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25th January 2006 Archive

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  • Second quarter loss for Sun

    Underestimates own popularity

    Poor planning combined with acquisition and restructuring costs have pushed Sun Microsystems into its second loss for the fiscal year. Sun reported a $223m net loss, down from a $4m profit, on revenue that grew 17 per cent to $3.337bn for the three months to December 25, 2005. Sun recorded a loss of $0.07 per share compared to …

    Servers 25 Jan 2006, 03:38

  • Eclipse buffs up BI tools

    More style for PHP developers

    An open source business intelligence (BI) project has been updated for PHP developers, attracting support of Zend Technologies. The Eclipse Foundation has announced Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools (BIRT) 2.0, which has been extended to support cascading style sheets (CSS). CSS will make it easier for developers to …

    Developer 25 Jan 2006, 08:37

  • Google kowtows to China

    How low can you go?

    Google has been basking in good publicity from refusing US government demands to hand over search results but in China it is happy to create a search engine based on government specifications. Google will offer a censored version of its search engine running on servers in China. It will remove results on "sensitive" topics like …

    Media 25 Jan 2006, 10:14

  • English court refuses to confirm software's pedigree

    Judge takes cautious approach to Point's claims of innocence

    A judge has refused a developer's pre-emptive request for a High Court declaration that its software code was not ripping-off a rival's – in part because she had not seen the code or much other evidence, but also because the developer refused independent scrutiny. In April 2001 Focus Solutions, a dominant supplier of software …

    Software 25 Jan 2006, 10:25

  • Jobs sells Pixar to Disney for $7.4bn

    Kerching!

    Apple CEO Steve Jobs is now an even wealthier man, and it has nothing to do with iPod sales. Disney is indeed buying Pixar, the computer animation studio Jobs bought off George Lucas, for a rumoured $7.4bn. As the majority shareholder in Pixar, Jobs walks away with a good chunk of that $7.4bn, though since the deal is a share- …

    Hardware 25 Jan 2006, 10:27

  • Vodafone stands up to shareholders

    US strategy stays for now

    Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin yesterday defended the company's US strategy and said it was keeping its 45 per cent stake in Verizon Wireless. Major shareholders including Standard Life and Morley Fund Management have publicly cricised the strategy, but Sarin remains firm. He said, however, the board would look at the …

    Financial News 25 Jan 2006, 10:53

  • 3 in 'free' calls giveaway

    WePay, TheyPay, EitherWay, SomeonePays

    The creative boutique at 3 has been working overtime developing a cunning plan to get people to stay with the 3G phone outfit. Its "revolutionary concept" - their words, not ours - is to pay punters for receiving calls and texts. The new pay-as-you-go price service from 3 - called "WePay" - sees punters rack up cash credits …

    Mobile 25 Jan 2006, 11:09

  • Seattle plans library Wi-Fi network

    Potential conflict with any City WLAN? WiMAX?

    Seven branches of the already-wireless central Seattle library are going Wi-Fi. The announcement focuses on warnings that "no technical help is available" - but further south, in the San Francisco Bay area, the Joint Venture Silicon Valley organisation is planning to cover 1,500 square miles with 802.11 signals. What happens …

    Broadband 25 Jan 2006, 11:25

  • Oz flying car launch site: exclusive pictures

    Google Earth mystery deepens

    Your letters yesterday regarding the mysterious Perth flying car threw up quite a list of possible explanations for exactly what this object might be: The list included: A hoax Two cars parked next to each other Hole in the ground Trailer Bus shelter Water tower Tent Car on a pole Harry Potter on holiday Well, we …

    Bootnotes 25 Jan 2006, 12:26

  • Motion Picture Ass. of America makes ass of itself

    Caught pirating DVD

    If it's your job to stop people pirating movies, you should really be very careful not to get caught making pirate copies. But that's what the Motion Picture Ass. of America has managed to do. The MPAA lobbies for stronger action against pesky pirates and more effective digital rights management. This week it admitted copying a …

    Media 25 Jan 2006, 12:34

  • CIOs face even more pressure in 2006

    IT set as key challenge

    Improved performance through more competitive use of IT is what 2006 holds for chief information officers, new survey findings suggest. Carried out by Gartner Executive Programmes, a unit of Gartner Inc, the report titled Growing IT's Contribution: The 2006 CIO Agenda, says CIOs will come under increased pressure in 2006 to …

