25th September 2006 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

Sybase squeezes more SAP into devices

Mobie move

With Oracle and SAP going at each other last week, Sybase has updated its Unwired Enterprise strategy to help put more SAP business applications into the field. Sybase is today expected to announce Unwired Accelerator 8.0, extending its support for SAP by simplifying connection to mobile devices and offering greater …

Developer 25 Sep 2006, 06:02
Sony probes Los Angeles Airport laptop blaze

Who's battery was in that ThinkPad?

Sony has revealed it is investigating the recent self-immolation of a Lenovo ThinkPad T43 at Los Angeles Airport. The fire was apparently caused by the notebook's battery, which may have been a Sony-made component. As yet, the manufacturer of the battery in the LAX fire - which took place during the weekend of 9-10 September …

Hardware 25 Sep 2006, 07:02
~~Dell~~ Apple to ditch Intel for AMD?

Analysis Same old (inaccurate) speculation, different names

Apple is the new Dell. Yes, now that the PC giant has finally, after a decade of speculation, signed up to buy processors from AMD and end its Intel-only policy, we can now expect ten further years of similar rumours that Apple's about to adopt the Athlon too. Last week, AMD CEO Hector Ruiz indicated Apple "wants choice". The …

Hardware 25 Sep 2006, 08:02
UK firm touts phone-friendly Bluetooth media player

UK digital music player specialist Advanced MP3 Players (AMP3) has launched a compact music and movie device fitted with Bluetooth technology not only for wireless stereo audio but also to allow the gadget to interact with a mobile phone. The StormBlue A9+ looks a bit like a phone with its handset-size 2in, 220x x 176, 262, …

Hardware 25 Sep 2006, 08:02
A database solution is more than database software

Blog Do people normalise database designs in phones?

I was interested to read Ian Murphy's story about SQL Anywhere. Despite the availability of embedded databases, it seems to me that the database (in the DBMS sense) hasn't really come to mobile devices like phones yet. This is largely because of resource constraints - they're back in the 1970s mindset before enterprise databases …

Developer 25 Sep 2006, 08:57
Smart axes 180 in strategic review

'Low margin businesses' also face the chop

Troubled telecommunications company Smart Telecom on Friday laid off a further 180 people after completing a strategic review of its operation. The announcement was made to the London Stock Exchange and came as something of a surprise as the strategic review undertaken by NCB Stockbrokers was not expected for another fortnight …

Management 25 Sep 2006, 09:10
No more kickboxing for the cook

Ionian Blog Switching things off at sea

I honestly thought the cook had lost a toe. I'm pleased to be able to report that he hasn't. Equally, I'm pleased to be able to report that we're steaming along at a cracking pace under engine and, finally, I've cracked the problem of charging the satellite terminal's battery. You'll be wondering why the cook's toe is relevant …

Data Networking 25 Sep 2006, 09:38
Fourth Samsung exec pleads guilty to price fixing

Agrees to eight month jail term

A Samsung executive at the centre of a memory chip price fixing scandal has pleaded guilty and agreed to serve eight months in jail. Thomas Quinn agreed the penalty as part of a plea bargain with prosecutors. Samsung Electronics is accused by the US Government of driving up the price of memory chips used in PCs and servers, …

Media 25 Sep 2006, 09:44
Graduate women more likely to orgasm: official

NSFW A decent job helps, too

It's official: graduate women are more likely to experience an orgasm when making the beast with two backs, according to a revealing survey of 19,307 Australians. According to "Sexual Practices at Last Heterosexual Encounter and Occurrence of Orgasm in a National Survey", carried out by researchers from the UK's Sussex …

Science 25 Sep 2006, 09:51
Asus to update HD DVD laptop for Core 2 Duo

ATI's strained silicon GPU on board too

Asus is preparing to update its W2 mobile multimedia notebook, equipping the new machine not only with a range of Core 2 Duo mobile microprocessors but also ATI's new Mobility Radeon X1700 chip and an HD DVD drive with HDMI output. Called the W2P, the new machine builds on the W2J announced by Asus earlier this year. …

Hardware 25 Sep 2006, 10:02
Online pharmacies raided by UK regulator

'If you sell illegal medicines, we will stop you'

