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27th March 2006 Archive

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  • Sonic gets a workbench

    Screwdriver, wrench, SOA modelling tool….

    While it can make a technology seem more artisan than artist, the appearance of a Workbench for developers is usually a sign that the technology is starting to have some reasonable traction amongst users. That is what has happened with the launch of Version 7.0 of Sonic Software’s Enterprise Service Bus. The major addition to …

    Developer 27 Mar 2006, 07:02

  • Apple schedules Southampton, Manchester stores

    Internation retail expansion continues unabated

    Apple is planning to open at least two more Apple Stores in the UK, with shops set to open in Manchester and Southampton in the company's current fiscal year - by the end of September, in other words. Apple's retail plans come courtesy of a ThinkSecret report which lists the company's primarily US-centric store expansion …

    Reg Hardware 27 Mar 2006, 08:23

  • InPhase touts 'record breaking' holo storage density

    Hugely capacious optical media still on track for 2006 debut?

    Holographic storage specialist InPhase last week said it had managed to squeeze more than 515 billion bits of information into a square inch of storage media - higher than any commercially available data-archive technology, the company claimed. InPhase said its latest drive and media - branded Tapestry - together provide a …

    Reg Hardware 27 Mar 2006, 08:47

  • EU ponders 'more risky' procurement rules

    Pre-commercial proposals to push R&D

    The EU Commission is considering new proposals that would require public procurers to purchase innovative products and services still in need of further research, alongside the more traditional, risk-free approach of buying only established products. The proposals, which were presented yesterday in Vienna by an ad-hoc working …

    Public Sector 27 Mar 2006, 08:52

  • Online to be next gen console battlefield

    Tech Digest Nokia back into gaming?

    Online is where it's at Sony has announced further details of its PlayStation Network Platform (PNP) at the Game Developers Conference in San Jose. Sony's PS3 rival to the Xbox 360's Live service looks set to place itself halfway between the current decentralised PS2 online offering and Microsoft's sewn-up-tight Live service. …

    Bootnotes 27 Mar 2006, 09:11

  • 'Critical' IE bug threatens PC users

    Oh dear, it's been a bad week

    A dangerous new exploit in Internet Explorer could put PCs and data at risk, Microsoft has admitted. The flaw, for which code has already been published on the internet, could be exploited to set an email-borne virus free on the unsuspecting public. Potential viruses could come as an attachment that conceals the code, or could …

    Security 27 Mar 2006, 09:14

  • S'kiddies get into spyware for just $15

    Russian site sells scumware starter pack

    A Russian website is selling a DIY spyware kit, called WebAttacker, for around $15 a throw. The site, which proudly boasts of its creator's credentials in the scumware industry, also offer technical supporter to potential buyers. The kits come in a script kiddie friendly form with code designed to make the task of infecting …

    Malware 27 Mar 2006, 09:18

  • Motorola Q smart phone 'available April'

    Company confirms delay

    Motorola has tacitly confirmed past claims that its Blackberry-style smart phone, the Q, will just miss its original Q1 2006 shipping timeframe. According to a page posted on the company's website, the 1.2cm-thick, keyboard-equipped handset will be "available April 2006". Motorola announced the Q in July 2005, targeting a …

    Reg Hardware 27 Mar 2006, 09:25

  • Altiris releases desktop software virtualisation

    Comment Looks to capture wider user base

    As companies go, Altiris has managed to garner huge recognition over the course of the last few years as a supplier of the management tools that today are essential to administer much of the distributed IT infrastructure. Perhaps best known for its Asset, Change Management and Software Deployment solutions the company has …

    Data Networking 27 Mar 2006, 09:31

  • Managing network bandwidth

    Big pipes only get you so far

    For those of us approaching what I'd like to think of as early maturity (or even late youth), it's inspiring to see some things come to pass that we'd dreamed of during our formative years, such as complete smoking bans and low cost air travel within Europe. It's also good to see some of the promises turning into reality in the …

    Data Networking 27 Mar 2006, 09:43

  • Mobile cheats diddle exam system

    Never would have happened in our day

    More and more kids are using mobile phones to cheat in A Level and GCSE exams. According to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), 1,100 pupils were collared smuggling phones into exams last year making hi-tech trickery the most popular form of cheating among students. Not only can vital bits of information be …

    Music and Media 27 Mar 2006, 09:50

  • Mars Orbiter beams back first images

    So far, so good

    The trio of cameras aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has beamed back its first shots of the Red Planet. Mission controllers are again relieved the kit seems to be functioning properly, having dodged the 'Mars Curse' by entering orbit safely. The main purpose of this first image set was to help with calibration …

    Science 27 Mar 2006, 10:06

  • Denmark joins France in Apple-kicking

    No law yet though...

