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28th June 2007 Archive

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  • Serious security hole plugged in RealPlayer and HelixPlayer

    Shhh, don't tell anyone

    RealNetworks has patched a vulnerability in its RealPlayer and HelixPlayer software that made it possible for attackers to run arbitrary code on a victim's machine. The security hole affects applications running on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms. The vulnerability exists within the code that handles time formats for a …

    Security 28 Jun 2007, 01:09

  • Windows Server 2008 CTP packs IIS punch

    Fat lady goes back to trailer

    Two months after releasing a "feature complete" third Windows Server 2008 beta, Microsoft has added new features to the planned operating system's code base. Microsoft today issued a Community Technology Preview (CTP), featuring the ability to run Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0 as a Server Core installation - a feature …

    Applications 28 Jun 2007, 01:31

  • E-voting vendor succumbs to California source code demands

    Worried about 'personal agendas'

    Electronic voting machines vendor Election Systems & Software Inc. has finally given in to demands by California's Secretary of State office that it submit the source code used in one of its products. But it made it abundantly clear it is unhappy about the requirement. ES&S complied with the demand in an overnight package that …

    Government 28 Jun 2007, 01:50

  • Dell: 'We'll clobber pricey NetApp with new iSCSI kit'

    'We didn't say that'

    Dell has been rumbling about "changing the economics" of data center storage for months, but little has slipped out, until now, in terms of a method for such madness. Many scratched their heads in May when Dell unfurled the Project Hybrid banner, declared it would reduce the cost and complexity of servers and storage; and then …

    Storage 28 Jun 2007, 02:30

  • Blockbuster and Netflix stop suing each other

    Will secret 'sweetheart' deal stifle the competition?

    Blockbuster and Netflix have ended their patent litigation battle, Blockbuster revealed today. No terms have been announced, but in an SEC filing the video retailing giant said the settlement would not affect financial performance. Twelve months ago Blockbuster filed a counter-claim, accusing Netflix of using deceptive …

    Applications 28 Jun 2007, 03:21

  • Vodafone looking to Reach excluded youth

    Foundation offering £5m to charities

    The Vodafone UK Foundation has got five million quid burning a hole in its pocket, and is looking for consortia of charities that can help 16-25 year olds who might be excluded from society; presumably not by giving them mobile phones or broadband. The funding programme is called Reach, and is open only to charities applying in …

    Mobile 28 Jun 2007, 08:53

  • GPS becomes more than a back-seat driver

    Telmap shares locations, while Vodafone dodges traffic

    Vodafone has announced a deal with TomTom to develop a co-branded product for avoiding traffic jams, just as Telmap launches version 3 of its software, with the needs of the pedestrian in mind. With less than half a dozen GPS-equipped handsets on sale in the UK we're clearly in the very early stages of any location-based …

    Mobile 28 Jun 2007, 08:55

  • Robot brains? Can't make 'em, can't sell 'em

    Why dopes still beat boffins

    The current generation of "consumer robots" is driven mostly by robot-love: people enjoy things which move around on their own, especially if they can build or tinker with the gadgets themselves.   That much became clear at a recent symposium on Robots, which I described here last month. The consumer robot business today is …

    Science 28 Jun 2007, 09:02

  • Mobile industry group leaps into VoIP debate

    Industry body calls for customer awareness

    The Open Mobile Terminal Platform , a mobile-phone industry body which counts Orange, Vodafone, T-Mobile and 3 amongst its membership, has published guidance for network operators and handset manufacturers on provisioning and maintaining VoIP settings on new handsets. The document only covers VoIP clients pre-installed on …

    VoIP 28 Jun 2007, 09:02

  • Google Desktop finds Linux at last

    Search app goes open source

    Google Desktop - the company's downloadable application for searching your computer - has finally landed on Linux. The free software download was launched in 2004 for Windows machines. There is also a paid-for enterprise version for searching company networks. Linux users have been left in the lurch all this time. After …

    Applications 28 Jun 2007, 09:07

  • HP steals agenda setting crown from IBM

    Comment Playing with its big stick

    It took the well-dressed businessmen hanging upside down from the rafters, the acrobats with iPAQs and the data center porn to mush the concept all over my brain. HP has unseated IBM as the agenda setter in the IT game. Or at least that's what HP believes. I'm ashamed to admit that it required the full force of HP's …

    Management 28 Jun 2007, 09:15

  • Home Office, civilians all fingers and thumbs on biometrics

    UK finds old habits hard to break

    The government's senior biometrics advisor says that the Home Office's biometric programmes have become bogged down in the face of bureaucracy's liking for manual processes. The Home Office is running various schemes using databases of people's biometric records, including identity cards, border controls and hi-tech passports …

    Security 28 Jun 2007, 09:25

  • Nintendo readies Wii game-making tool for all

    Amateur coders to create the next Mario?