Healthcare regulators have raided a series of UK web businesses believed to be connected to the illegal offering of prescription drugs on the internet. The raids were carried out by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and involved police officers as well as MHRA staff. Raids were carried out in Essex …

Financial News 25 Sep 2006, 10:06
Google buckles in Belgian copyright wrangle

Waterloo for Google News in November

Google has finally complied with a court order that it must publish the judgment in a copyright case it lost against Belgian newspaper group Copiepress. The firm was facing a fine of €500,000 per day if it failed to make the ruling public. Despite this, Google said it would not play ball after it lost an appeal against the …

Financial News 25 Sep 2006, 10:25
Robin Hood actually Welsh, says American

You've come to Caerdydd once too often, Bran ap Brychan!

A US historian has upset the good burghers of Nottingham by claiming Robin Hood was actually Welsh, the Evening Standard reports. Stephen Lawhead, 59, reckons our dashing hero was really called Bran ap Brychan and led his merry men in the Marsh, "a primeval forest in Wales in the eleventh century". Bran is described as "a …

Bootnotes 25 Sep 2006, 10:31
Hubble survey yields clues to galaxy formation

Theorists probably right, after all

Astronomers have uncovered more than 500 previously unknown young galaxies in images of the early universe taken during the Hubble Space Telescope's ultra deep field survey, completed in 2004, and the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS), made in 2003. The young galaxies are approximately 13bn light years away, …

Science 25 Sep 2006, 10:41
Unofficial IE patch saves humanity

Third party, fire and theft

Security researchers have released a patch designed to protect users against an outstanding Internet Explorer vulnerability in the absence of available security updates from Microsoft. A new ad-hoc group of security pros, called the Zeroday Emergency Response Team (ZERT), has released an unofficial fix designed to address the …

Security 25 Sep 2006, 10:47
Bush tasks tech execs with rebuilding Lebanon

From Silicon Valley to Bekaa Valley

George Bush has unveiled his latest initiative to bring peace to the Middle East - despatching a pair of top notch Silicon Valley execs to advise war torn Lebanon on reconstruction. Bush has sent a presidential delegation to Beirut, Lebanon, with a brief to "visit areas affected by the recent conflict and to meet with Prime …

Financial News 25 Sep 2006, 10:47
Telecommuting space tourist soaks in the views

Despite queasy start

Anousheh Ansari said the trip up to the International Space Station (ISS) wasn't great fun, but that every moment since then has been fantastic. She described the first moment she saw Earth from the ISS as "beautiful and peaceful", something she would never forget. Ansari is the first official female space tourist (there is …

Science 25 Sep 2006, 10:48
How to stop exam cheating: put teenagers in cages

Stupid idea 101

A psychology professor has come up with a brilliant and practical plan to save Britain from the epidemic of technology-facilitated exam cheating which is jeopardising the economy and the moral fortitude of our youth. Professor Jean Underwood of Nottingham Trent University was commissioned by the Qualifications and Curriculum …

Mobile 25 Sep 2006, 10:50
Carphone Warehouse ships out to US

Goes West with Best Buy

Carphone Warehouse is set to try its luck in the US with the help of local chain Best Buy. The deal has two parts, according to reports. Firstly Carphone Warehouse will offer UK and European customers the chance to get technical support by offering a version of Best Buy's the Geek Squad service. CPW's recently launched …

Mobile 25 Sep 2006, 10:59
Elgato EyeTV Hybrid USB TV tuner for Mac

Review All you need to make a Mac a media centre?

There are plenty of compact, USB-connected TV tuner dongles for the PC but nowhere near so many for the Mac. Elgato's EyeTV Hybrid is to be welcomed then, not only by owners of portable Macs looking for a handy tuner but by anyone who wants to turn a Mac Mini into a DVR or a media centre system... As the gadget's name …

Hardware 25 Sep 2006, 11:02
One device or two? And who chooses?

