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24th April 2007 Archive

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  • High level Night Elf druid saves PC gaming

    3.4 million unwashed nerds really can make a difference

    A level 60 druid seeking l33t blue drops in the Hellfire Ramparts may have saved PC gaming, according to The New York Times. The paper reports that US retailers sold $203m worth of PC games in the first two months of 2007 — a 48 per cent increase on floundering sales the past few years. Market analyst NPD Group attributes the …

    Hardware 24 Apr 2007, 00:07

  • ICANN is the USSR of the internet - Karl Auerbach speaks out

    Interview Rococo meets West Virginia trailer park

    Karl Auerbach, the last publicly elected board member at ICANN, has been involved with internet development almost since the inception of the internet itself, and served as North America's direct representative on ICANN's Board of Directors. Always the iconoclast on the ICANN Board of Directors - and with the Lisbon meeting …

    Law 24 Apr 2007, 00:38

  • Feds urge tougher ID theft laws

    Can 'strategic plan' save bureaucrats from themselves?

    A federally convened task force released a "strategic plan" designed to stem the growing menace of identity theft by toughening criminal laws, improving data retention practices and establishing more effective educational campaigns for individuals and businesses. At least one privacy advocacy group complained the measures fall …

    Security 24 Apr 2007, 00:44

  • SWsoft dangles server slicing taster at MS and Linux types

    'I'm a fire starter'

    Virtualization specialist SWsoft has crafted a cut-rate version of its flagship software, hoping to get new users to try out its technology. Potential customers will now find Windows and Linux “starter packs” for Virtuozzo. The software itself costs $999, while one-year of “Silver Premium” support runs $199. Those prices …

    Servers 24 Apr 2007, 00:51

  • Stock probe guts Juniper's profits

    CEO enthused and in-line

    Juniper Networks's first quarter income fell 12 per cent, attributed to operational costs and charges related to a stock options probe. The network equipment maker's income tumbled to $66.6m from $75.8m a year earlier. Net revenues for the first quarter increased 11 per cent to $626.9m versus $556.7m in the same period last …

    Financial News 24 Apr 2007, 01:08

  • Process improvement essentials

    Book review You picked the short straw. Now, what?

    Process improvement, in the guise of the ‘big three’ frameworks of ISO 9001, CMMI and Six Sigma on the face of it would seem to have much in common and all aim to produce the same end result – improved quality through established and proven processes. With compliance to one or other of these frameworks increasingly being sought …

    Developer 24 Apr 2007, 07:02

  • Germany moots higher EU roaming caps

    Where ever I lay my cap, that's how I roam

    Germany, the European Union president, is suggesting that the proposed cap on mobile-phone roaming be increased to €.60 per minute for outgoing calls, and €.30 for incoming; as opposed to the €.40 and €.15 currently proposed. The original cap was voted by the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, but here is still room to …

    Mobile 24 Apr 2007, 07:02

  • Intel slashes desktop processor prices

    Cheaper PCs ahoy!

    Intel pruned its processor prices earlier this week, as anticipated. The cuts include knocking 38 per cent off the price of the Core 2 Quad and up to 40 per cent off Core 2 Duo CPUs. Intel also reduced what it charges for its remaining Pentium D chips - remember them? - by as much as 37 per cent. The price cuts centred on …

    Hardware 24 Apr 2007, 07:30

  • Battered AMD guns Opteron to 3.0GHz

    Barcelona now with 10 per cent more 'wow'

    AMD threatened a coupled of weeks back to crank its dual-core Opteron up to 3GHz. This week, the company delivered on that threat. AMD has officially released the Opteron Model 2222 and 8222 SE chips – the highest performing and most expensive versions of the Opteron server chip family. We say "officially" because AMD did brag …

    Servers 24 Apr 2007, 07:46

  • Sony signals fall in Blu-ray, HD DVD hardware prices

    You want blue-laser diodes? We got 'em

    Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD players look set to get cheaper now that Sony has formally begun selling blue-laser diodes, a key component of machines that can read the two next-gen optical disc formats. Sony has been manufacturing blue-laser diodes for some time, but its output is believed to have gone entirely to meeting the giant …

    Hardware 24 Apr 2007, 07:49

  • GMTV suspends phone-ins over scam allegations

    Are viewers a: furious b: seething or c: livid

    GMTV has suspended its phone-in quizzes amidst reports that viewers were duped into paying to submit entries for competitions that had already closed. Thousands every week for the last four years paid £1.80 each to enter a weekday multiple-choice quiz, offering prizes of up to £20,000, run by the breakfast TV program. According …

