29th June 2007 Archive

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WiMAX to lead $13bn capex boost in 2007-2012

Wi-Fi to be sidelined

Capex investment on pre-4G wireless systems will reach a cumulative total of $13bn by 2012 if new spectrum allocations, and technology roll-outs, stay on schedule. The main systems attracting this global spend will be 802.16e and its successor 802.16m, and LTE. However, while the latter will see a strong uptick in growth from …

Data Networking 29 Jun 2007, 07:02
Blu-ray, HD DVD combo discs due early '08

Total HD release slides?

Warner Home Video may not release dual-format HD DVD/Blu-ray Disc media - launched in January this year under the Total HD brand - until 2008 and not late 2007 as originally planned. Total HD glued a standard HD DVD and a standard Blu-ray Disc together, back to back. This 'glu-ray' disc will then play in any next-gen optical …

Reg Hardware 29 Jun 2007, 07:28
Seeking common factors in the Web 2.0 bubble

Column Or, why we're not all doomed, after all

Boy oh boy! - has Andrew Keen upset the world of Web 2.0. I'm tempted to tell him: "Things change. Deal with it." but instead, I'm going to suggest you watch a talking rabbit discuss the end of the world and American culture. Because he does have a point: the whole Web 2.0 crusade is based on the assumption that "reality" TV …

Music and Media 29 Jun 2007, 08:02
WD debuts DVR friendly add-on hard drive

Finding the hard drive in your DVR no longer capacious enough for all the digital TV programmes you want to record? If you don't fancy transplanting in a new drive, Western Digital may have the answer: an external HDD for DVRs. But don't hold your breath: right now, the product operates only with one DVR range, and one only …

Reg Hardware 29 Jun 2007, 08:15
UK oldies go crazy for e-shopping

Fave pastime is frittering away the kids' inheritance

On-line shopping is the nation's favourite use for a PC, and over-55s are the UK's most frequent computer users, according to an on-line survey sponsored by Microsoft. Fully 95 percent of over-55s claimed that they went on-line every day, compared to 85 percent of 16-24 year-olds. Indeed, 77 percent of the older group go on- …

ID 29 Jun 2007, 09:00
Programming Flex 2

Book review A book on programming RIAs

The move towards rich internet applications (RIA) seems to be unstoppable. Aiming to offer browser-based applications with the speed, flexibility and functionality of traditional desktop applications, companies like Google and others continue to raise the bar as to what you can do in a browser. One of the key technologies in …

Developer 29 Jun 2007, 09:02
Apple iPhone from all angles

The hooplah. The stories. The comment

Apple's iPhone goes on sale in the US this evening. The queues have formed, and limits placed on how many of the handsets punters can take away with them. What is all the fuss about? Find out by reading Register Hardware's most popular iPhone stories... After the launch Apple's iPhone Reviewed iPhone autopsies conducted …

Reg Hardware 29 Jun 2007, 09:07
BlackBerry gets free international calls

EQO service uses local minutes and data instead

Internet phone service specialist EQO has added BlackBerry to the list of around 400 handsets that it says can now make local-rate or free international calls - without using Wi-Fi or VOIP to the handset. Users also get cheap text messaging and free access to all the popular IM services, the company said. EQO's service uses a …

Mobile 29 Jun 2007, 09:09
O2 set to ditch handset upgrade lock-in

Subsidy cuts

UK telecommunications operator O2 will aim to break the mobile phone handset upgrade cycle with a new selection of tariffs that will be cheaper than the pay-as-you-talk and monthly contract offerings currently available. A source familiar with the new O2 Simplicity range, which will be announced next week, said they will cut …

Reg Hardware 29 Jun 2007, 09:23
Mobile content market opening up: Valista

Expects operators to reduce prices

Valista has said that while mobile operators are continuing to hamper the growth of digital commerce through overcharging, the situation is changing. Speaking on the day that the e-payments provider announced the appointment of John Lowry as its new chief executive, former CEO and founder Raomal Perera told ENN that the firm is …

Mobile 29 Jun 2007, 09:26
Record e-auction saves £100m

Further savings expected for public sector

The UK government has smashed its previous record for cost savings achieved from a reverse e-auction In what was the largest public sector e-auction ever held, public sector organisations cut the price of office stationery, printer cartridges, paper and magnetic media by up to 62 per cent and saved £100m. The Office of …

Channel Register 29 Jun 2007, 09:51
Gartner reaps iPhone backlash after making business case

Mixed messages

Analyst firm Gartner stuck its neck out in a raw bid for fame this week by writing to every comment-writer and saying: "Quote us!" - and then going on to slam the iPhone for not being a business tool. Quoting Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney saying: "This is basically a cellular iPod with some other capabilities, and it's important …

