4th October 2006 Archive

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IBM price deal offered to Mercury and Borland users

Digs deep

IBM is making a play for customers troubled by the acquisition and spinout machinations of rivals Hewlett-Packard Co and Borland Software. IBM is today expected to announce it's offering IBM Rational Performance Tester along with 100 virtual tester licenses to organizations that purchase its Rational ClearQuest and Rational …

Developer 4 Oct 2006, 06:02
Mobile 'impulse downloading' plays live in the new year

DAB joins the digital music party

Mobile radio listeners will be able to download tracks as as they hear them from early next year. Radio production outfit UBC and Heart FM will roll out downloads via DAB in beta form this year, with a full commercial launch in Q1 2007. Each track, which cost £1.25 in the recent pilot project in Birmingham, comes as two WMA …

Mobile 4 Oct 2006, 06:02
Virus infections drop, spam on the up

Spam deluge eclipses virus email threat

The number of viruses hitting Irish inboxes has fallen but spam continues to rise, according to figures from IE Internet. The Irish email monitoring firm found that the rate of virus infection in the mails that it filtered for its customers fell to 11.65 per cent in September. This reverses the brief rise seen in August 2006, …

Security 4 Oct 2006, 08:19
Chip sales enjoy record growth in August

Hit $25bn

Global chip sales soared to $20.5bn in August, a new monthly record, according to data from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). This represents an increase of 10.5 per cent from the $18.6bn recorded in the same period a year earlier, and beats the previous record of $20.4bn set in November 2005. "Once again we saw …

reghardware 4 Oct 2006, 08:27
Been in a plane crash? The BBC can help

Top tips from Auntie

Those among you looking for some top tips on how to survive an air crash could do worse than consult the Beeb's handy guide. It's all good, common-sense stuff: adopt the brace position; count the seat rows from your seating position to the exit; and make sure you know how to undo your seatbelt. In the event that you don't walk …

Bootnotes 4 Oct 2006, 08:42
Council contains killer pear tree menace

Kids protected from 1lb fruit attack

Worcester council has moved with lightning speed to protect citizens from killer pear trees, The Sun reports. Officials cordoned off the pair of 30-ft arboreal assassins - which have stood in Cripplegate Park for 50 years - after "receiving a complaint the trees are a health hazard". The trees bear the black pear which is the …

Media 4 Oct 2006, 08:43
Google's Schmidt talks to the Tories

The nasty party listens to the ~~nice~~ nasty company

Eric Schmidt was welcomed to the Tory party conference in Bournemouth yesterday. Schmidt said he was a fundamental optimist. He explained the basics of the internet and search engines to the assembled blue-rinses. He banged the drum for open standards and criticised companies which try to "bet against the 'net". Schmidt said …

Data Networking 4 Oct 2006, 09:18
Oh my Word

Stob It looks like Verity's writing an article

Microsoft Office Word is a candidate for the world's favourite program, provided you accept BA's use of "favourite" as a synonym for "ubiquitous" (me neither). One app may bind them all, but its users come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Here is the Reg's kut-out-and-keep guide. Antiquary The Antiquary refuses to …

Verity Stob 4 Oct 2006, 09:42
PS3 overheating claim rattles investors

Tokyo Game Show booth to blame?

Sony's demo PlayStation 3 consoles on display at last month's Tokyo Games Show were plagued by numerous reset-requiring crashes, it has been alleged. The claim has prompted fears the machine may not be ready for prime-time when it ships into the US and Japan later this year. The allegation was made Macquarie Equities analyst …

reghardware 4 Oct 2006, 09:53
T-Mobile offers coverage checks

Do you live in a dead zone?

T-Mobile has today extended its Street Check service to instore facilities, allowing staff to ensure that a customer will be able to get decent coverage before buying a phone. The service has been available on the T-Mobile website for a while, and to customer service staff since early this year, but now staff in shops will also …

Mobile 4 Oct 2006, 09:55
Third A380 delay tests airlines' patience

Wiring woes will cost Airbus dear

The patience of airlines waiting to get their hands on the Airbus A380 is beginning to wear thin following an announcement yesterday that just one example of the "Superjumbo" would be delivered in 2007, as opposed to the nine previously promised by Airbus parent company EADS. The EADS press release states: "According to this …

Science 4 Oct 2006, 10:06
Intel likely to face EC charges

Sources say...

