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3rd February 2006 Archive

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  • VMware moves to free with Server product

    'Take that, Xen and Microsoft'

    As anticipated, VMware has created a free version of its server partitioning software in the hopes of drawing new customers to its technology. In addition, the move counters open source rival XenSource, which gives away core server virtualization technology known as a hypervisor. The free product will be called VMware Server …

    Servers 3 Feb 2006, 02:19

  • Rackable investors go gaga over stunning Q4

    Up, up and away

    Shares of Rackable Systems soared an astonishing 20 per cent in after-hours trading on word of the server maker's strong fourth quarter results. Rackable posted fourth quarter revenue of $83.1m. That's a - wait for it - 262 per cent rise over the $23m reported in the same period last year. Net income reached $7.3m in the period …

    Servers 3 Feb 2006, 02:57

  • Amazon blames grinch that stole Christmas

    With profits falling, analysts question e-tailing myth

    Amazon.com became the fourth of the internet giants to report lower than expected profits this week. Despite gaining revenue over the previous Christmas, Q4 profits were down, and the company predicted lower profits still for the current quarter. More ominously, Amazon says it expects to have lower profits for the third …

    Financial News 3 Feb 2006, 06:39

  • Redbus and Demon founder denied RIPA appeal

    Sound of strategy backfiring

    Internet pioneer Cliff Stanford has been denied the right to appeal against his conviction for unlawfully intercepting emails at his former company, Redbus Interhouse. Last year Stanford pleaded guilty, but argued that the trial judge had misunderstood the law. Stanford made his name when he founded the ISP Demon Internet in …

    Music and Media 3 Feb 2006, 07:02

  • Handheld device shipments tumble in 2005

    Palm maintains lead

    The market for handhelds reached 2.2m units during the fourth quarter, up 37.6 per cent compared to the preceding quarter, according to IDC's Worldwide Handheld Qview. However, while sales soared during the last three months of 2005, shipment volumes decreased 18.2 per cent compared to the same period in 2004. Moreover, yearly …

    Reg Hardware 3 Feb 2006, 07:02

  • Sun races new Opteron and SPARC workstations

    Free Grid in every box

    Sun Microsystems has jazzed up its workstation line with a pair of new systems - one for the Opteron set and another for the UltraSPARC hangers-on. Both the Ultra 40 (Opteron) and Ultra 45 (UltraSPARC IIIi) workstations ship as two-socket boxes. Sun says they're the best performers in its workstation line. Complementing the …

    Servers 3 Feb 2006, 09:31

  • SAP goes hostal with CRM

    About time

    After taunting customers for months, SAP has finally dished out its take on CRM as an online, hosted service. The SAP CRM On-Demand Solution will go up against market darling salesforce.com and, now part of the borg, Siebel CRM OnDemand. SAP meant to push this service out the door months earlier and still hasn't delivered a …

    Hardware 3 Feb 2006, 09:38

  • Internet kills Smash Hits

    Thank you London and goodnight

    Poptastic teen music mag Smash Hits will publish its last edition on February 13 - killed by a mass reader-migration to the internet which has caused sales to slump from a 500k high to 120,000. Marcus Rich, MD of the magazine's publisher Emap Metro, explained to Reuters: "Smash Hits revolutionised the world of teen publishing …

    Music and Media 3 Feb 2006, 09:42

  • Sony's ambitious HD PC

    Plus bionic ears

    It is a real sign of the times that you get a press release about a new PC and its first sentence bangs on about HD. But then again, this is Sony, a company that is staking an awful lot on HD, so perhaps it shouldn't be too surprising. The PC in question is the latest in its series of high-end desktops, the £1300 VGC-R202. Sony …

    Reg Hardware 3 Feb 2006, 09:47

  • Apple sued over overly loud iPod

    Insufficient hearing-loss risk warnings, apparently

    A Louisiana man is suing Apple claiming that the iPod is "inherently defective" because it can pump up the volume to ear-damaging levels and that Apple hasn't done enough to warn him of the risks. The plaintiff, John Kiel Patterson, is seeking unspecified compensatory damages presumably for hearing loss he may have suffered, …

