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13th February 2007 Archive

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  • IE and Firefox cough up hard drive contents

    Updated Floor by flaw

    The latest versions of Internet Explorer and Firefox on Windows and (in the case of Firefox) Unix systems are vulnerable to attacks that could reveal the contents of sensitive files residing on a victim's hard drives. The vulnerability resides in the functionality that allows the browsers to upload files to a remote server. …

    Enterprise Security 13 Feb 2007, 00:59

  • IBM's juiced Power6 stomps poor, old Power5+

    ISSCC A 2x joint

    At a time when rivals have given up on juicing their processors, IBM plans to crank the heck out of Power6. The dual-core chip due out by mid-2007 will come in "just shy" of 5GHz and flaunt double the performance of today's Power5. "We are showing that we're really doing twice the speeds and feeds of Power5," IBM's chief …

    Servers 13 Feb 2007, 05:07

  • Are founder-driven SW vendors good for enterprise buyers?

    Comment A safe bet?

    I met with Gerry Cohen last week, the founder CEO of BI vendor Information Builders (IB). After 30 years in the business he still has an infectious enthusiasm for software. As has Jim Goodnight, the founder CEO of SAS, and Michael Saylor, the founder CEO of MicroStrategy, who founded his company in 1989. Between them, this …

    Applications 13 Feb 2007, 07:02

  • Intel owed depressed employee more than counselling

    Failure of management created the stresses

    Simply providing counselling for employees does not absolve companies of responsibility for their employees, the UK's Court of Appeal has ruled. The Court found that Intel was responsible for a worker's breakdown even though it provided counselling. "The respondent, a loyal and capable employee, pointed out the serious …

    Law 13 Feb 2007, 07:02

  • Orange takes the cloak off Super SIM

    3GSM Up, up and...

    Orange has announced the availability of its much-anticipated Super SIM supplied by Sagem Orga. The Super SIM has 128MB of storage and, when inserted into a Super SIM supporting handset, automatically installs "the Orange Homescreen, Packet Video player, F-Secure anti-virus client, and a whole series of Orange branded wallpapers …

    Mobile 13 Feb 2007, 10:13

  • New copyright police to increase raids and seizures in UK

    Pirates beware

    The Government will fund 4,500 new copyright police to conduct raids from April. The move comes as the Department of Trade and Industry passes responsibility for copyright enforcement to Trading Standards Officers. As recommended by December's Gowers Review of Intellectual Property, the DTI has granted Trading Standards …

    Law 13 Feb 2007, 10:31

  • AMD licenses ATI phone GPU tech

    Own products to focus on audio, video?

    AMD today said it will license its graphics technology for handheld devices, signing up STMicroelectronics as one of its first customers. The move comes a day after it launched new media processors aimed at... er... handhelds. But maybe these apparently contradictory moves with prove complementary. AMD's launch yesterday …

    Reg Hardware 13 Feb 2007, 10:38

  • EC to overhaul consumer law to boost e-commerce

    Making many laws one

    The European Commission will overhaul European contract law to make internet selling easier, more reliable and more efficient. The commission has opened consultation on proposed changes that will affect eight EU Directives. Recognising that e-commerce is hampered by a mass of conflicting national laws, the commission has …

    Law 13 Feb 2007, 10:58

  • HDMI pitches for PC vendor mind share

    Battle with DisplayPort begins

    The battle to determine which PC display interconnect will dominate the market has begun in earnest. Yesterday, the organisation that licenses the HDMI port claimed more than 50 desktops, notebooks, motherboards, graphics cards and monitors are now shipping with its technology on board. HDMI is a logical successor to the …

    Reg Hardware 13 Feb 2007, 10:59

  • Amazon slapped with cockfighting lawsuit

    Bird-on-bird magazines ruffle feathers

    The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has slapped Amazon.com with a lawsuit aimed at preventing the online retailer punting cockfighting magazines and dogfighting videos, Computerworld reports. The HSUS action - filed last week in Superior Court of the District of Columbia - specifically concerns "The Underground …

    Law 13 Feb 2007, 11:07

  • InPhase begins shipping holographic storage

    $180 per 300GB disk

    InPhase Technologies has begun bulk shipping of its 300GB holographic storage disks and drives, the firm said yesterday. The Tapestry HDS-300R drive costs $18,000, with the 1.5mm-thick platters running to $180 a piece. The firm already claims a series of high profile customers, including Turner Broadcasting, the US Geological …

