15th October 2009 Archive

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Joost UK goes titsup

Web telly firm jettisons office furniture

Joost, the web telly firm founded by the blokes behind Skype, has liquidated its UK subsidiary. As reported by The FT and TechCrunch Europe, Joost UK was put into liquidation earlier this month, yet another step in the slow decline of the Netherlands-based outfit. This summer, unable to hook up with the world's big-name media …

Media 15 Oct 2009, 00:20
Schwarzenegger rescues Ellison keynote from jaws of banality

OpenWorld 09 Your audience...give them to me, now

If anybody's going to do any upstaging it's Larry Ellison, as both Michael Dell and Billy Joel discovered during their respective OpenWorld turns this year and last. Guest are welcome to make a splash at Oracle's event - but not too welcome. Usually, they serve as a warm up act or foil to Ellison and his giggly wit. For once …

Software 15 Oct 2009, 05:45
Bridgeworks sidesteps latency with pipelining and AI

Overcomes the small problem of the speed of light

Network latency is a fact of life. There is nothing you can do about it, except join the network queue and wait. But Bridgeworks thinks it has solved the latency problem with pipelining and artificial intelligence. Can it be true? SANSlide is the product that does this and it aims to increase the speed of storage backup …

Data Networking 15 Oct 2009, 06:02
Video games linked to ADD? Say it ain't ooh butterfly

Pay attention now

Pity the brain that plays video games. Whether or not avid gaming turns one into bloodthirsty monster is a matter of open dispute among researchers, but one concession often observed is that video games at least trains mind and body to react faster. Alas, a new study from Iowa State University not only disputes this claim, but …

Media 15 Oct 2009, 06:02
GPLv2 - copyright code or contract?

Open source legal minds unravel license

Two prominent IP lawyers have warned that the all-pervasive General Public License version 2 (GPLv2) contains legally ambiguous wording that may be problematic for licensees. They claim GPLv3 and AGPLv3 are much better suited for the realities of modern open source software. "If you go back in time to when GPLv2 was written, …

Software 15 Oct 2009, 06:02
Copan becoming IBM archive development shop

Comment IBM DIAS its exclusive channel

Word is that Copan, the troubled MAID system supplier, is going to become a developer of archival storage technology for IBM, IBM DIAS specifically. Copan developed MAID (Massive array of Idle Disks) storage technology in which 75 per cent of its evolution array's drives were idle, thus saving power and reducing heat, which …

The Channel 15 Oct 2009, 07:02
PLDS iHES208 Blu-ray drive

Review More than just an interim enhancement?

PLDS is a joint venture between Philips and Lite-On that develops optical disc drive technologies and markets related products. The PLDS iHES208 internal drive is new take on the 'combo' drive concept, providing complete CD and DVD reading and writing functions, plus the ability to play Blu-ray titles at full 1080p quality. …

Hardware 15 Oct 2009, 08:02
Morse sees profits return after restructure

It's still 'challenging' out there though

Morse predicted a continuing "very challenging trading environement" as it unveiled a turnaround in profits in its first quarter this morning. The IT services group turned in total revenues of £47.1m for the quarter ending September 30, compared to £55.8m last year. But operating profit was £1.9m, compared to a loss of £500, …

The Channel 15 Oct 2009, 08:23
Beeb's Carla Bruni coverage hits rock bottom

RSS feed delights schoolboys worldwide

Those of you who may have inadvertantly stumbled into Bootnotes looking for world-class coverage of Google's Android are advised to leave immediately, because what we have here is a classic example of when RSS feeds go bad. Yes indeed, we're obliged today to reader Jonathon Mithe for demonstrating just how Carla Bruni keeps in …

Bootnotes 15 Oct 2009, 08:23
Acer boots Dell into third place in global PC league

Taiwanese vendor takes Michael

A PC market upturn as shown in IDC figures had captains of the industry breaking out the champagne last night - except at Dell. While HP took the top spot in the worldwide market, it was Acer that bagged second place, driving Dell into the third spot. Total worldwide shipments were up 2.3 per cent year on year to 78 million. …

The Channel 15 Oct 2009, 09:09
Ralph Lauren stick insect sacked for being 'too fat'

Photoshopped model's pelvis actually bigger than her head

The model featured in the Ralph Lauren Photoshop stick insect outrage - in which she was Photoshopped to within an inch of her life - claims she was sacked by the company for being "too fat". Filippa Hamilton suffered such an extreme digital makeover in an ad for the fashion company that BoingBoing was prompted to gasp: "Dude …

Bootnotes 15 Oct 2009, 09:09
Sky confirms telly-on-Xbox launch date

GTA, footie, Halo, The Simpsons...

