26th February 2009 Archive

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Jobs will return, says Apple's board

Shareholders serenade absent deity

The Apple shareholders meeting held Wednesday was dominated by a man who wasn't there: Steve Jobs. All the other members of Apple's board of directors were in attendance, save Google CEO Eric Schmidt, but none would provide any more-detailed information about the missing Jobs. “Nothing has changed,” said board member Arthur …

Hardware 26 Feb 2009, 00:00
Microsoft sues GPS maker TomTom

Lawyers blow IP infringement smoke signals

Microsoft said it's suing GPS maker TomTom for patent infringement, claiming the Dutch manufacturer uses Redmond's technology but refuses to sit down for licensing talks. The lawsuit - which is a rare case of Microsoft going on the offensive in a patent spat - was filed today in US District Court for the Western District of …

Law 26 Feb 2009, 00:07
VMware, Novell hatch virtual appliance scheme

More hardware that isn't real

Virtualization specialist VMware has teamed up with commercial Linux distributor Novell to create software appliances based on Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) wrapped up in VMware's ESX Server virtual machines. The deal was inked at the VMworld festivities in Cannes this week. For the past four years VMware has …

Servers 26 Feb 2009, 01:37
Windows 7 to take Surface mainstream?

VSLive Ikea-priced table computing

Could Windows 7 take Microsoft multi-touch mainstream? To an extent. Surface - Microsoft's intriguing but pricey multi-touch-based input system - lets you build applications that can be rotated and touched. It lets you bind data such as pictures and order forms to code using XAML and accepts simultaneous inputs from up to 52 …

Developer 26 Feb 2009, 01:53
Hacking contest offers $10,000 for iPhone exploit

Pwn2Own your smartphone

An annual hacker competition planned for next month has setting its sights on Apple's iPhone and four other smart phones in a contest that will pay cash prizes of $10,000 to anyone who can break in to the mobile devices. The contest will present contestants with phones running the Android, Symbian, and Windows Mobile operating …

Phones 26 Feb 2009, 02:02
Google seeks starvation of growling watchdog

(Semi-)apology for money-snuffing missive

Google has attempted to cut the funding of a well-known public watchdog, after the organization launched a "guerrilla" attack on its Washington lobby operation. In a statement sent to The Register this morning, Google apologized for the incident. But it has yet to apologize directly to the parties involved. In late January, …

Government 26 Feb 2009, 02:09
Microsoft trades goodwill for TomTom Linux satisfaction

Analysis Skeptics' 'told-you-so' moment arrives

It looks like Microsoft finally did it. It has filed a lawsuit over alleged infringement of its US patents by Linux and open source. Today, the company filed suit against in-car, voice-activated navigation specialist TomTom NV and Tom Tom, Inc. And according to TechFlash, three of the eight patents Microsoft has contested …

Applications 26 Feb 2009, 06:11
VMware's one-trick pony: Destined to be a platform?

Comment A Maritz made in heaven - or not

These guys could make it. VMware could be another Oracle, another supplier whose steel is tempered by the furnace heat of Microsoft competition, instead of weakening and melting away like Netscape, the Lotus spreadsheet and other classic Microsoft-whipped suppliers. You get the feeling listening to VMware staffers that they …

Virtualization 26 Feb 2009, 08:02
Debt collection can be harassment, rules court

British Gas ruling sends warning to all suppliers

A woman who took a case for harassment against British Gas has won a settlement from the company. One legal expert said that the case should act as a warning to all firms to make sure their debt collection and complaint handling operations communicate. Lisa Ferguson took the energy giant to court over a string of threatening …

Small Biz 26 Feb 2009, 08:16
Samsung S1 Mini 1.8in external hard drive

Review Very cute

We've just received what has to be one of the cutest little external hard drives we've ever seen: Samsung's new S1 Mini. Samsung's S1 Mini: not much larger than this picture The top of the S1 is all ultra-glossy black and smooth, but with a dotted texture under a clear plastic cover so it's not your average piano-black …

