The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

28th February 2007 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

  • FTC: Thumbs up for America's online child protection laws

    COPPA bracelet

    America's laws protecting children's privacy online are working just fine, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). But just to make sure, it will slap violators with bigger fines. Signed into law in 2000, The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) has seen the FTC bring just 12 companies to task over how they …

    Law 28 Feb 2007, 03:31

  • Antigua throws life preserver to DOJ in search for missing money

    House of Cards Fugitive BetonSports director speaks out

    The fugitive former COO of BetonSports.com (BOS), Clive Archer, announced last week on the BetonSports website that the company had reached an agreement with the government of Antigua to institute an orderly return of funds to its jilted customers. No one knows just how much is left to be recovered, but the involvement of the …

    Law 28 Feb 2007, 03:42

  • AMD launches ATI RS690 chipset at long last

    Radeon X1200-based integrated 690G arrives

    AMD today introduced its first chipset products to be released only under its own brand rather than ATI's: the integrated 690G and 690V. The 690G incorporates two independent display controllers and ingratea signalling for DVI, HDMI, TV, CRT and LCD monitors. It also has HDCP support built in. The 690V drops the integrated …

    reghardware 28 Feb 2007, 05:02

  • Privacy slights should prompt lawsuits

    ICO recommends court action

    Seek compensation if someone breaches your privacy, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) urged today. The ICO issued a guidance note to point people in the right direction if they want recompense for a slight under the Data Protection Act. People who think they have suffered because someone has breached their privacy, …

    Law 28 Feb 2007, 10:02

  • Call for Blair to challenge Windows Vista price

    Just another play for today

    British computer users are demanding Tony Blair stand up to Microsoft and stop them being ripped off over Windows Vista pricing. So far, nearly 5,000 people have signed an official petition on Number 10's website calling on Prime Minister Blair to take action against Microsoft's alleged overcharging. According to the e- …

    Software 28 Feb 2007, 10:04

  • Naomi Campbell says sorry for mobile assault

    WSA Healing power of crystals battles personal demons

    Battling supermodel Naomi Campbell has expressed her remorse for the phone-throwing incident which cost her maid Ana Scolavino four stiches in the head and the Streatham clotheshorse five days' community service. Opening her heart to US TV show Extra, Campbell told Terri Seymour about "her violent temper and the personal demons …

    Entertainment 28 Feb 2007, 10:14

  • Seven-day session kills Chinese gamer

    Overweight, overkill, over and out

    A Chinese man who spent "almost all" of the seven-day Lunar New Year holiday glued to a computer game finally dropped dead at the end of the marathon session, Reuters reports. The unnamed 26-year-old, who weighed in at a fighting 150kg (330lb), collapsed on Saturday in Jinzhou, Liaoning province, following the week-long gaming …

    Bootnotes 28 Feb 2007, 10:15

  • Compel interims strong

    Good six months

    Compel increased turnover by 10 per cent to £45m in the six months ended 31 December 2006. Adjusted pre-tax profits grew by 34 per cent to £1.71m. The company increased the dividend it pays per share by 17 per cent to 0.7 pence per share. The Hertfordshire based company has two divisions - Enterprise Solutions, and short …

    Channel Register 28 Feb 2007, 10:27

  • Software as a service needs a clear service level agreement

    New model spells new legal issues

    Software houses must create a whole new kind of service level agreement (SLA) if they start selling their software as a service rather than a product, according to a body which represents software developers. Software developers are increasingly offering their products as an on-demand service with full support rather than …

    Small Biz 28 Feb 2007, 10:39

  • MP3 players hit by patent infringement suit

    Texas MP3 buys patent, immediately files suit

    The world's major MP3 player manufacturers have been sued in a patent infringement case by a company that began the case the day after it acquired the patent. Apple, Samsung and SanDisk have been sued by Texas MP3 Technologies which bought the US patent from two Korean inventors. The patent was originally lodged in 1997, was …

