23rd July 2009 Archive

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Microsoft shutters YouTube clone

Gets off its Soapbox

Last month, Microsoft said it would "significantly scale back" its YouTube-mimicking Soapbox service. And now, true to its word, Redmond has scaled the service back so significantly, it will soon cease to exist. As first reported by CNET News, Microsoft is completely closing the video-sharing site on August 31. Beginning on …

Music and Media 23 Jul 04:17
Open source and the cloud: An unbalanced marriage

One does all the work

There's no question that open source software is helping vendors build utility-style infrastructure - or as the world insists on calling it: cloud computing. But will cloud computing help the companies behind open source software, who pay their bills by collecting cash for commercial support? Or better still, will it help them …

Operating Systems 23 Jul 05:36
Microsoft opened Linux-driver code after 'violating' GPL

Traded credibility for kudos?

Microsoft was in violation of the GPL (General Public License) on the Hyper-V code it released to open source this week. After Redmond covered itself in glory by opening up the code, it now looks like it may have acted simply to head off any potentially embarrassing legal dispute over violation of the GPL. The rest was theater …

Developer 23 Jul 05:51
Yahoo! confirms Gmail add-on buy

We'll support it. Until you switch

Yahoo! has confirmed it will acquire Xoopit, a San Francisco-based startup that offers tools for mining and redistributing photos, videos, and other files that pile up in web-based email clients. On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that the web giant was in "final stage negotiations" with the startup, and though the …

Music and Media 23 Jul 06:22
ICO finally gets new data protection penalty powers

One fine day in April 2010

Privacy regulator the Information Commissioner will be handed new powers to issue fines next April. The Commissioner's office has confirmed for the first time the date on which it will be able to hand out new fines. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) was promised the long lobbied-for powers by Government but no date …

Government 23 Jul 07:02
iRex Digital Reader DR1000S

Review Paper tiger?

iRex extended its electronic book line back in September last year, but it's taken us more than a couple of weeks to get used to its new DR1000s Digital Reader and understand that this is really a new class of product, rather than an evolution of the smaller readers of the past. iRex's Digital Reader Electronic-ink screens …

Reg Hardware 23 Jul 08:02
Authorities release Nuremberg Nazi gnome

Aryan garden ornament deemed satirical

Prosecutors in Nuremberg have decided not to take action against an artist who created a series of gnomes giving the Nazi salute, despite German laws which apparently prohibit even garden ornaments giving it a bit of the old Sieg Heil. Things got a bit sticky for Ottmar Hörl, 59, when one of his gnomes paraded in the window of …

Bootnotes 23 Jul 08:43
Capita loving the recession

Good results all round

Everyone's favourite outsourcing firm and public sector provider Capita has had a solid start to the year, growing revenue by 11 per cent - eight per cent in organic terms - and growing profit before tax by 18 per cent. Capita turned over £1.3bn in the first half of 2009 compared to £1.18bn in the first six months of 2008. …

Channel Register 23 Jul 09:07
EU privacy watchdog warns on transport monitoring

Privacy chief says plan (Hu)stinx

New systems planned by the European Commission to ease traffic problems across Europe do not adequately protect the privacy of travellers, according to the regulator set up to monitor the privacy implications of Commission actions. The European Commission plans to create a framework within which it will be easier for …

Government 23 Jul 09:19
Drobos flying off the shelves

Recession? What recession?

Nobody told Geoff Barrall's Data Robotics there was a recession. Sales have just doubled year-on-year in its second quarter, the company says. Privately held Data Robotics makes Drobo, a 4- or 8-slot external storage device with RAID-like protection, user-installable hard drives, and a virtualised block storage pool. It's also …

Storage 23 Jul 09:29
Council punished over theft of laptops from locked room

They forgot the sign saying 'Beware of The Leopard'

Privacy watchdog the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has taken action against a local authority which lost two laptop computers, despite the fact that they were stored in a locked office and password-protected. The ICO has found that the Council was in breach of the Data Protection Act (DPA) and The Highland Council …

IT Director 23 Jul 09:34
Samsung intros skinny watchphone

Pre-empts LG's GD910 launch

Samsung has unveiled a super-slim watchphone, just weeks before the impending UK launch of LG’s GD910 Dick Tracy device. Samsung's S9110 watchphone The S9110 isn’t Samsung’s first watchphone – the firm launched a 2G phone-cum-watch back in 2003, but at 11.98mm thick the S9110 is thought to be the world’s thinnest watchphone …

Reg Hardware 23 Jul 09:41
Carphone Warehouse enjoying 2009

Divorce now affordable

Carphone Warehouse is bearing up as it prepares to bisect itself, despite Charles Dunstone's dire predictions. The company is already splitting its results into TalkTalk and Best Buy Europe in preparation for division, with the former reporting the addition of 47,000 broadband customers during the quarter while the latter has …

