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28th September 2006 Archive

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  • Sun purchase fuels need for speed

    Identity and access managed

    Sun Microsystems has become the latest infrastructure provider to express its love for smaller software partners in the form of an acquisition. Sun is purchasing Neogent, a reseller of Sun's Java System Identity Access Management suite that Neogent claims it can get up and running in 45 days using a pre-integrated software …

    Applications 28 Sep 2006, 08:31

  • Mars rover arrives at 'treasure trove' crater

    Opportunity meets Victoria

    NASA's Rover Opportunity, currently traipsing across the surface of Mars, has arrived at the rim of the Victoria Crater, a gash in the planet's surface over half a mile wide and 230 feet deep. The rover has been heading for the crater for more than half its time on the planet. Its journey as been interrupted by "frequent stops …

    Space 28 Sep 2006, 08:33

  • Shops must use RFID with care

    Information Commissioner checks it out

    Shops which use RFID tags and CCTV cameras must tell shoppers every time an RFID tag is used and must tell shoppers how to remove them. The order comes in guidelines produced by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). RFID (radio frequency identification) tags are used for inventory management in many shops but are …

    Music and Media 28 Sep 2006, 08:52

  • Wi-Fi service breaches ISP conditions

    Fon and games

    A router designed to share broadband internet connections with third parties appears to break the terms and conditions of seven of the top 10 UK internet service providers. Fon.com offers Wi-Fi routers for as little as €5 and encourages connection sharing in a bid to build a Wi-Fi community, but its policies could put users at …

    Data Networking 28 Sep 2006, 09:03

  • Germany menaced by 50m insect

    Mutant earwig rampages across Google Earth

    Sharp-eyed Google Earth monitors have this morning alerted Vulture Central to the threat posed to humanity by a giant earwig which is as we speak rampaging its way across the German countryside: Make no mistake, this is the mother of all earwigs, advancing southwestwards towards the sleepy hamlet of Arlesberg (off picture, …

    Music and Media 28 Sep 2006, 09:06

  • HP's Dunn takes defence to Washington

    Not Dunn arguing

    Patricia Dunn, the recently ex-chairman of HP, is to appear before a Congressional committee later today to defend her actions in spying on board members and journalists. She insists that other board members were aware of what was going on and that sorting out HP's divided and "famously leaky board" was a main priority when she …

    Financial News 28 Sep 2006, 09:28

  • Ebuyer.com slashes coding teams

    Byes Ebuy

    British online computer retailer Ebuyer.com has made job cuts in a bid to increase its efficiency against bigger competitors like Amazon and Tesco. The Register understands the firm's entire next generation development team have been given the heave-ho, with one month's notice. Also cut were the entire quality assurance team …

    Channel Register 28 Sep 2006, 09:41

  • Naomi Campbell in NY court no-show

    WSA Narrowly avoids arrest warrant

    Battling supermodel Naomi Campbell narrowly avoided becoming the subject of an international dragnet yesterday after failing to show at a New York court on a charge of assaulting her housekeeper with a mobile phone. According to Yahoo!, Manhattan Criminal Court Judge James Gibbon issued a bench warrant for Campbell's arrest, …

    Entertainment 28 Sep 2006, 09:58

  • The No Fluff Just Stuff 2006 Anthology

    A great book for Java geeks

    The No Fluff Just Stuff (NFJS) symposia have achieved a reputation for providing the geekiest content to its developer audiences. Primarily focused on Java and open source technologies, the symposia major on delivering sessions devoted to leading edge technologies presented by the leading practitioners. Audiences are …

    Developer 28 Sep 2006, 10:20

  • Accenture heads for NHS exit

    Contracts squeezed them out

    Accenture is reported to have been finalising negotiations to hand two much maligned NHS contracts worth more than £2bn over to rival CSC. Accenture was reported to be in talks last night to work out how much it should be paid by the UK's National Health Service for work it had already done since it signed contracts in 2003 …

    Channel Register 28 Sep 2006, 10:43

  • Verizon expands private network

    Brief Six countries added

    Verizon is extending ethernet access to its private IP network to business customers in six more countries. Enterprise customers in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Poland and Spain can now all access the network. This brings the total to 16 countries in Europe as well as seven in Asia and in the US. Access is also available …

    Data Networking 28 Sep 2006, 11:05

  • Sony Ericsson and Fossil launch Bluetooth watches

    How about a snazzy name next time?