    Law 28 Feb 2007, 10:39

  • Dell to offer Linux with its desktops and laptops

    Listens to the masses

    Dell users may soon have the choice of having Linux pre-installed on their machines, according to a statement on the technology company's website. The PC maker launched its feedback website, Dell Idea Storm, in mid-February, and was inundated with requests for the Linux operating system and productivity software suite …

    Operating Systems 28 Feb 2007, 10:45

  • Sony models Spring digicam lines

    After last week's splashes from Pentax and Canon, it's Sony's turn to row out a raft of new digital cameras, including compact and SLR models. The slimline Cyber-shot DSC-T20 is pitched as the digicam for the HD era thanks to its ability to display a 16:9 widescreen image at 1080i resolution, though buyers will need a not …

    reghardware 28 Feb 2007, 10:53

  • US Superfighter software glitch fixed

    Jets can now cross Pacific, Far East safe for democracy again

    Significant new capabilities have been added to the US Air Force's latest superfighter, the F-22 "Raptor". The USAF's Raptors cost more than $300m each, and are generally thought to be the most advanced combat jets in service worldwide. However, until recently they were unable to cross the international date line owing to a …

    Science 28 Feb 2007, 10:59

  • MPs criticise NAO's efficiency scrutiny

    Smoke and mirrors

    Members of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee have shown a reluctance to accept a report on the progress of Whitehall's efficiency campaign. The National Audit Office's (NAO) acceptance of Efficiency Review calculations came under fire from MPs at a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee yesterday. Halfway into the three …

    Government 28 Feb 2007, 11:01

  • Dell to offer Linux with desktops, laptops

    Dell users may soon have the choice of having Linux pre-installed on their machines, according to a statement on the technology company's website. The PC maker launched its feedback website, Dell Idea Storm, in mid-February, and was inundated with requests for the Linux operating system and productivity software suite …

    reghardware 28 Feb 2007, 11:01

  • Philips, Intel design PDA for medics

    Not quite a Feinberger...

    Philips and Intel are to develop a tablet computer for doctors and nurses, in the process creating what they claim is a new category of device: the Mobile Clinical Assistant (MCA). Presumably, Portable Doctor's Assistant* is already taken... The MCA is built around a 10.4in, 1024 × 768 touch-screen display. An internal …

    reghardware 28 Feb 2007, 11:40

  • Sony preps ever ready USB battery charger

    Sony will ship a USB-connected rechargeable battery power supply unit later this year, the consumer electronics giant pledged this week. The device, dubbed Energy LINK, ships with a pair of AA batteries that slip inside to be charged when the unit's plugged into a computer. Later, the two batteries can be removed and placed …

    reghardware 28 Feb 2007, 12:12

  • Samsung shows off i70 compact digicams

    Another day, another range of new cameras

    Samsung has announced the newest addition to it's digital compact camera range: the i70. The 7.2-megapixel camera is available in a choice of four colours: silver, black pink and gold. The i70 features 3x optical zoom and a 3in LCD plus a portable media player so you can have video and music on the go. It also has a text …

    reghardware 28 Feb 2007, 12:13

  • China to purify cyber gamblers, build harmonious society

    Anti-obsession controls already in place

    Due to its proximity to mainland China, gambling development in Macau has exploded - recently even surpassing Las Vegas' legendary Strip in revenue terms - and international players, such as Ladbrokes, have been positioning themselves to expand into the mainland itself when the time is right. It could be a long wait. The …

    Law 28 Feb 2007, 12:16

  • Logica sees profit growth

    But shares follow market downwards

    Logica CMG says profits grew by 30 per cent in 2006 and revenues were up 45.3 per cent. Total revenues were £2.67bn and profit before tax grew to £129.4m from £104.8m in 2005. Revenue from IT services, which makes up 91 per cent of the total, grew by five per cent on a pro forma basis. Margins for the IT services business …

    Channel Register 28 Feb 2007, 12:22

  • Motorola revamps StarTAC for Koreans... again

    A second time out for 'the timeless accessory'