Mobile 29 Jun 2007, 09:53
Fon VoIP network being disrupted by protest over Wi-Fi adverts

Users submerging routers to neutralise flaw

Why are people "moving" their FON routers into the lake? It's because of a clever idea - or so it seemed: let people "earn" 15 minutes of free Internet time on the FON Wi-Fi network by watching adverts. A FON user, Claudi, kicked off the protest on the FON discussion boards: I just realized that fon allows 15 minutes of free …

Data Networking 29 Jun 2007, 09:55
Lawmakers worry over government network breaches

Congress interests itself in cyber security

Long an afterthought for U.S. lawmakers, cybersecurity has received renewed attention in some parts of Congress. Last Wednesday, a U.S. House of Representatives' subcommittee took the chief information officer of the Department of Homeland Security, Scott Charbo, to task for allowing 844 significant cybersecurity incidents in …

Enterprise Security 29 Jun 2007, 10:01
Capgemini jumps on Infosys takeover talk

The Indians are coming

Shares in Capgemini jumped this morning on talk of a takeover or merger approach from Infosys. The giant Indian outsourcing specialist has grown rapidly in recent years as demand for offshored services increases. Infosys turned over $863m in its fourth quarter ended 31 March 2007 while Capgemini brought in revenues of €2. …

Channel Register 29 Jun 2007, 10:43
ZyXel NSA-2400 network attached storage box

Review Four-drive central storage for your LAN

Ever more capacious computer hard drives encourage us to stuff more and more content on them, which means backing it all up can prove to be a pain. And what if you have more than one computer in your household? Enter the ZyXel NSA-2400, a single, shareable repository for all your data storage needs. The NSA-2400 isn't the …

Reg Hardware 29 Jun 2007, 11:04
Forgotten Tech Apple's first handheld: the Newton MessagePad

Some say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and when you consider the history of the PDA, that statement holds many truths. While the iPhone looks set to take the market by storm, the HTC S620 and Samsung i600 were good takes on the Blackberry, and the Palm Treo range has long been tested and trusted. The Treo's roots …

Reg Hardware 29 Jun 2007, 11:14
Blackholes make simulated universe debut

Supercomputed big bang

Scientists have a better understanding of the role black holes have played in the evolution of galaxies in our cosmos, thanks to a new and unprecedentedly detailed simulation of the universe developed by researchers from Carnegie Mellon University. Black holes were once thought to be rare beasts. Still elusive, they are now …

Science 29 Jun 2007, 11:16
BlackBerry still making jam

Juicy results

Research in Motion - the company behind the BlackBerry emailer - turned over $1.08bn in the first quarter ended 2 June 2007, an increase of 76.5 per cent on the same quarter of last year. It shipped 2.4m BlackBerries in the quarter. Revenue from devices made up 76 per cent of the total, 16 per cent came from services, 5 per …

Financial News 29 Jun 2007, 11:32
Air France starts mobile check-in

Pour la convenance, naturellement

Air France and KLM have launched a mobile phone check-in service using SMS for confirmation. Initially the service will be available on departures from almost all metropolitan France and European airports, on Air France and KLM short and medium-haul flights. It should be extended to the entire network later this year. …

Mobile 29 Jun 2007, 11:39
Portable bots get cattleprod zapguns, hover capability

Working Daleks only a matter of time

Aficionados of the killer-robot world barely get time to catch their breath these days. Yesterday was no exception, with two military droids making their debut. First up was iRobot, makers of the famed "Roomba" autonomous vacuum cleaner - and also the "Packbot" tracked crawler-droid, known to the US Army as SUGV and noted for …

Science 29 Jun 2007, 12:10
MP's son jailed over VAT scam

Sentenced to three years

The son of Labour MP and millionaire businessman Mohammed Sarwar has been jailed for three years after being found guilty of an £850,000 VAT scam involving imported mobile phones. Athif Sarwar, 28, of Lynebank Place, Mearnskirk was handed the custodial sentence yesterday at the High Court in Glasgow. According to the BBC, …

Channel Register 29 Jun 2007, 12:54
Scots police raid Honeywell for alleged music piracy

Servers imaged and staff questioned

Strathclyde Police raided the Motherwell offices of engineering firm Honeywell this morning after a member of staff tipped off the BPI that company servers were hosting a "major filesharing network". An employee is being questioned by police and company servers have been imaged for forensic purposes. The BPI reckons thousands …

Security 29 Jun 2007, 12:57
Unwanted e-card conceals a Storm

Don't download it - as if you needed to be told...

