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6th May 2009 Archive

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  • Safari, Opera browsers patch-shy, says study

    Chrome, Firefox users plug more often

    Users of Safari and Opera are much more likely to run insecure versions of those browsers because it's harder to keep up with updates, a new study has concluded. The report, prepared by researchers at Google Switzerland and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, analyzed data pulled from anonymized Google logs. It showed …

    Security 6 May 2009, 00:31

  • Yahoo! breeds Pig that talks elephant

    Swine talk of a different kind

    If there's one place on earth where swine talk is still met with open arms, it's Yahoo!. Yahoo! is gradually moving its data-heavy web services onto Hadoop - that Google-inspired open-source platform for crunching epic amounts of information across a sea of distributed machines. And to grease the move, the company has …

    Developer 6 May 2009, 00:43

  • Apple power brick sparks lawsuit

    MagSafe isn't

    A trio of plaintiffs has filed a class action suit against Apple, charging that although the company's much-touted MagSafe Adapter may be mag(netic), safe it ain't. The complaint, filed in the US District Court in San José - a stone's throw from Apple's Cupertino campus - alleges that both the 85 watt (for the MacBook Pro) and …

    Odds and Sods 6 May 2009, 00:43

  • HTC Vodafone Magic

    Review Terrific

    It seems like ages since the first Google Android phone appeared as the T-Mobile G1 at the back end of 2008. But now the HTC Magic has arrived on Vodafone and it's an altogether different beast: lighter, sleeker, more powerful, with more memory, a 3.2Mp camera and stereo Bluetooth. HTC's Magic: all about the touchscreen - …

    reghardware 6 May 2009, 08:02

  • Sage numbers buoyed by falling pound

    Roundabouts and swings

    Small business software specialist Sage saw falling sales balanced out by currency movements over the last six months. Total revenues for the six months ended 31 March 2009 were up 17 per cent to £748.4m, although stripping out currency movements resulted in a 3 per cent fall. Pre-tax profit was £139.2m, up 14 per cent, or …

    Channel Register 6 May 2009, 08:49

  • 3PAR stumbles in fourth quarter

    Figures a blot on the scorecard

    Enterprise storage supplier 3PAR announced increased revenues for its fourth quarter and full fiscal 2009 period, but swung into losses because the recession caused its customers to delay or cancel purchases. For its fourth quarter period, ending March 31, 3PAR reported revenues of $48.5m, up 37 per cent from the same quarter …

    Channel Register 6 May 2009, 09:05

  • Secret US robo whispercopters head to 'undisclosed location'

    Somewhere with lots of trees, apparently

    The US Special Operations Command - SOCOM, America's secret military elite - is to double its fleet of robot whispercopters in coming years, according to reports. It has also been revealed that eight of the high tech droid kill-choppers will soon go operational as surveillance craft at "an undisclosed location" overseas. …

    Science 6 May 2009, 09:18

  • Gov to encourage e-commerce by clarifying consumer rights

    Complaining is cool

    The Government plans to clarify and simplify consumers' rights in a bid to encourage online shoppers to make more use of them. It will publish a plan in the summer for helping shoppers to understand and exercise their rights. Government-commissioned research has found that 57% of UK consumers overall said that they would take …

    Law 6 May 2009, 09:43

  • Skinn-Eee Asus out next week

    MacBook Air-style non-removable battery included

    Asus' MacBook Air-style Eee PC 1008HA - aka Seashell - goes on sale in the UK next week, the company said today. Asus' 1008HA: skin-eee This 10in "user-centric blend of timeless design and effortless mobility" - and there were we thinking it was just a netbook - weighs just 1.1kg and is no more than an inch thick. Like the …

    reghardware 6 May 2009, 09:48

  • Virgin Media pilots 200Mbit service

    How much smut does one person need?

