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3rd September 2007 Archive

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  • Battle of the stats: Blu-ray beats HD DVD

    IFA 07 But the war continues...

    Another month, another consumer electronics show, and once again the backers of the rival HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc formats come to attempt to persuade us their favoured format is winning the war. The IFA show in Berlin last week was no exception - so how is battle faring now? The BD boys were up first, pointing to their format …

    Reg Hardware 3 Sep 2007, 08:02

  • IFA 07 Garmin adds Google capability to 700 series

    Garmin, not to be outdone by rival satnav maker TomTom, has rolled out its latest series of high-end in-car navigation systems, the Nuvi 700 family. Garmin's Nuvi 760 (right) and 770 The latest line-up replaces the manufacturer’s existing 600 series and is divided up into four models: the 710, 750, 760 and top-end 770, …

    Reg Hardware 3 Sep 2007, 08:02

  • Nvidia 'G92' to debut 12 November?

    DisplayPort capability claimed

    Nvidia is preparing to up the ante in the performance graphics chip stakes this coming November with 'G92', it has been claimed. If true, the new part will be announced a year after Nvidia launched its first GeForce 8 series GPU. Various reports around the web earmark 12 November for G92's launch date, though there's some …

    Reg Hardware 3 Sep 2007, 08:59

  • Pioneer, Philips revamp Blu-ray players

    IFA 07 Welcome 24p playback, HDMI CEC

    Pioneer and Philips both followed their fellow Blu-ray Disc supporters and last week announced new players based on the next-gen optical disc format. Pioneer's BD-LX70: tweaked to become the BD-LX70A Pioneer's BDP-LX70A updates its original BDP-LX70 player, bringing cinema-style 24 frames per second playback - aka 24p - at …

    Reg Hardware 3 Sep 2007, 09:02

  • Yahoo! battered by second ActiveX vulnerability

    Upgrade averts code catastrophe

    Yahoo! users are urged to upgrade their instant messaging software following the discovery of a brace of security vulnerabilities - the second set of serious security flaws involving Yahoo! Messenger in as many weeks. The latest security bugs both stem from stack-based buffer overflow flaws in the YVerInfo.dll ActiveX control …

    Security 3 Sep 2007, 09:16

  • Palm teases punters with 'Otto' launch date

    'Gandolf' coming to Europe on 12 September?

    Palm is to launch its next new European smartphone - codenamed 'Otto' - in just over a week's time, on 12 September, the company has revealed. Palm's Otto: Gandolf for Europe's 3G market? A teaser page posted on Palm's European website offers five of the unnamed handsets to the winner of a draw pulled from all the folk it …

    Reg Hardware 3 Sep 2007, 09:17

  • India cheers satellite launch

    Three-stage morale booster

    Indian space scientists were celebrating yesterday after the successful launch of a new communications satellite, INSAT-4CR, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The satellite was originally to launch on Saturday, but bad weather meant officials had to delay proceedings for 24 hours. A technical hitch almost caused the launch …

    Space 3 Sep 2007, 09:21

  • Kung-fu monks can kick ass, but they can't reincarnate

    Comments While rappers lick standard-issue grapefruits

    Monks at the Shaolin Temple in China, highly incensed by an assertion by a Japanese internet user that a single ninja had once laid the smackdown on their greatest, have deployed a fearsome warrior lawyer (presumably trained to an equally high standard in both law and arse-kicking). They have demanded that the internet user " …

    Letters 3 Sep 2007, 09:54

  • IFA 07 Archos guns for Apple with iPod Nano-sized video player

    French media player maker Archos last week attempted to pip Apple to the post with a compact player designed to handle video as well as music - just as Creative has with its Zen.   Archos' 105: watch out, 3G Nano? With the announcement of a video-capable iPod Nano imminent, Archos used the IFA show in Berlin to launch and …

    Reg Hardware 3 Sep 2007, 09:58

  • TV makers go ape for 100Hz LCDs

    But should consumers be as keen?

