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6th November 2006 Archive

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  • MS and Novell: the end of a good feud

    Comment Proceed with caution

    And so, last week, “Microsoft Corp. and Novell Inc. ... announced a set of broad business and technical collaboration agreements to build, market and support a series of new solutions to make Novell and Microsoft products work better together. The two companies also announced an agreement to provide each other’s customers with …

    Developer 6 Nov 2006, 06:05

  • VMWare plays Lab Manager

    Virtualisation slashes development times

    One of the oft-quoted advantages of virtualisation is the re-use of existing server resources, a capability which need not just apply to servers working in a production environment. As virtualisation software specialist, VMware, has come realise the same capabilities apply just as well to applications development, which is …

    Servers 6 Nov 2006, 06:28

  • Wireless USB 'may slow Bluetooth growth'

    Shouldn't that be the other way around?

    Growth in Bluetooth has been spectacular, and will continue to expand, says analyst Fiona Thomson at IMS Research - but though its growth is assured, there is a question mark over just how far it can expand. The cloud over its future is Wireless USB. Thomson's report, being sent to Bluetooth Special Interest Group members, …

    Mobile 6 Nov 2006, 08:02

  • DWP computers 'unreliable'

    55 different telephone numbers

    Staff performance at Department for Work and Pensions' contact centres is being damaged by problems with computer systems, says the Delivering effective services through contact centres report from MPs on the public accounts committee, published last week. Contact centre employees have to use a number of different systems …

    Public Sector 6 Nov 2006, 08:02

  • Patients can't stop medical records upload

    Privacy not a medical necessity in UK

    Up to 50 million health records will be placed on Britain's new NHS IT system with or without patients' consent, a report has claimed. The Guardian newspaper said that patients will not be allowed to object to information being loaded on to the system. The newspaper also claims that the system could make medical information …

    Public Sector 6 Nov 2006, 09:18

  • Software bad across the board

    Fortify talks application security

    The security problems that hit the headlines are those in web browsers and operating systems, but application security is in many cases a bigger risk. I spoke to Mike Armistead (vice president, products) at Fortify Software, specialists in software security solutions, takes a far broader view of where the risks lie. "Most of …

    Developer 6 Nov 2006, 09:47

  • WirelessHD's 60GHz platform could spark standards war

    Destructive power struggle

    Six of the world’s biggest consumer electronics companies - Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, Toshiba, NEC and LG Electronics - have turned the short range connectivity world on its head, in forming the WirelessHD (WiHD) special interest group, which will settle on license-free 60GHz spectrum for connecting entertainment devices in the …

    Mobile 6 Nov 2006, 10:21

  • Motorola speeds open source momentum with Apache

    Fighting fragmentation

    The biggest obstacle in Java's path to becoming the dominant software architecture for mobile phones has been its fragmentation - both in terms of technical features and the various licensing schemes adopted by its early exponents. The past two years have seen the handset makers and large operators increasingly taking the …

    Mobile 6 Nov 2006, 10:31

  • Pantech punts 3G music phone through Orange

    Multimedia services handset

    Korean phone maker Pantech will see its U4000 3G music-centric slider phone offered to French consumers by Orange, the company announced today. Orange plans to punt its Live TV and music download services through the handset.   Pantech U4000 Tri-band GSM/GPRS + UMTS 1.9in, 176 x 220, 262,144-colour display 30MB user …

    Reg Hardware 6 Nov 2006, 10:42

  • Radio RTFM RSS feeds are go

    Subscribe now to our Reg audio discharge

    You demanded it and by the Lord Harry you've got it: Radio RTFM now has the RSS feeds we promised last week. The urls are: www.theregister.co.uk/odds/rtfm/headlines.rss and www.theregister.com/odds/rtfm/headlines.rss. We've given them a spin in Bloglines and all seems well. The audio file for the first RTFM programme appears as …

    Radio RTFM 6 Nov 2006, 10:45

  • Phoenix coughs £30.25m for Servo

    Rising into SMB services

    Phoenix IT Group has bought UK small and medium-sized business IT provider Servo Computer Services for £30.25m. The deal is made up of stock, and £28m cash from Phoenix's coffers and bank finance. Servo's revenues for the last financial year were £42.2m, netting a pre-tax profit of £2.8m from its 1,200 customers. The buy is …

    Channel Register 6 Nov 2006, 10:46

  • Schneider was approached by private-equity firms

    APC used to shield investment

    Schneider Electric SA's announcement last week that it is to acquire American Power Conversion Corp (APC) is believed to have been a "defensive move" to protect the company from any takeover bids. According to today's Wall Street Journal, a group of three private-equity firms approached Schneider in a €20bn bid for the …

    Financial News 6 Nov 2006, 10:51

  • Sony pitches Bond-branded 1GB USB Flash drive

    Licensed to fill?

