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24th September 2009 Archive

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  • USB supreme court backs Apple in Palm Pre kerfuffle

    iPod masquerade verboten

    The USB Implementers Forum has decreed that Apple has not violated industry standards by preventing the Palm Pre from accessing iTunes. When Palm released the Pre over the summer, it synced up nicely with Apple's online music and media fiefdom, cleverly masquerading as an iPod. But Jobs and company soon put a stop to such …

    Media 24 Sep 2009, 00:03

  • Microsoft and Intel port Silverlight to Linux

    Moblin snubs Moonlight

    Intel and Microsoft have announced a new port of Silverlight to Linux, specifically for the Intel-sponsored Moblin operating system running on Atom-powered devices such as netbooks. The port enables Intel to include Silverlight as a supported runtime in the Atom Developer Program, which will feed an iPhone-like App Store. …

    Developer 24 Sep 2009, 00:12

  • HP launches Linux-fiddling support group

    LinuxCon 2009 Collaboration for non-commercial distros

    Hewlett-Packard is making an effort to support non-commercial Linux distributions on its servers and other vendors' business hardware. But you wouldn't know it from the black hole of fanfare regarding its new collaborative portal, communitylinux.org. Word of the launch came as a brief reference at a LinuxCon talk by Bdale …

    Servers 24 Sep 2009, 00:45

  • Former AMD kingpin gives Intel hell

    Derides 'monopolist defense'

    AMD's former CEO Hector Ruiz has released a commentary that picks apart Intel's defense against the European Commission's €1.06bn fine for anticompetitve practices. Ruiz's scathing rebuke, published by MarketWatch, excoriates Chipzilla's efforts to wriggle out of responsibility for the actions that led to the fine - especially …

    Hardware 24 Sep 2009, 00:54

  • UK council forced to swallow dick

    Spotted, with custard

    Flintshire County Council has been forced to swallow dick following its ill-considered decision to rename Spotted Dick as "Spotted Richard" - a rebrand it ordered following juvenile comments from sniggering staff, According to the BBC, the powers that be pulled Spotted Dick from the menu after "several immature comments from a …

    Bootnotes 24 Sep 2009, 07:39

  • O2 confirms UK Pré launch date

    Rolls out iPhone-style contracts

    O2 has finally confirmed a UK launch date for the Palm Pré smartphone. O2 will release the Palm Pré across Blighty from 16 October The network operator will release the must-have device, both in stores and online, to panting punters on 16 October. O2 has exclusive UK distribution rights for the Pré, but will also allow …

    Phones 24 Sep 2009, 07:55

  • Northamber sees profits collapse on sales slide

    Difficult to be 'sanguine' about the future

    Northamber's pre-tax profits collapsed in the year to June 30, with only investment revenues keeping it in the black. The veteran distributor saw sales slide to £139m, compared to £179.7m last year. However, the firm made a loss from operations of £320,000 compared to a profit of £25,000 a year ago. Only pulling in investment …

    The Channel 24 Sep 2009, 08:17

  • Gartner calls bottom for PC sales

    Bottom!

    Analysts Gartner Group is calling the bottom of the slump for PC sales. Researchers believe the industry will ship 285 million units in 2009, down just 2 percent from 2008 when 291 million boxes were sold. Gartner, along with IDC, revised predictions upwards in July, when it said the likely decline for the year was likely to …

    The Channel 24 Sep 2009, 08:33

  • Cops cuff Mafia Don's crocodile enforcer

    Caiman used to 'intimidate' extortion victims

    Italian police and "reptile wranglers" have seized a 1.7-metre-long crocodile allegedly used by a Naples Mafia boss to "intimidate" extortion victims. Cops raided the villa of Antonio Cristofaro on the suspicion it contained guns and drugs, but instead found the 40kg reptile lounging in a tank on the terrace. The Camorra Don …

    Bootnotes 24 Sep 2009, 08:39

  • Sony uncloaks Motion Control

    Controller spied, features hidden

    Some of the first images of Sony’s upcoming PlayStation 3 Motion Control peripheral have been captured. Sony's Motion Control will hit Blighty next year Credit: Joystiq Although Sony confirmed the device – set to rival Microsoft’s Project Natal for the Xbox 360 – back in June, decent images of the controller itself have …

    Games 24 Sep 2009, 09:08

  • Secret teen hacker army ridiculed

    Wayward minister making stuff up again?

