20th February 2009 Archive

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Apple routs rivals in sat survey

Fanbois hail beloved Macs

Apple has by far the highest level of customer satisfaction among computer-buying consumers, according to a recent study (PDF) conducted by ChangeWave Research. The study, which focused "primarily on the U.S. market," interviewed 3,115 consumers between February 2 and 9. Among consumers who purchased a desktop or laptop in the …

Hardware 20 Feb 00:51
AMD spins The Foundry, no thanks to apathetic investors

What's it take to get a majority here?

It's officially splitsville for AMD and its chip-making business. Yesterday, AMD shareholders gave final approval to spin the company's debt-dependent semiconductor unit into The Foundry Company, placing it under the wing of Abu Dhabi investors at the Advanced Technology Investment Company. By all means, it's a radical shift …

Financial News 20 Feb 00:54
Yahoo! tosses! video! ads! into! search! engine!

Bartz tweaks

Yahoo!'s second-rate search engine will soon add video, images, and other "rich" goodies to its pay-per-click advertisements. In December, the company launched a Rich Ads in Search program among a small number of advertisers, and according to a Yahoo! blog post, click-through rates rose "as much as" 25 per cent. "Ever since …

Music and Media 20 Feb 01:25
Dell claims 'fraud' on Psion's netbook claim

Netbook convert files for dismissal

Dell is playing hardball with Psion Teklogix, asking the US authorities throw out its claim over the "netbook" name. The PC-giant-turned-netbook-convert filed legal documents Tuesday that asked the US Patent and Trademark Office to cancel Psion's trademark. It accused Psion of making a fraudulent claim when if filed for …

Hardware 20 Feb 01:41
Next-gen Mac mini 'photo' surfaces

Fanboi feeding frenzy

A fuzzy photo of a purported new Mac mini appeared in a MacRumors forum post, and the resulting rumor instantly made the rounds of the MacRumors news page, Ars Technica, AppleInsider, Cnet, Gizmodo, 123Macmini, SlashGear, VentureBeat, and Electronista For all we know, Al Jazeera's tech desk is about to post it any moment now …

PCs & Chips 20 Feb 01:46
New in-the-wild attack targets fully-patched Adobe Reader

Locked and loaded

Security watchers are warning of a serious unpatched vulnerability in Adobe's Reader program that's actively being exploited to install malware on the PCs of unsuspecting users. The vulnerability has been confirmed in versions 8.1.3 and 9.0.0 of Adobe Reader running on Windows XP Service Pack 3 and is presumed to work on other …

Security 20 Feb 01:59
IBM lands 25 teraflop iDataplex cluster in Bluegrass State

Louisville slugger

IBM has signed up another customer for its iDataplex super-dense x64 rack servers, this time landing the University of Louisville in Kentucky, which has bought a 25 teraflops cluster of these funky machines. The cluster - which is nicknamed Cardinal after the school mascot - will be configured with 5.2 TB of main memory and …

Servers 20 Feb 05:46
Euro-style GM Volt design revealed

'Leccy Tech Ampera redesigned for European sensibilities

Thanks to the folks at the EU Office for Harmonization of the Internal Market we can now see the how the Opal Ampera will differ from the Chevrolet Volt. As suggested by the first glimpse of the Ampera, what we Europeans are going to get is essentially the Volt but with the sleek nose and funky headlight clusters of the 2007 …

Reg Hardware 20 Feb 06:02
Seagate ends gunfight at the SSD corral

Wild Bill Watkins defeated

In the legal gunfight at the SSD corral initiated by Wild Bill Watkins - then top gunslinger at Seagate - STC has emerged victorious, with Seagate abjectly running away. Seagate sued STEC for patent infringement of its own solid state drive technology in April last year. The alleged infractions even included the 3.5-inch form …

Storage 20 Feb 06:13
How the Feds shook hands with an internet pedophile

Crime and punishment in the digital age

As former moderators for an internet relay channel dedicated to hacking, Francine Campbell and Sterlin Ward have seen some of the net's darker quarters. But nothing prepared them for their group's encounter with an internet pedophile who called himself Digerati. After the hacker repeatedly propositioned channel members as young …