    Broadband 24 Apr 2007, 08:02

  • SAP takes mixed view on on-demand

    Sapphire Lateral thinking

    SAP's chief software thinker has lent qualified support to the on-demand software model while championing other current changes as helping realise SAP's original goals. Chairman and chief software advisor Hasso Plattner outlined advances in service oriented architectures (SOAs), hardware, architecture, and communities as …

    Software 24 Apr 2007, 08:23

  • SAP outlines roadmap and partner plans

    Sapphire Information worker

    SAP has kicked off its annual users' conference emphasising new technologies and expanded relationships spanning Web 2.0 and collaboration. During a day of conference sessions and formal news announcements, the enterprise resource planning (ERP) giant outlined plans this year to add additional support for AJAX to its portal …

    Software 24 Apr 2007, 08:51

  • Intel expands Core 2 Duo line-up

    Cache question

    Intel has extended its line of desktop dual-core Core 2 Duo processors, adding an extra model to the set limited to an 800MHz frontside bus and beefing up the cache size of a number of 1066MHz FSB versions. So, in comes the 2GHz Core 2 Duo E4400, fitted with 2MB of L2 cache. The existing E6300 and E6400, clocked at 1.86GHz …

    Hardware 24 Apr 2007, 09:14

  • French politicians vote non to voting machines

    Not popular

    Voting machines are not going down well with the political classes in France. The machines were involved in widespread problems on Sunday's ballot and, according to reports, several of the country's political parties have demanded that the technology be withdrawn. This election was the first Presidential race in which voting …

    Government 24 Apr 2007, 09:23

  • Attempt to limit FOI will be heard again on Friday

    Filibuster delays amendment bill

    A controversial bill seeking to exempt members of parliament from the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act will be heard again this Friday. The proposal was the subject of a five-hour filibuster in Parliament last week. Proposed by Conservative MP and former whip David Maclean, the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill is at the …

    Law 24 Apr 2007, 09:24

  • Sony sticks it to Spider-man

    Spider-man 3 opens on 4 May but you can get an ahead-of-time Spidey fix by snagging a special edition Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo memory card or Micro Vault USB Flash drive. The Memory Stick - available in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB capacities - comes with DVDs of the first two Spider-man movies in the box. The 2GB Micro Vault is pre- …

    Hardware 24 Apr 2007, 09:34

  • Girls Gone Wild boss gets 35 days' jail

    Contempt of court ends in tears and chokey

    The founder of titillating video operation Girls Gone Wild has been jailed for 35 days for contempt of court, AP reports. Joe Francis, 34, was recently arrested on a contempt citation he earned "during negotiations in a civil lawsuit brought by seven women who were underage when they were filmed by his company on Panama City …

    Bootnotes 24 Apr 2007, 09:41

  • PI firm nicked for pretexting

    'Blaggers' get personal info of 250 DWP customers

    A private investigation firm has pleaded guilty to obtaining and selling personal information on customers from the Department for Work and Pensions. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said it had successfully prosecuted Infofind for illegally "blagging" the personal details of over 250 individuals from the department …

    Law 24 Apr 2007, 09:46

  • 'Kryptonite' discovered in Serbia

    Superman chooses new holiday destination

    A new mineral whose composition almost exactly matches that of Superman-felling kryptonite has been unearthed in Serbia by mining company Rio Tinto. The mineral was identified by researchers at the Natural History Museum, and Canada's National Research Council. Mike Rumsey, mineral curator at the Natural History Museum, …

    Science 24 Apr 2007, 10:05

  • Web 2.0 baffles businesses, says survey

    Lack of know-how prevents cash-in

    Senior executives see Web 2.0 as a tool to increase revenues but they could be held back by a lack of know-how within their firms, according to a new study. A report, entitled Serious Business: Web 2.0 Goes Corporate, was conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and sponsored by enterprise search business Fast. The …

    Small Biz 24 Apr 2007, 10:06

  • Motorola teases Hong Kong girls with gilt-y pleasures

    Gold KRZR K1, anyone?

