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30th May 2006 Archive

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  • Boardrooms split over offshore outsourcing

    'No, I want to do the redundancies!'

    IT directors don't trust their boardroom counterparts in charge of finance to manage offshore outsourcing contracts, said a survey published today. That's quite a coincidence because finance directors don't trust IT directors either, according to another survey published by the same firm, Indian outsourcer HCL Technologies, in …

    IT Director 30 May 2006, 08:11

  • NHS IT: Over budget, overdue and unpopular

    Patient records two and half years late...

    The government plan to give every patient in England an electronic medical record is running late and hopelessly over budget, according to the government minister in charge of the project. Lord Warner said the scheme was running at least two and a half years behind schedule. He also admitted that the final cost is likely to be …

    Public Sector 30 May 2006, 08:44

  • Commission proposes ecommerce VAT rule extension

    2008, please

    The European Commission has proposed to extend the period of application of the Ecommerce VAT Directive to 31 December 2008. It prevents EU suppliers being subject to VAT for online services supplied to clients outside the EU. Without this extension, the rules for services supplied by electronic means as well as to radio and …

    Small Biz 30 May 2006, 08:51

  • Slingbox TV-via-internet kit ships in UK

    Freeview and SCART support in the box

    Sling Media has launched its Slingbox location-free TV system in the UK, pitching the product at consumer who want to watch British digital television broadcasts anywhere they can get hold of a broadband internet connection. The UK-edition Slingbox supports both digital and analogue TV. The unit has an aerial pass-through …

    Reg Hardware 30 May 2006, 08:52

  • Amnesty takes a strike against web censorship

    Campaigns to uphold internet freedom of speech

    The worldwide movement of activists who campaign for internationally recognised human rights launched a campaign on Sunday to challenge what it calls the increasing governmental censorship of the internet. In conjunction with The Observer newspaper and multimedia art company Soda Creative, Amnesty set up the Irrepressible …

    Music and Media 30 May 2006, 09:01

  • AMD to quadruple chip-making capacity

    Starts work on second 300mm-wafer fab

    AMD is to spend $2.5bn upgrading its Dresden, Germany chip plant, primarily to replace its ageing 200mm-wafer fab with a higher-yield 300mm-wafer facility. The result: a fourfold increase in processor production in just under three years. In part, that gain will come from increased production at Fab 36, AMD's current 300mm- …

    Reg Hardware 30 May 2006, 09:08

  • Irish SMEs bamboozled by technology

    Mobiles the answer to daunting tech, says O2

    Irish mobile operator O2 released results of its survey which it claims shows that "complexity turns business users off technology" and that many companies surveyed found technology "too confusing". The third annual TNS MRBI poll of small and medium-sized businesses for O2 reveals that 21 per cent of SMEs found technology too …

    Small Biz 30 May 2006, 09:17

  • VIA unveils Vista-friendly Intel chipset

    P4M900 adds DirectX 9 support and more

    VIA has rolled out its latest integrated chipset targeting Intel processors, bringing DirectX 9-class graphics to its product line and adding support for 667MHz DDR 2 SDRAM. The P4M900's core component is its VIA twin pixel-pipeline Chrome9 graphics core, a DirectX 9 part, though it only supports Shader Model 2.0 - still …

    Reg Hardware 30 May 2006, 09:41

  • Deconstructing databases with Jim Gray

    Interview A genuine guru

    Most companies have a tame "guru" - someone presented as a world authority on the subject in question and so amazingly intelligent that they are above the tacky world of commercialism. Sadly, many such "gurus" merely debase the term and turn out to be exactly what you expect - mouthpieces for the marketing department. One of …

    Developer 30 May 2006, 10:15

  • AOpen re-styles second-generation MiniPC

    Rolls out MP945-VXR

    AOpen has formally announced its latest small form-factor MiniPC, touting the machine's "silent computing" ability - courtesy of its notebook components such as Core Duo CPUs - and support for Intel's Viiv platform. The 16.5 x 16.5cm-footprint MP945-VXR contains a motherboard based on Intel's 945GM integrated chipset …