    Denmark could be the latest country to join France in forcing Apple to open up its iTunes system to rivals - but only if market forces don't sort out the problem first. French law makers are considering a Digital Rights Management bill which would force Apple and others to make their products interoperable. Apple has blasted …

    Music and Media 27 Mar 2006, 10:12

  • Sony preps Shuffle-style MP3 Walkman update

    Still looks like a disposable ciggie lighter...

    Sony is preparing to launch a redesigned set of Network Walkman E-series digital music players, this time sporting a range of coloured cases and an integrated USB connector a la iPod Shuffle, a number of websites have claimed. Little is known about the machines beyond their looks, capacity - 512MB, 1GB and 2GB of Flash …

    Reg Hardware 27 Mar 2006, 10:15

  • Aussies trumpet scramjet success

    'Stone the crows! Let's do it again'

    The team behind Saturday's scramjet test in South Australia have hailed it as a success. They are now preparing another trial of the experimental technology for Wednesday. University of Queensland and QinetiQ engineers are poring over telemetry from the short, vertically downward, flight of Hyshot III. The scientists say it …

    Science 27 Mar 2006, 10:36

  • Sony ends PSOne production

    Running down stocks

    Sony has stopped manufacturing the PSOne - the redesigned version of the original PlayStation aka the SCPH-100 - it has emerged. With the PS3 due to ship in November, the PS2 is set to become the entry-level system, so there's little need to keep making PSOnes. However, Sony will continue to promote and sell the system …

    Reg Hardware 27 Mar 2006, 10:48

  • PayPal founder's private rocket burns, then crashes

    SpaceX maiden launch woes

    A private rocket designed to revolutionise space transport suffered an embarrassing setback over the weekend. The maiden flight of SpaceX's low-cost Falcon 1 ended in disaster, with the flight not making it past its first stage. Take-off was at 2230GMT Friday from a launch pad on the Pacific Kwajalein Atoll. Just 25 seconds …

    Science 27 Mar 2006, 11:06

  • Carphone mum on 'free broadband' speculation

    Big song and dance planned

    Execs at the Carphone Warehouse are said to be mulling the idea of offering broadband for free as part of a bundled phone package. The retailer-cum-telco is expected to release details of its broadband strategy shortly following confirmation earlier this year that it plans to press ahead with plans to invest £45m in local loop …

    Networks 27 Mar 2006, 11:20

  • iTunes offers music DVD download

    All the tracks plus commentary, just no disc

    Apple has begun selling music video downloads in DVD-duration batches, an approach that mirrors the way its sells songs as both singles and as album packages. The first offering is Fade to Red: the Tori Amos Video Collection. Already available on DVD, the iTunes Music Store download package bundles 21 videos and the …

    Reg Hardware 27 Mar 2006, 11:20

  • Red Bull gives you wings: official

    Masks effects of booze, study shows

    Red Bull does indeed give you wings, a Brazilian study has shown. A Sao Paulo university team plied 26 male volunteers* with booze, Red Bull or a mixture of both, and demonstrated what deranged clubbers already knew: mixing energy drinks with alcohol provokes "an increased sensation of pleasure and a reduction in sleepiness". Or …

    Science 27 Mar 2006, 11:22

  • Police find rape suspects on MySpace

    Beggars + belief...

    Detectives in Colorado have used profiles posted on networking site MySpace to identify six suspects accused of a brutal rape and robbery. The victim, who has not been named, first met the men through MySpace. They subsequently met for a party. Detective Ali Bartley told Associated Press: "At some point, the victim was no …

    Music and Media 27 Mar 2006, 11:37

  • Unipalm ups Symantec range

    Day zero security

    Unipalm has been chosen to distribute Symantec's Sygate and WholeSecurity products. Symantec bought Sygate in August 2005 and picked up WholeSecurity in September 2005. WholeSecurity aims to protect against "day zero" attacks. Traditional anti-virus protection works by checking incoming messages against a list of known …

    Channel Register 27 Mar 2006, 11:56

  • SCC Exchange roars into Watford

    In brief What for? Here's why

    SCC is setting up a branch of its SCC Exchange division in Watford. Birmingham-based SCC says the new site will bring around 80 jobs to Watford. SCC Exchange targets the SME market, both in the public and private sectors. The Watford office will be up and running from June. ®

    Channel Register 27 Mar 2006, 12:09

  • HCI traders fight for the right

    ...to PC tax breaks

    Resellers wrong-footed by Gordon Brown have launched a campaign to save the Home Computing Initiative (HCI) from closure on 6 April. They appealed to the charitable traditions of the British people to support a scheme has allowed them to undercut other computer retailers on the back of £150m of government tax-breaks for …

