11th February 2008 Archive

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Official: Brits will give up nookie for plasma TVs

Chastity belter

What would you do to get a 50in plasma HD TV? Overload the credit cards? Save up for a year? Rob a bank? Most Brits would give up sex for six months to get one. So claims retail giant Comet. A poll of 2000 people conducted on the chain's behalf, found that 47 per cent of males questioned would forgo their animal instincts for …

Hardware 11 Feb 2008, 02:02
What's the best handheld computer?

Q&A

Could you please advise as to your view on the best handheld computer with a workable keyboard and a decent-sized screen, yet one small enough to carry around, possibly in a jacket pocket?

Hardware 11 Feb 2008, 07:02
Hyper-V in Server 2008 RTM doesn't like non-US locales

Bad traveling companion

Hyper-V is Microsoft's whizzy new virtual server manager, which uses new virtualization features in recent Intel and AMD processors so support more efficient virtual machines. Intel's extensions are called Intel Virtualization Technology (Intel-VT), formerly code-named Vanderpool, while AMD's extensions are called AMD …

Servers 11 Feb 2008, 07:53
Sony Ericsson goes Windows Mobile with Xperia X1 'arc slider'

Mobile World Congress Taking on Nokia's Communicators

Sony Ericsson last night announced a new smartphone range. Dubbed Xperia, the series' flagship is the X1, featuring a Windows Mobile-based handset with a slide-out Qwerty keyboard and 3in, 800 x 480 display. Sony Ericsson's Xperia X1: arc slider Sony Ericsson calls the X1 an "arc slider" handset - the keyboard curves …

Mobile 11 Feb 2008, 08:13
News Round-up Mobile World Congress - Complete Hardware Coverage

Mobile World Congress - the show formerly known as 3GSM - brought a bumper crop of handsets and hype to Barcelona. Here are all of Register Hardware's MWC 08 stories, brought together for your reading pleasure... Handsets • Alcatel unveils stack of sexy-but-budget phones • Samsung dolls out entry-level talker trio • Hands …

Phones 11 Feb 2008, 08:29
Sony Ericsson shows off horde of handsets

Mobile World Congress Bucketload of phones launched in Barcelona

Sony Ericsson has announced the Z770, a clamshell phone, supporting HSDPA data speeds, it's been designed offer easy access to online services. It can also be connected directly to a laptop (via USB cable) and can be used as a modem. The Z770 clamshell incorporates Bluetooth with A2DP stereo streaming. There's a two-megapixel …

Phones 11 Feb 2008, 09:17
Invisible-shed spy beam tech detects hidden artworks

T-rays to reveal Da Vinci's lost masterpiece

Last week was a big one for those who like their T-rays. The spy-beam technology has been used to view murals hidden beneath inches of plaster, and has also been linked to metamaterials - the stuff from which invisible sheds could be made. In the first development, art boffins from Paris's famous Louvre museum - collaborating …

Science 11 Feb 2008, 10:06
Brazilian cleaner spots security hole in Heathrow e-borders

Steve McQueen fan, clearly...

The arrest of yet another illegal immigrant working at the House of Commons has revealed an unexpected vulnerability in the Home Office's plan to secure the UK's borders. What if they arrive at Heathrow and just run for it? Brazilian woman Elaine Chaves Aperecida appears to have hit on something akin to this splendidly old- …

Government 11 Feb 2008, 10:40
Nokia unveils the N96 and N78

Mobile World Congress Hot, headline-grabbing handsets

The eagerly-awaited successor to the the popular N95 was at last unveiled in Barcelona this morning. Details of the N96 - the latest addition to Nokia's smartphone range - were leaked before the weekend, and they weren't far wrong. The dual-slide handset sports a 2.8in display, 16GB of internal memory that can be further …

Phones 11 Feb 2008, 10:50
Novatel Wireless Ovation MC950D USB HSUPA modem

Review Mobile broadband in stick form

Novatel Wireless pitches the Ovation MC950D as the world's smallest USB modem capable not only of making 7.2Mb/s HSDPA connections but also that 3G speed-boost technology's upload equivalent, HSUPA. The unit itself is a shiny black USB dongle a little larger than a USB Flash drive. Remove the obligatory end-cap and you not …

Broadband 11 Feb 2008, 11:02
Betamax 2.0: the future of mashups?

