9th January 2009 Archive

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Flying duck toy challenges armchair hunters

CES on Video All the fun of bloodsports in your living room...

Click here to view a more bandwidth-frienly version of the video Can't see the video? Download Flash Player from Adobe.com More CES Video Reports... Samsung boffins demo transparent OLED screen Lenovo dual-display laptop shows its stripes In action: the Powermat wireless gadget charger WowWee demos latest spycam …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 00:02
AMD claims 'fastest graphics supercomputer ever'

Down on the farm? Or up in cloud?

IT vendors seem to believe that if you say the word "cloud" enough, an marginal business idea will yield up revenues and profits. Much the same thing happened with grid computing - remember that? - before it morphed with utility computing into the even more nebulous cloud moniker. So it is with the AMD Fusion Render Cloud, …

Servers 9 Jan 00:25
VeriSign remedies massive SSL blunder (kinda, sorta)

Analysis Rolling the dice with the internet's future

After being publicly outed issuing web credentials that were vulnerable to attacks that could allow criminals to spoof the encryption certificates of any website on the internet, VeriSign has issued assurances it has neutralized any real-world threat. Tim Callan, vice president of VeriSign's product marketing, has said that …

Security 9 Jan 00:54
Samsung boffins demo transparent OLED screen

CES on Video And another one that folds in two

Click here to view a more bandwidth-frienly version of the video Click here to view a more bandwidth-frienly version of the video Can't see the videos? Download Flash Player from Adobe.com More CES Video Reports... Flying duck toy challenges armchair hunters Lenovo dual-display laptop shows its stripes In action …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 04:44
iRiver edges in angular photo frame/ web browser/ clock/ pmp

CES Minimalist media player too

Good news for fans of iRiver, a company that often gives the impression it doesn't know where Europe is to be found on the map. iRiver used CES to demo the Wave Home, a rather handy looking "multimedia communication device" that's part PMP, part web browser, part VoIP and IM device, and part digital picture frame/alarm clock …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 08:02
CES DivX rolls out DivX 7

DivX today launched DivX 7. Hoorah. The major points of the new version are: it's still free, you can get "high-performance true HD" - 1080p to the rest of us - playback, and it now supports H.264 HD files - in a .mkv container - and AAC surround sound. DivX also announced the launch of the DivX Plus Certification programme …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 09:02
HP hunts down 'rare' BladeSystem problem

Only one power supply domain and if it fails ....

A power supply failure in HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosures can cause the whole BladeSystem to fail, the firm has admitted. According to an HP advisory note: "HP has identified a potential, yet extremely rare issue with HP BladeSystem c7000 Enclosure 2250W Hot-Plug Power Supplies manufactured prior to March 20, 2008. "This …

Servers 9 Jan 09:16
Obama urged to relax US tech restrictions

Security regs 'quietly undermine' American strength

A heavyweight advisory report has said that current US technology controls and regulation on foreign researchers are "broken" and "quietly undermine our national security and economic well-being". The authors - including former national security adviser Brent Scowcroft - recommend that President Obama should streamline the rules …

Government 9 Jan 09:23
Nokia N97 touchscreen webphone demo'd

CES on Video Stitch that, iPhone

Click here to view a more bandwidth-friendly version of the video Can't see the videos? Download Flash Player from Adobe.com More CES Video Reports... Samsung boffins demo transparent OLED screen Flying duck toy challenges armchair hunters Lenovo dual-display laptop shows its stripes In action: the Powermat …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 10:02
Algae-fuelled* airliner test successful

Update Scum rises in Texas

The world's first test of a passenger airliner partially powered by fuel made from algae took place successfully yesterday in Texas. The Houston Chronicle reports that the jet, an unmodified Boeing 737-800 operated by US carrier Continental Airlines, took off from Bush Intercontinental airport in Houston at 1218 local time. …

Environment 9 Jan 10:11
Play.com pestered to back up price claims

ASA repeats call to justify discount shoutings

Online music retailer Play.com has been criticised by the UK's advertising watchdog for the second time in a year for claims about the savings it offers. The company has been told not to repeat the claims. Play.com last year published adverts in the national press claiming that it offered discounts of up to 50 per cent on new …

Music and Media 9 Jan 10:27
Palm punts wireless Pré charger

CES No more cables

Palm has gone head-to-head with wireless gadget charger Powermat, by unveiling a dedicated wireless charger for the recently unveiled Pré phone. Touchstone is a wireless charger for the Pré phone Touchstone's operation is just as simple as Powermat's: simply place your Pré on Touchstone's surface and the phone will begin to …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 10:29
Prof: Use wind turbines as flywheels to smooth output