    Storage 13 Feb 2007, 11:12

  • North Korea to shut down nuclear reactor

    Disarms for hand-outs

    North Korea last night agreed to shut down its principal nuclear reactor in return for fuel aid, the BBC reports. The deal, reached in Beijing following lengthy talks, raises hopes that Pyongyang has decided to bow to international pressure and move towards nuclear disarmament. Envoy Wu Dawei, representing China at the …

    Physics 13 Feb 2007, 11:19

  • MPs launch IT comp for primary children

    Kids pitch in to improve school ICT

    A parliamentary group has launched a competition for primary school children to prove their grasp of technology. The Parliamentary Information Technology Committee (Pitcom), and e-skills UK, the skills council for IT and telecommunications, announced the Made IT Happen competition yesterday. The competition is open for 9 to 11 …

    Public Sector 13 Feb 2007, 11:34

  • ESA boffins make Martian maps

    Not lost in space

    If you have been hoping to take a hiking holiday on Mars, but have found your plans spoiled by the dreadful lack of detailed maps, fear not: the European Space Agency has come to your rescue. ESA scientists have developed a series of ordnance survey-style maps of the red planet, using data from the High-Resolution Stereo Camera …

    Space 13 Feb 2007, 11:36

  • HTC slides in slide-out-keyboard communicators

    3GSM You want form-factors? We got 'em

    HTC has unwrapped a trio of smart phones, including the eagerly anticipated Advantage X7500 - the UMPC-like successor to the manufacturer's Universal 3G handset. It also rolled out its first candybar form-factor phone with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. First, the X7500. The spec's now well known: 624MHz XScale processor, 8GB …

    Reg Hardware 13 Feb 2007, 11:39

  • Money transfers go mobile for migrant workers

    3GSM Wireless remittance scheme targets unbanked

    The GSM Association has teamed up with Mastercard to launch a pilot program to make it easier for international migrant workers to send money home. The scheme aims to make it more straightforward for the world's 200 million international migrant workers to easily and securely send remittances to their dependents, many of whom …

    Mobile 13 Feb 2007, 11:44

  • Intel Tera – not firma, but coming

    Is parallel processing the step beyond?

    Here is a long-term question: is Intel starting the long walk away from the x86 architecture and towards what it sees as the "next big thing"? There is certainly no immediate need to panic. Nothing is going to change for a good few years yet, but there has to come a time when the aged and venerable x86 fundamentals are put out …

    Developer 13 Feb 2007, 12:04

  • BP offices hit by mail bomb scare

    Testing nerves at surrounding tech firms

    Technology workers were disturbed this morning by what appears to have been a hoax bomb at a business park near Heathrow. The bomb scare hit BP's Stockley Park offices, which were evacuated and surrounded by police. A spokesman for the oil giant said a suspect jiffy bag had been taken away from the facility for further …

    Business 13 Feb 2007, 12:13

  • The Register - tuned to your every whim?

    Site news Emails or feeds on the topics you love

    You can get emails, or build a feed, on any topic, company or technology area we write about by heading down to search.theregister.co.uk, running a search for anything of interest, and following the links. Want an email as soon as we report about ID cards? Filtered to only those written by our resident expert? Or perhaps …

    Site News 13 Feb 2007, 12:23

  • 3GSM Nokia turns on N series TV phone

    Nokia has introduced its latest digital telly friendly mobile phone: N series member the N77. Ready for viewing, it's equipped with a 2.4in, 320 x 240 display capable of rendering 16m colours. There's a pair of stereo speakers too. The N77 uses the DVB-H digital TV standard - a handset-friendly variation of DVB-T technology …

    Reg Hardware 13 Feb 2007, 12:28

  • 3GSM Nokia 3GSM gallery

    Nokia announced six new handsets at 3GSM this year. For your viewing pleasure, here they all are... N77 3110 Classic   6110 Navigator   E90 E65 E61i 3GSM Galleries Motorola Nokia Samsung

    Reg Hardware 13 Feb 2007, 12:40

  • Bank in hot water over BT's Plusnet deal

    Watchdog is not amused

    BT says it will continue to work with Rothschild bank, depite the financial institution giving it such poor advice over the Plusnet acquisition last year that the bank has been formally reprimanded by the Takeover Panel. This is only the tenth time in the panel's history that it has seen fit make a "public statement of …