    Almost every TV maker exhibiting at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin last week used the event to launch LCD TVs capable of a picture refresh rate of 100 images a second. You couldn't move for bright-eyed booth staff there to demo 100Hz technology and persuade us to replace our LCD TVs already. Toshiba's 32in …

    Reg Hardware 3 Sep 2007, 10:02

  • Wii named fastest-selling console in UK history

    But its lead over the PS3 in Japan is slipping

    Nintendo has yet another reason to crack open the bubbly. Its Wii console has been named the fastest-selling games console in UK history by an independent sales tracking firm. However, in Japan, its lead over the PS3 is narrowing. Analyst Chart Track claimed the Wii has notched up UK sales of more than 1m units, just 38 weeks …

    Reg Hardware 3 Sep 2007, 10:12

  • Profits soar at SkillSoft

    Revenue up 28%

    E-learning firm SkillSoft saw its profits nearly treble in its latest set of results, which were released on Friday. SkillSoft had net profits of $12.4m, or $0.11 per share, for the second quarter, up from $4.8m, or $0.05 per share, for the same period last year. The New Hampshire based firm's revenue for the three-month period …

    Developer 3 Sep 2007, 10:28

  • Microsoft remedies failed to create competition

    MS will crush competitors when restrictions expire

    Microsoft will crush competitors when antitrust measures expire in the US in November in a marketplace that has not been made more competitive by the US Government's actions, according to a group of state attorneys general. The US Department of Justice reached a settlement with Microsoft in 2002 over its unlawful use of its …

    Software 3 Sep 2007, 10:39

  • Nuke-frying raygun 747 all ready bar the raygun

    World's most expensive laser pointer, until '09

    The Pentagon's astounding flying raygun programme has passed its penultimate technical milestone, according to makers Boeing. The Airborne Laser (ABL) project is intended to deliver a fleet of aircraft armed with high-powered energy weapons. The idea is that such aircraft would patrol up to 400km from the launch sites of enemy …

    Physics 3 Sep 2007, 10:46

  • Enterprise mobility on the couch

    Reg Technology Panel Your views in Vulture Vision

    We’ve got another lively, heated debate for your viewing pleasure. This time it’s on Enterprise Mobility and the issues and challenges that you’re facing on this complex topic. It’s all based on the findings of our recent survey on Enterprise Mobility, which more than three thousand of you completed. Our man on the couch, Tim …

    Workshop 3 Sep 2007, 11:30

  • Monster warns victims and pledges better defense

    Work details used for targeted attacks

    Monster Worldwide, the owner of employment search site Monster.com, last week began notifying the estimated 1.3 million users affected by a breach that leaked résumé information and pledged to beef up network monitoring and defenses to prevent such a leak from happening again. As reported by SecurityFocus, a malicious Trojan- …

    Security 3 Sep 2007, 12:20

  • Product data quality in the information supply chain

    As important as a physical supply chain

    Readers may recall that I wrote last year about Silver Creek Systems®. At that time I extolled its capabilities for product data quality (matching, cleansing and classification) through the use of semantically-based content profiling and attribute identification. This is particularly relevant when information comes into the …

    Software 3 Sep 2007, 12:29

  • Taking SharePoint to another level - ICS Solutions' ShareWorkz

    Easier intranet and extranet solutions

    For those of you who are Microsoft watchers or users, you will know that Microsoft, this year, has been re-emphasizing its SharePoint portal server. One of the UK's major SIs providing support for SharePoint is ICS Solutions, based in Basingstoke in Hampshire. ICS is some 20 years old and holds five Microsoft Gold competencies. …

    Developer 3 Sep 2007, 12:31

  • Creative calls up noise-cancelling cans

    IFA 07 They look a little like Bose 'phones

    If you like to listen to your music - and we mean really listen - then Creative claims its new Aurvana X-Fi cans offer superior sound quality to standard 'phones. They can also be used as an expensive pair of earplugs. Creative's Aurvana X-Fi: rather like a pair of Bose 'phones The Aurvana X-Fi headphones also incorporate …

    Reg Hardware 3 Sep 2007, 12:36

  • Green taxes are a rip off says low tax lobby group

    We want cheaper petrol

    Green taxes are being used by the government to raise revenues, rather than tackle climate change; are bad news for consumers and are socially unjust. These are the conclusions of the Taxpayers Alliance (TPA), a right wing lobby group dedicated to a low-tax society. The TPA says that it has taken at face value the current …

    Physics 3 Sep 2007, 12:57

  • Google wants to patent mobile commerce

    Psychiatric help and vegetables included

    Google owes its success to putting advertising into parts of our lives where no one has ever put adverts before. Now a new patent illustrates the extent of its ambitions. Last week Google applied to patent one of the cornerstones of mobile commerce - billing by SMS. Details of the invention, entitled "Text message payment", …

    Applications 3 Sep 2007, 13:02

  • Germany floats Trojan for terror suspects

    Baldrick-style cunning plan

    German politicians have defended plans to email Trojan horse software to terror suspects in the hopes of monitoring their conversations. The measures have sparked a fierce civil liberties debate. The dubious efficacy of the wheeze is yet to come under serious consideration. Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is seeking …

    Security 3 Sep 2007, 13:13

  • Orange strong-arming ex-customers for imagined debts

    The future's Orange, the past is in red

    Debt-collector Moorcroft Debt Recovery has been sending out letters, on behalf of Orange, trying to collect on long-cancelled contracts and already-settled bills: at least according to their own support desk. One Register reader who received a demand from the company contacted us; he had left Orange almost a year ago and just …

    Mobile 3 Sep 2007, 13:18

  • Where's Nokia going?