Financial News 23 Jul 09:52
GTA IV's second update dated

Yet more guns, glitz and gals

The launch date for Grand Theft Auto IV’s second update - The Ballad of Gay Tony – has finally been confirmed. GTA’s publisher - Rockstar – has confirmed that the update will be available to download through Xbox Live from 29 October, priced at 1600 Microsoft points – roughly £13 ($21/€15). A boxed version of the new content …

Reg Hardware 23 Jul 10:00
Breathe Networks asks for euthanasia

Exclusive Email disappears as firm goes titsup

Internet service provider Breathe Networks Ltd (BNL) has applied to be struck off the UK Register of Companies, The Register has learned. The move comes days after administrators moved into the ISP, which has persisted through various changes of ownership since the dotcom peak. On Monday the firm, whose current offices are …

Telecoms 23 Jul 10:09
HTC to up Android smartphone numbers?

50% of firm's phones to run Android by 2010, claim moles

Over half of HTC’s smartphones will ship running Google’s Android platform next year, it’s emerged. Around 30 per cent of HTC’s smartphones currently ship with Android, but the firm plans to expand that figure to over 50 per cent by 2010, according to sources in Taiwan cited by website Digitimes. HTC was, of course, the first …

Reg Hardware 23 Jul 10:28
LSI buys struggling ONStor

ONStor investors curse their own prescience

Storage array, software and silicon vendor LSI Corporation has bought struggling clustered filer supplier ONStor for $25m, giving ONStor's venture capital backers at least a $105m loss on their investment. The transaction is expected to close within thirty days and is subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions. …

Storage 23 Jul 10:36
Spinvox: Why I quit

You just can't get the robots, these days

The worst kept secret in the mobile industry is out: disgruntled Spinvox call centre staff have been telling the BBC that they're not actually robots, or even highly advanced man-machine cyborg hybrids. But this is a surprise only to the gullible, or people who have never used Spinvox. Spinvox is a voicemail to text service …

Mobile 23 Jul 10:45
ST-Ericsson sees losses balloon

Boardroom musical chairs to stem flow

ST-Ericsson, now the second largest wireless chip maker, has managed to more than double its quarterly losses compared to last year, bleeding $165m over the last three months. This is the first full quarterly result from ST-Ericsson - which was formed by STMicroelectronics and Ericsson in February this year to create a …

Mobile 23 Jul 11:08
BlackBerry battles for Nortel assets

Blames Nortel for blocking bid

Research In Motion - the firm behind the BlackBerry - has complained that Canadian telco provider Nortel has unfairly stopped the company from bidding for part of its wireless business. Nortel denies doing any such thing, and it looks like the row will intensify ahead of the final auction for the business due to take place …

Data Networking 23 Jul 11:09
Minor CO₂ issue cuts short ISS spacewalk

'Potential problem' with spacesuit scrubber

Mission specialists Chris Cassidy and Dave Wolf yesterday cut short the third STS-127 International Space Station spacewalk, due to "higher than normal carbon dioxide levels" in the former's spacesuit. The minor alert, prompted by a "potential problem ... with the carbon dioxide scrubbing device", meant the pair had to return …

Space 23 Jul 11:13
Tata threatens govt over e-car loan decision

Leccy Tech 'Give us the cash, or else!'

The government’s relationship with Indian car maker Tata could be turning sour, following delays over a multi-million pound e-car loan. Tata wants a £10m govt loan to help it build a UK e-car production line Back in April Tata applied to the government for a £10m ($16.3m/€11.6m) loan to help set-up a UK production line for …

Reg Hardware 23 Jul 11:13
Virgin Media to deploy performance monitoring tech

750 testers needed: Actual figures delivered may be far fewer

Virgin Media will install specially-adapted kit in some of its customers' homes, to monitor and report the performance of its network. The move takes place against a background of increasing regulatory scrutiny of the discrepancy between advertised and real world speeds. The firm will use the same technology as Ofcom, supplied …

Telecoms 23 Jul 11:15
Helium hole hiccup halts Hadron

Problem-prone particle project postponed

Leaks have been found in the vacuum of the Large Hadron Collider's insulating layer, causing yet another postponement of its restart from October to November. The £2.7bn LHC machine - a particle accelerator in a 17 mile-long tunnel under the French and Swiss borders at Geneva - was set to restart in October, after a previous …

Physics 23 Jul 11:36
Feminist org declines nude calendar cash

'We have an issue with women removing clothes'

A group of Alloa women who got their kit off, in a charity-fundraising "Calendar Girls" stylee, are a little miffed that Scottish Women's Aid has declined to benefit from the proceeds. Domestic abuse victim Morag Hill and business partner Katherine Cram decided to emulate the famous Rylstone Women's Institute 2000 calendar, …

Bootnotes 23 Jul 11:38
Who could the big storage beasts be looking to buy?