    Virgin Media has begun a pilot of a 200Mbit/s broadband service in Kent to gauge future demand for bandwidth in the home. The pilot, which began last week in Ashford, will see 100 Virgin Media staff and customers connected at the new speed for at least six months. A spokesman for the firm said the upstream bandwidth for the …

    Telecoms 6 May 2009, 09:52

  • Four co-branded 'Navman Mio' satnavs en-route

    Name change coming two years after merger

    Two years after it acquired the Navman satnav brand, erstwhile rival satnav maker Mio has confirmed that several co-branded devices are on the way. Mio’s owned by Mitac which acquired the various Navman divisions – including Navman Europe – from owner Brunswick New Technologies in March 2007 for $16m (£10.6m/€11.9m). A …

    reghardware 6 May 2009, 09:56

  • Pré FAQs answered - by Sprint employee

    But don't expect a launch date or price

    All the hype surrounding Palm’s Pré has led to many unanswered questions about its features. Which IM services will the smartphone support? Will PictBridge be available? So a Sprint insider’s compiled answers to some common Pré FAQs. The blog – written by a Sprint employee, but which has no official connection to the US …

    reghardware 6 May 2009, 10:03

  • Win 7 RC fails to thwart well-known hacker risk

    Malware extension renaming ruse stays undead

    An almost-ready version of Windows 7 retains a feature from Windows NT which expedites a well-known hacker trick, according to net security experts. Win 7 RC omits a fix for a long-standing security shortcoming in Windows Explorer. As with previous versions of Windows, dating all the way back to windows NT, the version of …

    Enterprise Security 6 May 2009, 10:26

  • Browncasting: Why can't Downing Street do digital?

    Comment YouTube does not play well for PM

    Gordon Brown’s recent YouTube appearances may be embarrassing for what they say about his body language – but do they also expose a deeper inability on the part of this Government to come to terms with new media? Since March 2006, the Prime Minister has been working hard to rebut David Cameron's accusation that he was "an …

    Government 6 May 2009, 10:31

  • Vauxhall city e-car won't be 'mini Volt'

    Leccy Tech Trixx to use Volt drive train? Rubbish, say insiders

    Insiders have poured scorn on media reports that Vauxhall is working on a city e-car that will use a version of the Ampera - aka the Chevy Volt - electric drive train minus the range extending 1.4l petrol engine. A source close to the company told Reg Hardware that Vauxhall is indeed considering the development of a city car …

    reghardware 6 May 2009, 10:35

  • Car-prang secretary bites off boss's todger

    A Sin Chew Daily eyewatering report

    A Singapore woman who hired a private detective to probe her husband's suspected infidelities got more than sufficient material for a divorce when the gumshoe witnessed the chap's secretary accidently bite off his todger. According to reports in China Press and, we kid you not, the Sin Chew Daily, the 30-year-old woman was …

    Bootnotes 6 May 2009, 10:40

  • 'Lunatic' Smith doubles ID card costs for Mancunians

    Voluntary rollout addresses vexed 'who am I?' question

    Home Secretary Jacqui Smith today confirmed that Manchester volunteers will be allowed to pay a total of £60 for an ID card from later this year. The price tag on the ID card will remain £30, but the Home Office is now estimating the cost of biometric enrollment, payable to the high street stores it hopes to recruit, as a …

    Government 6 May 2009, 11:00

  • iTunes: prices up, revenue down?

    Talking Heads and Long Tails

    When iTunes introduced variable pricing a month ago, we discovered most of the catalog remained unchanged, with price increases for the most popular songs. Fair enough, you might think, that reflects real-world supply and demand. But has it, as expected, brought home more cash for the beleaguered labels? Billboard and Digital …

    Music and Media 6 May 2009, 11:08

  • Brit software group swallows Borland for $67m

    Micro Focus mops up names from history

    Micro Focus has bought Borland for $67m and is also buying the application testing business of Compuware. Compuware described the sale as an $80m transaction. Micro Focus will pay $1 for each Borland share valuing the firm at $75m including cash reserves, a premium of 25 per cent on Borland's closing price yesterday. The …

    Developer 6 May 2009, 11:20

  • Hot young guys whip out their throbbing iPhones

    NSFW Plenty of hot hardware in beefcake gallery

    We're not quite sure how this one slipped under the El Reg gaydar, but the blogosphere has over the last couple of weeks got itself into a a bit of a tizz over Guys with iPhones (really, really NSFW), which features lots of nude chaps posturing in front of mirrors with their Jesus phones. Quite what Steve Jobs will make of …

    Bootnotes 6 May 2009, 11:21

  • Taser use still plateau'd among firearms cops

    Old-fashioned drubbings generate less evidence

    The latest quarterly figures on English and Welsh police use of Taser electro-stun weapons have been released by the Home Office. Tasings overall are up as more plods tool up with the jolt-weapons; but use remains broadly steady among firearms teams, the only police to have been equipped with Tasers for long. Home Secretary …

    Policing 6 May 2009, 11:48

  • Dell dives as Western Europe PC market stagnates

    Only netbooks can save us now

    PC sales in the UK went into reverse in the first quarter with surging netbook shipments as the bottom fell out of the professional market. Latest figures from Gartner show the UK's decline came amidst marginal growth in the Western European PC market, with total shipments growing 0.7 per cent year on year to 15.3 million …

    Channel Register 6 May 2009, 11:51

  • O2 maps UK homes' gadget habits

    How much do you spend on tech each year?