There's a new version of the Storm Trojan on the loose, disguised as an e-postcard but actually recruiting zombies for a botnet, according to the SANS Institute's Internet Storm Centre. The attack arrives as a spam with the subject line "You've received a postcard from a family member!" and contains links to one of several …

Security 29 Jun 2007, 13:03
Boffins go HPC crazy while America stands in the iQ

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iPhone news in 20 words or less You can only buy two. Some journalists quite liked it. Its going to cost a lot to run. Channel Google Google's "Spongebob" search hardware appliance found a distributor this week in Ingram Micro. Elsewhere, the advertising giant prepared for a push into medical information by appointing an …

Business 29 Jun 2007, 13:42
DoJ alerts US citizens to spam attack

Pesky phishers impersonate keepers of Justice

The US Department of Justice has issued a warning to the public urging them not to respond to a bogus email that purports to be from the DoJ. In a statement on its website, the DoJ said it learned of the email after several complaints from worried citizens who had been apparently targeted by the hoax, which could lead to a …

Spam 29 Jun 2007, 13:48
HTC rolls out old-style PDA phone

Another day and another bland PDA phone slips into the market. This time it's the turn of HTC's P6300, an unassuming tri-band GSM/GRPS offering with a 3.5in, 240 x 320 touchscreen. The P6300 runs on Windows Mobile 5 and crams 256MB Rom, 128MB Ram and a two-megapixel camera into its shell. Wi-Fi (802.11b./g), Bluetooth 2.0 …

Reg Hardware 29 Jun 2007, 14:04
Logitech pumps up webcams to 720p HD

Everything is going HD these days, it seems, and the latest gadget to take advantage of high-def imaging is Logitech's latest line of QuickCam Pro webcams. Logitech's QuickCam Pro 9000 The Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 and Logitech QuickCam Pro for notebooks video capture at 720p HD resolution at up to 30 frames per second. …

Reg Hardware 29 Jun 2007, 14:14
3Com mounts school Wi-Fi fightback

Touts 'second-generation wireless' against health hysteria

3Com has decided to fight the hysteria over WiFi in schools. The company has hooked up with a reseller that specialises in the education market called 802.UK to promote "second-generation wireless" - by which it means enterprise-class managed WLANs - for schools. The companies said they will offer free wireless information …

Wireless 29 Jun 2007, 14:34
Gateway brings a new twist to the tablet PC

Gateway clearly thinks it's onto a winner with its tablet PC range, so much so that it's sketched out two additional models: the E-295C for budding artists, and the C-140 for home users. Both have 14in displays that can be rotated by 180° to lay flat over the keyboard, effectively turning them into freestyle sketching pads, …

Reg Hardware 29 Jun 2007, 14:36
Cyberstalker to spend six months in jail

Months on the lam end with maximum possible sentence

Convicted cyberstalker Felicity Jane Lowde has been sentenced to six months in chokey for her "vicious, vitriolic and vindictive" campaign of harassment against Rachel North, a survivor of the July 2005 London bombings. Her sentence was handed down at Thames Magistrate Court yesterday, along with an anti social behaviour order ( …

Crime 29 Jun 2007, 14:51
Waste computer edict finally hits UK

Charity says don't junk kit, send it to Africa instead

The long-awaited Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) directive finally comes into force on Sunday, 1 July. Under the European directive, which came into UK law in January 2007, businesses will be expected to fully comply to ensure the safe, environmentally sound disposal of electronic and electrical waste. Hefty …

Channel Register 29 Jun 2007, 14:57
AMD to crush AMD with 2.0GHz 'Barcelona'

Hits stores in September

Barcelona has arrived, sort of, and AMD is talking more about beating itself up than knocking Intel with the new chip. AMD has finally set a firm ship date for the four-core processor, saying customers will receive 2.0GHz SE standard and 1.9GHz HE low-power parts in August. Systems from server makers should then start …

PCs 29 Jun 2007, 15:16
MPs rap BBC over Siemens deal

Not good value

The Public Accounts Committee said the BBC failed to ensure it got best value when it outsourced its IT department to Siemens. The ten-year deal saw 1,440 Beeb staffers move across to Siemens. But public spending watchdog the PAC said BBC executives misled the board of governors about possible savings while trying to convince …

Channel Register 29 Jun 2007, 15:23
Tivoli integrates compliance management

Automated tool contrast policies with behaviour

IBM has finally finished digesting Consul InSight, the risk management software that it bought last December, and has re-released it in expanded form as Tivoli Compliance Insight Manager. Now linked into other Tivoli products, such as Security Operations Manager, Identity Manager and Access Manager, the updated software …

Developer 29 Jun 2007, 15:29
Euro iPhone launch will reveal 3G handset for Vodafone, T-Mobile

Ignore the US launch...

A new 3G (European) version of the iPhone will be launched Monday in the UK by Apple - in a joint promotion with Vodafone, T-Mobile of Germany, and Carphone Warehouse. It should answer the disappointment with the US version of the iPhone which has been widely slammed for its poor performance as a phone. Hints of the European …

Reg Hardware 29 Jun 2007, 15:36
How not to survey your customers

Blog A great customer turns bad survey questions into valuable feedback.

