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28th March 2006 Archive

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  • Azul to fire up 48-core Java chip in 2007

    Take that, Sun

    Azul Systems has launched a preemptive multi-core strike against larger server vendors. The Java processing specialist today revealed plans to ship a 48-core chip in 2007. Jumping the gun? Yes, a bit. Start-ups, however, want all the attention they can get, so Azul hit the streets with word of Vega 2. This chip will be …

    Servers 28 Mar 2006, 00:37

  • HCI admits failing poor

    Middle class tax breaks - whatever next?

    Industry representatives of the Home Computing Initiative (HCI) were talking with the government about changing the scheme so minimum wage workers could reap its benefits, just a week before it was scrapped. HCI was meant to help bridge the digital divide (between those who can afford to buy home computers and those who can't) …

    Channel Register 28 Mar 2006, 07:49

  • Steady as she goes at RM

    Trading statement

    First half trading for RM was satisfactory, the education IT specialist said today. In a trading statement, the UK company said it was on course to hit full-year targets. RM CEO Tim Pearson said: "As is always the case for RM, first-half outcome is not a good indicator for the year as a whole; nonetheless, performance so far …

    Channel Register 28 Mar 2006, 07:59

  • Skype hit with racketeering charges

    StreamCast files RICO case

    Skype, the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) provider bought last year by eBay, has been named in a RICO case brought by StreamCast. According to documents filed with the central court of California, StreamCast Networks is suing Kazaa, Skype, Sharman Networks, and assorted other companies and individuals, claiming they have …

    VoIP 28 Mar 2006, 08:29

  • xkoto powers up DB2

    Comment GRIDIRON enters the game

    xkoto is a relatively new company - it only came to market late last year — however, it has some neat technology. The company's product, called GRIDIRON, provides dynamic load balancing for DB2 in transaction processing environments. In particular, what GRIDIRON allows you to do is to build out clustered DB2 environments …

    Developer 28 Mar 2006, 08:39

  • Ringtones prop up Australian recording industry

    Comment Sales fall again...who's to blame this time?

    Yesterday, the Australian recording industry went through its annual ritual of announcing a fall in music sales. Although, this time ARIA didn't blame digital music piracy for the fall - fans of the ARIA blame game will be pleased to see they industry included the obligatory reference to digital music piracy anyway - just for …

    Music and Media 28 Mar 2006, 08:44

  • Intel quad-core CPUs 'to ship Q1 2007'

    Release brought forward the better to battle AMD?

    Intel's quad-core processor, 'Kentsfield', may come to market earlier than anticipated. Intel's official release window spans the whole of 2007, but when the details of the chip emerged late last year, it was said to be earmarked for a mid-2007 debut. Now, apparently, it's coming out in Q1 next year. So, at least, claim …

    Reg Hardware 28 Mar 2006, 09:09

  • DataLens demystifies complex matching

    Comment A solution that's not statistically challenged

    I have long espoused the cause of semantic approaches in a variety of areas: I think that natural language processing works better in search engines, and I think that LAS (which has just been acquired by IBM) offers just about the best name matching on the market, thanks to its semantic and linguistic basis as opposed to the …

    Developer 28 Mar 2006, 09:18

  • As Emperor of Security, I hereby decree...

    Comment Benovolence is my middle name

    Ever since I was a little kid, I've been interested in Roman history. It still amazes me when I think about ancient Rome: the most powerful empire the world had ever seen, bringing countless advances to far-flung nations, yet still barbaric in astonishing ways, finally brought low due to a wide variety of causes and plunging the …

    Security 28 Mar 2006, 09:29

  • Torrentspy files to dismiss MPAA charges

    Search engine not responsible for content

    Torrentspy has filed a "Motion to Dismiss" a lawsuit brought by the major film studios accusing it of breach of copyright. Torrentspy is not accused of actual copyright infringement but of helping such infringments to happen. It operates a website which acts as a search engine for BitTorrent files - it does not host such files …

    Music and Media 28 Mar 2006, 09:47

  • Fujitsu claims biggest 2.5in HDD capacity record

    First 200GB Serial ATA model to market

    Fujitsu has launched a 200GB Serial ATA 2.5in hard disk drive designed for notebook computers, the most capacious of its kind, the company claimed today. It said the drive's size makes it ideal for vendors who want to equip their laptops with PVR functionality, or for anyone producing "digital home appliance" products. The …

