11th December 2008 Archive

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Solwise readies multi-gadget powerline networking box

Piggy 6 launched

Got a stack of devices all sharing a single power outlet? Want three of 'em to be networked too? Then how about this VeseNet powerline Ethernet power strip? This £85 Piggy 6 sports six three-pin sockets, all with surge protection and fed from a single, UK-standard plug. The unit also has three 10/100Mb/s Ethernet ports that …

Reg Hardware 11 Dec 2008, 00:02
Microsoft's Silverlight 'so good' it claims Netflix tech jobs

Windows Media Player support redundant

Netflix's decision to dump Microsoft's Windows Media Player for Silverlight will result in 50 technical experts exiting the online movie specialist. The company's adopted Microsoft's browser-based media player and streaming service so customers can download and play movies on their PCs or Macs. Netflix is a trophy customer for …

Applications 11 Dec 2008, 00:05
Microsoft recruits OpenID evangelist

So not Hailstorm

Microsoft has recruited an open-systems digital-identity expert to help give users of Windows services a flexible system of identity and single sign-on. Dick Hardt, co-author of the OpenID 2.0 specification and co-founder of the OpenID Foundation, is joining Microsoft as a partner architect working on consumer, enterprise, and …

Software 11 Dec 2008, 00:49
FCC boss gets knuckle-rapped

Dems brand Martin a martinet

Current FCC chairman Kevin J. Martin may not have broken any specific laws, but he's a leading candidate for America's Worst Boss, he's running a "dysfunctional" agency that has "a very serious morale problem," and he has "manipulated, withheld, or suppressed data, reports, and information." Or so says the (Democrat-only) …

Government 11 Dec 2008, 01:07
The Mother of All Demos — 150 years ahead of its time

It’s not the mouse. It’s what you do with it

Sometime in the late sixties, as Douglas Engelbart was preparing what would one day be called The Mother of All Demos, his boss flew to Washington to meet with the money man. The demo that birthed the modern computer mouse - and so much more - was funded by Bob Taylor, a NASA program manager who would one day take his own place …

Software 11 Dec 2008, 06:10
Titanium puts open source mettle against Adobe AIR

Web devs in deskstopland

Adobe Air is getting an open source rival with Appcelerator Titanium, a new platform designed to let web developers build installable desktop and mobile applications using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Googleton Mountain View, California-based Appcelerator on Monday cooked up a public preview release of Titanium for Windows and …

Developer 11 Dec 2008, 06:22
Memset CEO gets female biz-leaders' award from IBM

'Truly an inspiration to other women'

Famed skydiving hosting-biz queenpin Kate Craig-Wood, head of Memset, last week won an IBM and NatWest sponsored award for successful women in business. Memset representatives informed the Reg: Kate has overcome personal hurdles having undergone a gender reassignment in 2005, which involved numerous operations, whilst still …

Telecoms 11 Dec 2008, 07:02
2008's top three netbooks

Kit of the Year Which Small, Cheap Computers topped the bill?

Launched as a product class in 2007, it was only in 2008 that the netbook hit the big time, with World+Dog rushing to follow Asus and launch one, and the rest of us dashing to buy one. Acer Aspire One Acer's Aspire One was the world's most popular netbook in Q3, and it quickly became our favourite too thanks to its great …

Reg Hardware 11 Dec 2008, 09:02
HP puts Linux on business PCs

Will recession boost open source desktops?

With the economies of the globe heading south - and Linux getting its first real crack at newbie end users not familiar with open source thanks to the burgeoning netbook market, maybe now is the time to start rethinking the use of Linux on commercial desktops. That could be what Hewlett-Packard was thinking as it began …

PCs & Chips 11 Dec 2008, 09:17
WordPad zero-day adds to MS security woes

Double trouble

Microsoft bumper patch batch on Tuesday failed to address not just one but two zero-day vulnerabilities, each of which has become the scope of targeted attacks. Tuesday brought eight bulletins from Microsoft addressing 28 vulnerabilities. As previously reported, the batch fails to address a new Internet Explorer vulnerability …