    Nintendo is to follow Microsoft's lead and offer a downloadable games programming package for its latest games console. The software is called WiiWare. Like the XNA Game Studio that Microsoft released in December 2006 for Xbox 360 and Windows game programming, WiiWare is aimed at amateur coders, though the company admitted it …

    Games 28 Jun 2007, 09:38

  • Intel releases updated quad-core CPUs

    Cooler stepping

    Intel has revised its four-core desktop processors, the 2.4GHz Core 2 Quad Q6600 and the 2.93GHz Core 2 Extreme QX6800, the chip giant warned its customers yesterday. The move had been expected. Both processors will now be available in new versions - known as 'steppings' in the chip business - both called 'G-0'. Past quad- …

    Hardware 28 Jun 2007, 10:02

  • Could open source BI close out incumbents?

    A threat to traditional markets?

    JasperSoft has just released version 2.0 of its software, which makes this a good time not just to consider JasperSoft's latest capabilities, but also open-source business intelligence (BI) more generally. The two big beasts in open source BI are Pentaho and JasperSoft. These are broadly similar in their range of capabilities …

    Developer 28 Jun 2007, 10:05

  • Press code bans snooping in wake of royal eavesdrop case

    Voluntary code strengthened

    The Press Complaints Commission has explicitly banned digital snooping by journalists in a change to its Code of Practice. The move comes in the wake of journalist Clive Goodman's conviction for eavesdropping on royal staff members' phone messages. Though the PCC said that the code previously banned such activity, it said that …

    Security 28 Jun 2007, 10:11

  • SanDisk promises 8GB Micro SDHC card... sometime

    No sooner did Toshiba announce a 4GB Micro SDHC memory card to match the one SanDisk put out just recently - reviewed here - but SanDisk took the lead again, this time announcing the first ever 6GB and 8GB Micro SDHC cards. SanDisk's 8GB Micro SDHC card Like the Toshiba card, the two new SanDisks are rated at Class 4, …

    Hardware 28 Jun 2007, 10:19

  • Sony Ericsson leaves smartphone sufferers spitting

    No more bugfixes for you

    Sony Ericsson's long-suffering smartphone users are spitting mad at a decision by the company not to issue any more firmware updates to their phones. The policy was confirmed on Tuesday, and affects owners of the P990i smartphone, M600i communicator and W950 music phone. Sony Ericsson's head of product management for the open …

    Phones 28 Jun 2007, 10:21

  • GPLv3 set for formal launch

    Let the countdown begin

    After months of pre-launch wrangling, legal jousting and clause tweaking, the Free Software Foundation is ready to launch the final version of the GNU GPL version 3. The champagne corks will officially pop at 12 noon, EDT, tomorrow, Friday June 29. Announcing the launch, the FSF said: "Now with the release of GPLv3, we will …

    Software 28 Jun 2007, 10:35

  • Underwater MP3 players surfaces

    Century clearly hit the nail on the head when it dreamed up the Dolphin underwater MP3 player, because it's now not the only fish in the sea. Uk retailer Advanced MP3 Players is riding the wave with its own version - the SwiMP3. SwiMP3 in action, in the sea Described as the "surfer's best friend", the dinky device is …

    Hardware 28 Jun 2007, 10:44

  • International effort on privacy protection is launched

    OECD countries to cooperate on data protection

    The world's most developed economies will co-operate to uphold privacy laws in the face of increasing amounts of cross-border data transfer. The member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have agreed the plan. The new deal updates a 25-year-old agreement on the upholding of privacy …

