28th November 2007 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

Google permits Dell to sell Dell servers

Search appliance alliance

Dell has cuddled right on up to Google, agreeing to hawk search appliances directly to customers. A deal like this has been in the making for some time, since Dell actually provides the hardware for the Google Search Appliance. Google has relied on the PowerEdge 2950 rather than making custom hardware as it does for its own …

Servers 28 Nov 2007, 00:12
Java 6 for OS X 'weeks away'

Apple hole gets community stuffing

A community project putting the latest version of Java on Apple's newest version of OS X is inching closer to completion. The project to port Java 6 to Apple's Leopard and Tiger has been quietly released as a second developer preview for a fresh round of testing, after the first implementation was thrashed and debugged by a …

Software 28 Nov 2007, 01:00
HDS adds mass to its NAS

Quadruples capacity, births two boxes

Hitachi Data Systems is aiming its high-end NAS at the mid-market, squeezing out two new offerings to appeal to little guys. Customers will now find the NAS Platform 2000 and the NAS Platform 2000 Nearline, which (logically enough) fit underneath the existing NAS 2100 and 2200 models. HDS is pitching the NAS Platform 2000 as …

Storage 28 Nov 2007, 01:07
Next year's next big thing

Big in 2007

Get your nose out of that code and turn off that compiler: the mother of all deadlines is upon us, and nobody (except, maybe, Dr Who) can push back or alter the deliverables. Yes, Christmas and the New Year are factors you can no longer ignore or resist. With that in mind, Reg Developer has been asking you to give us your top …

Software 28 Nov 2007, 01:12
The myth of the humble nerd tycoon

Real Mail Readers prefer Montgomery Burns to Larry & Sergey

Last week I took Alexander Chancellor to task for a column based on a fantasy. He compared the frugal, down-to-earth Google founders favourably with a Saudi Prince. The Google founders don't even have a jet, he wrote, and this humility was the norm in Silicon Valley. The column was based an ancient profile - but it evidently …

Channel Register 28 Nov 2007, 01:36
Google preps magic GDrive

Works even when you're offline

The GDrive rumors have resurfaced. This morning, The Wall Street Journal reported that Google is preparing an online storage service capable of housing all the files you now store on your very own hard drive. According to The Journal, the service could allow access from both PCs and mobile phones, and it could be released "a …

Telecoms 28 Nov 2007, 01:37
America's 8m victims of identity theft

And that's only in 2005

About 8.3 million American adults, or 3.7 per cent of the population, were victims of identity theft in 2005, according to the Federal Trade Commission. About 3.3 million adults, representing 1.5 per cent, experienced misuse of non-credit card accounts, slightly edging out the hijacking of credit cards, which was suffered by …

Channel Register 28 Nov 2007, 06:49
Regulator can chase liquidator over phone scam fine

Premium rate watchdogs score High Court victory

A High Court judge has told the liquidators of a premium rate phone scam they can be sued over a huge fine levied by regulators before it went titsup in 2005. PhonepayPlus, the watchdog formerly known as ICSTIS, won the right to sue for a debt of £1.9m, which covers a £1.3m fine it imposed on the now defunct Allied …

Telecoms 28 Nov 2007, 07:02
Dell fills out XPS laptop line

Debuts 15in model

Dell has rolled out its latest XPS laptop, a model that builds on the m1330, launched last May, with a bigger, 15.4in widescreen display and available with an optional slot-load Blu-ray Disc drive. Dell's XPS m1530: 15-incher The XPS m1530 can be configured with a range of Intel Core 2 Duo mobile processors, up to 4GB of …

Reg Hardware 28 Nov 2007, 09:11
Toshiba to sell trees with laptops

Branching out

Toshiba is branching out from the electronics industry. It’s begun cross-selling an eco-service that it claims will offset the carbon cost of customers' laptops. Buy a tree from Toshiba Its Carbon Neutral Scheme allows punters to pay an optional £1.18 fee when they buy, say, a Toshiba Satellite laptop. A company spokesman …

Reg Hardware 28 Nov 2007, 09:20
Intel 'Moorestown' UMPCs to feature single-chip CPU/GPU

Will you please welcome 'Lincroft' and 'Langwell'