The European Competition Commission is likely to press formal charges against chip giant Intel. Intel is accused of abusing its dominant position and offering rebates which effectively kept rival AMD out of certain markets. Intel is further accused of predatory pricing. The commission has been looking at Intel for six years, …

Financial News 4 Oct 2006, 10:33
Hormel loses bid for spam trademark

Case canned

The company behind spicy luncheon meat SPAM has failed in an attempt to register Europe-wide trademarks asserting its right over the term "spam" in relation to unsolicited bulk email. Hormel applied to the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) for the trademarks but was unsuccessful. It appealed the original …

Media 4 Oct 2006, 10:39
Creative pitches MP3-enhancing sound dongle

Xmod makes compressed audio sound better than CD. Allegedly

Creative yesterday said it plans to offer an external sound module incorporating its X-Fi audio enhancement system, a technology it claims can make even lossy compressed audio formats like MP3 and AAC sound better than the CDs they were ripped from - and, indeed, the studios they were recorded in. Dubbed the Xmod, the …

reghardware 4 Oct 2006, 10:41
Admin password security 'abysmal'

Static passwords expose 'keys to the kingdom' says survey

Half of all enterprises have more administrative passwords than those attached to ordinary user accounts. Many (42 per cent) of these privileged passwords are never changed, according to a survey. Cyber-Ark Software's Enterprise Privileged Password Survey looked at the use of privileged or administrative (super-user) passwords …

Security 4 Oct 2006, 10:44
Sell your personal data and receive tax cuts

Bracknell Forest head lobbies for data sharing incentive

The leader of Bracknell Forest BC has suggested people who allow their data to be sold to marketing firms could receive council tax cuts. Paul Bettison told a Conservative party conference fringe meeting that the information from the council's smartcard system could be sold if controls on government databases were loosened. " …

Security 4 Oct 2006, 10:53
Dr Who Tardis on eBay

Tech Digest And other assorted gadgets and goodies

From the makers of Tech Digest, Shiny Shiny, eBay blog Bayraider and the cool new blog for blokes Brandish. Dr Who Tardis on eBay Now here's a replica item I could happily mortgage my granny for. It's a replica police box made by a professional carpenter (i.e. it stands up straight and doesn't have nails poking out of the …

Media 4 Oct 2006, 11:02
HP whips out its Bulgarian airbags

Dutch printer promotion merriment

HP is currently running a campaign in the Netherlands to tempt punters to trade in their old printer for a new, shiny model. As is the local custom, it's set up a website which, among other things, calculates the value of your old machine. As our informant Edwin explains, point your browser here and hit "TAXEER ZELF": For …

Media 4 Oct 2006, 11:03
IO Data reveals second Nvidia GPU with HDCP

PureVideo HD now on the GeForce 7600 GS

Japanese add-in maker IO Data will this month ship an graphics card based on Nvidia's GeForce 7600 GS, this time with support for the HDCP anti-piracy technology. Alas, there's no HDMI connector to go with it. That said, the passively cooled GA-7600GSH2 card does provide an HDMI-compatible DVI port, along with standard VGA …

reghardware 4 Oct 2006, 11:04
Logitech turns wireless stereo 'phones up to 11

Bluetooth 2.0 based and iPod-friendly

Logitech will this month ship its second-generation Bluetooth-based wireless stereo headphones in the UK, the mouse maker announced this week and pitching the redesigned set not only at owners of iPods or other MP3 players, but also at computer users. Now dubbed the FreePulse, the 60g headphones weigh half as much as their …

reghardware 4 Oct 2006, 11:30
PC World wants to take over your living room

Media Center hit squads fan out

PC World will roll out its Connected Home service to seven stores between now and Christmas as it looks to capitalise on consumers’ insatiable appetite for high-end, bowel-looseningly loud home media systems. The “Digital Lifestyle” stores-within-stores are staffed by elite sales people who have to undergo a five week full …

