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24th October 2007 Archive

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  • Ballmer: Microsoft will power the mobile revolution

    CTIA 'Not Apple. Not RIM.'

    Steve Ballmer believes that Microsoft is the only company with "the wherewithal" to dominate the world of mobile computing. Appearing at CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment, a massive mobile tradeshow underway in downtown San Francisco, the Microsoft supremo told show goers that the company has the upper-hand on the likes of …

    Mobile 24 Oct 2007, 00:22

  • Jesus phone raptures AT&T profit

    Net income increases 41%, revenue nearly doubles

    AT&T posted a 41 per cent profit increase in the third quarter, largely attributed to iPhone sales. The $3.1bn net income compares with $2.2bn earned in the same period last year. Revenue nearly doubled to $30.1bn in Q3 from $15.6bn a year earlier. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said the company activated 1.1 million iPhones …

    Financial News 24 Oct 2007, 00:37

  • Nasty PDF exploit runs wild

    Coming to an inbox near you

    A day after Adobe patched a serious security hole in its Reader and Acrobat programs, miscreants are flooding email inboxes with malware-tainted PDF files that try to remotely hijack vulnerable computers. The malware, identified by Symantec researchers as Trojan.Pidief.A, is included in PDF files attached to a "fair number of …

    Security 24 Oct 2007, 00:57

  • Ballmer again: AT&T and Verizon should rule the airwaves

    CTIA Phooey to Apple and Google

    In a none-too-subtle jab at two of his biggest competitors - Apple and Google - Steve Ballmer has said that Microsoft will not bid for a prime portion of the US wireless spectrum. Following his keynote at CTIA Wireless I.T. and Entertainment, a mammoth mobile tradeshow underway in San Francisco, the Microsoft CEO sat down to …

    Networks 24 Oct 2007, 01:03

  • Gov egghead: Companies should have daily PT

    Then only small firms will be fat cats

    One of the government's top social-policy eggheads has said that companies should have exercise periods for their staff, according to reports. Professor Julian Le Grand, a bigwig at the London School of Economics, outlined his plans during a speech to the Royal Statistical Society this week. His remarks were reported in the …

    Small Biz 24 Oct 2007, 08:40

  • W1NNT number plate vendor mocks L1NUX

    Updated 'No specialist training required'

    It's all go on the OS-flavoured eBay number plate auction front, and no messing. No sooner had we reported on the availability of the highly-desirable L1NUX combo, than the owner of W1NNT decided to cash in on his fortuitous registration assemblage. However, just to add spice to the kernel-fiddlers versus apologistas automotive …

    Bootnotes 24 Oct 2007, 08:44

  • MoD slashes IT jobs

    Tech posts among 1,000 for the chop

    Computer specialist posts will be axed as part of the defence ministry's latest round of cost cuts. IT staff will be among 1,000 civilians to lose their jobs at the Ministry of Defence's (MoD) Whitehall headquarters as part of a "streamlining programme". The MoD said the loss of posts, amounting to a 25 per cent staff …

    Public Sector 24 Oct 2007, 08:48

  • MS and Turbolinux ink patent, single sign-on deal

    Conspiracy theories ahoy!

    Turbolinux and Microsoft are extending their collaboration agreement to improve interoperability and co-operate on research and development. Turbolinux customers will also be protected against possible future legal action by Redmond. Steve Ballmer recently named Red Hat as a violator of Microsoft patents. Red Hat and Novell …

    Operating Systems 24 Oct 2007, 08:53

  • Virgin Mary pebble provokes holy online bidding war

    NZ simulacrum hits NZ$26k

    Bidding on a Virgin Mary pebble simulacrum picked up on a New Zealand beach had this morning reached a rather silly NZ$26,700 on Trade Me after the owner declared she wouldn't take less that NZ50k for the mineralogical marvel. The 1cm stone was discovered last year by Christchurch woman Lisa-Marie Corlet on Kaikoura's South …

    Bootnotes 24 Oct 2007, 08:55

  • NASA sats snap California wildfires

    Dramatic pics capture scale of inferno

    While Southern California's firefighters battle to contain the wildfires which have provoked the mass evacuation of 500,000 people, killed at least one, and destroyed around 1,300 homes and businesses, NASA satellites have being doing their bit to record aerial views of the drama for posterity: The blurb explains: Smoke from …

    Space 24 Oct 2007, 08:56

  • StumbleUpon brings human touch to search

    Rate my website

    eBay-owned website rating service StumbleUpon has announced the launch of a new feature that will display users' opinions of a website or web page. The new "SearchReviews" service will be available to StumbleUpon users who have downloaded and installed the company's toolbar. Once this is installed, users will start seeing tiny …

    Applications 24 Oct 2007, 09:02

  • AMD three-core Phenoms to ship March 2008?

