2nd April 2008 Archive

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Cellco regulators are not the customer's friends

CTIA Wireless Says industry bigwig who doesn't like regulation

LAS VEGAS - Steve Largent, American Football hero and president of CTIA, the US cellular industry association, spent his keynote speech today reminding the industry that it was customers who asked for video on their mobile phones, that it was customers who asked for 3D games on their phones, and that it is now now customers who …

Mobile 2 Apr 00:25
Sprint and Samsung unveil Jesus Phone lookalike

CTIA Wireless Dead ringer

This summer, Sprint and Samsung will offer a touchscreen wireless handheld that dares to compete with the Jesus Phone. When Sprint president and CEO Dan Hesse unveiled the new Samsung Instinct during his keynote speech at CTIA Wireless this morning in Las Vegas, he didn't actually mention the Jesus Phone. But he didn't have to …

Mobile 2 Apr 00:39
Reg April Fools 2006

Click here for your custom-built Reg

Click here for your custom-built Reg Pick the content you want - the way you want it Bush preps historic Third Term - memo It's war. It's a 'Continuity Presidency' China buys Google Mu Shu Porked

Bootnotes 2 Apr 01:34
eBay pulls Vista laptop pwned in hacking contest

Do no harm

An eBay listing for the Windows Vista laptop that was successfully compromised at last week's Pwn2Own hacking contest was removed after the online auctioneer said it violated terms that forbid sales of items that might do harm. Shane Macaulay, who felled the machine with code that attacked a weakness in Adobe Flash, posted the …

Enterprise Security 2 Apr 01:36
JBuilder puts price on Java code re-use

Play with others' modules

Code re-use through Application Factories is the big-ticket item that CodeGear touts in the JBuilder 2008 Java development environment, released today. But the ability to use Application Factories depends on how much you're willing to pay for JBuilder, and the concept of re-use is somewhat limitated. Application Factories …

Software 2 Apr 01:46
Richard Branson dupes entire wireless industry with Google on Mars gag

CTIA Wireless 'Virgle, my a**'

Speaking this morning (Tuesday) at the CTIA Wireless trade show in Las Vegas, Sir Richard Branson told several hundred mobile industry insiders that he and Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin will soon fly a solar-powered Noah's Ark to Mars. And they believed him. "I'm sure all of you here know Google. Google and …

Wireless 2 Apr 02:20
Intel reveals Atom CPU speeds and feeds

IDF 2W TDP, anyone?

Intel announced its 'Silverthorne' processor's brand, Atom, last month and today it completed the picture with speeds and feeds details of what is physically smallest CPU the company's ever made. The Atom line-up comprises five CPUs all with 512KB of on-die L2 cache. The 800MHz Z500 and 1.1GHz Z510 both sit on a 400MHz …

Reg Hardware 2 Apr 04:15
Intel VP threatens to turn all Xeon users into 'monkey kings'

IDF Beaten with the red stick of life

Faced with a lack of actual news to discuss, Intel today turned to the "Monkey King" in order to liven up its IDF session on server chips. Intel senior VP Pat Gelsinger took the stage here in Shanghai to hit on the company's efforts around high performance and data center computing. Gelsinger, however, had little material to …

Servers 2 Apr 04:18
2010's Centrino Atom to pack 2008 CPU

IDF 'Moorestown' update more about process than processors

Intel disappointed some pundits today by failing to go into details about 'Moorestown', the next generation of its newly christened Centrino Atom brand, aka 'Menlow'. Worse, it emerged the system-on-a-chip simply takes today's Atom CPU and delivers it in a different form-factor. It's an impressive form-factor nonetheless. …

Reg Hardware 2 Apr 05:37
Fresh Super Micro kit pushes the ultra low-voltage limits

IDF Efficiency you can't hear

Super Micro continues to impress with its server gear. The vendor this week released new versions of its blade and 1U designs that make use of Intel's "San Clemente" 5100 chipset built to work with low power processors. The fresh SuperBlade and 1U Twin boxes boast some rather strong performance per watt figures. For example, …