Intel announced its 'Moorestown' system-on-a-chip platform for UMPCs and internet tablets back in April this year, but it kept the details close to its chest. Now they've leaked out. Moorestown will comprise two chips: the SoC, codenamed 'Lincroft', and an I/O part called 'Langwell'. According to a report on Japanese-language …

Reg Hardware 28 Nov 2007, 09:56
UK's toads menaced by fungal attack

'Severe decline' likely, scientists predict

Scientists have predicted that the UK's toad population will suffer extinction in some areas within 10 years due to a deadly infectious fungal disease introduced into Britain via North American bullfrogs. While the original non-native vectors of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis have now been exterminated, the disease has …

Biology 28 Nov 2007, 10:02
Firm punts RaidSonic NAS server for £6.2m

Inc VAT, we hasten to add

The successful applicant for the UK's worst-paid IT job will have to save for a very, very long time to get his or her hands on this particular RaidSonic NAS server, currently tempting punters down at Wopple!: Crikey. Mind you, Wopple! is offering an interest-free "buy now pay 2008" deal, which should help cushion the severe …

Bootnotes 28 Nov 2007, 10:12
Businesses blind to the security risks of temporary staff

Access without accountability

More than 80 per cent of temporary staff have the same level of access to company documents as permanent staff but without the same accountability, according to research released today by security firm Websense. The survey of more than 100 temporary staff found that 88 per cent of respondents were able to access documents from …

IT Director 28 Nov 2007, 10:23
Declare Steve Fossett dead, asks adventurer's widow

'We must accept that Steve did not survive'

The wife of missing adventurer Steve Fossett has filed a petition for her husband to be declared legally dead, some three months after the 63-year-old disappeared without trace in the Nevada desert. Despite a huge search operation mounted following Fosset's evidently ill-fated 3 September flight from Barron Hilton's Flying M …

Bootnotes 28 Nov 2007, 10:35
Rare bug blights Lotus Notes

1-2-3 hack risk

Security researchers have discovered a rare, and potentially serious, security bug in Lotus Notes. A buffer overflow flaw in IBM's groupware package enables hackers to trick users into running hostile code on vulnerable systems. The security bug stems from boundary errors within the Lotus 1-2-3 file viewer (l123sr.dll) …

Enterprise Security 28 Nov 2007, 10:39
ICANN gets test results on internationalised domains

Mao's model communist beta testers step it up

ICANN made a serious public relations push about its long-standing attempts to implement Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs) the week prior to the October ICANN meeting, and the initial public test results are in. ICANN released preliminary statistics Monday covering the first public tests of the long awaited localised …

Telecoms 28 Nov 2007, 10:48
Verizon opens network in historic move

GSM flexibility on CDMA network

US network operator Verizon has announced they are to open up their network next year, allowing devices to be attached to their network and applications to be run on it with only the most basic approval process. Anyone using GSM networks will already be familiar with their ability to slip their operator-provided SIM into any …

Mobile 28 Nov 2007, 10:58
Google adds terrain to Google Maps

Light relief for users

Google has added a "terrain" feature to its Google Maps service, giving a nice bit of light relief to its hitherto decidedly flat cartographical offering: While there's a limit to how close you can zoom in, users can at least get some idea of the lie of the land. The terrain view update follows Google Maps' deployment back …

Applications 28 Nov 2007, 11:02
Dixons grinches Christmas

There may be trouble ahead

Dixons Store Group (DSG) blamed overstocking of laptops for poor performance at PC World, and sounded a warning for Christmas and the rest of the financial year. DSG chairman Sir John Collins said: "There is much debate about the uncertain outlook in many of our markets and the economic fundamentals make it difficult to …

Channel Register 28 Nov 2007, 11:03
The Romantics sue Guitar Hero for sound-alike imitation

Cover version was too close to original

Detroit rockers The Romantics are suing the companies behind the PlayStation game Guitar Hero over the use of one of their songs. The lawsuit does not cite copyright infringement, though. Instead, the complaint is that a cover version is too accurate. The lawsuit against Activision Publishing and others describes "the …

Law 28 Nov 2007, 11:04
AMD ATI Radeon HD 3870 graphics chip

Review Watch out, GeForce 8800 GT

AMD's ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT wasn’t a bad graphics chip but it spent too long in development and failed to take the fight to Nvidia’s GeForce 8800 series. But after a quick die-shrink from 80nm to 55nm, the Radeon HD 2900 XT has been reborn as the Radeon HD 3870. The new fabrication process is a good start but it doesn’t …

