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27th February 2007 Archive

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  • Veritas man jumps Symantec ship

    Security chief headed for private firm

    Symantec's president of its key security and data management business Jeremy Burton has quit the firm to become CEO of business process software firm Serena Software. Burton, a marketing specialist, joined Symantec as part of the senior management group assimilated in the Veritas acquisition. To many, the rationale behind that …

    Financial News 27 Feb 2007, 00:54

  • HP pays for PolyServe while IBM and Dell watch

    Cluster a Go Go

    Longtime acquisition suspect PolyServe has been eaten by HP. HP today picked up the Oregon-based software maker for an undisclosed sum. Should the deal close as expected in the next months, PolyServe's products and staff will be tucked into HP's StorageWorks division. This acquisition builds on a long-term partnership between …

    Storage 27 Feb 2007, 00:59

  • Dell could go indirect with Acer buy - analyst

    Model 2.0

    Michael Dell could prove that "Dell 2.0" is more than a marketing throwaway by buying rival Acer, according to a leading Wall Street analyst. Sanford Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi today laid out a plan for Dell to revive its fortunes by purchasing Acer - a relatively cheap target with a $4bn market cap. Such a move would …

    Hardware 27 Feb 2007, 02:34

  • Gates demands better schools as Gates-backed school closes

    Funds drop out

    Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates displayed the timing of a percussionist suffering from the DTs when he called for more US education funding in an editorial for the Washington Post. In the piece published Sunday, Gates celebrated San Diego's High Tech High as an example for educators trying to improve the state of US schools. The …

    Policy 27 Feb 2007, 07:00

  • Richard and Judy probe extended

    Forum posting raises questions

    The probe into the Richard and Judy show has been extended as it now appears that complaints about how the phone lines worked and how calls were solicited were discussed on the Richard and Judy forum as early as 2004. A viewer posted complaints in 2004, but it's not known if producers read the forums. Last week, the company …

    Broadband 27 Feb 2007, 08:02

  • Intel announces fourth 45nm fab

    Chip plant to go into production H2 2008

    Intel is to spend $1-1.5bn upgrading its Rio Rancho, New Mexico plant, Fab 11X, to produce 45nm processors, the chip giant said yesterday. Output will commence in H2 2008. Intel's 45nm transistion centres on plants D1D and Fab 32 located in, respectively, Oregon and Arizona. These are the fabs that will punch out Penryn, the …

    Hardware 27 Feb 2007, 10:03

  • Apple presses pause on AppleTV roll-out

    Ship-date shifts to March

    Apple's AppleTV digital media player will not now ship until mid-March, a company spokeswoman has confirmed. The delay, the subject of much rumour-mongering over the last month or so, amounts to a set-back of a couple of weeks. "Wrapping up Apple TV is taking a few weeks longer than we projected, and we now expect to begin …

    Hardware 27 Feb 2007, 10:29

  • Hypercard on steroids

    One code to bind them all

    Here’s a question: is Runtime Revolution the cross-platform application development tool for people who just want to get things done? Answer: quite possibly. Runtime Revolution revives the simple development model that Bill Atkinson pioneered with Hypercard back in 1987. Fresh from his triumph of building MacPaint for the …

    Developer 27 Feb 2007, 10:31

  • Photos were 'grossly offensive' and not protected as free speech

    High Court upholds Connolly conviction

    It is illegal to send indecent or grossly offensive material to cause distress or anxiety to the recipient, even when it is done for political or educational reasons, the High Court has said. The conviction of Veronica Connolly was upheld on appeal this month. Connolly had sent pictures of aborted foetuses to pharmacies which …

    Law 27 Feb 2007, 10:53

  • Home secretary announces gun crime crackdown

    Database to link weapons to crimes

    The government is to improve technology for linking weapons to incidents as part of a three point plan to tackle gun crime. Other measures include tough punishments for those who use other people to look after weapons and increased funding for community groups. The home secretary announced the three point plan following a gun …

