The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

4th January 2007 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

  • Reseller network back from the dead

    Local computer shops for local people

    Reseller network PCIQ, which went into administration in April last year, has been brought back from the dead. The company's assets were bought from administrators by Andrew Doe and his incubator company Gizme. The new PCIQ provides small businesses and end users with a way to find a local engineer or reseller to sort out …

    Small Biz 4 Jan 2007, 08:02

  • Blair's petition website suffers too much love

    Updated: Pesky patent petitioners

    Ten Downing street has had to stop showing signatories on its "E-Petitions" site - not this time because of daft petitions but apparently because it was overloaded with people protesting against software patents. The petition calling on Prime Minister Tony Blair to "make software patents clearly unenforceable" seems to have …

    Government 4 Jan 2007, 09:17

  • Computer waste law becomes active after long delays

    WEEE hits us all

    Laws forcing suppliers of IT equipment to dispose of it free of charge in an environmentally sound manner have come into force in the UK. The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive of the European Commission became law in the UK on 2nd January. It was originally intended to be transposed into all European …

    Small Biz 4 Jan 2007, 09:59

  • European network will target email and internet scams

    Joined-up enforcement

    Email, phone, prize draw and web shopping scams are being targeted by a new coalition of European consumer groups for the first time. The bulk of the Consumer Protection Co-Operation (CPC) Regulation came into force across Europe on 29th December. Designed to tackle cross-border schemes to defraud consumers, the CPC Regulation …

    Networks 4 Jan 2007, 10:09

  • Gongs for OGCbs officials

    For services to procurement

    Two senior officials at OGCbuying.solutions have been rewarded in the new year honours list for their services to procurement across government. John White, the head of devolved customer relations, has been awarded an OBE for his diligence in ensuring Scotland and Northern Ireland received the same treatment as the rest of …

    Policy 4 Jan 2007, 10:27

  • Paris Hilton says no to sex doll honour

    No pump-up heiress for the hoi polloi

    There's some bad news today for those of you dreaming that you might one day enjoy a roll in the hay with highly-talented video star Paris Hilton: the hotel heiress has declined an offer to have a sex doll made in her image. An outraged Hilton said: "I turn down perverted things, some sex things. Like a Paris Hilton blow-up …

    Bootnotes 4 Jan 2007, 10:36

  • Samsung touts twin-view mobile display

    One panel, two pictures

    Samsung has developed an LCD capable of displaying two separate images independently. The South Korean giant reckons there's a market for PDAs and PMPs - the display's for mobile machines - that can show two images back to back. According to the company, the two sub-panels are 2.22in jobs, each with a 240 x 320 resolution, …

    Hardware 4 Jan 2007, 10:38

  • Industry vetted for school portals

    Only 10 deemed worthy

    Ten education suppliers have been given permission by BECTA, the procurement quango for education, to sell learning portals to schools and colleges. Like other framework agreements under EU rules, the Learning Platform Services Framework, allows buyers to spend large amounts of money at a whim with vetted suppliers without …

    Policy 4 Jan 2007, 10:48

  • UK cabbie clocked at 420mph

    Supercharged Cavalier caught on camera

    A UK cabbie has broken the previous speed record for a petrol-driven reciprocating-engined vehicle by clocking up an impressive 420mph in a 30mph zone in Newport, Gwent. Back in 2004, sales manager Peter O’Flynn was captured by a speed camera in Cheshire doing 406mph in a humble Peugot - a record now shattered by Tom Matthews' …

    Media 4 Jan 2007, 11:01

  • LG to launch dual-format HD DVD, Blu-ray player

    Best of both worlds

    LG will next week unveil a consumer optical disc player capable of handling both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc next-generation disc formats, it has emerged. The company appears to have confirmed that it will launch the device at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas next week, but it's keeping mum on details like …

    Hardware 4 Jan 2007, 11:10

  • Analysis, design, and never the twain shall meet

    Jumping the chasm

    We bring you a new Reg Developer author, a specialist in crossing the chasm between analysis and design Not many people know how to get from analysis to design. Software agilists “solve” the problem by blurring the distinction between the two. There has to be a better way... It’s a familiar scenario to many. Deep in the …

    Developer 4 Jan 2007, 11:29

  • Computacenter buys services company Digica

    Gets South African datacentre

    Computacenter is buying Digica from its management shareholders and private equity groups Bridgepoint Capital and Lyceum Capital. Computacenter is paying £15.9m in cash for the firm plus taking on debt of £12.1m. Digica specialises in medium-sized businesses and public sector contracts. It has UK datacentres in Nottingham, …