Security 11 Dec 2008, 10:17
Geeks Guide₂... Christmas - Part III

40% off at Reg Books

So we come to the third part of our trilogy of festive books, all at 40% OFF the list price. From Chocolate to WWII, Doctor Who to the Pentium, there’s something for everyone here and every order placed will be despatched same day, even the ones that qualify for free P&P. Cadbury's Purple Reign We start with something that is …

Site News 11 Dec 2008, 10:47
Netbook SSD usage to fall under 10% in 2009

Market watcher predicts big shift to HDDs

Has the solid-state drive had its day - at least as a key component of Small, Cheap Computers? That's what one Asian market watcher reckons. This week, DRAMeXchange forecast that the percentage of notebooks shipping with SSDs has plunged through 2008 and will fall to new lows in 2009. According to the company's research, in …

Reg Hardware 11 Dec 2008, 10:49
Love-triangle astronaut nappies will not be trial evidence

Plods didn't want them, says Nowak PR

Representatives of Lisa Nowak, the former NASA astronaut famous for allegedly plotting nefarious deeds against a love-triangle rival for the affections of a space shuttle pilot, have contacted the Reg to point out an error in our coverage of the case. Captain Nowak's PR, Marti Mackenzie, would particularly like to make clear …

Space 11 Dec 2008, 10:51
Europe tells states to get with the mobile TV programme

DVB-H for all

The European Commission has told member states how to encourage mobile TV services to be implemented quickly. What are the criteria? Services should be based on DVB-H and set up to ensure cross-Europe compatibility. Operators should be made to bid for licences with Ts&Cs that ensure services work well indoors and have …

Reg Hardware 11 Dec 2008, 11:12
Dell confuses with festive SATA/Santa mix-up

Hard Disk

Santa usually only visits well-behaved children, but this year he’s decided to drop in on the website of PC manufacturer Dell. Sata - aka Santa - according to Dell An eagle-eyed Register Hardware reader has discovered that the search term “SATA” will prompt Dell’s US website to ask customers “Did you mean: "santa”? We didn …

Reg Hardware 11 Dec 2008, 11:16
EMC wants more of the data warehousing pie

Virtual server mining and VDI analytics

EMC has set up a data warehousing/business intelligence competency centre to tie its virtualised servers and desktops, Clariion and Symmetrix storage, to DW/BI application vendors' software. Recently HP announced a tie-up with Oracle to build the specialised HP Oracle Database Machine for DW and BI apps. Sun has also been …

Channel Register 11 Dec 2008, 11:35
Max Planck Institute punts 'hot, young housewives'

Mag cover Chinese calligraphy cock-up

Chinese-savvy subscribers of the German-language Max Planck Research got a unexpected treat when the magazine featured a cover punting "hot, young housewives" in an ad for a Hong Kong strip club. The publication apparently believed the text "depicted classical Chinese characters in a non-controversial context" but, as Oz's The …

Bootnotes 11 Dec 2008, 11:37
No Zune phone at CES, says Microsoft

Pink rumours still doing rounds, though

Microsoft has officially silenced speculation that it will launch a Zune phone at the Consumer Electronics Show next month. In a short but sweet statement, Brian Seitz, MS' Zune chief, told US website Gizmodo that it won't announce a "Zune phone at CES”. Talk of a Zune phone has been doing the rounds for a while. Earlier this …

Reg Hardware 11 Dec 2008, 11:39
Yahoo! waves goodbye to 1,500 workers

'Layoffs unfortunately unavoidable', says Yang

Yahoo! began laying off more than 1,500 employees yesterday as part of the struggling company’s latest painful round of job cuts. The internet giant has swung the job axe across all departments at Yahoo!, with human resources and finance workers reportedly expected to take the biggest hit. Lame duck CEO Jerry Yang told Yahoo …

Financial News 11 Dec 2008, 11:41
iPhone owners to help clean up vomit

iVom

An army of busybodies wielding expensive portable telephones is set to be unleashed on Britain's streets from today, as part of a campaign to pester councils into fixing potholes and cleaning up vomit. Digital democracy charity MySociety has launched an iPhone app version of its successful FixMyStreet website. FixMyStreet …

Government 11 Dec 2008, 11:42
Sony sued for collecting kids' data

Don't sign up with strangers?

