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20th March 2009 Archive

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  • AT&T to sell no-contract iPhones

    Let the unlocking begin!

    AT&T will begin selling no-contract iPhones next week in the US, but they'll still be locked into AT&T service. The Associated Press reported today that an AT&T spokesperson has confirmed that the company will being selling the 8GB iPhone 3G for $599 and the 16GB model for $699 - $400 above their contract prices - beginning …

    Mobile 20 Mar 01:31

  • Robo-fish to hunt pollution in Spanish seas

    ROTM The Search for Sarah Codder begins

    Scientists in the UK plan to release a school of autonomous robotic fish into the sea off northern Spain to help detect for hazardous pollutants in the water. The robots are designed to look like carp and swim like real fish so they won't scare the local meat-based wildlife while patrolling the port of Gijon. Each robo-carp …

    Rise of the Machines 20 Mar 01:32

  • Flaw makes Twitter vulnerable to serious viral attack

    Updated Son of Samy?

    Micro-blogging site Twitter suffers from a potentially devastating vulnerability that forces logged-in users to post messages of an attacker's choice simply by clicking on a link. It could be used to spawn a self-replicating worm. The XSS, or cross-site scripting, error was discovered by Secure Sciences Corp researchers Lance …

    Security 20 Mar 01:48

  • Amazon cloud offers protection from falling meteors

    (Virtually) infinite disaster recovery

    Now that you can purchase future compute power on its intercontinental cloud, Amazon is pitching the sky-high operation as a safe haven for anyone worried that their earthbound data center may soon be hit by a falling meteor. Last week, Amazon introduced "reserved instances" on its Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2, for short), …

    Developer 20 Mar 06:41

  • Microsoft promises IE web-standards love

    Mix 09 Developers, we're listening. Promise

    Internet Explorer chief Dean Hachamovitch has committed Microsoft to standards and working with standards bodies, after years of going its own way on the browser. Microsoft's IE general manager used the launch of IE 8 to tell Mix 09 that Microsoft would continue to engage with the web and developers on compatibility and …

    Applications 20 Mar 06:50

  • Privacy campaigner vows legal challenge to Google Street View

    You looking at me?

    A privacy campaigner will launch a legal challenge to Google's Street View service, which was launched today. Simon Davies of Privacy International says that he will pursue "a test case" against Google. Street View comprises 360 degree photographs of a town's streets, and is already live in the US and some European countries. …

    Software 20 Mar 07:02

  • eSATA: A doomed stopgap?

    Comment The kiss of USB 3.0 death

    The external SATA (eSATA) interconnect is merely an interim idea and the coming of USB 3.0 will kill it off, according to Verbatim's EMEA business development manager Hans Christoph Kaiser. The background is that eSATA, running at 3Gbit/s (around 300MB/sec), is meant to connect external disk drives to PCs using the SATA …

    Storage 20 Mar 08:02

  • La Cie heads to Switzerland to get into the cloud

    Buying Caleido and doing the Wuala

    Desk-based peripherals vendor La Cie is getting into the cloud by merging with Swiss online storage house Caleido. Paris and Portland, Oregon-based La Cie makes neat, minimalist external disk drives and other peripherals. The boxes are designed by Neil Poulton and feature elegant sharp-edged rectangular shapes with smooth …

    Channel Register 20 Mar 09:58

  • Online opt-outs for care record

    Easier concealment for embarrassing ailments

    Connecting for Health (CfH) has told NHS primary care trusts that patients do not need to appear in person to opt out of the Summary Care Record (SCR). The agency in charge of the NHS National Programme for IT has issued guidance that suggests it may be possible for patients to opt out through web forms. It made the point …

    Government 20 Mar 10:08

  • Still more Tasers for plods - but still not in London

    He fell down the stairs, guv. Into some power cables

    The Home Office yesterday announced funding for a further 6,000 Taser electroshock stunguns to be used by police forces across England and Wales. Nonetheless it appears that in London the weapons will not be widely issued, a situation condemned by rank-and-file officers' spokesmen. The funding for 6,000 additional Tasers is on …

    Policing 20 Mar 10:42

  • Wally found on Street View

    Sod Wally, where's the toilet?

    On releasing Street View UK this week, Google set users the challenge of finding "Wally", the elusive, bespectacled children's cartoon character, somewhere in the UK. Within hours he was clocked: here he is loitering outside the O2 shop on Putney High Street: Bit easy that, Googlers, although a mildly diverting distraction …

    Bootnotes 20 Mar 10:45

  • Acer recalls potentially overheating Predators

    Updated Pair of pricey gaming PCs melt

    Acer has recalled all of its Predator monster gaming desktop PC in the US after two owners experienced machine meltdown. Neither punter said they were hurt by the incidents, which involved short-circuits within the system that led to "melted internal components and external casing", according to the US Consumer Product Safety …

    Reg Hardware 20 Mar 10:46

  • Apple iPhone to get OLED screen, claims mole

    Mac maker's unannounced netbook too

    Apple may launch a host of gadgets with OLED displays later this year, including an OLED-equipped iPhone, it has been suggested. Unnamed moles in Korea have been quoted by numerous online sites saying that the gadget line-up will also include netbooks, monitors and a new iPod Touch. It’s worth noting that the source of the …

    Reg Hardware 20 Mar 10:55

  • Boffin builds DIY solar cell from doughnuts and tea

    Improbability drive?

