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20th April 2006 Archive

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  • Cingular subscribes to higher Q1 revenue

    Waning ARPU

    Cingular turned a profit of $354m in the first three months of the year, on revenues of $9bn - higher than Intel, and 9 per cent higher than a year ago. Subscriber growth exceeded expectations, with 1.7m net additions, although 600,000 of these are potentially less lucrative pay-as-you-go customers. Cingular had added 1.8m net …

    Financial News 20 Apr 2006, 00:44

  • Microsoft extends Visual Studio handout program

    Play now, pay later

    Microsoft is embracing the free tools concept as a way to drive uptake of its software, announcing an entry-level edition of Visual Studio that will be available permanently at no cost. Visual Studio 2005 Express, which targets so-called hobbyists, is to join Microsoft's SQL Server 2005 Express database by being made available …

    Developer 20 Apr 2006, 00:55

  • Umlaut does not make kitchens Germanic

    Dots an 'artistic device', Moben says

    The company behind Moben Kitchens is not German, it is based on an industrial estate near Manchester – and its Möben trademark, which appears to include an umlaut, does not mislead consumers, according to a ruling by the UK's advertising watchdog today. German and Scandinavian kitchens are widely perceived as being of higher …

    Small Biz 20 Apr 2006, 08:41

  • Ruling blurs meaning of an employee

    When is a contractor not a contractor?

    Your contractors might be employees – even when you have a written agreement that says otherwise. That is the effect of a ruling last month which bestowed upon a telecoms specialist, contracted as an agent, all the rights of an employee. With seemingly never-ending rights for employees and increasingly complex obligations for …

    Small Biz 20 Apr 2006, 08:57

  • Home Office finalises police IT plan

    £367m project gets 2010 end date

    The government department has confirmed the funding to complete work on the National Police Database Police minister Hazel Blears announced the plans, saying the Home Office would spend £367m, of which it has already provided £31m, to complete the work by 2010. A spokesperson for the Home Office told Government Computing News …

    Public Sector 20 Apr 2006, 09:14

  • Chip maker's 'setback' points to major iPod revision

    Analysis Tacit confirmation of the iPhone?

    PortalPlayer, the company that provides Apple with controller chips for the iPod family, has given us a tantalising glimpse of the Mac maker's plans for future music players. Unfortunately for PortalPlayer, it's not going to be part of the programme, it warned investors yesterday. The chip company put out a terse statement …

    Reg Hardware 20 Apr 2006, 09:17

  • BBC climate project hit by bug

    SETI-style simulation hits the skids

    The BBC's climate change distributed computing project has been scuppered by an error in its climate model. The simulation was set to run conditions from 1920 to 2080. The scientists behind it have had to reset everyone's program back to where it was two months ago. An errant man-made sulphate parameter is responsible for the …

    Science 20 Apr 2006, 09:30

  • CfH signs support deal

    Fujitsu Services takes up NHS challenge

    NHS Connecting for Health (CfH) has awarded a contract to Fujitsu Services to provide service desk support for its National Programme for IT. The contract, announced on 19 April 2006, is valued at £41m for the core service and will run for seven years to 2013. It is aimed at providing more in-depth support for new applications …

    Public Sector 20 Apr 2006, 09:35

  • Police seek phone cable vandals

    High Wycombe unplugged

    Police in the Thames Valley are trying to track down vandals who damaged a number of BT junction boxes leaving hundreds of people without phone or internet services. The damage was caused around two industrial estates in High Wycombe last Thursday. BT said more than 900 homes and businesses had their phone services cut as a …

    Telecoms 20 Apr 2006, 09:36

  • Rambus posts mixed Q1 results

    Sales up, expenses too

    Rambus saw is first-quarter income slide despite a year-on-year jump in sales, the memory technology developer announced last night. Revenues for the three months to 31 March 2006 reached $47.2m, up 36 per cent on Q1 FY2005's $34.7m and up 13.5 per cent on the previous quarter's $41.6m. However, income dropped sequentially, …

    Reg Hardware 20 Apr 2006, 09:49

  • 17in MacBook Pro to launch next week?

