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21st December 2005 Archive

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  • Google and AOL cement ad love

    $1bn buddies

    The widely leaked alliance between Google and American Online has been confirmed with the two companies announcing a broad partnership on Tuesday. As leaked, Google takes a 5 per cent stake in AOL, a subsidiary of Time Warner, in exchange for a $1bn investment. In addition, Google gains access to more of AOL's content and will …

    Music and Media 21 Dec 2005, 02:14

  • You're infected so pay us to get infested

    Spyware spam scams dissected

    Spyware spreaders have stepped up attempts to trick users into downloading malware using a combination of browser vulnerabilities and deceptive spam emails. In particular, bogus warnings about infestation are frequently being used to dupe Windows users into accepting potentially malign code, reports security vendor Websense. In …

    Spam 21 Dec 2005, 09:39

  • Lenovo replaces Big Blue CEO with Dell man

    Quick switch

    Lenovo has performed a CEO swap, bringing in Dell's Asia-Pacific chief and slotting old IBM hand and current CEO Stephen Ward into the role of consultant. William Amelio, the former SVP of Dell, will take on both Lenovo's CEO and President roles. Ward moves to the consultant office, assisting "in the transition." The executive …

    Channel Register 21 Dec 2005, 09:58

  • PC, CE firms to develop 'unified' display connector

    DVI + HDMI + HDCP - VGA = UDI

    A consortium of computing and consumer electronics companies have come together to create the successor to today's DVI and yesterday's VGA display connectors. The next-generation connector, dubbed the Unified Display Interface (UDI), will provide compatibility with DVI and the HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) …

    Reg Hardware 21 Dec 2005, 09:59

  • 20 Japanese giants sue US processor patent holder

    Tables turned on Patriot Scientific

    Almost two dozen Japanese electronics companies have together filed five lawsuits against US intellectual property holding company Patriot Scientific. The lawsuits ask the US District Court in Oakland, California to declare three patents held by Patriot to be invalid. Patriot will be well-known to Register readers as the …

    Financial News 21 Dec 2005, 10:29

  • Laptops to drive PC market forward in 2006

    Unit growth strong, sales less so

    Low-cost and portable PCs will continue to fuel the PC market in 2006, despite economic slowdown and lower replacement activity. So says the latest research from IDC, which indicated that growth in the market, although slower, will stay in double digits in 2006, reaching 10.5 per cent. IDC cited the strength of the market, …

    PCs 21 Dec 2005, 10:57

  • Intelligent design ordered out of class

    Judge sees the light

    A US court has delivered a setback to religious conservatives hoping to get the theory of intelligent design onto the school curriculum. A district judge has banned the teaching of intelligent design at schools overseen by the Dover Area School Board in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, ruling it advances "a particular version of …

    Science 21 Dec 2005, 11:08

  • 'Crazy Frog' firm fined £40k

    Punters misled

    One of the firms behind the "Crazy Frog" ringtone service has been fined £40,000 because for misleading punters about the real cost of the service. Service provider mBlox was also ordered to refund all 338 people who complained to premium rate services (PRS) regulator ICSTIS. They had thought that when they bought the ringtone …

    Financial News 21 Dec 2005, 11:50

  • Intel to 'bring forward' Conroe release date

    965 chipsets delayed to synchronise launches

    Intel is to align the launch of its next-generation desktop processor, 'Conroe', and its upcoming 965 family of chipsets, delaying the latter and bringing forward the former. So claim Taiwanese motherboard-maker sources cited by DigiTimes. Conroe is the first desktop processor to be based on Intel's next-generation …

    PCs 21 Dec 2005, 11:52

  • Seagate to buy Maxtor

    Rival acquired for $1.9bn

    Seagate its to acquire rival hard disk drive maker Maxtor the two companies announced today, in a stock-swap valued at $1.9bn. If shareholders and regulators back the deal, Seagate will offer 0.37 of its own shares for every Maxtor share issued, splitting the merged business 84:16 between Seagate and Maxtor shareholders. The …

    Financial News 21 Dec 2005, 11:56

  • CAN-SPAM working - FTC

    US regulator praises junk-busting law

    Legal action and email filtering are helping to minimise the nuisance of spam, according to US federal regulators. In a report (PDF) to Congress on the effectiveness of the US Federal CAN-SPAM Act, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) concludes that technology has reduced the amount of junk email reaching consumers' in-boxes. …

    Spam 21 Dec 2005, 12:06

  • Palm sales surpass expectations

    But tax gain masks income dip

    Palm posted strong sequential and annual sales gains yesterday when it reported its Q2 FY2006 financial results. Revenues hit $444.6m, up 18 per cent on the year-ago quarter and 29.9 per cent on the previous quarter's $342.2m - and better than the firm had previously forecast. Net income for the period, which ended 2 December …

    Financial News 21 Dec 2005, 13:21

  • Telewest punter hounded by Bulldog calls

    ISP investigating

    A Telewest customer is trying to figure out why he received hundreds of phone calls yesterday for Bulldog's customer support at his home in Kent. The man, who asked not be identified, began receiving calls early yesterday morning. The callers were all trying to reach Bulldog's business customer support line. In the end he was …