    An inventor claims to have proven that a mixture of teatime staples from England and North America can be used to make solar panels. Can't see the video? Download Flash Player from Adobe.com In a fast-paced video, the presenter runs through a process that essentially combines chemicals from tea and American-style sugared …

    Reg Hardware 20 Mar 11:06

  • Cops wanted compulsory DNA cards

    Government finally releases ID card probe

    Civil servants considered including DNA or iris biometrics as well as digital photographs in the ID card scheme and the police wanted carrying the cards to be compulsory, just released documents reveal. The Office of Government Commerce has finally bowed to legal pressure from trade mag Computer Weekly and released the two …

    Government 20 Mar 11:31

  • NYC 'Top Model' stampede: The truth revealed

    Exclusive snaps of Manhattan mayhem

    NYC was last weekend witness to shock scenes at an audition for America's Next Top Model as a panic-stricken crowd of hopefuls stampeded through Manhattan, scattering designer bags and expensive shoes in their wake as law-enforcement operatives attempted to restore order. The media line on the pandemonium is that it was …

    Bootnotes 20 Mar 12:02

  • Indian call centre credit card 'scam' exposed

    Symantec renewal details end up on black market

    An undercover investigation by the BBC has exposed evidence of the theft of credit card details by workers at an Indian call centre used by security giant Symantec. A BBC reporter posing as a fraudster bought allegedly stolen but valid UK card details from a Delhi-based man, who denies any wrongdoing. Three of the victims of …

    Crime 20 Mar 12:08

  • Sick of that crap office laptop? IBM can help You*

    Buy us a computer and we'll let you work on it

    Sick of using that clunky old work laptop that the bean counters want to write down for another two years? Boy, does IBM have a deal for you - if you work for IBM, that is. These days companies can't afford to throw their money around, but IBM UK has licked that problem by letting its staff buy new computers, so that they can …

    Channel Register 20 Mar 12:12

  • TomTom countersues Microsoft

    Mi casa es su casa

    GPS maker TomTom hit back at Microsoft yesterday by issuing a countersuit against the software giant with a patent claim of its own. The move follows Redmond’s decision last month to sue the Dutch manufacturer for infringement of eight Microsoft patents. TomTom filed the countersuit in the US District Court for the Eastern …

    Applications 20 Mar 12:25

  • US reality TV 'star' attacked fiancé with laptop, cat, apples

    Slammed his head in the door, too

    A US reality TV 'star' was cuffed earlier this week for allegedly laying into her (now ex) fiancé with a cat, a laptop and, for good measure, a few apples, the New York Post reports. Kenley Collins, 26, is apparently a fashion designer and a finalist in something called Project Runway. Early on Wednesday morning, she suffered …

    Bootnotes 20 Mar 12:31

  • Wikileaks tells Aus censorship minister to rack off

    Muddled Conroy threatens lawyers

    Wikileaks has told the Australian Chief Censor communications minister, Stephen Conroy, to reel his neck in after the gaffe-prone politician threatened a police investigation to find out who leaked his secret blacklist of sites banned in Australia. Conroy claimed the list published yesterday of sites banned in Australia was …

    Government 20 Mar 12:35

  • Philips 42in Ambilight LED array TV

    Review The best 1080p LCD TV yet?

    Philips flatscreens have a lot going for them. The picture quality is usually strong, sometimes outstanding. The designs are striking and eye-catching rather than bland or anonymous, though this doesn't mean they please everyone, of course. Philips' 42PFL9803H/10: now with LED array backlighting There are the Philips …

    Reg Hardware 20 Mar 12:36

  • Apple proves: It pays to be late

    ...And ignore the mobile networks

    This week Apple threw the kitchen sink at its iPhone/Touch software stack (details outlined here), removing most of the most irritating nuisances at a stroke. It's a stunning achievement. So Apple now finds itself where everyone else in the mobile handset business wanted to be 15 years ago. Large companies full of clever …

    Mobile 20 Mar 13:02

  • Ingram Micro scales back in Nordic region

    That means job cuts doesn't it?