    Today Sony Ericsson announced its MBW-100 Bluetooth 2.0 watch which it has developed together with Fossil. The watch features analogue dials and a small OLED screen. With the MBW-100 you can accept incoming calls and control the MP3 playback features of your Sony Ericsson Bluetooth-equipped mobile phone. The MBW-100 …

    Reg Hardware 28 Sep 2006, 11:07

  • Nominet election shambles sparks call for re-vote

    Candidates complaining

    Prospective board candidates for UK registry Nominet have called for a re-run of the election - just hours after the ballot closed and before the votes have even been counted. Andrew Bennett and Angus Hanton are among six up for the two non-executive positions at the company that runs all .uk internet domain names and have …

    Financial News 28 Sep 2006, 11:47

  • The day the rat entrails mystery was solved

    Ionian blog Table dancing around the Greek islands

    Today was the day I tried the web-cam over satellite. It was also the day the "rat's entrails" fight came to a head. On balance, I think I came out ahead of the cook. The idea of running a web-cam over a satellite was a misunderstanding. It does work! - but not using the setup we have out here in the South Ionian sea on this …

    Data Networking 28 Sep 2006, 11:55

  • P2P radio goes mobile

    But Windows only, for now

    Popular P2P music sharing service Mercora has released a client for mobile devices. Mercora allows members to play each other their own songs and playlists across the network - it's legal, and royalties are collected and distributed to rights holders. Mercora dropped its subscription fee last year in favour of a revenue stream …

    Mobile 28 Sep 2006, 11:57

  • Jajah brings VoIP to mobiles

    Just like iSkoot, only with a business model too

    Jajah has launched a UK service offering cut-price mobile phone calls, by routing most of the call over the internet using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology. The idea of dialling a local number and from there being routed cheaply around the world is not new, and there are several companies who have been operating …

    Mobile 28 Sep 2006, 12:10

  • UK banking websites' security slammed

    Frame spoof vulnerabilities rife, warns Heise

    Several major UK bank websites are subject to security flaws that make it easier for phishing fraudsters to craft more convincing scams, according to a study by Heise Security, a UK arm of the German firm behind c't magazine and German IT portal Heise Online. Two major banks (NatWest and USB) improved the security of their …

    ID 28 Sep 2006, 12:17

  • Hitachi reseller cull leaves vacancies

    Mounting mid-market storage assault

    Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) is seeking a couple of new resellers to complete its squad to attack the mid-range storage market. The firm has chopped around 15 UK partners in the last 14 months, and now has 38. Despite this, UK channel director Andrew Fitzgerald claims revenue growth of 17 per cent. In the past, large-scale …

    Channel Register 28 Sep 2006, 12:36

  • More Wi-Fi demanded in T-Mobile poll

    We all love Wi-Fi

    A survey of 253 Wi-Fi users by polling company YouGov has discovered that users would like more hotspots in more locations: half of them want Wi-Fi-equipped trains and a quarter want access on the tube, though with 86 per cent of them using laptops it's not clear how useful such connectivity would be during rush hour. Slightly …

    Wireless 28 Sep 2006, 12:37

  • Astronomers ID hottest ever extra solar planets

    Pack high factor sun cream

    Scottish astronomers working on a new wide-field survey of the sky have identified two new extra-solar planets in the constellations of Andromeda and Delphinius. The planets have been dubbed Wasp-1a and Wasp-1b. The planets are about the same size as Jupiter, but their orbits lie mere millions of kilometres from their stars, …

    Space 28 Sep 2006, 12:44

  • Skype on Symbian 'is challenging', CEO says

    Technical hurdles

    Putting Skype onto a Symbian phone has proved more difficult than had been hoped, according to an interview given by co-founder and chief executive Niklas Zennstrom to a Finnish newspaper, as reported by Yahoo! News. "When we begun developing the mobile phone version we didn't realise the number of technical obstacles. It is …

    Mobile 28 Sep 2006, 12:57

  • Accenture NHS exit confirmed

    CSC takes over contracts worth £2bn

    Connecting for Health, the UK government agency running the £12.5bn National Programme for IT, has confirmed that two of its five main regional contracts are to change hands. Accenture, which holds the NHS contracts to supply the National Programme systems to the North East and Eastern regional health clusters, has conceded …

    Channel Register 28 Sep 2006, 13:12

  • Morse boardroom shuffle detailed

    New divisions mean new board

    Morse has updated the Stock Exchange on the results of its restructure - announced when the company published its preliminary results. The group's activities will be divided into two businesses - Core Morse and Monitise - overseen by a holding company. The group board will be headed up by non-exec chairman Richard Lapthorne …

    Channel Register 28 Sep 2006, 13:53

  • Intel to intro first four-core, one-die CPU in H2 07?

