The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

25th October 2007 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

  • Microsoft pays $240m for tiny sliver of Facebook

    Google shall not pass

    It was the worst-kept secret in the internet industry, but today Microsoft proved all the rumor-mongers right by confirming that it is taking a stake in Facebook, and shutting Google out of the social networking website. Microsoft is shelling out $240m for a 1.6 per cent stake, helping the Facebook reach a $15bn valuation in …

    Financial News 25 Oct 2007, 00:16

  • US law on age proof in explicit images is ruled unconstitutional

    Record keeping duties removed from pornographers

    A law requiring publishers of sexually explicit content to document and record the age of participants in material has been ruled unconstitutional by a US court. Experts had warned that the law could cause problems for photo-sharing websites. The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has said that the law broke the US …

    Law 25 Oct 2007, 00:39

  • Google funds hold Firefox fate (for sure)

    85 per cent of all revenue

    If there was any doubt that Google has the power to pull the plug on Firefox, it's been laid to rest. This week, the Mozilla Foundation released its 2006 financial statement, telling the world that Google provides 85 per cent of the revenue for the foundation and its Mozilla Corp. subsidiary. The footnote lists "concentrations …

    Financial News 25 Oct 2007, 00:54

  • Motorola: Apple will not open the iPhone

    CTIA Nix to Napster

    The senior director of entertainment products at Motorola questions whether Apple will truly "open up" the iPhone. "We've yet to see Apple's SDK [software developers' kit], and I'm sure there will be some level of [Apple] control that goes along with it. I guarantee you that you will not see a Napster music service on the …

    Reg Hardware 25 Oct 2007, 01:00

  • More gnashing of teeth after Microsoft update brings PCs to a standstill

    Updated Resource-hogging search app sprung on reluctant admins

    This story was updated on Thursday 25th October 2007 23:21 to add comment from Microsoft. Something seems to have gone horribly wrong in an untold number of IT departments on Wednesday after Microsoft installed a resource-hogging search application on machines company-wide, even though administrators had configured systems not …

    PCs & Chips 25 Oct 2007, 01:04

  • UK Charts Company to recognise album sales on USB Flash disks

    Exclusive Enter the DMD (Digital Memory Device)

    The Official UK Charts Company (OCC), the organisation that maintains the UK's music sales tables, will include albums sold on USB Flash disks in its tallies from next Monday, 29 October, Register Hardware has learned. In an email sent by the OCC to labels and seen by Register Hardware, the organisation gives notice that it …

    Reg Hardware 25 Oct 2007, 08:34

  • Boeing, Ford in hydrogen engine fanfare

    'Future of aviation'. Erm, hold on a minute...

    World-straddling arms'n'airliners behemoth Boeing yesterday announced successful testing of a hydrogen-fuelled aircraft engine which will power the company's future High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) robo-plane. The Boeing release made an unexpectedly loud splash, with the new motor being described as a "wunderengine" and the …

    Science 25 Oct 2007, 08:42

  • Grass up romantic sadsacks for only $4.99 a month

    Service turns dates with losers into money spinner

    Singletons forced to sit through excruciating blind dates can now report their experiences straight from their mobile phone, ensuring that no one else suffers. PlayerBlock, just launched in the US, allows you to register a comment, linked to the mobile phone number of the person you're reporting on, or check out someone you're …

    Mobile 25 Oct 2007, 08:56

  • Call to curb 'frustrating' tax admin

    MPs urge business tax update

    MPs are urging Revenue and Customs to update its multiple helplines and complex paper registration systems for new business taxpayers. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) should introduce a single registration system and a unique identifer to help new businesses with the processes of paying taxes, according to MPs on the Public …

    Small Biz 25 Oct 2007, 09:05

  • Intel pays $250m to end Transmeta patent fight

    Inks deal for ten years of patents

    Intel has agreed to stump up $250m to Transmeta to settle the patent dispute case between the firms without battling through the courts. Intel will pay its rival $150m in a lump sum, plus an annual license fee of $20m for the next five years. Transmeta sued Intel back in October 2006, alleging that the chip giant infringed …