Xbox 360 owners will have access to Sky's TV content through their consoles within two weeks, the broadcaster has confirmed. How Sky Player may look on the Xbox 360 Register Hardware reported back in May how Sky had signed a deal with Microsoft to deliver a selection of its channels through Xbox Live. Sky has now confirmed …

Games 15 Oct 2009, 09:16
BlackBerry Storm 2 blows to Vodafone

Adds Wi-Fi and 'spongy' touchscreen

Wi-Fi is finally en route to the BlackBerry Storm, following Vodafone’s confirmation that the Storm 2 will hit in its stores later this month. Can't see the video? Download Flash Player from Adobe.com Details of the Storm 2 – aka the BlackBerry 9520 - have been floating around for months. But the handset’s manufacturer, …

Phones 15 Oct 2009, 09:20
IBM shows flash of SVC inspiration

Dumps Fusion-io for STEC

IBM has upgraded its SAN Volume Controller to use Nehalem (Xeon 5500) processors and STEC solid state drives, rather than the Fusion-io cards that were demonstrated in the million IOPS QUicksilver project. The SAN Volume Controller (SVC) is located in a storage area network (SAN) fabric and virtualises IBM and certain third- …

Storage 15 Oct 2009, 09:33
Cambridgeshire makes road charge last resort

Shies away from DoT demands for Fenland revenue

Cambridgeshire CC councillors have voted for a scheme which would use Transport Innovation Fund money and include road charging – if all else fails. The county's travel scheme proposes a trigger point for a congestion charge scheme, so that it would be introduced if congestion "reached a critical level and nothing else would …

Government 15 Oct 2009, 09:35
iPhone saves woman from bear

Grizzly fate for handset

An woman in America has survived a potentially deadly bear attack thanks to a knife a handgun first-class hunting skills her iPhone. The bear facts are these. Earlier this summer, Kris Rowley, Chief Information Security Officer for the State of Vermont, was hiking through one of the region’s woodlands when a bear began …

Phones 15 Oct 2009, 09:48
Lloyds TSB's online banking system shows no love for Firefox

Only supports IE and, er, Netscape Navigator

Many Lloyds TSB business customers who use Firefox as their default browser are currently unable to access their online banking accounts. Several readers have contacted The Register telling us that the service is throwing up an error message when they attempt to logon to the site via the world's second most popular browser. …

Small Biz 15 Oct 2009, 09:53
US special forces tool up with 'plasma blades'

Energy cutlasses cleave flesh with '66% less effort'

America's top-secret elite commando forces have been field-testing a "plasma knife" - a handheld unit which generates a cutting "blade" of glowing ions. Disappointingly for any wouldbe kimono-clad combat mystics out there, the handheld energy cutlass isn't intended for hand to hand combat and can't be used for parrying …

Science 15 Oct 2009, 10:01
Playmobil figures feared lost in Great Fire of Guildford

Tragic end to school inferno re-enactment?

We at El Reg's Playmobil unit fear the worst following a Guildford school's miniature re-enactment of London's hottest historic moment. Pewley Down Year 2 infants were earlier this week treated to a "live demonstration of how quickly the blaze would have spread during the Great Fire of London in 1666". Teacher Rosie Welch …

Bootnotes 15 Oct 2009, 10:02
MS says so sorry to Sidekick users

Most promised data back, but some are already in court

Microsoft has apologised for the failure of servers managing data on Sidekick devices, and promised that most customers will get their data back by Saturday. In an open letter Roz Ho, VP of Premium Mobile Experiences at Microsoft, apologises for the "recent problems". She then claims that "most, if not all" of the data has …