    IDF 'Yorkfield' back on roadmap

    Intel's first monolithic quad-core processor will ship in H2 2007, a variety of reports from Asia citing Taiwanese motherboard maker sources have claimed. The part, codenamed 'Yorkfield', will have four cores stamped on a single die of silicon, what AMD likes to call a "native quad-core" part. By that definition, Intel's …

    Reg Hardware 28 Sep 2006, 14:21

  • Microsoft names US Xbox 360 HD DVD drive debut date

    And Peter Jackson planning more Halo games

    Microsoft will ship the eagerly awaited external HD DVD drive for its Xbox 360 console into the US mid-November, the software giant has announced. The drive will set console owners back $200 and bundle the 2005 King Kong remake. Speaking of which, its director, Peter 'Lord of the Rings' Jackson, is behind the Halo movie. This …

    Reg Hardware 28 Sep 2006, 14:36

  • UK's worst spammer loses appeal

    Knocked back

    The UK's biggest spammer, convicted on a variety of charges ranging from fraud and blackmail to making threats to kill and sentenced to six years imprisonment, has failed in an appeal court bid to quash two of his convictions. Peter Francis-Macrae, 24, of St Neots, Cambs, argued that two of his convictions - involving …

    Spam 28 Sep 2006, 14:49

  • China test fires fusion reactor

    'First of its kind in the world'

    China today carried out its first successful test of a fusion reactor, Reuters reports. Details are vague, but scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Hefei told news agency Xinhua that "deuterium and tritium atoms had been fused together at a temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius for nearly three seconds". The …

    Physics 28 Sep 2006, 14:51

  • UK air passengers feel safer

    Security theatre reassures

    The first major survey into passenger feelings since the alleged "liquid bomb" plotters were arrested reveals the famous stiff upper lip is alive and well among UK air passengers. Some 5,700 passengers were surveyed before and after the publicising of August's alleged liquid bomb plot. Despite the changes in security procedures …

    Music and Media 28 Sep 2006, 14:53

  • Another day, another zero-day MS exploit

    PowerPoint threat to PCs and Macs

    Business users are being encouraged to be more cautious when opening PowerPoint files following the discovery of an as yet unpatched flaw in Microsoft's office application. Attackers might take advantage of the flaw to run hostile code on either Windows or Mac computers running various versions of the application. The security …

    Applications 28 Sep 2006, 15:43

  • Samsung serves up six-channel media phone

    It's a PDA too, maker boasts

    Samsung has announced a 1.9cm thick slider handset that not only packs in phone and PDA functionality, but also manages to squeeze in Wi-Fi, digital TV reception and 5.1-channel audio. Samsung's calling the handset the FX, though it also goes by the model numbers SPH-M4500 and SCH-M450, depending on which South Korean carrier …

    Reg Hardware 28 Sep 2006, 15:46

  • BenQ says 'adieu' to its European mobile phone business

    3,000 jobs axed

    BenQ's mobile phone business - the former Siemens division BenQ took over less than a year ago for €250m - is facing imminent collapse. A spokesman for BenQ Mobile GmbH says the company will file for bankruptcy in the next few days as BenQ's board has decided to discontinue funding the German unit. At least 3,000 jobs in …

    Mobile 28 Sep 2006, 15:49

  • Gartner warns of environmental power struggles

    Switch the lights off as you leave

    Analyst house Gartner is warning technology bosses to take the twin issues of pollution and energy consumption seriously, because policy makers are starting to pay serious attention. Gartner research vice president Rakesh Kumar says, in both the US and the EU, legislation that will penalise organisations with large data centres …

    Servers 28 Sep 2006, 15:53

  • Paoga boosts your 'self-worth'

    You're being traded anyway, so get a piece of the action

    It may be over a year since Vulture Central mentioned Paoga and it may only just be approaching launching an open Beta Test programme that anyone can sign up to – and you can here - but the reason for founder, Graham Sadd, starting the business remains. What has changed is pinpointing why potential users should be interested. …

    Developer 28 Sep 2006, 16:03

  • Accenture: NHS failure is 'track record for success'

