10th July 2007 Archive

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Amazon.com sells empty Vista boxes for $200?

And that's the cheap version

While The Register is proud to be the premiere source of Google Maps foibles, contextual minge misuse and divine cumulus formations, we truly relish news of the utmost weight and consequence. It's our solemn vow to shed light on an industry renowned for meaningless fluff and slight-of-hand concocted to confuse and distract its …

Bootnotes 10 Jul 2007, 00:00
Analyst rubs crystal ball and sees iPhone 2.0 based on Nano

For the Smurf on the go

With the iPhone not even fully digested by the gadget market's unquenchable pie-hole, many are already eagerly eying what Apple will serve up for its next course. Financial services firm JP Morgan, for one, released a report today claiming Jobs and company plan to launch a cheaper version of the iPhone based on the ultra-slim …

Mobile 10 Jul 2007, 01:07
Sun's handling of Java security update prompts concerns

Some users more equal than others

Sun Microsystems in the next few days plans to issue an update that plugs a serious security hole in the most recent version of its Java Runtime Environment, more than a week after providing a fix for the same vulnerability in an earlier version of the program. The lag has prompted a prominent security researcher to lambaste the …

Enterprise Security 10 Jul 2007, 05:08
DRC unleashes Opteron super booster

It's about time

One-time FPGA wunderkind DRC Computer has taken its sweet time bringing product to market. The start-up just this week released a proper production version of its Opteron-socket ready FGPA, although the hardware remains aimed at yesteryear's Opteron-based servers. We first wrote about DRC more than a year ago, touting its …

Servers 10 Jul 2007, 06:20
Neteller founder Lawrence cops a plea

Agrees to forfeit $100m, spill the beans

The Neteller prosecutions blew open recently with the announcement by the US Attorney's office that founder Stephen Lawrence has agreed to a plea deal, according to a Department of Justice (DOJ) press release, involving "one count of conspiracy to use the wires to transmit in interstate and foreign commerce bets and wagering …

Law 10 Jul 2007, 08:35
Evesham sale imminent?

TimeUK tipped to takeover as more senior board members walk

Evesham Technology looks set to be on the brink of a buy-out, with TimeUK rumoured to be the strongest candidate to takeover the firm. As we exclusively revealed a few weeks ago, Evesham's owner and chairman Richard Austin confirmed to El Reg that the UK computer vendor was in talks with several interested parties. We also …

Hardware 10 Jul 2007, 08:40
FSA consolidates IT reporting systems

Aims to improve efficiency

The Financial Services Authority is replacing its hotchpotch of IT systems with a single mandatory electronic reporting (MER) system. The £6.5m contract, which has been awarded to Capgemini UK, is aimed at improving efficiency at the Financial Services Authority (FSA) by substantially reducing paperwork and clerical processing …

Hardware 10 Jul 2007, 09:13
Privacy core to ID success, ICO warns

Shouldn't be added as an afterthought

Government needs to make privacy and data protection principles a core component of its IT specifications, according to the assistant information commissioner. Speaking at a Kable conference on identity management infrastructures, held on 9 July 2007, Jonathan Bamford said that designing in these principles would make ID …

Public Sector 10 Jul 2007, 09:23
NASA packs bucket and spade for new Mars mission

Going digging for ice

NASA is packing its things and getting ready for an ice-hunting trip to Mars. The space agency says it is preparing for the August 3 launch of the Phoenix lander, the first NASA mission specifically designed to touch and analyse water on the midget planet. The aim is to discover whether or not there are areas on the Martian …

Space 10 Jul 2007, 09:40
Wanted: business model for free mobile network

Mobile classifieds to pay bills for Blyk

Blyk; the virtual mobile operator launching later this year with free calls and messaging, has revealed that mobile classifieds will make up a significant part of their income. Mobile Entertainment reports comments from Jonathan MacDonald, sales director of Blyk: "There’s so much talk about mobile advertising, but it’s easy to …

Mobile 10 Jul 2007, 09:46
Sharp speeding fast-play Blu-ray Disc player to market?