Servers 2 Apr 05:54
Congestion Charge offers online tool for ANPR cam dodgers

TfL actually friends to motor crime, civil liberties

Transport for London has provided a handy tool for those who would like to use false numberplates to fool any of the various networks of automatic numberplate recognition (ANPR) cameras now deployed across much of the UK. Using the capital's online congestion charge payment system, anyone can swiftly check what make and colour …

Policing 2 Apr 06:02
'Calpella' named as Centrino 3

IDF After 'Montevina'

Intel's next-but-one generation of Centrino will be codenamed 'Calpella' - after the California town, presumably - Mobility Group General Manager Dadi Perlmutter said today. Surprisingly - at least given Intel's record on introducing future laptop platforms; 'Montevina', due next month, was first named in public more than a …

Reg Hardware 2 Apr 06:56
BT hits 'undo' on anti-spam email update

You've got FAIL

BT has been forced to roll back changes it made to its rules on outgoing email addresses after they caused confusion for its broadband customers. In March, the firm's Retail tentacle applied restrictions that meant customers who do not use an "@btinternet.com" address for outgoing mail must verify it to avoid a 553 SMTP error …

Telecoms 2 Apr 07:02
Apple ignores Jesus Phone life raft

CTIA Wireless What's wrong with background apps?

For reasons unknown, Apple's new Jesus Phone SDK won't allow apps that run in the background. As many have noted, this rules out instant messaging - or, at least, instant messaging as we know it. But it also rules out all sorts of other useful applications, including the fledgling smartphone rescue tool from remote control maven …

Wireless 2 Apr 07:02
Landmine charity: Ban the killer robots before it's too late!

Comment They're already here, chum - look around

A London-based anti landmine and cluster bomb charity has now widened its remit and is calling for a moratorium on the use of killer robots. "Our concern is that humans, not sensors, should make targeting decisions," said Richard Moyes of Landmine Action, quoted by New Scientist. "We don't want to move towards robots that make …

Government 2 Apr 07:02
Microsoft meths up data center with 220 containers

Redefines the internet super-highway

Crack open the Natty Light. Microsoft plans to throw a white trash data center rager in Chicago. Microsoft will cram between 150 and 220 shipping containers filled with data center gear into a new 500,000 square foot facility. This move marks the most significant, public use of the shipping container systems popularized by the …

Servers 2 Apr 07:54
Oregon Craigslist looting was burglary cover-up

Couple cuffed for 'sinister' hoax

The fake Craigslist ads which provoked a stampede of looters to strip an Oregon man's home were posted by two thieves attempting to cover their tracks, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. Robert Salisbury of Jacksonville returned home on Saturday, 22 March, to find about 30 people rummaging through his barn and front porch …

Bootnotes 2 Apr 09:16
Fixing the UK's DAB disaster

Analysis Beyond the bubbling mud

How does the UK find its way out of the DAB disaster? First, we have to get beyond the denial stage and into acceptance. One thing is certain: the UK can't carry on the way it's been going. Digital radio's year-on-year sales growth fell off a cliff the moment the BBC stopped its "DABaganda" TV ad campaign in the run-up to …

Music and Media 2 Apr 09:44
Microsoft tabletop PC to Surface this month

Demo units only

Although Microsoft is keeping mum about any official release date for the Surface tabletop touchscreen PC, the software giant has lined up US network operator AT&T as a retail guinea pig – allowing the company to display Surface in several stores. From 17 April, customers will be able to mess around with Surface at AT&T stores …

Reg Hardware 2 Apr 10:04
Official: OOXML approved as international standard

Microsoft slips into robe, smokes fat cigar

The ISO/IEC confirmed this morning that Microsoft’s Office Open XML (OOXML) has been approved as an international standard, leaving the Open Document Format (ODF) lobby raging about alleged voting irregularities. The International Standardisation Organisation (ISO) finally posted a press release today officially confirming what …