    While Granger juggles apples and pears

    The company that gave up two failing NHS contracts today tried to paper over the cracks and claimed it had all been a roaring success. After months of negotiations, Accenture handed contracts worth £2bn over to rival Computer Sciences Corporation after getting paid just £110m for spending a third of the allotted 10 years on …

    Channel Register 28 Sep 2006, 16:19

  • Attempt to sneak anti-gambling bill into US law fails

    Under the Wire

    An attempt to sneak a US bill banning online gambling into law has run into trouble. Supporters of the bill had attempted to attach the bill to a defence bill being passed this week, but the move has been blocked by the Armed Services Committee. The Bush administration and the Department of Justice are keen to pass a new law …

    Financial News 28 Sep 2006, 18:15

  • US violated world's privacy with secret SWIFT checks

    SWIFT breaks EU law to comply with US law

    The US Treasury's Terrorist Finance Tracking programme had violated the privacy of up to 7,800 international financial institutions in its secret trawl through financial records held by the Belgian firm SWIFT. The Belgian data protection registrar declared today that the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial …

    Music and Media 28 Sep 2006, 18:22

  • 'Upgrade' equals 'SOA-enabled'

    You may not want it, but you’ll get it

    To lunch with Willie Fitzpatrick, EMEA vice president of Amberpoint. Given the company’s interest in SOA management software, that being its major sector of operation, he raised an interesting issue that could well affect many developers and users – namely that they may find SOA infrastructure capabilities thrust upon them, …

    Developer 28 Sep 2006, 18:24

  • PayPal pays off AGs over Ts & Cs

    Less backward in coming forward

    PayPal today promised to treat its US customers a little better and to pay $1.7m for the costs of a States investigaton into its terms and conditions. The eBay-owned internet payments service has agreed with the Attorneys General of 28 states to shorten its user agreement and be less backwards in coming forward over its …

    Financial News 28 Sep 2006, 19:04

  • HP's top lawyer leaves job, holds tongue

    Bleeds HP blue

    Career in "ruin," HP's general counsel Ann Baskins fled the company last night with an exit package potentially worth well over $4m. Some of the blame for HP's mishandling of its spy probe has been thrust on Baskins over the past week. The HP veteran has been portrayed as having ongoing knowledge of the leak probe that involved …

    Financial News 28 Sep 2006, 19:08

  • Naiveté of HP's Dunn inspires religious moment

    Congressman moved by ignorance

    Hailed as a savvy business executive, former HP Chairman Patricia Dunn has come off as not terribly bright, during testimony today in front of a congressional subcommittee. That is at least if you take Dunn at her word – given under oath. HP's now infamous investigative team told Dunn that techniques being used to obtain the …

    Financial News 28 Sep 2006, 20:09

  • Lenovo and IBM recall 500k+ batteries

    Curse of the fire-breathing Sonys

    Lenovo and IBM today issued a recall on notebook batteries sold with various ThinkPad models between February 2005 and September 2006. More than 500,000 units are affected - they are powered by the now notorious lithium-ion 'Zippo' batteries made by Sony, which have a nasty habit of exploding into flames. Last week, a Lenovo …

    Reg Hardware 28 Sep 2006, 21:43

  • Microsoft matches Apple with Zune pricing

    Tune for tune

    Microsoft is to retail Zune, its first digital music player, at the same price as feature-equivalent iPods. Microsoft today reveal a 30Gb Zune device will be priced $249.99 compared to a 30Gb iPod that is priced $249.00. Songs for Microsoft's player will start at just under a dollar - just like individual tracks on iTunes. …

    Mobile 28 Sep 2006, 21:53

  • Creatives slam British Council copyright report

    We don't just do this for charity, y'know

    A British Council study into the creative industries is receiving a chilly reception from the group the Council was set out to promote - British creative industries. The book, entitled Unbounded Freedom, is launched tomorrow with a public discussion event hosted by the Council, funded by the Foreign Office to promote British …

    Music and Media 28 Sep 2006, 21:58

  • 'We will make more mistakes,' promises HP's CEO

    Crafty plan for more promotions

    Close to six hours of Congressional testimony today failed to reveal much more in the way of specifics around the HP spy scandal. The marathon session, however, did make clear who has been set up to take the blame for the mess and who is ducking for cover. Former HP employees - general counsel Ann Baskins, senior counsel …

    Financial News 28 Sep 2006, 23:46