    Reg Hardware 28 Mar 2006, 09:54

  • PC growth to cool

    But IDC says Microsoft not to blame

    IDC let Microsoft off the hook yesterday when it predicted delays to the next version of Windows will not be a key factor in a slowdown in PC shipments growth. The research firm has raised its forecast for the PC market slightly, predicting annual worldwide volume growth of 10.5 per cent between now and 2008. Its previous …

    Channel Register 28 Mar 2006, 10:12

  • IPTV/VoD: solving the home wiring problem

    Industry comment PLC unplugged

    If you’re a survey junkie, you no doubt love the sheer onslaught of silly press activity that’s been happening recently in technology world. IPTV, the all-healing panacea, is so hot almost everyone wants to do it despite not having given a lot of thought to the real delivery issues that it will involve for them. The most absurd …

    Networks 28 Mar 2006, 10:18

  • Pipex pitches for rejected C&W SMEs

    But will Pipex be poacher turned prey?

    Pipex has become the latest telco to woo SMEs dumped by Cable and Wireless (C&W). Four weeks ago C&W announced a major restructuring of its business. As well as announcing up to 3,000 job losses, the firm also revealed plans to axe the number of customers from around 30,000 to just 3,000. It is these abandoned small businesses …

    Networks 28 Mar 2006, 10:19

  • Elecom readies wireless pack-a-mouse

    Box doubles up as recharge station, transmitter

    Why did no one think of this before? Like all other mouse makers, Japan's Elecom ships its new wireless input device, dubbed the "M-MBDUR", in a box. But this time it's no ordinary case - the plastic packaging doubles up as the rodent's recharger and its wireless transceiver. Open the box and next to the 800dpi mouse is a …

    Reg Hardware 28 Mar 2006, 10:35

  • Intel touts standards for notebook part swaps

    Interchangeability Initiative to boost system builder laptop biz, it hopes

    Intel wants notebook component makers to agree to a series of connectivity standards to simplify the swapping of parts. Earlier this month, the chip giant launched what it calls the Interchangeability Initiative to promote the idea. Intel has promoted whitebox notebooks since September 2005. The strategy to build a laptop …

    Reg Hardware 28 Mar 2006, 10:47

  • Comodo taps Indicii Salus to get into PKI

    Enter the dragon

    Internet security firm Comodo has bought the intellectual property and assets of London-based security software firm Indicii Salus for an undisclosed amount. The deal gives Comodo access to Indicii Salus's server-base email encryption technology. Nobody from Comodo was available for comment at the time of going to press. …

    Security 28 Mar 2006, 11:11

  • Evesham ships low-cost 32in HD LCD TV

    £750 all in

    Watching HD TV just got cheaper in the UK, thanks to hardware seller Evesham which has launched a 32in HD Ready telly for a mere £750. Not only is it rather less expensive than comparably specced screens, but it's loaded with connection options and comes with a three-year warranty. As a display, the V32EMRO-ZE3 has horizontal …

    Reg Hardware 28 Mar 2006, 11:45

  • Trust me, I'm a developer

    Code signing product suite

    Web services may be a clever way of conducting business with or delivering services to customers, but it also constitutes a helluva risk – after all, users get involved in downloading code from hither and yon, and are probably far too busy with their own work to ponder too deeply on whether that downloaded code is as wholesome …

    Developer 28 Mar 2006, 11:49

  • Pantech preps camera-like camera phone

    Taking a leaf out of Sony Ericsson's book

    South Korea's Pantech is following Sony Ericsson's lead with a camera phone that looks more like a photography product, it said today. Pantech will offer the phone, dubbed the PG-8000, through Vietnamese cellco Glory Star. The PG-8000 sports a 2in, 262,144-colour, 320 x 240 display intended to be viewed in landscape …

    Reg Hardware 28 Mar 2006, 12:04

  • 'Party in your pants' iPod accessory ships Stateside

    iBuzzin' in the USA

    The iBuzz, the infamous iPod-enhanced vibrator, has...er...come to the US. Already on sale in the UK, the device has now gone one sale to North Americans keen to really 'feel' the music, movies or even video games... Dubbed the "music-activated orgasm machine", the iBuzz connects to an iPod or any other digital music player, …

