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29th October 2008 Archive

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  • TomTom ships Go x40 satnav series

    New road-savvy range released in UK

    The TomTom Go x40 Live range consisting of the Go 540, 740 and the flagship 940 - first seen at IFA in August - has been officially launched in the UK. All three models have a 4.3in, 480 x 272 pixel display, but while the 540 and 740 only have 1GB and 2GB, respectively, of on-board storage, the 940 has a meatier 4GB memory. …

    Reg Hardware 29 Oct 2008, 00:02

  • Yahoo! begs world+dog for free engineering

    'Opens' code for social networking's dying breath

    After announcing last week that it will lay off 1,400 employees, Yahoo! managers have birthed a new strategy that could recoup much of its soon-to-be-lost engineering talent: Get somebody else to do the work for free. Today, the Sunnyvale-based stagnant engineer pond officially released what it's calling Yahoo! Open Strategy ( …

    Developer 29 Oct 2008, 00:30

  • NetApp's de-duping VTL arrives

    Finally answers Data Domain, Quantum, and EMC

    NetApp has added block-level de-duplication to its Virtual Tape Library (VTL) product line and claims an up to 20:1 de-duplication ratio. At last, the company has an answer to Data Domain, Quantum, and EMC. Until now, NetApp VTLs used hardware compression only and achieved a 50 to 60 per cent reduction in data volume. With VTL …

    Storage 29 Oct 2008, 02:32

  • What's to become of Fujitsu Siemens?

    Hopes for Happy Christmas

    It could be a happy Christmas for Fujitsu Siemens Computers, with its continuing existence confirmed by that date. FSC is jointly-owned by Fujitsu and Siemens. In a renewed rush to become profitable, Siemens bosses have looked at FSC and thought they could get a better return on their capital elsewhere. They have been talking …

    Storage 29 Oct 2008, 05:02

  • Vodafone pitches Comic Sans as the next Crazy Frog

    Oooh, I love your dingbatz

    The search for the next ringtone - a product that costs nothing but customers will willingly pay for - has finally borne fruit with the launch of FlipFont, a Vodafone service enabling punters to change the text font on their handset. Vodafone customers with a Nokia N73 or N95, experiencing a certain sense of emptiness having …

    Mobile 29 Oct 2008, 07:02

  • Eee PC maker readies Android phone for 2009

    Could be more successful than its Windows Mobile devices

    Eee PC maker Asus will release a Google Android-based smartphone during the first six months of 2009. So say unnamed company sources mentioned by DigiTimes, which suggests there's something in the claim. It's also said that the phone could initially appear only in Asus' native territory, Taiwan. Later, it may be tweaked for …

    Reg Hardware 29 Oct 2008, 08:04

  • Liberty: Observer story takes liberties

    Updated Newspaper conjures data endorsement for mobile operators

    The civil rights group Liberty has rubbished a newspaper report that it has been approached by several UK mobile operators in an attempt to win its public support for their data protection policies. If such an approach had been made it would have been rejected on principle, Liberty told The Register. The lead of The Observer …

    Mobile 29 Oct 2008, 09:02

  • Pioneer defeats Samsung in plasma panel patent spat

    $59m damages awarded

    Pioneer has prevailed in its legal battle with Samsung over who owns key plasma display technologies. Samsung will have to cough up $59.3m (£38m/€47m) to Pioneer after the US District Court for Eastern Texas ruled that its display division, Samsung SDI, had flouted Pioneer's intellectual property rights, specifically a pair of …

    Reg Hardware 29 Oct 2008, 09:07

  • Eee PC line to gain gamer-friendly graphics chip

    Why, oh why?

    Asus has let slip that it's working on an Eee PC netbook with a discrete graphics chip for all you gamers who want to play the latest titles on the move without having to lug a 15in Alienware around. That, apparently, is what a company spokesman said recently, bizarre as it may seem. Details are scarce, so it's impossible to …

    Reg Hardware 29 Oct 2008, 09:08

  • HP introduces stylish VIA Intel-based netbook

    Older C7-M models sidelined as 'education' machines

    It's official, HP has launched its new netbook, the Mini 1000, and it's ditched VIA's C7-M processor in favour of Intel's Atom. HP's Mini 1000: VIA out, Intel in Spinning its previous Small, Cheap Computer, the VIA-based Mini-Note 2133 as just an "education-focused" product, HP pitched the 1000 at "internet-centric …

    Reg Hardware 29 Oct 2008, 10:08

  • EPO to give definitive ruling on software patents

    An end to all the fuss?

