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13th February 2006 Archive

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  • Police database fingers suspects

    Fledgling system pools intelligence

    British police have fingered some suspected scoundrels and nonces with a shared police database system, the Home Office said at the official launch of the system today. The IMPACT Nominal Index, which resulted from Sir Michael Bichard's investigation into failure of police to prevent the murders of Soham schoolgirls Jessica …

    Music and Media 13 Feb 2006, 09:02

  • AOL UK premieres online movie rentals

    Lights, camera, popcorn...

    AOL has become the latest operator in the UK to offer video on demand (VoD) with the launch of an online movie rental service. Open to all broadband users and not just AOL subscribers, the AOL Film Downloads service is provided by DVD rental outfit LOVEFiLM. Available from today, AOL is tapping into the library of films from …

    Telecoms 13 Feb 2006, 09:02

  • Music traders prepare for EC face-off

    CISAC fails to see reason in EC investigation

    Music royalty traders being investigated by EC anti-trust authorities said they fail to understand why the European Commission had launched proceedings against them, and hope to reach an agreement without resorting to the law courts. The EC and the Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), which manages the …

    Financial News 13 Feb 2006, 10:01

  • Vietnamese fruit seller in net name cock-up

    Is that a grapefruit in your pocket...?

    A Vietnamese grapefruit seller has been refused the domain name www.buoi.com.vn because "the word for grapefruit, buoi, without a proper tone marking can be misunderstood", as Thai Huu Ly, of the Vietnam Internet Network Information Centre, put it to AFP. Depending on how it's pronounced, buoi can indeed mean grapefruit - but …

    Bootnotes 13 Feb 2006, 10:03

  • Virgin Mobile to ink mobile TV deal with BT

    So the trial was a success

    Virgin Mobile looks set to be the first cellco to sign up to a nationwide TV service, according to a report by the Financial Times. The pink paper reports that the tie-up is due to be announced tomorrow at the 3GSM trade show in Barcelona and will provide punters with at least five TV channels and a number of radio stations. BT …

    Mobile 13 Feb 2006, 10:41

  • But I'm a professional!

    Comment Kanban, thank-you ma'am

    As a practitioner of agile principles, I value communication and feedback. Indeed, I insist on regular feedback and, if it's not forthcoming, will go in search of it. I've worked with a few teams over the years and one of the first things I always try to introduce is a Kanban system, Kanban being the Japanese word for 'sign' or …

    Developer 13 Feb 2006, 10:55

  • Beyond CRM

    Salesforce.com mashes it up on the AppExchange

    If Web 2.0 mashups are the future of the internet, what will the enterprise application look like? The folk at Salesforce.com think they have the answer, in the shape of the winter 06 release of their web application platform – and the introduction of a web service and application directory, the AppExchange. Salesforce.com has …

    Developer 13 Feb 2006, 11:00

  • Intel's 'Woodcrest' to clock at 2.93GHz

    'Whitmore Lake' system logic for Xeon ULV, too

    Intel is set to ship its 'Woodcrest' processor, the first 65nm Xeon chip to be based on the chip giant's next-generation architecture, will ship at 2.93GHz and boast a 1333MHz frontside bus, a purported copy of the company's server roadmap posted on a Chinese-language website claims. Woodcrest will run on top of Intel's ' …

    Servers 13 Feb 2006, 11:16

  • Check mate

    Comment Email marketing: prior consent does not mean opt-in

    Know the law before you accuse “34 per cent of top UK companies” of breaking it. Recent research, reported by the BBC, FT and others, suggested that our corporate tycoons are flouting the law on email marketing. But the data management company behind the research got the law wrong. The company's press release said the EU …

    Music and Media 13 Feb 2006, 11:32

  • Fossett forced into feat finale farce

    Adventurer breaks record, lands in God's waiting room

    Steve Fossett has broken the world record for the longest uninterrupted flight – but a last minute electrical failure meant he had to make an emergency landing. Virgin GlobalFlyer touched down in Bournemouth - better known for its many retirees and nursing homes - just after 1700 GMT on Saturday. He was forced to make the …

    Science 13 Feb 2006, 11:40

  • Be expands broadband network

    Still schtum on customer numbers

    Be - the broadband ISP that advertises speeds of up to 24Mb - is expanding its network. The ISP is investing in local loop unbundling (LLU) and has already installed its kit in 60 BT telephone exchanges in London to provide services direct to end users. It reckons that by May a further 90-odd exchanges will be unbundled taking …

    Telecoms 13 Feb 2006, 11:46

  • Start-up seeks to spin a safer web

    SiteAdvisor to police pages

    File-sharing software that installs adware, websites that attempt to compromise a visitor's computer, and free downloads that install a host of other unwanted software - the web has become a confusing and sometimes dangerous place for the average home user. A group of graduates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( …