    Here's Motorola's latest lady-leading limited edition mobile telephone: a one-off "champagne gold" KRZR K1 ready to bring a true sense of gilt to your life. Well, if you live in Hong Kong, that is. The skinny quad-band clamshell handset, described as both a "conversation piece" and a "fashion statement", is now available in …

    Hardware 24 Apr 2007, 10:10

  • Carphone Warehouse mounts US invasion

    While promising better customer service at home

    Carphone Warehouse will crash into the US mobile market this year, with a big expansion of its Best Buy Mobile joint venture. The firm has been taking tentative steps in mobile stateside with a five month trial in a few of the retail behemoth's outlets. Up to 200 Best Buy stores will now play host to Carphone Warehouse-run " …

    Mobile 24 Apr 2007, 10:19

  • Blu-ray builds big lead in US, mag claims

    Sales figures suggest victory's still not certain

    Blu-ray Disc appears to be cementing its lead over rival next-gen format HD DVD, with the latests sales figures from the US pointing to more than two BDs sold for every HD DVD disc. According to figures compiled by US trade publication Home Media Magazine, some 832,530 pre-recorded BDs were sold to consumers during the first …

    Hardware 24 Apr 2007, 10:32

  • Business Objects buys up France's Cartesis

    Cogito ergo acquiro

    Business Objects is coughing up $300m to take over French EPM vendor Cartesis. BO will integrate Cartesis’ financial reporting, consolidations and planning, governance risk and compliance technology into its existing performance management platform. BO says the deal further broadens its platform to address US and …

    Financial News 24 Apr 2007, 11:59

  • Dark mutterings on killer Wi-Fi in schools help no one

    Column An Open Letter to Sir William Stewart

    Dear Sir William, Please: either shit, or get off the pot. When it comes to Wi-Fi radiation, there's one comment from the anti-radiation lobby that I agree with: "We need another official inquiry - as authoritative as the Stewart reports on mobile phones." What we don't need is vague waffle of the sort which says that "Sir …

    Policy 24 Apr 2007, 12:08

  • SEC charges two over Apple options backdating

    Updated Ex-CFO hands back $3.5m of gains

    The Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC) today accused Apple's former top lawyer of fraudulently backdating options to under-report company expenses by $40m. Nancy Heinen is also accused of altering company records to conceal the fraud. She is contesting the charges, the WSJ reports today. The SEC also filed charges against …

    Financial News 24 Apr 2007, 12:34

  • AMD tries to woo back channel

    Radical plans afoot after Q1 'arse kicking'

    AMD has admitted that its channel business has been hit hard and today announced that it is to launch a new programme to claw back its marketshare. AMD channel vice president John Byrne said at a briefing in Tunis today that AMD and ATI sales and marketing teams in Europe had already joined forces, and that similar plans were …

    The Channel 24 Apr 2007, 12:46

  • Iran 'eight years' from operational nuke

    President's uranium enrichment claims 'misleading'

    Experts have calculated that "severe technical difficulties" in Iran's nuclear programme mean it's eight years away from an operational nuclear weapon, the Telegraph reports. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared on 9 April that the country had commenced enrichment of uranium on an "industrial scale", but scientists call …

    Science 24 Apr 2007, 12:50

  • Teradata Universe in Warsaw

    Is data warehousing writ large an opportunity for developers?

    After a couple of days with the Teradata people at its Universe Conference 2007 (22-25 April), I'm seriously impressed. I like Teradata's "one data warehouse" concept, with all the disaggregated data in a normalised store. I like the way it separates the logical views of the data (including the semantic view) from underlying …

    Developer 24 Apr 2007, 13:04

  • Orange broadband converges out of ISPA code of practice

    Exclusive Another catch for 'free' customers

    The move to bundled broadband and mobile packages has thrown the role of ISPA, the internet providers' trade association, into confusion, after it emerged that most Orange broadband customers are not protected by its code of practice. After a broadband outage spanning several weeks, Register reader Max took his complaint to …

    Networks 24 Apr 2007, 13:29

  • PKWare punts free secure archiving tools to consumers

    Zip it up

    PKWare has made a basic version of its SecureZIP encryption utility available to consumers at no charge. SecureZIP Standard Version 11, available for free download, combines an archiving and encryption utility. The tool allows users to protect data on their hard drive or sent through email against theft and unauthorised access …

    Security 24 Apr 2007, 13:33

  • Easy cam, easy go: camcorders on test

    Group Test 'This is incredible. A portable television studio...'