    The European Patent Office (EPO) has asked its ultimate legal authority to look at the European Patent Convention (EPC) and issue advice on the patentability of software. The EPO said that such advice was necessary to ensure the uniform application of the EPC. EPO President Alison Brimelow has referred the contentious issue to …

    Small Biz 29 Oct 2008, 10:11

  • Government negotiating on tax credit refund

    Circles EDS

    HMRC is in 'delicate negotiations' with EDS on retrieving money the firm owes, according to the Treasury's parliamentary secretary. The firm, now part of HP, agreed to pay HM Revenue and Customs £71m following severe IT problems over tax credits in 2003, with £26.5m of that discounted from future government business. HMRC had …

    Government 29 Oct 2008, 10:30

  • Fraudsters get into the cloud

    Fraud as a service persists post-Dark Market

    Hackers are applying the ideas of cloud computing to online fraud in a move that means even technically illiterate crooks can move into cybercrime. Fraud as a service products are being punted through underground forums, according to Uri Rivner, head of new technologies at RSA's consumer division. This means that for around $ …

    Crime 29 Oct 2008, 10:59

  • NASA probe finds opals in Martian crevices

    Mars became Australian uninhabitable later than thought

    A NASA space probe orbiting Mars has discovered deposits of opals in the mighty Valles Marineris canyon system* east of Tharsis. Opals aren't valuable enough to justify interplanetary trade, but the discovery is significant as it suggests that liquid water existed on Mars a billion years more recently than had been thought. …

    Space 29 Oct 2008, 11:03

  • Thomas tells CEOs told to sort out data protection

    As government proved to be biggest offender

    Information Commissioner Richard Thomas called on CEOs to take more responsibility for data security within their organisation - at the same time as he released figures showing that government is still the worst offender for losing personal data. Since November 2007 the ICO has received 277 notifications of breaches - 80 from …

    Government 29 Oct 2008, 11:11

  • Dell restyles biz-friendly desktop lines

    OptiPlex updated

    Dell has revamped its OptiPlex desktop line, pitching its latest offerings as less power-hungry beasts than before - and easier to tinker with than its rivals' products. Dell's OptiPlex 760 (top) and 960: you want cases, we got 'em Take the OptiPlex 960, for example. It consumes 43 per cent less power than its predecessor …

    Reg Hardware 29 Oct 2008, 11:27

  • Spanish cities surrender to Street View

    Google snoopmobile footage goes live

    We offer our condolences today to the good burghers of Barcelona, Madrid, Seville and Valencia, who are as of right now available for public viewing on Google's all-seeing Street View. Here's a nice snap of Madrid's Plaza de Cibeles: As regular readers will be aware, much has been made of Street View's face-blurring algorithm …

    Bootnotes 29 Oct 2008, 11:35

  • Lenovo schools S10 netbook for colleges

    Transformed into S10e

    Lenovo has recast its IdeaPad S10 Small, Cheap Computer as an education machine, restyling the netbook for schools and colleges by adding an 'e' to the model number. Lenovo's IdeaPad S10: now pitched at schools The S10e sports a 10.2in, 1204 x 600 display; 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor; 512MB of DDR 2 memory; choice of …

    Reg Hardware 29 Oct 2008, 11:43

  • Palm Treo Pro Windows Mobile smartphone

    Review Unusual... but far from unusable

    The Good Book isn't big on things that are half one thing and half another, so the new Palm Treo Pro, which is both a run-of-the-mill Qwerty-keyboard equipped smartphone and a touchscreen handset, may be onto a sticky wicket. Like the man said: “Because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit thee out.” The …

    Reg Hardware 29 Oct 2008, 12:02

  • US Navy SEAL uniforms: Now with built-in tourniquets

    In-pant drawstring arterial clamp threads hit TWAT

    Elite US special-forces troops have now been equipped with special uniforms featuring up to eight built-in drawstring tourniquet systems. Reports have it that thousands of the new anti-bloodloss trouserlegs and sleeves are already in use on the front lines in southwest Asia. Arterial wound? Suits you, sir American military …

    Bootnotes 29 Oct 2008, 12:20

  • Motorola embraces Android, sees Microsoft on the side

    Lays off staff and platforms

    Sanjay Jha, co-CEO at Motorola, is planning another round of layoffs in the mobile division as the group struggles to reduce the range of supported platforms from the existing 15 to something a little more manageable. The plan could be announced formally as soon as Thursday, when Motorola will present its results, the Wall …

    Mobile 29 Oct 2008, 12:32

  • Snow blankets London for Global Warming debate

    How Parliament passed the Climate Bill

    Snow fell as the House of Commons debated Global Warming yesterday - the first October fall in the metropolis since 1922. The Mother of Parliaments was discussing the Mother of All Bills for the last time, in a marathon six hour session. In order to combat a projected two degree centigrade rise in global temperature, the …