Mobile 15 Oct 2009, 10:09
Mozilla tantalises fans with Firefox 3.6 test build

Code freeze done, but beta not coming until W7 eve

Mozilla has pushed back the release of its Firefox 3.6 beta by another week, although an early build of it is now available for any brave testers out there desperate to tinker with it from today. The open source browser maker had tentatively pencilled in 13 October as the date the first and possibly only beta of Firefox 3.6, …

Applications 15 Oct 2009, 10:20
AMD to sound Congo bongo for skinny laptops this month

CULV-rival out shortly

AMD's 'Congo' - the chip maker's answer to Intel's ungainly named Consumer Ultra-Low Voltage (CULV) platform - wil be out at the end of the month. Or maybe early next. So say notebook manufacturer moles quoted by the ever ear-wigging DigiTimes. They add that the thin'n'light laptop platform will comprise AMD's Turion Neo X2 …

Hardware 15 Oct 2009, 10:35
Vodafone proffers parental pointers

Get off the internet and talk to your kids, silly

Vodafone's latest site is aimed at educating parents about what their anklebiters get up to online, basically telling them to keep an eye on the little blighters. Vodafone has created the Parent's Guide site with help from parental-guidance site Mumsnet, and provides information about how children interact with the internet at …

Mobile 15 Oct 2009, 10:59
How much does desktop PC support actually cost?

Workshop The last bastion of obscurity in IT spend?

Here’s a direct question on this (hopefully sunny) day. Do you, or does anyone in your organisation, know precisely how much money you spend on PC support? In principle, this sounds straightforward enough to answer – after all, isn’t it just about the desktops and laptops, and the software they run? But in our travels we have …

PC Management 15 Oct 2009, 11:00
China plans space station for the 2020s, eyes Moon trip

Weary Eagle, leaping Dragon?

The People's Republic of China has unveiled plans to have a sizeable crewed space station orbiting the Earth by 2020. The Chinese space agency is also looking ahead to a manned Moon mission, though no timetable has been announced for this. Flight International reports today on the Chinese announcements, made at the …

Science 15 Oct 2009, 11:00
RIM demos BlackBerry Storm 2

Video Hands on with the latest touchscreen communicator

Can't see the video? Download Flash Player from Adobe.com

Phones 15 Oct 2009, 11:33
Financial firms face tax bill on outsourcing arrangements

Value added shocks

Banks, insurance companies and other financial services providers who outsource administrative functions abroad could be hit by changes to the VAT rules coming into force on 1st January 2010. Under current rules, where services are provided by one business to another, the place of supply for VAT purposes is generally deemed to …

The Channel 15 Oct 2009, 11:44
Nokia writedowns wipe out profits

Numbers, margins and services all slumpy

Nokia lost €426m before tax in Q3 this year, as writedowns, a deflating global economy and freefalling American sales all took their toll. That loss compares pretty badly to last year's pre-tax profit of more than €1.5bn. It comes on the back of 20 per cent drop in sales to $9.8bn. Margins on the sales it did make slipped by 3 …

Mobile 15 Oct 2009, 11:58
MLF: Web magic will brighten 'horrible council estates'

Un-trepreneur feels Reg blowback

Celebrity Un-trepreneur Martha Lane Fox, the Government's "digital inclusion" quangocrat, was faced with the Reg on BBC TV this week. Not any of your grubby hacks in person - we didn't sully the fragrant atmosphere - but we didn't need to; a few choice nuggets from this piece were presented to her via interviewer Jonathan …

Broadband 15 Oct 2009, 12:02
Wi-Fi Alliance readies peer-to-peer wireless tech

The days of complementing Bluetooth are over

Peer-to-peer, personal area Wi-Fi, anyone? That's what the Wi-Fi Alliance will soon be touting, pitching a direct-connection extension of the WLAN technology as an alternative not only to Bluetooth but also Wireless USB. The WFA said yesterday that it was "nearing completion" of the specification, though it doesn't expect to …

Broadband 15 Oct 2009, 12:03
OFT to hammer online pricing, behavioural tracking

Two big studies for the price of one at 33% off!