Crime 20 Feb 07:11
Solar-powered gadget round-up

MWC Got sunshine, will talk, text and surf

Solar-powered mobile gadgets were commonplace at Mobile World Congress this year. So Register Hardware scanned the event’s stands to bring you its three fave funky eco-friendly solar tools. Eco ringtone reduces power consumption Samsung recently unveiled the solar-powered Blue Earth mobile phone, but has since talked-up the …

Reg Hardware 20 Feb 09:32
Acer pushes Gateway back into Europe

Analysis Direct brand reborn as SME channel sell

Acer has relaunched the Gateway brand in Europe, restyling the cow spotted direct supplier as a channel only brand pitched at SMEs. Gateway Professional consists of three parts: the Gateway brand's residual value in Europe, a restricted set of notebook, desktop and server products, and a specially-recruited channel which gets …

Channel Register 20 Feb 10:10
Nudie subterranean rat protein could arrest human ageing

Mole-creatures stay sexy throughout ninefold lifespan

US boffins believe they may be on the track of longevity-enhancing technology, by analysing the unusual proteins found in naked mole rats. These wrinkly, hairless burrowing creatures from East Africa live many times longer than other rodents, and remain attractive, fit and virile the whole time. MIT Tech Review reports on the …

Biology 20 Feb 10:26
Intempo InSession iPod/MP3 speaker

Review Above average

Intempo was one of the first iPod accessory makers to exploit the low end market, and it's has had plenty of practice in producing these products now. Without setting the world alight, it's latest offering, the InSession, benefits from some no-nonsense engineering and delivers a decent performance. Intempo's InSession: size- …

Reg Hardware 20 Feb 10:30
Hounslow tries STD test result texts

U got clp

NHS Hounslow is using the internet and text messaging to encourage more young people to be screened for chlamydia. The west London primary care trust has launched an online service to enable Hounslow residents aged between 16 and 24 to request free, painless self-testing kits. The results can then be sent back by text message …

Mobile 20 Feb 10:33
Nintendo names UK DSi launch date

Sooner than expected

Nintendo has revealed that it’ll launch the latest addition to its DS handheld console range – the DSi – in Europe this April. The DSi was originally expected to land in Europe during the summer, but Register Hardware reported last month how a Nintendo document had revealed the firm’s plans to bring the launch forward to “ …

Reg Hardware 20 Feb 10:37
Microsoft plans to issue non-update update for Win 7

'Verify servicing scenarios'

Microsoft will spit out dummy updates for Windows 7 beta testers next week that will probe the forthcoming operating system’s updating abilities. The software firm said no new features or bug fixes would be added via the updates that will be available from 24 February as manual downloads. Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc said on …

Operating Systems 20 Feb 11:12
Brocade turns red in first quarter

Legal and acquisition costs unstitch record revs

Brocade slipped into the red in its first fiscal quarter despite jacking up revenues by almost a quarter year on year. For its first fiscal 2009 quarter (Q1 fy2009), Brocade reported record revenues up 24 per cent year-on-year at $431.6m, but nevertheless incurred a GAAP loss of $26m, contrasting with a $19.8m profit in Q1 …

Channel Register 20 Feb 11:26
Wikileaks publishes secret donor list

Hoist by its own leaky petard

Whistleblower website Wikileaks faced a dilemma this week when a list of email addresses for the site's donors was submitted as a leaked document. The issue arose after a fund raising email on Saturday went out with all 58 addresses in the To field (instead of the bcc field). The all too common schoolboy error meant that all …

ID 20 Feb 11:35
NASA 'scope captures ferocious gamma ray burst

Energy of 9,000 ordinary supernovae

NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope's has captured a hi-res image of a gamma-ray burst boasting "the greatest total energy, the fastest motions and the highest-energy initial emissions ever seen". The explosion, known to its chums as GRB 080916C, was detected on 15 September last year in the constellation Carina at a …

