17th September 2008 Archive

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HTC's Touch Diamond is all-white

"Ice Ice Baby..."

HTC has announced three phones yesterday: the Touch HD, the Touch 3G and the Touch Viva. But it rounded the day off by adding a fresh lick of paint to one of its older phones. HTC's Touch Diamond, in white The firm’s launched an “Ice White” version of the Touch Diamond smartphone, which is essentially the same handset …

Mobile 17 Sep 2008, 00:02
US retailer Forever 21 hit by payment card breach

Almost 99,000 cards affected

Almost 99,000 payment cards used by people shopping at Forever 21 stores may have been lifted over a four-year period by people linked to the heist of 45.6 million payment cards from customers from stores owned by TJX Companies. On Friday, the company issued a statement on its website that said it learned of the theft from law …

Crime 17 Sep 2008, 00:28
Mobes & pheasants litter London's black cabs

Taxi for Mr. Ritchie

The back of a London cab remains one of the most frequent places for anxious or absent-minded travellers to mislay their mobile. Londoners lost an average of three mobile for each London taxi in the last six months, adding up to a total of 55,843 phones for the 21,729 taxis plying their trade in the UK's capital. A survey by …

Mobile 17 Sep 2008, 06:02
Samsung turns hostile on SanDisk

Anybody else out there?

Samsung has made a $5.85bn all-cash hostile takeover offer for SanDisk and is waiting for other potential bidders to come out of the woodwork. Toshiba and Seagate are obvious candidates for a bidding war. The background to this bid is that Samsung is the leading supplier of NAND flash memory, used in handheld intelligent …

Channel Register 17 Sep 2008, 07:16
Snappy snapping, the Casio way

40f/s stills and 1000f/s videos

A high frame rate ensures the capture of fast-moving images that cameras with slower frame rates simply blur out. So Casio has expanded its Exilim range with a super speedy snapper. Casio's EX-FH20: snaps 40f/s burst-mode stills and 1000f/s videos The EX-FH20 captures still images in rapid fire burst mode at up to 40 shots …

Reg Hardware 17 Sep 2008, 08:02
Media standard backers attempt Apple-less solo run

'We don't need no stinkin' iTunes'

Computer and entertainment companies have announced a plan to standardise video and music files so that they play on any device. The ambitious plan has not been backed by the dominant force in digital downloads, Apple. Through its iTunes software and online shop, Apple is the largest distributor of legal music online, and is …

Music and Media 17 Sep 2008, 08:45
No pr0n surfing for Qantas A380 passengers

Airborne 'cached internet content' only

There's some disappointing news today for passengers who were hoping to indulge in a bit of light smut surfing aboard Qantas A380s when the superjumbos enter service with the Oz airline next month - the company has pulled the plug on live net access and will instead offer merely "cached internet content" and access to web-based …

Bootnotes 17 Sep 2008, 08:49
12th century thinking haunts digital music

On serfs, fanbois and bandits

British digital music company 7Digital claimed a coup yesterday by becoming the first online music store to carry DRM-free catalog from the "Big Four" major record labels. Calling it a coup is misleading, however. It's really further confirmation that the top of the music business is run along feudal lines: closer to the 12th …

Music and Media 17 Sep 2008, 09:11
US Congress votes for some offshore oil relaxations

Bush wants more, threatens veto

The US Congress has voted to end America's ban on offshore oil and gas drilling in the face of rising petrol prices. However the White House is resisting the Democrats' energy package, saying it will stifle the oil industry. Reuters reports that the Democrat-controlled lower house passed the proposed measures by 236 votes to …

Environment 17 Sep 2008, 09:25
Confirmed: Android to land on T-Mobile next week

But handset price still a mystery

The T-Mobile and Android fog has finally been lifted, because the network operator’s confirmed that it’ll showcase an HTC handset running on the Google platform next week. The no doubt glitzy event will take place in New York on 23 September, as predicted. But T-Mobile’s still keeping the phone’s availability date a secret, …

Reg Hardware 17 Sep 2008, 09:30
Royal Society says goodbye to creationism row vicar

So long and thanks for all the fish

The Royal Society has parted company with Professor Michael Reiss following the furore over the reverend slash biologist’s recent comments on how science teachers should tackle creationism in the classroom. The top boffin club issued a statement late yesterday saying that “Professor Reiss and the Royal Society have agreed that …

Biology 17 Sep 2008, 09:31
Oz woman sold mobe with preloaded smut

'It's sickening to think I've been using this phone near my face'

A Cairns university student got a bit of a shock when she popped into Dick Smith Electronics to buy a new mobe - the device contained 49 images of an extremely intimate nature. They included "a woman naked from the waist down lying on a bed performing a sex act, a man holding his penis and consecutive shots of the woman in her …

