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8th February 2007 Archive

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  • NAO attacks UK.gov £13.3bn savings claim

    Smoke and mirrors

    UK government claims of multi-billion pound savings achieved through an efficiency drive has come under fire from the National Audit Office. The Government purports to have found £13.3bn savings from an annual public spend of about £120bn since the 'Gershon' efficiency drive began in 2004. It and has to save 'only' another £8. …

    Government 8 Feb 2007, 01:11

  • ACLU slams SF's data hoarding Wi-Fi network

    Google and EarthLink are privacy risk

    The American Civil Liberties Union became the latest group to criticize a city-wide network San Francisco has proposed building with EarthLink and Google, arguing that the deal would compromise user privacy. In a letter sent to members of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, an official with the Northern California chapter of …

    Wireless 8 Feb 2007, 01:42

  • RIAA urges Apple to spread DRM far and wide

    Steve, you're so smart

    The RIAA has seized on the weakest part of Steve Jobs' anti-DRM manifesto by banging on Apple to license its FairPlay technology to other companies. "Apple's offer to license FairPlay to other technology companies is a welcome breakthrough and would be a real victory for fans, artists and labels," the RIAA (Recording Industry …

    Music and Media 8 Feb 2007, 01:48

  • Facebook defends teen security tricks

    RSA No change is good

    Facebook has defended its privacy protection despite the possibility that this has been circumvented for the first time by an alleged sexual predator. The teen-tastic site's chief privacy officer Chris Kelly told security experts Facebook offers a robust system to protect identities of its 16 million participants and to exclude …

    Crime 8 Feb 2007, 03:01

  • Oracle disappoints on identity news

    RSA Where's Larry?

    It was with more of a whimper than a bang that Oracle Wednesday handed a framework for building standardized regulatory compliance systems to the Liberty Alliance Project. The Oracle-backed Identity Governance Framework (IGF) provides a framework to define policies and build systems that help ensure organizations' comply with …

    Developer 8 Feb 2007, 03:05

  • Intel, IBM, AMD and Sun look to core each other

    Can you top 80?

    Intel, lBM, AMD and Sun Microsystems will go coring mad next week as the vendors reveal some of their most impressive future chip designs at the ISSCC (International Solid State Circuits) Conference in San Francisco. The ISSCC is not for the faint of brain. It brings together the top minds in the chip game whether they …

    Servers 8 Feb 2007, 06:33

  • RIM defeats patent appeal challenge

    InPro's internet-by-mobile IP should be revoked, says judge

    Research in Motion (RIM) has defeated an attempt by a European intellectual property licensing company that the BlackBerry maker had violated a patent for accessing the internet on mobile devices. The English Court of Appeal this week ruled that RIM's email gadget "owed nothing to the patent" held by Luxembourg-based InPro. …

    Financial News 8 Feb 2007, 09:53

  • Watford Electronics / Savastore sold

    Mind the gap

    Watford Electronics, the elephant's graveyard of great channel names like Carrera, Time, and Tiny has been sold to Globally. Globally Ltd was founded on February 5. Its registered address is Jessa House, 1 Finway, Luton. Watford Electronics also operates from that address. Watford's online trading arm Savastore is closed …

    Channel Register 8 Feb 2007, 09:56

  • LG cooks up updated Chocolate phone

    LG extended its Chocolate phone line-up this week, though the launch of the Chocolate Platinum was cast into shadow by yesterday's debut of the company's Shine handset. The Platinum offers features absent from earlier Chocolates, LG said. The Platinum's official name is the KE800 and it doubles the on-board memory to 256MB …

    Reg Hardware 8 Feb 2007, 10:05

  • Lords will not hear Macrossan patent appeal

    Final legal whistle blown

    The House of Lords has rejected Neal Macrossan's application to appeal against a ruling that his software was not patentable in the UK. Macrossan's invention is an automated system that compiles the necessary documents for incorporating a company in the UK. In November last year, appeal court judges ruled that this was both …

    Law 8 Feb 2007, 10:26

  • Apple to spin down iPod HDDs in favour of Flash?

    Pitching battery life over storage capacity

    Apple may be planning to drop hard drives from it iPod line-up, if claims made by a financial analyst are to be believed. The move would see the company canning its next iPod revision in favour of a Flash-based model, Prudential Equity Group analyst Jesse Tortora wrote this week. Tortora's report, cited by AppleInsider, …

    Reg Hardware 8 Feb 2007, 10:30

  • Yorkshire website to aid SMEs in phish fight

    Help for the small fry

    A new website has been developed to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) protect themselves from cyber crime. Named Yorkshire-Safe, the regional pilot has been been developed to provide guidance and an online tool for businesses to check the security of their systems. It also features learning modules to support SMEs in …

    Small Biz 8 Feb 2007, 10:39

  • Vodafone and Orange to share UK radio access network

    One network to rule them all

    Orange and Vodafone are to combine their radio access networks, effectively allowing customers of each to roam between the networks in the UK. The deal, once completed, will create a single 3G network accessible by customers of both companies, who will maintain separate responsibility for quality of service, customer issues, …

    Mobile 8 Feb 2007, 10:45

  • Intel roadmaps 6MB L2 Core 2 Duos?