    Government 27 Feb 2007, 10:59

  • Sony pledges thinner, cheaper Blu-ray Disc player

    Sony looks set to cut the price of its consumer-centric Blu-ray Disc player this summer, knocking $400 off the price of its current model, the BDP-S1, a reduction of more than 40 per cent. The move will be made using a new machine, the BDP-S300, Sony said yesterday. It'll be priced at $599, which is still $100 more than the …

    Hardware 27 Feb 2007, 11:10

  • Pure unveils 'mobile' satellite broadband

    Get online in under five minutes

    Business broadband provider Pure Telecom has launched a new transportable service which will allow users to set up a satellite broadband link at short notice. The service is primarily targeted at emergency services and event organisers. Pure claims the system can establish a broadband link in under five minutes. Though …

    Mobile 27 Feb 2007, 11:14

  • Chinese develop remote-controlled pigeons

    A flying world first

    Chinese scientists have pulled off what they claim is a world first: controlling pigeons via brain-implanted "micro electrodes", Reuters reports. Xinhua news agency explained today that boffins at the Robot Engineering Technology Research Center at Shandong University of Science and Technology were able to "command [the pigeons …

    Science 27 Feb 2007, 11:18

  • Microsoft buys into medical search

    Tonic for Live search

    Microsoft has bought Medstory Inc for an undisclosed amount to try and improve its Live search site. The search specialist will join Microsoft's health solutions group which is targeting the consumer health market. Microsoft will keep Medstory's search portal open. Medstory founder and managing director Alain Rappaport will …

    Financial News 27 Feb 2007, 11:19

  • ESA targets Mercury with BepiColombo mission

    Joining forces with JAXA

    The European Space Agency (ESA) has given the go ahead for a mission to explore Mercury, the inner-most planet of our solar system. The mission was formally adopted at the agency's Science Programme Committee (SPC) meeting last Friday. BepiColombo is a joint mission between ESA and JAXA, the Japanese space agency. It will …

    Science 27 Feb 2007, 11:20

  • German cops and spooks prep own spyware

    Analysis Federal Trojan for 'online searches'

    Germany's police and secret services are pushing for a legal basis for "online house searches" – carried out without the knowledge of suspects, using spyware similar to a Trojan. The German public learned of the practice in November last year, when a magistrate of the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal High Court) ruled that there is …

    Security 27 Feb 2007, 11:31

  • RSI Awareness Day: The good and the bad

    Comment UK.biz needs to act rather than react

    RSI Action is the UK charity working to facilitate the prevention of RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury) conditions and for the relief of sickness, hardship, and distress among those suffering with RSI conditions. Last weekend it ran the International RSI Awareness Day at University College London. The day was an excellent mix of …

    Business 27 Feb 2007, 11:41

  • Mitac to buy Navman handheld business

    Where does that leave Mio?

    Mio parent Mitac has apparently acquired rival handheld GPS gadget maker Navman, but the deal will not necessarily boost the company's own GPS division. The sale, announced last week but yet to be completed, will see Navman parent Brunswick rid itself of the Navman-branded handheld and in-car devices operation. Brunswick has …

    Hardware 27 Feb 2007, 11:49

  • Cops may check crash drivers' mobile records

    Extended powers proposal

    The government may give police powers to check crash drivers' mobile phone records after a "routine accident", the Daily Telegraph reports. Currently, mobile phone records can be probed "only after a fatal accident and on the instruction of a senior officer". The government says that in 2005, 13 road deaths, 52 serious and 364 …

    Mobile 27 Feb 2007, 11:53

  • Google set to challenge Microsoft's office monopoly

    Comment Not great software, but certainly good enough

    Google is now head-to-head with Microsoft in the Office Apps market, as you may have guessed from the recent Google Apps announcement. What you get from Google is word processing, spreadsheet, calendar, chat, web page creation, and email. There are two price points: It's free. Just log on to Google and register. But prepare …

    Applications 27 Feb 2007, 11:54

  • Comodo resolves site validation glitch

    Trust restored

    Digital certificate firm Comodo has restored services to normal after websites displaying Comodo's Trust Logo were reduced to a crawl on Friday. Comodo's Trust Logo validates a website's identity to surfers, building confidence in ecommerce. But problems contacting the trustlogo.com site resulted in sites that displayed the …

    Security 27 Feb 2007, 12:12

  • SanDisk to replace Flash in photography?