Complexity gets complicated

Simplicity in software is, I believe, more than just a noble aim; it is essential for successful software projects. However, simplicity should not be assumed just because one particular technology or methodology is being used. Mashups, discussed recently by Reg Dev reader Aubry Thonon, are a case in point. One element of the …

Applications 11 Feb 2008, 11:02
Small biz faces bumpy ride as orders dip

CBI's stormy outlook

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has warned UK small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) to expect domestic orders to drop over the next few months as spending tightens and costs rise. Despite the fact manufacturers actually saw output grow in the final three months of 2007 – thanks in large part to strong overseas …

Small Biz 11 Feb 2008, 11:05
Sony Ericsson unveils Cyber-shot and Walkman trio

Mobile World Congress Music or photos, your choice

Sony Ericsson has unveiled two additions to its Cyber-shot range: the C702 and C902. Each packs enough functions to keep the amateur snapper happy, but neither matches the new W980’s audio features. Sony Ericsson's C702 offers GPS photo tagging The 3.2-megapixel C702 allows for single-handed camera use, letting users both …

Mobile 11 Feb 2008, 11:06
Mobile operators team up against child abuse

Access denied

Mobile operators across Europe are teaming up against the use of mobile internet services to distribute child pornography images. The GSM Association is launching "the Mobile Alliance against Child Sexual Abuse Content" made up of most of the major operators including Orange, Telecom Italia, Telefonica O2, TeliaSonera, T- …

Mobile 11 Feb 2008, 11:08
Perens: 'Badgeware' threat to open source's next decade

10th birthday interview Je ne regrette rien - kinda

Bruce Perens doesn't regret the fact that, since officially co-birthing open source with The Cathedral and the Bazaar author and hacker Eric Raymond ten years ago, Linux and open source have moved from the sandal-wearing fringes to acceptance by Wall Street and big, closed-source industry giants. Nor does he feel remorse at …

Developer 11 Feb 2008, 11:34
TheTrainline revamps security handling after glitch

Back on track

TheTrainline.com, the UK website for buying train tickets, has revamped its procedures for dealing with security reports following an incident where a security bug meant that customers could be invited to submit credit card details over an insecure link. The flaw had an effect only when users made an error in submitting their …

Security 11 Feb 2008, 11:37
Germans to blast fish into space

Piscine zero-grav white-knuckle ride

German scientists will today blast 60 baby cichlid fish 260km into space aboard a two-stage rocket to see how the poor blighters react to six minutes of weightlessness. The piscine guinea pigs will lift off from Sweden's Esrange Space Centre on the 11-metre Texus vessel, Reuters reports. Some will be subjected to a "pure zero …

Science 11 Feb 2008, 11:46
OFT mulls Egg probe

Insert oeuful egg pun here...

The Office of Fair Trading is considering investigating online bank Egg over allegations that it is ditching credit card customers who pay off their bills every month and so avoid paying penalty charges. Egg denies the claim saying that the 161,000 people told their cards were being withdrawn were considered a credit risk. The …

Financial News 11 Feb 2008, 12:24
More videogames to face censor scrutiny

Byron Review wants to bubble-wrap kids, ISPs

The ongoing Byron Review of the impact of technology on children will recommend a clampdown on violent videogames, it has been reported. Saturday's edition of The Guardian claimed ministers "have a sense" that the probe into videogames and the internet will advise a statutory labelling scheme for all games. At present, only …

Broadband 11 Feb 2008, 12:26
Polaroid to close instant film plants

End of a photographic era

The Polaroid Corporation has announced it's running down its instant film business, likely marking the death knell for the technology. The company has two plants in Massachusetts, at Norwood and Waltham, producing professional, large format instant film, as well as a tentacle in Mexico making the same. Consumer products are …