    Reg Hardware 30 May 2006, 10:18

  • Pressure mounts on NHS IT

    Headline transposition error describes problem

    MPs are queueing up to have a go at the multi-billion pound NHS National Programme for IT, racked as it is with problems. The House of Commons Health Committee has suggested it might comply with the demands of a group of 23 leading academics and investigate the need for an independent audit of the technical feasibility of the …

    Public Sector 30 May 2006, 10:52

  • Taking a punt on Vonage IPO

    Opinion Despite Wall Street's slating

    Last week, analysts on Wall Street castigated the Vonage IPO, effectively driving the price down from $17 a share, to under $14 in three days. The price is now recovering a little despite their broadside. The analysts' highly televised arguments were around Wall Street's judgement that Vonage had the wrong technology (VoIP), …

    VoIP 30 May 2006, 10:56

  • Fujifilm snaps dual-shot Z3 anti-blur camera

    Slimline and female-friendly, company claims

    Fujifilm has unveiled its latest FinePiz Zoom Z-series digital camera, a slimline five-megapixel model that it's offering in light pink and metallic blue shades, as well as the traditional silver, the better to appeal to the ladies. Designed to focus on the kinds of shot female photographers take the most - according to …

    Reg Hardware 30 May 2006, 11:10

  • IT jobs under threat as Voda reports £15bn loss

    Cellco announces massive shake-up

    Vodafone is to axe 400 jobs and outsource a stack of IT posts as part of sweeping plans to reduce costs. The changes are designed to save around £500m a year as Vodafone battles to keep a lid on spiralling costs. Exactly how many IT jobs are at risk remains unclear. Vodafone is already talking to potential outsourcing partners …

    Mobile 30 May 2006, 11:12

  • One in six Brit workers drunk at work

    And that's before the World Cup...

    One in six UK workers have partaken of alcohol during working hours, a shock YouGov survey of 1,500 full time employees commissioned by Royal & SunAlliance has revealed. Or rather, one sixth of the Brit workforce has been "under the influence of alcohol at work in the last six months", while two million wobbly employees have …

    Music and Media 30 May 2006, 11:15

  • Tesco grabs at PC consumers

    Grocery goliath wants a bigger slice of IT pie

    Retail leviathan Tesco has announced a full scale assault on the consumer PC and notebook markets. In a move that will have both independent specialists and high street retailers sobbing into their cut-price cornflakes, the supermarket is to triple its range to total around 20 offerings as of mid-June. It's the first time …

    Channel Register 30 May 2006, 11:20

  • Nokia steps up open source efforts

    Opens Series 60 browser engine, more to follow

    In its efforts to beat Microsoft to establish the de facto standard software platform for mobile devices, Nokia is adopting the same tactic used by similar challengers in the computer world – going open source. The company emerged with surprising speed from the closed source world of mobility last year, working with Apple on an …

    Mobile 30 May 2006, 11:35

  • Microsoft 'mulls eBay purchase'

    Well, it might put a bid in...

    The rumour du jour is that Microsoft is in talks with eBay about a possible takeover. The news came just after eBay agreed a wide-ranging partnership deal with Yahoo! The New York Post quoted "multiple sources" that Microsoft is considering buying eBay and merging it with MSN, though the paper said talks had "cooled somewhat" …

    Financial News 30 May 2006, 12:09

  • BT dogged by Deutsche Telekom takeover talk

    'Unlikely', say analysts

    Shares in BT were down a smidgen today after weekend press speculation that the UK incumbent could be the takeover target of German giant Deutsche Telekom. Reports suggested that Deutsche Telekom was prepping a £25bn bid for BT with rumours fuelled still further by both firms' reluctance to comment. Now, though, The Telegraph …

    Financial News 30 May 2006, 12:14

  • Intel forks 'Merom' mobile CPU

    One series with 2MB L2, the other with 4MB

    Intel's 'Merom' dual-core mobile chip will ship in two forms, one with 2MB of L2 cache, the other with 4MB. Unlike 'Conroe', however, the smaller-cache parts will get their own model number sequence, it has emerged. Merom will ship in August under the Core 2 Duo brand. According to a DailyTech report, the 2MB version will …