    High-end model NAB'd

    Apple looks set to announce the 17in MacBook Pro next week, timing the launch to coincide with the Las Vegas-hosted National Association of Broadcasters convention, a gathering of professional users the company has long pitched its big-screen PowerBook G4 notebooks to. Past reports had pointed to a June debut for the the 17in …

    Reg Hardware 20 Apr 2006, 09:51

  • DCA contract merger unbalanced by Libra

    UK.gov's model contract slips

    The risky £1bn merger of IT contracts at the Department of Constitutional Affairs has been delayed while it tries to absorb what must be the most delayed IT project in the history of government. The numerous contracts being absorbed by the DCA's DISC (development, innovation and support contracts) programme are being channelled …

    Public Sector 20 Apr 2006, 10:01

  • Stop the bots

    Knock 'em off, but do it the right way

    I found the opening scene to the 1991 movie sequel, Terminator 2, to be one of the most powerful SciFi film openings ever. There's a massive firestorm, chunky metal warriors waging war against humans, and then the camera zooms into a metal robot foot crushing a human skull. It’s very graphic. The world has been taken over by …

    Security 20 Apr 2006, 10:10

  • Intel to push BIOS replacement with 'Centrino 4'

    EFI to be used in 'Santa Rosa' reference boards

    Intel will drive the adoption of the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) with the introduction of 'Santa Rosa', the next generation of its Centrino notebook platform, it has been claimed. So far, the only Intel-based machines on the market that use EFI instead of older BIOS technology are Apple's latest desktops and notebooks …

    Reg Hardware 20 Apr 2006, 10:10

  • Captain Cyborg acquires Dalek capability

    Kiddies menaced by Davrotic university prof

    Imagine this nightmare scenario: an alleged UK university cybernetics professor - actually an agent of the extraterrestrial Lizard Alliance and controlled by explosive cranial implant - himself gains control of a terrifying weapon of mass destruction and proceeds to implement his plan for the total subjugation of humanity in a …

    Rise of the Machines 20 Apr 2006, 10:17

  • Sewers used for laying cables

    Tide of filth

    A firm from North Wales is using the UK's sewers to create fibre optic cable networks. H2O Networks gives organisations the chance to set up their own IT and telecom networks via fibre optic cables laid through the sewer system. The outfit, which is based in St Asaph, has already used its Focus (Fibre Optical Underground Sewer …

    Data Networking 20 Apr 2006, 10:32

  • Opera 9 beta debuts

    Widgets and BitTorrent headline new release

    Opera has released the first public beta of the next version of its browser. Opera 9 beta introduces widgets, small AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript And XML) applications that provide specific functionality such as news tickers or currency conversion. It also includes improved content and pop-up blocking along with thumbnail …

    Applications 20 Apr 2006, 10:34

  • Intel ships ultra-low voltage Core Solos

    5.5W Yonahs confirmed

    Intel has quietly introduced a pair of 'Yonah'-based ultra-low voltage processors, both of which are believed to consume no more than 5.5W, but contain only one processing core and run over a reduced 533MHz frontside bus. The two ULV CPUs - as predicted - are the 1.06GHz U1300 and the 1.2GHz U1400. Both ships support Extended …

    Reg Hardware 20 Apr 2006, 10:34

  • Low-cost VT-free 65nm Pentium Ds to ship Q3?

    2.8GHz PD 915 joins 925 on roadmap

    Intel appears to be preparing to release a second low-end Pentium D 9xx processor next quarter, in addition to the anticipated 925 chip that turned up on company roadmaps earlier this year. The two desktop dual-core processors lack support for Intel's Virtualisation Technology (VT). The 925 and 915 are clocked at 3.0GHz and 2 …

    Reg Hardware 20 Apr 2006, 10:57

  • Lax approach to mobile security

    People, not technology, to blame

    Street-wise? When you're out in public places, there are certain things to do for reasons of personal safety and security, especially in unfamiliar locations. Look before crossing the road. Keep your money and credit cards hidden from view. Destroy credit card chits with copies of signatures to keep them out of the wrong hands. …

    Security 20 Apr 2006, 11:09

  • Animal researchers call for support

    Online sign-up to back testing

    A drug-industry backed online petition has been launched to encourage the public to show their support for animal testing. The Coalition for Medical Progress hopes to mobilise what it calls “the silent majority”. The "People's Petition" is the brainspawn of David Taylor, apparently a member of the public with no links to …

