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6th July 2009 Archive

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  • Google code cloud punts on-demand embarrassment

    Fail and You Mountain View's Sarah Palin moment

    Last week, users of Google App Engine - Google's application hosting platform - discovered a new feature in the product: downtime. App Engine was offline for roughly six hours, and for much of that time, even the status page which tells users about downtime was unavailable. Now that's a strong way to send a message. As a …

    Developer 6 Jul 04:51

  • Elgato Video Capture

    Review Mac-up your dusty VHS collection

    The usage is clear: you have a stack of old VHS tapes and you'd like to get the content they hold in a more convenient, digital form for viewing on an iPod or burning to DVD. Elgato's meant-for-Mac Video Capture comes late to the party - people have been digitising VHS tapes for ages, either using a TV tuner or a standalone …

    Reg Hardware 6 Jul 08:02

  • Spy boss poked by Facebook

    We all saw yer, Sawers

    The Foreign Office has defended spy boss Sir John Sawers after his wife posted private information about the family on Facebook. Sawers takes over as head of the Secret Intelligence Service in November. His wife's Facebook profile failed to use any privacy protection and included home addresses, family photographs and holiday …

    Government 6 Jul 09:04

  • Ash Ashutosh fires up another storage startup

    It's good to keep ActiFio

    The founder of AppIQ - the storage resource management software firm bought by HP a few years ago - looks to be leading a stealthy storage startup, ActiFio. A July 1 SEC filing reveals that ActiFio raised $4m of a planned $8m Series A funding round. The company is based in Weston, Massachusetts, and is led by Ash Ashutosh. He …

    Storage 6 Jul 09:12

  • Panasonic recycles CRTs using frickin’ lasers

    Separates out parts in no time

    Panasonic claims to have upped the efficiency of its CRT TV recycling operating by turning to, of all things, laser beams. CRT sets contain different types of glass in the front panel and back funnel, which the human production line at Panasonic Eco Technology Centre in Japan currently separate using an electrically heated …

    Reg Hardware 6 Jul 09:23

  • BT abandons Phorm

    Not looking good for ad tech

    BT has abandoned plans to roll out Phorm's controversial web monitoring and profiling system across its broadband network, claiming it needs to concentrate resources on network upgrades. Privacy activists have greeted the news as a victory for their campaign against the firm, which was sparked by revelations in The Register …

    Telecoms 6 Jul 09:27

  • Open-source handset sales to soar

    Android to lead the pack?

    Shipments of smartphones running an open-source operating system will grow by more than 100m units a year over the next few years, Juniper Research forecasts. Sales of devices such as the HTC Hero – a handset based on Google's Android OS - will increase from 106m units in 2009 to a whopping 223m per year by 2014, according to …

    Reg Hardware 6 Jul 09:28

  • Lunar orbiter beams back first Moon snaps

    Mare Nubium poses for the camera

    NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has beamed back its first snaps of the Moon - images from the Mare Nubium region captured by the spacecraft's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, aka LROC: LROC Principal Investigator Mark Robinson of Arizona State University explained: "Our first images were taken along the moon's …

    Space 6 Jul 09:45

  • Tory plan for MS, Google, others to hold NHS records floated

    Cameroon Google-love suddenly becomes a disadvantage?

    The Conservative Party has declined to comment on claims by the Times that under a future Tory government, UK health records "could be transferred to Google or Microsoft." This is described by the paper as "the first concrete proposal to emerge from the Tories' 'post-bureaucratic age' agenda." The proposal, however, is less …

    Government 6 Jul 09:55

  • Reg reader tickled by Acer's Easy Lai

    Shanghai operative promises full compliance

    We're obliged this fine summer morn to Reg reader Jon Andrews, who's just been tickled by Acer's Easy Lai - the man who assures customers that his company's kit conforms to all the required standards. Jon caught sight of Easy Lai on the documentation for a Revo Nettop, but Mr Lai has been putting it about quite a bit, as this …

    Bootnotes 6 Jul 10:16

  • Nokia to launch Android smartphone?