    Second, 45nm generation to follow a year later

    Basic details have begun to filter through regarding AMD's three-core Phenom line-up, due to go on sale in Q1 2008. That's AMD's official launch window, but according to motherboard-maker moles cited by DIgiTimes, they'll actually appear at the end of the that quarter, in March 2008. The sources said the chips are - surprise …

    Reg Hardware 24 Oct 2007, 09:03

  • Samsung unshutters 'first' 5Mp, 3x optical zoom cameraphone

    Is it a camera? Is it a phone?

    Samsung’s G800 slider handset could easily be mistaken for the existing G600, if it wasn't for one element: Samsung claimed the new model is the world’s first phone to feature both a five-megapixel camera and a 3x optical zoom facility. Samsung's G800: slide action Sadly, most of the G800's other camera features aren’t …

    Reg Hardware 24 Oct 2007, 09:09

  • AMD confirms November launch for 55nm 'RV670'

    Demand driver?

    AMD has tacitly confirmed past claims that its next-generation GPU, codenamed 'RV670' and the company's first graphics chip fabbed at 55nm, will debut in the middle of November. Speaking at AMD's financial results conference, President and COO Dirk Meyer said: "We will launch the RV670, the world’s first 55nm GPU in the …

    Reg Hardware 24 Oct 2007, 09:24

  • Amazon sells 2.5 million Harry Potters

    No magical effect on profits though

    Amazon beat the Street's expectations for its third quarter but still seemed to disappoint traders yesterday. Shares fell sharply in after-hours trading after rising more than ten per cent during the day. The bookseller also showed exactly how low-margin a low-margin web business can be. Despite turnover of more than $3bn the …

    Financial News 24 Oct 2007, 09:53

  • Flaming kamikaze squirrel torches car

    Sciurine death dive does for Toyota Camry

    A New Jersey woman's Toyota Camry last week suffered a sciurine kamikaze attack during which a flaming squirrel fell onto the vehicle, slid into the engine compartment and provoked an explosion which destroyed the parked vehicle, the Jersey Journal reports. Lindsey Millar, 23, and bruv Tony, 22, were at home in Bayonne last …

    Bootnotes 24 Oct 2007, 09:55

  • Kazakhstan blocks opposition websites

    Borat unavailable for comment

    Kazakhstan yesterday blocked access to several websites critical of the government, including the "main opposition outlets", kub.kz and geo.kz, Reuters reports. Kub - which said it said it had been "officially notified by the Kazakhstan Network Information Centre of its closure" - quickly posted a statement on another site …

    Law 24 Oct 2007, 09:56

  • IT managers caught in employees' illicit networks

    IM, VoIP create biz security risk

    Illicit workplace "greynets" are enjoying enormous growth, with staff embracing the concept while BOFHs are left playing whac-a-mole. The FaceTime survey, of 700 US employees and IT managers, found an average of nine greynets in every company, with only one per cent of firms avoiding them completely. We used to call them …

    Small Biz 24 Oct 2007, 10:15

  • Blu-ray outsells HD DVD 2:1 in US

    But lead narrowing fast

    US consumers bought almost twice as many Blu-ray Discs than HD DVDs in the first nine months of 2007, trade title Home Media Magazine has claimed. Some 1.4m HD DVDs were sold in States from the beginning of January through to the end of September. In the same period, consumers bought 2.6m BDs, HMM subsidiary Home Media …

    Reg Hardware 24 Oct 2007, 10:19

  • GMail shakes IMAP out of coma

    Mail protocol wasn't dead, only sleeping

    Google has slipped IMAP support into its GMail service, allowing users to manage their mail on the server and access it using different clients, with the status of their messages maintained. IMAP is a vast improvement over POP3 - the more popular protocol for collecting email - though it seems GMail will continue to support …

    Applications 24 Oct 2007, 10:25

  • IBM patents making money from patents

    Paging MC Escher...

