24th September 2007 Archive

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Virgin unplugs music download service

Apple 1, Branson 0

Virgin has closed Virgin Digital, its Windows Media-based alternative to Apple's iTunes. It stopped selling one-off downloads on Friday, though subscribers will still have access to their collections until their next monthly payment is due. After that, their songs will no longer be playable, thanks to the limitations placed …

Reg Hardware 24 Sep 06:05
Free-market think tank urges EU to unbundle Windows

'No natural monopoly'

The Globalisation Institute, a European think-tank run by free market advocates, today went on the offensive against Microsoft, calling on the EU to require all PCs to be sold without operating systems. It says this will not make consumers' lives more difficult, as they would simply be asked to insert an OS DVD when they …

Channel Register 24 Sep 06:36
Crysis demo delayed

Crytek has put back the release of the demo version of Crysis, the eagerly anticipated PC-based first-person shooter that DirectX 10 graphics cards owners are all keen to try. Crytek's Crysis Originally due to be posted online on 25 September, the Crysis demo will now appear over a month later, on 26 October. The reason? …

Reg Hardware 24 Sep 08:49
Apple turns to Orange in France

Mobile operator wins iPhone deal

When is an Apple an Orange? When it's an iPhone it would seem, with the mobile operator winning the French rights to sell the Apple device. As widely expected France Telecom will start marketing Apple's iPhone in France through Orange, its wireless arm. The two parties announced the deal on Thursday following announcements of …

Mobile 24 Sep 09:09
LEGO-like Halo 3 figures land in UK

Pack includes 'invisible' Master Chief

We all thought LEGO's Star Wars figures were the acme of geek-friendly toys, but with Halo 3 about to roll - officially at least - something even better's just arrived in the UK: LEGO-style Master Chief models. Medicom's Halo 3 Kubricks: full metal jacket? The pack of four 2.5in figures - standard Spartan green; network- …

Reg Hardware 24 Sep 09:39
US teacher fired for non-literal bible reading

Of course there was a talking snake, stupid

A teacher at a US community college in Red Oak, Iowa says he was fired after telling his students not to interpret the story of Adam and Eve as a literal account of events circa BC 4000. Steve Bitterman, 60, who was teaching a western civilisation course at Southwestern Community College, said he often used extracts from the …

Science 24 Sep 09:44
Is your mobile tech creaking at the joints?

Mobile Workshop Time to replace those legacy solutions

When the area of mobile technology and applications is discussed, there is a tendency to treat it as a relatively new part of the overall IT landscape. It's easy to forget that many logistics and field service organisations have been using mobile devices in the field and the infrastructure required to support them for over a …

Workshop 24 Sep 09:47
US patent programme must be compulsory to work, says project leader

Opt-in won't work for Peer to Patent project

A pioneering project aimed at improving the quality of patents in the US must be made compulsory if it is to work, according to the project's manager. Currently the pilot project is only voluntary. The Peer to Patent project allows people to alert the US Patents and Trademarks Office (USPTO) when they have found material …

Law 24 Sep 09:47
Lockheed gives FBI a hand on fingerprint database

Extra grunt for G-men's server farm

US defence-tech behemoth Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $16m deal to provide the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)'s fingerprint database with extra processing power. The contract will run over five years, and will involve the provision of additional HP Superdome UNIX-based kit, similar to that already provided to the …

Servers 24 Sep 10:20
BT prepares for superfast broadband investment chinwag

Bland on the run

BT has again hinted that it could be persuaded to upgrade the UK's aged copper and aluminium wires into homes and businesses to fibre-optic lines. BT Retail chief Ian Livingstone has given one of the strongest indications yet that the firm sees a need for faster infrastructure, saying "BT remains very interested in further …

Telecoms 24 Sep 10:23
Toshiba readies Cell-based graphics engine

Watch out, Nvidia, here comes... er... SpursEngine

Toshiba will next week formally announce a processor based on the Cell chip that sits inside each Sony PlayStation 3 games console. The new CPU will be pitched not only at consumer electronics kit but set head-to-head with today's PC and Mac graphics chips. To be fair to Nvidia, AMD and co., Toshiba's October announcement …

Reg Hardware 24 Sep 10:31
OLPC to offer consumers $400 two-laptop bundle

One for you, one for them

The group behind the third-world oriented $100 (ish) laptop will also offer consumers in developed countries the chance to buy its machine later this year. OLPC's XO laptop Dubbed Give 1 Get 1, the programme will run from 12 November and allow consumers to purchase two of the OLPC organisation's XO laptops, one for …

Reg Hardware 24 Sep 10:46
Pirate Bay sues media giants for 'sabotage'