Hardware 26 Feb 2009, 09:59
Dominican lad suffers six-day stiffy

Doctors battle in vain to placate priapism

A 23-year-old male from the Dominican Republic spent five days in hospital suffering from an attack of priapism while doctors battled in vain to encourage his hideously empurpled member to succumb to deflatory treatment. According to Peru's El Comercio, Antonio Rosa admitted to having quaffed "sexual stimulants" mixed with …

Bootnotes 26 Feb 2009, 10:12
Polluters to start paying, tardily

EU environmental liability regime for England finally kicks in

New regulations implementing the 'polluter pays' principle for environmental damage come into force in England on 1st March 2009, nearly two years after an EU Directive's original deadline. An insurance law expert has warned that many businesses remain unaware of their potential liabilities under the new regime. Those that …

Science 26 Feb 2009, 10:34
Nokia plotting Symbian laptops

MC400* route to keeping up with the Androids

Nokia has plans to put Symbian onto laptop computers, with the vendor predicting converged devices were likely to appear in as little as five years from now. CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo confirmed the mobile vendor's plans in an interview with the Finnish National Broadcaster last night. "We don't have to look even for five years …

Hardware 26 Feb 2009, 10:44
UMD-free PSP coming this autumn?

Exec claims Sony's already working on prototype

A redesigned PlayStation Portable (PSP) that doesn’t use UMD game discs could be launched this autumn, according to a senior gaming industry excutive. David Perry, Chief Creative Officer of games developer Acclaim, told website Kotaku that he recently “spoke to a developer who is working on [the PSP 2] right now”. It’s …

Games 26 Feb 2009, 11:08
Small biz still struggling for funding as RBS flounders

Last roll of the dice for UK economy

Royal Bank of Scotland has recorded the largest loss in UK corporate history and is being bailed out again by the Treasury, while small and medium businesses are still struggling to get hold of credit. RBS lost £40bn before tax in 2008, despite two government bailouts, on a total income of £25.8bn - after excluding parts of …

Small Biz 26 Feb 2009, 11:16
Hertfordshire drivers endure 200-year roadworks

Impact 'slight', mercifully

We're obliged this morning to reader Paul Smith for alerting drivers to ongoing and rather prolonged roadworks in Hertfordshire, albeit with "slight" impact on traffic flow: Those of you thinking that not even in the UK could it take 200 years to put right a bit of tarmac should note that a water company is responsible for …

Bootnotes 26 Feb 2009, 11:17
Boffins: Send robot lawn tractors to the Moon

Droid dump-truck Moonbase spaceport plan

Corporate and academic robotics boffins in the States say they have validated plans for creating a spaceship landing field on the Moon using small droid dump-trucks "the size of riding mowers". You might think that there's no great need for a prepared spaceship field on the Moon - after all, the ships will have to set down …

Science 26 Feb 2009, 11:33
Miley Cyrus hacker in MySpace spam ringtone scam

TrainReq invites surfers to vote on own punishment

A teenager already suspected of breaking into the Gmail account of actress Miley Cyrus and swiping candid pictures also hacked into MySpace profiles of other celebrities. Suspected hacker Josh Holly, 19, also allegedly broke into the online accounts of music stars including Rihanna, Chris Brown, Linkin Park and Fall Out Boy, …

Security 26 Feb 2009, 11:36
Texting: Good for kids after all?