    Sony's love affair with Her Majesty's Secret Service and its most famous spy shows no sign of ending. Having punted a Bond-branded briefcase, Vaio and Cyber-shot combo at the Americans, the Brits get... a 007-embossed MicroVault USB Flash disk. The USB connector's retractable, which should appeal to budding Qs, but alas there …

    Reg Hardware 6 Nov 2006, 10:58

  • Rock Pegasus P665-T76 Core 2 Duo laptop

    Review Rough diamond?

    Rock may not be up there with the Dells and HPs of this world, but this UK laptop manufacturer has been around for almost 15 years and has a proven track record of producing high-performance notebooks, especially for gamers. The Pegasus P665-T76 isn't a hardcore gaming laptop per se, but with a top-of-the-range Core 2 Duo …

    Reg Hardware 6 Nov 2006, 11:02

  • Logo for legit UK drug sites

    A local scheme, for local people

    The Royal Pharmaceutical Society is piloting a new logo, designed to help people identify websites that sell safe, genuine medicine. The news follows reports that cancer patients are turning to the internet to obtain treatment, because the drugs they need are not available on the NHS. The RPS's new logo will only apply to sites …

    Public Sector 6 Nov 2006, 11:30

  • DisplayPort to support HDCP?

    Pre-version 2.0 tweak proposed

    DisplayPort, the would-be successor to today's DVI monitor connection standard and computer-centric rival to HDMI, is to support the HDCP high-definition copy-protection specification, if Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) members approve a proposed 1.1 update. According to VESA, the DisplayPort 1.1 proposal has …

    Reg Hardware 6 Nov 2006, 11:44

  • Under Torch Wood

    Stob A parody for voices

    FIRST VOICE No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; SECOND VOICE Ahem. Hold on there, Richard. Wrong script. FIRST VOICE I do beg your pardon. My mistake. I thought you were …

    Verity Stob 6 Nov 2006, 11:46

  • Virus dances onto Mac OS X

    Macarena more embarrassment than threat

    Malware authors have created a proof-of-concept virus that's capable, in theory at least, of infecting Mac PCs running OS X. The Macarena virus isn't spreading and even in the highly unlikely event your Mac catches the infection it doesn't do any real harm. The low-threat pathogen Illustrates the point that Macs, just like …

    Malware 6 Nov 2006, 12:00

  • Motorola cuts black RAZR for Red AIDS charity

    Black is the new... er... red

    Black is the new red. Product Red, that is, the Bono-backed AIDS charity working to fight the spread of the disease in Africa. Having launched a red SLVR earlier this year and a red RAZR just recently, Motorola has launched a third Red-branded handset, this time one that's... er... black. The handset's available with either …

    Reg Hardware 6 Nov 2006, 12:02

  • Webroot jumps into the channel

    Softek and Sphinx to flog anti-spyware

    Enterprise anti-spyware software maker Webroot has tapped Softek and Sphinx as its UK distributors. The pair will identify channel resellers to hawk Webroot's Spy Sweeper to security-twitchy enterprise customers. Softek MD Jason Thompson did the honours with the potted quote: "Softek have been supplying and supporting Spy …

    Channel Register 6 Nov 2006, 12:21

  • Garter maker touts 'sexy' thigh-mount phone holder

    Willing suspender of disbelief?

    I'm not quite sure why you'd want a garter belt fitted with a pocket of sufficient size to hold most popular brands of mobile phone and digital music player. Simply to avoid taking a handbag when you're out for a night on the tiles? Or because you want to tease and charm the geek in your life? Personally, I'd like to think my …

    Reg Hardware 6 Nov 2006, 12:50

  • Airline grounded by rebranding madness

    LogoWatch New wordmark encapsulates the fundamental brand proposition

    Those rebranding madness fans among you who enjoyed the recent outbreak at Virgin Galactic are in for a treat today, courtesy of Oasis Hong Kong Airlines. Thanks very much to reader Ian Atkin for pointing us in the direction of this complete cobblers: Every element of the Oasis Hong Kong Airlines identity has been crafted to …

