2nd October 2008 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

Genesis ex-CEO settles after SEC inside trading charges

When STM came a-courting, chief went a-buying

The former CEO of a Silicon Valley chip company has been charged with insider trading by the US Securities and Exchange Commission today, for allegedly buying company stock in the midst of confidential merger negotations with STMicroelectronics. Elias Antoun, former chief of Genesis Microchip, alongside his childhood friend …

PCs & Chips 2 Oct 2008, 00:25
China Skype service snags and stores users' messages

More than a million messages logged

Human rights advocates have uncovered a huge surveillance system in China that monitors and archives text messages sent with the Tom-Skype chat client when they contain politically charged words. Activists with Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto say they found a cluster of computers in China that had logged more than one …

VoIP 2 Oct 2008, 01:36
Interwebs page channels Palin twaddle

Artificial ~~intelligence~~ ineptitude

US vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin doesn't give many interviews. They tend to expose her inability to form coherent sentences. Just one example: Katie Couric: Why isn't it better, Governor Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle-class families struggling with health care, housing, gas, and groceries? Allow them …

Bootnotes 2 Oct 2008, 04:55
Nokia chief: Mobile superiority coming to America

Software is king

North America is tough neighborhood for Nokia. While the Finland-based cell phone giant is reputed to control over 40 per cent of the mobile market globally, its brand is stamped on a mere 10 per cent of America's sets. But Nokia's CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo is pretty optimistic about his stateside prospects. Speaking to Silicon …

Mobile 2 Oct 2008, 05:48
Handango cashes in on Android

Making moolah out of mobile development

Selling mobile applications can be profitable, but the Android Marketplace is only dealing in freebies at launch - so Handango is offering a more familiar route to market that could be essential for the future of Google's platform. Mobile-phone-super-OS Android should realise its first physical embodiment towards the end of …

Mobile 2 Oct 2008, 06:02
DARPA seeks ultrasonic auto-scab tourniquets

'Deep Bleeder' sonar medicuff deal inked

US researchers intend to develop an automated ultrasonic cuff which could be fitted to the arms or legs of wounded troops to stop blood loss and so save the limb - or indeed the whole soldier. The Engineer reports that Siemens Healthcare has received a contract under which it will partner with Texas A & M and the University of …

Biology 2 Oct 2008, 07:02
Toshiba demos Cell HD TV - again

Toshiba has re-iterated its plan to bring HD TVs kitted out with the Cell processor to market in a year's time and showed off its prototype at the CEATEC show in Japan this week. It demonstrated a similar telly as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas back in January. Toshiba outlines its plans for Cell Click for …

Reg Hardware 2 Oct 2008, 07:31
Apple ups the ante in Psystar battle

Attack on the Cloners

Apple has filed to dismiss with prejudice clone-maker Psystar's monopoly complaints. The two have been trading legal blows since July when Apple accused the company of infringing on its trademarks and copyrights. Hackintosh vendor Psystar offers machines capable of running OS X from as little as $555. Psystar responded in …

Channel Register 2 Oct 2008, 09:05
It's Time that Google forgot

C0mm3nt Time's up for timeless UI design

Shares in United Airlines crashed last month, and trading in the stock was suspended, after a glitch in the Google Matrix. The FT noted that "a false report that the carrier had returned to bankruptcy court surfaced on the internet. A six-year-old Chicago Tribune story on United’s 2002 bankruptcy filing, spotted on a Google …

Music and Media 2 Oct 2008, 09:25
Branson brand floats into mobile broadband

Hardly Virgin territory

Virgin Media has added wireless broadband to its range of offerings, with a service bearing a remarkable resemblance to T-Mobile's deal, except without the Wi-Fi hotspot access thrown in. This shouldn't be a huge surprise, given that Virgin is only a virtual operator, carried on T-Mobile's network. But should anyone compare …