    The Channel 4 Jan 2007, 11:32

  • Amazon launches handbag and shoe website

    Cash-strapped husbands beware

    Ferdinand Marcos can be thankful he's dead, because Amazon yesterday announced it has launched a dedicated shoe and handbag website in the US "to tap into the growing footwear and accessories market". According to Reuters, Endless.com will offer over 250 brands for women and, we hasten to add, men. These include Donald J Pliner …

    Financial News 4 Jan 2007, 11:47

  • Lynx Technology appoints new directors

    Brief Ride the tiger

    Lynx Technology has appointed former managing director of Lynx Wealth Management Systems John Mosedale as director of its Microsoft Business Unit. The company has also appointed Tim Bodill director of its Cisco Business Unit, ex-head of Microsoft's ISV Partner Group UK Jeremy Smith as Senior Business Development Manager and Mike …

    The Channel 4 Jan 2007, 11:48

  • Adobe scripting flaw unearthed

    Browser plug-in peril

    Users are advised to upgrade their Adobe Reader software following the discovery of a potential serious cross-site scripting bug. The vulnerability, which involves Adobe Reader 6.x and Adobe Reader 7.x, means it is possible to execute potential hostile JavaScript code simply by appending it to a PDF's URL. The flaw, …

    Security 4 Jan 2007, 11:49

  • Studio to end Blu-ray, HD DVD war with dual-format disc

    One ring to rule them all?

    Movie studio Warner Bros. will next week unveil an optical disc format capable of being played in both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc (BD) machines, the company has revealed. Warner hasn't provided details, but the disc, dubbed Total HD, is likely to be based on technology patented back in December 2005 but revealed last September. …

    Hardware 4 Jan 2007, 11:59

  • Netgear Digital Entertainer EVA700 wireless media streamer

    Review Pump HD content around your home

    Another day, another media streamer. True, the concept isn't a bad one - video content is best enjoyed on a big telly in the comfort of your lounge, rather than hunched up in front of a computer screen. But with numerous offerings on the market, there's little to tell them apart. Netgear's Digital Entertainer EVA700, however, …

    Broadband 4 Jan 2007, 12:02

  • SanDisk spins Flash-fitted hard drive replacement

    But its solid-state disk is still pricey

    SanDisk has begun offering notebook manufacturers a 1.8in, 32GB Flash-based solid-state drive, the company announced today. It pitched the part as an energy efficient alternative to traditional hard drives for machines that will run Windows Vista. It's faster too, SanDisk said. The SanDisk Ultra ATA 5000 SSD will boot …

    Hardware 4 Jan 2007, 12:21

  • Kodak, Sony settle digicam patent spat

    Pals again

    Kodak and Sony have given each other a hug and agreed to end their fight over which of them owns key digital camera intellectual property. They now both do, courtesy of a cross-licensing agreement the two have drawn up. Kodak kicked of the spat with a lawsuit alleging patent infringement filed in March 2004. A month later, …

    Hardware 4 Jan 2007, 12:46

  • 0.26km Tube trip is most expensive on earth

    Four quid for 43 seconds

    UK tabloid The Sun is today making merry at the expense of London's Tube system with a splendid exposé on the world's most expensive train journey. It's not, as hackette Caroline Iggulden found out, a luxury excursion on the Orient Express, but rather a 43-second jaunt on the Piccadilly Line between Covent Garden and Leicester …

    Media 4 Jan 2007, 13:16

  • NewNet braces for customer losses

    ISP's hefty price rise angers punters

    NewNet's CEO Peter Coates-Buglear says the company is likely to lose "quite a few" heavy users due to its recent price rises but believes that is better than restricting bandwidth on the sly without telling customers. Subscribers to some of its services will see prices go up by nearly 60 per cent. The Register received emails …

    Broadband 4 Jan 2007, 13:22

  • Vendors partner to promote Flash-fitted hard drives

    Calling Vista-running Centrino laptop makers...

    Hitachi, Samsung, Seagate and Toshiba have come together to promote hard drives with integrated Flash caches, the better to persuade notebook manufacturers in particular to choose their offerings rather than rival technology from Intel. Windows Vista incorporates drive management code, dubbed ReadyDrive, that can take …

    Hardware 4 Jan 2007, 13:22

  • CeBIT 'expecting €6m loss'

    Turning a messe into a crisis

    CeBIT, Europe's biggest IT tradeshow, is expecting a €6m loss this year due to declining visitors and exhibitors. Deutsche Messe AG has organised CeBIT in Hannover each spring since 1986, but attendance is dropping, with only 200,000 visitors in 2006. CeBIT declined to confirm the expected loss, reported earlier this week by …