    Motorola has revived its olde StarTAC brand in a bid to win the hearts and wallets of Swinging Sixties-obsessed South Korean trendies. The phone maker this week re-launched the line with the StarTAC III MS900 clamshell. The handset's specifications are fully modern, with the usual MP3 player features present and correct; …

    reghardware 28 Feb 2007, 13:07

  • Watchdog boss blasts Britain's e-voting plans

    Blighty vote fraud may be worst in Europe

    The chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life yesterday delivered a stinging attack on attempts to modernise the British voting system. Speaking to the annual seminar of the Association of Electoral Administrators in Brighton, Sir Alistair Graham suggested that electoral fraud has increased sharply as a result of …

    Public Sector 28 Feb 2007, 13:09

  • Middle England battles Strategy Boutiques

    Mother tongue menaced by 'product-set deep dives'

    Readers of the Daily Telegraph have got themselves into a bit of a tizz over alleged abuses our our beloved English language. Since one correspondent wrote in to express his dismay at some linguistic outrage or other, Middle England has been falling over itself to decry the erosion of decent standards. Among the examples to be …

    Bootnotes 28 Feb 2007, 13:33

  • Ms Pac-Man celebrates 25 years with Apple

    Classic game comes to the iPod

    Namco has released the hugely-popular Ms Pac-Man for the fifth-generation iPod. Like an old college mate who refuses to accept the world has moved on, Ms Pac-Man is still out there night after night, popping pills and running from ghosts down warp tunnels whilst listening to repetitive music. While most of us have had to …

    Bootnotes 28 Feb 2007, 13:36

  • Korea orders Google to rewrite 'unfair' AdSense contracts

    Click-fraud spat prompts action

    The Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has told Google to rewrite sections of its AdSense contracts which empower Google to unilaterally cancel any deal, and are considered unfair under Korean law. AdSense displays adverts on a website and the owner of the website gets a share of the money made by Google. Because payments are …

    Financial News 28 Feb 2007, 13:48

  • Japan scrubs Antarctic whale hunt

    Final tally: 508 whales, 1 crew member

    Japan's Antarctic whaling fleet has called it a day for this season following the recent fire aboard its main vessel the Nisshin Maru, Reuters reports. The ship suffered an engine room fire earlier this month which forced a partial evacuation of the crew. One crew member died during the incident. Although the 8,000-ton Nisshin …

    Biology 28 Feb 2007, 13:59

  • Europe enjoying broadband by light

    But UK still in the dark

    There are now over one million fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband connections in Europe, according to an Informa report. While Sweden leads FTTH deployments, the UK isn't even on the chart. Across Western Europe 1.4 per cent of broadband users are connected by fibre, but in Sweden that rises to over 27 per cent of its 2.34 …

    Telecoms 28 Feb 2007, 14:27

  • NASA moves fast on hail damage, astronaut madness

    Shuttle repairs, gaffer tape and loose nuts

    NASA has postponed a shuttle launch planned for 15 March after the space vehicle was damaged by a launch-pad hailstorm on Monday. Engineers monitoring remote camera systems spotted "bright-coloured dings" in the foam insulation covering Shuttle Atlantis' external fuel tank, and yesterday it was announced that the stricken …

    Space 28 Feb 2007, 14:35

  • Northamber holds tight

    Change is in the air

    Distributor Northamber has reported how it has managed to sit out a "disappointing" period for the IT sector by keeping a tight reign on costs and cashing in some investments. Profits were up a smidgeon for the six months ended 31 December 2006, according to the firm's interim results, published today, to £0.37m from £0.32m for …

    Channel Register 28 Feb 2007, 14:37

  • Airbus to lay off 10,000

    Victims of A380 debacle

    Airbus CEO Louis Gallois this afternoon announced 10,000 lay-offs of "overhead staff" across the company's European operations in the wake of the A380 debacle. Airbus Germany will lose 3,700 staff, France 3,200, the UK 1,600, Spain 400, and the company's headquarters in Toulouse will say au revoir to 1,000. The redundancies …

    Financial News 28 Feb 2007, 14:40

  • Star Trek XI logged for Xmas 2008 launch

    Franchise reboot to boldly cast Matt Damon as Kirk?