Wireless 2 Oct 2008, 09:26
'Luxury' Wind netbook wafts in

Bigger battery pack too

MSI's Wind Small, Cheap Computer is going up in the world: a "luxury" version appears to be on the cards. In essence, it's a standard Wind with a wireless upgrade. It has 802.11n Wi-Fi in place of the usual 802.11b/g. It also has 2GB of memory rather than 1GB. MSI's Wind: you don't have to be posh... OK, so 'luxury' might …

Reg Hardware 2 Oct 2008, 09:28
BBC jumps gun on Ofcom rethink

Obliquely reports Australian 3G successes

The battle for the digital dividend is far from over, with Viviane Reding firing another salvo in Dublin yesterday, but the BBC yesterday decided to unilaterally declare Ofcom is rethinking the auction in response to received comments. In an un-bylined piece, originally titled "Ofcom rethinks airwaves sell-off", the BBC …

Mobile 2 Oct 2008, 09:49
Crashed aircraft is Fossett's, authorities confirm

Updated 'Number plate' identifies adventurer's Bellanca Super Decathalon

Authorities have confirmed that the crashed Bellanca Super Decathalon in the mountains of eastern California is that of Steve Fossett, although the wreckage contains no body. A hiker on Monday found Fosset's ID documents, including his pilot and glider licences and his membership card for the National Aeronautic Association. …

Bootnotes 2 Oct 2008, 10:08
Nintendo introduces redesigned DS

DSi gets camera, SD card slot

Nintendo has finally spoken out over rumours that it’s redesigned the DS handheld console, and has released details and pictures of the upcoming machine. Called the DSi, the machine has a three-megapixel camera integrated into the lid and a SD memory card slot built into the side. The console’s audio capabilities have been …

Reg Hardware 2 Oct 2008, 10:10
Report: UK physics 'damaged' by budget blunder bloodbath

Not enough boffins at the top, says top boffin

An authoritative review into the management of physics in the UK has concluded that overall things are in good order. However, the panel led by Professor Bill Wakeham also identified "weaknesses" in the present physics setup, and said that "significant damage" had been caused by recent funding decisions. "UK physics enjoys …

Physics 2 Oct 2008, 10:11
Honda shows Insight hybrid in Europe

'Leccy Tech We'll always have Paris

Honda will show its Insight concept hybrid at the Paris Motor Show this week, allowing Europeans to take a look at the motor maker's first hybrid-only auto. There's no denying the Insight's new-Civic styling - rather more swish than the look of its current Civic Hybrid offering. Inside the five-door shell there's a 1.3l …

Reg Hardware 2 Oct 2008, 10:14
MS intros Gears of War 2 Zune

Another Zune tie-up

As Xbox 360 gamers patiently await next month’s release of one of the biggest videogame sequels since Halo 3, Microsoft’s begun adding to the launch hype by unveiling a Gears of War 2 Zune. Microsoft's GoW2 Zune: comes with pre-loaded game content The firm’s etched the familiar Crimson Omen skull-in-a-cog logo onto the back …

Reg Hardware 2 Oct 2008, 10:38
Is Fujitsu spinning out of the hard drive business?

Western Digital said to buy it on a platter

Fujitsu is thought to be planning to scale down its storage business after reports that it may sell its hard disk drive business to Western Digital for ¥70bn to ¥100bn ($662-945.5m). Fujitsu issued a statement today, saying: "There was an article in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper today regarding Fujitsu’s hard disk drive …

Channel Register 2 Oct 2008, 10:40
'We'll sell 10m PS3s inside one year,' says Sony

Still no sign of a price cut, though

Sony Computer Entertainment America chief Jack Tretton has forecast that the firm will have sold 10m PlayStation 3s by the end of its current financial year. According to a Reuters, Tretton said yesterday that the firm’s “in good shape” and “about 30 per cent ahead of where we should be” in terms of global sales. The firm’s …

Reg Hardware 2 Oct 2008, 10:47
Remote access tech nabs smut-fan laptop theft suspect