    Government 29 Oct 2008, 12:35

  • Co-op IT workers vote on strike action

    Updated Offshoring comes home

    Members of union Unite at the Co-op are voting on possible strike action today to prevent compulsory redundancies when work is moved out to India. French firm Steria took over the Co-op's financial services IT department in 2007. The 176 staff were told in the summer that work would be moved to India and the company was …

    IT Director 29 Oct 2008, 12:50

  • TMS tries to tarnish IBM Quicksilver pitch

    Taking the market temperature

    What's special about IBM's Quicksilver? Texas Memory Systems has launched its RamSan 5000 flash solid state storage product offering one million IOs per second - and it's available now, not in many months time. IBM recently demonstrated one million IOPS from a networked solid state configuration involving 40 or so Fusion-io …

    Storage 29 Oct 2008, 12:52

  • Server saboteur gets six months

    When sysadmins attack

    A US systems administrator has been sentenced to six months in prison for sabotaging his ex-employer's servers. Priyavrat H Patel, 42, of Berlin, Connecticut used to maintain four servers for screwdriver maker Pratt-Read Corp, until the company decided to move the machines. On 25 November 2007 Patel remotely accessed the four …

    Servers 29 Oct 2008, 13:11

  • DHL slashing European IT jobs

    Courier firm parcels up work and sends it to Prague

    Delivery company DHL is halving the number of IT staff it employs and despatching the jobs to Prague in the Czech Republic. DHL IT Services will cut 400 jobs across Europe and the UK. But at the same time it will add 200 people to its service centre in Prague. DHL opened its Czech data centre in 2003 and was mulling a full …

    IT Director 29 Oct 2008, 13:21

  • Ford to build 'boring-EV beating' eco-engine in Bridgend

    'Leccy Tech Brown thinks Think green

    OK, so it's not strictly 'leccy tech, but Ford's EcoBoost petrol engine does suggest a future for near-term environmentally responsible motoring that's a little more attractive than that suggested by this picture of PM Gordon Brown getting gushy over a Think City yesterday. Gordo and Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon were …

    Reg Hardware 29 Oct 2008, 13:47

  • 'Parasitic' Google feels TV's wrath

    What has Sergey ever done for us?

    Your reporter holds TV executives in as much esteem as a flesh-eating virus. But even in the uniquely clueless world of television, they're finally waking up to Google's 'parasitic' nature. C4 chief Andy Duncan has become the latest to awake from his slumber. The problem? Duncan's "cure" will probably only make Google stronger …

    Government 29 Oct 2008, 13:51

  • Emulex chases QLogic over FCoE design wins

    For FCoE's sake

    Emulex is not leaving the storage array FCoE interface business to QLogic and says it could announce a brace of storage vendor design wins by the end of the year. NetApp is the first and so far only vendor to announce native FCoE arrays. It is using QLogic's converged network adapter (CNA) for this. Joe Gervais, a senior …

    Storage 29 Oct 2008, 13:52

  • Samsung demos 0.05mm-thick OLED panel

    Skinnier gadgets on the way

    Clearly unphased by the courtroom kicking its taken from Pioneer, Samsung's display division has demo'd a bendy OLED display. Samsung's flapping OLED Image courtesy Nikkei The 0.05mm-thick screen sheet has a diagonal size of four inches, a resolution of 480 x 272 and a 100,000:1 contrast ratio. Its brightness is rated at …

    Reg Hardware 29 Oct 2008, 15:10

  • Social networking will save us all, says Orange

    Web 2.0 to cure recession, apparently

    A Demos report on social networking commissioned by Orange has reached the unlikely conclusion that social networks provide the best hope for companies in the economic downturn. The report interviewed workers from six companies - including Orange but not limited to those in the IT sector - about how professionals are using …

    Mobile 29 Oct 2008, 15:15

  • BBC's speak you're branes collapses under Brand-Ross sex outrage

    If you love Russell Brand so much why don't you go and live there?

    The BBC's "Have Your Say" online comment forum briefly collapsed this afternoon as the entire population of Britain sought to express HOW INCREDIBE ANGRGY it was about those men being mean to Manuel off Fawlty Towers. The forum's perma-outraged denizens are notorious as the inspiration of the Twat-o-Tron and accompanying …

    Music and Media 29 Oct 2008, 15:17

  • Sanyo intros 'iPhone-on-a-stick' home internet terminal

    No need for netbooks now?

