26th May 2009 Archive
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Unisys soups up mainframe engines
MIPs on the cheap
With the US Memorial Day holiday behind us, IT vendors can get down to business for a month or two before everyone prepares to go on summer holiday and try to forget the economic downturn for a while. Server maker Unisys is the first out of the chute with new iron today, launching three new ClearPath mainframes that offer more …
Servers 26 May 04:02
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EC spectrum rights fuel industry turf fights
Get your satellites off my lawn
Two weeks ago the European Commission awarded bandwidth to two companies to deliver S-band mobile data satellite services (MSS) across the EU. But does the EU actually have the legal authority to make trans-national spectrum awards? And what will happen to the company that is already operating a satellite service in the S-band …
Wireless 26 May 07:02
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Dell channel boss turns lights down low for partners
Searches for intimacy amid desktop decline
Dell has admitted it will never be the number one computer manufacturer within the channel, where Hewlett-Packard remains at the top of the pile. The vendor, which saw a dramatic 22 per cent drop in PC shipments in the first quarter of this year, is instead hoping to be seen as the best rather than biggest "gorilla of the …
Channel Register 26 May 08:02
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Toshiba Qosmio X300-13W laptop
Review Eye candy? Snazzy styling and GPU grunt for gamers
Toshiba laptops have always been safe and reliable, and we’ll confess to being the satisfied owners of an old Qosmio F20. However, they’ve never been terribly exciting – as our recent review of the Tecra M10 pointed out in great detail. So when Toshiba showed off its latest models to the press just recently, the lurid colouring …
Reg Hardware 26 May 08:02
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Stolen RAF files are blackmailer's dream
Not just personnel files after all
Information stolen from the RAF last September included detailed information on the private lives of senior staff, including drug abuse, problems with alcohol and extra-marital affairs, it has been revealed. The unencrypted hard drives were stolen from a base in Gloucestershire in September last year. At the time we were told …
Government 26 May 08:48
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Buddy unveils Metro e-car
Leccy Tech Rock royalty gather for unveiling
Norwegian electric vehicle (EV) maker Buddy has whipped the dust sheets off its latest car, the Metro. Buddy's Metro: a three-seater coated in durable Telene plastic Buddy officially unveiled its Metro at the recent 24th Electric Vehicle Symposium in Stavanger, Norway in the presence of such luminaries as Crown Prince …
Reg Hardware 26 May 09:10
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Western Digital slips todger to horrified Brit
NSFW 1TB MyBook - with added poke
We're not quite sure what to make of this particular packaging outrage, but what it's lacking on the excess cardboard front, it more than makes up for it in the trouser department. Warwick Uni's Jaroslaw Zachwieja describes himself as "surprised" to discover that, on unpacking his shiny new Western Digital "1TB MyBook …
Bootnotes 26 May 09:15
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Ovi swings to open position
But not a farting application in sight
Nokia's everything store, Ovi, is open for business and sending applications over the air to S60 handsets, with the cost added to the mobile bill or deducted from a pre-paid balance. The list of supported handsets is increasing every few minutes, with users reporting that the Ovi client has already appeared in the Download! …
Mobile 26 May 09:20
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O2 inked as UK's official Pré distributor
Source reveals Christmas O2 launch
O2 may have secured itself as the UK’s exclusive Palm Pré distributor, it’s been revealed. An unnamed source has told The Guardian that the network operator fought off fierce competition from the likes of Vodafone and Orange, and that the Pré will arrive here in time for Christmas. If the information’s accurate then O2 will …
Reg Hardware 26 May 09:40
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Weary locals scratch Butt Hole Road
Beavis and Butt-Head fans distraught
Residents of Butt Hole Road in Conisbrough, South Yorks, are hoping that 300 quid will put an end to the pilgrimage which has seen sniggering crowds flock to the internationally-famous road sign, including Yanks in search of a Beavis and Butt-Head moment: According to the Sun, the four families living on the road stumped …
Bootnotes 26 May 09:54
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The Reg takes on storage platforms
Regcast What Reg readers are doing - and what they want
Clear your diary for Wednesday 17 June 2pm BST (9am EST) and join The Register’s experts online for our next live and fully interactive Regcast – Storage platforms and business advantage. The webcast kicks off with a general introduction to the state of business and IT in today’s credit-crunched world. Our panel then explores …
Storage 26 May 10:02
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Red Hat sticks lawyers on non-neutral Switzerland
There's no real alternative to Microsoft
Red Hat is heading an appeal against a Swiss government agency’s award of a contract handed to Microsoft without any public bidding. The Linux software vendor said late last week that it was joining 17 other tech firms in disputing the Swiss Federal Bureau for Building and Logistics’ decision. The agency gave Microsoft the …
Software 26 May 10:22
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'Augmented reality' ghost game coming to DSi
Don't get scared now...
