or its libraries? Do you like brainteasers? Then Java™ Puzzlers is the book for you! In the tradition of Effective Java™, Bloch and Gafter dive deep into the subtleties of the Java programming …

    Site News 3 Aug 2005, 09:18

  • Sage Ireland snaffles Delta Systems

    Shopping spree continues

    Software company Sage Ireland has continued its shopping spree with the acquisition of Delta Systems, a customer relationship management (CRM) software firm. The firm is remaining tight-lipped about the asking price, and has yet to specify the terms of the deal. However, weekend media reports have indicated that Delta sold for …

    Financial News 3 Aug 2005, 09:43

  • Intel 'to exit' low-end desktop chipset biz

    Pacifying other chipset makers?

    Intel is to depart the low-end desktop chipset market later this year, unnamed sources from within Taiwan's motherboard-maker community have alleged. The claim was reported by DigiTimes today, which also noted Intel's unwillingness to comment on the matter, either now or in the form of a formal public announcement. It has, …

    PCs 3 Aug 2005, 09:53

  • ONS sends all our identities to India

    Digitising births, marriages and deaths

    The Office of National Statistics has announced that it is to digitise 250m records of births, marriages and deaths dating back as far as 1837. The department has signed a three-year contract with Siemens Business Services to create a database of the documents, and says that part of the work will be carried out offshore, to …

    Public Sector 3 Aug 2005, 09:59

  • Marconi revs flat

    Restructuring costs bite

    Revenues at Marconi remain "stable", the UK telecoms equipment maker announced today. Takings from continuing operations for the three months to the end of June (Q1) were £285m compared to £289m during the same period last year. This was boosted by a strong performance from Marconi's operations in Asia Pacific and an increased …

    Financial News 3 Aug 2005, 10:13

  • NatWest issues cash card to Dick Head

    Bank renames Essex man

    God alone knows what NatWest customer Chris Lancaster has done to offend the bank's card issuing department, but it recently sent him a new cash card on which he is gloriously identified as "Dick Head". Or rather, his new title in full is Mr C Lancaster Dick Head, prompting the 18-year-old Essex man to lament to UK tabloid the …

    Bootnotes 3 Aug 2005, 10:15

  • AMD ups Opteron 1xx prices by up to 91%

    In the name of supporting cheaper memory

    AMD yesterday raised the prices of its Opteron 1xx series by up to 91.6 per cent, saying the hikes were justified by the addition of support for cheap unbuffered ECC memory to the chips. On Monday, after AMD had cut prices across a number of its processor families, including the Opteron 2xx and 8xx series, the Opteron 152 chip …

    PCs 3 Aug 2005, 10:26

  • Europe hurts Tech Data

    Margins not gross enough

    Tech Data’s second quarter earnings could be almost 50 per cent lower than expected because of continued problems at its EMEA operation, the distribution giant confirmed yesterday. Preliminary results released Tuesday show net sales for the quarter ending 31 July will come in between $4.8bn and $4.82bn, while net earnings will …

    Financial News 3 Aug 2005, 11:23

  • Chinese cyber-dissident jailed

    Media group 'outraged'

    A Chinese cyber-dissident has been jailed for five years for posting essays and reports - including the lyrics of a punk song - on the net. Zhang Lin has been behind bars since January this year for posting material which authorities described as "contrary to the bases of the constitution". A court in Benghu in Anhui province …

    Music and Media 3 Aug 2005, 11:25

  • Appeal court reverses RIM patent infringement findings

    Not all NTP patent claims violated after all

    The battle between Research in Motion (RIM) and NTP is far from over. Yesterday, the US Court of Appeal overturned a lower court verdict that RIM had infringed NTP's patent-protected email-by-radio method. However, the appeals court reaffirmed a lower court judgement that RIM had infringed NTP's patent for a wireless email …

    Mobile 3 Aug 2005, 11:31

  • US court files reveal Italian link to Indymedia server grab

    But no legal authority for grabbing them

    Documents relating to the seizure of Indymedia's servers at Rackspace's Heathrow premises have finally been unsealed by a Texas district court. Some information remains under seal, and the documents released by no means provide the full picture, but it is now clear that yes, it was the Italians, and no, there was no obvious …

    Music and Media 3 Aug 2005, 12:12

  • Government IT spend to top private sector: IDC

    Looking ahead to 2009

    Public sector investment in IT will continue to outpace that from the private sector and retail, according to figures from analyst house IDC. The company says spending by governments in Western Europe will reach $49bn annually, growing at nearly six per cent a year, and up from $38bn in 2004. Meanwhile the retail and wholesale …

    Public Sector 3 Aug 2005, 13:45

  • Wanadoo's LLU trial a secret

    Sssshhhh!