    Bootnotes 6 Nov 2006, 12:53

  • Students shy away from 'difficult' science

    Decline of science education, part 534

    Students are abandoning "difficult" science A-levels in favour of "funky" subjects like media studies and psychology, according to a report from the House of Lords. Physics take-up has been particularly affected, the Lords said. The report, entitled Science Teaching in Schools, notes a decade-long decline in the numbers of …

    Science 6 Nov 2006, 12:54

  • Nvidia recalls GeForce 8800 GTX boards ahead of launch

    Will ship this week as planned, company claims

    Nvidia has confirmed that graphics cards based in its upcoming GeForce 8800 GTX chip have been recalled. However, the company claimed it would still go ahead with the G80 GPU's launch on 8 November. Boards based on the GeForce 8800 GTS are not affected, it added. Nvidia laid the blame for the problem at the door of its …

    Reg Hardware 6 Nov 2006, 13:33

  • Mio styles sat nav as girl-friendly 'fashion accessory'

    Takes 'GPS out of car, into handbag, apparently

    Mio first demo'd its H610 GPS gadget at CeBIT in March. Then, the handheld sat nav tool was merely a good-looking but non-gender specific device. But now, by the application of some flower-like screen-printing and some equally florid PR fluff, the H610 is reborn as a gadget for girls - "a must-have fashion accessory" that takes …

    Reg Hardware 6 Nov 2006, 13:45

  • Blair bangs ID card drum

    PM in biometric hard sell

    Tony Blair has once again seen fit to toss his prime ministerial two penneth into the ID cards debate. In a piece for The Telegraph today, the PM goes on the hard sell. Eulogising biometrics, Blair wrote: "I believe its benefits go beyond helping us counter problems. Biometric technology will enable us, in a relatively short …

    ID 6 Nov 2006, 14:17

  • SMEs vital in surveillance arms race, says 3i

    Innovation happens at the grassroots

    Small businesses in the UK will be critical to the success of Home Office proposals for a security innovation forum, according to venture capitalists at 3i. In a speech at the Security and Resilience Forum, home secretary John Reid said that pioneering technology would be crucial in staying one step ahead of terrorists. He said …

    Small Biz 6 Nov 2006, 14:25

  • 0-day bug shatters Windows

    Mother, it's happening again

    Security researchers have identified an unpatched vulnerability in Windows. The flaw - which affects all supported versions of Windows bar Windows 2003 - resides in a security bug in Microsoft XML Core Services, specifically an unspecified security bug in the XMLHTTP 4.0 ActiveX Control. The flaw creates a means for hackers to …

    Malware 6 Nov 2006, 14:30

  • Medion shows showy crystal laptop for the ladies

    Oh, lordy

    Diamonds are a girl's best friend, roars Medion's latest announcement, but you won't find any such gemstones on its new notebook, a Chavette-friendly laptop embossed with 300 Swarovski crystals - lead glass, as the material's known in the trade - arranged in Medion's logo and a flower motif. Yes, the ostentatious SIM 2060 …

    Reg Hardware 6 Nov 2006, 14:35

  • Ex-Gizmondo exec court hearing ends in mistrial

    Jury deadlocked over Fat Steffi

    Former Gizmondo executive Stefan Eriksson, 44, faces yet more time in a US courtroom after a judge ruled the action against him was a mistrial. The verdict, announced on Friday, followed the jury's inability to reach a unanimous verdict. Los Angeles Country prosecutors had brought two counts of grand theft - covering, …

    Reg Hardware 6 Nov 2006, 15:32

  • Carphone Warehouse rapped over 'silent' calls

    Is there anybody out there?

    The British mobile retailer Carphone Warehouse Group plc could be hit with a penalty of up to £50,000 for making "silent" calls to its customers, communications regulator Ofcom has said. Ofcom explains the silent call menace thus: "Silent calls can occur when automated calling systems used by call centres generate more calls …

    Mobile 6 Nov 2006, 15:35

  • Scientists collar bird flu's 'killer' gene

    Opens path to vaccine

    Scientists in China report that they have identified the gene which determines the virulence of the H5N1, or bird flu, virus in poultry. The breakthrough could pave the way for new vaccines, the scientists claim. Some strains of H5N1 kill more than half those they infect, while others leave virtually all their victims standing …

    Biology 6 Nov 2006, 16:28

  • Japanese boffins show off 512-core chip

    Maths co-processor on steroids

    Japanese researchers at the University of Tokyo have built a multi-core chip that runs at just 500MHz but is capable, they claim, of performing 512bn floating-point operations every second. The secret: the processor contains 512 cores. To be accurate, the so-called Grape DR chip is a maths co-processor. It's designed to sit …