    Law 28 Jun 2007, 10:46

  • Top BT exec wholesales himself to New Zealand

    Reynolds out, 21CN in

    BT wholesale chief Dr Paul Reynolds, who had been tipped as a possible successor to CEO Ben Verwaayen, has quit the firm to become boss of Telecom New Zealand. Reynolds has been at BT since graduating from university in 1983, and a board member since 2001. A recent shake up of the firm's structure saw responsibility for the …

    Broadband 28 Jun 2007, 10:54

  • UK boffins form nanotech taskforce

    Says government has failed to act

    Nanotechnology will be the next industrial revolution, and if the UK wants a piece of the action, it has to move now to fund research in the subject. So say academics from the University of Surrey, which has formed a nanotechnology taskforce, to develop a "coherent strategy for funding nanotechnology research". The university …

    Government 28 Jun 2007, 10:56

  • Ghostly plastic bathtoy flotilla nears Cornish coast

    Greed-crazed salvage junk bonanza mob frenzy brewing

    Residents of the western UK and Irish coasts have been warned to expect an invasion by a vast flotilla of ghostly, immortal albino plastic ducks, according to reports. The tale of the floating, whitened bird-simulacra migration is a strange one, dating back many years. It seems that the plastic bathtime companions were …

    Science 28 Jun 2007, 11:07

  • Paris Hilton says jail term has changed her

    'Mystery meat' was hard to swallow, though

    Hot from serving a jail term for drink-driving-related offences, Paris Hilton has promised to be a better person and said she learned a lot from her "traumatic experience" behind bars. The hotel heiress told CNN's Larry King that she had been "confined for three-and-a-half weeks in a little cell" and that is was "just …

    Bootnotes 28 Jun 2007, 11:21

  • YouTube uber-Daddy of online vid sites

    US traffic growing strongly

    When Google paid $1.65bn for YouTube many questioned what the site's business model was and if it could continue to grow its audience. Well so far the answer is yes. Site visits to YouTube.com grew by 70 per cent between January and May 2007. To put this in context, site visits to 64 other video-sharing websites grew by just …

    Financial News 28 Jun 2007, 11:22

  • Morse will dash for AIM under new CEO

    Reshuffle after demerger

    Morse has shaken up things at the top with a number of board changes including the appointment of Kevin Alcock as its new chief executive. He will take on the role with immediate effect, replacing Duncan McIntyre who will become executive deputy chairman at the professional services firm. Alcock had previously been chief …

    The Channel 28 Jun 2007, 11:49

  • Body that spawned the internet wants to rebuild it

    Broke or not, DARPA's fixin' to fix it

    DARPA*, the US military's occasionally eccentric death-tech hothouse, is often lauded as having created the internet. Under its old name ARPA, the agency oversaw development of the so-called Arpanet, forerunner of today's IP net. Now, however, DARPA reckons the internet needs to be reinvented. This week the Pentagon's radical …

    Data Networking 28 Jun 2007, 12:05

  • Qualys: When rules finally meet technology

    Automating credit card compliance

    Rumour has it that TJX, the embattled US retailer trying to recover its reputation following the loss of 45 million credit and debit card details, is dishing out free ice creams to entice shoppers back in to their stores in major US cities. This may appear desperate but the hit the company has taken has been significant. …

    Security 28 Jun 2007, 12:12

  • Don't touch that Microsoft Security Bulletin email

    Trojan hides under patch update

    Do not be tempted into opening an email with the subject line: "Microsoft Security Bulletin MS07-0065" because it is no such thing. The email is not from Microsoft and contains a link to a webpage containing a trojan (disguised malware). The emails contain real people's names and the company they work for and looks like a …

    Security 28 Jun 2007, 12:15

  • Bush and Cheney subpoenaed for wiretapping

    Snooping inquiry gets legal

    The US Senate has issued subpoenas demanding the White House hand over documents relating to its policy of snooping on US citizens without getting warrants or other legal clearance. Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy yesterday issued subpoenas to the Department of Justice, the Office of the White House, the …

    Security 28 Jun 2007, 12:32

  • Lots of rain and too much Sun: climate change is on its way

    To subscribe to Channel Register's weekly newsletter - seven days of channel news in a single hit - click here.