Busted while gawking at norks

A US victim of a laptop theft was able to recover his laptop after using remote access software to log in and monitor what the thief was doing. A thief pinched Jose Caceres's laptop on 4 September after he left it on top of his car roof while carrying goods into his home in White Plains, a town in New York state about 40km …

Crime 2 Oct 2008, 10:55
Ofcom to create 116 bureaucracies

Proper freephone calls'n'all

UK regulator Ofcom is pondering how to best allocate the new vexation - as opposed to emergency - numbers mandated by the EU, to be standardised across Europe as freephone numbers starting 116. The UN has already proposed that 116111 be adopted around the world as a number for children in distress to call. To this the EU has …

Telecoms 2 Oct 2008, 10:56
Philips PET723 portable DVD player

Review Marriage twixt DVD player and digital photo frame

Combining a portable DVD player with a digital photo frames sounds like a neat idea. But the two aren’t the best of bedfellows, especially when you equip them with a low-resolution screen. The vast majority of portable DVD players sport a laptop-style clamshell chassis. With the PET723, Philips has abandoned this design. The …

Reg Hardware 2 Oct 2008, 11:02
US sky marshals submit to Heart of Gold randomware

Nobody could have predicted this

Californian securo-researchers are pleased to announce that America's pistol-packing undercover airline lawmen are considering the use of their cutting-edge unpredictability 'ware. The University of Southern California (USC) calls its security-operations randomness software ARMOR (Assistant for Randomized Monitoring Over …

Policing 2 Oct 2008, 11:03
Riverbed settles de-dupe tech dispute

$11 million flows to Quantum

Riverbed and Quantum have settled their legal dispute over patented de-duplication technology, with the former coughing up $11m to release itself from all claims. Both companies have cancelled their legal assaults on each other. Riverbed uses de-duplication technology in its Steelhead WAN acceleration products, so as to pump …

Storage 2 Oct 2008, 11:09
DVLA: A licence to bill

Selling your data to... well, anyone

Why worry about the government losing your data, when for a small fee they’ll cheerfully hand it over to criminals and big business anyway? The question of when, how and to whom the DVLA ought to pass out your personal data is one that has surfaced at regular intervals, ever since the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing …

Government 2 Oct 2008, 11:42
Apple probes poison-pumping Mac claim

Yet to find toxins in 'new computer' niff

Apple has found "no evidence" to justify a claim that new Macs are releasing toxic gases, it said yesterday. Last week, French newspaper Liberation reported that a lab worker - who refused to be named - employed by the state-run Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) alleged that there was more to the 'freshly …

Reg Hardware 2 Oct 2008, 11:57
UK minister looks for delete key on user generated content

Burnham lets slip UK.gov real view of the net

The UKCCIS is go, with the aim of making the internet safe for kids. But is this the beginning of the end of the internet as we know it, or just a Minister reaching for the inevitable soundbite to round off a PR triumph? As we reported, Monday saw the launch of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS). This is one of …

Government 2 Oct 2008, 12:22
T-Mobile launches 3G broadband sharing station

Pretty little dock for multi-user wireless web

T-Mobile is on a mission to get all laptop users familiar with 3G, and so has unveiled a docking station for its 3G mobile broadband dongle. T-Mobile's Mobile Broadband Share Dock The Mobile Broadband Share Dock allows multiple users - although T-Mobile recommends no more than three of them at any one time - to share the …

Reg Hardware 2 Oct 2008, 12:34
Asus gets new girl as Eee lass makes Mac move

Asus' famous Eee PC beach babe has met her match: a new lass snapped with the Small, Cheap Computer maker's N10 notebook-not-netbook. Perhaps in a fit of pique, the original Eee girl - who has already seen off several pretenders to her position as the world's best-known portable PC user - has been spotted enjoying the …