Sony BMG is being sued in the US for collecting data on children without their parents' consent. A $1m payout to settle the suit is reportedly close to agreement, Bloomberg reports. Information on 30,000 kids under 13 was allegedly collected by music label Sony BMG Music Entertainment in violation of the Children's Online …

Law 11 Dec 2008, 11:45
Nortel shares sink on titsup fears

Another 20 per cent

Nortel shares fell another 20 per cent yesterday on stories that it has hired lawyers to explore filing for bankruptcy if its latest restructuring fails. The telecoms equipment maker has watched its shares fall from $15 at the start of the year to just 49 cents today. The company said yesterday that its $400m a year savings …

Financial News 11 Dec 2008, 11:51
High-spec iPod-friendly wireless music streaming kit launched

Audioengine adds dock

US AV company Audioengine has hooked up dockable iPods direct to its wireless music streaming technology, courtesy of an transmitter dongle the plugs right into the player. Audioengine's W2: iPod not included... Dubbed the W2, the iPod adaptor uses the same proprietary 2.4GHz wireless technology as the company's W1 set - …

Reg Hardware 11 Dec 2008, 12:12
UK government negotiates new comms framework

Could be worth £170m to everyone except 3

The Office of Government Commerce contracts arm, OGCbuying.solutions, has negotiated new contracts with communications suppliers that could save public-sector organisations £40m. The deals, which could be worth £170m a year over the next four years, provide pre-authored paperwork that public-sector bodies can use to set up …

Networks 11 Dec 2008, 12:18
USB fuel-cell prototype unveiled

25 hours of power

A portable fuel-cell’s been unveiled that its maker claims can provide up to 25 hours of power and support every device from MP3 players to mobile phones. MTI Micro's Mobion fuel-cell: prototype Mobion is still at the prototype stage, but manufacturer MTI Micro has promised to commercially launch the fuel-cell pack, which …

Reg Hardware 11 Dec 2008, 12:46
PS3 Home is '2005 tech', says Xbox exec

Live vs Home. Fight, fight, fight...

Sony's Home hasn’t even been out for 24 hours yet, but the PlayStation 3 online community has already attracted criticism from arch-rival Microsoft. Aaron Greenberg, Group Product Manager for Xbox 360, told website Kotaku that he isn’t sure if Home is what people want, because it “feels like 2005 tech in 2008” and “Second Life …

Reg Hardware 11 Dec 2008, 12:52
Junk science and booze tax - a study in spin

Where's the beer?

Putting the price of alcohol up to a minimum of 40p a unit would keep 41,000 people a year out of hospital, save the NHS £116m a year, and avoid 12,400 cases of unemployment, a report from Sheffield University claimed last week. These appear to be remarkably precise predictions. The government used the report - widely quoted in …

Government 11 Dec 2008, 12:55
Groupware put to the test and found wanting

Business productivity mini-poll delivers your verdict

Over 300 of you responded to the business productivity mini-poll. Thank you very much. But what did you say? Is groupware a dog or a god? Well, let's put it this way, when it comes to productivity, it currently ranks just above Search/Discovery and Graphical Tools. And they're the least popular. Of the tools in use today, …

Productivity 11 Dec 2008, 12:56
Intel takes legal swing at Korean antitrust decision

Chipzilla insists 'biz practices are fair and lawful'

Intel is taking South Korea’s fair trade watchdog to court after it decided to fine Chipzilla for undercutting its semiconductor rivals. The company filed a formal complaint at the Seoul High Court yesterday in an effort to overturn the Korea Fair Trade Commission’s decision. The watchdog ordered Intel to cough up $18.6m for …