    Management 25 Jan 2006, 12:36

  • Navicore updates Symbian smart-phone GPS navigation pack

    Bundles free traffic, safety camera downloads

    Navicore has launched the 2006 release of its eponymous GPS-fed route planning software for Symbian Series 60-based smart phones. In addition to updated maps from TeleAtlas - the final versions were supplied just a few weeks ago, Navicore told us - Navicore Personal 2006 adds support for full seven-digit postcode searches, …

    Hardware 25 Jan 2006, 12:40

  • MS responds to Xbox execution claim

    'Console will still be on sale through 2006'

    Microsoft has failed to deny allegations that it's ceasing production of the original Xbox potentially to allow its manufacturers to punch out more Xbox 360s. The claim was made earlier this week by a retail worker who maintained that's what his wholesaler had told him. Kotaku, the website sent the missive, checked with …

    Games 25 Jan 2006, 13:11

  • Former Veritas chief quits Symantec

    Boardroom exodus continues at security software giant

    Former Veritas chief exec Gary Bloom is to leave Symantec. Bloom, Symantec's vice chairman and president, will vacate both jobs before the end of March following an "orderly transition". In a statement, Bloom says he is taking a break after 25 years in the IT industry. Bloom's exit follows the recent departures of Symantec's …

    Storage 25 Jan 2006, 13:46

  • Europe to embrace triple play

    It's a digital home thing

    The provision of triple play services - TV, broadband and phone - is set to become a major growth area as demand for converged services intensifies. So say the researchers at technology consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. They predict the market for digital home services will take off in Europe over the next 12 months. …

    Broadband 25 Jan 2006, 13:54

  • StopBadware.org to name and shame spyware scumbags

    Backing from Google, Sun and Lenovo

    Academic institutions and tech companies have teamed up to fight spyware with a new name and shame initiative. StopBadware.org, launched today by the Harvard University's Berkman Centre and the Oxford Internet Institute, aims to establish a neighborhood watch-style scheme that will put pressure on purveyors of unsavoury programs …

    Security 25 Jan 2006, 14:10

  • Microsoft opens Windows for EC compliance

    Is it enough?

    Microsoft is to open up the source code behind its server communication protocols, in an attempt to get the European Commission off its back. The announcement covers the source code behind the communication protocols for Windows Workgroup Server and Windows Desktop. Microsoft already offers 12,000 pages of technical documents …

    Servers 25 Jan 2006, 14:15

  • Nikon D200 digital SLR body

    Review A long time coming, is it worth the wait?

    Nikon's D200 is the successor to the D100 launched way back in the Summer of 2002. Back then the D100 went up against Canon's EOS-D60, a model which Canon has since replaced twice, with a third successor expected to be announced by March. Yes, it's sure been a long time coming, but at least Nikon's pulled out all the stops for …

    Hardware 25 Jan 2006, 15:04

  • Government scrambles Intellect code

    Badge of honour unravels

    Trade body Intellect is failing in its efforts to regulate public sector IT suppliers because it lacks the vital support of government customers. Instead of trusting suppliers to do a good job, government has taken matters in its own hands and used a more severe approach to making them behave responsibly. The result is that …

    Policy 25 Jan 2006, 15:09

  • 3 'free calls' scheme not 'revolutionary', say readers

    Really? Do go on...

    Reg readers have been quick to rubbish 3 UK's claim that its "free call" offer is a "revolutionary" scheme. Earlier today we reported how 3 is to introduced a new PAYG service - called "WePay" - which sees punters rack up cash credits each time someone calls or texts them, which can then be redeemed each time they buy a new top …

    Mobile 25 Jan 2006, 15:19

  • O2 pre-announces XDA Neo PDA phone

    Full details at CeBIT, apparently

    O2's German subsidiary will launch its latest own-brand PDA phone at the CeBIT show in March, the company announced this week. The device, dubbed the XDA Neo, sports a two-megapixel camera, incorporates Wi-Fi and runs Windows Mobile 5.0, the cellco said. In addition to what O2 Germany mentioned, we can add that the Neo will …

    Phones 25 Jan 2006, 15:24

  • Anti-scam website saved by MEP

    Politician walks walk, doesn't talk talk

    A Member of the European Parliament, Richard Corbett, has stepped in to save the anti-scam website www.stopecg.org - which was forced offline by legal threats to its service provider. Server Centre, and its upstream supplier RapidSwitch, decided to pull the website after a flurry of legal notices from Birmingham solicitors …

    Media 25 Jan 2006, 15:53

  • Isle of Man to become 'Switzerland of Space'

    Good Heavens

    It may have been described yesterday by one reader as "70,000 alcoholics clinging to a rock", but the Isle of Man has made its pitch to become a space industry giant equivalent to a "Switzerland of Space", according to treasury minister Allan Bell. Indeed, the island is looking to invest £955,000 over the next couple of years …

