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1st August 2007 Archive

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  • FCC opens up US wireless spectrum

    But ignores Google's demands

    The FCC has decreed that Americans will have the freedom to connect any device and any application to a prized portion of the country's wireless spectrum. But Google's still grumbling. Today, following the lead of Chairman Kevin Martin, the Federal Communications Commission attached an "open-access requirement" to a portion of …

    Broadband 1 Aug 2007, 03:51

  • Kylie comforts the Time Lord

    Rubs back and says, 'I know how you feel'

    Aussie breast cancer survivor, ex-Neighbours star, and pop princess Kylie Minogue has been comforting Doctor Who star David Tennant following the death of his mother from cancer. According to The Sun, Kylie reassured the cult TV show's current Time Lord by patting him on the back and saying: "I know how you are feeling." The …

    Bootnotes 1 Aug 2007, 08:43

  • First Vista service pack beta for 07

    No final delivery

    Looks like Google will have to wait at least until 2008, and possibly longer, before it gets search satisfaction from Microsoft on Windows Vista. Microsoft has said it plans nothing more than a beta for its first Windows Vista Services Pack (SP1) for the rest of 2007, and is not giving dates on a final release date. The …

    Software 1 Aug 2007, 08:54

  • General Dynamics named MoD networking supplier

    Listen out for Listener

    The Ministry of Defence has announced the supplier for a project to boost its networking capabilities. General Dynamics UK has been selected as a preferred bidder for the assessment phase of the programme to deliver networked information systems to the UK's armed forces. The final contract will be awarded in September 2007. …

    Policy 1 Aug 2007, 09:05

  • Merger costs, flat sales hit Alcatel-Lucent

    Up hill battle

    Alcatel-Lucent released its second quarter financial results Tuesday, showing continuing losses as the telecoms firm struggles with merger costs and reduced sales. The company posted an adjusted second quarter net loss of €336m, or €0.15 loss per share, compared to an adjusted profit of €302m, or €0.18 earnings per share in …

    Financial News 1 Aug 2007, 09:09

  • Vislink acquires WTS for $5.5m

    Speeds move into US market

    Dublin-listed satellite TV and communications equipment firm Vislink has confirmed the acquisition of the US company Focus Communications for $5.5m. Focus trades as WTS (Western Technical Services) and is based in Orange County, California. The firm specialises in the design and installation of video and data microwave …

    Financial News 1 Aug 2007, 09:23

  • Virtualization software to crush server market

    Analysis Or maybe not

    Virtualization software will apparently cripple the low-end server market. Analysts and executives came out this week and declared that x86 server shipments will likely decline as VMware, Microsoft and a host of start-ups push their virtualization wares at speed. This thesis du jour centers on the notion that customers will buy …

    Servers 1 Aug 2007, 09:37

  • Microsoft joins options reformfest

    Automate to simplify

    Microsoft has joined a handful of US companies on a government program looking to overhaul financial reporting in the wake of the stock options scandal. The software giant's chief financial officer, Chris Liddell, was today named as a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Advisory Committee to Financial …

    Software 1 Aug 2007, 09:44

  • Aspect oriented software comes of age

    Becoming a staple part of the developer's diet

    There are two observations you can make about most new ideas in computing. Firstly, they usually originate at Xerox's legendary Palo Alto Research Centre (PARC). Secondly, they take 10 years to make the transition from the lab to the real world. Aspect-oriented software development (AOSD) fits the bill on both counts. …

    Developer 1 Aug 2007, 09:51

  • Thirsty Koreans fight duff whisky with mobiles

    Bottle-squealer tech stops you hiding the good stuff

    What's the best way to tell if you're being given duff whisky? Ask your mobile phone, of course. At least, it is if you're in South Korea. The Korea Times last week reported that the South Korean government intends to crack down on fraudulent whisky sales by making producers put Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) chips in …