    Reg Hardware 3 Feb 2006, 10:08

  • Of software bugs and learning curves

    Column Testing as learning

    A bug is no more and no less than a software defect. However, the less harsh and less direct name "bug" masks the nature of the beast and helps to ease the conscience of programmers and the organisations around them. The term also helps play down the frustrations of software users, to the point that defects have become accepted …

    Developer 3 Feb 2006, 10:17

  • Primarolo 'misled' MPs on e-portal fraud

    Taxing questions

    The Liberal Democrats have claimed the paymaster general knew about fraud on the tax credits system earlier than she acknowledged. David Laws, the party's spokesperson on work and pensions, made the allegation after Dawn Primarolo had given evidence to Parliament's Treasury Sub-Committee on February 1, 2006. Primarolo told the …

    Public Sector 3 Feb 2006, 10:24

  • Aramiska crash 'completely unexpected'

    Staff 'stunned'

    Staff at stricken satellite broadband outfit Aramiska knew nothing of the firm's shock decision to pull the plug on its service last Friday. A week after Aramiska dumped its customers, a number of former workers have told El Reg they were unaware of the firm's decision to axe the service - giving customers just a few hours …

    Telecoms 3 Feb 2006, 10:25

  • Drug dealer reports dope theft to cops

    Not the sharpest tool in the box

    An 18-year-old drug dealing master criminal is languishing in Utah County Jail after reporting the theft of his stash to police, the Deseret Morning News reports. He rang the cops to complain that someone had broken into his Orem home and made off with the "quarter-pound of marijuana he had been trying to sell". The burglar " …

    Bootnotes 3 Feb 2006, 10:26

  • Global chip sales set record in 2005

    Even better next year, industry body chirps

    World+dog bought $227.5bn worth of chips in 2005, up 6.8 per cent on 2004's total of $213bn, the US Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) announced yesterday after posting December 2005 sales figures. The month's sales came to $19.95bn, down 2.2 per cent sequentially from November's $20.41bn, but up 8.6 per cent on …

    Reg Hardware 3 Feb 2006, 10:27

  • Humanity survives Kama Sutra apocalypse

    PC thrashing worm has 'minimal impact'

    Security watchers say the Kama Sutra worm, which is programmed to overwrite files on infected Windows PCs today, will have a damaging but not catastrophic effect. The Kama Sutra worm (AKA Nyxem-E or Blackworm) poses as an email message offering a variety of salacious content. Subject lines used in the malicious emails include: …

    Malware 3 Feb 2006, 10:29

  • Intel's loss was VIA's gain in 2005 desktop graphics biz

    Firms trade chipset market share

    Intel may have shipped more desktop graphics chips than any other player in the market, but it also managed to lose market share to almost all its rivals, the latest figures from Jon Peddie Research reveal. VIA took the most market share from the chip giant. JPR's numbers focus on Q4 2005. During the quarter, Intel took 32 …

    Reg Hardware 3 Feb 2006, 11:03

  • DATAllegro - is it all hype?

    Comment Apparently not...

    Towards the end of last year I wrote an article about the future of data warehouse appliances, asking whether it was a boom or bust. Since then, a number of the vendors mentioned in that article have been in touch with me, plus one other company that I am not at liberty to name. Interestingly, I have spent an extended time with …

    Developer 3 Feb 2006, 11:04

  • Discrete mobile GPU decline continues in Q4

    But will Q1 2006 reverse the trend?

