22nd January 2009 Archive

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eBay revenue shrinks for first time in history

Profits plummet 31 per cent

In the fourth quarter, for the first time in its history, eBay saw a decline in year-over-year revenue. "We're not happy about that," CEO John Donahoe told analysts and reporters during the requisite conference call announcing the company's Q4 results. For the quarter ending December 31, eBay pulled in sales of $2.04bn, a 6.6 …

Financial News 22 Jan 00:06
Intel axes five plants, 5,000 workers

And maybe more

Intel plans to close chip assembly plants in Malaysia and the Philippines and end US wafer fab operations in Oregon and California as part of a restructuring plan that will affect as many as 6,000 employees worldwide. Today, the chip giant announced that it will "consolidate and streamline some older capacity" without …

Financial News 22 Jan 00:07
iPhone iLounge threatens Jobsian cult reunion

Update: Macworld at the brink?

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) announced today that it will co-sponsor (with iLounge.com) a "unified iPod/iPhone pavilion" at next year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), raising more questions about the continued existence of Macworld Expo. CES will be held in Las Vegas on January 7-10. Macworld Expo - if it …

Business 22 Jan 00:19
Rackable gets physical with the virtual

Real fake servers

The economy has been hard on boutique server maker Rackable Systems, but the company keeps tweaking its designs in the hope that a broad portfolio of servers and storage will win a little more business in hyperscale data centers. Today, Rackable launched a new line of products that do what many of us in the server space have …

Servers 22 Jan 00:50
New Jersey sysadmin gets 5 years for Cisco scam

Does bird for replacement kit switch

A former sysadmin who pocketed several million dollars by scamming Cisco's part replacement program has been sentenced to five years in prison by a federal court in New Jersey. Michael Kyereme was a network troubleshooter for the city of Newark between 2002 and 2007, where he was authorized to buy replacement parts from Cisco …

Law 22 Jan 01:20
Disabling Windows Autorun - there's a right way and a wrong way

Redmond's Downadup protection

After some confusion about exactly how Windows users can protect themselves against a prolific computer worm called Downadup, Microsoft security watchers are once again reiterating the steps for disabling the Autorun feature. Downadup has managed to infect an estimated 9 million machines at last count using multiple attack …

Security 22 Jan 01:24
Apple boasts record Q1 as revenue tops $10bn

No love for netbooks, Palm

Apple announced its first-quarter financial results today, beating estimates from the Wall Street guessmen. But these were almost secondary. During the Q&A session that ended their Q1 earnings call, Apple spokesfolks skirted questions about Steve Jobs's health, dissed netbooks, reaffirmed their support for Apple TV, and fired a …

Financial News 22 Jan 01:41
Ubuntu's Shuttleworth praises Windows 7, welcomes fight

End of an 'awkward situation'

Mark Shuttleworth is looking forward to a good, clean netbook fight with Microsoft following the release of Windows 7. Speaking with The Reg, the founder of popular Linux distro Ubuntu and chief executive of Canonical called Windows 7 a great operating system. Great? Doesn't Shuttleworth work for the competition? Shouldn't he …

Operating Systems 22 Jan 02:36
Cops capture counterfeit consoles

First discovery of fake DS Lites for sale in UK

Police have raided the home of a couple suspected of being the first people to sell fake games consoles in the UK. Described as a "team" in an Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (Elspa) report, the couple’s Kent home contained 40 counterfeit Nintendo DS handheld consoles, the organisation alleges. Each …

Reg Hardware 22 Jan 08:02
Sony Ericsson Walkman W302 budget music phone

Review Recession-busting wonder?

Sony Ericsson's recent Walkman updates have spanned the gamut from the high-end W902, through the mid-range W595 and W705 - due in this month - to this, the budget blaster of the bunch, which may lack the bigger spec numbers of its siblings, but in these cost-conscious times, at least manages to get the basics right. Sony …

Reg Hardware 22 Jan 09:02
Police search another Tory MP's office

Haven't these people ever watched The Sweeney?