    One of the pleasures of the 45nm 'Penryn' core, apparently

    Intel's anticipated notebook-oriented 45nm Core 2 Duo processors, derived from the 'Penryn' core, have begun to appear on the chip giant's roadmap, debuting in Q1 2008, according to the latest leak. Some versions may incorporate 6MB of shared L2 cache. Penryn's arrival in the mobile market will see the release of 45nm …

    Reg Hardware 8 Feb 2007, 11:08

  • BT maintains growth record

    Bags big share of broadband latecomers

    BT shares jumped four per cent this morning after another set of strong quarterly results. The telecoms giant grew pre-tax profits in the three months ended 31 December by 13 per cent to £643m on the back of revenues of £5.1bn, up five per cent. Investors saw earnings per share reach 5.8 pence, up 14 per cent. The numbers …

    Networks 8 Feb 2007, 11:40

  • OGC still under fire on consultants' bills

    All aboard the gravy train

    John Oughton, the out-going head of the Office of Government Commerce, had his knuckles soundly rapped by the Public Accounts Committee at a hearing on Tuesday this week. Oughton came under fire for failing to curb central government's huge bill for external consultants, as revealed in a report (pdf) from the National Audit …

    Public Sector 8 Feb 2007, 11:51

  • Asus specs up second-gen Lamborghini laptop

    Asus announced its second-generation Lamborghini-branded laptop, the VX2, back in January. It didn't much about the spec or when the machine will ship. Today, the company spilled the beans on the notebook's internals. So what do we have? A 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo T7400 running Windows Vista Ultimate and aided by an Nvidia …

    Reg Hardware 8 Feb 2007, 11:53

  • Nokia to free route-planning app, maps

    Real-time navigation comes extra

    Nokia will this weekend begin giving its Smart2Go satellite navigation software away free of charge, first for "select" Series 60 (S60) and Windows Mobile 5.0 devices, but later for other mobile platforms, including S40 and Linux, too. The sound you can hear in the background are the moans of companies who've been charging …

    Reg Hardware 8 Feb 2007, 12:21

  • Danger UPX

    Trend Micro warns of scan engine glitch

    Trend Micro is urging users to update their anti-virus software following the discovery of a bug in its scanning software that might be misused to either crash vulnerable systems or load malware. The flaw, which involves a buffer overrun security bug in the UPX parsing component of both enterprise and consumer versions of …

    Enterprise Security 8 Feb 2007, 12:45

  • 'Mobile eCash' could change the face of commerce

    Near field or far, far away?

    Cash or plastic? From starting with seashells, gold coins, and rewarding soldiers with salt, payment systems have evolved to keep lowering the cost of making each transaction, and separating the real item of value from the point of the transaction. Bank notes came to represent the value of gold held somewhere else and were far …

    Mobile 8 Feb 2007, 12:48

  • Want to cross the road? Don't ask Google Maps

    30-second walk becomes 10.4km epic road trip

    Here's the scenario: you're in Oz's fine city of Sydney and you need to get from the Shelbourne Hotel at 200 Sussex Street to Google's headquarters across the road at 201 Sussex Street. Naturally, this being a potentially complex manoeuvre, it's probably best to consult Google Maps Australia to get the optimum route. However, …

    Bootnotes 8 Feb 2007, 12:49

  • Samsung to decant 2007 Bordeaux LCD TV line overseas

    Samsung is to introduce its Bordeaux wine glass-styled - it says here - LCD TV set series into Europe and the US next month, the South Korean giant revealed this week following the introduction of the latest version of the telly in its home market. The Bordeaux line's appeal, Samsung suggested, lies in its 10,000:1 contrast …

    Reg Hardware 8 Feb 2007, 12:55

  • Samsung launches would-be iPhone beater

    Tablet form-factor, Flash UI, 'super 3G' downloads

    Samsung has formally unveiled its bid to be the leading purveyor of iPhone-alike handsets with the Ultra Smart F700, launched today but which will get its first public outing at the 3GSM show next week in Barcelona. The F700 is a tablet-like handset with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a form-factor pioneered by HTC in devices …

    Reg Hardware 8 Feb 2007, 13:14

  • NASA announces psych testing review

    How do you spot an astronut?