Bootnotes 17 Sep 2008, 09:48
Artemis Fowl scribe to pen sixth Hitchhiker's novel

Arthur Dent rises from the grave

Fans of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy are likely to react strongly to the announcement that Artemis Fowl author Eoin Colfer has been given the green light to write a sixth book in the series - 16 years after the release of Mostly Harmless. According to the BBC, the project - entitled And Another Thing..., and …

Entertainment 17 Sep 2008, 09:49
Microsoft makes another play for UK schools

'Pub sec, get your discounted licensing here'

Microsoft yesterday made a strategic move to draw a line under a fiery spat with the UK's education technology agency over the software multinational's attempts to get Office 2007 into British classrooms. In May Becta confirmed it had referred an interoperability complaint to the European Commission. It claimed that Microsoft' …

Software 17 Sep 2008, 09:50
Kodak launch world's first wireless OLED frame

Updated Cable-free memories

Kodak has unveiled what it claims to be the world’s first digital wireless picture frame with an OLED display. Kodak's OLED wireless frame is a world's first Unimaginatively entitled the Kodak OLED Wireless Frame, the gadget sports a 7.6in screen with 16:9 aspect ratio, 800 x 480 resolution and 180° viewing angle. The …

Reg Hardware 17 Sep 2008, 10:04
Adobe raises guidance amid market turmoil

But Q3 profits fall on year

Adobe Systems saw Q3 quarterly profit drop seven per cent as revenue climbed four per cent. The software maker said Acrobat and LiveCycle products and a varied biz helped plump up revs for the quarter ended 29 August 2008. Adobe pulled in revenue of $887.3m, compared to $851.7m for the same quarter a year ago. However, net …

Channel Register 17 Sep 2008, 10:12
Android springs to life next week

Rises from Google's pocket

T-Mobile has been sending out press invitations to the launch of its Android-powered handset, confirming that all will be revealed on Tuesday next week. The handset was glimpsed last Tuesday, at a Google Developer Day in London where it emerged from the pocket of Google's Mike Jennings, and unsurprisingly bears a remarkable …

Mobile 17 Sep 2008, 10:12
BenQ W500 projector

Review There’s more to image quality than a massive pixel-count

An entry-level 720p projector will give you a huge display that’s great for gaming and TV. BenQ’s W500 sits just above that price point and delivers some improvements in image quality. With all the hype surrounding Full HD you may scoff at 720p, but there’s a lot more to image quality than a massive pixel-count and the W500 …

Reg Hardware 17 Sep 2008, 10:42
Wunderkind starts robot-buster weapons firm

Noel Sharkey backs RoTM droid-defence biz bonanza

Famed dotcom 1.0 teen millionaire Ben Way has started a company specialising in anti-robot weaponry. Way foresees lucrative business opportunities in suppressing the inevitable rogue killbots and machine rebellions to be expected in coming years. The new company, WAR Defence (Weapons Against Robots) was launched this week. " …

Science 17 Sep 2008, 10:54
Iomega launches sexy MacBook Air storage

For trend setters only

If you’ve splashed out on a MacBook Air and eaten up all the on-board storage already, then you need a storage solution that’s sleek, sophisticated and – above all else – silver. Iomega's eGo Helium drive: as light as Air? Iomega knows this, so it’s piggybacked the PC style cravings of Air owners and created the 320GB eGo …

Reg Hardware 17 Sep 2008, 10:58
Peak oil: postponed

Interview What the oil companies don't tell you

Oil supplies will actually last for far longer than our politicians think, the scaremongers fear, and the oil companies tell us. So says Dr Richard Pike, head of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and someone who isn’t afraid to stir controversy. Whither, then, Peak Oil? In a wide-ranging interview, Dr Pike talked about energy …

Environment 17 Sep 2008, 11:05
Pope watched over by flying robots during Lourdes visit

Flocks may safely praise

All good Catholics are well aware that the Pope walks this sinful Earth safe in the knowledge that he has robust heavenly backup. More literal-minded believers might contend that such support, in the event of any worldly dispute turning ugly, could easily include unsleeping winged guardians that do not age or die as mortals do …

Science 17 Sep 2008, 11:13
Paedo case expert Jim Bates arrested on child porn charge

Operation Ore campaigner has collar felt

Early last Thursday, police in Market Harborough and Rugby arrested two forensics experts, Jim Bates and Chris Magee, on charges of "conspiracy to possess indecent images of children". Jim Bates has frequently given testimony in computer forensic and child pornography cases, and had been working on a case along with Magee, who …

Law 17 Sep 2008, 11:52
Big Brother tracking comes to Second Life

Sadville gets RFID enabled

Students at the University of Arkansas have created a couple of full-sized hospitals inside Second Life to experiment with the use of RFID tagging in medical environments, and ride on flying cats. The idea of the project is to see if delivery and consumption of medical supplies can be tracked around a working hospital if …

Wireless 17 Sep 2008, 12:07
Fancy a shattering ORG45M for £150k?