Reg Hardware 28 Nov 2007, 11:10
Audit commission tells councils to get competitive

If you're going to save £4.9bn, it's time to get creative

The Audit Commission is urging councils to be more creative in using the market to drive down costs and improve services. Local authorities need to be more open minded and creative if they are to realise the £4.9bn efficiency savings required following this year's Comprehensive Spending Review, says a new report by the local …

Public Sector 28 Nov 2007, 11:15
Google agrees to cough Israeli blogger's IP address

Anonymous defendant in 'slander' case

Google has agreed to hand over the IP address of a user of its Blogger service accused of "slandering"* three Israeli council members. According to Globes Online, the trio of Shaarei Tikva men - local council chairman Gideon Idan, Shaarei Tikva director general Haim Blumenfeld, and council member Avi Yokobovich - were for more …

Law 28 Nov 2007, 11:58
Fujitsu promises 320GB laptop HDD next year

Rivals are already selling similar products

Fujitsu today pledged to make a 320GB 2.5in hard drive available to buyers in February 2008 - even though rival HDD makers like Western Digital are already selling laptop hard drives of that capacity. Fujitsu's 320GB MHZ2-BH: ready for laptops next February Fujitsu's MHZ2-BH series will come with between 40GB and 320GB of …

Reg Hardware 28 Nov 2007, 12:03
Greenpeace slams ~~Apple~~ Nintendo over eco-credentials

Apple off the hook, a little

Greenpeace has released its latest Guide to Greener Electronics report, ranking Nintendo and Microsoft as some of the world’s least eco-friendly electronics companies. How each company stacks up in Greenpeace's eyes The report, which has been expanded from previous versions to include TVs and games consoles, analyses the …

Reg Hardware 28 Nov 2007, 12:09
Capita-Lincolnshire IT venture scrapped

'Deal not right for taxpayers'

Capita Group said yesterday that a proposed partnership with North East Lincolnshire Council had been scrapped after final negotiations between the two sides broke down. Councillor Andrew De Freitas said in a statement that a cabinet meeting on Monday decided the planned outsourcing deal with Capita, in which the firm was …

Channel Register 28 Nov 2007, 12:18
Nintendo DS Lite sets UK sales record

PSP left for dust

The Nintendo DS Lite has taken the record for the greatest number of games console units sold in the UK within a single week. Nintendo's DS Lite: selling like hot cakes Some 191,000 DS Lites were sold units during week 47 - the seven days up to 24 November. The console took the crown from Sony’s PSP, which until now had held …

Reg Hardware 28 Nov 2007, 12:22
Online sellers warned on UK cheque clearance changes

On the seventh day banks guarantee payments

Online retailers and eBay sellers are advised to keep abreast of new cheque clearance rules that come into force in the UK on 1 December, or risk a heightened threat of becoming victims of fraud. The new 2-4-6 cheque clearance rules mean that payment by cheque is not guaranteed until the seventh working day after a cheque has …

Channel Register 28 Nov 2007, 12:36
US judge debenched for jailing entire courtroom

'Inexplicable madness' provoked by ringing mobile

A US judge who jailed an entire courtroom because no one would cough to being the owner of a ringing mobile phone has been removed from the bench by a commission on judicial conduct. Judge Robert Restaino, 48, was hearing a domestic violence case in Niagara Falls on 11 March 2005 when he heard the offending phone and "snapped …

Bootnotes 28 Nov 2007, 12:37
Apple Macs

Top Five Getting to the core of the line-up

If you’re considering buying an Apple machine this Christmas but you're not sure which, Register Hardware’s got you covered. We’ve spoken to Apple expert Warren D’Souza, retail manager with independent Mac specialist the Square Group, to help unwrap what’s hot and what’s not in Apple’s current line-up. Warren’s been in working …

Reg Hardware 28 Nov 2007, 12:38
Microsoft funds object of IBM's mainframe fury

PSI pockets $37m

Microsoft has put its loaded name behind PSI - a Silicon Valley-based start-up currently at war with IBM in the mainframe market. PSI (Platform Solutions Inc.) this week revealed Microsoft as a new investor participating in its fresh $37m Series C funding round. Redmond joins companies such as Intel, Goldman Sachs and InterWest …