    Sometime computer maker and intellectual property clearing house IBM has threatened the fabric of space-time by attempting to patent profiting from patents. A filing at the US Patent Office, entitled "system and method for extracting value from a portfolio of assets" stages a landgrab on the thoroughly original idea of letting …

    Financial News 24 Oct 2007, 10:57

  • Korean software firm sues Microsoft

    Anti-trust damages sought

    Microsoft has been slapped with a lawsuit filed by Korean instant messaging program developer Digito.com, which is claiming millions of dollars in anti-trust damages. According to Korean newspaper Chosun, the US software mammoth has been accused of causing a loss in sales revenue estimated at W30bn (US$1=W918) because the …

    Applications 24 Oct 2007, 10:58

  • Sony 'shuffles' out multi-colour Cyber-shot T2 line-up

    Sony's upcoming Cyber-shot DSC-T2 could become the iPod Shuffle of the digicam world when it goes on sale in Europe next month: the metal-clad machine will be available in a range of Shuffle-like colours. Sony's Cyber-shot DSC-T2 and friend Not that the camera's specification is cut down. Each T2 incorporates an eight- …

    Reg Hardware 24 Oct 2007, 10:59

  • Oracle and BEA swap public love letters

    'I want to be wooed'

    BEA invited Oracle to play kiss-chase yesterday, as the database vendor came over all tough and macho in its effort to acquire the middleware firm. Oracle sent BEA's directors a letter yesterday bemoaning their rejection of its $17 per share offer, and their refusal to meet their counterparts at Redwood Shores. It called on …

    Financial News 24 Oct 2007, 11:08

  • Dell debuts XPS desktop for video buffs

    Video digitiser hardware on board

    Dell's XPS line of desktop PCs isn't just for gaming, oh no. The computer giant last night launched a model aimed at video editors. Dell's XPS 420: for video editors rather than gamers The XPS 420 is available for configuration with a selection of Intel Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme dual- and quad-core processors, all …

    Reg Hardware 24 Oct 2007, 11:24

  • Toshiba: integrated HD DVD would 'limit' Xbox experience

    Giant denies it's working on a console

    Microsoft will not build an HD DVD drive into a future Xbox 360 because it doesn't want to "limit the user's experience", an insider at fellow HD DVD backer Toshiba has said. Not exactly a ringing endorsement of the next-generation optical disc format, you might think, but there you have it it: buy HD DVD, limit your …

    Reg Hardware 24 Oct 2007, 11:47

  • US: Missile shield 'deactivated' until Iran tools up

    Chill, Vladimir, we won't switch it on. Promise

    US defence secretary Robert Gates, seeking to allay Russian concerns, has suggested that European elements of the planned American missile shield might be built but not "activated" unless a threat from Iran developed. Ongoing US efforts may in future produce a somewhat functional system of layered defences against ballistic …

    Science 24 Oct 2007, 11:54

  • Chinese lunar orbiter on its way

    Media trumpets Chang'e One mission

    China this morning sucessfully sent on its way the Chang'e One lunar orbiter from the southwestern province of Sichuan, amid much patriotic trumpeting of the country's technological prowess. According to Reuters, the 10.05 GMT launch of the 2,300kg orbiter atop a Long March 3A rocket was watched by thousands of space …

    Space 24 Oct 2007, 11:55

  • Developer deploys graphics cards to accelerate password cracks

    Magic words uncovered in 3-5 days, down from two months

    Nvidia's GeForce 8 series of graphics chips can be used to crack Windows NT LAN Manager (NTLM) passwords 25 times more quickly than was previously possible, security software developer Elcomsoft has claimed. The Russia-based company this week announced the second major release of its Distributed Password Recovery application …

    Enterprise Security 24 Oct 2007, 12:09

  • Bad security products thrive on confusion

    High-drama obscures real risks, warns Schneier

    The information security market is riddled with mediocre products because buyers are often sold on a story rather than having enough information to make a rational choice, a security expert has said. Bruce Schneier, founder and chief technical officer of BT Counterpane, said many security products offered the feeling of being …

    Enterprise Security 24 Oct 2007, 12:09

  • Cathedral gun battle game not blessed with gaming award

    Wii Sports grabs the gongs

    Controversial PlayStation 3 game Resistance: Fall of Man failed to take a gong at last night's British Academy Video Games Awards in London, a result that will surely have Manchester church-goers rejoicing. Wii Sports fans also have reasons to be cheerful. R:FoM was beaten to The PC World Gamers’ Award, the only award voted …

    Reg Hardware 24 Oct 2007, 12:23

  • Jackie Chan records Olympic ditty

    We Are Ready (to kick imperialist sporting arse)

    Action movie geezer Jackie Chan has apparently recorded an "officially-endorsed" song to celebrate the forthcoming Beijing Olympics, provocatively entitled We Are Ready. Chan reportedly spent no less than three gruelling hours in front of the mic during a quick trip to the capital to bang out lyrics such as: "Waiting year after …

    Music and Media 24 Oct 2007, 12:46

  • Pure Digital Evoke 1S DAB digital radio

    Review A DAB hand?