    Financial News 13 Feb 2007, 12:48

  • IBM plants Linux on the desktop

    Open Client platform no longer closed off

    IBM has announced an open-source desktop, running Lotus apps and Firefox on top of Red Hat or SUSE Linux. It's based on an internal project which has deployed Linux desktops to several thousand IBM staff, in what IBM said was one of the largest corporate Linux roll-outs to date. It added that its Open Client Solution can also …

    Applications 13 Feb 2007, 12:59

  • Mexican drug gangs slug it out on YouTube

    Warning: graphic content Blood-soaked videos fuel escalating violence

    A bloody war between rival Mexican drug gangs has spilled onto YouTube where two competing cartels "taunt each other with blood-soaked slideshows and films of their murder victims", Reuters reports. The war between north eastern Mexico's "Gulf Cartel" - with its private army "Los Zetas", led by Osiel Cardenas, and "traffickers …

    Bootnotes 13 Feb 2007, 13:02

  • Free Nokia route-plan app arrives late, in need of shower, cocoa

    Call off the search

    Call off the search - Nokia's free Smart2Go route-planning software has arrived at last at its intended destination: the company's Smart2Go website, where it's now available to download. Nokia announced last week the software would be available as a free download this past weekend. However, as we reported yesterday, the …

    Reg Hardware 13 Feb 2007, 13:23

  • UK bikers skate on sticky grit

    When rock salt and molasses don't mix

    UK bikers have launched an online petition* aimed at getting the government to rethink its "sticky grit" de-icing strategy. The Highways Agency first trialled a molasses/grit concoction back in 1994, the BBC records, because common-or-garden grit can easily be swept from the road by wind or rain. Accordingly, it threw some …

    Bootnotes 13 Feb 2007, 14:00

  • Belgium upholds anti-Google injunction

    Search firm has to be told twice

    Copiepresse, the French and German language news agency in Belgium, has for the second time won the support of the Belgian courts in its battle to stop Google including snippets of its articles on the Google News search pages. In September last year, the court handed down an injunction against the search firm using Copiepresse' …

    Law 13 Feb 2007, 15:02

  • Princeton ESP lab shuttered in bad week for irrationality

    Unpredictable reasoned victories

    The news that the lab investigating parapsychological phenomena around extra-sensory perception has closed makes for a bad week for pseudoscience. The Engineering Anomalies Research laboratory operated on the fringes of Princeton University for almost 30 years. It was set up by the Ivy League school's former dean of applied …

    Science 13 Feb 2007, 15:04

  • ip.access opens Oyster femtocell to the world

    3G in the home

    ip.access has launched a consumer-friendly 3G cell, called Oyster, that's designed to be plugged into the internet. Oyster routes normal 3G calls over the customer's broadband connection; supplying all the advantages of a VoIP solution with none of the complexity. Simplicity of deployment is paramount with applications like …

    Networks 13 Feb 2007, 15:08

  • Kingston offers multi-format SD card pack

    Kingston Technology has begun bundling its 1GB MicroSD card with a pair of adaptors that allow the card to slide smoothly into MiniSD and SD memory card slots, respectively. Handy that, if your phone uses MicroSD, but your camera and computer will only handle the other formats. That's Kingston's pitch, at any rate, and since …

    Reg Hardware 13 Feb 2007, 15:26

  • Novell and Microsoft swing both ways

    Bidirectional virtualisation is virtually there

    The possibilities for recursive virtualisation have just increased, with Novell and Intel announcing that you can now run Windows unmodified on Novell's SUSE Linux, via Xen and an Intel VT-capable processor, while Microsoft says an upcoming service pack will let its Virtual Server run SUSE Linux as a virtualised guest. First …

    Software 13 Feb 2007, 15:56

  • 'Fatal text' driver jailed for two years

    Sent SMS just before crash

    A Pontypool sales executive who killed another driver in a head-on collision, just two minutes after sending a text message, has been jailed for two years. Michael Smith, 43, was found guilty last November of causing death by dangerous driving, but "denied using his mobile before the crash", the BBC reports. The accident …

    Law 13 Feb 2007, 16:21

  • AMD confirms RS690 will ship as 690G

    And as M690G for notebooks

    AMD has confirmed its upcoming RS690 chipset will be available in at least two versions - one for desktops, the other for mobiles - both with the model number 690G, documents released to Register Hardware today reveal. The company's tight-lipped about what the RS690 will do, at least until is launch, which we understand is …