The Channel 4 Oct 2006, 11:44
Fujitsu wants 287,000 Sony batteries back

Global recall total pushes past 7.6m

Fujitsu has become the latest notebook computer manufacturer to ask its customers to send back batteries made by Sony. Acer may be about to do the same. Fujitsu today said it was recalling 287,000 Sony-made notebook batteries, Reuters reports. That's in addition to the 4.2m being recalled by Dell, 1.8m by Apple, 830,000 by …

reghardware 4 Oct 2006, 12:00
Digital music awards honours MySpace influence

Reg goes ligging Record industry: 'Will you be our friend?'

Trendy Camden venue...check. Silly haircuts and spectacles...check, check. Suspiciously long queue for the disabled toilets...check. Lots of bellowing about how great everything is...MASSIVE CHECK. The BT Digital Music Awards last night had every hallmark of a self-congratulatory wonkfest, but something wasn't quite right; …

Media 4 Oct 2006, 12:19
USB hamster wheel targets keyboard hammerers

True to typing

What can we say that the headline doesn't? It's a hamster wheel. It connects to a spare USB port. Plug it and and watch that furry sucker run for dear life. Round and round. The clever bit - Hammy matches his pace to your typing speed. The faster your fingers, the quicker the hamster's pace. In short, we have at long last a …

reghardware 4 Oct 2006, 12:22
Convergence: How far you gonna go?

Reg Reader Poll

There have been various announcements coming out of the communications industry lately from services providers offering to sell us core complete packages that solve more of our communication needs. We are talking here about services that bring together various elements of voice, data, fixed, wireless, and so on. But how much …

Mobile 4 Oct 2006, 12:25
Russian bookmaker hackers jailed for eight years

Losing wager

Three Russian hackers convicted of running denial of service attacks against UK bookies have each been sentenced to eight years imprisonment and fined $3,700. Ivan Maksakov of Balakovo, Alexander Petrov of Astrakhan, and Denis Stepanov of St Petersburg extorted up to $4m from online bookmakers and casinos in the UK alone prior …

Security 4 Oct 2006, 12:41
Russians turn off vodka smuggling pipeline

Mile-long tube carried moonshine to Latvia

Russian customs officers have unearthed a mile-long pipeline through which ingenious smugglers were pumping home-made vodka to Latvia, Ananova reports. The tube was discovered six feet underground in Buholovo by workmen digging holes to plant trees. Local border cop Yakov Kabanov said: "We had our suspicions that there was …

Bootnotes 4 Oct 2006, 12:42
Mobile telly is different

Not just another channel for broadcasters

Traditional broadcasters need to understand that mobile TV is not just another channel but must be used differently if they are to get to grips with the new market. Content will either have to be re-purposed for mobile or created specifically for mobile phones to be successful, according to Logica content and media VP Richard …

Mobile 4 Oct 2006, 13:20
Broadcast treaty needs sounding out, says WIPO

Tech companies breathe sigh of relief...for now

A controversial broadcast copyright treaty opposed by podcasters and internet broadcasters has been dealt a blow by the General Assembly of the body behind it. The World Intellectual Property Organisation's (WIPO) ruling body, the General Assembly, has rejected a proposal by a copyright committee to send the proposal straight …

Media 4 Oct 2006, 13:32
O2 changes Ts&Cs to allow call data sharing

And T-Mobile releases movement tracking report

O2 has changed its terms and conditions to allow it to share "...the date, duration, time and cost of such communications and the location of your mobile phone". O2 will be sharing this information with credit companies, other telecommunications companies, and debt collectors "...for the purposes of operating your account and …