Channel Register 11 Dec 2008, 12:58
BBC, ITV propose 'open' TV-over-net platform

Project Kangaroo alternative jump-started

Having had their plan to combine their broadband TV services kyboshed by the Competition Commmission, the BBC and ITV today said they plan to do it anyway - but this time to open up the infrastructure to all comers. The two broadcasters, along with BT, said they want to foster a "common industry approach" that's "open for all …

Music and Media 11 Dec 2008, 13:02
Mozilla security boss bails

Snyder bids open source browser outfit buh-bye

Mozilla's security chief, Window Snyder, is leaving the Mozilla Corporation at the end of the year. Prior to joining the Mozilla Foundation’s business arm in September 2006 Snyder worked for Microsoft as a security strategist, playing a key role in overseeing Windows XP SP2, and before that at security consultancy @stake. …

Security 11 Dec 2008, 13:06
Broadcasters and ISPs cosy up for iPlayer on Freeview

BBC, BT, ITV standards push for on demand telly

The BBC, ITV and BT are working on technical standards aimed at offering on demand TV over broadband to the UK's more than 15 million Freeview households. The trio announced proposals today that to build a "standards based open environment for broadband connected digital television receivers". They invited other public service …

Networks 11 Dec 2008, 13:16
~~Arse~~ASA rules 'Feck' non-offensive

Drink ad cleared

A poster for Magners cider that featured the words 'Feck off bees' has been cleared by the UK's advertising watchdog. The word 'feck' is unlikely to be seen as a swearword, said the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). In contrast, the ASA ruled last month that the word 'bloody' is an offensive word. The poster for Magners …

Law 11 Dec 2008, 13:18
Datawind PocketSurfer 2R internet palmtop

Review More 'cheaps' than a budgie

Datawind's PocketSurfer 2R is all about delivering the internet on the move, for next to nowt. And that's all. It's not a phone. It's not a fashion statement. The 2R costs £199 and, if you're careful, there's nothing else to pay to go online for the first 12 months. Go online to check your email, surf the web, get Google to …

Reg Hardware 11 Dec 2008, 13:43
Hawaii says 'aloha' to Phoenix electric SUVs, pick-ups

'Leccy Tech Book 'em, Danno!

The US state of Hawaii has announced not one but two electric vehicle deals, all in the space of a week. The first is with Better Place, which has now added the volcanic paradise to a list of places in which it will be installing its charge post and battery-swap station infrastructure, a list that includes Israel, Denmark, …

Reg Hardware 11 Dec 2008, 14:22
Steering the IT Function

Running a tight ship, or running in circles?

The exact quote is proving elusive, but to paraphrase Sir Macca when asked whether Oasis sounded anything like The Beatles, ‘You’d have to be riding blindfold, backwards across the desert on a camel not to have noticed.’ And similarly blindingly obvious is that, for IT to be done right, it needs some level of co-ordination – an …

Systems 11 Dec 2008, 15:06
Mac supremacists annexe Maidstone

The other Stormfront parks its tanks in Kent

As of Saturday, the good burghers of Maidstone will be able to enjoy the well-stocked premises of what's described as the "biggest flagship store" of Blighty's "largest independently owned Apple Premium Reseller" - the snappily-named "Stormfront" chain whose tentacles already extend to Exeter, Plymouth and Salisbury. Well, we …

Bootnotes 11 Dec 2008, 15:08
Hutton robs forces, pours MoD cash into UK arms biz

Analysis Carriers into touch, copters & vehicles go porkbarrel

A long-awaited announcement regarding the British forces' ongoing equipment programme has just been made by Defence Minister John Hutton. As had been expected, Mr Hutton has decided to pour cash into the lame-duck UK helicopter industry and to postpone spending on the Royal Navy's planned aircraft carriers. He has also decided …

Government 11 Dec 2008, 16:02
iPhone gets virtual Windows desktop

'Bout time too

Virtual desktop provider Citrix has, again, announced it'll be developing a client for the iPhone, providing the option of a Windows desktop on an iPhone: albeit at a distance. Citrix runs services such as GoToMyPC that allow remote access to desktop computers, as well as more comprehensive virtual desktop products that allow …

