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23rd August 2006 Archive

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  • Orange first mobile giant off the mark with Linux program

    Comment Leapfrogs ahead with ALP

    Ever since NTT DoCoMo and Vodafone lent their support to Motorola and Samsung to create an open Linux handset architecture, the open source platform has gained new credibility as the likely leading operating system for smartphones in the next generation. For the first time, Linux seemed to be gaining not just the political …

    Mobile 23 Aug 2006, 06:02

  • Cellcos regain lead in AWS auctions

    As satellite providers throw in the towel

    At the end of round 25 of Auction 66, the ongoing FCC sell-off of licenses in the AWS band in 1.7GHz and 2.1GHz, bids totalled $11.3bn. Despite all the excitement over the entry of new challengers to the established cellcos, those incumbents were at the top of the bidding tree after round 25 on Friday, while the satellite …

    Mobile 23 Aug 2006, 06:02

  • Salesforce.com links up with Google AdWords

    Kieden acquisition paves way for collaboration

    Salesforce.com has linked up with Google's advertising program, AdWords, after acquiring an add-on with its purchase of tech firm Kieden. Salesforce.com acquired San Francisco-based tech firm Kieden Corporation in August 2006, but has not disclosed any details of the deal, including the price tag. The small tech firm has …

    Applications 23 Aug 2006, 07:02

  • Code analysis and legacy modernisation

    There's code analysis automation beyond SPARK...

    In feedback to the article I co-wrote here, I was accused of being “way ahead of the game” so far as ordinary development goes. Well, I was just talking to Mike Oara, CTO of Relativity and his colleague, product marketing manager Peter Mollins; and they seem to have some very similar ideas in the much more prosaic “legacy …

    Developer 23 Aug 2006, 08:01

  • JCB's demon digger hits 333mph

    World's fastest diesel ploughs into record books

    JCBdieselmax is officially the world's fastest diesel-powered vehicle after hitting 333 miles per hour yesterday. The car completed two runs - the first at 324mph and the return run at 333.3mph - giving an average of 328.8mph. This easily beats the previous record of 235.7mph set in 1973. The team is not finished yet, and will …

    Science 23 Aug 2006, 08:37

  • EC veep calls for passenger data sharing, US-style

    Plan raises security versus privacy debate

    The vice president of the European Commission wants airlines to provide passenger data to government security services for all flights within Europe. A similar plan for flights to the US was recently vetoed by the European Parliament. Commission vice president Franco Frattini is responsible for justice and security and is yet …

    Music and Media 23 Aug 2006, 08:38

  • Nuclear Apocalypse milder than expected

    Update Back to the Ouija board

    The Register is pleasantly surprised to learn that humanity continues to muddle along after a leading Islamic scholar predicted its abrupt destruction on 22 August. Academician Bernard Lewis, a specialist in Middle-Eastern culture and politics, and one of Dick Cheney's favorite thinkers, appeared to have it all worked out in an …

    Music and Media 23 Aug 2006, 08:43

  • Software rental firm targets SMBs

    Pimp my software

    Maidenhead firm The Business Software Centre (TBSC) will supply its tools as a rented service to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Business planning and financial forecasting, staff scheduling, HR, legal support and publishing tools will be available at £16 per month for the whole shebang. TBSC has rights to distribute …

    Small Biz 23 Aug 2006, 09:09

  • Cows have regional accents, experts confirm

    Major bovine linguistic breakthrough

    In a major breakthrough in bovine linguistic research, experts have confirmed that cows moo with accents distinct to their herd, the BBC reports. John Wells, professor of Phonetics at the University of London, examined West Country farmers' claims that their beasts were mooing with a local twang. Lloyd Green of Glastonbury …

    Biology 23 Aug 2006, 09:13

  • Samsung pitches 8GB HDD phone at... golfers

    GPS-based, stroke-by-stroke shot guidance

    Samsung yesterday unveiled its latest hard drive-equipped music and... er... golf phone. For MP3 fans, the SCH-B570 is fitted with 8GB of storage, and for golfers there's all the information you need to successfully play South Korea's most demanding courses. The handset incorporates a GPS receiver which is apparently used …

    Reg Hardware 23 Aug 2006, 09:17

  • Apple axes Leopard-leaking workers

    Five fired for filching unreleased OS

    Apple has reportedly fired five retail workers for downloading unauthorised copies of Mac OS X 10.5 from the internet. Many more employees have been accused of the same transgression and face a similar sanction, it has been claimed. According to a Think Secret report citing an email it received from one of the allegedly …