    Wanadoo will not be telling 500 broadband users in Leeds that they are taking part in a local loop unbundling (LLU) trial. Instead, the ISP formerly known as Freeserve will inform punters that the company is working on a "network upgrade". According to insiders, Wanadoo has just started placing orders to migrate the first …

    Telecoms 3 Aug 2005, 13:52

  • Migrating birds could spread 'bird flu' to Europe

    Russia issues warning

    Russia's Emergencies Ministry is warning that the H5N1 strain of the bird-flu virus, the strain dangerous to humans and responsible for the deaths of more than 50 people in Asia, could spread into mainland Europe from farms in Siberia. The Ministry issued a statement saying that the autumnal migration of birds from Siberia to …

    Science 3 Aug 2005, 14:35

  • Vodafone's pager network goes titsup

    Thieves steal kit

    Vodafone's pager network - which is used by hospitals and businesses in the UK to stay in touch - went titsup early this morning after thieves stole key networking equipment overnight. Although details are still sketchy, the break-in occurred in the early hours of this morning at an undisclosed address in Hertfordshire. …

    Mobile 3 Aug 2005, 14:36

  • Spacewalker fixes Shuttle's belly

    All ship-shape and Bristol fashion

    Astronaut Stephen Robinson has managed to complete the fix to the underside of the Space Shuttle Discovery by pulling out two protruding "gap-fillers" by hand. NASA had been concerned that the disruption to the Shuttle's smooth underside would increase the amount of turbulence, and so heating in the area during a re-entry …

    Science 3 Aug 2005, 14:59

  • MS IPTV is lovely, says MS IPTV chap

    Check the 150ms channel change on that...

    There are two ways to view the Microsoft IPTV system. Microsoft’s way and the wrong way. For those of us that have dealt with Microsoft in the past, this is not an abnormal positioning. “Ours is the only end to end IPTV solution which includes all aspects of IPTV from content ingestion to the consumer device,” is the boast of …

    Software 3 Aug 2005, 15:30

  • Cisco portal password security compromised

    Precautionary reset fails to run smoothly

    A security breach involving Cisco's customer portal has forced the giant to reset passwords as a precaution. As a result, users visiting Cisco Connection Online on Wednesday were obliged to reauthenticate themselves. In a statement Cisco said: "It has been brought to our attention that there is an issue in a Cisco.com search …

    Data Networking 3 Aug 2005, 15:37

  • BMC bedazzles investors with rosy 2006 outlook

    Smaller staff, more revenue

    Shares of BMC surged Wednesday on the back of decent first quarter results and a rosy outlook for the current quarter and coming year. The software maker handed investors all the right information, pointing to solid revenue growth and effective expense controls over the past few months. That's great news for close BMC watchers …

    Financial News 3 Aug 2005, 15:43

  • Time Warner to settle AOL legal claim

    $2.4bn fund for shareholders

    Time Warner is to cough up $2.5bn to settle legal action lodged by shareholders dating back to its purchase of internet giant AOL. In a statement Minneapolis law firm Heins Mills & Olson said the settlement "will benefit millions of shareholders who purchased or acquired AOL and Time Warner securities between January 27, 1999 …

    Financial News 3 Aug 2005, 15:48

  • Chip trade body funds fab cancer link probe

    Better late than never

    The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) has finally commissioned the investigation into the potential health hazards of working in chip fabrication plants that it pledged to sponsor a year ago. The announcement comes five months after the study was originally expected to start. The Ingram Cancer Center - part of …

    Financial News 3 Aug 2005, 16:06

  • HP sends Overland overboard

    OEM love affair has bitter end

    HP has thumped Overland Storage with the reality stick, saying it will buy midrange tape products from another supplier. Overland made this admission Wednesday, revealing that its largest OEM customer will look elsewhere. HP should start buying gear from a new supplier - perhaps StorageTek or Quantum - starting in 2006. …

    Storage 3 Aug 2005, 16:59

  • Cisco security flap leaves millions scrambling for help

    Portal password, please

    The aftermath of a security breach involving Cisco's customer portal has left customers scrambling to get new passwords. Cisco reset passwords to Cisco Connection Online as a precaution following the discovery of a security bug in a Cisco.com search tool that could expose log-ins of registered users. Users worldwide have been …

    Enterprise Security 3 Aug 2005, 18:39

  • Hippie Mozilla goes corporate

    Shrugs off IPO nonsense

    Open source browser daddy Mozilla Foundation is donning a suit and going back to work for the man. Mozilla Foundation has announced the formation of the Mozilla Corporation, a for-profit organization that will handle relations with commercial companies and continue development, distribution and marketing of Firefox and …

    Applications 3 Aug 2005, 19:28

  • Bizgres gets down to business with open source BI stack

    Making PostgreSQL better

    A project building an open source business intelligence architecture for the PostgreSQL database has released core elements of its development stack. The Bizgres Project said on Wednesday that its stack consists of the open source extract-transform-load (ETL) technologies from Kinetic Networks, open source operational reporting …

    Developer 3 Aug 2005, 19:44