Bootnotes 11 Feb 2008, 12:28
HTC Advantage gets a facelift

Mobile World Congress New and improved

Handset manufacturer HTC has redesigned its existing Advantage device, upping the storage capacity to 16GB, overhauling the keyboard’s responsiveness - it claimed - and updating the UMPC's software. The Advantage’s detachable keyboard now offers haptic feedback that, much like a similar feature on the recently updated U600, …

Hardware 11 Feb 2008, 12:30
Nokia preps 'pedestrian's pal' navigator phone

Mobile World Congress Maps app updated too

Nokia today took its phone-as-navigation device strategy to the next level, announcing Nokia Maps 2.0 and a handset to go with it: the 6210 Navigator, successor to the 6110. Maps 2.0 builds on the previous version's ability to work with satellite data augmented by location information calculated from a handset's position …

Phones 11 Feb 2008, 12:43
Police bugging of lawyer visits might see flood of appeals

Bugging carried out 'nationwide'

The furore over police bugging operations conducted in prison visiting rooms has widened somewhat, with allegations that significant numbers of conversations between prisoners and their legal representatives may have been taped. Angry lawyers are speculating that this could invalidate an unknown number of convictions and see …

Law 11 Feb 2008, 12:51
Alcatel-Lucent reports write-off headache

Costly woes continue

Alcatel-Lucent has admitted its outlook is dire after it disclosed it would be writing down $4.3bn of assets. The French-American networking group, which has been undergoing a painful cost-cutting strategy to slash 4,000 global jobs in an attempt to pull the company out of the red, said in a statement that, excluding the …

Financial News 11 Feb 2008, 12:59
Suicide bomb swoop bags Musharraf's merry men

Entirely innocent supporters deported anyway

Eight days ago the Sunday Times revealed the thwarting of yet another terror plot. In late January "a group of suspected Islamist suicide bombers were arrested in a secret security operation at Gatwick airport," the paper told us, going on to describe plans for "pairs of suicide bombers... to strap explosives to their bodies and …

Law 11 Feb 2008, 12:59
Samsung takes touchphone fight to LG, Apple

Mobile World Congress Prada? Schmada

Samsung doesn't want to leave that iPhone-like phone look all to LG, now does it? You know, straight lines, round corners, chrome trim, shiny touchscreen. We've already seen the Armani handset and now we have the F480. Samsung's F480: part of its 'Style' range, no less This time round, the screen's a 2.8in, 240 x 320 job …

Mobile 11 Feb 2008, 13:25
Spanish police cuff 76 net fraud suspects

Grifters grabbed

Spanish police arrested 76 people nationwide on Sunday in what is being touted as the country's biggest ever investigation into internet fraud. Investigators reckon some of the suspects made more than €3m through auction fraud. They would apparently offer expensive goods such as plasma TVs and cars for sale online, scarpering …

Security 11 Feb 2008, 13:27
Motorola calls up handset three-some

Mobile World Congress A sexy slider now Wi-Fi-enabled and two basic ringers

Wi-Fi’s the word according to Motorola: the handset manufacturer has unveiled its web-enabled MOTO Z6w phone, alongside the twin-like W161 and W181 handsets. The MOTO Z6w slider provides 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi connectivity, in addition to quad-band GSM/GPRS/Edge cellular support. Its VoIP support, Motorola claims, means the phone’s …

Phones 11 Feb 2008, 13:41
Canonical scoops up KVM for Ubuntu virtualisation

Hardy Heron flies against the tide

Canonical has confirmed it will use Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) as its primary virtualisation software in its latest Ubuntu Linux server release. The firm's virtualisation main man Soren Hansen, speaking in the weekly Ubuntu newsletter, said he tested the various options available including Xen, OpenVZ, QEmu+kqemu, and …

Servers 11 Feb 2008, 14:05
Mobile World Congress Samsung shows Shine-y metal multimedia phone

Samsung's rumoured G810 - a phone the firm calls an 'infotainment' handset - has made its anticipated appearance at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona this week. Samsung's G810: infotainment fans, take note The stainless steel styled handset - shades of Shine here, we'd say - sports a 2.6in, 240 x 320 display on …