Daniel Kawczynski, Tory MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham, told the House of Commons last night that police turned up at his Parliamentary office and demanded to see correspondence from a consitituent. Kawczynski, a member of the Justice Committee, told the House he meekly handed over the letters requested. Which begs the question …

Government 22 Jan 09:55
Sophos to shed one in 20 jobs

Redundancies due to shifting priorities, not credit crunch

UK-based security firm Sophos plans to shed five per cent of its workforce as part of a "business reorganisation". Sophos spokesman Graham Cluley said the credit crunch was not a factor in the planned redundancies. "This is an internal reorganisation to do with setting business priorities, it's not a result of the economic …

Enterprise Security 22 Jan 10:00
A Geeks Guide₂ ...Schneier on Security

40% off at Reg Books

Geeks Guide2 Now the festive period is well and truly over, GG2 is back and returns with not only an IT angle but with an IT guru of an author to boot. This week we’re offering up Bruce Schneier’s latest book, imaginatively titled Schneier on Security, with the usual GG2 40 per cent discount. Are we really safer than before 9/ …

Site News 22 Jan 10:02
BT shares tumble on £340m Global Services bill

More big charges expected

Investors again rushed to dump BT stock this morning after the group warned its Global Services division would trammel overall financial performance this quarter. At time of writing BT shares are down more than 13 per cent, at 106.6p. In the three months to December 31 2008, outsourcing unit Global Services was hit by a one- …

Channel Register 22 Jan 10:26
Huawei talks up Android phone

To be unveiled next month

Huawei has said it’ll unveil a smartphone based on Google’s Android OS at handset industry shindig the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona next month. The firm’s announcement is annoyingly vague and, despite Register Hardware’s attempts to tease more information out of a spokeswoman, we still only received a “wait and see …

Reg Hardware 22 Jan 10:37
Boffins monitor strato-weather from half-mile underground

Met boys no longer have heads in clouds

Ever since there have been weather people, aviators and sailors have taunted them for failing to simply step outside - or go to the window - and look at the sky. But now meteorology boffins have struck back, saying that actually one of the best places to monitor weather conditions is a disused mine tunnel half a mile underground …

Environment 22 Jan 10:48
Gunners get PSP footie service

www.therefsawa**er.com

The Gunners - Arsenal to non-footie fans - and Sony have confirmed plans to stream match highlights to fans equipped with PlayStation Portables at the team's Emirates stadium. Sony and Arsenal have been trialling the service – thought to be called S.PORT – at the North London ground since early 2007. But the Japanese …

Reg Hardware 22 Jan 11:17
German engineers punt 'open source' OLED-clad car

'Leccy Tech Collaborative approach to design?

With the Geneva Motor Show on the horizon, German engineering services provider EDAG has released a preview of what it hopes will be one of the stars of the 2009 Swiss auto gathering: the “Light Car – Open Source”, a concept it is describing as “visionary and courageous”. The LC-OS consists of a rolling chassis that can be …

Reg Hardware 22 Jan 11:19
Hastings junkie hotspots pop up on Google Maps

Handy guide to discarded paraphernalia

Those of you planning a nice day out in the sunny seaside town of Hastings - previously famous for the 1066 1-0 victory of Norman Wanderers over Godwinson Athletic and now noted for the UK's highest ratio of drug dealers to pubs - will doubtless welcome this useful guide to local leisure activities, viz: "Map to show hotspots …

Bootnotes 22 Jan 11:20
Acer to phase out 8.9in Aspire One netbook?

Making room for the 10in model, moles claim

Prefer Acer's 8.9in Aspire One netbook to the upcoming 10in version? Then if you don't already own one, now's the time to buy - it could have been killed by the time the bigger model has arrived. Acer, we should say, hasn't commented on the claim, but if unnamed "notebook industry insiders" cited by DigiTimes are to be …

Reg Hardware 22 Jan 11:43
OcUK puts £10K bounty on the heads of DDoS varmints

Wild West response to week-long hack attack

Overclockers.co.uk is offering a £10,000 ($13,830) reward for information leading to the conviction of attackers who have targeted the technology enthusiast site in a DDoS lasting over a week. In a forum posting on Wednesday, Overclockers.co.uk (OcUK) placed a bounty of the head of cybercrooks who have mounted an attack that …

Enterprise Security 22 Jan 11:45
US Army working on 'exploding marmalade' missile tech

You literally don't have to be a rocket scientist

US military-funded rocket scientists have turned to food boffins and agricultural engineers for help in their effort to produce exploding marmalade, intended to fuel radical new missiles and spacecraft of the future. No, really. According to boffins at Purdue Uni in Indiana, there would be many advantages to rocket fuel with …

Physics 22 Jan 11:58
ISPs slam CEOP bid to rewrite RIPA

'Money well spent'

ISPs have hit back after the boss of the UK's online child exploitation police branded the costs of accessing data on their subscribers "ridiculous". Jim Gamble, chief executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre, said yesterday that ISPs should waive the costs of assisting investigations when …

Policing 22 Jan 12:01
Lords rule nurses blacklist 'unfair'

Stops workers being banned without hearing

A Government blacklist of nurses and care workers deemed unfit to work with children and vulnerable adults has been ruled unfair by the House of Lords. The Royal College of Nursing has campaigned to end the provisional list - nurses put on the list are immediately banned from working with children or vulnerable adults without …

Law 22 Jan 12:29
Oprah slow to Kindle - fans left out in cold

What, no O?