Mobile 4 Oct 2006, 13:33
Supermicro PDSBA G965-based mobo

Review Intel's latest integrated chipset arrives

Intel's G965 chipset has finally arrived, and the perhaps unlikely mobo maker to have the first product based on it is Supermicro, better known for its server boards. The rather un-fetchingly named PDSBA is also Supermicro's first Core 2 Duo-enabled motherboard. It's also the first mobo we've come across that doesn't support IDE …

reghardware 4 Oct 2006, 13:35
Nicaragua to dig Atlantic-Pacific canal

$18bn, 12-year project

Nicaraguan president Enrique Bolaños has called for international backing for a Nicargua canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific which, he says, is "needed for the rise in world shipping". Speaking to Western defence ministers in Managua, Bolaños said: "The galloping increase in world business demands another canal in addition …

Science 4 Oct 2006, 13:52
IBM makes mainframes simpler

No more propeller heads in white coats

Big Blue has announced a five year plan for making mainframes easier to use. IBM is spending $100m over the next five years to make mainframe computers easier to programme and manage and to more fully automate how applications are developed and deployed. The big boxes are used by large companies to run directory services and …

Servers 4 Oct 2006, 14:21
Lightning destroys evidence in Swedish file sharing case

Divine verdict on P2P?

Swedish authorities have dropped the charges they brought against the Karlskrona (Sweden) municipality head of culture, who last year openly admitted to file sharing and encouraged others to follow. The decision suggests a divine judgement on the thorny issue of file-sharing - his computer was struck by lightning and cannot be …

Media 4 Oct 2006, 14:38
Forensics wield new DNA weapon

DNAboost to cold cases

The Forensic Science Service (FSS) is piloting a DNA technique it says could lead to countless unsolved criminal investigations being reopened. The technique has already been useful in current investigations numbering in double figures, The Register has learned. DNAboost is a piece of software which it's hoped will help …

Science 4 Oct 2006, 14:55
D-Link preps GSM/Wi-Fi network-hopping handset

Ready for pre-pay arena

D-Link will ship its first dual-mode mobile phone next year, the networking kit company announced this week. The handset, called the V-Click, combines tri-band GSM/GPRS cellular connectivity with Wi-Fi access. D-Link's pitch for the $600 handset is that users will run it as a standard pay-as-you-go GSM phone most of the …

reghardware 4 Oct 2006, 14:59
Skype patches Mac OS X flaw

Calling out for an update

Skype has released an update for its Mac software following the discovery of a security vulnerability that created a means to compromise Apple PCs running the popular IP telephony application. The security bug stems from a format string error in the Skype URI handler. The flaw creates a potential means for hackers to create a …

VoIP 4 Oct 2006, 15:01
Chemistry Nobel goes to Stanford DNA man

Lives up to Dad

A Stanford structural biologist has followed in his father's footsteps by bagging a Nobel Prize. Roger Kornberg was awarded the medal today for his work revealing some of the molecular jiggery-pokery which turns information held by DNA into functioning proteins. In a cell, DNA is first copied to close chemical cousin RNA, which …

Science 4 Oct 2006, 15:38
Two arrested in internet arms sales investigation

Click here for shooters...

Two men have been arrested after more than 40 police officers raided two addresses in Kent early this morning. Police were supported by officials from the Ministry of Defence. A 61-year old man was arrested in Darland Avenue, Gillingham, and a 40-year old was held in Chestnut Street, near Sittingbourne. Both are suspected of …

Media 4 Oct 2006, 15:48
HP hunts for printer consultants

The very image of success

HP is putting its mouth where its money is by offering 2,300 of its key account customers a printer consultancy service. Bruce Dahlgren, senior vice president of worldwide enterprise sales for HP's imaging and printing group, said the company will officially launch the service next year and is currently hiring account managers …

The Channel 4 Oct 2006, 15:53
Social networkers risk losing their identities

Beware Web 2.0 conmen and malware

Many adult users of social network sites such as MySpace and Facebook expose themselves to risk from identity thieves and hackers, according to a new US study. The focus of concerns over social networking sites has so far focused on incidents where online predators have used the sites to "groom" potential child victims for …

Security 4 Oct 2006, 16:22
VMware does 64-bits in full

Refines upgrade path

VMware has embraced the world of 64-bit computing via a pair of point releases to its flagship products. The company this week delivered word that ESX Server 3.0.1 and VirtualCenter 2.0.1 add full 64-bit OS support to the server virtualization wares. All told, VMware now supports 64-bit flavors of Red Hat, SuSE, Windows and …

