17th March 2006 Archive

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Adobe raids Sun's executive suite, grabbing software chief

Best dressed Linux fanboy returns to Sun

Adobe Systems has raided Sun Microsystems' executive ranks to pick up John Loiacono as its new SVP in charge of creative solutions. At Sun, Loiacono served as the company's top software executive, managing products such as Java and Solaris. Now, he will oversee Adobe's vast portfolio of products from Photoshop and Illustrator …

IT Director 17 Mar 2006, 01:53
Ballmer pushes Vista and Office vision to businesses

The future is IBM. No - wait, it's people

Steve Ballmer has kicked-off a $500m marketing push designed to convince businesses they really need to buy the planned Windows Vista and Office 2007. Speaking in New York on Thursday, Ballmer unveiled Microsoft's new "vision" - "people-ready" business - a vision that apparently boils down to using Windows Vista and Office 2007 …

Software 17 Mar 2006, 09:33
Star Wars TV series in 3D

Geek TV Time to get your glasses on

Certified gadget obsessives Tech Digest and Shiny Shiny scour Gizmoville for the oddest digital goodies, TV Scoop features all that's cool in British telly and Propellerhead answers your PC queries Off the telly and on the web I'll overlook the small issue of there not being enough HD-ready tellies to go round for the World …

Bootnotes 17 Mar 2006, 09:46
Q1 laptop demand dips below vendor expectations?

Buyers said to be awaiting Core Duo price cuts

Demand for new notebooks slumped this quarter, reports coming out of Taiwan's contract manufacturing industry suggest, though at this stage it's unclear whether buyers are holding off from making purchases while they wait for Windows Vista, lower dual-core system prices or both. Sources cited by DigiTimes claim major vendors …

Reg Hardware 17 Mar 2006, 10:08
Interviewing C++ developers with extreme prejudice

Clever ways to find clever people

These days I do a bit of pimping (a.k.a. "quant headhunting" in polite company - a "quant" is a quantitative analyst doing high-value numerical analysis) for expensive people at banks. It may scare or delight you, but a lot of the financial markets are run off C++ with Excel VBA. The first pass across the prospective intake …

Developer 17 Mar 2006, 10:12
Voda flogs Japanese arm

That's that then

Vodafone is to flog its troubled Japanese operation to Softbank for £8.9bn (Y1.8 trillion), the monster cellco confirmed today. Its retreat from Japan follows bucket loads of speculation about the future of the business, confirmed earlier this month when Voda announced that it was in talks to sell the business. Although …

Financial News 17 Mar 2006, 10:44
Improving on optimisers

Comment 'Clever' enhancers up performance

After all these years you would assume, wouldn't you, that database optimisers were pretty good? Companies like IBM and Oracle have been costing query plans and re-writing SQL not just for years but for decades, so you would expect they would know what they were doing. Well, if that’s the case, how come ActiveBase and its UK …

Developer 17 Mar 2006, 10:51
Lenovo wields knife, cuts 1,000 jobs

Begins to woo partners

Lenovo is slashing 1,000 jobs and shutting some facilities in an effort to save $250m a year. The consolidation program comes less than a year after the Chinese PC giant bought the former IBM PC operation. Reuters reports that a six to 12 month restructuring plan at the vendor will see it cut its headcount by 5 per cent, and …

IT Director 17 Mar 2006, 10:54
Verbatim to offer 'reincarnated floppy disk' in Europe

Looks familiar?

Yesterday, we reported on Memorex's disk-shaped 16MB USB Flash drive, the company's newly announced bit to bring those few remaining floppy disk users into the sold-state storage era. Today, we learn Verbatim is getting in on the act too - with exactly the same product. The company's European operation has announced …

Reg Hardware 17 Mar 2006, 10:54
Doubts over Home Office e-tagging

Testing 'woefully inadequate', MPs told

Home Office assumptions about the high performance of tagging equipment, used to monitor prisoners on early release, is based on "woefully inadequate" evidence, MPs on the Public Accounts Committee were told. The MPs heard from barristers that two of their clients, released from prison under a home detention curfew, were fitted …

Public Sector 17 Mar 2006, 11:06
eSATA ExpressCard debuts

Links fast external drives to new notebooks

Japanese hardware company Ratoc has announced one of the first external Serial ATA (eSATA) adaptors that connect add-on hard disk drives and RAID arrays like the LaCie Two Big to a host computer using the new, notebook-oriented ExpressCard 34 format. The REX-EX30S card slots into any 34mm or 54mm ExpressCard slot, but the …