    Holographic memory may be 'new digital film'

    SanDisk is set to launch later this year what it calls "the new digital film" - a write-once medium it hopes will replace all the memory cards its been persuading us to buy for our digital cameras for last five years or so. The new product may use holographic memory. Exactly what the technology is, SanDisk isn't saying. Greg …

    Hardware 27 Feb 2007, 12:18

  • Westcon dives into NOXS

    Pays €53.25m to boost network security offer

    Westcon Group has snapped up network security distie NOXS for €53.25m. Networking distie Westcon reckons the deal sets it up to become a “leading multinational distributor of network security products and solutions.” NOXS operates in the UK, Germany, Benelux, France, Ireland Italy and Austria. Its vendor roster in the UK …

    The Channel 27 Feb 2007, 12:43

  • Ofcom to pick over Murdoch's ITV stake

    Minister gets involved

    Trade and Industry minister Alastair Darling has asked Ofcom to investigate BSkyB's purchase of a 17.9 per cent stake in ITV. He wants the regulator to provide him with advice on whether the deal has public interest implications by 27 April. Ofcom said it is also looking at the possible impact on programming. The Office of Fair …

    Government 27 Feb 2007, 12:47

  • Asus Lamborghini VX2 laptop

    Review Show off how big your processor is...

    Cars and laptops obviously make good bed-fellow if Asus' latest Lamborghini-badged model is anything to go by. While its first effort - the VX1 - may have been seen as a me-too effort to rival Acer's Ferrari tie-up, there's got to be something in the partnership to produce further offspring. Given its premium branding - and …

    Hardware 27 Feb 2007, 12:52

  • 'Commercial scale' jitters delay Europe's IPR vote

    MEPs mull and mull again

    The European Parliament has once again postponed the vote on the latest version of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) directive. This time, the delay is to "find a final compromise" on the definition of what constitutes "commercial scale" infringement under the new proposals. The Foundation for a Free Information …

    Law 27 Feb 2007, 13:33

  • MySpace hackers avoid extortion rap

    Blackmail charges dropped against tracking software duo

    Blackmail charges have been dropped against a pair of hackers accused of mounting an extortion scam against MySpace as part of a plea-bargaining agreement. Shaun Harrison, 19, and Saverio Mondelli, 20, of Suffolk County, New York, pleaded guilty to developing code that tracked MySpace users in exchange for an agreement by …

    Security 27 Feb 2007, 13:46

  • Keele Uni celebrates record-breaking vice chancellor

    Massive pay rise wows staff

    Keele University big cheese Janet Finch has given the troubled seat of learning something to celebrate, by securing a whopping 31.7 per cent pay rise last year. Finch's rise - ten times greater than that awarded to lecturers last summer and the largest awarded to any vice chancellor - takes her salary to a modest £212,000. …

    Policy 27 Feb 2007, 14:59

  • Ofcom's ISP code of practice: why it is necessary

    First Person My struggle with Plusnet

    For two years PlusNet resisted the broadband industry's voluntary code of practice designed to protect consumers from unscrupulous service providers. Now, with Ofcom regulations forcing hold-out ISPs to fall in line with the rest of the industry, PlusNet claims to have followed the voluntary code all along. Central to the …

    Broadband 27 Feb 2007, 15:07

  • Don't buy our album, beg Deep Purple

    Updated Ian Gillan slams 'awful' live re-release

    Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan has refreshingly asked fans not to buy an "awful" re-released album of the band live at Birmingham's NEC, the BBC reports. The sub-standard 1993 offering - thrillingly entitled "NEC 1993" - was, Gillan lamented, "an unfortunate reminder of one of their worst ever concerts". The singer fingered …

    Media 27 Feb 2007, 15:09

  • Torex Retail loses two more directors

    Still sorting last year's accounts

    Torex Retail said goodbye to two more directors late yesterday. The Oxfordshire-based software company came unstuck when a trading update, which said everything was fine, was quickly followed by a profits warning last month. Shares in the firm are suspended while KPMG tries to make sense of the company's accounts. Torex …