    Going back a few years, Pure Digital's parent company, Imagination Technologies, only made chips and wasn't involved in the manufacture of radios in any way. So to come as far as the company has in such a short period of time is surely testament to its ability to deliver desirable and reliable products. To our mind, a good …

    Reg Hardware 24 Oct 2007, 12:56

  • Petrolhead-friendly Porsche phone to drive out next month

    Gas not required

    Carphone Warehouse has leaked the shipping date for the latest addition to the mobile phone poser set, Porsche Design's aluminium-clad P’9521. Porsche'sn P'9521: the clamshell for 911 owners? The retailer claims the tri-band GSM phone with GPRS and Edge will be available in Novembner. It hasn’t yet given any contract …

    Reg Hardware 24 Oct 2007, 13:33

  • Police bail OiNK admin after filesharing raid

    Government minister threatens anti-P2P laws

    The target of yesterday's high-profile file sharing raid in Middlesbrough has been released on bail pending further investigation, Cleveland police said this morning. The man, who cannot be named, has not been charged with any offence relating to his alleged role in the OiNK BitTorrent site. He was arrested on suspicion of …

    Law 24 Oct 2007, 13:47

  • Hypersonic hydrogen airliner to bitchslap Concorde

    €10bn* funding could bring two hour London-Sydney flights

    The European Union (EU) has agreed further funding for a European civil hypersonics project whose goal is to achieve passenger flights from Brussels to Sydney in "two to four hours", at speeds of Mach 4 to 8. The now-retired Concorde was capable of only a little better than Mach 2. The first phase of the so-called Long-term …

    Physics 24 Oct 2007, 14:11

  • Next-gen Treo spied on web

    A picture of a device claimed to be Palm's next top-of-the-line Windows Mobile-based Treo smartphone has surfaced on the web, allegedly by way of US carrier Sprint. The leak comes via Treo Central's forum, and is said to have been sent by a "solutions engineer at Sprint". The carrier has just "started the hardware beta of the …

    Reg Hardware 24 Oct 2007, 14:43

  • Legal loophole allows Manhunt 2 to be sold in UK

    Certificate not needed for downloads

    Gory game Manhunt 2 can legally be sold to UK consumers as a download, despite the refusal of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) to grant the title a certificate for sale as a physical product in shops. Download this... legally The latest twist to the tale of the controversial title is the result of a loophole …

    Reg Hardware 24 Oct 2007, 15:00

  • Operators say 'told you so' on iPhone security

    Handset security report hits the streets

    Operator talking-shop the OMTP (Open Mobile Terminal Alliance) has published its white paper on handset security, saying something along the lines of Symbian Signed is a good idea, and that if Apple had listened to it the iPhone would never have been cracked. The document (pdf) spends a lot of time explaining what mobile …

    Mobile 24 Oct 2007, 15:10

  • Dead dog floors 68 Namibian villagers

    Sick canine carcass off the menu

    Sixty-eight people from two Namibian villages ended up in hospital after "eating a dog that had died of disease", The Namibian reports. Said mutt from Oikokola in the Omusati region was killed by its owner last Saturday after falling ill, and he duly ordered the carcass to be incinerated. However, the good burghers of Oikokola …

    Biology 24 Oct 2007, 15:15

  • Microsoft offers pay-as-you-go CRM

    Goes for small biz biz

    Microsoft is banking on a pay by the month charging scheme to pull small businesses onto its customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. Traditionally seen as the preserve of big firms, CRM and ERP are moving to small and medium organisations. Monthly payments are available in "15 …

    Small Biz 24 Oct 2007, 15:28

  • Ubuntu's latest OS not so Gutsy

    Gibbon monkeys around with web access

    Ubuntu fanboys have been crying into their beers after discovering internet connection problems with Canonical's latest open source Linux distribution operating system, dubbed the Gutsy Gibbon. The latest version (7.10) of the increasingly popular free OS, which launched last week, was punted to the masses by Ubuntu as being …

    Operating Systems 24 Oct 2007, 15:31

  • Brussels arms bod: Don't buy Yankee deathware

    Pry my bloated tech base out of my cold dead fingers

    The chief of the European Defence Agency says that EU nations must develop more sophisticated weapons technology jointly among themselves in order to be free of dependence on American exports. Specifically, Alexander Weis believes that European countries should club together to build spy satellites and heavy-lift helicopters. " …

    Science 24 Oct 2007, 15:58

  • XenSource preaches the joy of platform virtualization

    Interop New management, new credo, same old enemy

    The virtualization hypervisor belongs in server hardware - not in the operating system. So says Xensource, friend and partner of the operating system giants Microsoft, Red Hat and Novell. "Hypervisor will be delivered in hardware. In my view, it's a separate layer [from the operating system] because it's part of the box," …