Servers 28 Nov 2007, 14:08
Sage clocks £1.16bn revenues

Expects US biz to lag behind in 2008

UK accounting software giant Sage Group PLC said today that revenues for the year were up 30 per cent, buoyed by a number of key acquisitions. However, the firm also fired off a warning about its underperforming North American unit. The Newcastle-based company reported group revenues of £1.16bn for the year ended 30 September …

Channel Register 28 Nov 2007, 14:08
Celebrity spam gang whips up a storm

Stealth botnet responsible for huge spam surge

A copycat spam gang has launched an effort to compromise PCs that rivals the botnet created by the infamous Storm Worm Gang. The botnet established by the Celebrity Spam Gang, so-named for a habit of using celebrity names in malware, is currently responsible for 20 per cent of junk mails in circulation, according to net …

Spam 28 Nov 2007, 14:11
Orange to offer unlocked iPhones for €749

Updated €250 less than T-Mobile wants

Orange France will sell Apple's iPhone to consumers who don't want to be tied to the carrier, provided they cough up €749 for the handset - €250 less than T-Mobile Germany's unlocked iPhones cost. Orange said it will offer four iPhone-oriented price plans ranging from €49 to €119 per month. Data usage is capped at 500MB a …

Reg Hardware 28 Nov 2007, 14:14
Tories: Europeans could get access to UK ID database

Updated Project STORK. Not STALK.

News emerged yesterday of a mysterious international ID card plan, described by the Tories as "a European-wide identity card project called Project Stork". The Conservatives suggested in Parliament that Stork was a huge Europe-wide extension to the planned UK National ID card with its associated databases and biometrics. "How …

Government 28 Nov 2007, 14:28
UK database of children delayed

Till we find those pesky discs...

The UK's proposed child database has been delayed after "feedback from stakeholders" and not obviously in response to the government's loss of the UK's child benefit database on two CDs. ContactPoint will contain details on every child in the UK including name, address, gender and a unique identifying number. The database will …

Government 28 Nov 2007, 14:33
Virgin Media strategy boutique boss quits

New strategy: Find a job

Virgin Media's managing director of strategy has quit in an ongoing shake-up of top brass, as the firm bids to make broadband cable's biggest selling point. Staff were told yesterday that Ernie Cormier has decided to part ways with Virgin Media in the new year. The departure of customer care chief Steve Stewart at about the …

Telecoms 28 Nov 2007, 14:46
Brit office Xmas parties going to the dogs

Bah humbug attitude killing festive joy

The classic Brit office Xmas party - once an annual drunken orgy of bacchanalian photocopier room rumpy-pumpy and explaining to the boss exactly why he's a tosser - is under serious threat, according to a Chartered Management Institute (CMI) survey. As the Telegraph explains, "fears that workers could sue over other employees …

Small Biz 28 Nov 2007, 15:07
Ofcom and EU face off for high speed broadband row

Bureaucrats and Eurocrats set to butt heads on fibre investment

UK and European telecoms watchdogs may have set a collision course this week over whether incentives should be offered to tempt broadband giants to invest in new high speed internet infrastructure. The UK government says delays in rolling out fibre could be a barrier to economic growth, but has only just opened informal …

Telecoms 28 Nov 2007, 15:22
Capita ties up Prudential deal

As one door closes, another opens...

Fresh from losing a multimillion pound local council deal, IT outsourcing outfit Capita has pounced on the man from the Pru. Prudential said today that it planned to move 3,000 of its staff over to Capita in a cost-cutting exercise that could save the life and pensions provider £60m a year. Capita said that under the deal, …

Channel Register 28 Nov 2007, 15:42
O2 gets 225 guinea pigs drunk by phone

London NFC trial gets underway

O2 has announced a trial of NFC-equipped Nokia handsets, which will incorporate an Oyster Card as well as a Barclaycard OneTouch contactless payment system, for 500 O2 customers. The much expected plan will not see all 500 will be able to use the OneTouch capability. The lucky subset (225) will get £200 pre-loaded to encourage …

Mobile 28 Nov 2007, 15:51
Exploding mobile battery suspected in S Korea fatality

LG describes blast as 'virtually impossible'

A South Korean man was this morning found dead at work, apparently killed by an exploding mobile phone battery, AP reports. The victim, identified only by his surname Suh, was discovered at a quarry in Cheongwon, 135 kilometres (85 miles) south of Seoul with "his mobile phone battery... melted in his shirt pocket", according …