    Reg Hardware 13 Feb 2007, 16:47

  • Cameraphones focus on liquid lenses

    3GSM All it takes is a drop of water

    The quality of autofocus lenses on cameraphones are set to get a boost with technology from Varioptic, a firm that makes its lenses out of oil and water, rather than using traditional mechanical lenses. The firm was this week celebrating at 3GSM in Barcelona the first inclusion of its nifty lens in a camera module, one made …

    Mobile 13 Feb 2007, 16:57

  • Fujitsu man condemns NPfIT as failure

    A camel among racehorses

    The government's pet technology project, the multi-billion pound NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT), is in danger of failing, lacks the leadership required to stop it drifting off course, and is in danger of morphing into "a camel", according to a senior figure in one of the main contractors implementing the project. …

    Public Sector 13 Feb 2007, 16:59

  • US film critics slap Calcutta-born Welsh

    Movie accents more Bangalore than Bangor

    US film critics have lined up to have a pop at the "Welsh" accents in The Last Sin Eater - "a creepy religious drama" regarding a Welsh immigrant community living in America's Appalachian mountains. According to icWales, the movie centres on this "superstitious group" which "lives in fear of a 'sin eater', a mysterious man they …

    Entertainment 13 Feb 2007, 17:01

  • EMC, FalconStor extend VTL contract

    NearTek buy: can anyone say leverage?

    EMC has extended its relationship with its virtual tape library (VTL) software partner FalconStor until 2013. The storage monster's manoeuvrings last year, however, may reveal how EMC put the squeeze on during negotiations. The news is given the standard release treatment by FalconStor, trotting out business development VP …

    Storage 13 Feb 2007, 17:20

  • 3GSM Samsung 3GSM gallery

    Samsung announced a handful of new handsets at 3GSM this year and showed off a host more. For your viewing pleasure, here they are... SGH-P110   Ultra Edition II 10.9 (U600)   Ultra Edition II 12.1 (U700)   Ultra Edition II 9.6 (U300)   Ultra Edition II 5.9 (U100)     Ultra Smart F700   Ultra Smart F520   Ultra …

    Reg Hardware 13 Feb 2007, 18:03

  • Altobridge conjures up instant GSM networking

    Get me GSM in here: stat

    Need a GSM network in a hurry? Altobridge can provide a GSM cell, for use with standard handsets and connected over satellite, within five minutes. The Remote Contiguous Communications Unit is designed for emergency deployment in disaster areas. It's a suitcase-sized base station that can be powered from a vehicle or small …

    Mobile 13 Feb 2007, 18:06

  • Eight nabbed in China for Panda worm

    Cute, but was it virulent?

    Police in central China's Hubei Province have detained eight men in their 20s alleged to have participated in the spreading of last year's "Panda burning joss stick" virus outbreak. This is the first time Chinese authorities have made arrests relating to a major virus attack originating from that country, Xinhua News reports …

    Malware 13 Feb 2007, 20:26

  • IBM scouts for more software acquisitions

    Updates Filenet

    IBM's appetite for acquiring software companies shows no signs of diminishing. Last year, the company conservatively spent $3.6bn, adding 12 companies or just their assets to its $18bn middleware business during 2006. Steve Mills, IBM's software chief, today promised a repeat performance in 2007 as IBM capitalizes on …

    Applications 13 Feb 2007, 21:59

  • The Java Phrasebook

    Book review An aid for travellers in a foreign land

    Elliote Rusty Harold, acclaimed Java and XML author, recently described Java as the lingua franca of the programming world. According to Harold he can write basic Java and have it understood by non-Java programmers more often than not. It’s the language of choice for computer science education and is so ubiquitous in …

    Developer 13 Feb 2007, 22:28

  • Moto's banana beats Nokia's brick

    First look Gadget porn stand-off

    The surprise of the 3GSM show so far has turned up in the Gadget Porn Department. Nokia's new communicator, the E90, was one of the most eagerly anticipated launches in a long time. But rather like Apple's iPhone, it's somewhat less spectacular once the reality sinks in. For your reporter, the E90 was all but eclipsed by a …

    Mobile 13 Feb 2007, 23:13

  • D-Wave qubits in the era of Quantum Computing

    Analog box in disguise?

    Few start-ups would have the guts or audacity to unveil their first product at the Computer History Museum. D-Wave Systems, however, did just that today by unveiling the world's most advanced quantum computer - a product that may one day be displayed at the museum as a breakthrough system or simply as a curious relic. …

    Servers 13 Feb 2007, 23:59