    Virtualization 24 Oct 2007, 18:21

  • Appeals court rubber stamps FCC's DSL (de)regulation

    Hangs up on small ISPs

    Living in America? If you get your access to the internet through an independent ISP over DSL, your service might become more expensive soon. Or slow. Or disappear entirely. The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued a ruling last week that approved the FCC's new order eliminating the requirement that large phone …

    Telecoms 24 Oct 2007, 18:53

  • Rogue ActiveX controls menace users

    A new class at Vulnerability High

    Flaws in ActiveX controls are being increasingly used to run security exploits. Arbitrary file overwrite and deletion flaws, typically exploited through ActiveX controls, are well on the way to becoming a new class of security flaw, according to net security firm Symantec. "These vulnerabilities exist particularly because of …

    Security 24 Oct 2007, 19:13

  • Facebook teams with RIM for Web 2.0 on-the-go

    CTIA Hints at Gphone launch

    Facebook has launched a fresh attack on the mobile market, unveiling a brand new version of its social networking service for BlackBerry smartphones as well as two new mobile hooks for its much-balleyhooed app development platform. With his morning keynote at CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment, the mobile trade show now into …

    Mobile 24 Oct 2007, 19:18

  • Microsoft frees up virtualization spec

    Hypercall API full of 'open promise'

    Microsoft has placed the hypercall application program interface (API) for its Viridian virtualization server under the banner of its Open Specification Promise (OSP). But will it help company notch up more open source street cred? The hypercall API for Viridian, which comes as part of Windows Server 2008, enables developers to …

    Virtualization 24 Oct 2007, 19:27

  • Small.biz flocks to Google Apps

    Interop Some biggies, too

    Rapid innovation, not big R&D dollars, is driving adoption of Google apps at 1,500 new small-to-medium business customer sites per day and a few big companies such as Proctor & Gamble and GE. That's the message from Matthew Glotzbach, head of products at Google Enterprise, who during his Interop keynote ignored the existence of …

    Small Biz 24 Oct 2007, 19:51

  • TJX breach was twice as big as admitted, banks say

    World's biggest credit card heist now estimated at 94 million accounts

    The world's largest credit card heist may be bigger than we thought. Much bigger. According to court documents filed by a group of banks, more than 94 million accounts fell into the hands of criminals as a result of a massive security breach suffered by TJX, the Massachusetts-based retailer. That's more than double what TJX …

    Security 24 Oct 2007, 20:05

  • IBM buys storage services firm NovusCG

    Stockpiles ammunition against EMC and Symantec

    IBM is bulking up its storage software division by buying privately held storage resource management firm, Novus Consulting Group (NovusCG). Financial terms were not disclosed. NovusCG sells two pieces of software. The flagship product is Storage Enterprise Resource Planner (SERP). The software creates reports pulled from …

    Channel Register 24 Oct 2007, 20:13

  • Storage Virtualization: A Register survival guide

    You want it, you need it, we got it

    Your bedside clock flickers 2:48 AM. You're still awake. Covered in a thin sheen of sweat, you heave yourself from your mattress and head for the window. Fresh air. That's all you need. The distant ebb and flow of traffic breaks the tomb-like silence of your bedroom. You close your eyes. It sounds like the ocean — or — no! You …

    Storage 24 Oct 2007, 20:43

  • Swede with UK betting licence held in Amsterdam for 'breaking' ancient French law

    It's not every day you can say that

    France found itself embroiled in the middle of yet another internet gambling controversy Tuesday, after Dutch authorities arrested the CEO of Unibet - a Swedish online gambling provider with a history of run-ins with French authorities - on an outstanding French warrant. Authorities arrested Petter Nylander, a resident of …

    Law 24 Oct 2007, 21:13

  • Websites steamed after their Google PageRanks fall

    Search-zilla takes a swat at link farms

    The net is abuzz with speculation that Google is cracking down on link farms designed to artificially puff up the placement of websites after bloggers disclosed recent PageRank drops for more than a dozen sites. They include tuaw.com, which watched its PageRank fall from 6 to 4, and Engadget.com, SFGate.com, Forbes.com and …

    Music and Media 24 Oct 2007, 23:33

  • Green Grid snuggles with US lobbying group

    Delivers three reports — members only

    The Green Grid is boasting it's buddied-up with the top US technology industry government lobbying group, and produced three new papers on energy efficiency. Of course, if you aren't paying the minimum $5,000 annual dues, it won't be much use at the moment. Unless of course you get the warm fuzzies from an organization making …

    Servers 24 Oct 2007, 23:43