8th June 2006 Archive

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MSI makes 'first' upgradeable SLI graphic card

Computex 2006 Novel application of Nvidia's MXM tech?

Nvidia's MXM notebook-oriented GPU-on-a-card system doesn't appear to been a resounding success. Neither, for that matter, does ATI's alternative, Axiom, but Nvidia's technology did allow MSI to present at Computex what it claimed is the first upgradeable desktop graphics card. The Geminium GO's GPU of choice isn't exactly …

Reg Hardware 8 Jun 2006, 05:03
Laptop vendors to adopt desktop 'Conroe' chip?

Computex 2006 Not likely to limit 'Merom' demand

Asian notebook manufacturers are wondering why they should wait for Intel's 'Merom' next-generation notebook processor in future laptops when they can use 'Conroe' instead and gain not only better performance - higher clock speeds, at least - but also pay less for it. So claims DigiTimes, citing sources from among Taiwan's …

Reg Hardware 8 Jun 2006, 05:19
Acer touts 'beyond the norm' monster 20.1in laptop

Computex 2006 Readies bevvy of HD DVD-equipped notebooks

Acer demo'd its monster 20.1in widescreen notebook - you can't honestly call this beast a laptop, and even the word 'notebook' seems inappropriate - at Computex this week, one of four machines it is preparing to offer with built-in HD DVD drives. The Aspire 9800 is a seriously big machine. Acer didn't say what the notebook's …

Reg Hardware 8 Jun 2006, 05:49
ID fraudsters pose as online businesses

Bogus exchange listing scam

Identity fraudsters are targeting online businesses in a new scam featuring an online trading exchange. Access Business Communications (abc), a Scottish business telecoms retailer, was recently targeted by fraudsters on Alibaba.com, a reputable website that brings together suppliers and buyers of products made in China. The …

Small Biz 8 Jun 2006, 06:02
AMD defines itself as the joker in the pack

Computex 2006 Literally

A nice young fellow kitted out in Nvidia green handed out a deck of AMD playing cards at Computex today, one of the many freebies vendors dish out to passers-by to promote their products. This time we wonder if AMD was indeed the schwag supplier - or whether a rival chip maker might be having a laugh... We thought the deck of …

Reg Hardware 8 Jun 2006, 06:16
Philips, Lite-on, BenQ prep Blu-ray drives

Computex 2006 August debut for Europe

Philips this week launched its first Blu-ray Disc drive, and was quickly followed by Lite-on and BenQ. Both the Philips and the Lite-on models are due to ship in the UK in August, the two companies said separately. Philips' TripleWriter SPD7000 internal PC drive supports both single- and dual-layer media - 25GB and 50GB, …

Reg Hardware 8 Jun 2006, 08:28
Mid-market storage wars redux

EMC and IBM face off

The mid-market for storage arrays is one of the sweet spots for vendors. Getting this market right is crucial to storage vendors and technology refreshes and advances can make the difference between competitors. It was no surprise therefore that EMC and IBM launched new storage offerings targeting this sector within 24 hours of …

Storage 8 Jun 2006, 08:31
Prices slashed by e-auction

Public sector saves on hardware

Twelve public sector organisations have used an electronic auction to achieve record savings on IT hardware, according to the Office of Government Commerce (OGC). OGC, the Treasury purchasing agency, announced it has saved £2.7m on computer hardware through its latest e-auction. It claims it delivered a 41 per cent reduction …

Public Sector 8 Jun 2006, 08:38
'Practical' problems could stymie AllofMP3.com lawsuit

BPI could win case without stopping the music

The British music industry is planning to sue Russian download site AllofMP3.com in the UK courts – but according to a solicitor advocate, while the law is on its side, practical problems with enforcement could limit the impact of any judgment. The intention to sue was announced yesterday. Giving oral evidence to the House of …

Music and Media 8 Jun 2006, 08:56
Sage makes another buy

Rapacious Geordie eats another firm

Acountancy specialist Sage just can't get enough. Last month it bought a Malaysian software firm and a Chinese distie, and today it is spending £16m in cash on German management software company Bäurer GmbH. The deal should close within four weeks. Bäurer sells business management solutions aimed at mid-sized businesses, …

Channel Register 8 Jun 2006, 08:59
Vista Beta ready at last

Get 'em while they're hot....

Last night Microsoft released the public beta, or test version, of Windows Vista. You can download it or order it on DVD from here. Microsoft warns that the software should not be used "in a production environment or on a main machine in the home". The site also says that once the software is installed you will not be able to " …

Operating Systems 8 Jun 2006, 09:01
eBay 'sniping' tool: an i-mode mobile phone from O2

But what does O2 get out of it?