    IT Director 23 Aug 2006, 09:40

  • Reclusive Russian turns down Fields Medal

    Keepin' it real

    A Russian mathematician has turned down one of the discipline's most prestigious awards because he doesn't want to involve himself in self promotion. He was due to have been presented with the Fields Medal by King Juan Carlos of Spain on Tuesday this week. Grigory Perelman published an outline of a proof for the Poincare …

    Science 23 Aug 2006, 10:01

  • Gigabyte readies silent HDMI, HDCP graphics card

    Nvidia's GeForce 7600 GS on board

    Gigabyte will next month ship an HDMI-equipped graphics card based on Nvidia's GeForce 7600 GS chip, the company said today. The card has HDCP anti-piracy technology on board and an internal digital audio pass-through port. It even appears to be SLI-capable. The GV-NX76G256HI-RH - to give the card its full name - is passively …

    Reg Hardware 23 Aug 2006, 10:04

  • PowerColor ATI Radeon X1950 XTX

    Review (Another) world's fastest graphics card

    Although today is only the paper launch of the long anticipated ATI Radeon X1950 XTX, it's worth waiting until 14 September when you can actually buy one. Not only is it ATI's fastest card, but it's also incredibly affordable and, thanks to a new cooler, it has put the noise problems the plagued past ATI cards behind it... …

    Reg Hardware 23 Aug 2006, 10:11

  • Griffin ships Mac 5.1-channel sound system

    Gadget arrives 18 months after launch

    Accessory maker Griffin Technology has finally begun shipping its Mac-oriented, FireWire-connected 5.1-channel surround sound system FireWave more than 18 months after it announced the product. Griffin first demo'd FireWave in public back in January 2005 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The device connects to a …

    Reg Hardware 23 Aug 2006, 10:33

  • Tech bubble banker vows to return

    No third trial for Quattrone

    One of the architects of the original dot com bubble vowed to return to business yesterday, after a court approved a deal reached between his lawyers and state prosecutors. In a deferred prosecution agreement, former Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) banker Frank Quattrone will avoid a third trial for obstruction of justice …

    Financial News 23 Aug 2006, 10:46

  • Two coppers nicked in uniforms-on-eBay probe

    Going, going, gone

    Two Welsh police officers have been arrested and suspended for allegedly flogging police property on eBay. The two - a 31-year-old man and 27-year-old woman - were arrested earlier this month. The two are accused of selling police property through the auction site. Police took computers and a small amount of cannabis from the …

    Music and Media 23 Aug 2006, 10:54

  • YouTube launches Paris Hilton channel

    No One Night in Paris, sadly

    YouTube yesterday launched a Paris Hilton "Brand Channel" sponsored by Fox's Prison Break and aimed at promoting the multi-talented heiress's debut album Paris. The initiative hopes to generate revenue by incorporating advertising and sponsorship in separate channels where it can be avoided by hardline anti-ad YouTube users. …

    Entertainment 23 Aug 2006, 10:57

  • UBiQUiO PRePs SLiMLinE qwerty KEyBoaRD SMaRT PhONe

    Company's caps-lock key stuck?

    Mobile device retailer Expansys has begun taking orders for the upcoming UBiQUiO 501 slimline Windows Mobile 5.0 smart phone. And no, that mix of capitals and lower-case characters isn't a byproduct of typing the vendor's name on its device's QWERTY micro-keyboard. The handset is based on a 200MHz Texas Instruments OMAP 750 …

    Reg Hardware 23 Aug 2006, 10:58

  • MS takes up legal cudgels against typosquatters

    Mad as hell and not going to take it anymore

    Microsoft has launched a legal offensive against "typosquatters" who register domains containing trademarked terms or misspelled words in the hope that lost surfers will help them rake in ad revenue. Early stages of the campaign include a pair of lawsuits against two, allegedly prolific, typosquatting operations. Redmond has …

    Music and Media 23 Aug 2006, 11:00

  • Qantas clamps down on fire-breathing Dells

    Orders pre-flight battery removal

    Australian airline Qantas has issued guidelines to those passengers taking their lives into their hands by powering up a Dell laptop with a potentially fire-breathing battery while on board. The company has declared that "although passengers would be allowed to carry their Dells either as checked or cabin baggage, they could …

    Music and Media 23 Aug 2006, 11:16

  • eMachines founder offers $450m for... eMachines

    Gateway board mulling offer for retail business

    China-born tech entrepeneur and eMachines founder Lap Shun Hui has confirmed he is offering $450m for Gateway's retail business. Gateway said today it is reviewing an unsolicited expression of interest from Hui. An approach was first made 3 August, but Gateway did not "constructively engage in discussions", according to Hui's …