    Security 13 Feb 2006, 11:51

  • Wipe your iPod before selling it, RIAA warns

    Organisation on the look-out for loaded music player sales

    If you sell your iPod and don't remove your music first, you could find yourself with the Recording Industry Ass. of America (RIAA) breathing down your back. The organisation last week told sellers in the US that doing so is a clear violation of copyright law and warned them that it's sniffing out for infringers. Apple's …

    Reg Hardware 13 Feb 2006, 11:52

  • Dept of Homeland Security tests cyberterrorism response

    Massive 'Cyber Storm' simulates attack

    The US Department of Homeland Security has conducted a wargame to test how the country's key IT infrastructure would stand up to a coordinated attack. The week-long operation 'Cyber Storm' ended on Friday and involved 115 federal agencies, banks, power companies and IT firms. The results will now be analysed by government …

    IT Director 13 Feb 2006, 12:05

  • Apple applies for virtual clickwheel patent

    Paves the way for gesture-driven, context-sensitive iPods and tablet Macs

    Claims that Apple is preparing an iPod-branded video player were strengthened late last week when it emerged the company has filed a patent application for exactly the kind of virtual clickwheel technology the new device has been said to sport. The concept is embedded in US patent number 20060026535, originally filed with …

    Reg Hardware 13 Feb 2006, 12:54

  • The unbearable not-rightness of Bitesize

    Stob Whence cometh the 'C' in 'ICT'

    Letters We received a shed load of emails in response to our jibes at the BBC's Bitesize website for GCSE sufferers. Many came forward to explain the site's use of the term 'ICT' instead of the more usual 'IT'. Andrew Field, Head of ICT at a secondary school in Cambridgeshire, writes We do have to call the subject ICT at …

    Verity Stob 13 Feb 2006, 13:25

  • Pope: science and religion are compatible

    And Darwin's 197 years young

    The Pope moved to soothe the increasingly fractious science versus religion rumpus on Friday, saying the two are compatible in the Christian faith. His Holiness told the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican: “The Church joyfully accepts the real conquests of human knowledge.” The 78-year-old German-born …

    Science 13 Feb 2006, 13:35

  • UK e-tailing breaks new records

    Birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it

    Another batch of figures has been published bigging up online shopping. Despite security fears, UK shoppers splashed out a record £8.2bn in online shopping in 2005, according to a report by retail analysts Verdict. And with e-shopping within touching distance of the £9.4bn spent in UK department stores last year, analysts say …

    Financial News 13 Feb 2006, 13:38

  • MS adds full push email to Windows Mobile 5

    3GSM Watch out, RIM?

    Microsoft will next month allow handset vendors and mobile phone networks to offer customers Direct Push Technology - its answer to Research in Motion's Blackberry push email system. DPT will be delivered through a Messaging and Security Feature Pack update to its Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system, plus a Service Pack for its …

    Reg Hardware 13 Feb 2006, 13:45

  • O2 breathless about music deals

    3GSM Visual Radio - isn't that like silent telly...

    O2 is extending its partnership with music label Universal. O2 punters will now get access to 100,000 tracks from Universal's catalogue. They can buy ringtones, video tones, or full length video or sound tracks. The deal comes a week after O2 announced a tie-up with Virgin radio to produce 'Visual Radio'. Users with radio …

    Mobile 13 Feb 2006, 13:49

  • Fujitsu Siemens confirms €700 3G PDA phone

    3GSM Blackberry-like Microsoft push email tech on board

    Fujitsu Siemens today launched its Pocket Loox T series 3G-based PDA phones, as anticipated, and pledged to ship the 802.11g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0 and GPS-equipped handsets - one with a two megapixel camera, the other without - next July. The T810 and T830 - the one with the camera - will both ship with Microsoft's Push Direct …

    Reg Hardware 13 Feb 2006, 14:13

  • Waiting for the software revolution

    Quocirca's changing channels AppExchange and Smartfundit.com pave the way

    Research conducted by Quocirca in 2005 showed the majority of UK enterprises still pay for software upfront either as perpetual licences or renewable on an annual or bi-annual basis. The same research also showed that more than half would like to see the way they pay for software changed to a monthly subscription. What the …

    Channel Register 13 Feb 2006, 14:13

  • HP to ship iPaq hw6900 Wi-Fi PDA phone this 'Spring'

    3GSM Leaked device launched

    HP today unveiled its latest iPaq Mobile Messenger handset, finally taking the wraps off a device it has been inadvertently mentioning on its website for some time. However, the members of the hw6900 series look a little under-specced compared to Fujitsu Siemens' latest competitor product. The HP machines, like FS', are based …

    Reg Hardware 13 Feb 2006, 14:34

  • Nokia not afraid of VoIP. Really

    3GSM Sssh, don't mention Motorola

    Outgoing Nokia chief Jorma Ollila compared the challenge posed by IP telephony to the shift from analog to digital today. It was just this transition that saw Nokia usurp Motorola's dominant position in 1G analog mobile handsets - and it's been top dog ever since. Nokia announced a new UMA handset that conforms to the industry …