    Don’t feel guilty if a large chunk of your cash goes on gadgets. O2 has discovered that 40 per cent of UK families now spend at least £3000 - ten per cent of the average household income - on electronics each year. The network provider recently spoke to 500 families and found that the average UK home now boasts 2.4 TVs, 1.6 …

    reghardware 6 May 2009, 11:58

  • Top British boffin: Time to ditch the climate consensus

    Interview Don't use science to get round politics, says Hulme

    Just two years ago, Mike Hulme would have been about the last person you'd expect to hear criticising conventional climate change wisdom. Back then, he was the founding director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, an organisation so revered by environmentalists that it could be mistaken for the academic wing of …

    Environment 6 May 2009, 12:02

  • Toshiba Camileo P30

    Review Not quite Full HD, but close

    The pocket-sized Flip kickstarted a trend towards a new type of ultra-compact camcorder when it was launched last year. Since then, a number of other companies have got in on the act as well, and in some cases they’ve beaten the Flip at its own game. Toshiba's Camileo P30: hard to beat on price and performance Toshiba’s …

    reghardware 6 May 2009, 12:02

  • Vodafone and Avenir quit their bickering

    Ex-Avenir staff to spend more time with family

    Avenir Telecom has terminated its distribution relationship with UK operator Vodafone, ending four months of sabre rattling that was due to end up with former Avenir employees in court today. Vodafone announced it would be cutting ties with the reseller back February, at which time Avenir got an injunction to prevent two …

    Mobile 6 May 2009, 12:17

  • Victoria Principal 'pulled pistol' on maid

    Dallas star shows Naomi how it's done

    Move over Naomi Campbell: Former Dallas star Victoria Principal has demonstrated just how to deal with unsatisfactory domestic staff by allegedly pulling a pistol on her maid. The unfortunate lackey, Maribel Banegas, apparently incurred the wrath of the 59-year-old thespiatrix after taking too long to walk her dog (a "Shih Tzu …

    Bootnotes 6 May 2009, 12:19

  • UK.gov denies 'Google tax' plan

    Daily Mail vs BBC, part 8,855

    The government has denied reports it plans to impose taxes on Google and other search engines to help prop up the BBC. The Daily Mail claimed ministers were considering taking money from Google to protect the BBC's digital switchover surplus, some of which had been earmarked to help fund universal broadband. A spokeswoman for …

    Music and Media 6 May 2009, 12:23

  • Cisco source code swipe suspect charged

    Swede also indicted over NASA hack

    A Swedish man faces computer hacking and trade secret theft charges in the US over allegations he broke into the systems of Cisco and swiped the networking giant's source code. Philip Gabriel Pettersson (aka Stakkato), 21, also faces two charges of hacking into the network of NASA, including systems at the Ames Research Center …

    Data Networking 6 May 2009, 12:33

  • Swedish couple demand right to name baby 'Q'

    Now pay attention, Supreme Administrative Court

    A Swedish couple's battle to name their son "Q" will shortly arrive on appeal at the Supreme Administrative Court, aka Regeringsrätten, which will determine if current regs allow single-letter first names. The parents insist the sprog is not named in honour of the James Bond gadgetmeister, but is rather the victim of a wayward …

    Bootnotes 6 May 2009, 12:58

  • Online ticket reseller fails in internet immunity bid

    StubHub flubs on tout law flout

    An online ticket reseller in the US has been denied protection from liability for its users' actions. StubHub lost its claim that it was not responsible for its users breaking anti-touting laws because of evidence that it contributed to their acts. The US Communications Decency Act (CDA) contains, at Section 230, a protection …

    Law 6 May 2009, 13:04

  • HTC working on Android netbook?