    Mobile 1 Aug 2007, 10:48

  • Parliamentary committee: let hybrid embryos be

    Recommends the ban be relaxed

    The parliamentary committee set up to examine a proposed bill on embryo research recommends the government relax the current ban on hybrid embryos made up of both human and animal genetic material. The hybrid embryos would only be allowed to divide for 14 days for research purposes and not implanted into a womb. The report said …

    Law 1 Aug 2007, 11:00

  • Music pirate convicted in Led Zep bootleg case

    Stairway to prison

    A man described as "one of Europe's most notorious music pirates" has pleaded guilty to selling bootlegged recordings of Led Zeppelin gigs after a Glasgow court heard evidence for legendary guitarist Jimmy Page. Robert Langley's decision to plead guilty to two copyright violation offences and three charges under trademark law …

    Media 1 Aug 2007, 11:34

  • Documents point to Time takeover of Evesham

    Exclusive Austin takes on mysterious new directorship

    Evesham Technology's founder and chairman Richard Austin became director of a newly created firm with links to TimeUK late last month, The Register has learned. According to documents obtained via Companies House, Geemore Technology Ltd was formed on the same day (20 July) Austin was made director. Geemore is also registered …

    The Channel 1 Aug 2007, 12:03

  • Alienware Area-51 m9750

    Review It's a laptop, but not as we know it...

    One word can describe the Alienware Area-51 m9750: big. It's as if the person designing it thought they were in Burger King and decided to Go Large at every opportunity. It's got two hard drives, two graphics cards, two processor cores and a whopping 17in screen. There's another thing that's big about the m9750 - its price …

    Hardware 1 Aug 2007, 12:51

  • Atos Origin doing well - if you ignore UK

    Wet blanket Britain

    Atos Origin's UK arm is a drag on the firm’s recovery, interim results released today show. The French service outfit said revenues in the first half were up 7.2 per cent to €2.9bn. Operating income was &€108m, up on last year's €59m, with an operating margin of 4.1 per cent, with net profit coming in at €57m.up from €10m …

    The Channel 1 Aug 2007, 13:26

  • NASA ponders manned near-Earth asteroid visit

    No plan to recruit bald oil-drilling expert, though

    A faction within NASA are proposing a disaster-movie-esque manned space mission to an asteroid on a trajectory close to Earth, it has been revealed. Space.com reports that the new generation of "Constellation" manned spacecraft, with which NASA plans to replace the venerable space shuttle fleet, could be used. Constellation …

    Science 1 Aug 2007, 13:31

  • Wi-Fi spam man avoids can

    Probation for smut site junk mail miscreant

    A US man who sent out pornographic spam while driving around Venice, California, has escaped imprisonment for his misdeeds. Nicholas Tombros, 40, was sentenced to three years' probation and six months' home detention after he was convicted of emailing out thousands of advertisements for pornographic websites. The spam emails …

    Security 1 Aug 2007, 13:46

  • TalkTalk in BT Vision Premiership spoiler

    U-turn offers free footy for TalkTalk punters

    Carphone Warehouse has tapped sports broadcasting upstart Setanta in an attempt to kybosh BT's big Premiership football push for its Vision IPTV service. Throughout August, new and existing TalkTalk broadband customers are offered a free Freeview box with two months' free Setanta subscription, after which it costs £9.99 per …

    Bootnotes 1 Aug 2007, 14:00

  • Terra Firma bags EMI

    Majority shareholders boogie on down

    Private equity group Terra Firma has succeeded in its bid to buy music giant EMI after 90.3 per cent of shareholders backed its £2.4bn offer. Terra Firma was granted a series of deadlines, the fifth of which expired today at 1pm (GMT), to achieve the 90 per cent shareholder threshold required to secure the deal. Shareholders …

    Media 1 Aug 2007, 14:02

  • Could live P2P video be the antidote to YouTube dross?