A Nintendo DSi videogame’s in development that’ll use “augmented reality” technology to help you communicate with ghosts. Ghostwire uses the DSi's camera to superimpose ghosts onto screen shots Ghostwire, from Swedish outfit A Different Game, uses the handheld console’s integrated camera to superimpose in-game ghosts over …
Reg Hardware 26 May 10:35
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Patients gain right to scrub e-records from NHS database
Forceps, scalpel, data deletion tool...
NHS patients will be given the ability to scrub electronic records of their treatments and medical conditions from a proposed national medical database. The concession to patient privacy and data protection follows negotiations between health service officials and data protection watchdogs at the Information Commissioner's …
Government 26 May 10:39
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BT static IP customers get nothing but static
Remote workers downed
BT Business broadband customers using static IP addresses have been booted offline this morning by an unidentified fault. According to BT's status page, the problems were noticed at 9.51am and are ongoing, with engineers investigating. There's no word on the extent of the outage. Static IP addresses are an essential feature …
IT Director 26 May 10:41
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Nork nuke quite a lot less powerful than Hiroshima
Not missile size yet, either: still bad news though
Early reports of North Korea detonating a "Hiroshima sized" nuclear weapon over the weekend appear to have been - erm - overblown, with seismic data indicating an explosion less than half as powerful. The Guardian and other media have widely reported an estimate by the Russian defence ministry that the explosion in North Korea …
Physics 26 May 10:50
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Anix sold to American giant
More UK channel flannel
Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), the enormous American computer services group, is buying the British enterprise IT Anix for £31.5m ($50m) in cash. ACS is merging Anix with its UK business and gains about 150 employees and operations in Bristol, London and Manchester, and data centers in London and Manchester. Anix turned …
Channel Register 26 May 11:04
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Nokia N97 successor revealed?
Flagship smartphone to run Maemo
Juicy specifications for Nokia’s potential successor to the N97 smartphone have been leaked online. Reportedly internally referred to as the N900, Rover and Maemo Flagship, a Nokia mole - who spoke to website MobileCrunch - said that although the smartphone's similar to the N97, it boasts several notable improvements and …
Reg Hardware 26 May 11:28
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Apple pulls Tank apps after Cartier complaint
Tank remains well protected after legal offensive
Luxury watchmaker Cartier has agreed to drop a lawsuit against Apple over two iPhone applications that allegedly infringed the trademark of its Tank brand. The withdrawal of the legal threat follows the removal of the two applications from Apple's App Store. Cartier filed the short-lived lawsuit last Friday, with the …
Mobile 26 May 11:34
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QLogic gets IBM design wins
Scores big win from Big Blue
IBM has announced that it is to use QLogic adapters to provide Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) storage networking. QLogic has revealed that tier 1 server vendor IBM will use its 8100 Converged Network Adapter (CNA) products to provide FCoE connectivity on all of its rack and tower series servers. These include Xeon 5500 “ …
Storage 26 May 11:49
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Microsoft backs 'Bing' with big ad push
It'll search its best for you, a rum pum pum pum
Microsoft is reportedly spending $80m to $100m on a new ad campaign for its search engine, which is set to launch next month under the moniker “Bing.” According to Advertising Age, the software giant has thrown a heap of cash at print, web, TV and outdoor ads in a bid to get people to “Bing it” rather than “Google it” for …
Applications 26 May 11:59
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Android and WebOS join iPhone on AT&T
Secret slideshow reveals future plans
AT&T's handset plans for 2009 have been laid bare through a set of leaked slides revealed by Engadget, and include an Android slider as well as a second-generation Palm device. The Android handset is from HTC, but doesn't appear on the previously-leaked line up. Branded the HTC Lancaster, it's aimed at social networking and …