    Science 20 Apr 2006, 11:17

  • Of privately-held firms (and why they are such bad press fodder)

    A bigger splash

    Why don't the big companies like SAS and Information Builders Inc (IBI) you might actually use at work get the press coverage of, say, Microsoft? It could be because all journalists are on the Microsoft payroll (but just check out the sort of car most full-time journos – without a day job – drive, compared to those driven by …

    Developer 20 Apr 2006, 11:38

  • Tom Jones and Monty Python join 419ers

    Lads from Lagos in recruitment blinder

    We all know that, as the song goes, "It's not unusual to be loved by anyone", but what is unusual is that gusset-moistening Home Counties fave Tom Jones should apparently choose to do business with the Lads from Lagos, in the process enlisting the help of one of the Monty Python team: Subject: Your Urgent Attention Needed From …

    Bootnotes 20 Apr 2006, 11:51

  • MSI preps handheld Freeview box

    Use it in your living room, use it on the move

    Taiwan's MSI has announced a portable media player that incorporates its own Freeview digital TV receiver - a world first, the company claims. The D310 has a 4.2in display. The antenna's built in and ready to pick up DVB-T signals, teletext and electronic programme guide data. The unit measures 12.9 x 8.2 x 1.6cm and weighs …

    Reg Hardware 20 Apr 2006, 13:26

  • eBay ups revs but disappoints market

    VoIP turnover leaps

    eBay's latest set of financial results has been labelled a disappointment by market watchers concerned that the online auction giant is seeing a slowdown in growth. eBay's stock dipped five per cent on news that while revenues were up, net income was on the slide. Publishing Q1 results for the three months to March, eBay …

    VoIP 20 Apr 2006, 13:29

  • Family orders TV online - with added snake

    Python surprise for e-shoppers

    An Edinburgh family got an unexpected bonus with the TV they ordered online - a stroppy 10-inch python which required the attendance of the local ophidian SWAT team. The Sighthill e-shoppers were unpacking the telly when the slippery Sid put in his unscheduled appearence, the Scotsman reports. A three-year-old lad first sighted …

    Bootnotes 20 Apr 2006, 13:33

  • We're winning the war against hackers

    Security pros are cooking on gas

    Despite the apparent growth in security incidents and hacker attacks over recent years, a clear majority (72 per cent) of UK security professionals feel their organisation is more secure than it was 12 months ago. Organisations are no longer on the back foot in the fight against security threats, with only 11 per cent of …

    Security 20 Apr 2006, 13:37

  • China bites back in transplant trade scandal

    Prisoners parts? Says Hu?

    A growing firestorm surrounds China's reported selling of organs harvested from prisoners it puts to death. Today China fired back at the widely reported statement by The British Transplantation Society criticising it for taking organs from its many executed prisoners without permission. Speaking at a news conference Chinese …

    Science 20 Apr 2006, 14:33

  • US TV networks appeal after $4m FCC indecency clampdown

    United we stand...

    It has been a long time coming, but there was always something inevitable about the US broadcasting industry and the way it has been saddled with random and unfathomable indecency fines. It was bound to take the case to a US court eventually. ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX, together with their affiliate groups and the Hearst-Argyle …

    Music and Media 20 Apr 2006, 14:41

  • Computer 2000 and Fujitsu climb into bed

    After scanning the room

    Fujitsu and Computer 2000 will be teaming up to push document management products. Fujitsu hopes the trade-only distributor will help it peddle its leading range of scanners to new markets. Another part of the deal will see Compter 2000's enterprise networking division, Azlan, double-team with Fujitsu to rock the channel with …

    Channel Register 20 Apr 2006, 15:25

  • Ad watchdog mulls Carphone 'free broadband forever' complaints

    Broadband? Free? Forever?