Sharp will leap into the next-gen optical disc player arena this coming autumn with a machine it claims is ready play Blu-ray Discs within seconds of the media tray closing. The consumer electronics company doesn't appear to have formally announced the player, called the BD-HP205, yet, but according to a Hi-Def Digest story, …

Reg Hardware 10 Jul 2007, 09:53
The Bamboo mouse rolls out

In decades gone by, the humble mouse was nothing more than a roughly palm-shaped plastic complement to your computer. But now's become a statement of your eco-consciousness, courtesy of the bamboo mouse. The Bamboo Mouse: wooden wonder? The Bamboo Optical Mouse combines a completely Bamboo cover with an optical …

Reg Hardware 10 Jul 2007, 10:00
dotMobi starts giving away domains

If you're a city that is

Cities can apply for a free ".mobi" top level domain, assuming they're prepared to spend €2K a year promoting their site, and the domain name. DotMobi manages the ".mobi" top level domain where content built for mobile phones can be hosted; and the organisation provides various tools for verifying and testing content to ensure …

Mobile 10 Jul 2007, 10:01
Security 'exchange' could hit costs

Swiss security lab opens secrets 'market'

Software development costs could be increased by a new approach to security research. Swiss software security specialist WSLabi says the results of security research are falling into the wrong hands and has launched an online 'secrets' exchange to solve the problem. Herman Zampariolo, CEO of WSLabi, said: "The world is creating …

Developer 10 Jul 2007, 10:04
Samba signs up for GPLv3

All aboard

Open sourcerers at Samba have signed up to GPLv3 for all future releases of the Samba software suite, describing the new licence as "better [suited to] the needs of Free Software in the 21st century". The developers say they will issue a new software release number so that users can distinguish between versions licensed under …

Developer 10 Jul 2007, 10:08
Taser creates electric shotgun

And robots get stun guns

Taser, the stun gun company, has announced a shotgun cartridge which fires a wireless electric shock round to knock down a person up to 65 feet away. The 2.4 gram TASER XREP (pictured) leaves an ordinary 12-gauge barrel at about 300 feet per second. When it hits, as well as providing "blunt impact", four barbed electrodes …

Hardware 10 Jul 2007, 10:23
Aussie bookie goes over Aus $1bn in annual web bets

Wave of future rolls up on Oz shores

Australian gaming behemoth Tabcorp achieved a milestone of sorts last week with its announcement that it had for the first time surpassed Aus $1bn in annual internet revenues, Casinocitytimes.com has reported. The figure constituted a 23 per cent increase over the previous fiscal year. Nonetheless, the company still lags …

Software 10 Jul 2007, 10:31
O2 lacking Apple focus

Mac users not welcomed to view bills on line

If the last batch of rumours turn out to be true, and O2 is planning to stock the iPhone, then they'll have to do something about their on-line billing system; it can't be accessed by most Apple Mac users at all. O2 have confirmed that on-line billing isn't supported on Macs, but they reckon it works with Firefox on Panther …

Hardware 10 Jul 2007, 10:45
RIM develops Wi-Fi BlackBerry... again

Second-gen 8800 to get WLAN tech?

The BlackBerry range has taken a step closer towards bringing Wi-Fi on board following claims that Research in Motion (RIM) has gained the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) approval to include the connectivity feature in its handsets. Exact details are still sketchy, but a number of online reports state that RIM will …

Reg Hardware 10 Jul 2007, 10:51
Managing mashed content

Alfresco aims to bring Web 2.0 and ECM together

For most businesses, large or small, the most common approach to providing content management is to use a shared F: drive across the network. This is despite the fact that there are many content management tools available on the market. One of the reasons, according to John Newton, chief technology officer of Alfresco, is the …

Developer 10 Jul 2007, 10:55
Crooks debut 'plug and play' phishing kit

Click-kiddies

Cybercriminals have created a "Plug and Play" phishing kit that dramatically increases the speed with which servers can be attacked. The toolkit - contained in a single file - makes it possible for even technically-illiterate would-be fraudsters to create phishing sites on a compromised server within the the blink of an eye (or …

Security 10 Jul 2007, 11:25
Xbox 360 price set to crash?

Up to $80 off, analyst reckons

Hot on the heels of Sony's recent $100 60GB PS3 price drop, gamers and industry analysts the world over are predicting that Microsoft will soon announce a cheaper Xbox 360. Micheal Pachter, a Wedbush Morgan analyst who has gone on the record to predict a price drop, claimed that Microsoft will reduce the Xbox 360's prices …

Reg Hardware 10 Jul 2007, 12:40
Born-again 3Com wants network #2 spot

Interview: European boss speaks

3Com's proposal to spin off TippingPoint, the security appliance vendor, is part of the company's plan to win back its position as the networking industry's number two, says Mike Ansley, the veep in charge of 3Com's EMEA operations. According to Ansley, the sell-off scheme is part of a big shift in 3Com strategy, which has …

Data Networking 10 Jul 2007, 13:16
Samsung races to release 18-carat gold Olympic phone

You know how it goes with credit cards: first you get the basic model then, if you spend enough, you get the gold card. Well, Samsung's doing the same with its credit card-sized phone, the P310, soon to be offered in an 18 carat gold casing. It's all in the name of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, to commemorate which the P318 …

Reg Hardware 10 Jul 2007, 13:21
Spam suspects charged over $4.6m share con

Pump-and-dump

Two Texans have been charged with securities fraud and money laundering offences over a pump-and-dump email stock scam. The case follows an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into the illegal use of pump-and-dump junk mails to promote the sale of at least 13 low-value stocks between May 2005 and …

Security 10 Jul 2007, 13:28
How to measure website success? Page views or time?