    The UK government's reported decision to employ ex-hackers to work at a newly-established Cyber Security Operations Centre have met with derision from both a high-profile former hacker and an acknowledged cybersecurity expert. Lord West, the Home Office security minister, first suggested that former hackers (or "naughty boys …

    Security 24 Sep 2009, 09:14

  • Labour to push for broadband tax before election

    Tory row ahead

    The Labour government has reaffirmed its commitment to a 50p per month tax on every landline, and vowed to push through the necessary legislation before the general election in May. Plans for the levy, to subsidise rollout of fibre-based broadband services in rural regions, were revealed in the final Digital Britain report in …

    Government 24 Sep 2009, 09:19

  • Sun open storage slashed till Saturday

    40% plus discount, but only until 26 September

    Sun, about to be happily digested by ardent wooer Oracle, is offering a 40 per cent plus discount on its Open Storage 7000 system, but only until 26 September. The first quarter of Sun's 2010 fiscal year ends on September 28, and it looks like an attempt to get a spike in 7000 sales by the end of the quarter. Sun's sales …

    Storage 24 Sep 2009, 09:31

  • Microsoft woos web devs with (semi-)free stuff

    Unlimited support for non-technical issues

    Microsoft has launched a new web developer program for small companies with ten employees or fewer. Dubbed the WebsiteSpark, it's meant to create a network of small business web developers - and get them using Microsoft stuff. "People have been telling us: 'If I'm a service provider and I have ten or fewer employees and I'm …

    Small Biz 24 Sep 2009, 09:36

  • New cyber-security research centre opens in Belfast

    'Forget GCHQ, we're the daddies now'

    Computer boffins at Queen's University in Belfast are chuffed as ninepence today to snip the ribbon on a new government- and industry-sponsored cybersecurity research centre. The £30m Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) will work primarily on embedded security tech for next-gen IT equipment, and on real-time …

    Security 24 Sep 2009, 09:40

  • Dell Perot deal sparks insider dealing charges

    Seeks asset freeze, illicit profits, fine

    A Texas man has been charged with insider trading by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for trousering $8.64m of illegal profit, following Dell’s proposed acquisition of services firm Perot Systems. A complaint was filed with the federal court in Dallas yesterday that alleged Reza Saleh, 53, of Richardson, Texas, bought …

    Financial News 24 Sep 2009, 09:57

  • Microsoft mobiles spied online?

    Project Pink to produce Turtle and Pure

    Images of two handsets purportedly designed by Microsoft have appeared online, fuelling rumours that the software giant is preparing to dip its mighty toes into the mobile phone market. Microsoft's Turtle - taking design cues from the Pré? One of the handsets – thought to be called Turtle – looks very like Palm’s Pré. The …

    Phones 24 Sep 2009, 10:01

  • Fun with CoreGraphics, Part II

    Mac Secrets Split personality framework

    This month, we continue our exploration of Apple’s mysterious CoreGraphics framework, beginning with an anatomical overview. Then, I show you how to exploit the notification mechanism built into the framework. You’d be forgiven for thinking that the CoreGraphics library is only about graphics. It actually does a lot of event- …

    Developer 24 Sep 2009, 10:12

  • There's water on the Moon, scientists confirm

    Trio of spacecraft provide 'unambiguous evidence'

    Analysis of the lunar surface by three different spacecraft has provided "unambiguous evidence" of water on the Moon, Space.com reports. India's Chandrayaan-1, NASA's Cassini spacecraft, and the agency's Deep Impact probe have all detected the presence of either water or hydroxyl - one hydrogen atom and one oxygen atom linked …

    Science 24 Sep 2009, 10:19

  • Phishing worm spreads across Twitter

    I am neither rolling on the floor nor laughing

    A worm linked to a new phishing scam is spreading via messages on Twitter. Already compromised accounts are sending direct messages to users including a link to a video clip, like this: rofl this you on here? http://videos.twitter.secure-logins01.com Users who follow the link are invited to submit their login credentials via …