    Updated 'No truth'

    Nokia is "months away" from launching its first mobile phone based on Google’s Android operating system, according to reports. The Finnish mobile phone firm is supposedly ready to unveil the mystery touchscreen talker at the Nokia World conference in Germany in early September,“industry insiders” quoted byThe Guardian, say. …

    Reg Hardware 6 Jul 10:21

  • Tory Lady tries to give bodice-rippers the snip

    Stealing a leaf from New Labour's morality handbook

    First there was the Dangerous Pictures Act, and then there was the Dangerous Cartoons Law. Now, courtesy of the Conservative Party, we could be in for new laws on "Dangerous Writings". If you thought Tories were not quite so censorious as New Labour, then this is a salutary reminder that they can be every bit as righteously …

    Law 6 Jul 10:28

  • BlueArc fires Mercury at the mid-range

    Quick silver NAS coming

    Super-NAS supplier BlueArc will announce tomorrow it is moving down into the mid-range with a Mercury product line, using its high-end, HW-accelerated design ideas. BlueArc's Titan uses Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) to accelerate its network-attached storage (NAS) processing and deliver faster I/O performance. The …

    Storage 6 Jul 10:49

  • NZ lad punts nude mum snaps on net

    NSFW Trade Me unimpressed by parental display

    A NZ teenager has the honour of being local net tat bazaar Trade Me's first seller to offer "photos of a mother in underwear", the New Zealand Herald reports. Auckland student Michael was under mum's orders to clear out the garage and dispose of any unwanted items on the internet auction site. He duly obliged, punting "5 naked …

    Bootnotes 6 Jul 11:21

  • Toyota preps plug-in Prius for mass production

    Leccy Tech First models to appear in 2011

    Mass production of a plug-in Toyota Prius could start within two years, it’s been reported. The first Toyota Prius PHEVs should appear in 2011 The first production Prius PHEV cars will appear in 2011, according to the Japanese newspaper Nikkei, with Toyota expecting to shift between 20,000 and 30,000 of the vehicles within …

    Reg Hardware 6 Jul 11:22

  • Office admin sacked for Blears abuse

    Updated Anon comment = P45

    An office administrator at the Department of Children, Schools and Families has been sacked for posting an anonymous comment about Hazel Blears on TheyWorkForYou - the government-funded* website which aims to increase political engagement. Lisa Greenwood, a £16,000 a year administrator, was sacked in May after an anonymous …

    Government 6 Jul 11:26

  • Johnson presses for haste on foreigner IDs

    Why, oh why, will this dead horse not go faster?

    Home secretary Alan Johnson has asked the UK Border Agency to look at speeding up the issuing of identity cards to foreign nationals. As part of the change of plans for the National Identity Scheme, Johnson has asked the agency to review its implementation programme. It has already issued 50,000 cards to people legally working …

    Government 6 Jul 11:28

  • Documents uncover PSP Go's true CPU speed

    The 333MHz 480MHz handheld

    The upcoming PlayStation Portable Go is slightly more powerful than previously thought, technical documents filed by maker Sony have revealed. An extract from Sony's FCC filing reveals the true spec of the PSP Go - aka the PSP-N1001 When the PSP Go was officially unveiled at the E3 videogames show back in June, it was …

    Reg Hardware 6 Jul 11:30

  • Top British judge suggests ban on 'cruel' killer roboplanes

    Manned bomber slaughter apparently OK

    A retired top-ranking British judge has suggested that unmanned aircraft are "so cruel as to be beyond the pale of human tolerance", and should be banned. Lord Bingham, retired last year as senior law lord - in other words top judge in Britain's highest court - and made his remarks to the British Institute of International and …

    Science 6 Jul 11:47

  • Web browser makers line up battleships

    IE 8 to beat Firefox 3.5? Don't count on it

    Microsoft has seen its grip on the global browser market share loosened by nearly 12 per cent since March, according to one web monitoring firm. Statcounter spun out the latest results over the weekend. It found that Microsoft’s combined market share of Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8 had slipped, even as the software giant’s …

    Applications 6 Jul 12:01

  • Apple MacBook June 2009 release

    Review Tweak time

    Pay attention now, because there’ll be a test on this at the end. This time last year, Apple’s laptop range consisted of two main product lines. The mainstream, consumer model for home users and the education market was the highly popular MacBook, with its 13in screen, white plastic casing and a price tag of around £700. …

    Reg Hardware 6 Jul 12:02

  • BT offers staff time on hold

    The job you have selected is unavailable

    BT is offering its staff sabbaticals on reduced pay, as well as various other flexitime working options, in order to cut costs. The telco is also holding down executive pay, as detailed in its annual report. The company is piloting various other ways to control costs. Staff are being offered special leave on part pay, …

    Telecoms 6 Jul 12:08

  • Olympics bosses probe mobile tracking tech

    'Geo fences' could protect east London

    Security officials preparing counter-terror measures for the 2012 Olympics are considering deploying technology that can continuously pinpoint the location of mobile phones. Civil servants have held meetings with TruePosition, a US mobile location firm trying to break into the UK telecoms market. Its technology can be used to …