Reg Hardware 17 Mar 2006, 11:14
Telecoms spending to decline

But broadband still to boom

Consumer spending on fixed-line telecoms services in Western Europe is set to decline, and Ireland will see an especially dramatic fall, according to a new study. In the report, research firm Analysys indicates that growth in TV and video services delivered over broadband will not be enough to halt the fall in the value of …

Networks 17 Mar 2006, 11:41
Cisco's Chambers touched by telepresense

Let me hear your body talk, body talk

Cisco has taken the wraps off its upcoming video conferencing technology, which it promises will be able to convincingly convey body language across the ether. eWeek reports that CEO John Chambers touted its “telepresence” system at a partner summit in San Diego this week. The firm reckons that within seven years, most …

Data Networking 17 Mar 2006, 11:41
Raoul blows its top

One missing as Ring of Fire rumbles

A remote volcanic island has erupted in the South Pacific, promting an emergency evacuation. The explosion on the New Zealand territory of Raoul island in the Kermadec chain has left one man missing. A New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) official said: "A helicopter has been sent to pick up the DOC staff that are based …

Science 17 Mar 2006, 11:42
Sony names Blu-ray disc kit ship dates

Disc player, internal drive and Vaio PCs detailed

Sony will today begin taking pre-orders for its upcoming Blu-ray Disc player after yesterday naming the dates on which it will ship the machine and Vaio PCs that incorporate the next-generation optical disc technology. The BDP-S1 will ship in the US in July - two months after the first BD movies are set to hit US stores. …

Reg Hardware 17 Mar 2006, 11:46
BT unveils fixed-mobile combo

Has a pop at Orange

BT has taken a sideswipe at Orange as it looks to poach more punters in the lucrative small biz market. Last month, cellco Orange announced plans to offer fixed line phone services to business users in the UK. Piggybacking on Cable & Wireless' (C&W) network, the France Telecom-owned business said its Landline for Business …

Small Biz 17 Mar 2006, 11:47
Date set for global net body's first meeting

Athens: 30 October to 2 November 2006

A date has been set for the first meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF): Monday 30 October to Thursday 2 November in Athens, Greece. At the same time, the United Nations has announced a 40-strong body made up of representatives from governments, private sector, civil society and the academic and technical communities …

Music and Media 17 Mar 2006, 11:56
Warner HD DVD debut delayed

Slipped discs

Warner Home Video's US HD DVD roll-out will be smaller and later than previously anticipated. The home entertainment company yesterday said it would ship a mere three titles on 18 April, offering Million Dollar Baby, The Last Samurai and The Phantom of the Opera for $29 a pop. It promised 17 more HD DVDs will follow in the weeks …

Reg Hardware 17 Mar 2006, 12:25
Astronomers glimpse newborn universe

13.7 billion-year-old microwave

The oldest light in the universe has allowed scientists to view the universe just one trillionth of a second after the Big Bang. NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite was aimed at the background radiation left over from the beginning of the universe for three years. Principal invesigator Charles Bennett …

Science 17 Mar 2006, 12:32
Left-handed men are gay: official

Letters But do they drink Guinness?

Since today is St Patrick's Day - which you may have noticed - it would be churlish of us not to publish a few thoughts on Guinness, or rather the stoutmonger's website. More on that later, but let's kick off today with some feedback on the shock revelation that RFID tags might be susceptible to virus infection: No, RFID tags …

Letters 17 Mar 2006, 12:56
Frozen French couple go up in smoke

Faulty freezer forces cryogenics' cremation

A French couple who had their bodies frozen in in the hope that medical science would one day be able to resurrect them have had to be sent up the chimney after a bit of bother with the leccy. Cryonics pioneer Doctor Raymond Martinot stuck his wife in cold storage back 1984. He paid for his massive refrigeration bill by …

Bootnotes 17 Mar 2006, 13:01
BT's new fixed-mobile combo NOT available yet

'Hasn't actually come out yet'

Dear old BT. Bless 'em. Even on St Patrick's Day they couldn't organise a booze up in a pub. The mighty telco has just launched a fixed and mobile calls combo for businesses. According to Bill Murphy, MD of BT Business: "This plan goes significantly further than the offering from competitors like Orange. What's more, this …

Small Biz 17 Mar 2006, 13:13
Swedes plan to colonise Moon

Flat-pack lunar base

We always knew the Swedes were a shifty bunch - softening hearts worldwide with a pleasing blend of inoffensive europop, cheap yet effortlessly stylish flat-pack furniture and fun-loving, pnemuatic blonde fillies - but now the horrible truth can now be revealed: they're planning to colonise the Moon thereby ensuring their own …

Bootnotes 17 Mar 2006, 13:15
Asian police target movie downloaders

Investigations shifting from servers to clients?