    Despite Britain being pelted by record rainfall over the past few days, there was a lot more Sun about than usual. Not that it was all bright. There was the 'shock departure' - that's what it said in The Reg, so it must be true - of UK president Trudy Norris-Grey and the appointment of Kim Jones as her successor. According to …

    The Channel 28 Jun 2007, 12:55

  • Dr Google will see you soon

    Vegetarian giant to eat more data, weigh less

    Google is getting its ducks in a row for its push into medical information. The advertising broker has rounded up a herd of healthcare policy-types to advise it on medical matters. The new Health Advisory Council will be chaired by University of California, San Francisco professor Dean Ornish, who runs non-profit organisation …

    Applications 28 Jun 2007, 13:01

  • Pedal to the metal: bike-friendly iPod dock launched

    The endless cycle of iPod accessory creation continues to churn on relentlessly, with the latest being an iPod docking station for your bike. iHome's iPod bike kit iHome, the company that already has brought you such wonders as the iPod alarm clock, now brings you the iH85B docking station, fit for relaxed country rides, …

    Hardware 28 Jun 2007, 13:05

  • Apple limits buyers to two iPhones

    Only one per buyer at AT&T stores

    When Apple's iPhone goes on sale tomorrow evening, buyers will only be allowed to take home two of the "revolutionary" mobile telephones, the Mac maker said today. That's twice as many as AT&T, the only carrier offering the iPhone for the immediate future, will allow. The iPhone doesn't go on sale until 6pm US local time, so …

    Phones 28 Jun 2007, 13:34

  • Celebrating the iPhone's Newtonian past

    Devices share more than a gravitational connection

    As Apple begins handing out its wunderkind one can't help but be reminded of its last foray into mobile computing: the Apple Newton. It's easy to dismiss the Newton as the iPhone's retarded uncle, to blame its failure on dodgy handwriting recognition and an undeveloped PDA market. But to do so is to belittle a device which …

    Applications 28 Jun 2007, 13:50

  • PowerColor ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics card

    Review AMD's HD 2600 XT and HD 2400 XT debut

    We've waited a long time for AMD's ATI Radeon HD 2400 and 2600 graphics chips. Although they were launched in May alongside the HD 2900 XT - reviewed here - it's only now that these budget and mid-range parts have gone on sale. PowerColor's HD 2600 XT Before we dive into our review of the PowerColor's HD 2600 XT with 256MB …

    Hardware 28 Jun 2007, 14:26

  • Nokia restructuring from strength for mobile internet

    Will recombine handset activities

    Three years after its last major reorganization, Nokia has announced another one, as new CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo seeks to stamp his mark further on the firm and accelerate the push towards being a mobile internet company, his stated objective. This time, Nokia is to recombine all its handset activities into one unit, called …

    Mobile 28 Jun 2007, 14:44

  • UK could get privileged access to American kill-tech

    Slippery Brits promise no reselling

    The US and UK Governments have drawn up a treaty that will give Britain easier access to American military technology, but no rights to resell it. Currently, US exports of weapons or military technology to Britain are subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Getting ITAR clearances is a cumbersome and …

    Government 28 Jun 2007, 15:11

  • Synchrotron boffins sign collaboration deal with Brazilians

    Order and progress in Oxfordshire

    Researchers at Oxfordshire's Diamond Light Source Synchrotron have signed on to collaborate on research with colleagues at the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory. The deal, the latest in a series of Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) between the two groups, paves the way for joint research projects and technical development …

    Science 28 Jun 2007, 15:14

  • Microsoft UK changes mind on distie beauty parade

    Lady's prerogative

    Microsoft has changed its mind on changing its UK broadline distributors. Back in October, Microsoft UK said it was starting a six-month review process that would see it choose two out of three existing broadline, or general, distributors. The three in line for the X-Factor-style contest were Bell Micro, Ingram and C2K. Each …

    The Channel 28 Jun 2007, 15:19

  • American trademark attorneys to consume own young

    ICANN San Juan 2007 New breed raised in intellectual cages and fed raw meat

    The Tuesday ICANN extravaganza continued with the ritualized slaughter of individual privacy rights in the holiest of holies for American trademark attorneys: ICANN's Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC) triannual meeting, wherein they flog their misrepresentations of American trademark law on an unsuspecting, powerless and …

    Law 28 Jun 2007, 15:45

  • MPAA unleashes legal eagles on YouTV and Peekvid

    Won't somebody think of the copyright?