    Channel Register 27 Mar 2006, 12:49

  • US to test missile-killing airborne laser

    Military powers up 747-mounted beast

    The US is pressing on with its highly ambitious Airborne Laser (ABL) project - a 747-mounted ballistic missile killer previously slated for possible termination due to the program's "inability to meet cost and schedule targets", as Space.com puts it. The joint Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin project - slated at $1. …

    Science 27 Mar 2006, 12:52

  • Boffins break data speed record

    Terabit broadband demo

    A combined research team from Germany and Japan has broken the world record for data transmission after sending a signal at 2.56 terabits per second (Tbps) over a 160km fibre optic link. The achievement doubles the previous benchmark of 1.28Tbps and represents a transmission rate more than 50 times faster than the fastest …

    Data Networking 27 Mar 2006, 12:53

  • Software developer boxes pirate senseless

    Rough justice, Russian style

    We like the way they do business down at Cognitive Technologies - and if the company's method of dealing with pirates is anything to go by, then its staff are not be be trifled with. Just ask the unnamed Russian dealer who got caught selling unlicensed copies of Cognitive software off a market stall. Confronted by the company's …

    Bootnotes 27 Mar 2006, 12:56

  • Reg readers are lukewarm about Vista

    Best not to rush into these things

    The latest slippage in availability of Windows Vista may have come as a blow to manufacturers and retailers hoping to sell PCs to consumers in the run up to Christmas 2006, but IT pros in the business sector are probably not going to lose much sleep over it. In a recent Reg Reader Study, only 12 per cent of respondents said …

    Operating Systems 27 Mar 2006, 13:09

  • Sapphire Blizzard X1900 XTX water-cooled graphics card

    Exclusive Thermaltake to the rescue?

    ATI's Radeon X1900 is a darned fine graphics chip but while it has taken the fight to Nvidia's GeForce 7900 GTX in no uncertain terms it also produces plenty of heat. When ATI updated the Radeon X1800 core to produce the X1900 it increased the number of pixel shaders from 16 to 48, and in the process it raised the transistor …

    Reg Hardware 27 Mar 2006, 13:17

  • Ultra-low cost mobiles to steal thunder of the ‘$100 laptop’

    Comment Cheaper ways to bridge the gap

    The much hyped project to create the '$100 laptop' for poor communities, spearheaded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has come under fire in the past weeks, first from Microsoft’s Bill Gates and now from the GSM Association. Both are suggesting alternative ways to get internet access and other digital functionality …

    Music and Media 27 Mar 2006, 13:29

  • Boffins breed omega-3-packed porkers

    Healthier bacon sarnies?

    US scientists have genetically engineered an omega-3-packed pig which promises healthier bacon sarnies. The piglets - born at the University of Missouri-Columbia - contain a worm gene named "fat-1". This "produced an enzyme that converted the less desirable omega-6 fatty acids that the pigs naturally produced into omega-3s", as …

    Science 27 Mar 2006, 13:39

  • EU leaders back roaming charge cuts

    Cellcos adopt brace position

    The European Commission (EC) is to get tough with mobile operators over the high cost of roaming charges. Tomorrow, Viviane Reding, Information Society and Media Commissioner, is expected to publish her plans to cut roaming charges and give consumers a better deal. Last week, European Union (EU) leaders gave their backing for …

    Mobile 27 Mar 2006, 14:02

  • Weathermen whip up a storm

    ...in silico

    Top meteorologists are planning to digitally plunge Britain into weather-induced peril. A £5.5m Met Office supercomputing project will test Britain's defences against violent storm surges. The hotch-potch of crumbling sea walls that stand between us and a reenactment of Kevin Costner's Waterworld will be pushed to their limits …

    Science 27 Mar 2006, 14:12

  • Microsoft appeals South Korean anti-trust ruling

    Restrictions 'extreme', MS says

    Microsoft today filed an appeal with the Seoul High Court, seeking the revocation of a December ruling by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) that the software giant had infringed competition rules. The KFTC found in December that Microsoft had acted in breach of anti-trust rules by tying its media service and media player …

    Music and Media 27 Mar 2006, 14:18

  • Four 419 scammers indicted, 800 to go

    Holland remains hidey-hole

    A grand jury in New York has returned a 10-count indictment against three of Nigerian defendants recently arrested in Holland and an 11-count indictment against a fourth suspect. Dutch police last month arrested 12 people and confiscated €25,000 in cash, computers and fake travel documents. The suspects are being held by the …