Oprah fans who bought into the electronic book revolution for Christmas have been disappointed to find that less than half of Winfrey's recommended books have gone electronic, and the chat show goddess hasn't even put her own magazine O onto an e-ink screen. The most influential woman in America (and, quite possibly, the world …

Mobile 22 Jan 12:36
For sale: Six European virtual strip machines

MEPs to flog peep-scanner basement stash

Anyone paranoid or pervy enough to have a full body scanner on their shopping list could do worse than have a look at the European Parliament's 'for sale' board. Strasbourg is offloading half a dozen full body scanners it bought a mere three years ago, when post-9/11 fears about terrorism were still running at feverish levels …

Government 22 Jan 12:38
Where's ~~Wally~~ Vista SP2?

Coming soon-ish to a miserable computer near you

An increasingly cautious Microsoft hasn’t announced a definitive date for when its unloved OS Vista will get its final service pack release, other than to offer a wishy-washy second quarter of 2009 statement. Despite that, many reports are suggesting the software giant’s Vista SP2 schedule has slipped by about a month. The …

Channel Register 22 Jan 12:50
Infant calls cops to dad's dope plantation

Phone not a good toy, pop discovers

A British Columbia man can consider himself well and truly busted after his 11-month-old son accidentally dialled 911, leading cops to dad's dope plantation. According to the Canadian Press, Mounties received an emergency call from a residence in White Rock last Friday morning, but "whoever was on the other end of the line …

Bootnotes 22 Jan 12:51
Fujifilm Finepix F100fd compact camera

Review Good performer

Some digital cameras are designed to sit on a shop shelf and shout: 'Here I am! Take a good look at me!. They're brash, bold and designed to poke you in the eye, from a stylistic point of view. Not so Fujifilm’s Finepix F100fd. Some might describe its design as conservative - a bit boring, even - but we think 'understated' is …

Reg Hardware 22 Jan 13:02
Symbian Trojan strikes Indonesian operator

Python script squeezes unwary

Anti-virus vendor Kaspersky Lab is reporting a new Trojan capable of removing pre-paid credit using the SMS-transfer service offered by an Indonesian network operator. The Trojan is comprised of a Python script that sends SMS messages transferring small amounts, between 45 and 90 cents, to the attacker's account - presumably …

Networks 22 Jan 13:10
£229m Sumitomo spyware trial begins in London

'Bank hackers' used poker game as cover

The trial of alleged cybercrooks accused of mounting an attempt to steal £229m from accounts at Sumitomo Mistsui bank by planting spyware on corporate systems has begun in London. Snaresbrook Crown Court heard allegations that an insider working as a security supervisor smuggled two computer crackers into the bank's …

Law 22 Jan 13:25
HTC pimps up Touch Cruise

Bulk out, slimline in

HTC’s bulky Touch Cruise has been redesigned to give it a slimmer and altogether sexier footprint. HTC's new Touch Cruise: sexxxxy The original Touch Cruise was first seen back in November 2007, but it sported outdated square edges, a thick body and an ugly nipple-like navigational track wheel. The New Touch Cruise - …

Reg Hardware 22 Jan 13:44
Wii weights unveiled

"Six, seeven, eiiiight, niiiiiiine...."

If you’re not convinced that Wii Fit and the Balance Board will really keep you in trim, then one firm’s designed a Wii peripheral that can’t fail to bulk up those biceps: Wii Weights. riiflex: bulk up while chilling out Although still at the prototype stage and officially called riiflex – even though we think our name’s …

Reg Hardware 22 Jan 13:46
The Netbook Newbie's Guide to Linux

Episode 4 'F/X'

Book Reader True to its name, a netbook makes a very decent ebook reader. Here's the freely-downloadable Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, complete with original Tenniel illustrations, as it appears on the MSI Wind: This is the PDF version of the original 1866 edition, downloaded from GASL.org. There's a tiny trick to …

Reg Hardware 22 Jan 13:48
Chaotic Coroners and Justice Bill reels into view

Comment Net suicides, gay rights, data transfer - it's all here

While the question of whether cartoon images of children should fall foul of the law has aroused debate, the recently published Coroners and Justice Bill contains more than a few changes that may prove just as controversial. A reaffirmation of the penalties for anyone "aiding or abetting suicide" via the internet is one such …

Government 22 Jan 13:57
Flickable data-transfer gadget unveiled

Solution in need of a problem?