Mobile 28 Nov 2007, 16:30
Miscreants subvert search results to punt malware

Using botnets to plant links and nurture zombie farms

Miscreants have set out to poison search results with links to malware infested sites via a new campaign. Users searching Google or other prominent search engines for sites referring to innocuous terms ranging from "alternative router firmware" to "cotton gin and slavery" are often confronted with a list of results where at …

Malware 28 Nov 2007, 16:37
Novell vs SCO will go to court after all

Chapter 11 immunity lifted

Novell has succeeded in getting a court to lift SCO's Chapter 11 immunity from legal action, meaning the firm's IP spat can go to trial. Normally Chapter 11 means that companies cannot take legal action against you - it is designed to protect a firm from creditors while it reorganises. SCO filed for protection in September. …

Channel Register 28 Nov 2007, 16:44
US HD DVD player sales pass 750,000

Demand accelerating

Three-quarters of a million Americans now own a dedicated HD DVD player or Xbox 360 add-on drive, the HD DVD Promotional Group said today. To date, 750,000 HD DVD devices have been sold in North America, the organisation said, citing "retailer reports and other point of sale data". It pointed to busy post-Thanksgiving …

Reg Hardware 28 Nov 2007, 16:45
Turkey probes The God Delusion for 'insulting religion'

God-botherer-botherer targeted for legal retribution

A prosecutor in Turkey has launched an investigation into Richard Dawkins' bestselling polemic The God Delusion on suspicion that it incites religious hatred and insults religous values. Publisher Erol Karaaslan said today he will be quizzed by authorities in Istanbul on Thursday. A successful prosecution could land him a year …

Science 28 Nov 2007, 16:46
My new PC can't see my old iTunes downloads

Q&A

I just bought myself a new PC and have been moving all my files from one to the other. But I've since found that all my iTunes music files don't display in iTunes, even though I made sure to save them into the same sub-folder that they were saved in on my old PC. Have I lost the songs for good? Can anyone help?

Reg Hardware 28 Nov 2007, 16:50
PSP battery pack lets you keep on gaming

Never rest again

If you've often set time aside for marathon PlayStation Portable gaming sessions only to have them cut short by your battery giving up the ghost, then Sony's latest announcement will please you. It has unveiled an Extended Life Battery Kit for the handheld console. Play for longer, thanks to the battery pack The 2200mAh …

Reg Hardware 28 Nov 2007, 16:56
EMI's Hands squeezes trade bodies

Trim the fat

Guy Hands has been firing off letters to music industry trade organisations in which he has threatened to cut EMI's annual funding commitment by half. According to various reports the Terra Firma boss, who acquired the troubled record company for close to $5bn in May, sent out letters to the Recording Industry Ass. of America …

Music and Media 28 Nov 2007, 17:20
So many paths to Nirvana

Playing God with ALM

We've groused repeatedly about the gaps in the software development lifecycle, or more specifically, that communication and coordination have been haphazard at best when it comes to developing software. Aside from the usual excuses of budgets, time schedules, or politics, the crux of the problem is not only the crevice that …

Software 28 Nov 2007, 17:51
Virgin Mary appears in Google's Iowa data center

Blessed be thy server

Who needs religion in middle America when you have Google? Google executive Ken Patchett recently visited Council Bluffs, Iowa and received a hero's welcome. Patchett leads Google's effort to build a $600m data center in corn country, and the locals couldn't be happier to have him around - at least according to propaganda …

Servers 28 Nov 2007, 19:11
Nigerian keyboard firm sues One Laptop per Child

No hugs and kisses for XO Laptop

The One Laptop Per Child foundation is being sued over its XO laptop keyboard design by the Nigerian-owned, Massachusetts-based firm, Lagos Analysis Corp. Lagos claims the non-profit illegally reverse-engineered their software drivers to make the OLPC keypad more accent mark friendly to foreign fingers. The initial copyright …

Reg Hardware 28 Nov 2007, 20:00
Reported malfunction in PayPal Security Key

Updated False sense of security

When eBay rolled out the PayPal Security Key earlier this year, its executives hailed it as an important measure that would make users more secure. And it was. By generating a random, six-digit number every 30 seconds that users needed to authenticate themselves online, the small electronic token provided an additional layer of …

Channel Register 28 Nov 2007, 23:00