    The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has received more than a dozen complaints concerning last week's unveiling of "free" broadband from the Carphone Warehouse. Priced at £20.99 a month, Carphone's ambitious plans for a new combo broadband and phone package (including line rental) based on local loop unbundling (LLU) is …

    Telecoms 20 Apr 2006, 15:32

  • Woman builds house from scrap 747

    Jumbo project

    A California woman who owns a 55-acre property in Malibu and was looking to build a "curvilinear/feminine" property from which to enjoy the views, has decided to knock the whole thing up from bits of an old Boeing 747. That's the bold plan of her architects Syndesis, Inc, self-described as "innovators whose work crosses …

    Bootnotes 20 Apr 2006, 15:35

  • Sony cuts US PS2 price to $130

    Hoping to attract more casual gamers

    Sony has cut the price of the PlayStation 2 to $130 in the US and CAD140 north of the border, the consumer electronics giant announced today. The move was forecast last week as an attempt to boost demand for the PS2 in the run-up to the launch of its successor in November. "Now even more consumers, as well as casual gamers, …

    Reg Hardware 20 Apr 2006, 15:41

  • 420: the new number of the beast

    Black helicopters caught on CCTV

    The police team assembling Britain's national Auto Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) database have got some interesting results in. Making the use of ANPR computers that spook traffic using roadside CCTV cameras, police in the UK made 420 arrests a week in January. Then again in February, the combined efforts of 43 British police …

    Bootnotes 20 Apr 2006, 16:12

  • Linux team tells VMware and Xen to get their acts together

    Play nice and have a chat

    A battle as to how Linux will handle future virtualization software from the likes of VMware and Xen has moved from a war of words to a war of indecision. The major parties involved - including Linux kernel maintainers - agree that a compromise over the virtualization interface must be reached, but no one seems to know exactly …

    Servers 20 Apr 2006, 16:26

  • Skype uses peer pressure defense to explain China text censorship

    Following orders and examples

    VoIP firm Skype has admitted that its Chinese partner filters instant messages sent using its software to comply with local censorship laws. Tom Online, Skype's joint venture partner in China, has "implemented a text filter, which is what everyone else in that market is doing. Those are the regulations", Skype chief executive …

    VoIP 20 Apr 2006, 16:50

  • EMC turns to storage of all things for Q1 growth

    Software story put on hold

    EMC produced another workmanlike effort in its first quarter, hiking revenue by 14 per cent and enjoying unusually strong hardware sales. The big daddy of storage brought in $2.55bn during the first quarter, which compares to $2.24bn reported in the same period last year. Such double-digit percentage gains in revenue have …

    Storage 20 Apr 2006, 17:20

  • Vulture chases Marathon runner round London

    Money for runnin' Hunts down cash for cancer research

    Reg readers are known to be a rippingly fit bunch. It must be all those 18 hour coding shifts followed by intense re-hydration at Ye Olde Cat and Mouse, not to mention those high-fibre, high-protein pizza shakes. So we’re sure you’ll want to take part in this year’s London Marathon and help a great charity – and you won’t even …

    Site News 20 Apr 2006, 18:07

  • HD DVD to outsell Blu-ray 2.5:1 in 2006 - report

    But 2007 is another matter

    HD DVD will have taken almost 70 per cent of the high-definition media market by the end of the year, leaving rival format Blu-ray Disc with a market share of just 30 per cent. So claimed market watcher ABI Research this week, though it warned the picture may change in 2007. ABI paints the arena as a Sony vs Toshiba fight, …

    Reg Hardware 20 Apr 2006, 21:29

  • HP recalls 15,700 notebook batteries

    Overheating and fire hazard

    HP has asked 15,700 customers around the world to send back their HP- or Compaq-branded notebook batteries or risk the potentially faulty power packs overheating and catching fire. The recall comes six months after the company made a similar request for the return of certain laptop batteries. This time round, the recall …

    Reg Hardware 20 Apr 2006, 21:47

  • Red Hat CEO likens Oracle to US car manufacturer

    Let's get personal

    Red Hat chief executive Matthew Szulik has added his voice to the growing stream of rebuttals to Larry Ellison's comments about buying Novell and "owning" Linux. In an open letter to the Financial Times, Szulik criticized the 30-year track record of companies like Oracle in their treatment of customers and signed off …

    Operating Systems 20 Apr 2006, 23:36

  • Google sends mixed messages on China jackpot

    But earnings upright after wobble

    Google shrugged off the gloom that followed its previous earnings statement with a strong first quarter. The advertising monster reported a profit of $592m for Q1 2006. That's up from the $372m reported in January, which caused $18bn to be wiped off Google's value. Gross revenue climbed 79 per cent to $2.25bn, up from $1.26bn a …

    Financial News 20 Apr 2006, 23:54