The Office of Fair Trading is to give internet advertising and pricing a thorough going-over between now and next summer. The fair trade quango has launched two studies which could force online retailers and advertisers to change their business models - or not, depending on the outcome. The first study will look into "online …

The Channel 15 Oct 2009, 12:05
Airport rethinks strip-scanner for kids

Nudity no longer mandatory for under-18s

Manchester Airport will be taking legal advice on proposals to send children through its new X-ray scanners. This is a change from its position, reported in The Register yesterday, that they did not believe the images created by the new scanning technology (the slightly unfortunately named Rapiscan) would fall foul of child …

Law 15 Oct 2009, 12:10
LaCie Starck

Review Famous designer tries hand at HDD enclosures

LaCie has long prided itself on taking a somewhat more idiosyncratic approach to hard drive styling than its rival manufacturers do. LaCie's Starck: not so much Iron Man, more aluminium, man As the business has been gradually taken over by the companies that make the drives themselves - Seagate, Western Digital, Samsung and …

Hardware 15 Oct 2009, 12:13
Wii cycles into fitness

Interactive exercise bike launched

Many of us have an exercise bike gathering dust, but if you’re a Wii owner then the Cyberbike is one exercise bike you’re more likely to use. Cyberbike: a better way to exercise? The Cyberbike’s premise is very simple: connect the full-size exercise bike to your Nintendo Wii and then cycle your way through the selection of …

Games 15 Oct 2009, 12:13
Google edges closer to Mac version of Chrome browser

As Chrome OS early build spotted in wild

Google has taken a significant step closer to releasing a Mac beta version of its open source Chrome browser, by adding printing support to its latest build. Mountain View spun out a Windows version of Chrome over a year ago, since when its developers have been adding spit and polish to a Mac equivalent. The company confirmed …

Operating Systems 15 Oct 2009, 12:26
Elgato unveils tiny, tiny digital TV tuner

Not much bigger than a USB connector

TV tuner specialist Elgato's previous EyeTV DTT Deluxe - reviewed here - was small enough, but its latest offering makes its predecessor seem ungainly and huge by comparison. And, in a bid for PC stardom, Elgato's bundling Windows 7 drivers with the wee product. Elgato's EyeTV DTT Deluxe: ridiculously small The Freeview- …

Hardware 15 Oct 2009, 13:20
Will Hitachi's high-end refresh be more of the same?

Comment Two years and counting

Substantial refreshes of high-end storage boxes by the big storage beasts are rare, but they do happen. With EMC having revamped Symmetrix, attention is turning to the others. What is Hitachi Data Systems going to do? The five big storage hardware players are EMC, HDS, HP, IBM and NetApp. HP resells HDS' USP-V as its XP, and …

The Channel 15 Oct 2009, 13:38
EU fires 12 million pages at Google Books

At last, the 1953 Report on the Activities of the Community - in French

The European Union has delivered a killer blow to Google's Book scanning powergrab by dumping two million pages of historic Euro documents onto the web. Brussels has long been irked by Google's effort to scan the world's stock of the printer word, egged on sceptics like Angela Merkel. And the French. It has thrown its backing …

Media 15 Oct 2009, 13:38
Service management: The state we're in

Webcast On demand version opens for inspection

Last week we ran a live webcast on the huge topic of service management. This is now available on-demand. Our 60-minute webcast features industry analysts Martin Atherton and Tony Lock of Freeform Dynamics, who donning business and IT hats respectively, as they assess the development of service management across the …

Service Management 15 Oct 2009, 13:41
Street View in (kind of) Swiss roll-over

Agrees to extra blurring, but no more

Google has agreed to a demand that it apply extra blur to faces and number plates to its Street View service in Switzerland, but has refused to lower the height of its car-mounted spycams. Street View launched in Switzerland in mid-August, and the country's head of federal data protection, Hans-Peter Thür, was quickly rattling …

Media 15 Oct 2009, 13:45
Buffalo Linkstation Pro

Review No nonsense Nas box?