Or how about a hot PEN 15 for £99,995?

A UK number plate dealer is offering drivers the chance to enjoy an ORG 45M for a cool £150k, or get their hands on a hot PEN 15 for a mere £99,995. Regtransfers.co.uk currently has its PEN 15 screwed to some company wheels, as you can see here. A company spokesman said: "Whilst driving around with it on our company Smart car …

Bootnotes 17 Sep 2008, 12:09
Tiny tots trial touchscreen tech

Chalk out, fingertips in

Durham University researchers have received £1.5m in funding for a project that aims to replace classroom desks with interactive tables. A child shows off his maths skills on the interactive 'SynergyNet' table. Image courtesy of Metro The researchers, together with manufacturers and education groups, are designing a …

Reg Hardware 17 Sep 2008, 12:17
US tech spending growth to drop in 2009

Forrester revises forecast in eye of financial storm

IT sales in the US will take a hit from the economic turmoil currently rumbling through Wall Street in 2009, according to research firm Forrester. The company revised its predictions yesterday on the same day that computer maker Dell admitted it had been hit hard by "soft" sales. Forrester now says that year-over-year growth …

Channel Register 17 Sep 2008, 12:39
Sky drops download limit and tops satisfaction poll

Updated 'Fair use' policy given the chop

Sky has dropped gigabyte download restrictions on its "Max" package in order to offer unlimited broadband without any "fair use policy" chicanery. The terms of its LLU ADSL2+, £10 per month product were quietly altered in mid-August to drop the caveats. Limits on downloads for both new and existing customers have disappeared, …

Telecoms 17 Sep 2008, 12:40
Epilepsy tests delay PS3 videogame launch

Game fails routine photosensitive epilepsy screening

An executive behind the latest addition to the Wipeout videogame franchise has admitted that launch of the latest title has been delayed because it failed a routine epilepsy screening test. wipEout HD initially failed epilepsy safety screening wipEout HD, a futuristic driving game for the PlayStation 3, was due for release …

Reg Hardware 17 Sep 2008, 12:55
BT lobbies Welsh Assembly for superfast broadband subsidies

Not Bryn Terfel

BT chairman Sir Michael Rake went to the Welsh Assembly on Monday, to glad-hand politicos and lobby for local government cash for deploying fibre in the pricipality. He was unfailingly spinny about why BT had come to Cardiff, but made it clear that the telco's palm needs greasing if Wales' more rural corners are to enjoy …

Telecoms 17 Sep 2008, 13:06
Cambridge tech boss rips gov over innovation cash

'We'll all be painted blue and dancing for tourists'

The head of one of the UK's top innovation centres has predicted a future for British citizens as impoverished peasants, painted blue and dancing for tourists because funding for high tech innovation has been pulled. Walter Herriot, Director of St John's Innovation Centre in Cambridge he said, the money needed for this …

Small Biz 17 Sep 2008, 13:48
Yes! It's the USB Flash drive bottle opener!

Storage has never been so refreshing

Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best ones, and TrekStor’s USB Flash drive with integrated bottle opener is sure to win acclaim from storage geeks and boozers alike. TrekStor's USB Stick CO: stores data and opens bottles The USB Stick CO will not only quench your storage thirst with its 25MB/s read speed and 12 MB/s …

Reg Hardware 17 Sep 2008, 13:52
American girls love to talk: Official

But boys are slower to adopt mobes

A new study of US teenagers puts mobile phones into the hands of 91 per cent of 17-year-old girls, while only 78 per cent of their male compatriots can make a mobile call. The study comes from MultiMedia Intelligence, working with Experian, and draws on data from interviews, consumer surveys and handset usage databases, …

Mobile 17 Sep 2008, 14:49
Kings of Leon to freetards: Y'all are trash

Charmer

Ahead of the launch of their fourth album next week, bogo-hillbilly, hipster-sensitive, indie-rock brotherhood Kings of Leon have hit out at freetards for failing to repay them for their toil. Frontman Caleb Followill launched a broadside against internet pirates: "There are a lot of people online that say, 'these guys have a …

Music and Media 17 Sep 2008, 14:51
Canon devlop anti-reflective coating

Ghosting-B-Gone

Lens boffins at Canon have developed a lens coating that it’s claimed minimises ghosting and flare caused by reflected light. Canon's Subwavelength Structure Coating reduces reflections Called Subwavelength Structure Coating (SSC), the anti-reflection technology minimizes reflections by aligning wedge shaped structures – …