Mobile 11 Dec 2008, 16:05
Chinese researchers inadvertently release IE7 exploit code

Butterfingers

Chinese security researchers have admitted that they inadvertently released code that might be misused to exploit an unpatched Internet Explorer 7 vulnerability. Scripts to pull off the trick were already on sale in underground forums before the inadvertent release. Even so, anything that increases the likelihood of digital …

Malware 11 Dec 2008, 16:56
Microsoft Surface helps Earth stand still

Tabletop PC crops up in new sci-fi flick

Microsoft Surface has already wowed punters around the globe. But now the interactive coffee table’s made the Earth stand still, sort of. Klaatu barada nikto! (trans. 'You will be ejected from the cinema if caught filming it with your iPhone') Register Hardware’s hacks almost choked on their popcorn last night when they …

Reg Hardware 11 Dec 2008, 17:32
Google brings Street View to Windows Mobile and S60

But no pictures of Blighty as yet

Google's latest version of mobile mapping software finally brings Street View to mobile phones - excepting the iPhone, which gained that capability when the iPhone 2.2 Software Update was released on November 21. It's a little hit-and-miss to access a Street View image, as you need to select the place you're interested in …

Mobile 11 Dec 2008, 18:05
Sun shutters Scottish manufacturing site

130 jobs axed

Sun Microsystems is to close its manufacturing operations in the Linlithgow, Scotland, site with about 130 people losing their jobs. There are about 600 permanent positions at the plant and 300 contract jobs. The Linlithgow site's other operations, such as Sun's remote monitoring centre, a solution center, an IT networks …

Hardware 11 Dec 2008, 18:09
World's first 'thought images' seen on screen

'The dream police, they live inside of my head...'

Asking 'shall we watch a film?' could soon be replaced by 'shall we watch a dream?' For the first time, researchers have successfully reproduced images on a PC screen that were captured inside a human brain. According to several online sources, Japan's ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories first showed a group of test …

Reg Hardware 11 Dec 2008, 18:19
Rogue Android apps rack up hidden charges

Turns on, tunes in, you pay

Applications installed on an Android handset are capable of automatically switching on data connectivity, and roaming, so their owners run up huge data charges. Several US users have complained of unexpected data charges being run up on their G1 handsets, and Engadget reports that T-Mobile has put out a statement clarifying …

Mobile 11 Dec 2008, 18:24
Choruss: legal file sharing on campus

Stealth plan gets a name

The plan to provide US students with compulsory flat-fee music finally has a name, it emerged this week. Choruss LLC will provide participating universities with a replacement for their current subscription services such as Rhapsody, and has the backing of the the EFF and the tacit support of the RIAA. That alone indicates the …

Music and Media 11 Dec 2008, 18:32
Cisco may sell blade servers

Let the blade wars begin

A Cisco Systems executive has implied that Cisco might enter the blade server computing market and compete directly with Dell, HP and IBM, who all partner Cisco. Marie Hatter, Cisco's VP for network systems and security systems, did not deny that Cisco was entering the blade server market, instead saying: "If the blade server …

Data Networking 11 Dec 2008, 18:49
Clouds mass over data warehousing

Comment DAAStardly goings-on

Suddenly the data warehousing sector seems to be hotting up. There's EMC's new competency centre and now Kognitio's in-memory data warehouse which threatens to brush server vendors aside if the idea gets adopted big time. How does that one work? The story goes like this: Cluster lots of servers together in a shared-nothing …

Data Networking 11 Dec 2008, 19:18
Telegraph.co.uk succumbs to typo irony

Publish first, correct later

Revenge is a dish best served cold, it's said. When it comes to the internet, editorial mistakes are best when the article in question tackles the subject of typing and those producing the piece have flagged up other peoples' gaffes. And so to The Daily Telegraph, which reported online Thursday how a UK judge slammed lawyers …

Odds and Sods 11 Dec 2008, 19:48
Why port your Firefox add-on to Internet Explorer?