    Japan's Sanyo is to offer locals an internet access terminal looks like a giant Jesus Phone on a stick. Sanyo's Albo: iPhone on a stick Dubbed the "Albo Home Network Viewer", the unit's designed to connect to a home's Wi-Fi network and allow users to hop online and check email, run webcam sessions, send instant messages, …

    Reg Hardware 29 Oct 2008, 15:37

  • Mandelson's dept mulls UK internet power grab

    Exclusive Dark Lord to Nominet: Justify thyself

    Ministers led by Peter Mandelson are considering a power grab at the independent company at the centre of UK's internet infrastructure, The Register can reveal. Mandelson's Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) has asked Nominet, which is in charge of the .co.uk registry, to justify its independence …

    Government 29 Oct 2008, 15:42

  • How do I set my Logitech MX3200 keyboard to GMT?

    Q&A

    I have a Logitech MX 3200 keyboard. It has an LCD panel which tells the time. But how do I adjust it now that the clocks have gone back by one hour? Could you please advise?

    Reg Hardware 29 Oct 2008, 16:07

  • Schneier sticks it to surveillance

    Inglorious five-year snoop-plan

    Security guru Bruce Schneier has challenged the view that privacy and security are at loggerheads, suggesting the real debate is between liberty and control. Schneier, security technologist and CTO of BT Counterpane, made the comments during a keynote address at the RSA Conference in London on Tuesday. He sees ubiquitous …

    ID 29 Oct 2008, 16:30

  • 3M unrolls power-saving laptop screen sheet

    Better brightness for better battery life

    Want to cut the power consumption of your laptop's display? Post-it purveyor 3M has a sheet of film which, it claims, will do just that. The Vikuiti Brightness Enhancement Film - Reflective Polarizer (BEF-RP) allows a laptop's backlight brightness to be reduced without sacrificing the light coming out of the screen. The film …

    Reg Hardware 29 Oct 2008, 16:33

  • DHS cybersecurity boss fights back against critics

    Shot by both sides

    The man in charge of running the Department of Homeland Security's cybersecurity efforts has defended its efforts in the face of congressional criticism. Homeland Security undersecretary defends Robert Jamison, the man in charge of coordinated US government cybersecurity efforts on a day to day basis, told El Reg that …

    Security 29 Oct 2008, 17:31

  • Notorious registrar gets deactivation notice for president's sin

    RIP EstDomains

    EstDomains, a domain name registrar with a reputation for catering to cyber criminals, suffered another blow after the organization that oversees the net's address system said it would revoke the company's right to sell domain names because of a recent fraud conviction in Estonia of its president. In a letter addressed to …

    Security 29 Oct 2008, 18:07

  • Sony and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad quarter

    Profits feeling 90 per cent lighter

    Sony didn't have a terrific second quarter. If the electronics/entertainment conglomerate ran a milk business, its cartons would read thusly: "Have you seen me? 90.1 per cent of our Q2 profits." The cash abduction wasn't unexpected, however. Sony gave warning earlier this month that global economic woes were deflating stock …

    Financial News 29 Oct 2008, 19:45

  • Microsoft taps Dell to build Azure cloud

    Round Rock containerized?

    Cloud computing means a lot of things to a lot of people these days, but if this catch-phrase-of-the-moment has one goal, it's to make huge numbers of independent servers and related storage to support millions of users in such a way that they neither know nor care about how the underlying iron and its software stack is …

    Servers 29 Oct 2008, 20:26

  • Intel, Asus plead with Web 2.0 for notebook of the future

    'The world's first community-designed PCs'

    Ever wonder who's going to invent the next big thing in computers? Just look in the mirror. Of course, we're speaking about the fellow standing next to you. The world's just terribly unfair. But there's also a minute chance some tech innovation is rattling about your synaptic connections too. Intel and Asus are betting on it …

    PCs & Chips 29 Oct 2008, 22:12

  • Silverlight for mobile: what's in, what's out

    PDC Previews first quarter 2009

    Microsoft has scheduled the first quarter of 2009 for the first code drop of Silverlight for mobile devices. And while Silverlight for mobile will be missing some elements in the desktop that have people excited, Microsoft's working to pack in other features increasingly considered standard in the demanding world of mobile …

    Mobile 29 Oct 2008, 22:18

  • Comcast eyes AT&T's American broadband crown

    Pulled up by its VoIP straps

    Comcast is on the verge of surpassing AT&T as America's number one broadband provider. In releasing its Q3 earnings today, the cableco boasted 382,000 new broadband subscribers for the quarter ending September 30 - more additions than AT&T and Verizon combined. That gives Comcast 14.7 million broadband subscribers in total, …

    Financial News 29 Oct 2008, 23:40