Phones 11 Feb 2008, 14:18
Microsoft takes a back seat as Orange goes for the eyes

Mobile World Congress Battle lines drawn in the fight for mobile screen

Orange upped the ante in the battle for control of the mobile phone screen by today announcing its "Accelerated Signature Program", which sees a host of applications and unifying interfaces pre-installed on a range of handsets, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. At the same time, Microsoft conceded defeat by withdrawing …

Mobile 11 Feb 2008, 14:47
LG promises 'mind-reading' phone

Mobile World Congress Turn a dial, or... er... read your mind

LG has unveiled the multi-dial K700 to help you locate applications more easily and the K600 - which the Korean manufacturer claims can display buttons based on telepathy, sort of. The 3G HSDPA KF700 integrates three input methods: a 3in touchscreen display, an alpha-numeric keypad and short-cut dial, the latter of which is …

Phones 11 Feb 2008, 14:52
eBayer invites buyers to rip him off

Sony laptop punted to scammers worldwide

Here's an eBay auction with a difference: an apparently innocent-looking punt of a Sony VAIO VGN-NR21J/S laptop: There then follows the usual item description, but what makes this particular sale a little more interesting is the vendor's candid purchasing advice for users of the world's favourite tat bazaar: DIFFERENT WAYS …

Small Biz 11 Feb 2008, 14:52
Yahoo! formally! rejects! Microsoft! offer!

!!!!! Battle begins!

Yahoo!'s board of directors has formally rejected Microsoft's hostile takeover bid at a meeting in New York. A statement on the company's website said: "After careful evaluation, the Board believes that Microsoft's proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo! including our global brand, large worldwide audience, significant …

Financial News 11 Feb 2008, 14:56
Pave your patio with... er, Game Boys

Whatever next?

Game Boy-shaped bricks are an odd concept. But if you firmly believe Nintendo's handheld gamer paved the way for modern portable consoles, then start ripping up your turf because you can now deck your garden pathway over in retro gaming chic. The Game Boy brick: batteries not required The Dutch brick-maker behind the …

Hardware 11 Feb 2008, 14:59
Netflix falls in behind Blu-ray

Will discontinue HD DVD

Online video rental outfit Netflix has raised its colours in the Blu-ray camp by announcing it will stop buying new HD DVD discs and phase out existing stock by "about the end of the year". According to Reuters, Netflix has stocked both hi-def formats since they joined battle back in 2006, but says that recent announcements by …

Hardware 11 Feb 2008, 15:17
Reding sets 1 July deadline for data roaming charge cuts

Mobile World Congress Operators say operators should set prices

EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding has warned mobile executives in Barcelona today that she will impose caps on roaming charges for data and text messaging if they do not cut prices by 1 July. The commissioner, encouraged by her success in slashing voice roaming charges, is at Mobile World Congress to rattle the sabre. …

Mobile 11 Feb 2008, 15:37
Adobe Reader Trojan predates mystery update by two weeks

Open secret widely exploited

Security researchers have confirmed that a flaw fixed by a recent "covert" update to Adobe Reader has been exploited to distribute Trojans for at least a fortnight prior to its publication last Thursday (7 February). Adobe confirmed that version 8.1.2 of Adobe Reader fixes a number of critical flaws that might be remotely …

Security 11 Feb 2008, 15:55
Oil rig dream bomb taxpayer bill 'astronomical'

Security costs

A false bomb alert over the weekend led to scores of offshore workers being unnecessarily evacuated by helicopter from a North Sea platform at taxpayers' expense. Blame for the panic is being placed variously on oil company management (by unions) and on a young female worker aboard the rig (by management). The unnamed young …

Policy 11 Feb 2008, 16:01
Apple sets its sights on video consoles

And it's looking for staff too...