    NASA says it will re-evaluate the psychological screening it does for its astronauts, after Shuttle pilot Lisa Nowak was arrested this week on charges of attempted murder, attempted kidnapping, and battery. The space agency told reporters late yesterday that there had not been the slightest hint that anything was up with Nowak …

    Space 8 Feb 2007, 13:42

  • Radio RTFM: Vista, iPhones and hot Valentine's Day luuuurv action

    Plus a handy guide to dignified executions

    Well, Valentine's Day is fast approaching, and we're delighted to announce that Radio RTFM has set up a Vulture Central House of Luuurv voice message board giving lonely listeners the chance to connect with like-minded social inadequates. This month's sonic discharge features full details of the service plus selected messages …

    Radio RTFM 8 Feb 2007, 14:22

  • EDS nigh-on doubles profits

    Big 'EDS

    Outsourcing firm EDS reported a hike in profits on Wednesday evening, almost doubling its take from the same period in 2005. The fourth quarter of 2006 saw the firm rake in revenues of $5.7bn, up seven per cent like-for-like on a year earlier. On a GAAP basis that netted EDS $217m, or $0.40 per share in profit, compared to $ …

    Financial News 8 Feb 2007, 14:35

  • Tech firms tangle with Tories on ID cards

    Conservatives put big business in its place

    The IT industry has found itself in a handbagging spat with shadow home secretary David Davis over the Conservative party's plans to ditch ID cards should they win power from Labour. Davis' "official warning" to government said a democratic clause should be written into contracts with ID system suppliers so they could be …

    Public Sector 8 Feb 2007, 15:06

  • Royal Bank of Scotland picks Morse for mobile banking

    Monilink's the money

    The Royal Bank of Scotland has chosen Morse to provide its mobile banking service, which already counts HSBC, First Direct, and Alliance and Leicester as customers. Morse will run the service through its Monilink network - a joint venture with the LINK interchange network (which runs the UK's ATM network). The deal with the …

    Channel Register 8 Feb 2007, 15:55

  • BT wins £36m NHS deal

    Prescribes integrated networks

    BT has won NHS contracts worth £36m to create "communities of interest" for five primary care trusts. BT will create Internet Protocol networks for Kent and Medway Health Informatics Service, North Merseyside Health Informatics Service, Peterborough and Stamford Hosptial NHS Foundation Trust, Sussex Health Informatics Service, …

    Public Sector 8 Feb 2007, 16:13

  • US Disease Control website catches malware cold

    Virus infection

    Officials at the US Centers for Disease Control were left dealing with a different kind of outbreak last week after hackers planted a virus on the agency's website Unspecified malware hidden among legitimate audio and video clips and planted on the agency's podcast site had the capability to infect visiting surfers. The podcast …

    Enterprise Security 8 Feb 2007, 16:17

  • Be a composer

    A short cut for developers – and others

    It's not programming any more - it's composition. At least this is what Andy Bailey, VP of global marketing at Attunity, argues. With the release this week of version 2.1 of InFocus, Bailey says Attunity has introduced 'the first iteration of developer tools' which will enable customers to build their own applications on the …

    Developer 8 Feb 2007, 16:43

  • Sky comes back down to earth

    Launching terrestrial digital TV service

    Sky has announced plans to provide a terrestrial digital TV service in the UK; allowing reception of Sky's pay-TV services over a normal TV aerial. The service will need a new set-top box, and will use the spectrum currently occupied by Sky's three Freeview channels. By using MPEG4 encoding the service won't conform to the DVB …

    Music and Media 8 Feb 2007, 16:49

  • RIM, Samsung settle BlackJack brand brawl

    South Korean company faces 'limitations' on

    Research in Motion and Samsung have come to an arrangement over the South Korean giant's use of the name BlackJack, a brand a tad too close to 'BlackBerry', the push email pioneer had alleged in a lawsuit filed late last year. The financial terms behind the deal were not disclosed. RIM said Samsung has agreed to withdraw an …

    Financial News 8 Feb 2007, 17:18

  • MS preps black Xbox 360 as PS3 spoiler?

    HDMI port and 120GB HDD too, allegedly

    Is Microsoft preparing a spoiler for Sony's PAL-region PlayStation 3 launch on 23 March? According to one report, Australian store chain Myer has been told to expect a black Xbox 360 complete with HDMI port an 120GB hard drive round about that time. So claims a story on GamesReport.com, which also maintains Microsoft has …

    Reg Hardware 8 Feb 2007, 17:41

  • Israel bonds with US over online betting ban

    Sinful allies

    Israel has officially joined the online betting prohibitionist club, led by staunch ally the United States and the collaborationist French. According to the online edition of the Globe, Judge Abraham Heiman ruled last week that a foreign company may not take online bets from Israeli citizens, regardless of where it is …

    Law 8 Feb 2007, 21:10

  • Wal-Mart online service misfires, as iTunes readies video for Europe

    Analysis What's wrong? Where do we start ...

    There are so many things wrong with Wal-Mart's attempt to break into online video downloads this week, that we're not sure whether to write a long diatribe denouncing it, or if we should just list a few details and get it over with. There has virtually never been a giant in the physical world that has gone on to become the …

    Music and Media 8 Feb 2007, 22:27

  • As iPhone fever subsides, the world asks will there be a Zune phone?

    Zune, Zune, Zune

    As reporters and analysts run out of things to say about the Apple iPhone, they naturally need to keep the debate rolling, and have this week turned to the possibility of Microsoft's involvement in MP3 phones, by inventing the Zune phone. Microsoft executives failed to deny its existence and even said that “somewhere on the …

    Mobile 8 Feb 2007, 23:22