    How its customers and channel will 'knife the baby'

    At times you can feel sorry for Nokia. The company is damned when it dares to plan for the future, and it's damned if it doesn't. But that illustrates the depth of its dilemma. Today, Nokia is phenomenally successful in one business - handsets - which generates £27bn ($54bn) a year, with a margin of between 15 to 20 per cent. …

    Networks 3 Sep 2007, 13:52

  • Venezuela plans crackdown on bloody silly names

    Superman Chavez, your days are numbered

    Venezuela's National Electoral Council last week proposed a Bill that would prevent parents giving their offspring "names that expose them to ridicule, are extravagant or difficult to pronounce", AP reports. The move came after a perusal of the electoral rolls revealed a litany of outrages, including Edigaith, Hersony, Nohemar …

    Law 3 Sep 2007, 14:01

  • Another investigation into Pirate Bay child porn

    Much ado about nothing?

    Swedish prosecutors have launched another invesigation into suspected child pornography, shared through the controversial bittorrent site The Pirate Bay. However, this time police aren't theatening to blacklist the Swedish website. "The Pirate Bay are not suspects," prosecutor Cathrine Rudström told Swedish newssite The Local. …

    Law 3 Sep 2007, 14:05

  • Voting machines ditch ballots in Scotland

    Computer says no to tens of thousands of votes

    More than seventy thousand votes in the recent Scottish elections were rejected by the electronic counting machines, with no human oversight. The news has dismayed observers, with new First Minister Alex Salmond describing the news as "astonishing", and deeply disturbing. He told the BBC that he had been under the impression …

    Government 3 Sep 2007, 14:35

  • Aussie stumps $100k for Airbus A380 tickets

    Maiden flight 'Suite Class' package

    An Aussie air enthusiast has stumped up a cool $100,380 for the honour of travelling on Singapore Airlines' maiden commercial flight of the A380 Airbus, Singapore News reports. Julian Hayward snapped up the "Suite Class package" - including two one-way tickets for the 25 October flight from Singapore to Sydney and the chance to …

    Bootnotes 3 Sep 2007, 14:52

  • LG promises pretty pictures

    IFA 07 And some stylish sounds

    LG is either chasing the girls or getting in touch with its feminine side through its latest creations. The company has announced the Design Art range, which includes LCD TVs and is claimed to be beautiful both when in use and when switched off. LG's Design Art LCD: pretty as a picture The LCD range was unveiled at the IFA …

    Reg Hardware 3 Sep 2007, 14:57

  • Spammers add a new dimension to junk mail

    Say hello to 3D spam

    Spammers have added a fresh dimension to the fight against junk mail with the creation of image spam rendered in a pseudo 3D layout. The use of images as opposed to simple junk messages as a way to punt penis pills, refinancing offers and the like has being going on for months. The approach is designed to fool basic spam …

    Security 3 Sep 2007, 15:06

  • Virgin Galactic inks passenger training deal

    Rocket fat cat's plan unaffected by Mojave explosion

    Virgin Galactic, the firm offering suborbital rocketplane thrill rides for the very wealthy, has signed up a partner company to conduct preflight training for its customers. The first hundred sign-ups with the Branson biz empire's nascent space operation - each of whom has paid $200k to be a "Virgin Galactic Founder" - will be …

    Space 3 Sep 2007, 15:15

  • China looking to develop scramjet missile tech

    Existing sabres don't rattle noisily enough

    Reports are emerging that Chinese thruster-boffins are mounting a major push to perfect supersonic combustion ramjet (scramjet) technology, in a move that could stimulate American research. According to a writeup in Aviation Week, details of the Chinese efforts emerged at the recent American Institute of Aeronautics and …

    Physics 3 Sep 2007, 15:37

  • BBC confirms Doctor Who series five

    Not until 2010, though, and David Tennant doubtful

    The BBC has announced there will be a fifth series of Doctor Who, although it won't be until 2010 and David Tennant is doubtful to reprise his role as the Time Lord. Tennant is off to play Hamlet with the Royal Shakespeare Company from July to November next year, thereby effectively putting the kybosh on a 2009 outing. Series …

    Entertainment 3 Sep 2007, 16:24