Established console manufacturers might be quaking in their virtual boots, 'cause Apple has filed documents with the US Patent and Trademark Office that suggest it may be devloping a video games console. Although Apple’s application is very vague, it makes specific reference to various forms of handheld unit, including ones …

Hardware 11 Feb 2008, 16:02
EU squeals over US pre-flight personal data grab

Invasive DHS system just like the one we're building, apparently

EU officials are crying foul over Department of Homeland Security attempts to impose draconian and invasive data requirements on passengers travelling to the US. The US demands, however, are remarkably similar to the ones the EU itself proposes to make of passengers travelling to Europe, making the officials shouting "blackmail …

Government 11 Feb 2008, 16:03
O2 plans commercial femtocells for 2009

Mobile World Congress Intelligent radios allow for stupid users

O2 is pushing ahead with expanded femtocell trials over the next year with the stated intention of rolling out a commercial product during 2009, reducing their network costs and increasing customer connection speeds all at the same time. Femtocells are tiny base stations which plug into customers' broadband connection and …

Mobile 11 Feb 2008, 16:05
NEC lets Sadville residents call the real world

Mobile World Congress 'Get me out of here'

Second Life got its first mobile phone today in the form of an NEC Communicator that can make calls, and send texts, into meatspace - assuming the residents have any friends left who lack a virtual presence. NEC claims the project "helps its customers to find new Web 2.0 revenue streams... in terms of ubiquitous communication …

Mobile 11 Feb 2008, 16:17
Moto and Nortel talk wireless merger

Will you be my ~~valentine~~ enormous wireless infrastructure partner?

Nortel and Motorola are reportedly in talks to merge their wireless infrastructure businesses in a bid to cut costs. A joint venture has been under discussion for about a month, the Wall Street Journal said today, citing its standard boardroom-via-PR whispers. A deal would not be much of a shocker for the wireless industry. …

Networks 11 Feb 2008, 16:23
Microsoft reinvents Office Live for small biz as 'free'

Except for the subs, that is

Microsoft has rejigged its Office Live Small Business product to pull in more customers by bringing three existing paid-for versions under one roof for free. Instead of charging for the apps, the company aims to scoop up cash by charging for some add-on tools. Office Live Small Business is aimed at companies with ten …

The Channel 11 Feb 2008, 16:28
Microsoft acquires Sidekick designer

Flirts with Danger, then goes the whole way

Microsoft has agreed to purchase mobile software developer Danger Inc. for an undisclosed sum. The deal, which has not yet been finalised, means the software vendor has closed at least one bid this week - its unsolicited bid for web search competitor Yahoo! was officially snubbed earlier today. Danger designed the popular T- …

Mobile 11 Feb 2008, 16:47
Downed Salesforce systems slow Europe and US

Failing to impress Oracle

Salesforce.com systems are calling in sick this Monday. The company's service status page has been winking red X's as the software-as-a-service poster child struggles to wrangle its machinery. European Salesforce.com customers were left high-and-dry Monday afternoon, while the company's EMEA system took an unplanned two-hour …

Applications 11 Feb 2008, 20:13
DLO cracks open egg-shaped iPhone speaker dock

Crack on some tunes

If the iPhone's the centre of your life - and let's face facts, it is for many - then thanks to this speaker system/docking station it can now be the centre of your party too. DLO's iPhone portable speaker system The speakers from Digital Lifestyle Outfitters (DLO) look very like Sony's Rolly music player, but separate from …

Hardware 11 Feb 2008, 20:21
Teen hacker re-unlocks Apple's iPhone

Gets firm with firmware

A teen hacker known for his deftness with iPhones has figured out how to unlock models running the latest firmware versions by cracking a protection that has frustrated hackers for weeks. The breakthrough by George Hotz, aka Geohot, means people who have bought a recent iPhone will once again be able to use it on the phone …

Security 11 Feb 2008, 22:16
Microsoft rejects Yahoo! rejection

You ungrateful 'unfortunates'

Steve Ballmer still wants to swallow Jerry Yang's company. Just a few hours after Yahoo! rejected Microsoft's $44.6bn purchase offer, the Redmond-based software giant has responded, reiterating that it "reserves the right to pursue all necessary steps to ensure that Yahoo!'s shareholders are provided with the opportunity to …

Financial News 11 Feb 2008, 23:08