Servers 4 Oct 2006, 17:03
Ex-IBMer to direct Red Hat's US channel

Thinks blue thoughts

Red Hat has brought in some big-blue muscle power in a strategy to expand and consolidate its worldwide channel. The Linux distro on Wednesday named 25-year IBM veteran Mark Enzweiler as vice president for North American channel sales. Enzweiler recently served as vice president of global channel strategy and sales for Lenovo, …

The Channel 4 Oct 2006, 18:35
Serena snaffles Pacific Edge

Managing software from conception to death

“There have not been good ways to manage (applications) change across the enterprise. It is still usually managed within individual silos and individual changes are usually made using different tools, which means that changes can clash with each other.” So said Serena president and CEO, Mark Woodward, while in London last week …

Developer 4 Oct 2006, 18:42
Microsoft keelhauls customers in WGA snafu

What hope then for Vista toughness?

Some, or maybe many, Microsoft volume license customers were told on Monday and Tuesday that their PCs were running pirated software. In a post today on the company forums, Microsoft staffer Phil Chui blamed the cock-up over Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) validation on "an issue on the Microsoft server side". Microsoft is …

Operating Systems 4 Oct 2006, 18:51
Skype founders turn on net TV service

Never, ever leave your sofa again

Those guys behind Kazaa and Skype have started accepting signups for a peer to peer video streaming service they say will deliver high quality full screen TV across the net. The Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom-backed Venice Project is in internal beta, and should be going to public beta soon. Viewers should be able to watch, …

Broadband 4 Oct 2006, 18:58
European Central Bank wants EU protection from US

Denies responsibility for past intrusions

The European Central Bank has put its weight behind transatlantic talks that the EU hopes will secure the privacy of European citizens from the prying eyes of US anti-terrorist investigators. Jean-Claude Trichet, ECB president, declared his support for the talks at a European Parliament hearing, after being pressed by MEPs to …

Media 4 Oct 2006, 19:00
HP spent at least $375,000 on self-destruction

How to wreck an IT giant for under $1m

Recovering stolen laptops from Italy - $9,668. Consulting an investigative reporter - $7,312. Having a spy scandal erase decades of hard work building up your reputation, while eroding your board of directors and forcing your CEO to testify in front of Congress - priceless. Or rather about $375,000. Close watchers of the HP spy …

Financial News 4 Oct 2006, 19:02
Calif. to indict Dunn, four more over HP spy scandal

Hunsaker also on list

Patricia Dunn, the former chairman of HP, and four others are to face charges over The great HP Pretexting Fiasco. The New York Times, which appears to have had a sneak preview of the rap sheet, says that Dunn is to be indicted today along with HP's former ethics chief, Kevin Hunsaker, and three men accused of doing HP's dirty …

Financial News 4 Oct 2006, 19:42
EMC sweetens Office 2007

Office as a Window

EMC is cosying up to Microsoft - or is it the other way around? The pair have ensured that as yet unlaunched Office 2007 and SharePoint Server 2007 can natively access EMC's Documentum ECM software. The tools from EMC will enable Microsoft users to archive content manually or automatically from SharePoint to Documentum, while …

Storage 4 Oct 2006, 21:55
Reprieve for Ireland's Smart Telecom customers

Switch back

The 45,000 disconnected Smart Telecom customers should have some phone services returned within three days following 'intensive discussions' between Eircom and telecoms regulator ComReg. Smart Telecom subscribers should soon be able to make local, national and emergency calls after infrastructure owner Eircom, who denied Smart …

Broadband 4 Oct 2006, 22:13
Apple options review claims Anderson's scalp

Current management get clean bill of health

The fall-out over the All-American Stock Options Scam continues, with Apple's former chief financial officer, Fred Anderson, resigning today from the board. He told the company that he thought it was in Apple's best interests that he should go, in the wake of the publication of the findings of the firm's investigation into …

Financial News 4 Oct 2006, 23:26