    Notebooks using integrated graphics chips outsold those kitted out with discrete GPUs by almost three to one last quarter, data from market watcher Jon Peddie Research (JPR) suggests. Put it this way: in the mobile graphics chip market during Q4 2005, integrated graphics engines accounted for 74 per cent of sales, while discrete …

    Reg Hardware 3 Feb 2006, 11:25

  • BOFH: Headhunted

    Episode 5 'A wonderful opportunity'

    I'm sitting in Mission Control listening to the PFY recount the amusing anecdotes from his night on the overproofed Rum when the phone rings. Not unusual in itself, but it's an outside line so I answer it. "Hello?" I ask ... >Click< "User?" the PFY asks. "Mmm?" "A user - calling you?" "No, just a headhunter, wanted to …

    BOFH 3 Feb 2006, 11:26

  • Nvidia tweaks nForce 4 SLI x16 drivers

    Patching time

    Nvidia has updated its nForce 4 SLI x16 chipset drivers for Windows XP and 2000 in both 32-bit and 64-bit incarnations of the operating systems, taking them to versions 6.85 and 6.83, respectively. The update includes what Nvidia calls "compatibility fixes", and it's tweaked a variety of driver components, including audio, …

    Reg Hardware 3 Feb 2006, 11:37

  • AMD Socket M2 spotted on Nvidia-based MSI mobo

    Debuts on web

    AMD's upcoming Socket M2 desktop CPU interconnect has surfaced on the internet, revealed in all its 940-pin glory on MSI's K9N Platinum motherboard. You can view the snaps here. The board clearly sports an Nvidia chipset, so there's no doubt it's going to support the new interconnect when it debuts - in Q2, if rumours, leaks …

    Reg Hardware 3 Feb 2006, 11:56

  • Motorola Q to miss Q1 ship deadline?

    Now due 'early April', Moto moles allege

    Motorola's slimline smart phone, the Q, may not appear until early April, having missed the December launch window hinted at by company CEO Ed Zander in September 2005. When Motorola announced the Q in July 2005, it said the machine would ship in Q1 2006. The would-be Blackberry beater's original launch window is still open, of …

    Reg Hardware 3 Feb 2006, 12:13

  • EDS keeps bulk of GM outsourcing deal

    What's it got? Not the lot

    General Motors (GM) has awarded the lion's share of a multibillion-dollar systems integration services contract to EDS. EDS used to be GM subsidiary, which ran almost all of GM's outsourcing business even after it split off from GM in 1996. But after the end of a 10-year split-off agreement between GM and EDS that expires in …

    Hardware 3 Feb 2006, 12:30

  • LLU set to rocket in '06

    OTA ups estimate to 3m lines

    As many as three million phone lines could be unbundled in the UK during 2006, the Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator (OTA) announced today - tripling its forecast for the year. Until recently, the OTA, which oversees the development of local loop unbundling (LLU), has said it expects around a million lines to be …

    Telecoms 3 Feb 2006, 12:37

  • Patent oracle speaks

    Brits pull the rug from under patent lawyers

    The UK Patent Office has given its first verdicts on the fast track opinion service it launched last year to save modest patent holders being bullied by more powerful corporate inventors in disputes. Say, for example, you have invented (with the humble resources at hand in your garden shed) a propeller-powered levitation device …

    Music and Media 3 Feb 2006, 12:41

  • Dell websites drop LCD TV line-up

    Exclusive While demand outstrips supply

    Dell insisted today its LCD TV line-up will return after the company was forced to pull the products from its EMEA websites late last month. Describing the company as a "victim of its own success", a Dell spokeswoman today admitted the company could not meet current demand for its 32in and 37in tellies. Reg Hardware readers …

    Reg Hardware 3 Feb 2006, 13:29

  • UK.gov inflates ID theft risk

    ID-card selling bunkum

    The UK government has come out with yet another questionable study to support its obsessive bent to impose ID cards on the British public. Once again, ID fraud figures as the reason why Brits need expensive biometric proofs of identity. A Home Office study claims ID fraud costs Britain £1.7bn. But most of these losses have …

    ID 3 Feb 2006, 14:04

  • Google Linux? Wtf?

    Letters Goobuntu a-go-go

    To kick off this week's trawl through the Vulture Central mailbag, we have this little bit of sabre-rattling from a member of Her Majesty's House of Commons. Read first, then we'll explain: Dear Sir, You carried an inaccurate story in May about both myself and a number of other colleagues. It was wrong then and remains so …

    Letters 3 Feb 2006, 14:06

  • HP confirms iPaq hw6910 - again

    Unannounced PDA phone crops up on support site

    HP has updated its website to include a further reference to the upcoming iPaq hw6910 smart phone, along with a pointer to another as-yet-unannounced machine, the rw6828. Searching for both products yields HP Business Support Center pages for each machine. Alas, there's no documentation on them but a generic iPaq-oriented …

    Reg Hardware 3 Feb 2006, 14:06

  • Cruise and Holmes dominate Razzies

    And the worst performance goes to...