    PCs & Chips 25 Oct 2007, 09:11

  • MPs claim IT supply savings

    Whitehall saves taxpayer cash

    Whitehall has acted on the recommendations of a parliamentary committee by improving services and value for money, according to its chair. Edward Leigh, chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, said the government's response to recommendations in the committee's 16 most recent reports has resulted in action by Whitehall …

    Public Sector 25 Oct 2007, 09:17

  • SCO gets offer for Unix biz

    Enough to pay the lawyers off

    The SCO Group, which earlier this month filed for bankrupcy protection, says it has received an offer for its Unix business. A group of New York investors, backed by York Capital Management, are willing to pay $36m. This includes a $10m credit for lawyers' bills. SCO is currently in Chapter 11 bankrupcy protection. This was …

    Operating Systems 25 Oct 2007, 09:19

  • Vibro satnav to shake up GPS market

    Immersion branches out

    Tactile feedback firm Immersion could be on shaky ground with its latest development, the world’s first portable navigation devices (PNDs) with vibrating touchscreens. Immersion's CSN-7040: got the vibe The two devices, the CSN-7040 and the CIN-7000, use the company’s TouchSense technology to make their 7in touchscreens …

    Reg Hardware 25 Oct 2007, 10:06

  • Carphone seeks monthly punters

    Virtual network via Vodafone

    Carphone Warehouse (CPW) has started offering monthly contracts on Talkmobile, a new branded virtual operator. CPW already has a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO), called Fresh, but Talkmobile will be carried on the Vodafone network rather than T-Mobile's. Carphone has been offering pre-paid connections on its Fresh brand …

    Telecoms 25 Oct 2007, 10:14

  • Oz barmaid fined for crushing beer cans between jubs

    Cops unimpressed by crowd-pleasing stunt

    An Oz barmaid who splendidly "entertained customers" in a Western Australia hotel by "crushing beer cans between her bare breasts" has been fined A$1,000 dollars (£439) for a breach of the Liquor Control Act. According to the Telegraph, 31-year-old Luana De Favari admitted flashing her chesticles twice at patrons of the Premier …

    Bootnotes 25 Oct 2007, 10:40

  • Creative debuts iPod Shuffle-sized speaker

    Cute or what? It's Creative's latest accessory for arch-rival Apple's diminutive iPod Shuffle: a travel speaker that clips on to the bottom of the player turning it into a handheld sound blaster. Creative's i50: iPod speaker or old-style ciggie lighter? Dubbed the TravelSound i50, the gadget has its own on-board …

    Reg Hardware 25 Oct 2007, 10:42

  • ICANN investigates domain name sharp practice

    Insider dealing probe launched

    Internet oversight agency ICANN has launched an investigation into the possibility that insider information is being used to snap up desirable domain names before the person or organisation likely to be interested in them has had a chance to buy. ICANN's Security and Stability Advisory Committee is looking into suspicions that …

    Security 25 Oct 2007, 10:46

  • Bubblewrapped kids fall prey to net predators

    TV guru says: Keep kids safe, lock 'em out

    The former TV parenting guru leading a government review into violent video games and internet predators says parents need to get their kids out of the house if they want to keep them safe from net creeps. Dr Tanya Byron, former overseer of The House of Tiny Tearaways, said over-protective parents were partly to blame for …

    Government 25 Oct 2007, 10:56

  • T-Mobile UK slides out latest Sidekick

    BlackBerry for kids?

    T-Mobile last night unveiled the Sidekick Slide, the first handset in the consumer-friendly email gadget range to appear since T-Mobile cut its ties with Sharp and signed up Motorola as a manufacturer. T-Mobile's Sidekick Slide: big, slide-up screen The quad-band GSM/GPRS/Edge phone, pictures of which first appeared July, …

    Reg Hardware 25 Oct 2007, 10:58

  • US-EU online gambling haggle extended

    Mission of Mandy

    The US now has until 14 December to come up with a trade compensation scheme for the blow its curbs on internet gambling have dealt EU firms. Politicos have effectively imposed a trade embargo that bans foreign firms from playing in the US's multibillion dollar gaming market. It has sent their stock tumbling. Talks between US …

    Financial News 25 Oct 2007, 11:02

  • Record industry pushes ISPs to cut off file sharers

    Exclusive Inside the P2P talks

    The record industry is pressing the UK's ISPs for a deal that would see persistent illegal file sharers automatically booted off the net. High-level talks between the ruling council of internet trade body ISPA and the Music Publishers Association are aiming to settle the historic tension between the two industries. Comments …