Space 20 Feb 11:55
Intel refutes SSD slowdown accusation

It's not the X-25-emmental

Intel has rejected a reported finding that its clever controller algorithms that deliver terrific write I/O performance on its X25-M solid state drives actually contributes to them slowing down over time. The issue is fragmentation. The Intel controller combines many small file writes, smaller than the X25-M's block size, into …

Storage 20 Feb 12:01
BOFH: Aspie no questions

Episode 2 The urge to destroy is creative

"It's... it's destroyed!" the Boss sniffles as he tilts the remains of his home computer up for me to see. "True, but then he was just doing what you told him to do." "It told him to go ahead and start the machine up if he thought it was fixed!" "No, you said, 'OK, give it a bash' - a completely different thing altogether …

BOFH 20 Feb 12:02
Shark attacks predict economic bubbles, says boffin

'Provocative' surfer sluts asking for it, seemingly

A top Florida fish boffin says that the global recession is causing a massive decrease in the number of shark attacks. George Burgess, Florida Uni ichthyologist, is fortunate enough to be Director of the International Shark Attack File, so he would know. Apparently shark assaults in 2008 numbered just 59, down from 71 in 2007 …

Biology 20 Feb 12:02
Canon PowerShot G10

Review The Holy Grail of bridge cameras?

Camera manufacturers are forever searching for the Holy Grail. They know there’s a vast army of people out there who want a camera that’s small enough to slip into a pocket, but which also delivers top-notch performance that’s closer to a digital SLR than a compact. Canon's PowerShot G10: photo geek friendly? Hence the …

Reg Hardware 20 Feb 12:12
Philips pumps up PMP duo

Eff off, iPod

Philips has unveiled two Portable Media Players (PMPs) that will have anti-iPod fans everywhere jumping for joy. Philips' GoGear Opus: has a 2.8in screen and noise-isolating cans GoGear Opus has a 2.8in, 320 x 240 display, while the GoGear Ariaz makes do with a smaller, 2in screen. Opus will come in 8GB, 16GB and 32GB …

Reg Hardware 20 Feb 12:19
The IWF: Charity disparity?

Pinning down who's really being protected

The Internet Watch Foundation is under fire again, this time on the grounds that it shouldn't be classed as a charity. The challenge comes from a Yorkshire-based software developer, who spoke with The Register on condition that we respect his confidentiality. "I have nothing against what the IWF do in respect of child porn, …

Law 20 Feb 12:20
Vista SP2 release candidate imminent?

Suck it and see

A select group of Windows Vista SP2 testers have reportedly received a release candidate build of the operating system’s final service pack. According to Ars Technica, Microsoft released the RC build of Vista SP2 yesterday. It also popped out a release candidate of Windows Server 2008 SP2 to an exclusive bunch of testers on 19 …

Operating Systems 20 Feb 12:22
Campaigners nail amphibians to Google Earth

Toad map is go

Campaigning group Froglife has nailed toads to Google Earth as part of its "Toads on Roads" campaign to identify the UK's "700 amphibian crossing points" and help drivers preserve our indigenous fauna by not running the poor blighters over. The map (details here) highlights, for example, 60 locations in Norfolk, including this …

Biology 20 Feb 12:27
Grand Theft Auto IV add-in censors original game

Naughty videos, blood blue-pencilled

Games developer Rockstar has designed a patch to fix a GTA IV content-censoring error that’s plagued some European gamers who installed the title’s first downloadable update, The Lost and Damned. According to posts on a number of online forums, downloading the update has caused some of the best bits of the original game to …

Reg Hardware 20 Feb 12:32
'Sexy View' SMS malware targets Symbian devices

Signed, Sealed, Delivered (You're pwned)

Bad sorts have created a malware targeted at Symbian mobile phones that comes signed with an apparently valid Symbian Certificate. Because it is signed the application can potentially gain privileged access, net security firm F-secure warns. The malware is also unusual because it is targeted at S60 3rd Edition phones, instead …

Mobile 20 Feb 12:54
The Equalizer prowls Albert Square

Wicker man shocker for EastEnders?