Mobile 26 May 12:02
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Philips Streamium NP2900
Review Stylish and sonically satisfying streaming sound system
Logitech's Squeezebox Boom has been a firm favourite here at Vulture Central and, for the best part of a year, it has had the market to itself. Now Philips is looking to crash the party with the new Streamium NP2900, another device designed to play music stored on your computer over an 802.11b/g wireless network, without the …
Reg Hardware 26 May 12:16
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Lenovo unveils Ion-inside netbook
But Intel's inside if you're European
Lenovo has launched itself into the netbook space with a 12.1in machine using Nvidia’s Ion graphics chipset, well, depending on where you live. Lenovo's S12: Nvidia Ion will be a US-only option The firm’s new S12 machine – apparently its first 12in netbook - is based around Intel’s N270 Atom processor, but only North …
Reg Hardware 26 May 12:39
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Hacks and IT workers boozing themselves silly
IT journalists toast Department of Health survey
It's official: Media professionals are the UK's heaviest boozers, followed by IT workers and "service-sector" operatives. That's according to a Department of Health survey which found that hacks and the like are working their way through roughly 44 units a week - resolutely ignoring NHS recommended limits of 21 to 28 units for …
Bootnotes 26 May 13:36
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Net closes on NZ bank error fugitives
Loyal sister's Facebook post alerts world+dog to hideout
The New Zealand couple who did a bunk with a sizeable chunk of a NZ$10m overdraft, erroneously provided by Westpac bank, are probably in hiding in Hong Kong, the Telegraph reports. Businessman Leo Gao, 29, girlfriend Kara Hurring, 30, and her seven-year-old daughter Leena wasted no time in fleeing NZ after Westpac accidentally …
Policing 26 May 13:39
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DARPA at work on 'Transformer TX', a proper flying car
'Morphing' robo hover-Prius to run on 'ring motors'
Those splendid brainboxes at DARPA, the Pentagon paradigm-punishment powerhouse, have administered what may be the kiss of life or death to a treasured idea - that of the flying car. True flying cars, as all regular followers of the Reg's coverage will know, remain well beyond humanity's grasp at present. A credible "roadable …
Physics 26 May 14:00
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ICO sets lawyers on Ofcom Dear John letter
Calls for judicial review
ICO Global Communications is taking Ofcom to court over the regulator's decision to instruct the International Telecommunications Union to de-register spectrum reserved for its mobile satellite service. But the US operator has cut it fine, only just making last Saturday's deadline to request a judicial review. In February …
Data Networking 26 May 14:32
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Lad from Lagos bids $100 trillion for Madoff empire
But may need to borrow some cash for a lawyer
Fans of the Lads from Lagos will be delighted to learn that one Ade O. Ogunjobi has made an audacious bid for the remains of Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities LLC - pitching no less than $100 trillion in stock or 400,000,000 shares in order to establish the world's biggest bank "to fight global poverty and now to address …
Bootnotes 26 May 14:35
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Movie-quality games in 15 years, claims gaming veteran
Human behaviour, not computing power, is real hurdle
Movie-quality videogame graphics will be possible within 10 to 15 years, an industry heavyweight has forecast. Tim Sweeny, founder of videogame firm Epic Games, said issues including realistic in-game lighting and movie quality static scenes or motion are just a matter of brute computing power. “We’re only about a factor of a …
Reg Hardware 26 May 15:07
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Broadcom? Just say no, Emulex tells shareholders
Board dismisses 'on the cheap' acquisition attempt
Emulex has written to its shareholders, saying that Emulex's design wins "are now threatening Broadcom's long dominant Ethernet networking market position." The Emulex defence to the unwanted and hostile Broadcom takeover bid has been that it grossly undervalues Emulex at its $9.25/share bid price. Emulex has added meat to …
Storage 26 May 15:50
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Volkswagen eyeing ties with Chinese e-car firm?