    Telecoms 25 Oct 2007, 11:30

  • VMware posts 90% revenue jump

    Hypervisor hype drives sales

    Virtualisation software giant VMware has pumped out impressive third quarter results with profit up 90 per cent buoyed by strong sales of its hypervisor package. The firm, which went public on Wall Street in August this year, posted combined license and services revenue of nearly $358m. It saw net income of $64.7m, or $0.18 …

    Virtualization 25 Oct 2007, 11:52

  • Transformers director favours Blu-ray Disc

    HD DVD exclusives not a good thing, Bay says

    Michael Bay, the director of Transformers, has slammed distributor Paramount's decision to release the hi-def version of the film only on HD DVD. He said the move was "short-sighted" and alleged it would delay consumers' adoption of HD content. "As a director, my critical eye is that Blu-ray is where my money is," Bay said …

    Reg Hardware 25 Oct 2007, 11:52

  • Sign up for our virtualization e-Symposium or we'll kill a puppy

    Site news You know it makes sense

    It may have escaped your notice that El Reg's US editor Ashlee "Blade" Vance will on 6 November be hosting what our Strategy Boutique has dubbed an "e-Symposium" on virtualization, in association with VMware and Intel. Yes, we know what you're thinking - bloody Web 2.0 webinar, I remember when it was all fields round here and …

    Virtualization 25 Oct 2007, 11:53

  • Steve Ballmer reveals why he can't change TV channels

    Channel Weekly And OS competition extends to number plates

    The atmosphere at the Christmas party for Microsoft's lawyers might be a little quieter this year after the software vendor finally called time on its attempts to get the EU to agree to the Gates/Ballmer vision of competition. After nine years of legal tussles (and nine years of hefty lawyer's bills), Microsoft decided not to …

    Channel Register 25 Oct 2007, 12:19

  • A380 touches down in Oz

    Passengers impressed with aeronautical behemoth

    The Airbus A380 today entered commercial service with an inaugural seven hour flight from Singapore to Sydney, in the process wowing passengers who'd snapped up seats in Singapore Airlines' charity eBay ticket auction. Tony Elwood, who enjoyed a private first-class suite with his other half Julie, enthused to the BBC: "I have …

    Physics 25 Oct 2007, 12:54

  • Cassini team spies moonlets in Saturn's A ring

    You can tell by the propellers

    Many years ago, a comet strike or a wandering asteroid passing through Saturn's moon system, crashed into one of the orbiting bodies, shattering it and sending fragments the size of sports stadia whirling along its orbital path. Moonlets orbiting Saturn. Credit: NASA New images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft have identified …

    Space 25 Oct 2007, 13:00

  • QinetiQ buys spooks' secure-messaging provider

    Boldon James joins the Q, triples in price

    British warboffinry spinoff firm QinetiQ announced today that it had acquired Boldon James, secure-messaging software providers to UK military and spook customers. Boldon James was owned by private equity outfit Warburg Pincus from 1998 to 2005, having been acquired from its original owners. The company's established …

    Security 25 Oct 2007, 13:29

  • E-borders kills off UK-Ireland passport free travel

    And Ahern espouses the electronic frontier

    The UK's implementation of an electronic borders system by 2009 will mean the end of the UK-Republic of Ireland Common Travel Area, which allows passport-free travel between the two countries. The move will not however lead to the introduction of border controls on the Republic's land border with Northern Ireland, but will lead …

    Government 25 Oct 2007, 13:44

  • Abit IP35 Pro Intel P35-based motherboard

    Review Good all-rounder?

    The Pro is the current feature-packed flagship of Abit's P35 range of motherboards based around - surprise, surprise - Intel's P35 chipset, and supports Intel's range of 1333, 1066 and 800MHz frontside processors, including the Core 2 Extreme, the Core 2 Quad and the Core 2 Duo. Built on a blue PCB, the IP35 Pro is very neatly …

    Reg Hardware 25 Oct 2007, 13:45

  • Storm Worm retaliates against security researchers

    Nasty squall

    New features of botnets created by the infamous Storm Worm allow denial of service attacks to be launched against security defenders that attempt to interrupt its operation. Attempts to probe command-and-control servers can result in a withering counter-attack of malicious traffic that can swamp the internet connections of …

    Security 25 Oct 2007, 13:58

  • Aussie boffin turbo charges copper broadband

    Who needs fibre?