    VoIP 13 Feb 2006, 14:55

  • Sony Ericsson readies eight-hour talk-time budget phone

    3GSM Low-end 3G handset in the works too

    Sony Ericsson today took a swipe at Motorola's popular, ultra-low end C115 handset and Nokia's 1100 with a no-frills dual-band GSM handset of its own. It also launched a low-end, "affordable" candybar phone for the 3G market. The J100 offers a basic 'calls, text and nothing else' specification. OK, there's a calculator and …

    Reg Hardware 13 Feb 2006, 15:06

  • 'Lawful interception' firm tapping into Europe, Asia Pacific

    3GSM Network diversity spurs growth

    Lawful interception firm SS8 Networks is using the 3GSM show to set out its stall in Europe. The firm, which makes middleware that helps service providers manage the collection of data from wiretaps across multiple voice and data connections, also announced a resale agreement with Pen-Link, a firm whose software allows law …

    Music and Media 13 Feb 2006, 15:07

  • US firm plays big brother for parents

    3GSM No more mobile smut for you wee laddie...

    British teenagers are the world’s worst when it comes to misusing their mobile phones. Almost half of UK teens admit to texting mates while they’re at school while only 30 per cent of German kids admit to doing the same. US and UK teens spend the same amount of time on their mobiles as they spend doing homework while German …

    Mobile 13 Feb 2006, 15:20

  • TV Licensing to keep tabs on mobile users

    Who's watching who?

    TV Licensing, the outfit that collects the fee that funds the UK's BBC, is mulling plans that would force retailers to pass on details of people who buy mobile phones, The Times reports. As more and more video content becomes available on cellphones, it seems the body that administers the TV licence wants to make sure no tax …

    Mobile 13 Feb 2006, 15:26

  • Official: US girls are easy...

    ...to date online

    Europeans will never do as much online dating as Americans, even as their internet use ramps up to trans-Atlantic levels. This is the conclusion of Jupiter Research analyst Nate Elliot on the publication of his Valentine's report, "Online Dating in Europe: 2006". And the reason? US dating sites find it easy to get "economies …

    Bootnotes 13 Feb 2006, 15:46

  • IP Wireless gets its chance with Sprint

    3GSM Race towards LTE

    Still seeking a new CEO after the abrupt departure of Chris Gilbert a week ago, IP Wireless has announced the first of its global partners to trial its next generation of wireless broadband - Sprint Nextel. The new technology will be tested as part of the ongoing UMTS TD-CDMA trial in the Washington DC area that was announced …

    Wireless 13 Feb 2006, 16:02

  • A GI called Ajax

    Generally interfacing TIBCO

    Web applications are sexy these days; well, the idea of a web application is sexy, partly because the web itself is sexy. Nevertheless, frequently the “user experience” associated with an actual web application is a bit clunky, not at all sexy, compared to the richness possible in a boring old desktop application. So, there are …

    Developer 13 Feb 2006, 16:29

  • Verisign buys Austrian mobile app firm

    3GSM Don't worry, no frogs involved

    Verisign, which bought Jamba, the company behind the Crazy Frog, has bought Austrian service provider 3united Mobile Solutions for E55m. Speaking at the 3GSM conference, Verisign vice president Vernon Irvin said the purchase would bolster Verisign’s ability to offer white label products to companies that want to offer better …

    Mobile 13 Feb 2006, 16:33

  • Microsoft 'year away' from single-core phone OS

    3GSM Costly catch-up

    With Nokia and Sony Ericsson about to launch single-core, single-chip phones using a real-time OS, Microsoft embarked on its catch-up strategy today. It's a pressing issue for manufacturers, as a single core smartphone platform allows the OEM to cut the cost of materials considerably, or cram more features on for the same BoM …

    Mobile 13 Feb 2006, 16:49

  • Sun plans to get Linux on UltraSPARC via Xen

    Hypervisor marriage

    Heat issues getting you down? Could your server room use a web serving boost? Sun Microsystems feels your pain. The server maker has plans to offer the Linux set a bit of Niagara Viagra. Sun's engineers have been beavering away on a hypervisor layer that sits on the company's UltraSPARC T1 - aka Niagara - processor and allows …

    Servers 13 Feb 2006, 18:07

  • Humble Fiorina declined 'most powerful woman in the world' post

    She's still pretty amazing

    Stripped of her position atop the technology world, Carly Fiorina has morphed into a humbler, gentler globe-trotting celebrity speaker. Or so the Mercury News would have us believe. A Merc puff piece from last week seems torn between presenting Fiorina as the ultimate jet-setter and portraying her as someone who became calm …

    Bootnotes 13 Feb 2006, 19:30