    Mole talks of HTC-developed, T-Mobile-branded Android PC

    HTC has emerged as the possible manufacturer of a T-Mobile Android netbook. Talk of a T-Mobile Android netbook and/or tablet PC has been around for some time already. But a mole’s told blog TmoToday: “The HTC/T-Mobile team has been hard at work on an Android powered netbook.” The source added that the T-Mobile netbook will …

    reghardware 6 May 2009, 13:43

  • Volvo test-drive goes virtual

    Take a test-drive, from your PC

    Test-driving a car will never be the same again, at least if you’re thinking of buying a Volvo S60 Concept. Why? Because the Swedish car firm has designed a videogame to let you try out its motor. Volvo - The Game is a virtual test-drive Volvo – The Game will apparently introduce potential customers to the interior and …

    reghardware 6 May 2009, 13:43

  • US game plods deploy robot enforcement menagerie

    Actually, some bears don't shit in the woods

    American game wardens and wildlife plods are deploying lifelike robotic bears, deer and turkeys in the battle against poachers, according to reports. National Geographic reports on the trend in wilderness robo-prey sting busts, explaining how scofflaw huntsmen are lured into the arms of the law: Unbeknownst to the driver, the …

    Biology 6 May 2009, 13:48

  • Lame Mac 'email worm' limps into view

    Riddled with bugs and rather sad

    Virus writers have created a worm that seeks to establish a botnet of compromised Mac machines. But the Tored Mac worm, which attempts to spread via email, is so hopelessly buggy and lame that it's about as likely to score as Steve Ballmer at an Apple convention. Strains of Mac malware are, of course, dwarfed by factors that …

    Malware 6 May 2009, 14:01

  • Windows 7 promises better SSD-ing performance than Vista

    Tunes up for solid state

    Microsoft has done some tuning of Windows 7, so that it will make much better use of PCs and laptops with solid state drives than the lamentable Vista. It's nothing very clever, but it should make for a snappier Windows. A Microsoft blog on the topic says that the main problem areas are the limited life of SSDs, extended by …

    Storage 6 May 2009, 14:56

  • Dabs founder Atherton cleared of rape charges

    Glad it all happened, apparently

    David Atherton, founder of Dabs.com which he sold to BT in 2006, has been acquitted of rape charges at Leeds Crown Court. Atherton, 51, said he was considering legal action against the woman who made the allegations. But he also said the case had probably saved his life. After being charged in August with rape and possession …

    Channel Register 6 May 2009, 15:06

  • Conservative US shock-jock to sue Wacky Jacqui

    Indignant Michael Savage banned from UK

    Controversial US DJ Michael Savage has loudly declared he will sue UK home secretary Jacqui Smith after appearing on a "banned list" of 22 people unwelcome in Britain for "fostering extremism or hate", as the BBC puts it. Savage, described as "conservative", objects strongly to finding himself alongside two members of a …

    Law 6 May 2009, 15:10

  • New Kindle: Wider, but still no broadsheet

    Embiggened reader might just have your eye out

    Amazon has announced an enlarged Kindle e-book reader, aimed squarely at students and those whose reading extends beyond the latest bonkbuster to documents and textbooks. Amazon's Kindle DX has a 9.7in display Larger than the Kindle 2, the DX comes with a screen just shy of 25cm, (compared to the 15.2cm of the existing …

    Music and Media 6 May 2009, 15:19

  • AMD to support Intel AVX instructions

    Doing the math on SSE compatibility

    Chip designer and erstwhile maker Advanced Micro Devices will support a bunch of Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) instructions, part of the family of extended Single Instruction, Multiple Data (SIMD) instructions for x64 chips that Intel announced last year. The move, announced today, will make AMD's Opteron, Athlon, and …

    PCs & Chips 6 May 2009, 15:20

  • Conficker hype obscures sneaky botnet growth

    Cyberscamps merrily regrouping

    Spammers and other cybercrooks are rebuilding their arsenal of compromised machines after suffering a setback with the takedown of cybercrime-friendly ISP McColo last November. Botherders have taken control of 12 million new IP addresses in the first quarter of 2009, a 50 per cent increase since the last quarter of 2008, …

    Enterprise Security 6 May 2009, 16:02

  • EU telco reform trips over Three Strikes

    Back to the drawing board?

    Two years of negotiation and compromises to craft a giant EU telecomms package ended in recrimination this afternoon, after the Parliament fell out over disconnecting hardcore internet downloaders. The bumper package addressed spectrum usage and technical regulation, but at the last minute, "three strikes" proved a stumbling …

    Government 6 May 2009, 16:06

  • Dell hunting M&A guru

    Dude, you're buying an Acer?