Email and eBay are the top attractions for mobile phone users, according to UK network operator O2, after monitoring the first seven months of i-mode operation. "We found that eBay's i-mode site is one of the top attractions on i-mode, letting people track the progress of their bids and make new bids on the move – removing the …

Mobile 8 Jun 2006, 09:04
C&W pulls out of residential broadband

150 jobs axed as Bulldog goes wholesale

Cable & Wireless (C&W) is pulling out of the residential broadband market to concentrate instead on wholesale internet services. From 1 July, Bulldog will stop trying to sign up new punters although it insists that current customers will be supported, parent telco C&W announced today. In an email to customers this morning, …

Telecoms 8 Jun 2006, 09:36
Orange rebrand a declaration of quadruple play war

Comment Europe's single players in jeopardy

When a company that is known universally as one of the worst managed operators in the world finally gets its brand unification act together, it is something of a landmark. In the case of France Telecom finally unifying broadband, ISP services, IPTV, VoIP and mobile services under the Orange brand, this is effectively a …

Mobile 8 Jun 2006, 09:42
Home Office defends sharing DNA database

Mi data es su data

The Home Office is under fire for allowing foreign agencies access to the National DNA Database (NDNAD). Following the news two weeks ago that the ID card database will be shared, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokeswoman Lynne Featherstone asked in parliament whether foreign law enforcement can already access DNA data. Home …

Public Sector 8 Jun 2006, 09:48
Two charged with VoIP fraud

Hacking returns to phreaking roots

Two men were arrested yesterday and charged with wire and computer fraud. They are accused of secretly routing phone calls into VoIP services without paying for them. Edwin Pena, a 23-year old man living in Miami, started two companies offering wholesale phone services - smaller telco providers often buy bulk packages of …

Enterprise Security 8 Jun 2006, 09:51
BBC closes out deal for showing UK TV over P2P

Ground-breaking PACT

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has renegotiated its terms with PACT, a UK trade organisation that represents the commercial interests of independent feature film, TV, and animation companies. This means that it is legally able to go ahead with its Peer to Peer based iPlayer service due to be launched later this year …

Telecoms 8 Jun 2006, 10:00
HP nearly goes ASP

Looks to the LOB

Application Service Providers (ASPs) may be one of those flash in the pan solutions-to-every-problem-you-ever-thought-of that the IT industry is good at thinking up every now and then, but despite the fact it pretty much crashed and burned the notion is not without some merit. Witness, for example, how "Version 2" of the ASP …

Applications 8 Jun 2006, 10:07
EMC shares tumble after Q2 investor briefing

Consoles itself with nLayers retail therapy

Shares in EMC hit a 14-month low on Wall Street yesterday following comments from its finance chief. Bill Teuber said Q2 expectations were unchanged from the firm's 20 April announcement, and that it "still had a lot to do". EMC shares slid to a low of $11.86 on the report. They recovered to $12.12, but were still 1.9 per cent …

Storage 8 Jun 2006, 10:57
American ~~losers~~ students prefer iPod to beer

Kappa Delta iPod RULES!!!!

A shocking survey of US college students has revealed that beer drinking has been deposed as the most "in" thing to spend time doing - by mucking about with an iPod. About three quarters of the 1,200 quizzed for the Student Monitor poll said Apple's ubiquitous anti-social gadget was "in", beating drinking dangerous quantities …

Bootnotes 8 Jun 2006, 11:05
Seagate touts revolutionary notebook HDDs

Momentus offerings

Seagate has launched three new families of notebook hard drive under the Momentus monicker. The most radical drive is the hybrid Momentus 5400 PSD (Power-Saving Drive) which adds 256MB of Flash memory to a 5,400rpm SATA300 2.5 inch hard drive. The Momentus also has 8MB of conventional cache memory. The highest capacity model …

Reg Hardware 8 Jun 2006, 11:45
Carphone keeps 'close eye' on AOL UK

Questions remain over sale plans

The Carphone Warehouse has been named as a possible suitor for AOL UK should a strategic review of the ISP conclude that the business should be sold. The Times quoted Carphone boss Charles Dunstone saying he would be keeping a "close eye" on the sale of the AOL business, although he added that he felt "no pressure" to grow his …

Telecoms 8 Jun 2006, 11:49
Socket F mobos sneak out at Computex

Computex 2006 Ssh, don't tell AMD...

Motherboards supporting AMD's Socket F infrastructure cropped up here and there at Computex this week, though the chip maker has yet to launch the DDR 2-supporting processor interconnect. MSI's K9SD Master-A8R board is typical: it's designed for a pair of Socket F Opteron CPUs - the info panel said 200 and 100 series parts, …

Reg Hardware 8 Jun 2006, 12:25
Portugal builds world's biggest solar plant

11-megawatt sun trap

Portugal has started work on what will be the world's biggest solar power plant - a 52,000 photovoltaic module, 11-megawatt facility covering a 60-hectare south-facing hillside in the southern Alentejo region. According to the BBC, the cost of the monster 'leccy factory is €58m - or £40m in old money - for which the Portuguese …

Science 8 Jun 2006, 12:41
Firms still leaving door open to hackers

Three in five put out the welcome mat to crackers

Three in five (61 per cent) firms audited by UK-based penetration testing firm NTA Monitor have one or more high risk vulnerabilities on their internet connections. NTA classifies a high risk flaw as a vulnerability that allows unauthorised external users to obtain system access, leaving organisations susceptible to Denial of …

Enterprise Security 8 Jun 2006, 12:45
Chicago hotel offers hope to CrackBerry addicts

One-step cold turkey cure

The manager of a Chicago hotel has offered a glimmer of hope to those who have become hopelessly addicted to their BlackBerries - a one-step, cold turkey programme guaranteed to separate junkies from their devices without surgical intervention. It's all pretty simple: you turn up at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and ask Rick Ueno …

Mobile 8 Jun 2006, 12:55
Microsoft product phones home every day

Oh didn't we mention that in the licence?