Edward Woodward, aka The Equalizer*, Callan, and "The Summerisle Roast Virgin", is set to appear in EastEnders, the BBC reports. The veteran thesp, who's still treading the boards at 78, will hit the small screen in March as Tommy Clifford for "a specific storyline involving Patrick Trueman which will run for several weeks". …

Entertainment 20 Feb 13:12
Ruling: Gov reports into ID scheme must be disclosed

But with names deleted

The Information Tribunal has ruled that Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for internal government reports into the cost-effectiveness and feasibility of the planned National ID Card scheme should be granted. The reports in question, thought to be critical of the ID scheme, have thus far been withheld. In a decision …

Law 20 Feb 13:16
Website changes link text to settle trade mark fight

Law firm link-beef swerve

A property website has settled a lawsuit by agreeing to display the full URL of any hyperlinks that take its users to the website of US law firm Jones Day. It has undertaken not to embed any links to the law firm within words or names on its site. The case against Chicago-based Blockshopper had worried free speech and digital …

Law 20 Feb 13:43
HP begins selling pay cut plan to European workers

Union up in arms at cost-cutting strategy

Hewlett-Packard has begun the tricky task of convincing its workers in the UK and Europe to voluntarily take a pay cut. The vendor announced yesterday that it was pursuing a company wide pay cut as an alternative to redundancies as it negotiates the current economic downturn. But while US law gives the firm some latitude to …

IT Director 20 Feb 13:56
Amazon leaks 12Mp Samsung camera

But then pulls the page

Amazon has mistakenly leaked the details of an upcoming Samsung compact camera that mixes masses of megapixels with analogue gauges. Samsung's TL320: spied on Amazon The 12Mp camera appeared on the web retail giant’s US site, several online sources say, but the details have since been taken down. However, the now defunct …

Reg Hardware 20 Feb 14:21
Woolies Pic'n'Mix bows out with eBay auction

Sale of last bag to benefit charity

The last bag of Woolworths legendary Pic'n'Mix has popped up on eBay, the Telegraph reports. The 800g bag - containing faves such as fizzy cola bottles, white mice and rhubarb & custards - was bought by Ed Adams, former manager of Woolies Petts Wood branch. He explained: "I spotted at least a bag's worth of Pic N Mix was left …

Bootnotes 20 Feb 15:21
Philips brings ~~pr0n~~ web access into the living room

It's the internet, Jim, but not as we know it

Why browse the internet from a tiny mobile phone screen or restrict yourself to a desktop’s display, when you can speed along the information superhighway on your enormo flatscreen? That seems to be Philips’ mantra anyway, following its launch of Net TV. Net TV: available on Philips' high-end TVs The name says it all really …

Reg Hardware 20 Feb 15:49
Philips prices up 21:9 ratio 'cinema' TV

Popcorn not included

Getting that true home cinema experience has been the dream of many a couch potato for years. But it will soon become a reality for some, because Philips’ Cinema telly will soon arrive in Blighty. Philips' 21:9 Cinema TV: does not come with popcorn The TV – which Philips claimed is the world’s first set able to offer a true …

Reg Hardware 20 Feb 16:00
Symantec dismisses blind SQL hack claims

'It's just an error message'

Symantec's website has been given the once-over by the same Romanian hacking group that exposed security problems with websites run by Kaspersky Lab, F-Secure and Bitdefender earlier this month. The hacker, Uno, claims that the document download centre section on Symantec's European site is vulnerable to a blind SQL Injection …

Enterprise Security 20 Feb 16:14
Forget flying to the stars - try quicker-drying bras

Humanity reaches zenith of technical achievement

It's official: Humanity has truly reached the zenith of its technical achievement - a peak after which interstellar travel, desktop cold fusion and stem cell cures for cancer will be as nothing compared to the awesome creation which is the infrared express bra-drying appliance: Here's how the patent-pending Bra Dryer will …

Bootnotes 20 Feb 16:36
17in MacBook boasts bloody big battery

12,820mAh, anyone?

