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29th January 2007 Archive

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  • Is Windows Vista ready for you?

    MS hasn't got a clue

    Because I'll soon have the pleasure of evaluating Windows Vista forThe Register in a series of articles concerned with the user experience, administration tools, and security features, I wanted to be certain that this new OS is compatible with my hardware. Fortunately, Microsoft has a website devoted to answering these …

    Operating Systems 29 Jan 2007, 05:03

  • Virtual firewalls get clustered

    Virtual fail-over for virtual security on a virtual LAN

    Check Point has added cluster support and more granular controls to its virtual firewall software, memorably named Check Point VPN-1 Power VSX NGX. Virtual firewalls can now be distributed around a server cluster, with standby firewalls on alternative servers. System administrators can also shift processor power around, taking …

    Data Networking 29 Jan 2007, 07:02

  • Duo jailed over Royal phone tap scandal

    Noise on the wire

    A senior journalist at UK Sunday paper News of the World has been jailed for four months after being convicted of a plot to intercept voicemail messages of the Royal family. Clive Goodman, 49, of Putney, London, the royal editor of the paper, conspired with private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, 36, of Sutton, Surrey, to …

    Law 29 Jan 2007, 10:03

  • WIN a Samsung 50in Plasma HDTV worth £1,400

    Competition Hurry - compo ends today!

    This year is positively packed with sensational sporting spectacles: from Aussie Rules to the Americas Cup, from Wimbledon to World Championship Athletics. So prepare yourself for a veritable wealth of viewing pleasure... And as the Rugby Six Nations Tournament starts on Saturday 3 February Samsung is offering to give one …

    Reg Hardware 29 Jan 2007, 10:13

  • One in three businesses uses niche ISP

    But consumers choosing bigger players

    Almost a third of businesses in the UK use small internet service providers (ISPs), according to communications regulator Ofcom. Only five per cent of consumers use small, or niche ISPs, the research found. The companies have 1.3 million customers or customer organisations in the UK, despite the fact the ISP market contains …

    Small Biz 29 Jan 2007, 10:20

  • UK.gov urged to rethink education super-database

    Wrong approach to student single ID?

    UK plans to build an education super-database in which everyone from age 14 is given a single ID number should be put on hold, according to a collection of academics, businessmen and local government officials. In a letter sent the House of Lords Science and Technology committee, the 12 individuals, who come from, among others …

    Public Sector 29 Jan 2007, 10:25

  • Apple ups the stakes with convergence play

    What about digital rights management?

    Alongside the well-publicised launch of the iPhone, Apple has now pre-announced two of its major plays into the converging consumer digital media marketplace. The other was Apple TV, unveiled last year and available next month. Although pre-announcing is something of a departure for the company, it's clear Apple will be handily …

    Music and Media 29 Jan 2007, 10:44

  • AMD dual-core Athlon 6000+ slips out early

    On sale now, if you know where to look

    Online retailers have been listing AMD's anticipated Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 3GHz processor for a wee while now, but it appears the part has now begun shipping, to one reseller at least. The chip wasn't expected to go on sale until next month. US-based retailer Newegg.com has the part in stock, Reg Hardware readers spotted this …

    Reg Hardware 29 Jan 2007, 10:45

  • Patients can boycott NHS system, says commissioner

    Health dept does u-turn

    The Information Commissioner has been told that patients will have the opportunity to refuse to have their details uploaded onto the new NHS medical records system. The news comes just weeks after the Department of Health refused patients that right. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has issued a report on the NHS …

    Public Sector 29 Jan 2007, 10:50

  • YouTube to pay contributors

    Ad share planned

    YouTube founder Chad Hurley says the company will soon start to share advertising revenue with users of the service who post popular videos. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Saturday, Hurley gave no details of how this would be achieved or how much contributors would be paid. Hurley told the Financial Times …

    Financial News 29 Jan 2007, 10:59

  • Adaptec wants to make backup a Snap

    Targets data protection with its biggest NAS box so far

    Adaptec has topped off its revised NAS range with the rack-mount Snap Server 650, which is built around two dual-core AMD Opteron processors and is capable of scaling to over 64TB of disk storage. The new model runs the same GuardianOS operating software as the smaller Snap Servers that were introduced last year, so it …

    Storage 29 Jan 2007, 11:02

  • Fraud linked to TJX data heist spreads

    North American banks and retailers warn

    Banks and retailers in the United States and Canada have begun to report an increasing amount of illicit transactions thought to be linked to the server breach announced last week by the TJX Companies, the commercial giant that owns retail chains in the US, Canada, and Europe. More than 60 of the 205 banks in Massachusetts have …

    Crime 29 Jan 2007, 11:15

  • Sony rolls out cylindrical sub-woofer

    Sony has launched what's possibly one of the oddest-looking PC-oriented three-channel speaker set. Well, the left- and right-hand speakers look much like you'd expect, but the sub-woofer's out of this world. The SRS-DZ10's bass-boosting unit is built around an aluminium tube with a blue backlight. Sub-woofers typically get …