[David Norfolk says: I don't like most surveys I see – they're normally from the armed and dangerous wing of the PR industry – but they can be useful, when done properly. So I was interested when Richard Collins (he wrote a piece for Reg Dev on test-driven development here earlier this year) pointed me at this piece from one of …

Developer 29 Jun 2007, 15:38
US gives in to EU demands over data

PNR and Swift finally put to bed - but still restless

The US has capitulated to EU demands that its use of European data in counter-terrorism operations should be subject to foreign scrutiny. The two sides finally compromised this week on their long-running disagreements over the US requisition of personal data about European citizens from passenger name records (PNR) held by …

ID 29 Jun 2007, 15:58
Apple posts iPhone-friendly iTunes, accessories

With just hours to go before the iPhone officially goes on sale, Apple has paved the way with a new version of its iTunes jukebox software and a barrel-load of iPhone accessories. The latest version of iTunes, 7.3, allows the handset to synchronise music, videos and personal information data with a Mac or PC. It also allows …

Reg Hardware 29 Jun 2007, 16:23
Western Digital buys platter maker Komag

HD supplier in $1bn bid to match Seagate and Hitachi

Western Digital has bought hard disk media manufacturer Komag, in a $1bn cash deal that sets it on course to go vertically-integrated, like Seagate and Hitachi GST. The deal and the price look even more astonishing when you realise the WD used to own a disk platter business, but sold it at a loss in 1999 - to Komag. Since …

Channel Register 29 Jun 2007, 17:46
Beavis and Butthead in London jihad

Huh-huh-huh, let's break somethin'

Police and securocrats know that there aren't enough real terrorists in the world, which is why they have to keep manufacturing them. This is because citizens tire of being watched by cameras, frisked and x-rayed, having their belongings searched, giving fingerprints to so-called friendly nations on entry, contemplating the …

Security 29 Jun 2007, 17:51
Intel has four-core Opteron stuffer set for August

Exclusive Barcelona: 'It could have been a contender'

Intel looks set to blunt AMD's August Barcelona processor release by handing customers a 2.0GHz version of its four-core Clovertown, The Register has learned. Just this morning, AMD announced that in August it will ship customers 1.9GHz low power and 2.0GHz standard editions of Barcelona - a four-core version of the Opteron …

Servers 29 Jun 2007, 17:53
Children fight back against RIAA, take over Mensa

Comments While Blighty faces new Armada

Science, smarts and children seem to dominate this week. We hope you all had the smarts to avoid the following occupations. Noted science red-top Popular Science has published a list of the ten worst jobs in science. "Microsoft Security Grunt" made number five, but you had your own suggestions: I wonder where body recovery …

Letters 29 Jun 2007, 17:58
Sun turns over cluster code

Solaris agents no longer secret

Sun Microsystems will make its Solaris clustering code available to the open-source community - the latest effort in the company's OpenSolaris project. Sun will remove the lock-and-key for its Open High Availability Cluster package in three stages over the next 18 months. The first release, which is out now, delivers code for …

Applications 29 Jun 2007, 19:50
The greening of Dell notebooks

Energy Star 4.0 badges for new launches

Dell, the green movement's most recent recruit, is trumpeting yet another be-kind-to-the-environment initiative. This time it's mobile workstations and notebooks that have been greenwashed, with the firm's latest launches, the Dell D430 Notebook and the Dell Precision M4300 mobile workstation earning the Environmental Protection …

PC Builder 29 Jun 2007, 20:24
Google embarasses MapQuest

Driving directions redux

You’ll never use MapQuest again. With a new addition to its Google Maps service, Google has completely reinvented the notion of online driving directions, letting you adjust routes with a simple drag and drop. In the past, when you asked services like MapQuest or Google Maps for driving directions, you took what they gave you …

Applications 29 Jun 2007, 20:26
'F*cked' record companies in 'cataclysmic' meltdown - manager

So are live promoters the new pigopolists?

As some of the biggest figures in the music business weighed in on the future of music this week, there were very mixed views on its future. "If Ford's revenues were down 40 per cent, the shareholders would be revolting," said Tim Clark, former Island Records MD and co-founder of management company IE Music, whose roster …

Music and Media 29 Jun 2007, 20:32
Google flirts with online OS

Docs, Spreadsheets, Folders

It's only a matter of time before Google unveils a full-fledged online operating system. This week, Microsoft's biggest rival rolled out a new version of Docs & Spreadsheets - its online answer to Word and Excel - adding Windows-like folders, an improved search engine, and an all-around prettier interface. Previously, Docs & …

Applications 29 Jun 2007, 21:32