    Paramount Pictures has confirmed the next Star Trek movie will be released on Christmas Day 2008. J J Abrams (producer/director of Mission Impossible: III and creator of TV's Lost) will helm the Star Trek XI film, which will see the classic series Enterprise crew of Kirk, Spock and McCoy played by a new generation of actors. …

    Entertainment 28 Feb 2007, 15:04

  • N-Gage makes play at Elisa

    To work with operators, this time

    Nokia has started trials of its latest N-Gage platform with Finnish operator Elisa. Having failed so spectacularly as a hardware console, this time round N-Gage is a platform which can be used on a variety of Series 60 handsets, although Nokia has hinted at more games-oriented handsets in future. While the details of Nokia's …

    Mobile 28 Feb 2007, 15:09

  • Orb turns MySpace into personal radio station

    Exclusive Drag, drop, stream

    Just as you thought the MySpace phenomenon was running out of steam, tomorrow will see the biggest innovation to the site since it launched. This one doesn't come from MySpace itself, however, but Orb Networks. Orb already allows you to listen to or view media stored on your home PC (music, playlists, photos or TV channels), at …

    Applications 28 Feb 2007, 15:12

  • UK gov scraps youth ID card

    IT problems abort pilot

    The government has scrapped its carrot and stick id card for yoofs after realising that the costs of developing its computer system were beginning to outweigh the benefits it could deliver. Public Sector Forums (PSF) said it learned of the scheme's demise from a memo leaked from the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), …

    Public Sector 28 Feb 2007, 15:29

  • Sony pledges to balance PS3 supply, demand by May

    Growing supply... or falling demand?

    Sony has said PlayStation 3 production will match demand by the end of May, in North America at the very least. Interviewed by the Reuters news agency, Sony Computer Entertainment America chief Jack Tretton said: "April or May is when we feel like we're going to catch up to demand and have product fully in stock across North …

    reghardware 28 Feb 2007, 15:42

  • US yawns at Wi-Fi enabled phones

    Wake up, operators

    Market watcher Ovum reckons that only one US mobile phone subscriber in 50 will have a Wi-Fi enabled phone by 2010. Dual-mode phones that support both WLAN and cellular are already a familiar sight in the Europe and Asia markets. Most of Nokia's E series, and its N80 consumer smart phone, feature both standards. But in the US …

    Mobile 28 Feb 2007, 15:50

  • RIM BlackBerry 8800

    Review A little tweak here and there makes a world of difference

    RIM is on a roll with another new BlackBerry that leans more toward a consumer construct than the previous devices. It takes the form factor of earlier models, adds in a welcome tweak here... and creates a device that borrows from both the consumer and corporate worlds. The BlackBerry 8800, of course, owes a lot of its design …

    reghardware 28 Feb 2007, 15:50

  • Britain's broadband punters more pissed off than last year

    Fings ain't what they used to be

    Broadband customers, who tend to be a bit Victor Meldrew at the best of times, are getting unhappier with the service they receive from internet service providers. Research company Point Topic found that the number of customers who said they were "very" or "fairly" dissatisfied with after sales support more than doubled from …

    Telecoms 28 Feb 2007, 15:53

  • Microsoft proto-being stirs into Live

    Primeval sludge is wriggling

    Microsoft's Live isn't, well, live - at least not in a "here it is with a full set of bells and whistles" sense. But it is here, as a proto-being, and the company wants developers to go and try it out, find out what it can do and, from there, get some ideas on what they might want to do with it. According to Ian Moulster, …

    Developer 28 Feb 2007, 16:23

  • US Army unable to afford translators, bomb-proof trucks

    Plenty of cash for big tanks though

    The US Army's planned budget for the 2008 financial year is in excess of $130bn – more than double the budget of all three UK armed services combined – but even so the American soldiers believe they are short of what they need. General Peter Schoomaker outlined an unfunded $10bn additional "wish list" in a memo to the …

    Public Sector 28 Feb 2007, 16:35

  • Warezov worm fiends target Skype

    Dial M for Malware

    The authors of the prolific Warezov worm are targeting users of Skype. Warezov variants first cropped up in September 2006 and spread in the attachments of email messages posing as security fixes. Instead of arriving via an email attachment, the latest variant of the worm spreads using a bogus Skype chat message asking users to …