Regular texters read more gooder, finds study

A study of 88 British kids, aged between 10 and 12, has discovered that those who regularly text have better reading skills despite the use of txt abbreviations. The increasing use of abbreviations, phonetic spellings and the dropping of vowels is a constant source of irritation to the Daily Mail-reading crowd, who happily …

Mobile 26 Feb 2009, 11:49
Stargazers peer into the 'Eye of God'

Helix Nebula poses for ESO 'scope

The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, aka (mercifully) ESO, has released an impressive image of the Helix Nebula captured by La Silla Observatory in Chile. The nebula, lying at around 700 light-years away in the constellation of Aquarius, has quickly been dubbed the "Eye of God", for …

Science 26 Feb 2009, 11:53
Nokia eyes up notebook biz

Mobiles and laptops to converge, says company chief

Nokia’s Chief Executive has confirmed that the firm’s considering a move into the laptop market. According to several online reports, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo told Finnish broadcaster YLE that the company is “looking very actively... at this opportunity” to make Nokia-branded laptops. The announcement is exciting, but not …

Hardware 26 Feb 2009, 11:53
Sony Walkman X1000 series priced, dated

Thanks, Amazon!

Amazon has revealed the prices and rough shipment dates for Sony’s upcoming touch-controlled Walkman X1000 portable media players. Sony's Walkman X1000: arriving at Amazon within weeks Two capacities of the iPod Touch-style PMP will be made available: 16GB and 32GB. Amazon’s priced the lower capacity model – known as the …

Hardware 26 Feb 2009, 11:56
Carphone Warehouse to axe 450 jobs

Head office and call centres targeted

Up to 450 people will be made redundant by Carphone Warehouse in a cost-cutting exercise, the firm said today. The jobs will go at Carphone's West London head office and call centres in the Midlands and North West. Retail outlets won't be affected. The cuts follow an announcement by the firm in January that it was seeking to …

The Channel 26 Feb 2009, 12:07
TechNet, MSDN subscribers get Vista SP2 release candidate

Coming soon to a screen near you

Microsoft has released a near-final version of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) for its TechNet and MSDN subscribers. The firm said that it would make the release candidate of Vista SP2 publicly available in the very near future. As we reported last week, it was widely expected that the RC would land imminently. Microsoft …

Operating Systems 26 Feb 2009, 12:09
How secure is your organisation?

Regcast Get advice and opinion from our experts

Clear some space in your diary for Wednesday 4 March from 3pm (GMT) onwards and join the experts online for our next live and fully interactive Regcast. Our panel delivers an overview of IT security issues today, considers the business drivers and constraints for medium-sized organisations, and examines the effect of the latest …

Tech Panel 26 Feb 2009, 12:24
Sonim XP3 Enduro ultra-rugged mobile phone

Review Well 'ard

Launched in November, but only just available in the UK, the Sonim Enduro is hard to kill - very hard. We know - we tried. Sonim's XP3 Enduro: well 'ard Sonim announced its range of toughened handsets back in 2007, and made much of the phones' indestructibility. The specifications list an operational temperature range of - …

Phones 26 Feb 2009, 13:02
Spectrum Bridge maps out the white spaces

You said no strings could secure you

While big names compete for the contract to run the white-space database, Spectrum Bridge has quietly put the information online, allowing anyone in America to discover what is in their personal white room. Spectrum Bridge is better known as the world's first, and only, trading site for those wanting to buy and sell radio …

Mobile 26 Feb 2009, 13:08
Reg Reader poll on notebook quality: results are in

Are Apple and Sony worth the price premium?

Our recent poll of Reg readers on their perceptions of some of the most prominent brands in the notebook PC space provided some interesting food for thought for those looking to make procurement decisions in this area. While it is tempting to focus on specs and prices, it was clear from results that there is much more to it than …

Hardware 26 Feb 2009, 13:19
McKinnon's UK trial bid rejected by DPP

Health hearing becomes sole barrier against extradition

UK prosecutors has rejected the opportunity to prosecute Pentagon hacker Gary McKinnon in Britain, despite his signed confession to hacking offences. As part of his long-running fight against extradition to the US on hacking charges, McKinnon handed prosecutors a signed confession through his lawyers back in December. However …