Leccy Tech Pair sign memorandum of understanding
Volkswagen (VW) has tied itself in with Chinese car firm Build Your Dreams (BYD), thanks to a deal that’ll see the pair jointly explore e-car possibilities. VW's partnership with BYD could see it sell the Chinese firm's e6 'leccy car (above) in the UK The pair signed a memorandum of understanding that’ll help them “explore …
Reg Hardware 26 May 16:02
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Sockpuppeting British politico resigns from Wikisupremecourt
Do as I Wikisay not as I Wikido
More than two years after the notorious Essjay Scandal, Wikipedia's ruling body still has a weakness for sockpuppetry. A Labour councillor for London's City of Westminster resigned from Wikipedia's supreme court at the weekend, after admitting he gained election to the site's ruling body using a false name. David Boothroyd - …
Public Sector 26 May 16:38
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Obama taps new NASA boss
Four-time shuttle astronaut
After weeks of speculation about who will become NASA's new boss, US President Barack Obama has named four-time shuttle astronaut and retired Marine major general Charles Bolden as his nominee for the post. Charles Bolden, Image courtesy NASA Although the nod came later than expected, Bolden's name has already been floating …
Space 26 May 17:38
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US lawmakers renew fight for legal online gambling
'A personal liberty with benefits'
Lawmakers have renewed their efforts to legalize some forms of online gambling with a bill that would roll back a ban on internet betting that was passed in 2006, when Republicans controlled congress. The legislation was introduced earlier this month by US Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts. It would permit the …
Law 26 May 18:10
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Rambus pitches XDR2 for future memory
You know you want it
Hot on the heels of the US Federal Trade Commission's decision two weeks ago to drop a seven-year antitrust lawsuit against Rambus, the memory chip designer is pitching its bag of technology tricks, collectively known as XDR2, as the future of main memory and graphics memory for PCs and servers. If you are a cynic, you might …
PCs & Chips 26 May 18:16
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Microsoft loses NZ Windows government deal
That time is gone
Microsoft has failed to renew a key government-wide purchasing deal for Windows, opening the door to greater use of open-source software. Talks between Microsoft and New Zealand's State Services Commission to renew a purchase agreement for the next three years have ended without the desired agreement, as it became apparent "a …
Software 26 May 19:31
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Facebook value plummets $5bn
The Russians will save us... bitch
Facebook has sold 1.96 per cent of itself to a Russian technology investment firm for $200m. That puts Facebook's ostensible value at $10bn, a $5bn drop from the price tag Microsoft put on the company in October 2007. On Tuesday, Facebook announced that Digital Sky Technologies (DST) - which owns Russia's largest website, …
Financial News 26 May 19:36
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Obama to invent cybersecurity czar
Announcement expected this week
President Obama is expected to announce late this week his decision to create a senior White House official responsible for protecting the nation's government-run and private computer networks from attack, according to a published report. The "cyber czar" will probably be a member of the National Security Council but will …
Security 26 May 19:57
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Hackintosh maker files for bankruptcy
Catch a falling Psystar
Macintosh clone vendor Psystar has filed for bankruptcy protection in Florida, effectively stalling its legal battle with Apple while the company tries to resuscitate its coffers. The clonemaker petitioned for Chapter 11 protection on Thursday in US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida. Court documents …
Channel Register 26 May 20:37
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Intel pushes Nehalem EXs into 2010
Keeping Tukwila company
With Advanced Micro Devices admitting that it's getting ready to launch its "Istanbul" Opteron six-shooter, Intel can't afford to let AMD monopolize all the talk about x64 processors. And that is why Intel hosted a conference call today about its eight-core "Nehalem EX" processor for four-socket and larger servers, even though …
Servers 26 May 21:20
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Apple counts $1bn for mystery data center
Out Googling Google
Apple is prepping a new US data center that may cost as much as $1bn, which would nearly double what Google typically spends on the mega data centers backing its web-based applications and services. Based on its price, the new server farm would dwarf the former WorldCom/MCI data center it bought in Newark, California back in …
Servers 26 May 23:19
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Water utility auditor resigns, transfers $9m offshore
In that order
California and federal officials are searching for a former employee of a large water utility who is suspected of trying to transfer more than $9m to an offshore account after quitting the company. Abdirahman Ismail Abdi made the brazen transfers on April 27, just hours after resigning from the California Water Services …
Crime 26 May 23:22
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Ubuntu brings Google Android apps to netbooks
A slice of Cupcake
Canonical has unveiled the first fruits of a project that could put applications for Google's Android on a netbook sooner than the search giant can deliver itself. Ubuntu's chief sponsor has demonstrated an execution environment that lets applications built to fit the screen, power, and hardware of an Android smartphone on an …
Operating Systems 26 May 23:55