    The Motion Picture Ass. of America (MPAA) has filed lawsuits against YouTV.com and Peekvid.com, claiming the sites' "sole purpose... is to disseminate content that has been illegally reproduced and distributed". Civil lawsuits were filed against YouTVpc and Peekvid in US District Court in Los Angeles for "damages and injunctive …

    Law 28 Jun 2007, 15:46

  • Brown splits DTI, creates ministers for biz & boffinry

    Royal Society: we'd like to see the word 'science' somewhere ...

    One of Gordon Brown's first acts as Prime Minister has been the abolition of the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI). In an announcement this afternoon, the new premier outlined significant changes to the UK's machinery of government. The former DTI's role in boosting and regulating the British economy now passes to the newly …

    Small Biz 28 Jun 2007, 16:08

  • Alienware beams down dual-core, dual-GPU laptop

    Monster

    Alienware has unveiled its latest high-end laptop, the Area-51 m9750, a monster 16in machine with a dual-core Intel processor and - if you fancy it - a pair of Nvidia SLI GPUs. The m9750 may sit below Alienware's 19in beast, the AMD-equipped Aurora mALX, but it still packs an almighty punch though, with an Intel Core 2 Duo …

    Hardware 28 Jun 2007, 17:09

  • FTC sides against Net Neutrality

    Let God sort 'em out

    The Federal Trade Commission has cautioned against regulations that would ensure telecom providers treat all internet traffic the same way. In a report released late Wednesday, the FTC's Internet Access Task Force accepted arguments posed by cable and phone companies that government intervention in Net Neutrality is unnecessary …

    Broadband 28 Jun 2007, 18:29

  • Red Hat tight lipped on Microsoft talks

    Analysis But middleware will make it chatty

    The debate over who in the Linux camp will next get into bed with Microsoft is back on, after Red Hat's chief executive admitted to holding patent talks. The only question is over what terms and at what point. CEO Matthew Szulik has reportedly confirmed what we've heard for months: that Microsoft approached Red Hat with …

    Applications 28 Jun 2007, 19:42

  • Microsoft's Silverlight gets Linux treatment

    Genuine cross platform - not by us

    An open source version of Microsoft's potential Adobe Flash challenger, Silverlight, has been developed within two months of being unveiled as a beta. Miguel de Icaza and a team of dedicated open source coders have hacked together an implementation of Silverlight they are calling Moonlight, for Linux and Unix. De Icaza came …

    Developer 28 Jun 2007, 21:14

  • FCC wants public comment on XM-Sirius merger

    What do you think, folks at home?

    The Federal Communications Commission is seeking public comment on whether it should uphold a 1997 decision that bars satellite radio rivals Sirius and XM from merging. When the commission awarded broadcast licenses to Sirius and XM, it sought to assure competition in the market by stipulated that neither company was permitted …

    Broadband 28 Jun 2007, 21:26

  • Data Domain's stock rocks, Netezza seeks $80m

    Storage appliance IPO a-go-go

    Data Domain stock soared 66 per cent to $24.95 on its first day of trading as a public company, Wednesday. The network storage and disk backup firm offered 7.39m shares at $15 a piece in the IPO. Data Domain beat its own expectations to grab a cool $94.2m, raising about $111m in the offering. The company was founded in 2001 …

    Storage 28 Jun 2007, 22:33

  • How furry is it?

    Silicon Valley subculture of stuffed animals is the largest in the world

    On the way back from a popular Palo Alto coffee house, Adam Riggs - also known as Nicodemus - stops at his car to show off a new raccoon suit. Sporting a furry blue headpiece, the Silicon Valley computer programmer begins to wave like an amusement park mascot. "My first costume was a fluffy rat with large eyes and a pair of …

    Science 28 Jun 2007, 23:12

  • Core 2 Duo: Intel's insecurity blanket

    Is OpenBSD founder prophet or scaremonger?

    A prominent software developer with a reputation for making waves in coding circles is doing it again - this time warning that Intel's celebrated Core 2 Duo is vulnerable to security attacks that target known bugs in the processor. Discussion forums on Slashdot and elsewhere were ablaze with comments responding to the claims …

    Security 28 Jun 2007, 23:54