1st September 2008 Archive

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Does an imported PS3 need power conversion kit?

Q&A

My son was recently given a present of a PS3 which was purchased in America. I have been told that he should not use it here without the use of a "Power step-down converter". Is this correct? If so what size of converter should I purchase?

Reg Hardware 1 Sep 00:02
IFA iRiver readies Euro revival

iRiver, the one-time major MP3 player maker that failed to keep up with Apple and was forced to retrench to its native Korea, relaunched itself into Europe at IFA this week. To mark the occasion, it launched a couple of new media players, but it's pitching them at the designer end of the market. Just in case that doesn't work …

Reg Hardware 1 Sep 07:02
Government data protection standards are protected data

We could tell you, but then we'd have to kill you

As yet another laptop full of confidential data goes up for sale on Ebay – this one belonging to Charnwood Borough Council - the government's failure to set and publicise standards for wiping data makes it inevitable that there will be many more, and worse, incidents of this kind. “Wiping data” may sound easy – to the non- …

Government 1 Sep 07:42
Bet against the bubble - how to head off a subprime crisis

More speculation, not less, is the key

We all know what to do about this subprime mess, the credit-crisis final-end-of-capitalism farrago, don't we? Hang the bankers, hang them high, banish greed and stupidity from the human soul, bring in a very real change to our mass, crass, consumerism and usher in a society free from the shackles of late stage fiancierism? OK, …

Financial News 1 Sep 08:02
Being jitter free is important

DataDirect discusses Apple's Final Cut, disses Isilon

"It's important to be jitter-free whilst performing full-bandwidth ingests." What on earth is DataDirect Networks CTO Dave Fellinger talking about? He is explaining why his company's S2A9900 storage box is so great. Apparently other storage products can support as many as three Apple Final Cut Mac workstations doing …

Storage 1 Sep 09:16
Vodafone says termination rate clampdown would hit the poor

Pull the other one

Vodafone today claimed 40 million Europeans will be forced to drop their mobile phone service if EU-led moves to scrap the current call termination charging system go ahead. Pay as you go users who make fewer outgoing calls would face big retail price hikes if operators lost revenues, the firm said. Those typically poorer …

Mobile 1 Sep 09:48
McKinnon supporters plan Home Office demo

Last gasp plea

Friends and family of accused Pentagon hacker Gary McKinnon are planning a protest outside the Home Office at 4pm on Tuesday (2 September). Last week the European Court of Human Rights declined to intervene in preventing McKinnon's extradition to the US on hacking offences. Following the earlier rejection of appeals in the …

Law 1 Sep 09:51
Neo-Nazi forum hacked

Blood & Honour, cloak and dagger

German anti-fascist hackers have broken into the secure forum server of one of the world's largest neo-Nazi groups, Blood & Honour, and copied more than 30,000 pieces of data. Blood & Honour, founded back in 1987 in the UK by Ian Stuart Donaldson, leader of the notorious skinhead band Skrewdriver, has been banned in Germany …

Security 1 Sep 10:16
Medical isotope scarcity as Dutch reactor goes titsup

Terrorism fears lead to 'perfect storm'

A "looming crisis" faces the world of nuclear medicine, as unexpected shutdowns at nuclear reactors producing vital medical isotopes are seriously affecting world supplies, according to reports. Experts in the field are calling for concerted international action to stop such events happening again. All five of the world's main …

Physics 1 Sep 10:28
MSI intros cut-price Linux mini-laptop

Other models get hard drive boost

MSI has made some modifications to its Wind line of Small, Cheap Computers, upping the storage capacity of the standard model and introducing a cheaper model. MSI's Wind U90: smaller screen, lower price The low-cost Wind matches the spec of its pricier stablemates but comes in at £269 ($485/€332) instead of £329 ($593/€406 …

Reg Hardware 1 Sep 10:50
Sony's slips out slender, sensory Walkman

IFA Touchy-feely

Sony has extended its Walkman MP3 player range with a slim and sophisticated design that also bosts mood-sensing technology, the company claimed. Sony's S series Walkman: super slim The S series models are 7.5mm thick, making it Sony’s “slimmest Walkman ever”. Family members also have a 2in, 240 x 320 LCD screen that …