Add-on-Con Because your competitors won't, says Microsoft

Is there a good reason to build a browser add-on for Internet Explorer as well as Firefox? Yes, according to Microsoft IE evangelist Joshua Allen. Building an add-on for IE is so difficult, he said, your browser app competitors won't even bother. "It's harder to write apps for IE - so it's a harder market for competitors to …

Software 11 Dec 2008, 19:57
Latest Firefox beta gets touchy on Mac

Gives Apple users the finger

Newer MacBook owners can set their fingers to work on the latest beta build of Firefox, which adds multi-touch gesture support for trackpads. Mozilla this week carted out Beta 2 of Firefox 3.1 sporting new toys like a private browsing mode, improved rendering, a faster JavaScript engine, and stability fixes. Unique to the Mac …

Software 11 Dec 2008, 19:59
Brit consultancy wants to scrooge IBM out of mainframe upgrades

Less MIPS, more IT budget

It's a dog-eat-dog world out there in the global economy, and British mainframe consultancy and performance expert Macro 4 is putting its mouth where IBM is hoping its upgrade money will be - but maybe not, if mainframe shops take Macro 4 up on a dare. Today, Macro 4 announced a "no fee, no gain" deal that will pit the company …

Servers 11 Dec 2008, 22:08
Lenovo talks potential acquisition

IBM's ex-PC biz goes south?

Lenovo, the Beijing-based PC manufacturer that acquired IBM's PC unit for $1.75bn in 2005, is in talks to buy another computer builder, this time in Brazil. The company, the world's fourth-largest supplier of computers, said Thursday it had held "certain preliminary discussions with independent third parties" on acquisition or …

Channel Register 11 Dec 2008, 22:25
Atari promises it won't suck this time

Betting big on MMOs

Atari is quite simply a brand with too much history to let die, despite it rarely being more than a financial sinkhole since the video game crash of 1983. Invariably, there's a company eager to dig up Atari's corpse and resurrect the namesake in order to use its notoriety as an arcade, game console, and home computer pioneer …

Music and Media 11 Dec 2008, 22:35
Security pros groan as zero-day hits Microsoft's SQL Server

Meanwhile, IE 7 attacks on the rise

Yet another zero-day vulnerability has been identified in a popular Microsoft product, this time in its SQL Server database. The revelation comes as miscreants are stepping up attacks on a particularly nasty bug in the latest version of Internet Explorer. The SQL Server bug could allow the remote execution of malicious code, …

Security 11 Dec 2008, 22:46
Apple files 3D-interface patent

Inspired breakthrough or sci-fi fantasy?

The US Patent and Trademark Office today published a collection of Apple filings, including a 3D interface that may herald the most radical - or, dare we say, the most bizarre - usability development since Doug Englebart first demoed a window-based GUI 40 years ago yesterday. Described in excruciating detail by AppleInsider, …

Operating Systems 11 Dec 2008, 23:27
Google web toolkit upgrade due Q1

JBoss to support GWT

Google has pinned-down release plans for the next update to its Web Toolkit (GWT), stating version 1.6 is on target for a Q1 2009 debut. "As with any development work, its hard to exactly predict when things will land, so we've stayed away from specific dates and releases past the next one," wrote Andrew Bowers on the GWT blog …

Developer 11 Dec 2008, 23:40
Microsoft's IE8 app dev survival guide

Add-on-Con Minimal breakage

Will Internet Explorer 8 break your existing IE add-ons and IE-dependent desktop applications? It may. But those breaks are easily mended, says Matt Crowley, Microsoft program manager for IE "extensibility." "We've made a few changes to the binary extensibility model, but not too many," Crowley told developers this afternoon …

Software 11 Dec 2008, 23:43
Red Hat and Novell duke it out in real time

There's money in them thar milliseconds

When it comes to processing financial transactions, money can be won or lost in milliseconds. That's why high throughput, low latency, and consistent latency for transactions are the name of the game. Financial institutions are fanatical about their market data and trading systems, and Linux distros want to cash in on that. …

Operating Systems 11 Dec 2008, 23:58