    Science 25 Jan 2006, 15:57

  • Swiss Govt to flog its share of Swisscom

    Small investors offered 'people's shares'

    The Swiss Government published proposals to flog its 66 per cent stake in incumbent telco Swisscom. To ensure it doesn't become a victim of a take-over bid, Government is looking to target small shareholders to buy into the telco as part of a "people's shares" scheme, although it accepts this might mean it won't get the highest …

    Broadband 25 Jan 2006, 16:00

  • Lotus collaboration suite blossoms

    Lotusphere Anytime, any place, anywhere – except Seattle

    Confidence is brimming at this year's Lotusphere conference, with a belief that the IBM Lotus collaboration products are bouncing back against Microsoft. At the conference, in Orlando, Florida, Lotus general manager Mike Rhodin said: "Our growth was in double digits last year [10 per cent] and the market only grew by about …

    Servers 25 Jan 2006, 16:31

  • Europeans don't much like nuclear energy

    Solar and wind popular options, survey shows

    Europeans are not much impressed with nuclear energy and want the powers that be to focus on wind and solar alternatives, according to Reuters. This conclusion has been drawn from a European Commission Eurobarometer poll of 30,000 EU citizens in which just 12 per cent voted yes to developing nuclear energy. Forty-eight per cent …

    Science 25 Jan 2006, 16:32

  • Effective Java

    Book review A classic work on Java programming

    Although it's not a new title, Joshua Bloch's Effective Java is one of those classics that invariably crops up on people's list of top Java books. And, when the question comes up 'what book do you recommend for someone who's past the beginner stage?', this is usually the answer. The book assumes a good working knowledge of …

    Developer 25 Jan 2006, 16:40

  • Malware potency increases as numbers drop

    Less is more

    Global malware outbreaks decreased last year only to be replaced by smaller scale, stealthier attacks targeted at specific organisations or individuals, and designed to extract sensitive information. Financial gain has become the number one motive for hackers, according to IBM's latest Global Business Security Index. Email- …

    Security 25 Jan 2006, 16:54

  • Intel ships 1m 65nm dual-core chips

    That's a lot of MacBook Pros

    Intel has shipped more than one million 65nm dual-core processors, the chip giant announced today. That figure comprises all the Core Duo chips, 'Presler' Pentium D 9xx parts and the Pentium Extreme Edition 955 that have gone out to makers of notebook and desktop PCs, not to mention the products Apple's using in its latest iMac …

    Hardware 25 Jan 2006, 17:02

  • Intel 'on track' to debut 45nm CPUs in H2 07

    Cites working memory chip as proof

    Intel has become the first company to produce a working chip fabricated at 45nm, the chip giant claimed today. The part is a 153Mb SRAM memory chip containing more than 1bn transistors and measuring 119mm². And it's fully functional - sufficient, the company says, to show it's on schedule to ship 45nm processors toward H2 2007 …

    Hardware 25 Jan 2006, 17:02

  • Scientists 'microlens' Earth-like exoplanet

    Smallest one to date

    An international colloboration of astronomers has used a microlensing technique to spot an Earth-like exoplanet just five times bigger than our own piece of rock - the smallest such body discovered so far, and only the third pinpointed with microlensing from a list of around 160 known exoplanets. The snappily-named OGLE-2005- …

    Science 25 Jan 2006, 18:02

  • Elcom IT founder sells up and steps down

    Changing of the old guard

    Jim Rousou, the industry veteran who established the firm that became Elcom IT, has stepped down as chairman after selling the firm to private investors. Elcom IT, a £50m turnover company, was bought by private investors Owner Venture Managers Limited (OVM) for an undisclosed sum. The current management team, which bought …

    The Channel 25 Jan 2006, 19:25

  • IBM buys virtual billing firm CIMS Lab

    Pay per use tech slots into Tivoli

    IBM has acquired privately-held software firm CIMS Lab for an undisclosed amount. CIMS Lab's software helps firms to track and bill software and hardware utilisation back to individual company departments. According to IBM, CIMS complements its existing portfolio of management software for virtualised technology. Big Blue and …

    Servers 25 Jan 2006, 19:30

  • Sun switches back to blades in '06

    Twice the charm

    Sun Microsystems will take its second step on the path to re-entering the blade server market this summer, a year after vacating the sector in the face of stiff competition. John Fowler, executive vice president for Sun's network systems group, said Sun is working on a series of Sparc and x86 blades that "run all software", and …

    Servers 25 Jan 2006, 21:12