Clicks and time they are a'changing

The yardstick for how the popularity of websites is measured has changed, as analytics firms scramble to reflect how pages are now frequently updated piecemeal and "live" by the host, rather than loaded wholesale by users. Nielsen Netratings, one of the top firms which make a living by telling advertisers and publishers what …

Servers 10 Jul 2007, 13:32
Blade servers as told by the master

Meat Cast IBM, HP, Sun and Dell dissected

It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to a new age - the age of Semi-Coherent Computing. The audio selection below marks the first in what will hopefully be a long line of hardware-themed broadcasts. We'll be using Semi-Coherent Computing to explore the current state of data center affairs, cutting edge technology and …

Semi-Coherent 10 Jul 2007, 13:45
Computacenter deflated by H1 results

Whoopee cushions all round, 'cept in Germany

Computacenter said it has been hit by a "disappointing" trading performance for the first half (H1) of 2007. The IT reseller, the largest of its kind in the UK, said that its product and services infrastructures failed to deliver and showed no sign of improvement on 2006 figures. It blamed a number of key factors for the …

Channel Register 10 Jul 2007, 14:17
Brother unpacks selection of 17 colour printers

Printer maker Brother unveiled a veritable shopful of products today in London, including a selection of colour laser and inkjets, and both single-function and all-in-ones devices. Brother HL-4040CN laser printer The standalone laser printer line-up is an all-colour range, all networkable, two via Ethernet - the HL-4040CN …

Reg Hardware 10 Jul 2007, 14:24
Women prefer well-built blokes: official

Muscles act like male peacocks' tails

Here's some good news for the gym monsters among you: women are "predisposed to prefer muscularity in men", according to researchers at UCLA. The team's report, published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, suggests "muscles in men are akin to elaborate tail feathers in male peacocks" which "attract females looking …

Biology 10 Jul 2007, 14:44
Yes! It's the USB typing-speed indicator lamp!

Many fingers make light work, etc...

If only Pitman's typing training courses provided its pupils with one of these puppies: a Japanese-made USB lamp that shines with varying intensity and hue... according to how fast your fingers are cruising over your keys. A slow typist (left) and a faster typist (right) The USB Typing Measurement Lamp weighs 58g, and is …

Reg Hardware 10 Jul 2007, 14:51
Man cuffed over Jamie Oliver email threat

Investigation into Cornwall National Liberation Army continues

Devon and Cornwall police today confirmed they'd arrested a man in connenction with the Cornwall National Liberation Army (CNLA) threats against celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Rick Stein and their Cornwall-based restaurant ventures, news agencies report. The unnamed 36-year-old from Padstow was arrested on 4 July and later …

Crime 10 Jul 2007, 14:53
The practitioner's view of wireless

Mobile workshop Just don't forget basic IT principles

Our recent wireless workshop has demonstrated yet again that the genuine experts in any area are the people out there doing it for real. Indeed, we saw a number of examples of pragmatic “non trendy” opinions coming back from experienced Reg Readers that don’t necessarily tally with some of the more idealistic views we often hear …

Workshop 10 Jul 2007, 15:26
Motorola Z8 'kick slider' media phone

Review Does this 'multimedia monster' shape up?

After years of flogging the Razr to death, and some very uninspired siblings, Motorola finally has something interesting to offer for the more demanding end of the market. The Z8, announced in May and available in the UK this week, is a well-designed capable media phone. But the Z8 is a rare thing in this day and age: a product …

Reg Hardware 10 Jul 2007, 15:29
HD media streamer to pack HD DVD, Blu-ray drives

If you thought servers were nothing more than monstrous machines housed within cold corporate data centres, think again. Living Control has taken the wraps off Studio6, a prototype multi-room media server capable of pumping HD signals and music around the home. Living Control's Studio6 HDMI-equipped media server Although …

Reg Hardware 10 Jul 2007, 15:38
Texas porn actress stole classmate's name

Victim sues for 'humiliation, embarrassment'

A Texan former porn star has been slapped with a lawsuit for "stealing" a former classmate's name as her "nom de sex", the Houston Chronicle reports. Laura Madden, 25, "made a name for herself" in grumble flicks, the paper notes, but that name was in fact "Syvette Wimberly", which happens to be the title of a 25-year-old lass …