A mysterious storage gadget’s been announced that’s designed wirelessly share information with a flick of the wrist - literally. Leyio stores data, then wirelessly transfers it to another Leyio The palm-sized Leyio unit helps users share pictures, business cards, Facebook vitals and other forms of digital information over …

Reg Hardware 22 Jan 14:14
USAF cops seek netflinger rifle to down ultralights, paragliders

'Non-lethal' - until you hit the ground, anyway

The US Air Force security police have issued a requirement for a portable net-throwing gun able to bring down parachutists or people in motorised hang-gliders - apparently without killing them. The Security Forces Center, responsible for equipping the USAF's security police, refers to the proposed tangler-gun as a Counter …

Science 22 Jan 14:23
Obama's rainbow stealth aircraft uncloaks over Virginia

Spreading the luuurv in Chesapeake Bay

As we're all now fully aware, the world officially became a lovelier place* on 20 January when Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th prez of the US of A - a heartwarming ceremony at which he promised sunlit meadows in which children might gaily gambol, just as soon as he'd dealt with this pesky global economic apocalypse. …

Bootnotes 22 Jan 14:43
Zimbra! founder! quits! Yahoo!

As another exec reportedly returns to MS

The founder of open source email Silicon Valley startup Zimbra, which was bought by Yahoo! in September 2007, is leaving the internet firm. Satish Dharmaraj will depart from Yahoo! in March, less than two years after his San Mateo, California-based company was acquired for roughly $350m. He will be replaced by Jim Morrisroe …

Applications 22 Jan 14:46
Nokia sales and profits dive in fourth quarter

Finnish giant feels the chill

Nokia's fourth quarter results show the world's biggest phone manufacturer's operating profit dropping more than 50 per cent to €1.2bn. Sales at the Finnish giant slipped 19.5 per cent to €12.7bn, as the firm dealt with a declining worldwide economy where getting a new phone is increasingly taking second place to finding a new …

Mobile 22 Jan 14:55
Microsoft axes 5,000 staff as Q2 profit dives 11%

Sales and earnings miss Wall St consensus

Microsoft is slashing 5,000 jobs after it posted a profit of $4.17bn, or 47 cent per share, in its second quarter earnings report, undershooting Wall Street expectations. The software giant, which saw its shares fall 8.5 per cent to $17.88 following the announcement, said it would not be offering profit forecasts for the rest …

Financial News 22 Jan 15:07
Autonomy sews up Interwoven buy

Content management comes at big price

Autonomy is buying its way into the US legal software market by paying $775m for California-based Interwoven. UK-based Autonomy will pay $16.20 in cash per share - a 36 per cent premium on Interwoven's average share price in the last month. Interwoven, listed on Nasdaq, makes content management and compliance software. The …

Developer 22 Jan 15:52
Jobs' stand-in quashes iPhone Nano rumours

Do we believe him?

Apple’s stand-in CEO, Tim Cook, has effectively denied rumours that the firm’s secretly working on an iPhone Nano. During a conference call to announce its first quarter financials yesterday, Cook said that Apple isn't “going to play in the low-end voice phone business”, according to an Apple Insider report. Cook didn’t use …

Reg Hardware 22 Jan 15:56
Benjamin Button eyes 13 Oscars

Heath Ledger also up for award, naturally

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has been nominated for 13 Oscars, with Slumdog Millionaire pressing for ten and Dark Knight and Milk in the running for eight statuettes. Dark Knight doesn't feature in the best picture category, but Heath Ledger must be a hot bet to claim the supporting actor crown, given Hollywood's …

Entertainment 22 Jan 16:21
Satyam boss 'invented' thousands of staff

And took their wages, prosecutors claim

Satyam founder Ramalinga Raju added 13,000 invented employees to the firm's payroll so he could siphon off their wages, Indian prosecutors have claimed. Raju allegedly funnelled the money off through family members and used it to fund more than 400 land deals. Satyam claimed to have 53,000 employees, but in reality this was …