South Korean police have begun to target people who download content from P2P networks not only those who make such material available. According to local reports, Seoul Jongo law enforcement officers have questioned 57 people after monitoring download activity on at least one P2P service earlier this month. Police this week …

Music and Media 17 Mar 2006, 13:59
US gang members get GPS tagged

High-risk parolees tracked

Three "high-risk" parolee gang members in San Bernadino, California, have been fitted with GPS ankle bracelets to ensure they do not go wandering off into "unauthorised areas", Reuters reports. State Department of Corrections speokeswoman Sarah Ludeman explained: "GPS tracking is just another tool in the bag; we will still use …

ID 17 Mar 2006, 14:02
Nude nonna in roadway romp

What on Earth is wrong with Europe's pensioners?

More oversexed OAP shenanigans, this time from Italy. A car was pulled over north east of Milan for zigzagging across the highway. The polizia making the stop was confronted by the sight of a 70-year-old woman in her birthday suit attempting to have sex with the 59-year-old male driver. A spokesman said that after demanding …

Bootnotes 17 Mar 2006, 14:14
Google wins Usenet copyright case

Search engine allowed to search

Google has won a legal action brought over a Usenet posting that the search giant archived and partially displayed in search results. Writer Gordon Roy Parker had claimed that this breached his copyright in the posting, a chapter of an e-book. Parker, who represented himself in the suit, publishes online under the name “ …

Music and Media 17 Mar 2006, 14:29
Samsung SH-B022 Blu-ray Disc writer

Preview Blu-ray finally arrives - does it live up to the hype?

2006: the year of High Definition video, Blu-ray and HD DVD. Well, that's the way things are looking at the moment, with just about every consumer electronics manufacturer in the world jumping on the bandwagon. These technologies aren't exclusively reserved for the consumer-electronics market - they're coming to the PC as well, …

Reg Hardware 17 Mar 2006, 15:03
UK broadband speed clocked at...

A stunning Friday factoid

Going down the pub tonight? Wanna impress your mates? Or maybe even a lady friend? Here's a cracking bit of info that's sure to make you Mr Popular and a master of repartée. What is the average broadband speed that punters receive in the UK? Go on. See if you can guess. If you said "a coupla meg maybe", then give yourself a …

Telecoms 17 Mar 2006, 15:36
Sony unveils 20in LCD TV-monitor combo

Movies and games and back again

Sony will next month extend its line of dual-role displays - they operate as a TV and as a computer monitor - with a 20in widescreen HD model capable of being wall-mounted and has a 3D sound capability. The MFM-HT205 sports a 16:9 ratio 1680 x 1050 resolution LCD equipped with Sony's ErgoBright image processing system and …

Reg Hardware 17 Mar 2006, 16:02
AMD falls in world chip maker rankings

Sales down 23.3 per cent between 2005 and 2004

Does Intel really need to worry about AMD? Not if the latest figures from market watcher iSuppli are anything to go by. The chip giant's small rival may have been justifiably touting some x86 market share gains, but Intel remains way ahead in real semiconductor market terms. According to iSuppli, Intel sold $35.466bn worth of …

Reg Hardware 17 Mar 2006, 16:11
Razer readies iPod dockable keyboard

iTunes-friendly media keys included too

Mouse maker Razer has apparently announced a keyboard with an integrated universal iPod dock - the first product of its kind, ever, the company claims. The Pro|Type Multimedia Keyboard also provides a set of media keys for controlling iTunes, along with ten macro command hot keys and a picture zoom in and out control. The …

Reg Hardware 17 Mar 2006, 16:46
'Now that we have a map, let's start colonizing outer space' - expert

Only women willing to read maps invited

For proof that man will soon live in outer space, you need only look at Christopher Columbus. Or so said space whiz and senior SETI astronomer Seth Shostak during a lecture last night at NASA Ames. Shostak presented, for the first time, his ideas on the parallels between ocean going explorers and today's space pioneers. The …

Science 17 Mar 2006, 18:59