    Ingram Micro is restructuring its Nordic breadline broadline business in an effort to increase profits. It is selling off its Danish broadline business to Actebis, though financial terms have not been disclosed. It will close operations in Finland and Norway in the second quarter of 2009. Ingram will keep a broadline …

    Channel Register 20 Mar 13:05

  • Prof pooh-poohed in pig-v-whale hippo genealogy brouhaha

    Bitchslapping boffins in ugly porker-potamus roughhouse

    Rival Canadian and American boffins went head to head this week, battling to resolve one of the most hotly-disputed scientific questions of recent times. That is of course: are hippos a type of amphibious whale, or are they in fact a freshwater pig? Heading up the porker-potamus school is Professor J G M Thewissen of the …

    Biology 20 Mar 13:26

  • London to get EV charging post network

    'Leccy Tech Recharge units to be sited in former filling stations

    Californian company Evoasis has announced that it's going to build a network of electric vehicle charging stations in and around the central London. The charging stations – called UpStarts - will all be placed on the sites of disused petrol stations, the first being a 12-bay layout destined for Grosvenor Road in Pimlico, SW1. …

    Reg Hardware 20 Mar 13:40

  • Romanian police arrest Pentagon hack suspect

    'Wolfenstein' cuffed

    Romanian police have arrested a hacker suspected of breaking into Pentagon systems and planting malware. Eduard Lucian Mandru, 23, a business studies student from Iasi, Romania, is suspected of breaking into US Department of Defense systems in 2006. A criminal hacker nicknamed "Wolfenstein" accessed sensitive systems at that …

    Malware 20 Mar 14:02

  • El Reg spymobile snapper nailed on Street View

    The Rickmansworth surveillance feedback loop

    It was kind of inevitable that at least one of El Reg's tireless Google Orwellian black Opel spotters would, in the line of duty, end up nailed on Street View. To recap, we asked readers to supply photographic evidence of the search monolith's privacy-busting activities around the UK, which we slapped into our Web 0.2 …

    Bootnotes 20 Mar 14:03

  • PC buyers fail to prove MS deceived in Vista 'Capable' suit

    Motion for partial summary judgment denied

    The judge in the ongoing Vista Capable row has denied PC buyers a motion for partial summary judgment in a lawsuit against Microsoft, citing a lack of evidence to show the company had hoodwinked customers. The issue will be decided in a forthcoming trial instead, ruled US District Judge Marsha Pechman late on Wednesday. The …

    Channel Register 20 Mar 14:11

  • Enter if ye dare the Comment Dungeon

    The week's shoutpourings put to the rack

    Ah, Friday, the perfectly-formed posterior of the week. As I sit here surveying the many, many, many hundreds of web-bound hollerings that jostled for my attention this week in the comment threads, I'm inspired to throw a bone to you restless hordes (I said "hordes"). In this spirit, it is my dubious pleasure to invite you one …

    Bootnotes 20 Mar 14:54

  • Palm bets the farm on WebOS

    Has enough pennies for Pre launch, but no more wiggle room

    Palm has announced it has enough money to launch the Pre, but with a net loss for the last quarter ($98m) bigger than its revenue ($90.6m), there's not much left in the piggybank. While Palm won’t comment on the company’s burn rate, it’s clear that everything depends on the launch of the new Pre handset - which will come to …

    Mobile 20 Mar 15:31

  • DARPA orders hypersonic Nazi Doodlebug engine

    'Continuous Explosion' fireball bomb/jet hybrid wanted

    Rebellious Pentagon boffins, whose plans for a really cool hypersonic robot stunt plane were stymied by stick-in-the-mud Washington politicos, have managed to sneak through an alternative project. A $2m contract has been inked for initial development work on the "Vulcan" zero-to-Mach-4 hyper pulse-jet engine. The Vulcan …

    Science 20 Mar 15:38

  • Asus Eee PC 1000HE netbook

    Review Nine-hour battery life? You betcha

    Asus was clearly stung by criticism last year that its Eee PC line-up wasn't providing the runtime punters had been led to believe netbooks would deliver. Couple that with the confusion caused when some countries got Eee PC 900s with one battery capacity, while other regions got better ones, Asus needed to look to its reputation …

    Reg Hardware 20 Mar 15:54

  • Sony-Ericsson warns of handset slump

    Sales falling out of bed

    Sony-Ericsson warned today that it expects to sell just 14 million mobile handsets in the first quarter of 2009. That compares to 24.2m in the fourth quarter of 2008, which was in turn down 21 per cent on the same period a year ago. The joint venture expects average selling price to be down slightly to €120 and margin to also …

    Mobile 20 Mar 16:09

  • O2 starts giving away iPhones

    Just place your first-born here

    UK operator O2 is going to start handing out free iPhones from April 3, for punters prepared to sign up to a two-year contract or pay almost £45 for 18 months. The new tariffs include the usual unlimited data and hotspot access, but those wanting the 16GB iPhone will have to commit to paying £44.05 every month for the next two …