Reg Hardware 1 Sep 11:00
Anti-Kremlin website owner shot dead in police custody

Ingushetian intrigue

Russian police in the troubled region of Ingushetia shot dead a prominent web journalist on Sunday night, shortly after he was taken into custody. Magomed Yevloyev was arrested after getting off a flight in Nazran, Ingushetia. Kaloi Akhilgov, a lawyer close to the Ingushetiya.ru website run by Yevloyev, said Yevloyev was taken …

Crime 1 Sep 11:01
Sony coughs to third-gen PSP power problem

Brighter LCD = shorter battery life

Sony has admitted that the new PlayStation Portable 3000’s brighter, richer display has shortened the handheld console’s battery life. The PSP-3000's brighter screen (bottom) cuts battery life by 20 to 30 minutes In an interview with website Gamespot, John Koller, Director of Hardware Marketing at Sony Computer …

Reg Hardware 1 Sep 11:05
Federation borgs asset org

FAST and IiS - together at last

The Federation Against Software Theft is joining forces with Investors in Software - which promotes the use of software asset management. The two organisations will keep their brands and their different focuses. Historically the Federation has lobbied government for stronger action against software pirates and helped bust …

Channel Register 1 Sep 11:23
Creative Zen X-Fi 16GB media player

Review Burdened with a fair amount of frankly pointless functionality

When details of the Creative Zen X-Fi PMP began to leak out, many thought it would replace the Zen Vision W. As soon as you get the X-Fi out of the box you realise this is not the case. The Vision W had a 4.3in screen, but the X-Fi makes do with a mere 2.5in panel. So what we have here is an MP3 player with ideas above its …

Reg Hardware 1 Sep 11:48
Yes! It's the upside down car!

Drive up walls and across ceilings

A car's been launched that’s so cool, it’ll make James Bond switch gadget providers. Because although this four-wheeler can’t shoot rockets or travel underwater, in can drive upside down. The Zero Gravity Micro R/C car can drive up walls The Zero Gravity Micro R/C car from online retailer Firebox employs an “advanced …

Reg Hardware 1 Sep 12:04
Thus passes to C&W

Buyer reveals company already bought (mostly)

Thus, the company formerly known as Scottish Telecom and owner of the Demon Internet brand so beloved by an aging demographic, has recommended its shareholders accept an 180 pence offer from Cable & Wireless that will result in the delisting of the business. Cable & Wireless originally offered 165 pence a share for the company …

Telecoms 1 Sep 12:10
US to give some rendition info at Gitmo trial

UK courts may let Brit spies keep schtum

High Court beaks have allowed a further week for arguments in the case of Binyam Mohamed, the one-time UK resident facing a US military tribunal at Guantánamo Bay. The postponement comes following an announcement by America that Mohamed's military defence team will now be furnished with some information regarding his …

Law 1 Sep 12:15
Intel buys up UK Linux lab

A bird in the OpenedHand

Intel has bought up OpenedHand, the UK-based Linux development company, folding its product line into the chip behemoth's mobile Linux effort, while promising to maintain its open-source developments. OpenedHand specialises in squeezing Linux onto small devices, so is ideally placed to support the new generation of what Intel …

Mobile 1 Sep 12:15
Euro consumers to get 'Made for iPod'...refrigerator

Dock n' eat

Fridges aren’t something Register Hardware usually writes about. But then we’ve never come across one that features a 'Made for iPod' logo before. Gorenje's iPod Touch fridge The fridge is manufactured by long-established Slovenian white-goods maker Gorenje and officially licensed by Apple. The cooler has an iPod Touch …

Reg Hardware 1 Sep 12:17
Shine on Silverlight and Windows with XAML

Web bling tone Learn now, pays later

Extensible Application Markup Language, or XAML, lies at the heart of Microsoft's rich-client strategy. The user interface for both Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Silverlight, which is mostly a subset of WPF, is typically defined in XAML. It is, therefore, something Windows developers will have to get to grips with …

Developer 1 Sep 13:02
PC Gamers get Bill of Rights

An amendment too far?