    Financial News 27 Feb 2007, 16:06

  • Need an EU grant? Call a Romanian witch

    Hag-assisted applications

    Any reader trying to secure an EU grant but finding the happy band of nations less than forthcoming with the cash is advised to get over to Romania, where supernatural help is at hand. Indeed, enterprising local witches have turned from their traditional pursuits of brewing love potions and the like, to helping businessmen …

    Bootnotes 27 Feb 2007, 16:07

  • Hatto hoax husband confesses

    'Biggest attempt at recording theft ever attempted'

    The husband of the late classical pianist Joyce Hatto has apparently admitted to "doctoring" sound recordings issued on his own record label. William Barrington-Coupe issued over 100 CDs of his wife, who hadn't performed in public for 30 years, on his label Concert Artists Recordings. Recently Hatto, who died last year, had …

    Media 27 Feb 2007, 16:14

  • Security flap over support ActiveX controls bug

    Help!

    Flaws in an ActiveX component incorporated in many technical support support packages create a risk of hacking attacks, security watchers warn. SupportSoft's ActiveX controls are subject to multiple buffer overflow vulnerabilities, which create a means for hackers to inject malware onto vulnerable systems. The controls are …

    Security 27 Feb 2007, 16:32

  • C2000 makes SME push

    IBM server deal shows the way

    Computer 2000 has officially launched a campaign to sell IBM servers to SME resellers. The distributor signed up to sell IBM's x servers and workstations last August, while IBM launched its server campaign for SMEs in December. Yet C2000 tried to make out in a press release it published today this was all new: "Computer 2000 …

    The Channel 27 Feb 2007, 16:35

  • KGB maps discovered in Jesus's coffin

    Letters Who got the most mail, this week?

    Why not kick off with the obvious big story of the week? Yes, James Cameron finds the tomb of Christ. We had upwards of a trillion responses on this one, but very few were actually written in anything approaching comprehensible English, so we've trimmed the pile, somewhat. One theme that has troubled many of you, though, is …

    Letters 27 Feb 2007, 16:57

  • SEC sues 'hacker' firm for insider trading

    Early access to profits

    A firm that allegedly hacked into corporate servers to access news releases early has been sued by US market regulators. Blue Bottle used the illegal tactic to gain an unfair advantage in market trades that have made it $2.7m in profits, the Securities and Exchange Commission claims. A lawsuit filed by the SEC on Monday alleges …

    Financial News 27 Feb 2007, 17:57

  • Kohn on Jobs

    Interview Drop the pose, Steve

    What's Bob Kohn doing now? The storied lawyer, who with his father Al wrote the "bible" on music business law has long been active in the IT world too. Kohn was Ashton Tate's attorney during the boom years of the 1980s, and later Borland's general counsel during the attrition years of the 1990s, when the software company was …

    Media 27 Feb 2007, 18:05

  • Brocade makes hay before McData integration

    Bitter pill to swallow?

    Storage switch specialist Brocade posted a strong set of quarterly results as it prepares to near-double its market share by integrating recently completed acquisition McData. For the three months to January 27, Brocade revenues were $224.2m, up 32 per cent on the same period a year earlier. Margins widened too, with the …

    Storage 27 Feb 2007, 20:15

  • Salesforce.com targets Wall Street with wealth creation plan

    Fund managers ahoy

    Salesforce.com is kicking off a series of CRM (customer relationship management) packages targeting financial services, starting with a hostile Wall Street. Salesforce.com Wealth Management Edition draws on more than two dozen pre-integrated partner applications and mash-ups from the AppExchange marketplace. These include …

    Applications 27 Feb 2007, 22:30

  • Microsoft employs bologna defense against VMware

    Raises white paper with ball of fluff

    In classic Redmond fashion, Microsoft has countered VMware's charges of anticompetitive practices in the server virtualization market by heaving a giant ball of fluff at reporters. Yesterday, we reported on VMware's new white paper that offers a point-by-point synopsis of how Microsoft makes life difficult on customers trying …

    Servers 27 Feb 2007, 23:32