Mobile Workshop Rounding it all up

One handset or two? That seems to be a major point of discussion in the quest to square the mobile device circle. On the one handset front it has traditionally been a choice between something like a full-on Windows Mobile PDA with all the toys, but which is therefore bulky and has a short battery life (translation, useless on …

Mobile 25 Sep 2006, 11:27
US outfit patents 'invisible' UAV

Stealth through persistence of vision

A US unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufacturer has been granted patents on an "invisible" surveillance platform which relies on persistence of vision to achieve stealth, Aviation Week & Space Technology reports. Minneapolis-based VeraTech Aero's "Phantom Sentinel" is a "single blade rotorcraft" offering "the ability to deliver …

Science 25 Sep 2006, 11:37
ID cards could cost less, minister says

Still horribly intrusive, though

A Home Office minister has said the cost of the proposed ID card could be dramatically reduced if the government used its existing databases as a foundation for the scheme. Liam Byrne, Minister of State, Immigration Citizenship and Nationality at the Home Office, was speaking at a fringe meeting at the Labour Conference in …

Security 25 Sep 2006, 13:01
Finnish court clarifies breast-fondling tariff

€2.5k per feel excessive, judge rules

Any reader who's been wondering quite what he or she might be charged for fondling a woman's breasts, will be delighted to learn that it won't be more than €2,500 a pop - in Finland at least. That's according to a court in Kokkola, which last week jailed for more than a year an unnamed couple in their twenties for "charging a …

Media 25 Sep 2006, 13:04
UK punters still falling for phishers

Gosh, this email looks official

UK punters are still failing to take basic precautions when banking online despite a wealth of available advice, according to a recent survey by banking association APACS. Although net users are aware of scams such as "phishing" and Trojan attacks, they remain complacent. APACS advises the estimated 15.7m people who regularly …

Security 25 Sep 2006, 13:09
Intel hypes WiMAX to the sky in Brazil

Column A man in a van would do

It is over five years since two LocustWorld staff set up a satellite van in a Yorkshire Dales village, and provided wireless internet to local users who couldn't get ADSL. And half a decade later, Intel took 60 employees, a satellite link, and a 300-foot WiMAX tower to achieve much the same thing. The story of how the WiMAX …

Mobile 25 Sep 2006, 13:20
Man saves laptop from battery blaze

Brave or foolhardy? You decide...

An HP notebook was left damaged but not destroyed last week when it became the latest laptop to suffer a battery meltdown - the hasty removal of the power cell prevented a notebook fire like the one that took out a Lenovo ThinkPad two weeks ago. This time the incendiary incident was captured on video. According to witnesses, …

Hardware 25 Sep 2006, 14:27
Telehouse felled by power outage

First time ever...since August

Telehouse - the supposedly bullet-proof hosting solution for ISPs - has suffered another embarrasing power outage, just over a month after the last one. Many corporate websites and some ISP services were unavailable on Sunday after power failed at Telehouse North. We received emails from readers saying hundreds of corporate …

Broadband 25 Sep 2006, 14:30
Breach Security steps in to UK

Thinking about a deal

Web security firm Breach Security has acquired UK-based Thinking, a provider of services and enhancements for the open source ModSecurity web application firewall, for an undisclosed amount. Breach said the deal, announced Monday, will allow it to bring together web application firewall and threat detection technology. It …

Security 25 Sep 2006, 14:37
Online shoppers want to be healthy

Just need a reminder

People will choose to eat healthily if given the option, researchers in Australia have found. An experiment involving 497 people shopping for groceries online found that, when prompted, people are very happy to swap an unhealthy food item for a lower fat alternative. During the course of the experiment, the average shopper …

Financial News 25 Sep 2006, 14:59
Nominet board candidate interviews

Podcast Who should run the UK internet registry?