Channel Register 22 Jan 16:25
IT vendor layoffs: The axeman cometh

Comment IBM, Intel, and Sun slice and dice

The IT vendor community in the United States was mostly immune from layoffs that happened over the course of 2008, when 2.6m people lost their jobs. But that is obviously changing as the global economy, which IT vendors depend on, continues to weaken. And this week the layoffs, some rumored and others announced, are actually …

Financial News 22 Jan 16:32
Tesla asks early adopters to cough up more cash

'Leccy Tech What the US govt gives with one hand - Tesla takes with the other

Tesla clearly thought things had gone just a little too well for it at the Detroit Motor Show and so has decided to shoot itself in the foot by increasing a raft of accessory and option prices on the Roadster for buyers who thought they had locked in their options. First off, the previously included-in-the-price high-power …

Reg Hardware 22 Jan 18:02
Apple explores auto iPhone audio

Smart sound sensor

What if your iPhone could set its own volume? Today, the US Patent & Tradmark Office published an Apple patent application for an intelligent sound sensor that would adjust a device's audio volume level in relation to the ambient sound in its environment. Originally filed in July 2007, the application - prosaically entitled " …

Mobile 22 Jan 19:11
Obama unfurls master plan for US cybersecurity

Here comes the cyber czar

On his first full-day as US President, Barack Obama on Wednesday outlined plans to declare the country's computer infrastructure a national asset that will be protected by a cyber advisor who will report directly to the president. Part of a broader strategy laid out on the newly revamped Whitehouse.gov website for securing US …

Security 22 Jan 19:23
Sony warns of first operating loss in 14 years

Forecasts $2.9bn hole

Sony has warned it will report its first operating loss in 14 years, as sliding demand for its products, plunging LCD television prices, and a stronger ¥ force the consumer giant to make drastic cost-cutting measures. Thursday, the company announced a major reversal of fortune from an earlier forecast for its fiscal year, …

Financial News 22 Jan 19:40
Apple gives QuickTime new version number

Updated Promises speed, security

Apple has released an upgrade to both the Mac and PC versions of its QuickTime media software, promising better performance and tighter security. Regarding performance, Apple says that the upgrade to version 7.6 improves single-pass H.264 encoding quality and AAC encoding fidelity, increases the playback reliability of …

Applications 22 Jan 19:57
Jimbo Wales ends death by Wikipedia

Kennedy murder shames online cult

On Tuesday afternoon, following a Washington luncheon celebrating the inauguration of President Barack Obama, longtime US Senators Ted Kennedy and Robert Byrd kicked the proverbial bucket. At least, that's what happened in Wikiland. In our world, they're still among the living. Ted Kennedy - diagnosed with a brain tumor last …

Applications 22 Jan 20:56
Mac malware piggybacks on pirated iWork

Over 20,000 served

Malware masquerading as part of Apple's iWork 09 productivity suite is targeting unsuspecting Mac users foolish enough to install pirated software downloaded on warez sites. Once installed, iServices.A has unfettered root access, which it promptly uses to connect to a remote server over the internet, according to Intego, which …

Security 22 Jan 20:58
HP and Microsoft trumpet blade marriage

Greasing the server skids

Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft are greasing the skids a bit, hoping to pull in some medium and large businesses looking for new systems and software. The two companies have teamed up to offer so-called "solution block" bundles that pair HP BladeSystem machinery with Microsoft systems and application software. HP has been …

Servers 22 Jan 21:28
Programmers take to the clouds

Sure beats trolling the financial sites

The analysts at market researcher Evans Data, which spends its days obsessing about what programmers are up to, have released their Open Source Software/Linux Development 2008 report. The data compiled in the report is based on 360 interviews that the company did with software developers, and despite all the hype about cloud …

Applications 22 Jan 21:47
Obama gets to keep his BlackBerry

It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's 'super-encryption'

President Obama can keep his BlackBerry, making him the first sitting president to use email. Barack Obama has resisted calls to relinquish his beloved handheld despite concerns over personal security, espionage, and presidential record-keeping. "He has a BlackBerry through a compromise that allows him to stay in touch with …

Mobile 22 Jan 22:39
Google flaunts Meltdown-proofiness

Revenues pumped 18 per cent

After another spin of that big dial on its top-secret money machine, Google hit $5.7bn in revenues during the fourth quarter, an 18 per cent increase from a year ago. As advertised, Mountain View is Meltdown-proof. Profits were down significantly, dropping 68 per cent to $382 million. But if you exclude $1.09bn in impairment …

Financial News 22 Jan 23:57