    Reg Hardware 28 Mar 2006, 12:41

  • Blue Peter ID Cards for pesky kids

    Diddle dum dum dum, diddle DUM DUM DUM

    BBC bosses are mulling plans to issue Blue Peter ID cards in place of the coveted badges awarded to kids who prove their lickspittle credentials to producers of the hit TV show. The Beeb is understood to have tabled the initiative using emergency powers granted under the Prevention of Antidisestablishmentarianism Act (1869), in …

    Bootnotes 28 Mar 2006, 12:48

  • EC to eliminate rip-off roaming rates

    Charges 'unjustified' says Reding

    The European Commission (EC) is to introduce new regulations that will force mobile operators to make it cheaper for consumers to use their mobile phones while abroad. Among the proposals outlined today are plans to curb excessively high wholesale prices charged between operators, and guarantees that any cost savings are passed …

    Mobile 28 Mar 2006, 13:04

  • El Reg can make you famous: here's how

    Unsolicited product endorsement A satisfied customer writes

    Any reader who doubts the ability of the mighty Reg to influence world events - from bringing down eBay auctions to provoking thunderstorms and the curdling of milk - would do well to digest the following from one Clive Worth: a serial-shagging former miner who was in 2004 dumped from a dating agency after bedding 100 lonely …

    Bootnotes 28 Mar 2006, 13:04

  • Attack of the 50-foot Wikipedians

    Letters Fact-fiddlers menace humanity

    You'll gather by our letters headline today that some of you have objected to our extensive coverage of Wikipedia explaining how - given time - it will undermine the very fabric of Western civilisation and reduce humanity to a few small groups of hunter-gatherers living in turf-rooved hovels as a result of its disastrous attempt …

    Letters 28 Mar 2006, 13:13

  • Health service needs more SMS

    Txtin = cst savins

    NHS Direct has backed research that highlights the benefits of mobile phone services in healthcare. The report, titled The Role of Mobile Phones in Increasing Accessibility and Efficiency in Healthcare, outlines benefits from mobile phones – notably through the use of text messaging – and suggests such services could be further …

    Public Sector 28 Mar 2006, 13:17

  • MPs grill Sussex VC on chemistry dept closure

    Administration's proposals 'laughable'

    Sussex University's top brass were last night hauled up in front of an emergency House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee to explain their plan to end chemistry teaching and research at the institution. In a packed committee room MPs lit a Bunsen burner under Vice Chancellor Alistair Smith, the man responsible …

    Science 28 Mar 2006, 13:29

  • Bradford procurement slammed

    Audit Commission blasts 'weak' process

    Bradford Metropolitan District Council has been criticised for the way it mismanaged the procurement of a key Asset Management Project (AMP). Local authority watchdog the Audit Commission has published a damning report highlighting weaknesses in the way the authority sought to find a partner to manage its assets portfolio, a …

    Public Sector 28 Mar 2006, 13:30

  • eEye issues workaround against unpatched IE flaw

    Stopgap

    Security firm eEye Digital Security has released a temporary fix to protect Windows users against an unpatched vulnerability in Internet Explorer. The critical vulnerability, which involves the way IE handles HTML Objects, affects even fully patched Windows XP systems. Exploits allow hackers to commandeer vulnerable machines by …

    Enterprise Security 28 Mar 2006, 13:34

  • Skype coughs up to UK phone snag

    Eventually...

    Skype - which is "not a telephony replacement service and cannot be used for emergency dialings" - says it's now fixed a problem that hit some of its UK users. Punters complained that their SkypeIn service, which gives them their own regular phone number so non Skype users can call them, was floored for most of last week. …

    VoIP 28 Mar 2006, 14:08

  • HP Israel CEO still on ice

    Investigation into grey marketing ongoing

    HP is still deciding if it is to hold chief executive in Israel, Gil Rosenfeld, responsible for grey marketing of HP equipment at its Middle Eastern subsidiary. The company provided us with the following statement: "HP has determined that grey market activities were taking place at HP Israel and is currently conducting an …