    Policing 6 Jul 12:56

  • Police headcams burst into flames

    Exclusive Burning helmets leave heat feeling blue

    The news that Metropolitan police officers patrolling the nation's capital may soon carry GPS tracking equipment has been overshadowed by shock revelations that uniform-mounted video cams have "caught fire" in use. The news comes courtesy of the Metropolitan Police Federation, the equivalent of a union for the lowest four …

    Policing 6 Jul 13:20

  • Smut downloads pound Japan's 3G network

    Data traffic swelled by filth

    Japan's 3G network is taking a pounding from porn-hungry users, who are eagerly slurping up capacity to the point that service providers have been obliged to impose limits on abusers of "unlimited" net access packages. According to Bloomberg, DoCoMo and KDDI Corp are feeling the heat, especially around midnight when “heavy …

    Mobile 6 Jul 13:33

  • EMC whacks up Data Domain bid

    NetApp elbowed out?

    EMC has raised its Data Domain bid from $30/share to $33.50/share, giving the company a $2.1bn valuation and potentially knocking NetApp out of the running. EMC is trying to buy Data Domain in competition with NetApp which has made a part-cash, part-stock bid, also worth $30/share. Both EMC and NetApp want to bring Data Domain …

    Storage 6 Jul 14:23

  • Ofcom top of Tory deathlist

    Quangogeddon

    Ofcom would be scrapped and regulators stripped of policy-making responsibilities by a Tory government, David Cameron said today. Singled out for criticism in a speech proposing cutbacks to the myriad quangos administering various policy areas, the communications regulator's successor should only have technical …

    Music and Media 6 Jul 14:25

  • MySociety denies role in Blears sacking

    TheyNeverDoneIt

    Politico website MySociety has denied any role in a chain of events which reportedly led to the sacking of a civil servant for criticising boat rocking ex-Cabinet Minister Hazel Blears. This morning we reported on the apparent sacking of civil servant Lisa Greenwood for posting comments to TheyWorkForYou.com which were rude …

    Government 6 Jul 14:49

  • Sir Alan Sugar hits eject button at Viglen

    New biz Enterprise Champ exits firm

    Sir Alan Sugar resigned as chairman at Viglen on 1 July, hard on the heels of his appointment as the government’s Enterprise Champion, a Companies House document has revealed. He became a director of the UK computer maker in 2002, after buying it back in the 1990s. However, Sugar's sudden decision to hang up his boots at …

    Channel Register 6 Jul 15:01

  • Apple moves to patent fingerprint-controlled gadgets

    Biometric playlists?

    Apple has plans to implement biometric controls into its gadgets, if techniques outlined in its latest patent application are taken to their logical conclusion. The firm’s filing ith the US Patent and Trademark Office, entitled "Control of electronic device by using a person's fingerprints", describes how users could control …

    Reg Hardware 6 Jul 15:15

  • Nokia staffers kick rugged phone into touch

    Videos confirm 3720 tough-phone's existence

    Nokia has confirmed recent rumours that it has designed a rugged mobile phone. Last month, a picture appeared online of a device thought to be the firm’s first rugged phone with an IP-54 toughness classification. Aside from a possible moniker, the 3720, the leaked picture was all we had to go by. Now Nokia has posted two …

    Reg Hardware 6 Jul 15:20

  • Niagara Falls to power next Yahoo! data centre

    San Andreas fault, Mount St Helens possible future sites

    In one of the brighter moments of New York governor David Patterson's unanticipated and beleaguered administration, Yahoo! has announced that it will plunk down its next data centre just east of Buffalo, New York, so it can tap the carbon-free hydroelectric power generated by Niagara Falls. When - not if - New York City has a …

    Servers 6 Jul 15:43

  • Radiopaq slips out sound-boosting iPod Nano sleeve

    Up MP3 quality using 'Intelligent Audio technology'

    Poor iPod performance getting you down? Then boost its audio accuracy with Sound Jacket which, manufacturer Radiopaq claims, significantly improves the sound quality of MP3 music tracks. Radiopaq's Sound Jacket: improves MP3 audio Compatible with the fourth-generation iPod Nano, Radio Jacket apparently employs the internet …

    Reg Hardware 6 Jul 15:52

  • Boffin predicts pee-powered cars

    Leccy Tech Wee are not taking the piss

    Forget chicken-powered cars - a researcher has discovered that the key to hydrogen-powered transportation lies in taking the piss - quite literally. Dr Gerardine Botte, an Associate Professor from the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department at Ohio University, has discovered that hydrogen can be extracted from urine …

    Reg Hardware 6 Jul 16:10

  • Projector-phones due by Christmas?