Reg Hardware 17 Sep 2008, 15:01
Nortel forced to reforecast, put unit on block

Downturn and delays skewer Q3 revenues

It’s back to the future at Nortel, with the company forced to tell investors it was scaling back its third forecasts amid a “sustained and expanding economic downturn”. The benighted networking vendor is also planning a major restructuring, which if nothing else will definitely include the sale of one of its “premium assets …

Data Networking 17 Sep 2008, 15:27
Axon takes 100mpg wonder car for a spin

Carbon auto has half CO₂ emissions

It's just a car. it's called Axon, and it's just a car. It has a petrol engine, four wheels. So why is it supposed to be the greenest breakthrough in the automotive sector? "Because it can do 100 miles to the gallon with less than half the CO2 emissions of an average car," said Steven Cousins, the founder of Axon. Axon …

Science 17 Sep 2008, 15:29
4GB fourth-gen iPod Nano confirmed

Exclusive Not a main configuration, claims Apple

Apple has confirmed the existence of a 4GB fourth-generation iPod Nano, following the appearance of mysterious pictures online. Apple's confirmed that a 4GB 4G Nano exists Initially a set of unofficial pictures clearly showed a 4GB logo on the back of the red oval-shaped iPod Nano player. The images then set the web alight …

Reg Hardware 17 Sep 2008, 15:36
Touchscreen BlackBerry details leaked

Storm breaks

Details of the BlackBerry Storm have been leaked around the internet, apparently coming from internal documents and one video presentation, showing how RIM plans to take on the iPhone. The handset, previously rumoured to be called 'Thunder', will apparently be exclusive to Verizon in the USA and features a touch screen with …

Mobile 17 Sep 2008, 16:37
IBM rolls up (discounted) AIX Enterprise Edition

Datacenter Edition on the way?

IBM is trying to make it easier for customers to manage complex, virtualized AIX servers and has therefore created a new variant of its AIX 6.1 platform - dubbed Enterprise Edition - that includes AIX add-ons and separately sold Tivoli systems management programs. It's all rolled up into a single instance - and with a discount …

Servers 17 Sep 2008, 16:51
Axon 100mpg car gallery

It's just a car. it's called Axon, and it's just a car. It has a petrol engine, four wheels. So why is it supposed to be the greenest breakthrough in the automotive sector? Here's what it looks like... Axon Photo Gallery And this it what it looks like on the inside...

Reg Hardware 17 Sep 2008, 17:01
'Very quiet' Jaguar prototype points to hybrid drive?

'Leccy Tech The strange case of the Jag that didn't roar

Is Jaguar developing an electric car, or a hybrid? It seems that way, if claims that a new XK has been seen speeding around Germany's Nürburgring - but not heard, apparently. While the car was spotted racing around the world-famous track, it was claimed to make barely a peep while doing so, according to website NextAutos, …

Reg Hardware 17 Sep 2008, 17:18
AMD unimpressed with Intel six shooter

Barcelona beats Dunnington - sometimes

As you might expect, Advanced Micro Devices is keeping its chin up amid the ticktocking it's taking from rival Intel in the server space. This week's launch of the six-core "Dunnington" Xeon MP processors - which plug into four-socket and larger machines - made a lot of noise for Intel and its partners, but AMD wants you to be …

Servers 17 Sep 2008, 18:00
Anonymous hacks Sarah Palin's Yahoo! account

Veep candidate's email bared by Wikileaks

Members of Anonymous - that sprawling group of online rabble-rousers best known for taking on the Church of Scientology - have apparently hacked into a Yahoo! email account belonging to Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. According to the bulletproof truth seekers at Wikileaks, "activists …

Security 17 Sep 2008, 20:40
Securing the world against terrorists, scammers, and thugs

A day in the life of a cyber gumshoe

An information technology employee for one of the world's top stock brokerages is let go, but before he leaves, he plants a logic bomb that knocks 3,000 of the firm's workstations offline. The internal network of a federal agency is penetrated by a drug cartel and used to obscure international communications among various …

Crime 17 Sep 2008, 21:09
Bill seeks guidelines for US laptop searches

Some rules for border agents, please

US border agents can still snatch and search your laptop, mobile phone, or hard drive without reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. But a bill introduced in Congress last week may enforce some guidelines on how the inspection is done. The bill, titled the Border Security Search Accountability Act of 2008, would establish rules …

Government 17 Sep 2008, 21:45
Watchdog: US Computer Emergency Readiness Team isn't ready

Nation not secure

A government watchdog agency has taken the US Department of Homeland Security to task for failing to adequately protect the nation's critical computer networks in a report that singles out the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team. In a hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday, a member of the Government Accountability Office said US- …

Security 17 Sep 2008, 23:26