    An Aussie PhD student has developed an algorithm that he says can turbo charge an ordinary copper phone line to deliver downloads at 200Mbit/s. John Papandriopoulos of the Universtity of Melbourne has patented maths he did for his thesis last year on "Dynamic Spectrum Management" (DSM). The algorithm aims to stomp crosstalk …

    Data Networking 25 Oct 2007, 14:00

  • Find yourself with Satmap's sporty GPS

    Tougher than a TomTom?

    Manufacturer Satmap Systems has unveiled a handheld GPS device for outdoors types that promises to pin-point your location using SD card-based mapping. Satmap's Active 10: no more wrong turns on your way back from the pub? Called the Active 10, the device is designed to guide walkers and cyclists around the UK with …

    Reg Hardware 25 Oct 2007, 14:02

  • How many $$$s does Apple make from an iPhone?

    Number crunching with Apple

    Apple's figures came out on Tuesday, revealing that all is going well in Cupertino, but analysts crawling over the details are trying to work out if they reveal anything else besides - such as the revenue cut Apple is getting from every iPhone in use. The details of the deal Apple did with AT&T, and more recently with O2, T- …

    Mobile 25 Oct 2007, 14:18

  • Panasonic preps in-car Blu-ray player

    Are we there yet?

    The days of drive-in movies are long gone and the radio sometimes just doesn’t cut it for entertainment. So Panasonic’s unveiled what’s believed to be the world’s first in-car Blu-ray Disc drive at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show. Is this the world's first in-car Blu-ray drive? The picture comes from Japanese website AV Watch …

    Reg Hardware 25 Oct 2007, 14:44

  • Opera adds bookmarks sync, revs Mac browser

    Sing hallelujah, it's in beta

    Web browser pioneer Opera has seen its innovations ripped off so many times it can be excused for borrowing some ideas itself. Today the company took the wraps off a feature with a distinctly familiar feel to it: synchronized bookmarks. Users will be able to sync the bookmarks saved in Opera Mini with the "Speed Dial" in the …

    Applications 25 Oct 2007, 14:53

  • Yahoo! assists! searches!

    Anyone for strip poker?

    Yahoo! folk have thrown a large web 2.0 ball at their search engine by giving it a makeover in an effort to grab market share from rival internet firm Google. From today, users of the search engine will have access to a drop-down menu that automatically detects keywords linked into their specific search. Dubbed Search Assist …

    Applications 25 Oct 2007, 15:05

  • EC sidesteps dithering states to approve four new GMOs

    Bug resistant corn is on its way

    The European Commission has waved through four new genetically modified organisms (GMO) for consumption in the European Union. This means that 15 GMOs have been allowed in to the EU since the region lifted its outright ban on the crops in 2004. Member states couldn't agree on whether or not to allow the crops to be imported, so …

    Biology 25 Oct 2007, 15:34

  • Online trading site was left wide open

    Consultant reveals how even banks ignore security

    The conventional wisdom that banking organisations are more diligent with security was skewered in a presentation at the RSA conference this week. Security consultancy Comsec outlined how they discovered that an online stock trading website they were asked to test was riddled with security holes. A rush job meant that basic …

    Enterprise Security 25 Oct 2007, 15:42

  • UK Government tried to stop EU roaming cap

    Just looking after their mates

    Documents exposed by The Times show that the UK's Labour government worked tirelessly to try and prevent the EU capping mobile phone roaming rates, a move which cost the industry millions. The documents, consisting largely of emails from civil servants to network operators, show how Britain's chief negotiator reassured BT that …

    Telecoms 25 Oct 2007, 16:00

  • Trend Micro buys leak prevention firm

    Data-plumbing deal

    Trend Micro has acquired data leak prevention firm Provilla, in an agreement that expands its business beyond its core antivirus and content security markets. Financial terms are undisclosed. Data leaks potentially expose firms to security, intellectual property, financial, privacy and compliance threats. Provilla's …