    Security 24 Sep 2009, 10:36

  • Sony beefs up slimline PS3

    Updated From 120GB to 250GB

    Sony has confirmed those recent rumours of an upcoming 250GB slimline PlayStation 3. Sony will sell the 250GB slimline PS3 in a bundle with Final Fantasy XIII The most capacious slimline PS3 yet – Sony’s previous PS3 slim sported a 120GB HDD – will be launched alongside the release of upcoming videogame Final Fantasy XIII …

    Games 24 Sep 2009, 10:46

  • iPhone + naked ladies = headline gold

    Makes you look, makes you stare, but they're still wearing underwear

    Porn is finally giving the iPhone a good seeing-to with two applications branded by stars of the adult entertainment scene, making the two-handed nature of Apple's handset even more of an issue. The apps come from Grindhouse Mobile, which has been pushing porn into punters' palms for years, but only with Apple's new-found …

    Mobile 24 Sep 2009, 10:47

  • Seagate reveals 1TB FreeAgent

    But it will be too fat to fit inside your laptop

    Confirming a channel leak, Seagate has announced a 1TB FreeAgent Go, but said the drive will not be used in its notebook product line. Western Digital announced its 1TB Scorpio Blue 2.5-inch drive recently. Up until now the portable FreeAgent Go products have been limited to 500GB capacity, with their 2-platter, 2.5-inch …

    Storage 24 Sep 2009, 11:12

  • Microsoft takes on Wet Willie's to punt Windows 7 in Paris

    Wave it around

    And so to Paris, where we find Microsoft getting in a froth about its upcoming Windows 7 launch next month by becoming a café owner to punt a slice of OS with its watery espresso. The software vendor will be peddling its operating system wares on the chic streets of France’s capital, where it plans to open a Windows Café on 22 …

    The Channel 24 Sep 2009, 11:16

  • Supersizing the data center. Not good

    Two papers about power and its excesses

    Off we shuffle to the Reg Library for our occasional trawl through the whitepaper section. This week we present a couple of reports that shed light on heat and power in the data center. It may be too late for the data centers you are operating today, but we think both paper will stimulate thinking for those planning new data …

    Servers 24 Sep 2009, 11:34

  • Vodafone clings to customers with cloud contactbook

    Updated 360 degrees of desperation

    Vodafone has announced its latest plan to try and hang on to customers, which centres on a cloud-hosted address book. Vodafone 360 involves a web portal where users can see their address book, connected to the usual social networking services, and a custom client which will be pre-installed on variant handsets as well as …

    Mobile 24 Sep 2009, 11:36

  • McAfee creates 120 sales jobs in Ireland

    Irish eyes are smiling

    Net security firm McAfee is creating 120 new sales at its European headquarters in Cork, Ireland. The announcement of the jobs was made by Irish trade and employment Mary Coughlan TD on Wednesday. The scheme will be supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland, Ireland's inward investment agency (as explained here). …

    The Channel 24 Sep 2009, 11:50

  • LaCie LaCinema Black MAX

    Review Stylish media streamer and DVR combo

    LaCie was among the first hard disk manufacturers to produce high capacity, multimedia storage devices designed for media playback. These hard drives, equipped with A/V interfacing, enabled you to take your digital music and video files away from your computer and play them on a decent hi-fi and a full-size TV screen. With its …

    Hardware 24 Sep 2009, 12:02

  • Adobe pushes out Photoshop Elements 8

    Yet another image makeover

    Adobe Systems has launched Photoshop Elements 8 for Windows and Mac platforms. The San Jose, California-based vendor announced the immediate availability of the Windows version of the software, as well as the imminent arrival of the Mac version, yesterday. The latest release of its photo editing and organisation package aimed …

    Applications 24 Sep 2009, 12:09

  • Panicky Plod apologises to Innocent Terror Techie

    Watch your knapsack

    A Reg contributor who was unlawfully arrested and had his home PCs inspected by the Met has received an apology from the police after four years. David Mery was wearing a coat "too warm for the season" and was carrying a laptop - according to the police who arrested him at Southwark Tube station, the day after the second wave …