Revolutionary thinking

A team of Wisconsin-based academic engineers have come up with a novel idea for smoothing out wind turbines' erratic power output in gusty conditions. In essence, the Milwaukee team's idea is to use the turbine itself as a giant flywheel to siphon off energy spikes and so offer more consistent output. The research was led by …

Environment 9 Jan 10:58
Hosts can process user-submitted videos within 'safe harbor'

Yes you can claim copyright exemption, says US court

The automated processing of video files by online video company Veoh does not bar that company from claiming exemption from copyright laws, a US court has ruled. The judgment is the first time that a US court has ruled on some of the specific processes. A judge in the US District Court for the Central District of California …

Music and Media 9 Jan 11:03
Oracle patch batch eclipses Microsoft Patch Tuesday

41 to one

Next Tuesday (13 January) promises to be a busy day for hard-pressed sys admins. Although Microsoft's regular monthly Patch Tuesday update promises only one bulletin, a critical fix for Windows1, Oracle's quarterly batch weighs in at 41 fixes. The updates fix vulnerabilities across "hundreds of Oracle products", an alert from …

Enterprise Security 9 Jan 11:31
'Kidnapped' child tracked by mobile phone and Street View

Cops cuff grandmother following tech dragnet

A "kidnapped" nine-year-old Massachusetts girl is safely back at home after a team effort by an enterprising local cop and deputy fire chief which exploited the signal from her mobile phone and Street View to track her to a motel in Virginia, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports. Natalie Maltais went missing on Saturday …

Mobile 9 Jan 11:34
Autonomy issues sunny side up forecast

Shines a light on FTSE 100

Autonomy expects to see its revenues and profits for 2008 outshine City forecasts. The Cambridge-based firm said in an upbeat trading statement yesterday that despite the current economic doom and gloom rumbling through the High Street and hitting manufacturing, it had “outperformed the company’s expectations”. Autonomy …

Financial News 9 Jan 11:45
LG KC870 cut-price 8Mp cameraphone

Review Big camera, low price

LG’s making a habit of this. Having taken touchscreen phones into the mass market with the release of the Cookie, the maker of the upscale Renoir is now aiming to do the same with eight-megapixel handsets, with the help of its more affordable KC780. LG's KC780: eight million pixels on a budget Unlike the Renoir and Cookie, …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 12:02
PS3 goes 3D

Take that, Xbox 360

Sony has wowed CES with a demonstration of the PlayStation 3 in 3D. Sony's developed 3D PS3 gaming A Sony representative told Ars Technica that the PS3 display is “a look at what 3D could look like if Sony dedicated to move in this direction”. We certainly hope it will, because the Japanese electronics giant let fans play …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 12:09
Revenue pledges data security...by 2011

As fast as speeding custard

HMRC's latest report reveals the department hopes to have fully implemented the recomendations of the Poynter review into data security by June 2011. Kieran Poynter of PWC was appointed to review procedures after the Revenue transferred 25 million people's child benefit records onto two unencrypted discs and popped them in the …

Government 9 Jan 12:10
Google spins out Chrome 2.0 ~~pre-beta~~ alpha

Mac and Linux versions might finally leave forecourt

Google has released an alpha of Chrome 2.0, even though work on version 1.0 of the browser remains incomplete. The unpolished Chrome 2.0 rocked up in the early hours of today and comes loaded with the latest WebKit release that adds support for various CSS functions and speed improvements. Spell checking can now be enabled or …

Applications 9 Jan 12:15
NASA deploys huge clingfilm strato-pumpkin over Antarctic

Giant Peach? Pah

NASA balloon boffins are chuffed to announce that they have successfully launched a new prototype gasbag into the stratosphere above the Antarctic. The designers hope soon to produce a colossal pumpkin-shaped balloon made of material similar to clingfilm, able to cruise on the fringes of space carrying a one-tonne instrument …

Space 9 Jan 12:18
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-G3 browser pumps uploads to the web

CES Have Wi-Fi, will upload

Sony has launched the Cyber-shot DSC-G3, a compact camera with integrated Wi-Fi connectivity. Sony's Cyber-shot DSC-G3 supports Wi-Fi image uploads Wireless-enabled cameras already exist - think Nikon’s S52c - but the DSC-G3 features a full web browser. So you can connect to any wireless hotspot you want, rather than have …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 12:40
Jail for Oz drug-running onanist speed merchant

Cars, cannabis, guns, one off the wrist - an ill-advised mix

The Australian man who was last year pulled for driving at 147km/h (91 mph) in a Holden SV6 packed with 5kg of cannabis, two dope plants, a couple of drug pipes and a loaded .22 rifle, and admitted to cops he'd filmed himself masturbating while driving at 150km/h has, unsurprisingly, been jailed. Brendon Alan Erhardt, 39, was …

Bootnotes 9 Jan 12:46
Ballmer tries to breathe life into Yahoo! deal

Dead! horse! flogged!