    Report tags Apple, Nokia, Samsung

    Viewing videos on your smartphone's tiny display may soon be a thing of the past, replaced by your phone's ability to project that video onto a screen, wall, or even a friend's shirt. According to a report on Monday by Taiwan-based market-watcher DigiTimes, mobile-technology-and-more manufacturer Foxlink has begun …

    Mobile 6 Jul 18:05

  • Windows users ambushed by attack on fresh IE flaw

    More DirectShow danger

    Thousands of websites have been hit by fast-moving exploit code that installs a cocktail of nasty malware on visitors' computers by targeting a previously unknown vulnerability in some versions of Internet Explorer. The compromised websites link to a series of servers that exploit a zero-day vulnerability in an IE component …

    Security 6 Jul 18:50

  • Microsoft takes Gazelle secure browser on road trip

    About that performance...

    Microsoft will next month present its browser-as-operating-system project to an international symposium of computer and security experts. The Microsoft Research team behind Gazelle plans to discuss the architecture and principles behind their baby at the Usenix Security Symposium in Montreal, Canada. Gazelle is designed to …

    Channel Register 6 Jul 18:58

  • Google remaps interwebs real estate listings

    Craigslist bypassed Down Under

    Google has juiced its efforts to bypass Craigslist and other real estate classifieds sites, adding a new property-listings search contraption to Google Maps. This morning, with a down-under blog post, Google announced the addition of direct real estate listings to the Australian incarnation of Google Maps, and a similar …

    Music and Media 6 Jul 20:09

  • Programmer charged with stealing Wall Street-ware

    Code worth 'many millions'

    A former Goldman Sachs software designer has been arrested and charged with stealing proprietary software used for the firm's high-speed trading platform. Sergey Aleynikov, a naturalized US citizen who emigrated from Russia, was arrested on Friday night as he arrived at Newark Liberty International Airport and charged with …

    Crime 6 Jul 20:13

  • Amazon may plug in-book advertising into Kindle

    On-demand paperbacks too

    Amazon may embed advertising in e-books for the Kindle as well as paperbacks sold through its on-demand book publishing service. A pair of US patent applications point to the online retailer's vision of plugging modern tat through classic lit with advertisements custom-tailored to the content. The patents are titled "On- …

    Music and Media 6 Jul 20:21

  • iPods get digicam rumor upgrade

    'Everything but the Shuffle'

    Apple may soon add video-capture capability to its ubiquitous iPods, if rumors that surfaced Monday are to be believed. According to a report from TechCrunch, "sources in Asia" say that Apple has placed a "massive" order for camera modules, an order so large that "Everything but the Shuffle may have a camera in it soon." Of …

    Mobile 6 Jul 20:26

  • HP and Dell claim energy efficiency server firsts

    Power test pass with a catch

    Getting IT vendors to agree to any standard, even one that they have a big hand in shaping, is almost impossible. And so it is with the new Energy Star specification for servers, supposedly embraced by server makers to show the energy efficiency of their metal. The Energy Star specification for servers, which debuted in May, …

    Servers 6 Jul 20:40

  • Warner Bros. nabs Mortal Kombat maker for $33m

    'Get over here!'

    Warner Bros. has walked away with most of Mortal Kombat maker Midway Games for the cut-rate price of $33 million (£20m). The deal gives the US movie studio rights to the majority of Midway's intellectual property, including Mortal Kombat, Rampage, Spy Hunter, and Joust. A Delaware bankruptcy court judge approved a settlement …

    Financial News 6 Jul 23:41

  • Register.com in seven day mail Fail

    No relation

    Register.com says it completed an upgrade to its email system more than a week ago. But for some of its small-business customers, the upgrade is better described as a downgrade. On June 29, after spending several months migrating users to a new email system, the well-known domain name registrar and net services outfit …

    Networks 6 Jul 23:47

  • DoJ probes reviews US telecom powers

    Anti-competitive practices?

    The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has begun looking into whether US telecom giants are abusing their growing market powers. According to a report published Monday by The Wall Street Journal, the inquiry is merely a preliminary review, falling short of a full-fledged investigation into anti-competitive practices. The review …

    Government 6 Jul 23:58