Apple's 17in MacBook Pro comes installed with a humungous 12,820mAh battery, a disassembly of the newly shipping system reveals. Mind you, since the thing weighs a hefty 6.6lbs/3kg, how often users will be relying on battery power remains to be seen. We suspect this boy is going to spend most of its life on desktops, plugged …

Reg Hardware 20 Feb 16:46
IBM, IBEC do rural Internet broadband

Brace yourself, www.nascar.com

It looks like broadband over power lines is going to get another pass, thanks to the economic stimulus bill that President Obama just signed into law this week. One of the key IT-related features of the bill, and one that IBM chairman and chief executive officer, Sam Palmisano, has been supporting since last November, when …

Telecoms 20 Feb 16:56
Speeding, driverless Nissan finally stopped by US bombers

Vid 'Strap-on' robotic auto-driver gear goes live

Conversion kits have been developed which can upgrade any normal car for autonomous driverless operation. Video is now available from such a car, driving without human input in the Nevada desert, showing fruitless attempts by US navy bombers to destroy the self-directed machine. The vid comes courtesy of Kairos Autonomi, …

Science 20 Feb 16:59
Google antitrust suit: Is there a case?

The New Free Market

Should Google be allowed to skew sponsored ads toward favored business partners? At face value, the answer would seem to be "Yes." In a free market, after all, businesses are allowed to partner with whomever they want, and advertising hardly seems to be the kind of industry susceptible to monopolistic profiteering. Of course, …

Law 20 Feb 19:23
Microsoft should get serious on Moonlight

Web bling tone The way to Adobe's heart

Adobe Systems' chief financial officer Mark Garrett has said Silverlight is fizzling. Microsoft's director of client platform evangelism Tim Sneath has said it's fizzing. So the RIA war continues. One intriguing element is that both Flash and Silverlight have an open-source aspect. Adobe's efforts include publishing the SWF …

Developer 20 Feb 19:26
UK boffin: Social networking causes cancer, heart attacks, lupus, dementia...

Death by internet

There's mounting evidence that Facebooking, Twittering, and other "social networking" activities can kill you. A study (PDF) published in Biologist, the journal of the British Institute of Biology, details how face-to-face contacts with friends and family are being replaced by face-to-screen isolation, and how the lack of real …

Applications 20 Feb 20:02
NASA talks little green men with Vatican

God, it's me! Xeloclump from planet Zerclumph!

It's a good time to be a Catholic and a cosmologist. Heretic stake burnings are at an all-time low, and the Vatican has even warmed to the idea of ETs out there in the infinite expanse. So, it was a notably un-charred and still-communicated Father George Coyne, former director of the Vatican Observatory, who stopped by NASA's …

Space 20 Feb 20:29
State bill would turn RFID researchers into felons

If white hats are outlawed...

The sponsor of a controversial bill before the Nevada legislature has promised to introduce amendments after security experts and civil libertarians warned it would make felons of people studying privacy threats involving RFID, or radio frequency identification. In its present form, Senate Bill 125 (PDF) would make it a felony …

Security 20 Feb 21:42
Congress mulls stringent data retention rules

Two-year logs for ISPs, hotspots, even homes

US politicians have proposed legislation that would oblige both ISPs and people running Wi-Fi hotspots to keep access logs for two years. The stringent data retention rules are among provisions to two companion bills submitted to the House of Representatives (H.R.1076) and the Senate (S.436). Both bills are known as Internet …

Law 20 Feb 22:14
IBM beefs System x with latest Intel, AMD chips

BladeCenters revved too

IBM's high-end System x line has been updated with the faster x64 processors from both Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. IBM has also updated the Opteron processors used in its BladeCenter blade servers as well. The "Dunnington" Xeon 7400 series chips were launched last September, sporting four-core and six-core variants aimed …

Servers 20 Feb 22:35
Storage breakthrough could bust density record

12 times over

Researchers have developed a breakthrough storage technology capable of squeezing the contents of 250 DVDs onto a disk the size of a quarter. The technique involves using the self-assembly properties of chemically dissimilar polymer chains to array themselves into ludicrously dense but perfectly regular formations. Working …

Storage 20 Feb 22:55