Entertainment 10 Jul 2007, 15:48
Dell tries to squeeze into small business space

And pushes AMD kit on Intel co-branded website

Dell is sending a big love letter to the little people today as it looks to expand its customer base beyond price-chiselling mega corporations with a collection of hardware and services aimed at smaller companies. While the hardware is not exactly groundbreaking and the services themselves don’t put much clear water between …

Channel Register 10 Jul 2007, 16:04
Peace breaks out in mobile patent wars

Ericsson/Samsung, Visto/Seven settle differences

Two long-running patent disputes came to an end today with Ericsson and Samsung agreeing to license each other's technology, while Seven agreed to pay Visto for use of its intellectual property. Visto and Seven Networks have been at each other's throats for three years now over Visto's patents on e-mail push, but Seven is now …

Mobile 10 Jul 2007, 16:22
Microsoft, Cisco, EMC team to plug government data hole

Well, here's your problem right here, ma'am

Cisco, EMC, and Microsoft are joining forces to help the US government build a secure IT system for agencies to manage and share data. The tech trio are calling their collaboration "Secure Information Sharing Architecture" (SISA). Their purpose is to ensure that only authorized personnel have access to specific government …

Enterprise Security 10 Jul 2007, 18:50
MS customers get 'cold feet' on software assurance

One in four corporates plan to ditch maintenance contracts - Forrester

Microsoft has hit back at criticism that its Software Assurance maintenance contracts offer poor value for money and may be dropped by many enterprise customers. A recent survey, based on interview with 63 enterprise customers of the program by Forrester Research, revealed that many are thinking twice about renewing their …

Applications 10 Jul 2007, 19:08
TiVo and Amazon get with the picture

Look ma! No PC!

Tivo and Amazon have finally gotten it right. Starting today, TiVo DVR users can download movies from Amazon's Unbox service straight from their television sets - without help from a PC. Users have been shuttling Amazon's Unbox movies to their broadband-connected TiVo digital video recorders since early spring, when the two …

Applications 10 Jul 2007, 19:13
Google in Colorado safe cracking caper

The $12,000 web search

It's true. Google can help with anything. Minutes before they opened several locked safes at a "family fun center" in Colorado Springs, a team of masked bandits sat down at a nearby PC and Googled "safe-cracking." "They brought up a site called 'How to Open Safes,'" Colorado Springs detective Chuck Ackerman told The Register …

Crime 10 Jul 2007, 19:49
VMware manages Lab Manager upgrade

The Vista 'experiment'

It's upgrade time for VMware's Lab Manager package. The soon-to-IPO company this week pumped out Version 2.5 of its test and development product. The new code includes support for more storage systems, more OSes and more automation. It's a more story likely to please companies struggling with a mess of hardware in their test …

Servers 10 Jul 2007, 20:20
Microsoft vows to bark like a dog for you in 2008

WPC Smells, hears and sees money

Microsoft has promised "big dog" products and R&D spend next year, to defend its partner turf and go head-to-head against competitors new and old. Woof! Opening the company's annual Worldwide Partner Conference chief operating officer Kevin Turner announced Feb. 27, 2008, would herald the biggest single day of launches in …

Developer 10 Jul 2007, 20:37
IBM launches virtual tape offensive

Tape upgrades, new tape products, basically a lot of tape

IBM is introducing new products to its virtual tape line for mainframe customers and enhancements to its virtual tape engine billed as low-power "green" alternatives for midrange and large businesses. Virtualization engine gets more locations The company's mainframe grid virtual-tape offering, Virtualization Engine TS7740, …

Storage 10 Jul 2007, 21:37
Capellas named CEO of First Data

Former MCI and Compaq chief lands on his feet

Former MCI and Compaq chief Michael Capellas has been tapped as CEO of credit card transaction processor First Data Corp. after the the company is acquired by affiliates of a private equity firm. The seasoned company head and golden parachute collector will succeed Henry Duques, who has been chairman and CEO of First Data since …

Financial News 10 Jul 2007, 21:41
Ballmer charts future of online togetherness

WPC Microsoft buys in, kinda

Steve Ballmer has promised Microsoft will take the lead in online software and services through a middle-of-the-road approach, while talking swipes at technology luddites and evangelical extremists. In the strongest endorsement to date by the business side of Microsoft for chief software architect Ray Ozzie's idea of "software …

Channel Register 10 Jul 2007, 22:49
FCC chair sides with GoYaSkypIntel in broadband wireless battle

Consumers rejoice, Verizon fumes

Good news for smartphone users. Bad news for the big name wireless carriers. FCC chairman Kevin Martin has released suggested rules for an upcoming radio-spectrum auction that would allow consumers to attach any device and any application to U.S. broadband wireless networks - without approval from the likes of AT&T and Verizon …

Telecoms 10 Jul 2007, 22:59