Law 26 Feb 2009, 13:29
Google shakes AdWords snowglobe again

Add ads to Google News, shutters mobile biz pages service

Google has added its AdWords program to the company’s News searches in the US and quietly ditched its Adwords business pages for mobile ads service. Mountain View confirmed that it is now delivering text ads on the right side of the search results page on its Google News site in much the same way as it has done for normal web …

Financial News 26 Feb 2009, 13:37
Nintendo unveils 'Pro' Wii controller

Like the Classic, just with more grip

Pictures and specifications for a redesigned Wii Classic controller have been published on Nintendo’s Japanese website. Nintendo's new Wii Classic Controller Pro Called the Classic Controller Pro, the gaming giant’s new cabled controller is essentially the same as its existing Classic gamepad – but with two PlayStation …

Games 26 Feb 2009, 14:21
iPhoney nano found, tested in Asia

Review Not the gadget you were expecting...

While rumours of an iPhone Nano abound, anyone knocking about China or South-East Asia with a few quid spare can buy one right now. Well, up to a point. While the 'iPhone Mini' looks and feels like a Nano-style two-thirds scale iPhone -and even comes complete with an almost-Mac icon on the back - it has absolutely sod-all to do …

Phones 26 Feb 2009, 14:28
Panasonic readies Freesat Blu-ray pair

Record the BBC, in HD

Panasonic this week previewed what it claimed is the world’s first pair of Blu-ray recorders with two integrated Freesat receivers and an internal hard drive. Because both players each have two tuners, Panasonic has reportedly said you'll be able to record content from one channel and simultaneously watch something else. Each …

Hardware 26 Feb 2009, 14:29
Sky taken to task for online promo cock-up

Broadcaster broke ASA rules after servers failed

Broadcaster Sky should have made sure its websites could handle the traffic generated by its promotional advertising, and should have made a web offer available on the phone once it ran into problems, the advertising regulator has said. The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has upheld complaints against Sky over people's …

Servers 26 Feb 2009, 14:46
UK kids presenter gets online support

Storm + teacup + stupid parents

Supporters of one-armed CBeebies presenter Cerrie Burnell are flocking to her defence following press stories claiming her appearance was upsetting children. The BBC is believed to have received nine complaints since Burnell took over last month. Burnell was born without the lower half of her right arm. Disability campaigner …

Bootnotes 26 Feb 2009, 14:51
Spooks told to get used to encrypted VoIP

UK start-up aims to conceal more conversations

A British security firm has urged the government not to impose heavy-handed interception regulations on VoIP providers, ahead of the forthcoming consultation on communications data. Cellcrypt, based in London, develops and sells a smartphone application that allows companies to make encrypted VoIP calls internationally. The …

Mobile 26 Feb 2009, 15:26
Pirate Bay's neo-Nazi sugar daddy

And the strange silence of the Freetards

The trial of the Pirate Bay operators in Sweden has generated huge amounts of media coverage. But one of the most interesting things about Pirate Bay hasn't got a mention. In his daily dispatches for WiReD, court correspondent Oscar Schwartz swoons over the boyish charm of "likeable" and "winning" Pirate Bay PR guy Peter Sunde …

Media 26 Feb 2009, 15:49
Teen sacked for 'boring' job Facebook comment

Marching orders for Clacton office worker

A teenager from the international financial powerhouse that is Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, was given her marching orders after bosses discovered she'd described her office administrator's post as "boring" on Facebook. Kimberley Swann, 16, was dragged before the powers that be on Monday morning and summarily dismissed from her job …

Bootnotes 26 Feb 2009, 15:54
Cambridge security boffins slam banking card readers

'Optimised to fail'

Card readers for online banking are inherently insecure, according to a new study by Cambridge security researchers. Researchers Saar Drimer, Steven J Murdoch and Ross Anderson found a number of serious security shortcomings after reverse engineering the underlying protocol (called the Chip Authentication Programme or CAP) …

Security 26 Feb 2009, 16:22
Harry Potter hangs up wand in 2011

Warner sets release date for Deathly Hallows: Part II

Warner Bros has announced that its Harry Potter franchise will wind up with a 15 July 2011 release for Deathly Hallows: Part II, the BBC reports. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is due to hit the big screen in July this year - an eight-month knock-back designed to "guarantee the studio a major summer blockbuster in 2009 …

Bootnotes 26 Feb 2009, 16:40
Yahoo! parts! ways! with! CFO!