Steve Ballmer is still trying to resurrect a possible search deal with Yahoo!. Ballmer told the FT that he thought a search deal was still possible - and that it would most likely happen when Yahoo! got its new CEO, and while Microsoft's new search boss Qi Lu, pinched from Yahoo!, was still new to his job. Yahoo!'s search for …

Applications 9 Jan 12:53
Confusion reigns ahead of comms überdatabase debate

Analysis Disentangling IMP from the EU

Jacqui Smith will soon begin one of the Home Office's famed consultation exercises on new systems demanded by spy chiefs to snoop on internet communications in the UK. But already, the mangle of powers and regulations around data retention threatens public understanding of what is being suggested. A somewhat confused report …

Government 9 Jan 13:57
Netgear pitches 'dog's bollocks' digital HD media streamer

CES on Video All your content on your telly

Click here to view a more bandwidth-frienly version of the video Can't see the videos? Download Flash Player from Adobe.com More CES Video Reports... Samsung boffins demo transparent OLED screen Flying duck toy challenges armchair hunters Lenovo dual-display laptop shows its stripes In action: the Powermat …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 14:02
Samsung demos projector phone

CES Out in Korea this month

A mobile phone with integrated projector has been demonstrated by Samsung at CES this week. Called Show, the phone is equipped with Texas Instrument’s Pico Digital Light Processing (DLP) technology. A lens is built into the candybar phone’s top end. The DLP technology enables users to project still images and video, with …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 14:17
Say 'Cheese!' for Sony Ericsson smile-friendly phone

Phoney smiles all around

Sony Ericsson has launched its first cameraphone with integrated smile detection. Sony Ericsson's C510 cameraphone Smile Shutter technology on-board that C510 ensures that the phone’s 3.2-megapixel camera only ever captures your subject’s pearly white grin. Sony also plans to add the feature onto its flagship 8.1-megapixel …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 14:45
Hacktivist tool targets Hamas

DDoS street protest covers both side of Gaza conflict

Israeli cyberactivists are inviting pro-Israeli surfers to install a tool that attacks websites associated with Hamas. This "Patriot" tool effectively turns the computers of sympathisers of the Israeli cause into zombies - albeit willing, complicit ones - in the control of Israeli hackers. The hackers are working under the …

Malware 9 Jan 15:13
Stevie Wonder in touchscreen plea

CES Very superstitious

Stevie Wonder has popped into the Consumer Electronics Show to urge touchscreen gadget manufacturers to give more consideration to blind users. The Motown legend acknowledged that some firms have already taken steps in the right direction. But he stressed that “if you can take those few steps further, you can give us the …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 15:25
Police probe Satyam over $1bn blackhole

While Indian government mulls bailout

Indian police have begun an investigation into Satyam following the resignation of its chairman and founder B Ramalinga Raju and his apparent confession to accounting fraud. Raju stepped down on Wednesday, sending the board an extraordinary resignation letter admitting to years of puffing the figures at the services giant he …

Financial News 9 Jan 15:37
Nokia coughs to ballooning batteries

An open ~~and~~ not shut N73 case

Nokia has admitted that some customers are seeing BP-6M batteries, as used in the N73 handset, ballooning to several times their original size, and in some cases to such an extent that the phone case won't close. El Reg first heard about the problem from a reader just after Christmas, and Nokia has been investigating since. …

Mobile 9 Jan 15:38
Could the Airbus A380 be the new Air Force One?

Obama's chopper is European

The US government has issued a "survey" in which it asks industry to offer proposals for a replacement Air Force One - the presidential plane. A modernised Boeing jumbo jet is by far the likeliest contender, but one should note that the planned new presidential helicopters will actually be European made - there is an outside …

Government 9 Jan 16:21
Another 524,000 US jobs go

Grim December - but IT holding up

The US Department of Labor put out its monthly jobs report this morning, which was widely anticipated to not be good news. The department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said that non-farm payrolls fell by 524,000 in December and that 1.9m jobs had been nuked in the final four months of the year, pushing the unemployment rate in …

Business 9 Jan 16:27
Best Buy fails to impress with crucial December sales

Shares fall nearly 5%

US retail giant Best Buy saw sales drop in December, with some wallet-shy customers steering clear of the firm’s stores. The Richfield, Minnesota-based company tried to woo more punters through the door by offering them special holiday discounts. However, it didn’t pay off for Best Buy, which reported a sales dip of 6.5 per …

Channel Register 9 Jan 16:43
SSD and HDD capacity goes on embiggening

Comment But is it better?