    Law 24 Sep 2009, 12:12

  • SandForce gets SMART

    An SSD controller design win, not a tiny company car

    SandForce's enterprise flash disk controller is going to be used by SMART for its enterprise flash drives. SMART Modular Technologies is a supplier of DRAM, SRAM, and Flash memory in various form factors. It aims to produce an EFD - an Enterprise Flash Drive - that would compete with STEC, Intel, and now Pliant, for storage …

    Storage 24 Sep 2009, 12:26

  • EU bodies to discuss IP barriers to innovation

    'Bottleneck' embuggerance

    A meeting of members of the European Commission and Council of Ministers will today and tomorrow discuss whether the European Union's intellectual property laws are holding back the region's competitiveness. The EU Commissioners for the internal market and for science and research will discuss patent and copyright laws with EU …

    Government 24 Sep 2009, 12:35

  • Geordi LaForge video-to-brain rig built at MIT

    Small Mexican pigs seem pleased with it

    MIT boffins have devised a method of fitting a chip on the end of the optical nerve which can be used to input electronic images directly into the brain without any need for an eyeball. The technique could offer blind people a degree of vision using head-mounted camera/sensor equipment, in the style of Geordi LaForge from Star …

    Science 24 Sep 2009, 12:50

  • Flagship Vodafone 360 handsets emerge

    Samsung-made phones for 360 access

    Vodafone has unveiled its first two flagship touchscreen handsets designed to help you take full advantage of its new 360 web portal. The Vodafone/Samsung H1 has an OLED screen and 5Mp camera The network operator’s 360 service enables you to see your address book, access social networking services and to buy applications or …

    Phones 24 Sep 2009, 12:51

  • Wireless carriers gear up to fight FCC’s net neutrality plans

    Julius sees a lot of opposition from industry forum

    The US FCC, headed by new chairman Julius Genachowski, wants to apply the same net neutrality rules to mobile networks as wireline systems, to the fury of the cellcos. In the most radical neutrality program ever outlined in the US, the new-look FCC is insisting that wireless carriers should account for their open policies in …

    Broadband 24 Sep 2009, 13:02

  • Nintendo re-jigs Wii pricing

    UK to see £20 cut

    If you’re thinking of buying a Wii, hold off until next week. Why? Because Nintendo’s inked plans to lower the console’s trade price. From 2 October, the Wii’s basic SKU will carry a trade price of £180 ($295/€200) – roughly £20 cheaper than it has been for the last six months. The updated price will bring the console back …

    Games 24 Sep 2009, 14:02

  • Facebook claims mail API less intrusive than Gmail

    This sh*t right here is tight

    Facebook has defended plans to open up members' inboxes to application developers as a technology designed to spur for innovation in areas such as mobile messaging. The social networking site said security consultant concerns that development of the technology makes for an unacceptable privacy risk are misplaced. In particular …

    Applications 24 Sep 2009, 14:18

  • Honda develops motorised unicycle

    With dual bum cheeks...

    Honda has created a high-tech unicycle, which the firm’s claimed boasts the world’s first drive system with 360° movement. Honda's U3-X: More than a unicycle and motor? The U3-X, described by Honda as an experimental personal mobility service, apparently fits – or should that be ‘sits’? - comfortably between the rider’s …

    Hardware 24 Sep 2009, 14:41

  • Post Office will snap and dab for ID card scheme

    They're the people's Orwellian nightmare

    The Post Office will offer fingerprint and photograph-taking facilities for foreign nationals who need to enrol for an ID card. The Home Office has been looking for High Street partners without success for some time. But now the Post Office has apparently volunteered 17 offices to collect dabs on a trial basis. Tests start …

    Government 24 Sep 2009, 14:55

  • O2 launches democratically-minded MVNO

    Just remember what happened to Robespierre

    O2's new MVNO, giffgaff, claims it will be run by its customers to reduce costs and reward loyalty. Assuming it gets any customers, that is. The new company will offer SIM-only connections hosted on O2's network, but reckons it can reduce costs by getting customers to provide each other's technical support and paying them in …

    Mobile 24 Sep 2009, 15:14

  • Ammo rationing at Wal-Mart as panic buying sweeps US

    'Used to be gold was precious. Now it's lead.'