    Reg Hardware 29 Jan 2007, 11:22

  • EC foresees digital roadblocks

    Broadband inequality and piracy to blame

    The European Commission has identified unequal broadband provision and piracy as major "roadblocks" to the development of Europe's online creative content industries. Despite the fact that broadband penetration is slowly increasing across the European Union, the commission is concerned that vast gulfs between adoption in …

    IT Director 29 Jan 2007, 11:29

  • Torex Retail calls in help to patch accounts

    KPMG parachutes in

    Torex Retail has hired specialist accountants to get to the bottom of a hole in its accounts. The London Stock Exchange is investigating Torex Retail after the PoS and performance management supplier issued a shock profit warning last week. Torex has hired accountants from KPMG to discover what went wrong and provide the …

    Channel Register 29 Jan 2007, 11:30

  • LG promises Eastern roaming phone

    All roads leave to roam

    It's aimed at the Asian market as a breakthrough dual-band, six-nation roaming-friedly handset, but the LG LC3200 slider phone has the kind of looks that would turn heads in Western markets too. In addition to the cross-country compatibility - 800MHz and 1,800MHz support - the sleek 89g handset has handy controls for key …

    Reg Hardware 29 Jan 2007, 11:44

  • Saturn: officially a cool, hot planet

    Back to first principles, say boffins

    Scientists will have to go back to the drawing board to find an explanation for the hotter than expected temperatures in the upper atmospheres of the gas giants. New research modelling the upper atmosphere of Saturn has shown that the process put forward to explain the heating actually has a cooling effect. A broad brush …

    Space 29 Jan 2007, 12:18

  • For sale: Obi-Wan's Jedi cloak

    One careful owner

    If you've got £50,000 burning a hole in your pocket you could be the new owner of Obi-Wan Kenobi's Jedi cloak. The brown hooded cloak worn by Sir Alec Guinness in the original Star Wars trilogy is up for auction and is expected to sell for between £50,000 and £60, 000. Auctioneer Bonhams is selling off costumes from various …

    Entertainment 29 Jan 2007, 12:20

  • Sony to slash PS3 price by 25%

    'Within 12 months'

    Sony has yet to launch the PlayStation 3 in Europe but already one analyst is forecasting a first-year price cut which will see at least €150 knocked off the €599 launch price. According to Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter, cited by GamesIndustry.biz, the price cut will come within 12 months of the PS3's 23 …

    Reg Hardware 29 Jan 2007, 12:21

  • Comet-hunting Rosetta films distant asteroid

    And snaps pics of Mars

    The comet-hunting spacecraft Rosetta has sent back its first sighting of the asteroid 21-Lutetia, one of two rocky bodies it will study en route to the comet 67p Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It will not get anywhere close to the rock for more than two years, but has already begun sending back preliminary data. Once the Optical, …

    Space 29 Jan 2007, 12:27

  • Vista: fit for purpose...

    Comment Slip of the tongue - or the brain

    The UK Developer launch of Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office System was pretty impressive, as such things usually are. A 3D representation of the London Underground system from Lars Lindstedt's Microsoft Technology Centre at Thames Valley, complete with trains moving around in real-time, was particularly impressive ( …

    Developer 29 Jan 2007, 12:34

  • Logitech FreePulse Bluetooth headphones

    Review Wireless audio without the weight?

    Logitech's Wireless Headphones for iPod offering is back, in black and with a new, more generic moniker. The mouse maker also claims the new set's somewhat lighter to wear than its predecessor... Out of the box, the FreePulse is a clear improvement, thanks to a svelte new design and smaller speaker units. I didn't have the …

    Reg Hardware 29 Jan 2007, 13:02

  • Parliament won't debate school fingerprinting

    Just no time

    The question of whether it's necessary or desirable to take school children's fingerprints has not made it on the agenda for Parliament. Greg Mulholland, MP for Leeds North West and the Liberal Democrat schools spokesman, requested a Parliamentary debate on school fingerprinting last Thursday. "Legal opinion, including that of …

    Public Sector 29 Jan 2007, 14:35

  • Microsoft in BlueJ patent U-turn

    We didn't mean to do it

    Microsoft has pulled a patent application for "Object Test Bench" in Visual Studio after it was accused both of copying the idea from the BlueJ community, and of filing the patent application in the full knowledge that prior art existed. BlueJ is an integrated development environment for beginner Java developers, developed as …

    Software 29 Jan 2007, 15:32

  • Sony to bring Flash-only UX1 UMPC to UK

    Sony will bring its Flash-based Vaio UX ultra-mobile PC (UMPC) out of Japan next month when it ships the VGN-UX1XN micro PC in the UK. It may be small, but this handheld wireless computer comes at a hefty price: it will retail for a whopping £2,000. But boy does it look smart. Unlike the current UX, the new model comes …

    Reg Hardware 29 Jan 2007, 15:41

  • Symantec reaches endpoint with $830m Altiris

    Meanwhile, back in the data centre...