Two spaces on the board of UK registry owner Nominet will be decided at the company's annual general meeting this Wednesday. All registered Nominet members are entitled to vote, although postal votes have to be with the company by today. We got in touch with each of the six candidates and asked them to explain why you should …

Financial News 25 Sep 2006, 15:01
Data analysis isn't dead

It ain't no good if it ain't got good data

Call me old-fashioned, but data is still pretty important. In most systems, if you feed bad data in you get bad data out (Garbage In, Garbage Out - GIGO). And if you analyse data structures and relationships, you can eliminate a lot of poor thinking before it goes live. If I know that one of these things is always, or never, …

Developer 25 Sep 2006, 15:19
Fujifilm lines up face-detecting compact camera

Spots mug, snaps it

Fujifilm's F31fd is the company's first compact digital camera equipped with the ability to spot faces in the frame then to focus in on them and set the right exposure accordingly. The gadget can cope with up to ten mugs at once, the company claimed. It's got anti-blur technology built in too, and is ready for low-light …

Hardware 25 Sep 2006, 15:40
Orange batphone comes home to roost

'Unique' converged offering

Orange today followed BT's lead in trying to flog a converged VoIP via Wi-Fi and mobile device to a so far non-plussed public. "Unique", as the service has been dubbed, launches in the UK, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and Poland with a trio of handsets: the Motorola A910, Nokia 6136, and the Samsung P200. The kit hits the …

Mobile 25 Sep 2006, 15:50
Cisco doubles switch ports

Claims perfect cost/performance storm

Cisco today took the dust sheets off some new high-end ethernet switching gear for data centres. The Catalyst 6500 series gets a new 8-port 10 Gigabit ethernet module, doubling the number of ports. Cisco claims the mod the boosts local switching performance by 60 per cent while trimming 30 per cent off the cost per port. Cisco …

Data Networking 25 Sep 2006, 15:54
Hackers target home users for cash

'It's war out there' says Symantec report

Consumers are now on the main target of malicious hackers intent on enriching themselves through the misery of others. Vulnerabilities in desktop applications and the increased use of stealth techniques are on the rise among members of the digital underground, according to the latest edition of Symantec's Internet Security …

Security 25 Sep 2006, 17:20
Could Capellas return to save HP?

Reg steps in for resigned CEO pickers

Should the worst/obvious happen, and Mark Hurd leaves HP, you have to wonder what type of shape the company will be in to pick another leader. The last time HP needed to hire a new CEO it relied on the services of Patricia Dunn, Jay Keyworth and Tom Perkins. The three then board members formed the very "screening team" that …

Financial News 25 Sep 2006, 19:55
Calif. court OKs suit against Nextel billing 'spam'

Millions at stake, but for whom?

A US consumer lobby group has won an appeal to sue Nextel over "text messages spam" sent to customers – three years ago. Last week, a California Court of Appeal overturned a lower court decision to block legal action against the cellco (now called Sprint Nextel) over alleged unfair billing practices. According to the …

Mobile 25 Sep 2006, 20:31
The Emperor's New AI

'It looks like you're trying to have a conversation with a computer. Can I help?'

In the early 1970s, no science show was complete without predictions of HAL-like intelligent autonomous computers by the turn of the century. The Japanese, fearing their industrial base would collapse without a response to this omniscient technology, poured hundreds of millions of dollars into their own AI project, called …

Science 25 Sep 2006, 21:14
AMD boycotts Intel

IDF Cancels hack hijack

The Intel Developer Forum, like having gas after eating beans, is one of those things that you can always count on. Twice a year, Intel's top executives spend a Monday before the show refining their gripping speeches. Their faces are primed to receive makeup. Their throats are lubricated with the finest teas Aramark can acquire …

Hardware 25 Sep 2006, 22:05
Seagate ships breast cancer benefit pocket drive

750GB DVR unit too

Seagate will donate ten per cent of the purchase price of a limited edition pink version of its Pocket Hard Drive external disk to US breast cancer charity the Komen Foundation, the storage company said today. It also said it has begun shipping a 750GB HDD for DVRs. The $109 pink Pocket Drive packs in 6GB of USB-connected …

Hardware 25 Sep 2006, 23:23
Buffalo readies 1.2GHz DDR 2 DIMM set

Can reach PC2-10000 level, retailer claims

Japanese memory retailer CFD has said Buffalo will soon ship DDR 2 memory modules clocked to a whopping 1.2GHz, claiming the parts can be set to run even faster: 1.25GHz for a PC2-10000 rating. Sold under the Firestix brand, the 1.2GHz - aka PC2-9600 - is available in two two-DIMM packs, on with a pair of 512MB modules, the …

Hardware 25 Sep 2006, 23:45