Microhoo resurrection swansong

Update: This story has been updated to include quotes from Carol Bartz's Yahoo! reorg blog post Yahoo! has told the world that chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen is leaving the company. The struggling web portal announced the news this morning with an SEC filing. The announcement comes less than a day after Jorgensen …

Financial News 26 Feb 2009, 18:14
Apple laptop ignites marketing department

Faulty PowerBook catches fire

Staff at a London-based marketing firm had a lucky escape recently, when one worker’s Apple laptop caused some serious issues for the IT department. The PowerBook, shortly before it went bang Images courtesy of Vnunet The machine – thought to be a PowerBook, according to a report by the Inquirer – caught the attention of …

Hardware 26 Feb 2009, 20:44
Intel preps ultra-thin notebook chips

You can't be too rich or too ultra-thin

Intel will soon release two new ultra-low voltage (ULV) processors designed for ultra-thin notebooks. According to DigiTimes, the company will unveil the 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo SU9600 and the 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo SU3500 next month. Prices will be $289 (£202) and $262 (£183), respectively, in 1000-unit quantities, the Taiwanese pub …

Hardware 26 Feb 2009, 21:11
Supremes ankle AT&T DSL line-sharing suit

Reject antitrust pleas for lower pricing

On AT&T's high-speed internet pipes, it's AT&T's ballgame, the US Supreme Court has ruled. The top court on Wednesday unanimously rejected accusations that AT&T's Pacific Bell Telephone unit was engaged in an illegal "price squeeze" designed to drive away smaller DSL internet providers using the carrier's infrastructure. …

Broadband 26 Feb 2009, 21:15
Tweet hackers reopen Twitter vuln

Clickjack tit-tat

Twitter's tit-for-tat struggle against clickjackers continues. Two weeks after the micro-blogging site immunized its users against a fast-moving worm that caused them to unintentionally broadcast messages when they clicked on an innocuous-looking button, hackers have found a new way to exploit the clickjacking vulnerability. …

Security 26 Feb 2009, 21:37
Google finally gives self Web2.0rhea

A spew before buying?

It was only a matter of time. Google has given itself Web2.0rhea. Yesterday, the world's largest ad broker finally launched a Twitter account, intent on spraying world+dog with an endless stream of self-serving mini-messages. It's first sub-140-character spew: "I'm 01100110 01100101 01100101 01101100 01101001 01101110 …

Applications 26 Feb 2009, 22:31
Dell profits dive 48% in Q4

More cost-cutting on the cards

Dell's coffers took a serious licking during its fiscal fourth quarter, courtesy your friendly neighborhood massive global recession. The Round Rock PC maker said its net profits fell 48 per cent between October and January, compared to the same period last year. It managed to put $351m in its pockets during the quarter, down …

The Channel 26 Feb 2009, 23:26
Cisco lays off 250 in first wave of cuts

But don't call them layoffs

Cisco has begun the layoff process it had announced earlier, with approximately 250 people exiting its San Jose, California headquarters this week, along with more throughout its worldwide operations. The total number of lost jobs isn't clear, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, but they won't be the only ones …

Financial News 26 Feb 2009, 23:30
Big Blue flaunts Meltdown-proof coating

Re-promises record 2009

Four more weeks of the economic meltdown has not changed IBM's tune. At the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco, IBM's chief financial officer, Mark Loughridge, said that January was just fine at Big Blue and affirmed the guidance the company has provided to a somewhat skeptical and skittish Wall …

Financial News 26 Feb 2009, 23:48