Counterstrike follows Media Defender email leak

The Pirate Bay has filed a criminal complaint against entertainment firms over alleged attacks against the controversial file sharing tracker site. A police complaint against the Swedish subsidiaries of music and movie studios follows a leak of embarassing emails from MediaDefender, the firm allegedly hired by media moguls to …

Law 24 Sep 11:00
Firms lust after mobile access

But spurn the advances of social computing

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been looking at the various rationales as to why people might want to collaborate, or access applications, when they are mobile. But just how much of a concern is it to the corporation itself? According to a recent Reg reader poll, the answer is "quite a lot". Indeed, initiatives for mobile and …

Mobile 24 Sep 11:02
World leaders meet to tackle global warming

But dear old Dubya has other plans

World leaders are set to meet today to discuss the effects of climate change and possible political measures to tackle it. The meeting will see representatives from 150 countries, 80 of them being heads of state, converge on the UN in New York. UN climate chief Yvo de Boer said he expected the meeting to express the sense of …

Science 24 Sep 11:27
Energizer powers-up iPod pack

And the beat goes on...

Leaving the house and realising you've only got five minutes of iPod juice left is like running out of petrol on the motorway. But, while battery company Energizer can't do anything about the latter, it has developed an instant power source for mobile music fans. Energizer's Energi To Go: recharging with non-rechargeable …

Reg Hardware 24 Sep 11:55
EMC jettisons $76m into web 2.0 storage cloud

Money is like manure. You have to spread it around or it smells

EMC has grown bored of sitting on a fat pile of VMware IPO cash and reportedly dropped $76m for web-based automated backup outfit Mozy. The service is one of dozens of start-ups offering online storage to consumers and businesses. Mozy's biggest start-up rivals are Carbonite and AllMyData. All charge about $4 to $5 per month …

Storage 24 Sep 12:01
US Army dalek assassins to pack mini-missiles?

Terminator 3 Pringles-tube ordnance in the offing

The US Army is looking to develop a range of miniaturised guided missiles for use by its robot warriors of the future, according to reports. Each missile could be the size of a large party cracker. Under its Future Combat System (FCS) programme, the US Army plans to kit itself out with all kinds of futuristic gear. Originally, …

Science 24 Sep 13:01
GSS and Peapod come over all mushy

Security integration love-in

UK security integrators GSS and Peapod are to merge. The new firm will continue under the GSS brand becoming one of the largest security integrators and consultancy firms in the UK with a combined roster of 2,500 clients and around 60 workers. Most IT mergers normally result in job cuts, particularly in support and admin …

Channel Register 24 Sep 13:05
Caves spotted on Mars

But where are the cave-Martians?

The Mars Odyssey orbiter has beamed back pictures of what appear to be cave entrances on the slopes of a Martian volcano. Seven small dark craters pepper the side of the long-extinct volcano. They range from about 100 to 200 metres in size, and are very nearly circular. The NASA team turned the thermal imaging cameras on the …

Space 24 Sep 13:16
Apple iPhone

2007's Top Products The web in the palm of your hand

We've already reviewed Apple's iPhone, so why are we taking another look? There are several reasons. First, a different reviewer means a different opinion. That applies to any product, of course, but Apple's claim that the iPhone is "revolutionary" perhaps justifies an alternative appraisal. Second, the first review was of a …

Reg Hardware 24 Sep 13:50
Martian south pole: water, not dry ice

Bad news for aliens in charge of special effects

The southern Martian ice cap is mostly made of water, according to those clever boffins* at MIT. Ice on Mars. Credit: NASA/MOLA Science Team The polar caps on the red planet were thought to be composed largely of a thin layer of frozen CO2, resting over a dust and ice mixture. But new analysis by MIT researchers, led by …

Space 24 Sep 14:15
Second Galileo satellite delayed 'til 2008

Spectrum placeholder held up by Russian rocketry

Hotly-debated European sat nav project Galileo has suffered a technical delay in addition to its budgetary and political woes. Media reports suggest the Giove-B satellite, second in a series of testbed and validation platforms preceding the main Galileo birds, will not now be launched until next year. Giove B, which has …

Space 24 Sep 14:25
Judge parks 172mph Porsche driver for 10 weeks

Boy racer also gets three year ban

A London man has been handed a 10 week jail sentence for taking a Porsche 911 Turbo on a 172mph spin earlier this year. Timothy Brady, a 33 year old from Harrow, London, was snared in a routine speed check near Kingston Bagpuize, and pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at Oxford Crown Court last month. Brady was sentenced …

Law 24 Sep 14:32
VMware updates take aim at bug swarm

Flaw filler

Wall Street darling VMware released patches that address multiple vulnerabilities in its products this week. The virtualisation firm, which recently went public, issued updates to fix bugs in various versions of VMware ACE, VMware Player, VMware Server and VMware Workstation. The flaws range in severity, with some allowing …