    Reg Hardware 30 May 2006, 13:13

  • FTC forces P2P website to pay back subscribers

    $24.95 for a license to, er, do nothing

    A US website operator who advertised that subscribing to his site would mean file-sharers could sidestep copyright laws has settled deception charges brought against him by the Federal Trade Commision (FTC). Under the terms of the settlement, Los Angeles man Cashier Myricks must pay back 611 would-be file sharers the more than …

    Music and Media 30 May 2006, 13:42

  • AllofMP3 is illegal, says music industry

    Legal action kick-started

    A hugely popular seller of music downloads is illegal, according to the music industry, and prosecutions are underway. AllofMP3.com, a Moscow-based service that undercuts iTunes by enormous margins, was accused today of paying nothing to artists. The website, run by MediaServices Inc, has long protested its innocence. Yet the …

    Music and Media 30 May 2006, 14:17

  • Watch ads, get free calls says Virgin Mobile US

    Getting 'something for something'

    Virgin Mobile USA is giving hard-up youngsters the chance to make free phone calls in return for watching ads. The "yoof-oriented" cellco has hooked up with ad outfit Ultramercial to launch the ad-for-airtime service called "SugarMama". So far, Virgin Mobile USA - a joint venture between Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and …

    Mobile 30 May 2006, 14:27

  • British men prefer porn to sex

    Foreplay? Is that like a page refresh?

    For those who missed it at the weekend - Britain is the world's fastest growing market for internet pornography. You should all be very ashamed. British women are the fastest growing group of users with a 30 per cent increase on last year - up to 1.4m from just over one million last year. One in four men aged between 25 and 49 …

    Music and Media 30 May 2006, 14:54

  • HD TV in the UK

    Buyer's Guide Need a next-gen telly? We'll put you in the picture

    Even if you don't give a flying tackle for the football, the industry's out to sell you a brand spanking new HD TV. But is now the right time to buy? Reg Hardware guides you past the gotchas... Analogue to digital The digital switchover starts in 2008 when the Border region has its analogue signal turned off. The process …

    Reg Hardware 30 May 2006, 15:04

  • EU court stomps passenger data sharing

    US deal illegal, say judges

    The European Court of Justice has ruled that a deal the European Commission made with the US to allow access to passenger's personal information was illegal. The data-sharing scheme was approved by all 25 member states, but annulled by judges today. The agreement allows authorities in the US access to airlines' Passenger Name …

    Music and Media 30 May 2006, 15:23

  • Dell support sites lists Mac OS notebook downloads

    Wishful thinking?

    Boy, has this one got people pondering the possibilities. Dell's support site for its Latitude X1 "ultra-portable" notebook includes "Apple Mac OS" among the list of operating systems for which users can download drivers and utilities. Engagdet is credited with spotting the typo first. Mistake it must be, for all Dell's …

    Reg Hardware 30 May 2006, 15:41

  • Griffin RoadDock straps Sony PSP to car seat

    Make car journeys like long-haul flights

    Want to give your kids and other car passengers that airline TV-in-the-back-of-the-seat experience on long journeys? Thanks to Griffin Technology, you'll soon be able to do just that. The company will next month ship RoadDock, a rig for attaching a Sony PlayStation Portable to the back of a car seat. The $39 accessory …

    Reg Hardware 30 May 2006, 15:59

  • Orange France does Triple Play

    Wanadoo rebranding kicks off

    Orange France is offering a new triple play package of broadband, TV and phone for under €30 (£20.50) a month, according to information buzzing around newsgroups and French websites. The offer of 1 meg broadband, TV and unlimited phone is expected to cost €29.90 a month, while a similar package offering 8 meg broadband is …

    Telecoms 30 May 2006, 16:12

  • Segway confuses investors with 'liquidity event' vow

    IPO or trail of tears?

    Prepare yourselves for a second round of Segway hype. The company behind "IT" is eyeing an IPO. Despite much slower than expected sales, Segway Inc thinks it might have a play in the public markets. The company's CEO, James Norrod, has started a media blitz, trying to convince potential investors that Segway sales are growing …

    Bootnotes 30 May 2006, 17:03