    Craptown Utd gets its own TV station

    A British company is aiming to stake a claim on some of the New World of online video's unexplored territory with Selfcast, a website and application that allow people to broadcast live to an unlimited audience using a bog standard broadband connection. The system, a leap forward from flaky webcam streams, was developed by …

    Bootnotes 1 Aug 2007, 14:25

  • Tesco takes fight to Sainsbury over Medion PCs

    Clubcards at the ready

    In the supermarket game, one-upmanship is common and anything one chain does is invariably imitated by others. So following the launch of a Medion 17in dual-core notebook at Sainsbury’s stores, Tesco has begun offering a Medion desktop PC for around the same price. The Medion 6486, which is sold with Microsoft Vista Home …

    Hardware 1 Aug 2007, 14:39

  • Symantec charges rivals with more virtual CommandCentral

    Storage management hits the big five (point)-o

    Symantec is rolling out its next generation of storage resource management software today, with Veritas CommandCentral 5.0. The company says the update is a key component of its Storage United initiative and vision of running storage as a service. The Veritas CommandCentral 5.0 line includes CommandCentral Storage 5.0, …

    Storage 1 Aug 2007, 14:45

  • I'm dreaming of...Dreamweaver

    Wake up and get stuck in

    Dreamweaver CS3 is the first release of the powerful web design program since Adobe acquired Macromedia. It now forms part of the larger Creative Suite package and offers a host of new features as well as promising to increase efficiency in all areas of website development. Of course, with the release of a new edition of …

    Developer 1 Aug 2007, 14:53

  • Nvidia gains ground in graphics

    Updated And it's Intel and AMD chasing up the rear

    Nvidia is gaining market share on both AMD and Intel within the graphics market, according to analyst firm Jon Peddie Research (JPR). However, all three vendors maintained their dominance to remain at the top of the tree during the second quarter of 2007. Despite JPR describing Q2 as a traditionally slow quarter, total …

    Hardware 1 Aug 2007, 14:53

  • Petrol latte for Kiwis in dairy biofuel push

    NZ perfume industry unable to absorb cheese surplus

    Desperate Kiwi farmers, struggling for ways to get rid of poisonous dairy waste products, have found a way to turn them into biofuel. Stuff.co.nz reports today that New Zealand oil firm Gull has launched it's "Force 10" fuel, a blend of ordinary petrol and 10 per cent "ethanol made from milk". The ethanol in Force 10 is …

    Science 1 Aug 2007, 15:11

  • Dancing Ballmer subjected to Zune dance therapy

    Steve's happy feet stomp all over iPod ads

    If you’re sitting at your desk, staring out of the window and wishing you were running around in the sun, spare a thought for one Microsoft employee who will soon be doing just that. Permanently. The japester appears to have used an internal Microsoft website to direct, well, just about anyone to this re-reinterpretation of …

    Bootnotes 1 Aug 2007, 15:16

  • Near field comms tags top one billion

    You might already have one, just not know it yet

    The NFC Forum, responsible for the Near Field Communications standard, has released specifications for the four different kinds of tag making up the NFC standard, and three of them might seem strangely familiar. Tags of Type 1 and 2 are based on ISO14443A, so Londoners are already using NFC under the Oyster brand. ISO14443C …

    Security 1 Aug 2007, 15:36

  • Getac develops hardened tablet PC

    Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough

    Working outside of a‘normal’ comfy office can be risky for a laptop, with lots of potential dangers to consider. Manufacturer Getac takes this possibility seriously and has unveiled a ruggedized tablet PC, which it claims can withstand the rigours of even extreme environments. The V100 boasts a number of ruggedized features, …

    Hardware 1 Aug 2007, 15:38

  • A Defcon survival guide

    Defcon How to surf in a hostile environment and live to tell the tale

    It's almost time for Defcon, the most bacchanal of security conferences and perhaps the single largest gathering of technically adept pranksters. Now is the perfect time to map out a strategy for keeping emails private and making sure your system doesn't get ransacked by the scowling kid with the nose ring and jet-black hair …