Comment Five companies hunt for acquisitions

The big beasts of storage - Broadcom, Dell, EMC, HP and NetApp - are on the prowl, and could be looking for new targets to snap up. EMC recently snared Data Domain, but is always hungry - NetApp missed out, so it must be still looking. Broadcom wanted to buy Emulex but couldn't, so is hunting again. Dell has a well-publicised …

Storage 23 Jul 12:02
Signed mobile malware prompts Symbian security review

Analysis Sexy Space wriggles under testing procedures

The recent distribution of digitally signed mobile malware raises troubling questions about Symbian's automated approval procedure. Symbian has promised to tighten up its testing procedures following the distribution of the Sexy Space mobile worm, described by security firms as the first text message worm in history. As …

Enterprise Security 23 Jul 12:05
Fujifilm confirms 'world's first' 3D stills and films compact

Updated Silly cardboard specs not required

Fujifilm has finally officially unwrapped what it’s claimed is the world’s first compact camera capable of snapping both still pictures and films in 3D. Fujifilm's FinePix Real 3D W1: dual lenses allow for 3D capture As previously reported, the secret to the 10Mp FinePix Real 3D W1’s ability to capture 3D content lies in …

Reg Hardware 23 Jul 12:18
ISP redesign unites the web in nausea

My eyes! My poor, poor eyes!

Internet service provider Be There has redesigned its home page in a way guaranteed to get it talked about. The site is absolutely hideous. But worse, several Reg readers were presented with other people's account details when they first logged in. Customers could see other customers' addresses and phone numbers but payment …

Telecoms 23 Jul 12:30
Paytard pirates press pause

Zookz knuckles under

Zookz - the bizarre Freetard-Paytard hybrid download service registered in Antigua - has stopped serving up music and movies and has refunded its customers. Zookz was offering movies and songs, and, like The Pirate Bay, did so without the rights holders' permission and without paying the creators. It still wanted money for …

Music and Media 23 Jul 12:33
Sony NAS-SC500PK Gigajuke

Review Walkman-friendly HDD-based Wi-Fi Hi-Fi

After a little less than a year on the market Sony has decided to give its Gigajuke wireless music system a bit of a facelift and make a few modifications. Evidently, the company intends to capitalise on the fact that, within the same twelve months, its Walkman range has gone from being a bunch of also-rans to a collection of …

Reg Hardware 23 Jul 12:38
Total eclipse used to bait scareware scam

Ruse targets geographically-confused stargazers

Wednesday's total solar eclipse over India and China has been exploited as a bait for sites punting scareware. Miscreants are using black hat search engine trickery to point geographically-confused users towards websites peddling rogue antivirus software, as explained in an illustrated advisory by Trend Micro here. A search …

Crime 23 Jul 13:25
MoD sticks with 'most decrepit browser in the world'

Labour MP suggests use of IE6 is 'workplace cruelty'

Members of the armed forces will carry on using Microsoft's outdated Internet Explorer 6 browser, contravening the government's own advice on internet security. According to parliamentary written answers received by Labour MP Tom Watson, the majority of departments still require staff to use IE6. Most have plans to upgrade to …

Government 23 Jul 13:44
EMC could be seeing bottom of the recession

Quarterly results show sequential rise

EMC has just announced second quarter results for this year which show a rise over the first quarter, but a drop on last year's numbers. Beating Wall St estimates, second quarter revenues were $3.26bn, down 11 per cent year-on-year but up 3 per cent compared to the January-March quarter. Net income of $205.2m showed the same …

Storage 23 Jul 14:15
Blighty's oldest working telly discovered

Marconiphone 702 still used in London house

Despite the advent of HD TVs and Freesat, a UK-based telly that’s over 70 years old has won the…ahem…enviable title of being the country’s oldest working set. Jeffrey Borinsky still uses his Marconiphone 702 - made in 1936 Owned by Jeffrey Borinsky, a consultant engineer from North London, the Marconiphone 702 TV is still, …

Reg Hardware 23 Jul 14:24
Cops and ISP in paedophile data mix up

'Very unfortunate' arrest gaffe follows

Police acting on dodgy data from an ISP raided an address and arrested a completely innocent person for being part of a paedophile ring, according to the government's electronic surveillance scrutineer. The 2008 annual report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner, Sir Paul Kennedy, published this week, revealed …