    Malware 28 Feb 2007, 16:39

  • Dell gets new Euro head

    Marmonti the man

    Dell has appointed David Marmonti as its new European boss. Marmonti, now senior vice president and president of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, was most recently running public sector sales for Dell. He is replacing Paul Bell who is returning to the US. The shake up follows the return of Michael Dell to the top of the …

    Channel Register 28 Feb 2007, 16:41

  • UK supermarkets fingered in crap petrol probe

    Yet more rage for British motorists

    Supermarkets in the south-eastern UK presented a fresh target for motorist anger today, as reports circulated that the grocery chains had been selling contaminated fuel. A large number of irate drivers have contacted media and consumer-affairs organisations over the past 24 hours, complaining that their cars did not run …

    Science 28 Feb 2007, 17:30

  • Spontaneous human combustion: Skype to blame?

    Analysis Paying for the pipes

    A Voice over IP service was to blame for a man in Massachusetts bursting into flames at the weekend. The man, David Reed, held an executive position at Lotus in the early 1980s, and was a Fellow at HP Labs. He is said to be recovering from the spontaneous human combustion at MIT Media Lab, where he's on the faculty - and where …

    VoIP 28 Feb 2007, 17:46

  • HP's blades go virtual - six months late

    Better abstract than never

    Like Sylvester Stallone in Over the Top, HP has turned its cap backwards and pushed the relatively new c-Class blade products to the next level. The Sly reference, while clunky, proves relevant to HP's release of two "Virtual Connect" modules that plug into the back of the c-Class chassis and virtualize the box's connections to …

    Servers 28 Feb 2007, 18:07

  • CompUSA jettisons 126 stores

    $440m cash injection

    CompUSA today sounded the Big Retreat, announcing plans to close more than half of its US stores. The lossmaking PC retailing giant is to restructure at a corporate level and promises "major expense reductions". It has a secured a $440m cash injection from an unspecified source to shore up its balance sheet. Post re-org, the …

    Channel Register 28 Feb 2007, 18:43

  • Sky goes dark for Virgin Media

    Channels switch off at midnight tonight

    Sky and Virgin Media have failed to reach an agreement on renewing the contract under which Sky channels have been available to Virgin Media (the supplier formally known as NTL) customers, resulting in those channels no longer being available from midnight tonight. Virgin Media are claiming that Sky has upped the price …

    Entertainment 28 Feb 2007, 20:14

  • RFID security presentation pulled after legal threat

    Fear of a Black Hat

    A presentation on the security shortcoming of RFID technologies was pulled at the last minute from a Black Hat conference this week. Security researcher Chris Paget of IOActive intended to demonstrate how building access controls based on RFID technology might be circumvented at the conference in Washington this week. But …

    Enterprise Security 28 Feb 2007, 20:33

  • Website immunity spreads with impunity

    Silicon Justice Saving Web 2.0 for all mankind

    February has been a banner month for website immunity in the US. MySpace.com, Google, Microsoft and Lycos have all benefited from decisions entered in the latter part of the month which confirmed or adopted the broad grant of immunity that many US courts have extended to operators of "interactive computer services" under …

    Law 28 Feb 2007, 21:47

  • AMD blasts 'devious' Intel

    Tired of being pushed around

    AMD today attempted to rescue some initiative in its battle with Intel with pot shots aimed its rival's server, desktop, and even developing world strategies. At the San Francisco launch of the Vista-pushing 690G, AMD's first chipset since the integration of ATI, regaining momentum lost across the board by Intel unleashing …

    Servers 28 Feb 2007, 22:59

  • Intel warming Wall Street once again

    Paperwork delays slow AMD

    Intel and AMD have embraced a divide and propaganda approach to tout their upcoming server chips. The two vendors today held press events in San Francisco at the exact same time, forcing journalists to pick between the giant and the underdog. Your reporter opted for Intel's pitch thinking it polite to honor the first invite. …

    PCs & Chips 28 Feb 2007, 23:54