Applications 2 Apr 10:19
Pregnant man to hit Oprah with ultrasound

Scans will prove bun in Oregon transgender oven

The Oregon man who was born a woman, had his breasts removed as part of a gender reassignment but retained his female reproductive organs and then got up the duff, much to the amazement of just about everyone, will prove he's pregnant by flashing some ultrasound scan proof at Oprah Winfrey on Thursday. Thomas Beatie, of Bend, …

Bootnotes 2 Apr 11:06
Intel touts anti-theft tech for laptops

IDF Notebooks won't run for Burglar Bill

Intel today announced an initiative it hopes will make it much less desirable for criminals to steal laptops. The aim is to build the ability to lock down a machine's storage - and possible even the processor itself - if it's pinched. Intel Anti-Theft Technology (ATT) isn't yet ready for incorporation into new machines, but …

Reg Hardware 2 Apr 11:11
New(ish) Labour plans Whitehall 2.0

Replacing social policy with social networking

The UK government has dulled the glamorous sheen of Web 2.0 by pledging guidelines on how civil servants should exploit use social media for developing policies and getting their messages out to the public. The Cabinet Office has published an Interim Progress Report on its information strategy, carried out by Tom Steinberg and …

Government 2 Apr 11:36
Child protection project hit by delays

Deadline could be overshot by six months

A large number of local authorities in England with social care responsibilities will miss the government's deadline for implementing the Integrated Children's System (ICS), a project for sharing information about vulnerable young people. In a statement, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) said it was …

Government 2 Apr 11:58
UK.gov demands 999 ads on social networking sites

Herding kids around the wild wild web

Social networking websites could be forced to advertise the 999 emergency number under government plans to make the internet a safer place for kids to surf. According to the Daily Telegraph, which obtained a copy of the Home Office’s draft guidance, the likes of MySpace and Facebook may soon be required to display ads for the …

Government 2 Apr 12:13
Steel Cloud servers to power US Navy robo-cannon kit

Metal Storm also purchased. Leaden Drizzle™ next?

Virginia based SteelCloud Inc is to provide ruggedised commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) servers for use in the US Navy's "Gunslinger" programme. Gunslinger seeks to equip combat vehicles, boats and robots with automated weapons turrets which can detect the muzzle blasts and flashes of enemy gunmen and deliver a devastating …

Servers 2 Apr 12:15
Link spammers go on social networking rampage

MySpamBook

Spammers have found a fertile new marketplace on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. The 'wall' feature on Facebook is being abused by spammers to post deceptive messages, linking to spam sites such as online "pharmacy" shops. The tactic is similar to the long-standing link-spamming approach which involves …

Spam 2 Apr 12:25
Blu-ray Xbox 360 to be sold at a loss?

Record sales en-route though

Microsoft is on track to have sold 2m UK Xbox 360s by next week. But the company could be forced to sell Blu-ray models at a loss, if rumours about HD drive development are true. Figures from market watcher Chart Track have forecast that since the console’s December 2005 UK release, Microsoft will have shifted around 2m units …

Reg Hardware 2 Apr 13:09
Is sharing a folder copyright infringement?

US judge says yes

A US Judge on Monday upheld the view that sharing copyrighted music is infringement. It's a defeat for defendant Denise Barker and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and a victory for the four record labels in the case, led by Warner's Elektra. The Copyright Act is fairly clear. It defines "publication" as "offering to …

Music and Media 2 Apr 13:21
EU probes Channel 4's digital handout

Competition?

The European Commission is to investigate whether a state grant to Channel 4 distorts competition in the UK TV market. Channel 4 receives no public funding, but nevertheless will receive a £14m grant to help it with the move to digital broadcasting. A commercial rival has complained that since Channel 4 had sufficient cash to …

Music and Media 2 Apr 13:22
Text message speak - txt msg kids

Time 4 T Charlot

The time has passed when folk thought it proper to call boys Hubert and girls Gwendolyn. Text messages now dominate our landscape to the extent that boys are more likely to be called Conna and girls named Deby. Text-speak baby names, according to a report in the Daily Mail, are becoming increasingly common on birth …