    The stigma of the camcorder as a provider of rubbish quality "comedy" footage shot solely to keep Harry Hill in a job is over. Be it HD pro movie making or just YouTube-style improv clips, there are myriad models on offer so suit any and all budgets... Sony HDR-UX3E Sony's new AVCHD-format camcorder range has been …

    Hardware 24 Apr 2007, 14:04

  • T-Mobile 'super 3G' modem tackles Vodafone on price

    HSDPA via USB

    Vodafone's USB-connected 3G HSDPA modem has appeared again, this time with T-Mobile's name on it - and a lower price. T-Mobile wants £30 for the modem on a 12-month Web'n'Walk data contract. You can even get it for nowt if you're willing to take out an 18- or 24-month contract. That compares to the £50-100 Vodafone has …

    Hardware 24 Apr 2007, 14:16

  • BT redesigns its strategy boutique

    'Unrivalled agility'

    BT has announced a corporate reshuffle aimed at keeping the telco "ahead of the game" as it battles increasing competition at home and abroad. The changes acknowledge the firm's increasing reliance on software and IP services by creating a new strategy unit to oversee the existing retail, global services, wholesale, and …

    Broadband 24 Apr 2007, 14:18

  • I've got some sawdust: can I call it chocolate?

    Terrible things afoot across the pond

    Bad news from the US. The Chocolate Manufacturers Association wants to change how chocolate is defined so that crappy imitation chocolate-flavoured stuff can be reclassified as actual chocolate. It has asked the Food and Drug Administration if the much cheaper vegetable oil may be substituted for cocoa butter, and whey protein …

    Science 24 Apr 2007, 14:24

  • GMTV suspends competitions, axes telco

    TV boss on the couch

    GMTV promised today it would reimburse viewers who made fruitless calls to its premium rate competition lines. The breakfast TV channel cum sofa showroom said it had only become aware that some callers had no chance of ever actually making the winner's shortlist when it was contacted by the BBC's investigative programme …

    Broadband 24 Apr 2007, 14:52

  • Serco snaps up Cornwell

    Engulfs management consulting firm

    Public sector services giant Serco has tabled an offer to buy Cornwell Management Consultants Plc, an AIM-listed firm based in Surrey, for £7m. Serco said in a statement that Cornwell had a good profile with the Identity and Passport Service as an IT and management consulting firm. It was also known in the NHS, and as an …

    The Channel 24 Apr 2007, 14:54

  • Daily Telegraph rattles legal sabre at Google

    Battle of Belgium bound for Blighty?

    The editor of The Daily Telegraph has hinted that the paper could be on a legal collision course with Google and Yahoo! over the aggregators' use of its content. Newspaper industry watcher Roy Greenslade reports that speaking at the Ifra newsroom conference in Paris last week, Telegraph editor Will Lewis said: Our ability to …

    Law 24 Apr 2007, 14:55

  • Morse demerges from Monetise

    Splitsville

    Morse's board has voted to demerge the company from Monitise, a division of the group which develops mobile banking and payments solutions. Monitise, which was founded four years ago, will be listed on AIM. Morse says the decision was taken because the two businesses operate separately anyway, and have "distinct …

    The Channel 24 Apr 2007, 15:00

  • The Kremlin uses kryptonite to silence Sheryl Crow

    Letters And even Superman can't save the world from Wi-Fi

    Wi-Fi is responsible for kids behaving badly, teachers complaining about their jobs, and probably global warming, if you believe the recent hype: What a load of old bollocks. There are any number of studies that disprove the 'magnetic fields/power lines give you x/y/z', and you'll note that the only teachers that have spoken …

    Letters 24 Apr 2007, 15:18

  • Mashing up a minefield

    AJAX could cause as many problems as it solves

    A recent survey from market researcher Evans Data Corp shows some interesting, if slightly contradictory, trends in the acceptance of mashing up as a future business tool. This is the capability of pushing together functionality from different applications to create new, additional services for users: the classic current …

    Developer 24 Apr 2007, 15:25

  • Pentacles to honour US's fallen

    Department of Veterans Affairs settles headstone lawsuit

    The US's Department of Veterans Affairs has bowed to requests to allow pentacles to be "added to the list of emblems allowed in national cemeteries and on goverment-issued headstones of fallen soldiers", AP reports. Eleven families across the US had issued a lawsuit demanding the right to honour their fallen sons with the five- …

    Government 24 Apr 2007, 15:52

  • Red Hat goes prix fixe with JBoss

    Too much choice, y'see

    RedHat has rejigged its JBoss offerings in a move it reckons will make it the default choice for businesses that have had enough of the proprietary world. It has also signed a deal to acquire MetaMatrix, which it will integrate into its new JBoss product set. The firm says until now it has offered JBoss solutions on an "a la …

    Applications 24 Apr 2007, 15:54

  • WTO head optimistic about US compliance with WTO gambling rulings

    House of Cards Republicans to continue going down?