    Security 1 Aug 2007, 15:54

  • Apple squeezes out iPhone update before Black Hat

    Nick of time

    Apple pushed out a raft of security updates for its much hyped iPhone on Tuesday. Availability of the first iPhone patches comes just ahead of a planned presentation of problems with the phone's software due to take place at the Black Hat conference in Vegas on Thursday. Apple also updated its desktop software. Several of the …

    Security 1 Aug 2007, 15:54

  • HD TV, without the monthly fee

    Come to daddy

    The days when folk owned HD displays but didn’t make much use of them, because of expensive peripherals or satellite subscription costs... could be over. Hauppauge Digital has created an HD TV tuner card that picks up free-to-air HD channels. The Hauppauge WinTV-Nova-HD-S2 card plugs into a PCI slot on a PC and connects to a …

    Hardware 1 Aug 2007, 15:56

  • US gov dangles $50bn IT pot over 29 companies

    Game on

    The US government has tapped 29 companies to be eligible for a $50bn, 10-year grab-bag of information technology contracts. The deal, known as Alliant, is a government-wide acquisition contract that provides agencies with a pool of IT providers to choose from. It's now up to the 29 contractors to compete amongst themselves to …

    Government 1 Aug 2007, 18:12

  • AOL gets into the online bookie business

    Family-friendly kneecappers on the way

    An AOL sportsbook? Watch out, NBA. The slow encroachment of American internet behemoths on the European gambling market crept onward again last week, with a partnership between German gambling company FLUXX and AOL to market a sportsbook in the UK. The two companies already have a similar arrangement offering lotteries in …

    Financial News 1 Aug 2007, 18:18

  • Action Engine gets another $20m to burn

    Existing investors convinced by breaking market

    Action Engine: self-styled leaders in the On-Device Portal business, has squeezed their investors for another $20m, bringing the total to $75m the past seven years. Quite how Baker Capital, Northwest Venture Associates and The Spangler Group intend to make back their investment isn't clear, but company CEO Scott Silk must have …

    Mobile 1 Aug 2007, 18:23

  • UK payment service outage leaves users fuming

    Protx us from evil

    A bungled upgrade at UK payment processing firm Protx left thousands of online merchants unable to take payments on Wednesday. Reg readers reported that they've being unable to process payments since 0600 BST at a result of the SNAFU. Two report being unable to reach the firm by either phone or email in an attempt to resolve …

    Small Biz 1 Aug 2007, 18:40

  • IBM: Dinosaurs were green

    Swapping 3,900 servers with 30 mainframes to save the planet

    IBM loves to put a new spin on the mainframe to keep the legacy platform looking fresh and the doomsayers at bay. And now-a-days nothing makes a technology look brand-new than a fresh coat of green. In the first move since announcing the $1bn Project Big Green initiative in May, IBM plans to make good on its eco-friendly …

    Servers 1 Aug 2007, 20:36

  • 'Ads-funded' Microsoft Works pilot barges onto your PC this year

    Interrupts you while you work

    Microsoft will test a free, "ad-funded" version of its Works productivity suite with selected PC manufacturers this year, in another attempt to size up on-demand services. The pilot program will rollout during the next few months and continue into the middle of next year, Microsoft told The Register. "Microsoft is …

    Applications 1 Aug 2007, 22:10

  • Second Life will dwarf the web in ten years

    So says Linden Lab CEO

    Within ten years, virtual worlds will be bigger than the Web itself. So says Philip Rosedale, the man who invented Second Life. Speaking at the Stanford Summit, an annual tech industry conference, the Linden Lab CEO predicted that a completely-open virtual world architecture – much like the one he’s touting for Second Life - …

    Applications 1 Aug 2007, 23:03

  • Wee SiCortex buys PathScale compiler biz

    QLogic decouples from code

    Supercomputing start-up SiCortex has bought PathScale's compiler business - software and people included - from QLogic. SiCortex will be unfamiliar to many of you. It's a start-up putting out a novel high performance computing design that combines close to 6,000 MIPS cores in a single system. The company has placed a major …

    Servers 1 Aug 2007, 23:21