    Channel Register 28 Mar 2006, 14:13

  • Authorities get on top of spam Down Under

    Industry code a world first

    Australia has cracked down on junk mail with an industry code for tackling spam. Under the new code, internet service providers (ISPs) will bear some of the responsibility for helping fight spam. Service providers must offer spam-filtering options to their subscribers and advise them on how to best deal with and report the …

    Spam 28 Mar 2006, 14:54

  • Implementing InfoCard and the identity metasystem

    The authentication experience

    InfoCard is more than the replacement for Microsoft's Passport; in some ways it’s the antidote. Identity architect Kim Cameron (read his paper on The Laws of Identity here) joined Microsoft when it bought the metadirectory he developed at Zoomit to turn into Active Directory, and stayed because he thought Microsoft was the …

    Developer 28 Mar 2006, 15:02

  • Two drug trial victims released

    But one still critical

    Doctors caring for the six human guinea pig victims of the disastrous TeGenero drug trial have discharged two of the men. Three others remain as in-patients at Northwick Park Hospital, London, while one man is still in a critical condition after being administered an experimental immune treatment more than two weeks ago. The …

    Science 28 Mar 2006, 15:50

  • Asus WL-530g compact wireless router

    Review Travel-friendly

    The wireless router market is a tough one to crack. There are already many well-established brand names that offer products at very reasonable prices. To compete successfully, you have to either offer something new and innovative, and Asus has tried to do a bit of both. Its WL-530G pocket router is by no means a unique product …

    Reg Hardware 28 Mar 2006, 15:51

  • UK makes it into global ICT top ten

    US still an IT 'powerhouse'

    The UK has stormed into the top ten of the world's IT nations, according to a report by the World Economic Forum, which attempts to assess the success of countries using IT and the net to increase competitiveness and economic growth. While the UK is up two places to 10 in the Global Information Technology Report (GITR), the US …

    IT Director 28 Mar 2006, 15:54

  • Dell UK shifts Inspiron line to integrated graphics

    Alienware fallout?

    Dell UK appears to believe Intel's integrated graphics cores provide plenty of power for its laptop customers' needs. All but one of the PC giant's Inspiron notebooks - including the recently released 6400, highlighted for its "versatile entertainment" provision - now ship without a discrete GPU, it has emerged. Dell …

    Reg Hardware 28 Mar 2006, 16:00

  • HK police complaints data leak puts city on edge

    Chinese whispers

    The personal details of 20,000 people who made complaints about the police in Hong Kong have leaked onto the net. The apparently accidental leak of personal data submitted to Hong Kong's Independent Police Complaints Council (IPPC) has caused a huge flap in the Chinese city. The database contained full details of complaints …

    Enterprise Security 28 Mar 2006, 16:06

  • Tories want subsidised PCs

    ...for all but the poorest

    The Conservatives will be voting in support of continued tax breaks for home computers tonight, after taking up the cause of PC traders who face hard times after the HCI scheme was scrapped by the Chancellor. Firms that supply PCs through HCI have been trumpeting its social credentials ever since it was announced in last …

    Channel Register 28 Mar 2006, 16:49

  • Bluetooth body picks WiMedia for UWB shift

    And the winner is... the WiMedia Alliance

    Future incarnations of Bluetooth will be based upon ultrawideband (UWB), the wireless technology's steering organisation announced today. It said it will use the version of UWB specified by the WiMedia Alliance (WMA) to create a version of Bluetooth that will operate in unlicensed spectrum using chipsets scheduled to sample in …

    Reg Hardware 28 Mar 2006, 17:02

  • Linux conquered, Tuttle man takes on London

    Tuttlebutt continues

    The much-admired Tuttle, Oklahoma can-do spirit has survived this week's thrashing at the hands of Linux fanboys everywhere. In a gesture proving Tuttle's resiliency, city namesake and US ambassador to the UK Robert Tuttle has struck out against London's "congestion charge" and earned himself the designation of "chiseling little …

    Bootnotes 28 Mar 2006, 19:42

  • OS X brain leaving Apple

    Sweet sorrow

    One of the men who helped set Apple Computer's software development efforts since 1997 is leaving the company to "take some personal time." Chief software technology officer Avie Tevanian is quitting Apple, having acted as the prime inspiration for the highly successful OS X operating system. A company spokesperson reportedly …

    IT Director 28 Mar 2006, 23:07