Microsoft has admitted that Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) will phone Redmond every day - something it neglected to tell users before they installed it. WGA is designed to detect pirated copies of MS software but is also creating some false positives - two UK dealers have contacted the Reg to report customers complaining that …

Applications 8 Jun 2006, 13:06
Sapphire unleashes the Ultimate

An albino assassin

Sapphire's new Radeon X1600 Pro and XT Ultimate graphics cards use a cooling solution that is nearly, but not quite, silent. We're used to seeing mid-range graphics cards that have a passive heatsink. Generally, there's a finned slab of aluminium that sits on the GPU, which is linked via a couple of heatpipes to a larger …

Reg Hardware 8 Jun 2006, 13:19
Times TV goes live

Oh look, another ad

The Times has turned on its new online TV and video service backed by a "six-figure" deal with exclusive sponsor Cisco. A string of video clips including world news, business, sport and entertainment are available from content providers such as Reuters, punctuated by TV commercials. The newspaper - part of Rupert Murdoch's …

Telecoms 8 Jun 2006, 13:56
Man accused of crashing UBS servers

Bonus sedition

A US court has heard how a disgruntled IT manager allegedly wiped out all UBS Paine Webber servers for a day leaving traders unable to trade because he was unhappy with his bonus. Not only is Roger Duronio accused of using a "logic bomb" to crash the investment bank's servers he is also accused of going short on UBS shares just …

Enterprise Security 8 Jun 2006, 14:35
Top of the sops

Which spyware foxed the most in May?

Windows security firm Sunbelt today released its countdown of the top ten spyware threats in May. So, scampickers, here it is: DesktopScam - 2.61 per cent SpyFalcon - 1.24 per cent 180search Assistant - 1.21 per cent Virtumonde - 0.99 per cent Looking-For.Home Search - 0.88 per cent IEPlugin - 0.65 per cent AvenueMedia. …

Malware 8 Jun 2006, 14:53
Oracle axes jobs in Dublin and Galway

Finance staff face the chop

Software giant Oracle has announced that it is to reduce the headcount at its operations in Ireland over the next six months. A statement from the company on Thursday said it was to cut a number of jobs within the finance area of its operations in Dublin and Galway. While Oracle did not give full details on how many positions …

IT Director 8 Jun 2006, 14:55
Intel's server chip chief knocks Itanium, Gates and AMD

One of these is not like the others

Has Pat Gelsinger sinned? We think so. Intel's former CTO and current sever processor chief made one confession after another, during a session yesterday at Stanford University. Gelsinger did the unthinkable by knocking Itanium and Microsoft and unleashed some future product details. He even dashed into the uncomfortable …

Servers 8 Jun 2006, 19:07
Dell eyes chocolate cake as image booster

Does frosting make our performance look better?

What does a smart hardware vendor do when it's being knocked around by the press for poor recent performance? Throw a birthday party for a prominent journalist, of course. Yes, Dell and its OutCast Communications public relations agency pulled out all the stops this week for Wall Street Journal power broker and editor Don Clark …

Bootnotes 8 Jun 2006, 19:52
Billy Bragg prompts Myspace rethink

All your content belongs to Rupert?

Myspace says it's revising its legal terms and conditions after songwriter Billy Bragg withdrew his songs from the website in protest. Myspace is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News International, a bete noir for Bragg for more than 20 years. On 18 May, Bragg's management withdrew the song files, citing the T&Cs. Bragg said the …

Music and Media 8 Jun 2006, 20:15
Your Al Gore review made us SPeW!

Letters And our thoughts on Intel's emerging toys biz

The ultimate sign of a reporter's objectivity comes through when both conservative and liberal readers chastise her over the same story. That's what happened this week when you all dug into your humble hack for this review of Al Gore's global warming slideshow. More impressive, however, were the set of letters comparing Intel …

Letters 8 Jun 2006, 22:47
Bring on the T-Mobile Sidekick III... on 26 June?

Enough to terrify anyone in Paris Hilton's contact list

There have been more sightings of the T-Mobile Sidekick III, and it’s due to go on sale SOON. How do we know this? Well, the Sidekick III has appeared on the FCC website (Federal Communications Commission) and the speculation is that the US release date is the 26 June. The original Sidekick was pretty much perfect so the …

Reg Hardware 8 Jun 2006, 23:04