SanDisk and Sony have announced a roadmap for Memory Stick products that take it from its current (Memory Stick PRO) 16GB capacity up to 2TB. Do we have a tape-like generational roadmap here? LTO is a classic example of tape generations with LTO 4 at 800GB native capacity being the current generation and LTOs 5 and 6 ahead, if …

Storage 9 Jan 16:48
CPW co-founder's secret loans get all-clear

FSA tightens rules on stock securities

The co-founder of Carphone Warehouse who secretly used his stake in the firm to secure loans has been cleared of law breaking by financial investigators. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) said today its rules on whether David Ross was required to declare the loan arrangements had been unclear. It added that in future …

Financial News 9 Jan 16:50
Email snafu gifts federal informants' names to press

Witless protection

An email error inadvertently disclosed the names of more than 20 confidential informants in a federal investigation to reporters. An official in US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's Chicago office mistakenly attached a sensitive document listing the names to a press release announcing criminal charges against two men - John Walsh …

ID 9 Jan 17:05
Android goes Skype, iPhone to follow soon

Only not really

Skype has announced an Android version of its mobile VoIP service, and hinted that an iPhone client is in the works too - but anyone expecting proper mobile VoIP on Android will be disappointed with Skype Lite. Officially still in beta, the Skype Lite service works in the same way as Skype's UK offering with network operator 3 …

VoIP 9 Jan 17:12
Dell buys Windows consultancy chunks

Services play

Dell is shelling out $12m to acquire the Microsoft-related business of Allin Corporation, a small consultancy located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The PC maker is picking up approximately 100 employees and the book of business from Allin's offices in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and in San Jose and Walnut Creek, …

Channel Register 9 Jan 17:54
D-Link demos double-up display for netbooks, laptops

CES on Video Second screen, USB-connected

Click here to view a more bandwidth-frienly version of the video Can't see the videos? Download Flash Player from Adobe.com More CES Video Reports... Nokia N97 touchscreen webphone demo'd Netgear pitches 'dog's bollocks' digital HD media streamer Samsung boffins demo transparent OLED screen Flying duck toy …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 17:55
3M shines light on next-gen micro-projector tech

CES on Video Strike a light

Click here to view a more bandwidth-frienly version of the video Can't see the videos? Download Flash Player from Adobe.com More CES Video Reports... D-Link demos double-up display for netbooks, laptops Nokia N97 touchscreen webphone demo'd Netgear pitches 'dog's bollocks' digital HD media streamer Samsung boffins …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 18:03
Griffin cross-pollinates iPhone, Victrola

Macworld Expo No-name Jesus Phone ampers clamor for attention

Three products shown at this week's Macworld Expo - two from no-name vendors using the big stage of Macworld Expo to test their luck - attempt to provide iPhone amplification through acoustical, rather than electronic, means. Each is interesting. None is completely successful. All three are members of that class of off-the- …

Hardware 9 Jan 18:06
Toyota USA goes all chatty

Embedded Lexus phones sell you stuff

Toyota USA has announced a bundle of new electronics for the Lexus and other Toyota models, including the ability for the company to send you voice mail based on your location and interests: no subscription required. The new package is designed to compete with GM's OnStar service, with much of the same functionality. Both …

Hardware 9 Jan 18:12
Swedish musos mix up handheld hard-drive DJ deck

CES on Video Scratch it up

Click here to view a more bandwidth-friendly version of the video Can't see the videos? Download Flash Player from Adobe.com More CES Video Reports... 3M shines light on next-gen micro-projector tech D-Link demos double-up display for netbooks, laptops Nokia N97 touchscreen webphone demo'd Netgear pitches 'dog's …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 18:17
Sony Vaio P netbook taken for a spin

CES on Video Sexier than the Eee girl?