A special Bill of Rights has been created in an attempt to secure every PC gamer's ten most fundamental privileges. The Gamer's Bill of Rights: don't expect it to become law any time soon The bill was created by desktop utility software developer Stardock and games designer Gas Powered Games. It's basically a list of the …

Reg Hardware 1 Sep 13:21
Welder in DIY penis enhancement nut mishap

Pre-engagement tumescence requires Singapore sling

A Malaysian welder who tried to lengthen his penis by fitting a nut to it had to have skin removed and blood drained before doctors could remove the offending add-on. Local news organ The Star reports that the unfortunate 20-year-old tradesman was hoping to impress ahead of his engagement this week. The welder, who works in …

Bootnotes 1 Sep 13:28
Oz cops call up phone records after car smashes

Australian cops have confirmed they examine the mobile phone call activity of drivers involved in killer car crashes. New South Wales traffic police this week told Australia's Daily Telegraph newspaper that they have nabbed 1300 more motorists for using a handset while driving during the first six months of 2008 than they did …

Reg Hardware 1 Sep 14:13
Sony's Rolly mobile music player rolls into Britain

Pre-orders being taken

Sony’s egg-shaped futuristic self-propelling portable music player will finally roll into UK shops next month, just over one year after it first cracked its way into the gadget scene. Rolly - your musical performance pal The firm’s UK sales website now carries the message that Blighty’s consumers can pre-order the palm- …

Reg Hardware 1 Sep 14:16
Virtualized PCIe switch

NextIO revs products

Virtualized PCIe technology start-up NextIO has rev'ed and re-marketed products which were first announced in May. It announced its ioGateway family of ExpressConnect products, the N1400-PCM IBM blade server module and N2800-ICA back in May and has now anounced its Adaptive Connect products, comprising the, yes, you got it, …

Storage 1 Sep 14:30
Concrete-jet 'printers' to build houses, Moonbases in hours

Man, this refill cartridge weighs a ton

Most readers will be aware of so-called "3D printing" techniques, in which solid objects can be constructed automatically from computer models. Researchers in California intend to scale the process up radically, using "contour crafting" concrete extrusion to erect buildings in a matter of hours. "Instead of plastic, Contour …

Space 1 Sep 14:41
iGoogle personalises personal pages on other people's behalf

Erm, doesn't that kind of defeat the iPoint?

Google has angered some of its personalised homepage users by running tests of an apparently unpopular experimental layout, and refusing to let them opt out or tell them how long the tests will last. The firm announced the trials on its "Personalising Google" group pages on 8 July. To date, there are 579 overwhelmingly …

Applications 1 Sep 15:09
Apple, O2 to release PAYG iPhones this month

Pre-pay details announced

O2 will release the iPhone 3G on a pay-as-you-go tariff on 16 September, the carrier has just announced. The 8GB version of the phone will cost £350 - just £50 less than the 16GB model. It'll be sold by O2, Carphone Warehouse and Apple. O2 said that the purchase price includes a year's unlimited browsing - an "excessive usage …

Reg Hardware 1 Sep 15:15
Immersion shakes out $20m for MS legal win

Will share its toys with Microsoft?

Microsoft will soon have an extra $20m in the bank and new business partner now that it's settled a long running legal spat with vibration-feedback firm Immersion. Under the terms of the deal, Immersion will pay Microsoft $20.7m (£11.5m/€14.2m) and enter into Microsoft's Certified Partner Program. It’s rumoured this could see …

Reg Hardware 1 Sep 15:32
Designer moots Zune-friendly wireless speaker

Also acts as nightlight

Zune ownership is still a dream for many European music fans. But one designer’s dreamt up a concept wireless speaker for the player, that’ll also scare away any monsters lurking under your child’s bed. Zune Bug: a concept wireless speaker for Zune players Designer Ashley Payne has no official affiliation with Microsoft’s …

Reg Hardware 1 Sep 15:38
VPN security - if you want it, come and get it

Attention WiFi hotspotters: You want it

If you value your privacy and use Wi-Fi hotspots or other public networks, there is no tool more indispensable than a virtual private network. Yes, technologies such as secure sockets layer (denoted by an "https" in a web address) will prevent information transmitted between a PC and a web or email server from being intercepted …

Security 1 Sep 16:02
Ambulance-chasing Graun goes after Gustav

Bringing Fuzziness to the Believers

Spare a thought for anyone on the Environment beat at the Guardian newspaper. It must be like working for Pravda during the Breznhev era. There, as the economy became ever more dysfunctional, reporters were obliged to pump out ever more absurd stories saluting record productivity and efficiency records. The triumph over …

Environment 1 Sep 16:04