    Symantec announced today it would cough up $830m for infrastructure management software firm Altiris. Altiris's software is designed to keep tabs on corporate IT assets such as laptops, PDAs, desktops, and servers. The Utah-based firm was founded in 1998 by Jan Newman and went public in May 2002. Symantec's offer breaks down …

    Storage 29 Jan 2007, 15:50

  • German pirate gets three years in the brig

    And MS rejigs compliance policy for SMEs

    An unnamed software dealer in Germany has been sentenced to three years in prison for selling unlicensed Microsoft products. The 42-year-old Turkish man was arrested in June 2006 and has been held in custody since. He was last week sentenced to two years and eleven months by a German court in Bochum. He was described in …

    Small Biz 29 Jan 2007, 15:57

  • Asus pitches business-friendly 3G smart phone

    Handy

    Asus has announced its latest PDA phone, a Windows Mobile 5-based 3G handset that also crams in 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0. Dubbed the P735, the handset's a traditional tablet-style device with brushed-metal styling. It's powered by a 520MHz Marvell XScale processor backed by 256MB of Flash and 64MB of RAM. It has two …

    Reg Hardware 29 Jan 2007, 16:17

  • AMD posts WHQL-approved ATI Radeon driver pack for Vista

    Catalyst 7.1 comes to Vista

    AMD has posted the first version of its Catalyst graphics card driver package to achieve WHQL certification for its Windows Vista compatibility, the company announced today. It's derived from the Windows XP version of Catalyst 7.1, but the two aren't entirely the same. For example, while the new package rolls out CrossFire …

    Reg Hardware 29 Jan 2007, 16:35

  • BT says 'enough' on GPL

    No more to say

    BT says it has done enough to make its wireless Hub comply with the General Public License despite criticism from gpl-violations.org that it is still in breach of the license. A statement from BT said: "The BT Home Hub is developed by Thomson on the basis of a Linux kernel (version 2.6.8.1) which is released under the General …

    Operating Systems 29 Jan 2007, 16:42

  • Reg news alerts: now with added va-va-voom

    Updated, improved and available right now

    We're delighted to announce that El Reg has deployed an updated version of its news alerts service - effortlessly delivering RSS feeds and offering a scrolling news ticker and custom alert box for those of you that simply must have your news fix right now, if not sooner. The all-singing, all-dancing Reg Alerts update is …

    Site News 29 Jan 2007, 18:00

  • Spoilsports crook Google Oz Day airborne whizz

    Tie me spotter plane down, sport

    A Google Australia Day publicity wheeze came down with a bump on Friday when aviation authorities said the firm could not fly a specially chartered plane over Sydney. The firm had invited people to get themselves noticed as a twin-engined Aero Commander passed over parks and beaches taking high-resolution photographs for Google …

    Music and Media 29 Jan 2007, 18:18

  • Citigroup lays loss-making Egg

    Prudential waves goodbye to double yolker

    Prudential PLC, the British financial services company, is to sell its loss making internet banking unit Egg to Citigroup for £575m ($1.127bn) cash. Since launching in 1998, Egg has become the world's largest purely online banking outfit, but last year made a loss on the tidal wave of personal debt which saw record numbers …

    Financial News 29 Jan 2007, 18:22

  • 419ers rifle through Ecademy.com

    Anti-social networking

    The growing popularity of Web 2.0 as a venue for viruses, pedophiles and other online nasties made it only a matter of time before sleaze oozed to professional networking sites, and sure enough, an Australian security firm is offering a detailed postmortem on an attempted Nigerian banking scam on Ecademy.com. Carl Jongsma, a …

    IT Director 29 Jan 2007, 20:08

  • TomTom includes Trojans with satnav device

    Mickey included for no added fee

    A small number of satellite navigation devices manufactured last year by TomTom were shipped containing malware, the company confirmed in a terse statement that raised more questions - and user ire - than answers. An "isolated, small number" of TomTom's GO 910 models produced in September and November may be infected with a …

    Malware 29 Jan 2007, 21:22

  • Imagine communities

    Imagine Cup Cup follow up maybe points the way

    Well yes, let's face it: it is always good PR to be seen doing something with the kids. And through its Imagine Cup Microsoft has done quite well on that front - from giving kids from around the world a taste of the entrepreneurial life. But sometimes, something else emerges by happenstance. In the case of the Innovation …

    Developer 29 Jan 2007, 22:49

  • IBM buys Softek

    Boost for storage and data services biz

    IBM is scooping up Softek Storage Solutions, the US data archiving software firm, for an undisclosed sum. The company is particularly keen to get its hands on Softek's data mobility technology to complement its storage and data services business. And that really is all there is to say on the matter. Some IBM bumf here. ®

    Storage 29 Jan 2007, 23:25