    Channel Register 23 Aug 2006, 11:18

  • ATI to ship Radeon X1300 XT, X1650 Pro on 14 September

    Mulitple memory configurations

    Details have emerged of ATI's upcoming Radeon X1300 XT and Radeon X1650 Pro GPUs, which the company announced today but provided relatively little in the way of detail. Graphics card supplier sources suggest each part will be offered in a range of memory and core clock configurations. The X1300 XT will be clocked to 500MHz, …

    Reg Hardware 23 Aug 2006, 11:25

  • Microsoft falls into line with Korean anti-trust order

    Mini-Windows XP

    Microsoft will start selling a stripped-down version of Windows in South Korea this week which doesn't include its media player or instant message software. The stripped down version of Windows XP is required so Microsoft can fulfill promises made to Korea's Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). The KFTC ruled in December that …

    Software 23 Aug 2006, 11:32

  • Home Office in trouble for advertising porn sites

    Online safety campaign goes awry

    The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has sent the Home Office to sit on the naughty stair after complaints about a radio campaign promoting online child safety that sent listeners to porn sites instead. The ad, which was to promote an online child safety website, directed listeners to check out the site at www.ThinkuKnow.co. …

    Music and Media 23 Aug 2006, 12:03

  • Digital music is rubbish - Bob Dylan

    And don't policemen look young these days?

    You can't blame people for illegally downloading music for free, because that's about all it's worth, according to Bob Dylan, in an interview with Rolling Stone this month. Dylan also had a blast at modern recording processes for robbing music of its soul. "You listen to these modern records, they're atrocious, they have sound …

    Entertainment 23 Aug 2006, 12:05

  • AMD quad-core CPUs to become dualies to save power

    Chips get extra, shared cache too

    AMD's quad-core processor will become a dual-core processor if it decides the user isn't giving it enough work to do. The chip will also beef up the on-board cache with an extra level of memory shared between the four cores. So reveal company next-generation architecture slides posted by HardOCP. Dubbed "ideal for 65nm SOI …

    Reg Hardware 23 Aug 2006, 12:16

  • Child protection extends to MSN

    IM adds 'report abuse' icon

    Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) has linked up with MSN Instant Messenger to alert the police about sex offenders. CEOP has come to an agreement with Microsoft that has led to the provision of a "report abuse" icon on MSN Messenger, soon to be Windows Live Messenger. The reports will be sent to police and …

    Music and Media 23 Aug 2006, 13:14

  • Nokia carries Symbian

    Delays don't dint numbers

    Smartphone OS provider Symbian says 12.3m units running its software shipped in the second quarter of the year, up from 7.8m a year ago. This bagged the company $37.9m in royalty revenues, the bulk of its $41.2m gross revenue. Despite delays to several of the most anticipated models from Nokia and Sony Ericsson, 24m units …

    Mobile 23 Aug 2006, 13:16

  • IBM snaps up ISS for $1.3bn

    Blockbuster deal has nowt to do with space stations

    IBM is to acquire security tools and services firm Internet Security Systems in an all-cash deal valued at $1.3bn, or $28 per share. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2006, subject to approval by regulators and ISS' shareholders. ISS markets a range of intrusion detection and vulnerability assessment tools …

    Security 23 Aug 2006, 13:18

  • Europe poised to embrace digital TV: report

    Uptake to outstrip US

    Digital television services are expected to rise in popularity during 2006, with the European market outstripping the US by the end of the year. According to the latest report from market analysts Datamonitor, this year will be a "watershed" for high definition television HD TV), internet TV (IPTV) and mobile TV. In Europe …

    Telecoms 23 Aug 2006, 13:56

  • BT says women make the best bosses

    A question of trust, it seems

    Women over 50 will be the best bosses in the future because they understand the importance of flexible working, according to research from BT. A YouGov survey of employers and employees across the UK found that women are more comfortable managing a workforce that works flexible hours, or from home. They were 50 per cent more …

    Small Biz 23 Aug 2006, 14:11

  • ITV's Love Island descends into fisticuffs

    Excellent

    It's official: despite the long-held belief that male ballroom dancers susbscribe exclusively to the Friends of Dorothy, Strictly Come Dancing "star" Brendan Cole has proved that they're not to be messed with by slapping former Hollyoaks "star" Lee Otway six times in a drunken row. Sadly, viewers will not be able to enjoy this …

    Entertainment 23 Aug 2006, 14:30

  • Sony officially launches pink PSP

    Grrls only

    It's official - Sony is indeed going to offer a pink PlayStation Portable in association, we're told, with the chart-topping pop chanteuse of the same name the better to attract "young women with freedom, confidence and attitude" to the platform. Unlike the upcoming pink PS2, the salmon-hued portable console doesn't ship with …