    Bad sequels and remakes top the list of films going for the Golden Raspberry Awards (or Razzies) this year. Son of the Mask racked up an impressive eight nominations in Hollywood's annual celebration of the worst in movie making. Other worst film contenders include Rob Schneider sequel Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, horror …

    Bootnotes 3 Feb 2006, 14:15

  • Equip moved to pastures new

    Parents consolidate their interests

    A little bit of housekeeping in the UK IT channel has seen Horizon Technology Group complete its acquisition of networking distributor Equip Technology for £10.6m. Horizon CEO Gary Coburn said the new arm would complement its existing business in the sale of IT infrastructure goods to the corporate sector. The €24.8m (£16.8m) …

    Channel Register 3 Feb 2006, 14:19

  • UK broadband vets see DSL connections cut

    BT blamed for cock-up

    Some of the UK's longest-serving ADSL customers have lost their broadband connections because of work being carried out by BT. As many as 100 people, who were early trialists of broadband in the UK supplied by BT Wholesale, are understood to have been cut off this week. Now ISPs are calling on BT Wholesale to halt the work …

    Telecoms 3 Feb 2006, 14:42

  • iMac G5 17in R.I.P.

    PowerPC product put to sleep

    Apple has killed off the 17in iMac G5 - at least, the machine is no longer available from either the UK or the US online AppleStores, or stores throughout Europe and Asia-Pacific, though it remains listed on the main Apple website. The move comes just days after Apple cut the price of the 20in iMac G5 by $200 in the States and £ …

    Reg Hardware 3 Feb 2006, 14:58

  • Virus floors Russian stock exchange

    Mystery malware fingered

    A computer virus succeeded in bringing down the main Russian stock exchange on Thursday. The Russian Trading System (RTS) was forced to suspend operations in its three markets between 1315 and 1420 GMT after unnamed malware infected systems. Viral infection resulted in a huge upsurge of outgoing traffic, interrupting normal …

    Enterprise Security 3 Feb 2006, 15:34

  • Wanadoo 8 Meg ad slap expected

    Ads cleared beforehand, however...

    Wanadoo UK is to be slapped for plugging its 8Mb service broadband on TV - even though the ads were checked beforehand by advertising experts. Last week, El Reg reported how Wanadoo UK is facing a dressing down after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received more than half a dozen complaints, including three from rival …

    Telecoms 3 Feb 2006, 16:05

  • MFI stumbles over SAP writ

    Whose fault is it anyway?

    MFI Furniture Group has until Tuesday to serve a writ for compensation against IBM before its claim expires. Former MFI chief executive John Hancock said last summer the company would seek compensation from IBM and other parties involved in the bodged implementation of a £50m SAP system that cost the retailer an additional £30m …

    Developer 3 Feb 2006, 16:09

  • Devolo MicroLink dLAN powerline Ethernet adaptor

    Review Wired networking through the mains

    After Reg Hardware tried out ZyXEL's new PL-100 Ethernet-over-powerline product, quite a few readers pointed out a similar but more convenient item from Devolo. It's been around for some months now, but since it was new to us, we guess it'll be new to quite a few other Reg Hardware readers too. So we called up Devolo and asked …

    Reg Hardware 3 Feb 2006, 16:12

  • You can't be an Alpha male in a Beta culture

    And ninthly Make Web 2.0 face the Jack Hammer Johnson [Warning: NSFW]

    Through the aesthetic modulation of the psyche, then, the autonomy of reason is already opened up within the domain of sense itself, the dominion of sensation already broken within its own frontiers, and the physical man refined to the point where spiritual man only needs to start developing out of the physical according to the …

    Bootnotes 3 Feb 2006, 18:31