    WTO director Pascal Lemy made some optimistic remarks about US compliance with recent WTO rulings to the Caribbean media last week. He noted that ultimately it is in the US's interest to maintain the core principles of fair trade that underlie the WTO itself. Logically, he is absolutely on the mark. Of course, with a "faith- …

    Law 24 Apr 2007, 16:02

  • AMD's 'R600' benchmarked on web

    Card slips out, website tests it

    How will AMD's upcoming ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT perform. Pretty darn quickly, it would seem, if preliminary tests posted on the web ahead of the troubled chip maker's official release date prove correct. Website DailyTech put the as-yet-unannounced GPU up against Nvidia's rival part, the GeForce 8800 GTS. The 2900 XT has 512MB …

    Hardware 24 Apr 2007, 16:19

  • SAP claims SOA future is here

    Sapphire Forget the past

    SAP has called time on SOA and outlined changes to NetWeaver for broad use of composite applications, deeper integration with Microsoft, and Web 2.0. Chief executive Henning Kagermann rallied 15,000 delegates at SAP's customer and partner conference today. He claimed SOA would be largely delivered in 2007 and that NetWeaver and …

    Applications 24 Apr 2007, 18:58

  • HP's data warehouse dandy comes out of the closet

    CEO and CIO gang up on Teradata

    HP's homegrown attack against Teradata and IBM has appeared in its full glory. Customers of large sizes can now purchase the Matrix-sounding Neoview “data warehouse platform.” Don't let the jargon fool you. The data warehouse play simply combines some of HP's own software with its Itanium-based Integrity servers and NonStop …

    Data Center 24 Apr 2007, 19:01

  • California is America's Cyberia

    Tech jobs rebound

    California remains the fertile crescent of the US technology industry, employing more tech workers and paying higher wages than any other state. The annual Cyberstates report from the AeA (formally the American Electronics Association), yet again hands the tech crown to The Golden State, and heralds a turnaround for the …

    Business 24 Apr 2007, 19:09

  • Sun turns a Q3 profit despite lackluster sales

    Two in a row

    Sun Microsystems rode a slight increase in product sales to a profitable third quarter. The server maker posted Q3 revenue of $3.28bn – a 3 per cent rise over the $3.18bn brought in during the same period last year. That revenue total proved enough to hand Sun a $67m – 2 cents per share – profit, which compares favorably …

    Servers 24 Apr 2007, 20:33

  • Analysts confirm ugliness of AMD's Q1

    Intel scores share gain trifecta

    With AMD's horrible first quarter now out in the open, analysts have started to deliver fresh data that documents just how much market share the chipmaker ceded to Intel in recent months. Intel's share of the x86 processor market rose to 81 per cent during the first quarter, according to data from Mercury Research. That total …

    Hardware 24 Apr 2007, 20:46

  • HP to sell low-cost ink

    Change of attitude

    Michael Hoffmann, the head of the European operations of HP's printer division, has told German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung that his company is going to sell low-cost ink alongside better quality cartridges. Customers will be able to buy more than one type of cartridge: from low-cost ink for bulk-printing purposes, to high …

    Hardware 24 Apr 2007, 21:16

  • IBM prepared to break knuckles of low-income students

    No intention of forgiving Faustian pact

    IBM takes no prisoners when collecting a debt, even when it's relatively small and the debtor is a low-income school district that is atoning for sins committed two decades earlier. That much can be divined from a Contra Costa Times story reporting that earlier this month Mark Loughridge, IBM's chief financial officer, …

    Policy 24 Apr 2007, 21:18

  • Rumor: Symantec and Huawei prep storage and security JV

    Routing around 3Com

    Symantec and Shenzhen-based network and telecommunications equipment supplier Huawei are close to finalizing a joint venture deal, China Daily reports today. The paper's unnamed source "familiar with the negations" said under the JV the companies would produce data storage devices and internet security products. Symantec …

    Data Networking 24 Apr 2007, 21:59

  • Amazon bigs up March quarter

    Big sales, reasonable profits

    Amazon pulled a lot rabbits out of the hat in Q1, with sales creeping past $3bn and net income coming in at $111m - 115 per cent up year-on-year. North America sales were $1.62bn - 30 per cent higher than last year - while the rest of the world climbed 35 per cent to $1.39bn. The tanking dollar accounted for eight per cent of …

    Financial News 24 Apr 2007, 22:04