Reg Hardware 2 Oct 2008, 12:38
HBOS could shift 2,000 IT jobs to India

Hyderabad Bangalore or Sangli

Halifax Bank of Scotland is considering moving as many as 2,000 backoffice and IT jobs to India. Executives flew out to Bangalore this week to meet possible offshoring partners. According to papers seen by the Mirror, offshore delivery of IT functions is a central part of its cost-cutting plans. The trip by 11 execs cost £45, …

IT Director 2 Oct 2008, 12:49
California train smash driver sent text seconds before disaster

Investigators get to work on sequence of events

The driver of a Los Angeles commuter train that crashed into an oncoming freight locomotive last month, killing 25, was texting seconds before the impact, investigators confirmed today. The National Transportation Safety Board has been probing claims that Robert Sanchez, 46, missed a red signal because he was distracted by his …

Mobile 2 Oct 2008, 13:02
'First production-line energy weapon' now shipping

Northrop delivers 'push-button' electric raygun to USAF

American weaponry colossus Northrop Grumman says it has delivered the first production-line solid state energy weapon to the US Air Force. However, the "Vesta II" raygun module doesn't have enough power to meet US military goals for combat applications. At the Northrop raygun test range. Vesta II is described by the company …

Government 2 Oct 2008, 13:18
Daylight savings shift to cause phone havoc Down Under

Strewth!

Unsuspecting Aussies could be in for a spot of aggro this weekend, because Down Under network operator Telstra has warned that some phones won’t support the country’s upcoming daylight savings adjustment. Daylight savings will come into effect three weeks earlier than usual this weekend in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, …

Reg Hardware 2 Oct 2008, 13:33
Ecommerce standard tightens up wireless security

PCI DSS update

A revised version of an important security standard for ecommerce merchants was published on Wednesday. Version 1.2 of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) mostly tweaks and clarifies the existing framework for the secure processing of credit card data. The 12 existing requirements - covering areas such …

Security 2 Oct 2008, 14:34
Messenger closes on Mercury for second fly-by

Cameras at the ready...

NASA's Messenger spacecraft is closing on Mercury for a second fly-by, during which it will snap 1,200 images of the planet's remaining unseen surface. Back in January, Messenger's initial visit returned some nice photos of roughly 20 per cent of Mercury's hitherto hidden hemisphere. It approached to within around 125 miles ( …

Space 2 Oct 2008, 14:46
Memory gluttony slims suppliers

Micron's mucky manufacturing mess-up

Micron announced truly appalling results for its 2008 fiscal year and its senior executives took a 20 per cent pay cut as a mark of shame. In the crazy world of DRAM and flash, gluttony is slimming - to balance sheets that is. Micron has been contributing to a glut of DRAM and NAND flash memory against a background of falling …

Channel Register 2 Oct 2008, 14:52
Catholic priests cane YouTube over blasphemous vids

Video hosting site slated for host slating videos

A group of US priests has demanded YouTube show Catholics the same respect it shows to Jews when it comes to removing sacrilegeous videos. The Confraternity of the Catholic Clergy claims that the video sharing site and general moral cesspit carries at least 40 videos showing “blasphemous sacrilege against the Most Holy …

Bootnotes 2 Oct 2008, 14:55
WoW gets physical

Gaming vest provides physical feedback from game

The developer behind the 3rd Space sensory videogame vest has updated its jacket to include support for World of Warcraft. The 3rd Space gaming jacket: now with in-built WoW feedback TN Games said that they have enhanced the 3rd Space jacket's game driver to give WoW gamers “three dimensionally accurate tactile sensory …

Reg Hardware 2 Oct 2008, 16:03
Asus adds HDD to Atom-based old-style Eee

Ha! It's the Eee 900HA

Asus' mix'n'match approach to Eee PC specifications and model numbers continues. A version of the Celeron M-based 900 - with an Atom processor and a hard drive - has popped up on Amazon.com. Asus' Eee PC 900HA: now with Atom... now with an HDD Yes, it's the 900HA - Ha! - a 160GB HDD-equipped alternative to the SSD-bearing …

Reg Hardware 2 Oct 2008, 16:24
US cybersecurity shake up would give prez more control

Hands to the tiller

A bill that would see the White House take more involvement and control in leading US cybersecurity efforts has been tabled before Congress. The move follows recent criticism of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The latest DHS authorization bill (PDF) turns the director of National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) into a …

Security 2 Oct 2008, 17:40
California outlaws RFID tag skimming

You looking at my ID?