Click here to view a more bandwidth-friendly version of the video Can't see the video? Download Flash Player from Adobe.com More CES Video Reports... Swedish musos mix up handheld hard-drive DJ deck D-Link demos double-up display for netbooks, laptops Nokia N97 touchscreen webphone demo'd Samsung boffins demo …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 18:27
New York mulls terrorist cell phone jamming

Not as simple as it sounds

New York Police officials are studying whether it's possible to disrupt cell phone communications among terrorists during an attack on the city following reports that gunmen in Mumbai used hand-held devices during a deadly rampage in November. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly discussed the possible tactic in Washington on …

Mobile 9 Jan 19:08
Intel launches convertible 'kid-friendly' netbook

CES Classmate PC evolves

Intel today took the wraps off the latest generation of its education-oriented netbook reference design, the Classmate PC. Intel's convertible Classmate PC: nice netbook The new model is slimmer and lighter than its predecessors. It also features a 180° tilt-and-swivel display to allow the unit to the converted from a …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 19:39
Sun and open-source events changed as recession bites

Update Analyze this

Sun Microsystems has scrapped its industry analyst conference held annually in San Francisco, California. It was scheduled for February. In past years, Sun has paid for flights and accommodation for industry and financial analysts, who'd come to hear the company's strategy for the coming year and question executives. It's a …

Financial News 9 Jan 19:51
Lenovo shows swish monster multimedia all-in-one

CES Black and shiny

Lenovo is pitching what it claims is the thinnest all-in-one desktop multimedia PC, the IdeaCentre A600. The A600 features a 21.5in screen, DVD or optional Blu-Ray drive, support for the full beans 1920 x 1080 HD, Dolby Home Cinema certification and an optional hybrid analogue/digital TV tuner. It's not touch-sensitive, mind …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 19:54
Sales show SanDisk's SD-not-CD player a hit with punters

CES Contributing healthily some some album sales

Though its still too early to say if SanDisk's SlotMusic idea has been barking up the wrong tree or not a few interesting details cropped up at its CES launch event this week. During the time since its release, the SlotMusic version of Rihanna's ludicrously successful album Good Girl Gone Bad has accounted for six per cent of …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 20:13
'Lord of the Universe' disciple exits Wikipedia

Scientologists entrench

The human comedy that is Wikipedia just lost one of its more intriguing players. Late December saw the departure of uber-administrator Jossi Fresco, a longtime member of a worldwide religious movement that Time Magazine lists among the mega-cults of the 1970s, the heyday of the mega-cult. Fresco retired after another …

Music and Media 9 Jan 21:27
Edifier intros oh-so-stylish MP3 speaker sets

CES Lift off

Edifier's CES presence further underscored the company's belief the great sounding portable audio doesn't need to have all the aesthetic appeal of a brick. Edifier's Luna2: sounded superb on the stand Pride of place on the stand went to the Luna 2 e20 speakers, which apart from looking superb and sounding even better, also …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 21:31
Iomega slims down, bulks up portable drives

Macworld Expo Want encryption? Dump your Mac

Iomega has updated, prettified, and ruggedized its eGo line of portable drives, including some announcements that came this week at Macworld Expo. Of the Expo announcements, the most fitting for the location was the eGo Helium, a bus-powered USB 2.0 drive. As explained by Charles Hayes, Iomega's regional product manager of …

Hardware 9 Jan 22:32
Newer Tech punts toaster drive dock

Macworld Expo Slide 'em and swap 'em

Long-time Mac-centric vendor Newer Technology launched the easiest-to-use drive dock we ever seen at this week's Macworld Expo. Dubbed the Voyager Q, this toaster-like device is a docking station for bare 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch SATA I and II drives. The Voyager Q, which retails for $99, includes two FireWire 800 ports, plus …

Hardware 9 Jan 22:34
Nvidia intros anticipated GeForce GTX 285, 295

CES One- and two-GPU cards launched

Nvidia has rolled out the GeForce GTX 285 and 295, the two top-end GPUs it was expected to announce this week. Nvidia's GeForce GTX 285: world's fastest one-GPU board? The 285 is a single-GPU product that Nvidia claimed was 30 per cent faster than rival one-chip graphics cards. Boards based on the 295 design contain two …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 22:46
Logitech updates Harmony 1000 to 1100

CES Universal remote control revamped

Logitech has punted what it claims is the universal remote to end all universal remotes, and demo'd the product at CES this week. With the Harmony 1100 - sucessor to the currently available 1000 - in our hand, the first though that struck us was, "Hmmm... have Sonos' lawyers seen this?" Logitech's Harmony 1100: universal …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 23:05
Polaroid instamatic reborn into digital era

CES on Video Snap and print straight away

Click here to view a more bandwidth-friendly version of the video Can't see the video? Download Flash Player from Adobe.com More CES Video Reports... Sony Vaio P netbook taken for a spin Swedish musos mix up handheld hard-drive DJ deck 3M shines light on next-gen micro-projector tech D-Link demos double-up …

Reg Hardware 9 Jan 23:14