    Music and Media 27 Mar 2006, 14:24

  • Redbus in co-lo price hike

    'Unprecedented rise in energy costs' blamed

    Redbus is to increase prices for all its colocation services, the data centre outfit told its punters last week. Telecity-Redbus country manager Adriaan Oosthoek told customers that following a "comprehensive pricing review of our products and services" the firm is to increase prices for all its colocation services. The price …

    Data Networking 27 Mar 2006, 14:30

  • Systems Union shares jump

    Recent movements prompt statement

    Systems Union Group has confirmed it is in talks which could lead to its sale. The finance software company's shares shot up this morning from 180p to 225p by lunchtime. In response, SUG issued a statement to the Regulatory News Service, which said: "The board of Systems Union Group plc (the 'company') notes the recent …

    Financial News 27 Mar 2006, 14:34

  • UK workers abuse net access

    Smut surfing - and worse - still rife

    Staff misuse of internet access is still rife in the UK despite improvements over the last two years. Office workers frequently access inappropriate websites or goof about surfing the net instead of getting on with their work, according to findings from the 2006 Department of Trade and Industry's (DTI) biennial Information …

    IT Director 27 Mar 2006, 14:48

  • Dell stands by server order

    What links two PCs? A server of course!

    Dell is refusing to give a refund to a customer who believes she was wrongly sold a server. Kate was asked by her boss to contact Dell to buy two new desktop computers and "something to link them". Dell sold her two PCs and a PowerEdge server, ironically with only one network card. Kate realised her mistake because she spoke …

    Small Biz 27 Mar 2006, 14:59

  • Beeb attacks evil trade in Blue Peter badges

    On eBay, of course

    The BBC is fighting to have auctions of its famous Blue Peter badges removed from eBay. The badges - which can only be awarded by the kids' TV show to youngsters who "contribute to the programme" - confer on the holder the right to free entry to a range of tourist attractions. It appears that Edinburgh Zoo played a key role in …

    Bootnotes 27 Mar 2006, 15:13

  • HP sacks Israeli CEO - then reinstates him

    Grey market spat

    The chief executive of HP Israel is pondering his future today after HP sacked him on Friday and then rescinded the dismissal on Sunday. Gil Rosenfeld, CEO of HP Israel, and 13 other senior HP executives were accused of grey importing - or presumably in this case of "grey exporting". Grey importing refers to taking kit from a …

    Channel Register 27 Mar 2006, 15:21

  • BMC buys Identify for $150m

    Black box tech wows developers

    Systems management firm BMC has offered to acquire Israeli-based application problem resolution firm Identify Software for $150m cash. The deal is designed to bolster BMC's business service management portfolio with technology that helps developers troubleshoot programming glitches. The purchase, which is subject to customary …

    Developer 27 Mar 2006, 15:43

  • 'Dragon' unveils flat-fee text service

    Like Skype, but for SMS

    A new flat-fee SMS service has been launched today that's being billed as a text version of Skype. Skype has helped shake up the phone industry with its internet telephony (VoIP) service. Those behind Hotxt - which routes text messages over the net - reckon their service will be able to do the same. Targeted at 16-25 year olds …

    Mobile 27 Mar 2006, 15:57

  • Britney sprog drop sculpture wows New York

    No IT angle, but lactiferous breasts aplenty

    We're not quite sure what to make of this, but some bright spark has decided to celebrate the birth of Britney Spears' sprog Sean in sculptural form. Fair enough, you might say. However, the result is unusual, to say the least, showing the talented chanteuse on all fours clasping a dead bear's ears while attempting to eject …

    Bootnotes 27 Mar 2006, 16:00

  • Israel jails spyware-for-hire couple

    Dirty deeds done dirt cheap

    An Israeli couple were jailed on Monday after confessing to the development and sale of spyware that helped private investigators snoop on their clients' business competitors. Ruth Brier-Haephrati, 28, was jailed four years while her husband Michael Haephrati, 44, was sentenced to two years imprisonment. Both sentences were in …

    Malware 27 Mar 2006, 20:57

  • AMD keeps banging on partners to sell, sell, sell

    Before the beast wakes

    In an effort to prove it's a grownup server processor vendor, AMD continues to push hard on a program meant to teach partners how to sell its gear. AMD today issued a statement flaunting the arrival of 500 new participants to the Commercial Systems Channel program. This effort, which kicked off in Oct. 2005, provides VARs, …

    Servers 27 Mar 2006, 20:59

  • Oklahoma man asks Reg to turn off the internet

    Letters Make these Linux meanies stop!

    Jerry Taylor, the now famous city manager of Tuttle, Oklahoma, who last week threatened to call the FBI to stop Linux maker CentOS from helping him configure a web server has presented The Register with a massive request. Taylor wants us to shut down the internet. For those of you who are not up to speed with this popular …

    Letters 27 Mar 2006, 23:43