    Mobile 20 Mar 16:10

  • Nokia closes Porn'n'Warez swap site

    Farewell then, MOSH

    Nokia is closing its Web 2.0-tastic user generated content website MOSH. The venture was unveiled with a chorus of kumbayas in June 2007, promising to allow users "to create, upload and share your applications, games, audio, images, and video instantaneously. Or you can just take it easy and enjoy what other people have …

    Mobile 20 Mar 16:44

  • Dell confirms more jobs cuts in EMEA

    The Axeman cometh to Bracknell

    Dell is preparing to swing the job axe once again following its Q4 profit hammering when the firm was forced to jack up its cost-saving target by a billion dollars to $4bn last month. The company told many of its workers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa this morning to expect to see compulsory redundancies brought in over …

    Channel Register 20 Mar 16:54

  • Xerox sees bleak 2009

    Low expectations lowered

    Xerox announced Friday morning that it was lowering its expectations for first-quarter 2009 earnings by 69 to 85 per cent. Its share price immediately took a 20 per cent hit, but struggled back by five per cent in time for lunch in New York. Xerox's January and February revenue dropped 18 per cent due to slumping sales of …

    Financial News 20 Mar 17:34

  • Websense mistakes Cisco.com for hack site

    IPs of ill repute

    Websense briefly classified the home page of networking giant Cisco as a hacking site earlier this week. As a result of the snafu, corporate users of Websense's web filtering technology were denied access to Cisco.com for about 15 minutes on Tuesday. Websense explained that the censorware cock-up arose because an IP address …

    Enterprise Security 20 Mar 18:02

  • SAS schemes $70m biz analytics cloud

    Private therapy

    Business-analytics software developer SAS Institute is taking to the clouds. But rather than stake the future of its hosted-application business on existing clouds such as Amazon AWS, SAS has decided to shell out $70m (£48m) to build its own cloud-computing facility. The Cary, North Carolina software house has seen exponential …

    Servers 20 Mar 18:13

  • Gmail offers 'undo' email option

    Stupid POP tricks

    The folks at Gmail Labs obviously dedicate a healthy amount of brainpower to the prevention of regrettable emails sent through their service. Custodial hearts at Google who've brought us Mail Goggles to stave off late-night drunken e-correspondence have now introduced an Undo Send option to their web-based email lineup. …

    Applications 20 Mar 19:05

  • National Semiconductor goes green(er)

    Acquires photovoltaic start-up

    Analog chipmaker National Semiconductor took another step towards repositioning itself a green-technology heavyweight when it announced Friday that it had acquired Act Solar, a Santa Clara, California company specializing in power optimization of solar-cell arrays. By doing so, Nat Semi muscled up its SolarMagic solar-power …

    Business 20 Mar 19:25

  • Platform lands OCS cluster deal with HP

    Dell, Red Hat already bundling

    Grid-computing specialist Platform Computing has notched another distributor for its software, with HP working with Platform to integrate a software bundle with HP's ProLiant rack servers, BladeSystem blade servers, and their respective System Insight Manager management tools. The HP-Platform bundle is called Platform HPC for …

    Servers 20 Mar 19:37

  • Microsoft's Silverlight for mobile to muscle iPhone

    Mix 09 Zoomier, touchier, less Appley

    The planned mobile edition of Microsoft's Silverlight media player is shaping up to be a touchy-feely alternative to Apple's iPhone. Microsoft has told The Reg that Silverlight for Mobile will now include all the features found on Silverlight for the desktop, including Deep Zoom, which lets you keep drilling and drilling into …

    Developer 20 Mar 20:23

  • China nabs website staff for erotic audiobooks

    Four fingered for fervid fiction

    Authorities behind China's nationwide crackdown on internet pornography have turned their eyes — or rather, their ears — to a less-traditional form of online erotica: dirty audiobooks. Four employees at one of China's largest online audiobook providers, ilisten.cn, have been detained for "spreading pornography and harming the …

    Music and Media 20 Mar 20:53

  • Text-message hoax threatens death by Wal-Mart

    Nationwide gang killings unlikely

    Text messages are appearing all over the US that warn women to stay away from Wal-Mart stores or risk being murdered. Fear not. This swarm of quasi-lethal smarm is a hoax, patterned after similar floods of cyber-crap that started back in 2005, according to überdebunker Snopes.com. On example of this fear-mongering was …

    Odds and Sods 20 Mar 22:38

  • Kaminsky: MS security assessment tool is a 'game changer'

    CanSecWest Crash, bang, analyze

    Microsoft on Friday released an open-source program designed to streamline the labor-intensive process of identifying security vulnerabilities in software while it's still under development. As its name suggests, !exploitable Crash Analyzer (pronounced "bang exploitable crash analyzer") combs through bugs that cause a program …

    Security 20 Mar 23:05