Reg Hardware 2 Apr 14:36
Atos Origin rebels propose board members

Le retour des Bourigeaud

Rebel shareholders in Atos Origin have put forward three new members – including the company's founder – to the French services firm's board. Rebel shareholders from private equity funds Centaurus Capital L.P. and Pardus Capital Management L.P, vowed last week to fight the company’s refusal to grant them representation on the …

Channel Register 2 Apr 14:52
United Airlines clips Boeing 777 fleet's wings

Grounded for fire safety checks

United Airlines has today cancelled dozens of Boeing 777 flights after it failed to perform the required fire safety checks. Space is being sought on other airlines, but passengers have been warned of delays. Inspecting the 52-strong fleet's fire supression technology will take between 24 and 36 hours, according to reports. …

Science 2 Apr 16:03
iPhone owners talk less, spend loads more

Web, email and music reign supreme

BT thinks it’s good to talk, but iPhone owners think it’s better to surf the web, send emails and listen to music. A report has found that owners of the coveted handset spend far less time chatting on it than users other handsets do on their devices. According to analyst iSuppli, of all the time non-iPhone users spend with …

Reg Hardware 2 Apr 16:05
SAP grows two heads

Apotheker joins Kagermann in driving seat

SAP today announced that the firm’s deputy CEO Léo Apotheker will assume co-responsibility for the business software firm, alongside CEO Henning Kagermann. The move is seen as confirmation that Apotheker, who joined the company in 1988 and has held a number of key exec positions, will take full control of SAP when Kagermann …

Financial News 2 Apr 16:20
Is Google Gears safe?

Offensive dialog

I imagine that is the question most users will ask when they see this dialog box: There are a couple of things I don't like about this dialog. First, the website is defined only by a URL. The problem is, it's a plain http connection so there's no SSL certificate involved, so I can't easily check the identity of the site. …

Software 2 Apr 17:53
Websense offloads CyberPatrol to industry veterans

Ex-PestPatrol staffers get into censorware

A group of security industry veterans has bought the CyberPatrol parental control software product from security vendor Websense for an undisclosed amount. The deal, announced Tuesday, has led to the creation of a new firm, CyberPatrol LLC, which aims to use its newly acquired censorware tech to offer "safe computing" to …

Financial News 2 Apr 20:43
EMC makes consumer storage box for China

Assuming the consumer is extraordinarily wealthy...

There's nothing wrong in theory with a vendor that caters to large corporations having a crack at the consumer market. Yet perhaps in being so dependent on the colossal proportions of Brobdingnag, one loses a true sense of scale for the outside world. Ditching metaphors: data centers are willing to spend a lot on hardware. …

Storage 2 Apr 20:47
Wireless wonks celebrate 35th anniversary of first cell call

CTIA Wireless When Motorola abused Bell Labs

April 3 marks the 35th anniversary of the world’s first cellular phone call, and to celebrate, former NFL hero Steve Largent has presented a priapic monolith to the man who made that call back in the spring of 1973. Largent is now the president and CEO of the CTIA wireless association, and this morning, at the association's …

Mobile 2 Apr 20:48
Coming up: the fingerprint-grabbing keylogger

Retina images aren't far off

A British researcher has developed a biometric keylogger of sorts that can capture fingerprints required to unlock building doors or gain access to computer networks or other restricted systems. For now, the Biologger is a proof-of-concept aimed at showing the insecurity of many biometric systems, according to Matthew Lewis, …

Enterprise Security 2 Apr 20:53
Google pink slips 300 Doubleclickers

Europe next?

Google is laying into newly acquired subsidiary Doubleclick by laying off 300 US employees - about a quarter of its US workforce. The number of lay-offs at the ad-serving company come from the NY Times, rather than Google, which is not talking specifics. But in a drawer statement the company is pushing out to people who ask, …

Financial News 2 Apr 21:21
Final beta of Firefox 3 available now

Code frozen for RC1 on April 8

Mozilla has made the fifth beta version of its upcoming Firefox 3 browser available for download today, and is freezing code for release candidate 1 in only six days. Trailblazers can get Beta 5 here and the release notes over yonder. Beta 5 includes more than 750 changes from the previous beta release, including "improved …

Applications 2 Apr 22:55