Policing 23 Jul 14:57
Startup crafts DVD-Rs for the 31st century

1,000-year storage

A US startup has developed a new DVD-R technology that it claims will be readable for 1,000 years. Millenniata's tag line is "Write Once, Read Forever" - and if forever can be defined as 40 generations, that's exactly what its Millennial Disc Series promises. Millenniata president and CEO Henry O'Connell told The Reg that the …

Music and Media 23 Jul 15:02
Breathe Networks out, Breathe Internet in

CEO leads management buyout of stricken ISP

The assets of Breathe Networks Ltd (BNL) have been sold to the company's CEO, Steve Kaye, in a management buyout just one week after the ISP went into administration. Kaye confirmed that a new company - Breathe Internet Ltd - had been incorporated on 13 May 2009, at the same Surrey-based offices as BNL. Kaye dismissed claims …

Telecoms 23 Jul 15:36
Verizon chief exec pnked in privacy prank

'Can you hear me now?'

Verizon chief exec Ivan Seidenberg has been confronted with a comedian wielding a loudhailer and amplifier in a protest about privacy. John Hargrave of comedy site Zug.com tracked down Seidenberg's phone number and home address before paying the telecoms boss a raucous visit, protesting how easy mobile telco firms made it to …

Mobile 23 Jul 15:43
Rackspace open-sources cloud APIs

Look at us. We're not Amazon

A week after adding API access to its Amazon-esque cloud, Rackspace has now open-sourced these APIs. On Wednesday, the company said it had opened up the specs for both its Cloud Servers APIs and Cloud Files APIs under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Meant to encourage the development of open standards for all so- …

Servers 23 Jul 17:41
AT&T profits slip on iPhone investments

Landlines = buggy whips

AT&T announced its second quarter financial results today, revealing numbers that make it increasingly clear that Big Phone is betting the farm on the Apple iPhone. And considering how quickly its landline business is deteriorating, moving fast and hard into the expanding smartphone market looks like a good business decision …

Financial News 23 Jul 18:41
Cray punts smaller baby super

Adds Nehalems, slashes prices

It looks like selling baby supercomputers based on a blade design and running the HPC variants of Windows and Linux is not as easy as Cray had hoped - which is why Cray has announced a new lower-end baby super, the CX1-LC. The LC is short for "Light Configuration", and the idea is to get Cray blade iron into engineering …

HPC 23 Jul 18:55
Nexsan to uncage SATABeast 3

A 60-slotter

Nexsan might be about to announce the third iteration of its SATABeast in the shape of a 60-slot box. The current SATABeast is a quite densely-packed SATA drive array with 40 bays and Automatic Massive Array of Idle Disks (AutoMAID) energy-saving technology that transparently places disk drives into an idle state to reduce …

Storage 23 Jul 19:01
Fujitsu says biz to pick up in 2010

Wins 10 petaflop Japanese super deal

Kuniaki Nozoe, president of Japanese IT giant Fujitsu, gave investors and customers an update on the company's financial situation in Tokyo this morning, and said that thanks to restructuring and acquisitions, he was hopeful that Fujitsu would be able to get profitable this fiscal year and boost profits in the following year. …

HPC 23 Jul 19:39
Microsoft GPL violation hits memory hole

OSCON: updated More theater for open-source faithful

Microsoft has dished up the warm fuzzies for the open-source faithful following an earlier sleight of hand on its massive code drop to GPL. On Wednesday, at OSCON, the company touted new and existing open-source plug-ins for Office, SQL Server, and its emerging Azure cloud for science and academia. Tony Hey, corporate vice …

Software 23 Jul 19:40
Boffins boast self-destructing cloud data

Prototype auto-vanishes sensitive email

Just in time for the evolution to cloud computing, boffins at the University of Washington have developed a tool that makes electronic data self-destruct automatically after a set period of time. The technique is designed to protect people against sensitive information that may linger on computer networks and later come back …

Security 23 Jul 20:31
PayPal moves to embed self in everything

Shares APIs with developerland

PayPal has officially told the world it will open up its worldwide net payment platform to outside developers, offering a new set of APIs for embedding payment tools into third-party applications and, well, other development platforms. The eBay-owned outfit calls its new developer offering PayPal X, an homage the original …

Developer 23 Jul 23:49
Apple nabs 90% of all 'premium PC' dollars

Spending $1000? Bet you're a fanboi

Apple may soon have the premium-priced PC market all to itself, if reports by an NPD analyst are correct. Although research firm NPD Group hasn't issued an official release documenting its findings, an article from Betanews reports that NPD says that over 90 percent of every dollar spent on a PC listing for over $1,000 goes to …

PCs & Chips 23 Jul 23:53