    Channel Register 25 Oct 2007, 16:04

  • Groovy way to MySQL

    Get your Groove on

    A very traditional niche of scripting languages, (such as Perl, Python or Ruby), has been in the ad hoc manipulation of databases – from grabbing data, transforming it, performing bulk updates, right on through to full-on data migration projects that move data from one platform or RDBMS to another. Scripting languages are …

    Developer 25 Oct 2007, 16:13

  • Google gets jiggy with MySQL

    Code-tastic whispers

    MySQL and Google have quietly tied up a coding deal seen as an integral part of the open source database firm's software roadmap for the next few years. According to an IDG newswire report, MySQL bods are also working on security improvements for version 7.0 of its software. Vice president David Axmark, who co-founded MySQL …

    Developer 25 Oct 2007, 16:43

  • Microsoft-Facebook: Welcome to the Hotel California

    Comment There was a dream that was web 2.0...sob

    Silicon Valley's onanistic elements have been in vinegar-stroke mode for an age over the tussle between Google and Microsoft to invest in $15bn profit-lite social networking phenomenon Facebook. Facebook claims about 50 million users. By our reckoning, that rates them at $300 a piece. The webtastic jerkers wake up today on …

    Music and Media 25 Oct 2007, 16:53

  • BEA will talk to anyone for $8.3bn

    We've already established what you are, now we're just working out a price

    BEA blinked this morning and said it would enter takeover negotiations with Oracle, and anyone else that’s interested, at a floor of $21 per share. The middleware vendor rebuffed Oracle’s overtures earlier this week, saying it was “worth significantly more than $17 [per share] to Oracle, to others, and most importantly to BEA …

    Applications 25 Oct 2007, 17:09

  • Wii propels Nintendo sales to record heights

    Raises forecast

    The phenomenal success of Nintendo's Wii games console has helped the Japanese manufacturer to double its profits during the six months to the end of September. Nintendo said on Thursday that net profit reached 132.42bn yen ($1.2bn) for the first half of its latest fiscal year, up from 54.4bn yen for the same time last year. …

    Reg Hardware 25 Oct 2007, 18:24

  • OOXML vs ODF: where next for interoperability?

    'A diversion from the real end game – the taking of the internet'

    Gary Edwards of the Open Document Foundation has a fascinating post on the important of Microsoft Office compatibility to the success of the ISO-approved Open Document formats. It is in places a rare voice of sanity: People continue to insist that if only Microsoft would implement ODF natively in MSOffice, we could all hop …

    Developer 25 Oct 2007, 19:02

  • EMC shares ride VMware madness

    77 per cent profit boost

    EMC saw its stock price leap more than eight per cent today, thanks in part to its 86 per cent stake in the hotter-than-hot virtualization outfit, VMware. This morning, the storage behemoth announced third quarter profits of $492.9m, a 77 per cent increase from the same quarter last year, and by 2:37 eastern standard time, its …

    Storage 25 Oct 2007, 19:17

  • eBay employee 'torpedos' fraud trial

    Updated Tired of waiting. Flew to Belfast.

    This story was updated on Friday 26th October 2007 16:59 GMT to add comment from eBay public relations. The trial of a UK man suspected of defrauding eBay users was scuttled after an employee for the online auction house abruptly left the island before offering key testimony. According to the Herald Express, eBay employee …

    Security 25 Oct 2007, 19:48

  • World's toughest jobs: Microsoft's interoperability chief

    Interop Putting the ability into Interop

    He's faced with the unenviable task of convincing the world that Microsoft wants to play nicely with competitors - and also convincing the troops and top management that it's worth it. "It's a mixed bag," said Tom Robertson, general manager of interoperability and standards at Microsoft, when asked after his keynote at Interop …

    Developer 25 Oct 2007, 22:51

  • Techies oppose US patent reform bill

    Mr WebTV mounts forces

    More than 430 organizations spanning all fifty US states have fired off a letter urging Senate leaders to oppose a bill that would overhaul the country's patent system. And that includes tech outfits like Qualcomm and AmberWave. Last month, after a heavy lobby from the likes of Apple, Google, Intel, and Microsoft, the US Patent …

    Law 25 Oct 2007, 22:56