    Boy, this sounds like a fun job. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that PC and server maker Dell is looking for a merger and acquisition expert to help it save Michael Dell's reputation spend some of the company's $7bn in net cash on acquisitions to bolster its business. The WSJ report is a bit thin, with the usual "people …

    Channel Register 6 May 2009, 16:56

  • Amazon patents hideous Kindle 1 design

    It's all yours, fellas

    On the eve of Amazon's Kindle DX announcement, the online storefront was awarded a US design patent for the awful, terrible look of the Kindle 1. Newer Kindle models may be looking much better, but the e-reader's debuting aesthetic left quite a lot to be desired. Presumably before the USPTO granted its boon, the Kindle 1's …

    Music and Media 6 May 2009, 17:55

  • SAP kicks on-demand suite into 2010?

    Just forget about it, please

    SAP has kicked the date for the on-demand version of its business applications further into the future. The president of SAP's global field operations Bill McDermott has reportedly said that its hosted Business ByDesign suite might not be ready until 2010. McDermott is reported to have said the "noise level" around Business …

    Applications 6 May 2009, 18:00

  • US spy boss pushes for unified cyber-command center

    Partnership to protect civilian networks

    The US military wants to create a unified digital command center in Maryland as part of a push to reorganize its offensive and defensive cyber operations. The center would be located at the Army's Fort Meade and would be a sub-unit of the US Strategic Command, Lieutenant General Keith Alexander, director of the National …

    Security 6 May 2009, 18:03

  • Google, telcos in wireless agreement shock

    Memo to Congress: Draw battlelines, please

    Somehow, Google and the wireless telcos have found something they can agree on. With a blog post earlier this week, Google's Washington telecom and media counsel lent the company's support to the Radio Spectrum Inventory Act, which would force government regulators to ask themselves how the nation's wireless spectrum is …

    Wireless 6 May 2009, 18:05

  • Apple fine-tunes app censorship

    Will the f-bomb find a home?

    Apple will extend parental controls to applications in its upcoming iPhone 3.0 software and iTunes 8.2, thus helping to calm some of the ongoing brouhaha over its erratic App Store censorship policies. According to a report by 9to5 Mac, the next versions of the iPhone OS and iTunes will allow parents to set age-appropriate …

    Mobile 6 May 2009, 18:08

  • Green-laser micro-projectors green-lighted

    Movie theater in your pants

    Your mobile phone may one day include a projector capable of displaying 100-inch images, thanks to laser-maker Corning and projector-designer Microvision. In a joint statement, the two companies announced that Corning will supply its G-1000 green lasers to Microvision for use in that company's pico projectors. Green lasers …

    Music and Media 6 May 2009, 19:57

  • Microsoft blocks dirty dozen apps from mobile store

    Beats Apple on middleware restrictions

    Say what you like about Microsoft (as Apple fans do). At least you know where you stand on certain issues. When it comes to Microsoft's planned Marketplace for Mobile, you can forget about making or installing software that changes Microsoft's default browser, search client, or media player on a Windows mobile phone. Also out …

    Mobile 6 May 2009, 20:10

  • US P2P bill aims shackles at browsers, IM

    Warning: You are downloading

    Technology lobbying groups have pounced on proposed US legislation designed to prevent the accidental sharing of sensitive files over peer-to-peer networks, saying it is so broad that web browsers and even entire operating systems would also be covered. The Informed P2P User Act would require makers of file-sharing software to …

    Government 6 May 2009, 20:16

  • SCO threatened with Chapter 7 destruction

    'No reasonable chance of rehabilitation'

    SCO Group's long-standing legal battles over its claimed Unix copyrights may finally end with US bankruptcy court forcing a Chapter 7 cyanide capsule down the company's throat. On Tuesday, the trustee appointed by the federal bankruptcy court in Delaware asked for permission to dissolve the ailing shell-of-a-software-company …

    Operating Systems 6 May 2009, 22:02

  • Super Micro rack-mounts micro Atom server

    Is it super?

    Motherboard and whitebox server maker Super Micro Computer has launched a rack-mounted server that's based on Intel's Atom processor. This doesn't mean that low-powered Atom and similar processors - like VIA Technologies' Nano and C7 chips - are suddenly going to take over the data centers of the world. But as some vendors …

    Servers 6 May 2009, 22:10