    Reg Hardware 23 Aug 2006, 14:40

  • Edinburgh Film Festival pulls cockfight movie

    Too much cockfighting in Cockfighter

    The Edinburgh Film Festival has decided to pull the 1974 film Cockfighter from its schedule because, as the title suggests, it's packed with graphic scenes of cockfighting - which is illegal in Britain. Festival manager Charlotte Higgins canned the programmed screening after a complaint from the Scottish Society for the …

    Entertainment 23 Aug 2006, 14:45

  • Planet status looking shaky for Pluto

    And then there were eight

    Just when things were looking up for Pluto, astronomers have come up with a new definition of a planet that would leave the poor little mite out in the cold. After last week's proposed definition of a planet, Pluto, along with the asteroid Ceres and two other large Kuiper belt objects, looked set to be officially classed as a …

    Space 23 Aug 2006, 14:50

  • Iomega ships slimline portable hard drives

    Bus powered

    Iomega this week this week expanded its external hard drive line-up with a pair of slimline dual-port products aimed at users on the move. The shock-resistant drives both incorporate USB 2.0 and Firewire interfaces and 2.5in, 5,400rpm hard disks with 8MB of cache memory and either 80GB or 120GB of storage capacity. Each unit …

    Reg Hardware 23 Aug 2006, 15:00

  • Kid who crashed email server gets tagged

    First UK conviction for 'email bombing'

    A 19-year-old man today pleaded guilty to breaking the Computer Misuse Act for sending an "email bomb" to his former employer, which caused the company's email server to collapse. David Lennon of Bedworth, Warwickshire, breached section three of the Act, "causing an unauthorised modification to a computer", and was sentenced at …

    Security 23 Aug 2006, 15:04

  • IBM buffs up mid and high-end storage gear

    Tur-bo selecta!

    IBM continued its summer parade of storage launches this week, this time taking aim at higher end enterprises. The high-end DS8000 series gets a proper update with two new models. The DS8100 Turbo and DS8300 Turbo, based on POWER5+ processors, have 4Gb/s fibre channel, and FICON for fast connection to mainframes. IBM claims a …

    Channel Register 23 Aug 2006, 15:10

  • First Chinese firm hit by spam fine

    Slapped wrist

    An unnamed firm from the south-eastern Chinese city of Shenzen has been fined 5,000 yuan ($630) for distributing spam email, after the first case of its kind in the country. The mystery firm was clobbered after distributing a "vast amount" of junk mail since January, the China Daily reports. It's unclear what the offending …

    Spam 23 Aug 2006, 15:15

  • BenQ pursues painted ladies with butterfly-branded handset

    Symbol of evolving feminity

    If you think BenQ Mobile's Hello Kitty handset is just too darn girly for you, you're probably not going to be impressed with its follow-up either. The company is to offer a second AL26 handset, this time boasting a butterfly logo to make it "the perfect fashion accessory for young, style-conscious women". Which is exactly …

    Reg Hardware 23 Aug 2006, 15:51

  • Mocbot worm fuels zombie surge

    Day of the Dead

    The number of compromised zombie PCs has shot up by almost a quarter (23 per cent) over the last week because of the release of a new computer worm variant, according to security appliance firm CipherTrust. CipherTrust Research Labs has identified an average of 265,000 zombies per day since the release of the latest Mocbot worm …

    Enterprise Security 23 Aug 2006, 16:17

  • Sun's server sales soar, while Dell bores in Q2

    Return to 2000 Are you dreaming?

    Slap me and call me Susan - or maybe Tom. Sun Microsystems has gained server market share two quarters in a row. Yes, we've hacked into an old Audrey to write this story and ordered some toothpaste on Pets.com because it feels like 2000 all over again. Okay, okay. Not quite a full-blown 2000. More of a neutered, Ambien over …

    Servers 23 Aug 2006, 19:20

  • HuffPo nails Bush with mega scoop!

    There's this site called Google

    The Huffington Post has suffered through a short, uncelebrated career as one of the internet's lamest gag sites since it first logged on back in May of 2005. And the blog's condition has shifted to what doctors call "Mel Gibson's Tequila-infused Critical" this week after it let Adam Hanft make it on the site. Hanft seems to …

    Music and Media 23 Aug 2006, 20:57

  • BEA buffs up AquaLogic with Flashline

    Repository thinking

    BEA Systems has bought a self-styled asset management vendor in a deal beefing up BEA's AquaLogic family for service oriented architectures (SOAs). BEA has acquired Flashline and will sell its repository for the management of software's metadata - which hastily been rebranded BEA AquaLogic Enterprise Repository - along with a …

    Developer 23 Aug 2006, 21:48