    Networks 21 Dec 2005, 13:22

  • Palm pledges three new smart phones in 2006

    New designs, new radio technologies

    Palm will unveil three new smart-phone products in 2006 in addition to the already announced Windows Mobile-based Treo 700w, the company's chief said yesterday. Speaking during a conference following the announcement of the company's Q2 results, CEO Ed Colligan confirmed earlier analyst claims that Palm will offer new smart …

    Mobile 21 Dec 2005, 13:29

  • Hackers download pirate movies onto compromised PCs

    Mr. Bean features in bizarre botnet attack

    Hackers have developed a sneaky technique for installing pirated movie files on Windows PCs infected with the lockx.exe rootkit. Doctored copies of BitTorrent are loaded on infected machines and used to download Disney movies or the film version of Mr. Bean. The motive for the bizarre (and short-lived) attack, linked to a …

    Channel Register 21 Dec 2005, 13:31

  • Tomorrow's paper will be digital

    Electronic times

    Belgian daily De Tijd is to be distributed electronically in what is claimed to be the first complete solution for portable electronic reading and writing. Available from April 2006, the Iliad platform allows for customised versions of an electronic reader that can be created for special markets. Dutch manufacturer iRex …

    Applications 21 Dec 2005, 14:19

  • Three charged over Xbox chipping

    We are the mods, we are the mods

    Three men have been charged in the US with selling illegally modified Xbox game consoles that allow the devices to play pirated video games, according to reports. Two of the suspects ran a video games shop in Los Angeles. Games consoles such as the Microsoft Xbox or Sony Playstation 2 include copyright protections that prevent …

    Music and Media 21 Dec 2005, 14:56

  • Casio Exilim EX-Z500 5mp digicam

    Review Is that a 2.7in LCD in your pocket?

    The five-megapixel, 3x optical zoom Exilim EX-Z500's silmline design - it's just 8.9 x 5.7 x 2.1cm - and 2.7in LCD are the first things you'll notice when you take a closer look at this digital camera. The bright crisp screen is noticeably bigger than the one on most digital cameras available at the moment, save the Sony T range …

    Reviews 21 Dec 2005, 15:28

  • IBM buys Micromuse

    Coughs up for multimedia network management

    IBM is buying network performance specialist Micromuse, boosting the data, voice and video management capabilities of its Tivoli infrastructure software suite. The $865m all-cash transaction will see Micromuse turned into one of IBM's Tivoli business units under general manager Al Zollar, and its products added to the Tivoli …

    Applications 21 Dec 2005, 17:36

  • iTunes boosts traffic to Apple's site

    Click wheel of fortune

    Apple is the fastest growing site on the internet, with traffic up 57 per cent since last November, thanks to the popularity of its iTunes music service. According to the latest figures from Nielsen/NetRatings, Google and Amazon also saw significant year-over-year increases, growing 29 per cent and 16 per cent respectively. …

    Financial News 21 Dec 2005, 17:52

  • Ex-Qwest Chief indicted for insider trading

    Nacchio imbroglio

    Former Qwest Chief Joseph Nacchio has been indicted on a whopping 42 counts of insider trading with the government accusing him of selling $101m in stock after discovering that the telco faced major financial risks. Nacchio - not to be confused with Karate Kid star Ralph Macchio or a Flingers appetizer - is accused of making 42 …

    Financial News 21 Dec 2005, 19:23

  • So what's the business case for Windows Vista?

    Details uncertain

    The next few weeks could be crucial in the evolution of Windows Vista, Microsoft's next client operating system. Microsoft engineers will crunch through feedback from 500,000 beta testers who evaluated the latest Windows Vista Community Technology Preview (CTP). At stake is a "feature complete" Windows Vista CTP due for release …

    Operating Systems 21 Dec 2005, 21:07

  • Fines rise for premium-rate phone offences

    'No longer sufficient'

    Parliament has approved an increase in the maximum fine that can be imposed on premium-rate rogues. The cap on the fines that can be imposed by Britain's premium-rate services regulator is going up to £250,000 from 30 December 2005. The current limit is £100,000, but this has been found to be ineffective as a deterrent, …

    Telecoms 21 Dec 2005, 22:15

  • Subscriber love drives Red Hat in Q3

    Investors applaud

    Red Hat has impressed once again, posting a 44 per cent surge in revenue during the third quarter. The software maker's results mark the second stellar quarter in a row. Red Hat's revenue hit $73.1m in the period, which compares to $50.9m in the same period last year. Net income surged as well to $23.2m - a 114 per cent rise …

    Operating Systems 21 Dec 2005, 22:20

  • North Carolina paves the way for drunk Segwaying

    Is there a gyroscope in there, son?

    The Segway scooter has a purpose after all. It'll help you get home after an all night boozer without a DUI charge. That seems to be the major lesson learned from the case of Kevin Crow - a North Carolina scooter aficionado. A sheriff's deputy charged Crow with scooting while intoxicated, noting that he scooted past a stop sign …

    Bootnotes 21 Dec 2005, 23:55