    Channel Register 6 Nov 2006, 16:37

  • Big Brother to debut in Second Life

    Virtual human zoo

    Human zoo Big Brother will soon be entertaining the masses in Second Life, Reuters reports. BB production company Endemol has confirmed it will confine "15 international Second Life contestants" for a month in a "specially constructed glass-walled house", where their avatars will presumably indulge in the usual mindless …

    Entertainment 6 Nov 2006, 16:52

  • Symantec buys Company-i

    Don't risk IT

    Symantec has acquired to buy UK-based consultancy Company-i for an undisclosed amount. Company-i specialises in helping financial services firms manage their data centres. Symantec said the firm will help it expand its IT Risk Management practice. Post acquisition, Company-i will join Symantec’s Global Services organization …

    Channel Register 6 Nov 2006, 17:16

  • Microsoft completes system code for Office 2007

    At last: eventually, after a long wait, finally

    Microsoft has finished the system code for Office 2007, concluding the company's largest beta program to date which generated an "unprecedented quantity of feedback". More than 3.5m people downloaded Beta 2, the company said. Redmond's finest also confirmed the code's release to manufacturing (RTM), which it termed a "gold code …

    Applications 6 Nov 2006, 17:17

  • Fast24 missing, presumed...

    ISP does a Marie Celeste

    The fate of Fast24 is in doubt, with the firm's broadband customers still to hear from the ISP a week after it disappeared off the net. Fast24's broadband punters were cut off last Monday by hosting provider UKSolutions. UKSolutions say Suffolk-based Fast24 has made no formal attempt to have the network re-established, though …

    Networks 6 Nov 2006, 17:31

  • 'Carousel fraud' bank's founder held for three more months

    Dutch investigations continue

    Controversial Dutch mult-imillionaire businessman John Deuss, who was arrested last month after his offshore bank allegedly aided 2500 UK tax carousel fraudsters, is to be held in custody in the Netherlands for another 3 months. Prosecutor Hendrik-Jan Biemond, who also led the case against the Ahold accounting scandal, is still …

    Channel Register 6 Nov 2006, 17:38

  • USA to ground all travellers until 'cleared'

    Security as a blanket presumption of guilt

    No one will be permitted to board an aircraft or a marine vessel leaving or bound for the United States until cleared by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), under proposed regulations. Under current regs, the US requires airlines to transmit their manifests no later than …

    Music and Media 6 Nov 2006, 17:41

  • Wireless insecurity: do not use the cheerleader defence

    Comment Don't try this at home, folks

    The message boards are alive with misguided advice about wireless networks. Switch off your security, they say: you’ll get away with murder. It follows the news that the music industry has dropped a lawsuit against Tammie Marson of Palm Desert, California. Marson argued that the fact that her computer contained illegal music …

    Music and Media 6 Nov 2006, 17:59

  • UK, China and Russia beat out US in race to end privacy

    Unblinking third eye awards

    A new report published by the British nonprofit Privacy International has ranked the leading surveillance societies in the world, and the results aren’t pretty. As far as benchmarks such as privacy enforcement and communications interception go, the United States has found itself in some rather awkward company, according to the …

    Music and Media 6 Nov 2006, 18:12

  • Is your software free, open or litigated?

    Analysis The MS/Linux patent wars begin . . .

    By agreeing to license Microsoft's intellectual property, SuSE distributor Novell has created a potentially fatal division in what's called F/OSS, the Free/Open Source Software movement. What has Novell done, and why is it so potentially damaging? Free Software advocates have always insisted that "free" and "open" were two …

    Operating Systems 6 Nov 2006, 20:22

  • Nvidia buys iPod chip supplier

    Goal? Handheld chip domination

    Nvidia is buying PortalPlayer, Apple's supplier of the MP3 decoder and controller chip that goes inside your iPod. Well, the hard disk models, at any rate - other iPods use different companies' chips. Founded in 1999, PortalPlayer also supplies silicon for Sandisk media players, and counts Bang & Olufsen, Philips and Samsung …

    Financial News 6 Nov 2006, 23:01

  • Sun's board gets leather jackets and talking cars

    Knight Ridder Chief slips in the Doerr

    Sun Microsystems appears to have misunderstood analysts' call to "see some black ink." The company today picked up two new board members with strong ties to the publishing industry. Tony Ridder, the former chairman and CEO of newspaper giant Knight Ridder, will serve on Sun's Leadership Development and Compensation committee. …

    Financial News 6 Nov 2006, 23:37