    Financial News 4 Jan 2007, 13:26

  • Amazon boss fires up space vehicle

    Bezos's Goddard is go

    Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has released pictures and video of the first launch of his Goddard private spacecraft - rising majestically above Texas to a modest height of 85m. The cone-shaped Goddard took off on 13 November last year, but only now has Bezos's Blue Origin company trumpeted its success. The vehicle is part of a …

    Science 4 Jan 2007, 13:30

  • 2007 to be hottest year ever, says Met Office

    Global warming + El Niño = scorcher

    The UK's Meteorological Office predicts that 2007 will be the hottest on record, due to a combination of global warming and the El Niño weather phenomenon, Reuters reports. This year will, the Met Office and prediction partner the University of East Anglia say, top the current record set in 1998. 2006, meanwhile, currently lies …

    Science 4 Jan 2007, 13:43

  • Cisco buys IronPort to push into anti-spam market

    Pays $830m for heavyweight spam squasher

    Networking giant Cisco Systems has agreed to buy email filtering and web security firm IronPort Systems for $830m in cash and shares. The deal, expected to close in Cisco's third quarter ending April 2007, pushes Cisco into the anti-spam market for the first time. The acquisition is Cisco's fifth largest to date, Reuters reports …

    Financial News 4 Jan 2007, 13:54

  • BT connects 10 millionth punter

    ADSL for all, at least nearly all

    Despite predicting back in 2002 that the end of 2006 would see 5 million connections, in reality 10 million UK punters have signed up to broadband internet over ADSL. 8.7 million of those customers are connected direct to BT through BT Yahoo or branded ADSL services, 1.3 million though local loop unbundling supplied by BT …

    Networks 4 Jan 2007, 13:58

  • Compuware buys Proxima

    To get that 'customer experience'

    A key, but rarely considered metric that all developers should now be considering is the impact their code has on the experience of an end-user at the mercy of the service that the code delivers. Providing such a metric has been the objective of Proxima Technology with its Centauri system, and is also the reason why Compuware …

    Applications 4 Jan 2007, 14:58

  • Luvvies in a fluff over radio frequencies

    How do you solve a problem called spectrum allocation

    Andrew Lloyd Webber has raised the terrifying prospect of the UK's song and dance folk being stripped of their wireless mikes by theatre-hating killjoys at Ofcom. The man who brought us both Jesus Christ Superstar and Sarah Brightman told the Standard that Ofcom's plan to auction off spectrum could mean "the end of musicals". …

    Mobile 4 Jan 2007, 15:10

  • Brazilian court orders YouTube shutdown

    Model obtains injunction over beach sex romp vid

    A Brazilian court has ordered the closure of YouTube following the site's failure to completely remove a video showing Ronaldo's ex-missus and her new boyf indulging in a bit of beach rumpy-pumpy, Reuters reports. Model Daniela Cicarelli sued YouTube after the offending film proved a smash hit among Brazilian YouTubers. She and …

    Law 4 Jan 2007, 15:20

  • Fujifilm sharpens image at entry level

    FinePix A series extended

    Fujifilm has extended its entry-level A series of digital cameras, adding the FinePix A610 and A800, both equipped with the latest image capture electronics and image-processing circuitry, the company said. The A800 is an 8.3 megapixel job with ISO 800 sensitivity. The A610 has a 6.3 megapixel sensor and runs to ISO 400. …

    Hardware 4 Jan 2007, 15:39

  • Easynet down again

    Updated: Check those service level agreements

    Easynet customers are suffering downtime again today after failures at two of the company's co-location centres. Paddington North went down yesterday at 14.10 and is still unavailable. Easynet's Westminster exchange went down at 14.20 today. According to their status page the problems are affecting DSL and SureStream services …

    Networks 4 Jan 2007, 16:05

  • Amazon.com reveals iLife '07 update due

    Whoops

    One certainty for Apple CEO Steve Jobs' Macworld Expo keynote next week: he'll announce iLife '07, the latest version of the company's consumer-friendly media tools suite. That, at least, is what Amazon.com is tacitly saying: it's posted a 'coming soon' entry for the software. The current version of the suite bundles together …

    Hardware 4 Jan 2007, 16:08

  • Blair supports Saddam video probe

    Footage 'pretty grisly' admits PM

    Tony Blair has lent his support to the Iraqi probe into mobile phone video footage of Saddam Hussein's execution, The BBC reports. He did not, however, endorse deputy prime minister John Prescott's description of the way the hanging was handled as "deplorable", and Downing Street described this opinion as "personal". Downing …

    Media 4 Jan 2007, 16:08