California governor Schwarzenegger has signed a law making the illegitimate reading of RFID tags illegal, but blocked a measure making the unauthorised tracking of kids equally so. RFID Journal reports that anyone skimming an RFID tag issued by a government agency, health insurance company, employer or library could find …

Wireless 2 Oct 2008, 17:46
Microsoft turns Live Searchers into gamblers

More online bribery

Believe it or not, Microsoft has added a Vegas-style slot program to its Dutch search engine to lure users away from Google. If useful search results don't work, then money or prices probably will. When you search with Google, through Luckysearch.nl or MSN.nl, the reels will spin. You can win LCD screens or laptops or get a …

Applications 2 Oct 2008, 17:47
Feds: Search engine bride was tax evading prostitute

Ask Jeeves for 'A Touch of Brazil'

The wife of Ask.com co-founder David Warthen is facing felony charges after allegedly failing to pay taxes on more than $133,000 she earned as a high-priced interstate prostitute. Federal court papers filed on Tuesday accuse Cristina Warthen - nee Cristina Schultz - of operating "an escort business, in which she exchanged …

Law 2 Oct 2008, 18:07
Google to save US from fossil fuels

'Let life imitate Mountain View'

And we thought Google's work with NASA and private space entrepreneurs was part of a secret plan to escape the Earth before it's too late. Turns out the leading internet ad firm has been devising a plan to save those stuck planet-side as well. In case Google's work with mobile phones, word processing, web browsers, disease …

Science 2 Oct 2008, 19:01
Nokia's free music offer isn't so free

Comes With Music comes with indies - and a price

Few music business people expect Nokia's unlimited free music giveaway to be repeated, or even last very long. There simply aren't enough large consumer companies prepared to take such an expensive gamble. And Nokia's richest partners aren't interested in helping out. But it's a radical and interesting offering that merits …

Music and Media 2 Oct 2008, 21:21
Red Hat chases Redmond with HPC play

Hello? We supercompute too

As the largest supplier of commercialized Linux operating systems, it is a bit embarrassing for Red Hat that in the supercomputer market that gave Linux legs, other distributions own the high performance computing (HPC) space. That includes Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, but also a smattering of other Linuxes. Enter, …

Servers 2 Oct 2008, 21:48
Facebook picks Dublin for international HQ

Top o' the morning...bitch

Social networking website Facebook plans to establish a new "international headquarters" in the Irish capital of Dublin. The Dublin HQ will house Facebook's sales and support staff catering to its Europe, Middle East, and Africa users, the Irish Times reports. Its current commercial office in London will not be affected by …

Business 2 Oct 2008, 21:51
Bastard Gator child dies sudden death

'Spyware king' rests in pieces

It seems that one of the world's most notorious adware outfits has died. Again. An anonymous tipster tells Valleywag that life has ended for Jellycloud, an online behavioral advertising startup that arose from the remnants of the infamous Gator Corporation. Famously, Gator changed its name to Claria in October 2003 in an …

Malware 2 Oct 2008, 22:58
IBM, EMC, Microsoft blasted for 'REST rip-off'

Not just 'idiotic' - 'misleading' too

IBM, EMC, Microsoft and others have been blasted by the father of Representational State Transfer (REST) for making "misleading" and "idiotic" claims about a proposed specification for applications to talk to different vendors' content management systems (CMS). Picking on last month's over-hyped Content Management …

Software 2 Oct 2008, 23:07