    The USA is suffering the most severe ammunition famine in living memory. Gun fanciers, fearing a Democrat crackdown on every American's right to pack heat, are clearing shelves at ammo shops and hoarding cartridges. AP reports that the Remington Arms Company's factory in North Carolina is now working around the clock trying to …

    Bootnotes 24 Sep 2009, 15:42

  • Gmail de-goodened by contact list glitch

    Where is everybody?

    Gmail services were disrupted on Thursday afternoon, as users lost access to their contacts. Help pages for Google's webmail utility explained that the contact list feature was borked. As a result functions including chat, contact manager and email address auto-complete were rendered temporarily unavailable. Reg readers …

    Applications 24 Sep 2009, 15:44

  • Fujitsu battles WMDs with online survey

    Server maker targets really honest terrorists

    Like other dutiful hardware manufacturers, Fujitsu is doing its bit to fight the war on terror with a customer survey. Fujitsu is a long-time distributor of Sun Microsystems' Solaris Unix variant, which runs on its PrimePower and Sparc Enterprise lines of Sparc boxes. As part of its Solaris patching site, it has a brief …

    Bootnotes 24 Sep 2009, 17:36

  • Malware house offered bounty for infected Macs

    Fake OS X codec scam exposed

    A researcher has unearthed fresh evidence of cyber criminals' growing attraction to Apple's OS X platform with the discovery of a now-disbanded group that offered 43 cents for every infected Mac. Mac-codec.com was just one of hundreds of "codec-partnerka," a term researcher Dmitry Samosseiko uses to describe the well-organized …

    Security 24 Sep 2009, 17:42

  • Intel debuts Atom SoC for set-tops

    IDF PowerVR graphics built in

    Intel has introduced its first Atom-based system-on-a-chip for consumer electronics kit. Formerly known by its codename, 'Sodaville', the part is officially called the Atom Processor CE4100. The 45nm chip's Atom core is joined by 2D/3D engine, video encoding and decoding, a display controller, Gigabit Ethernet, a Nand Flash …

    Hardware 24 Sep 2009, 18:27

  • Microsoft howls as Google turns IE into Chrome

    Updated Internet Explorer dams Google Wave

    Google is offering a new Internet Explorer plug-in that turns Microsoft's browser into a Google browser. And in predictable fashion, Microsoft is peeved. As it prepares to grant widespread access to the preview version of Google Wave - its new-age communications platform - Google has fashioned an IE plug-in that equips …

    Applications 24 Sep 2009, 19:41

  • Archos punts 9-inch Windows 7 tablet PC

    Soft keyboard, hard typing

    Archos, creator of what the company calls "pocket entertainment products," is taking a step beyond mere entertainment with the launch of its Windows-based Archos 9PCtablet. This 8.9-inch touch screen tablet PC features an on-screen keyboard, is powered by a 1.2GHz Intel Atom Z515, and will have Windows 7 Starter Edition …

    Hardware 24 Sep 2009, 21:06

  • Malware torrent delivered over Google, Yahoo! ad services

    No cure for the malvertisement blues

    Some of the web's bigger websites were flooded with a torrent of malicious banner ads after cyber crooks managed to sneak them onto syndication services operated by Google, Yahoo, and a third company, according to a security firm. The ads - which attacked previously-patched vulnerabilities in Adobe's PDF Reader and Microsoft's …

    Security 24 Sep 2009, 21:20

  • Twitter gets $100m injection

    Reg reporter to wear brown pants

    ®

    Financial News 24 Sep 2009, 22:13

  • (Former) IT consultant confesses to SCADA tampering

    'Multiple user accounts'

    A former IT consultant for a California oil and gas company has admitted he intentionally tampered with its computer systems after he was turned down for a permanent position there. Mario Azar of Upland, California pleaded guilty to one felony count of intentionally damaging a computer system used in interstate and foreign …

    Security 24 Sep 2009, 23:59