Enterprise Security 24 Sep 14:57
NASA gives Beagle 2 another shot at glory

Green lights lunar mission study

"It'll be like Steve Fossett all over again, only worse," said one embittered Reg hack on hearing the news that NASA has decided to send Beagle to the moon. Yes, Beagle, the little lander that either couldn't, wouldn't or didn't, manage to land on Mars might be about to be resurrected and packed off to the Moon. In its report …

Space 24 Sep 15:59
Samsung, Armani launch designer vibro phone

Suits you, sir

Samsung and fashion label Armani have kicked off their recently announced partnership with the launch of a credit-card sized handset that sports a user interface with a vibro-feedback feature. Samsung's P520: a technical masterpiece? The SGH-P520 measures 8.8 x 5.4 x 0.9cm and has a touch-sensitive 2.6in LCD display, with …

Reg Hardware 24 Sep 16:02
Starbucks to give away 50m iTunes songs

I'll have a latte, danish and slice of Bob Dylan please

Since their announcement earlier this month, Apple and Starbucks haven’t said much about plans to make the iTunes Music Store available over Wi-Fi in the coffee giant's branches. Now we know why though, because Starbucks is to launch the service in the USA by giving away 50m free songs. Apple's iPhone: will be able to …

Reg Hardware 24 Sep 16:04
Blogosphere shouts 'I'm Spartacus' in Usmanov-Murray case

Uzbek billionaire prompts Blog solidarity

Political websites have lined up in defence of a former diplomat whose blog was deleted by hosting firm Fasthosts after threats from lawyers acting for billionaire Arsenal investor Alisher Usmanov. Four days after Fasthosts pulled the plug on the website run by former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray it remains offline …

Law 24 Sep 16:15
A new spin on portable DVD players

Not very handy though

If you don't mind running the risk of having your fingers sliced off while watching a film, then this portable DVD player (PDP) could be the ultimate concept design for you. Designer Yeon-Shin Seung has created a gadget with a roll-up display, but without a cover to protect users from the 1600rpm disc. Stage one: slide open …

Reg Hardware 24 Sep 16:16
Creative Commons sued for deception

Hey! What's wrong with our Sharecropping licence?

A Texan family has been handed a harsh lesson in what the Creative Commons "movement" really means for creatives who use its licences. Filmmaker Damon Chang uploaded a family photograph of his young niece Alison to Flickr, only to discover weeks later that it was being used by Virgin Mobile in an expensive advertising …

Music and Media 24 Sep 19:14
Hitachi adds power-down to mid-range storage gear

Dr. Chandra? Will I dream?

Hitachi Data Systems is adding the ability to power down disk drives on demand to its mid-range product lineup. They're also rolling out support for bigger disks and some new security services. The enhancements cover Hitachi's Adaptable Modular Storage (AMS) and Workgroup Modular Storage (WMS) gear. The Power Savings Storage …

Storage 24 Sep 19:16
Czech Olympic Committee annihilates English language

'Previous two advances arrange games are over always inglorious'

We don't know quite what is going on down at the Czech Olympic Committee, which recently announced its intention to pitch for the 2016 Olympics, but we reckon it's employed one of the Lads from Lagos to write the English version of its promotional website. Try the fascinating history of the country's previous bids, which begins …

Bootnotes 24 Sep 20:25
Red Hat plots re-org to deal with JBoss woes

Bad Java aftertaste

Red Hat is suffering from JBoss reflux, according to a pair of prominent open source software watchers. Credit Suisse analyst Jason Maynard has issued a fresh report in which he downgrades Red Hat to "neutral" from "outperform" due to what he sees as organizational struggles. The analyst once thought Red Hat's digestion of …

Applications 24 Sep 20:36
Unholy trinity of flaws put Google users at risk

Doomwatchers count the ways

If you use Google to send email, organize photos or help administer your website, doomwatchers have cataloged three new ways to steal your data and compromise the security of your users. All three of the techniques rely on cross site scripting, or XSS, in which hackers inject unauthorized code by making it appear as if it's …

Security 24 Sep 20:51
Premature exit for GPL test case?

Boomshakalaka

A GNU General Public License (GPL) test case in the US looks dead in the water after a start-up promised to abide by the GPLv2 rather than duke it out in court with the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC). The SFLC last week filed suit against Monsoon Multimedia, alleging the Silicon Valley start-up had breached GPLv2. It said …

Software 24 Sep 22:28
Chuck Norris to do battle in El Reg Arena of Death

And his opponent?

It's official: embearded death machine Chuck Norris - legendarily described as "the meanest whup-ass mutha west of the Mississippi" - will shortly enter the blood-spattered ring of Vulture Central's Arena of Death to challenge for the "Hardest Man in on the Planet - Ever!" title; 15 rounds of senseless violence in which no …

Bootnotes 24 Sep 22:48