Buffalo has been making NAS boxes for years and the LinkStation Pro is its latest iteration for home and small office use. Housed in a sleek and shiny black unit, the model we tested includes 1TB hard drive – other options are 1.5 and 2TB. An easy option? Buffalo's Linkstation Pro The front has a blue LED at the top and a ‘ …

Hardware 15 Oct 2009, 13:52
Barmy MPs want mandatory nanny filters - for the world

ISPs must clean up nation's malware, too

An all-party group of MPs has recommended mandatory nanny filters for all mobile devices and data devices that can access the internet - and wants the UK's Internet Watch Foundation secretive censor system extended to the whole world. The All Party Parliamentary Group on Communications (Apcomms) today recommends: "A global ' …

Media 15 Oct 2009, 14:15
Skype founders 'to launch Spotify killer'

Not another one

As the expensive furniture of their most recent flop startup Joost finds new owners, the founders of Kazaa and Skype are reported to be preparing their next venture. According to reports, Rdio is a subscription music service funded by Atomico Ventures, the investment company founded by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis. It's …

Media 15 Oct 2009, 14:44
Googleplex menaced by giant cream cake

Monster confectionery signals Android update?

First Cupcake then Donut emerged from Google's Android oven, and now a giant éclair has been spotted at the company's North American HQ – igniting speculation that the mobile OS is on track for another firmware update. Can't see the video? Download Flash Player from Adobe.com When Android’s first update – Cupcake, aka …

Phones 15 Oct 2009, 15:06
AT&T savages Google Voice

Some networks are more neutral than others

AT&T has escalated its attacks against Google and Google Voice, accusing the chocolate factory of double standards and demanding it be regulated like any other telco. In a fifteen-page letter (PDF hosted at the Washington Post) Robert Quinn (AT&T VP) lays into the chocolate factory for holding an unregulated monopoly on web …

Broadband 15 Oct 2009, 15:21
Robot nuclear windjammer to sail patio-gas oceans of Titan

Crowsnest-cam to scan the 'Sea of Krakens'

NASA has boffins working on plans to send a nuclear-powered robot boat to cruise the chilly patio-gas oceans of Titan, ice moon of Saturn. Arr there, Mr Spock. Lay me a course close-hauled fer the Sea o' Krakens, d'ye see? Ellen Stofan, formerly a boffinry chief at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is a planetary geologist …

Science 15 Oct 2009, 15:24
MS, US take aim at ~~data protection laws~~ cyber trade barriers

'Tear down these walls' shout data pimps

Microsoft and the US government have thrown their weight behind the idea of a one-size-fits-all approach to data protection that would sweep away the data policies of individual countries. "We have a patchwork of laws around the world that is increasingly creating a very confusing quagmire for information providers," MS …

Government 15 Oct 2009, 15:34
Finland grants 5.2m souls the right to 1Mb internet

100Mb by 2015

Finland has granted its inhabitants the legal right to a one-megabit broadband connection. As reported by the national broadcaster YLE, the Ministry of Transport and Communications announced yesterday that every Finn will have the right to a 1MB connection in July of next year. Previously, the government had promised 100Mb …

Networks 15 Oct 2009, 17:24
Oracle revs Xen VM to 2.2

Halfway to Virtually Ironed release

As part of the OpenWorld extravaganza in San Francisco this week, Oracle has kicked out the expected Oracle VM 2.2 release of its homegrown Xen server virtualization software. Oracle VM 2.2 is an interim step as it moves toward a converged server virtualization stack that makes use of the management features of the Virtual …

The Channel 15 Oct 2009, 17:29
Bloggers howl after conference snoops on 'secure' network

Network insecurity 101

Organizers of last week's SecTor security conference collected names, passwords, and all other traffic passing over two Wi-Fi networks provided to attendees, including one that was encrypted, the event's director has confirmed. Borrowing a page from the Wall of Sheep at the Defcon hacker conference each year in Las Vegas, the …

Security 15 Oct 2009, 18:46
Google's Postini Fail pinned on bad filter, hardware glitch

Oh, and 'malformed types of messages'

The extreme email delays the plagued users of Google's Postini message management service earlier this week were caused by a shoddy email-filter update and a power-related hardware failure involving the company's database storage servers. Today, the Mountain View Chocolate Factory released an "incident report" to Postini users …

Applications 15 Oct 2009, 18:55
Amazon goes Kozmo in US

Same-day urban delivery

Amazon is now offering same-day delivery - if you live in certain large American cities. Today, the uber-etailer announced something it likes to call a "Local Express Delivery Option," providing same-day delivery for customers in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, Las Vegas, Seattle and Washington D.C. And it plans to …

Media 15 Oct 2009, 20:28
Intel and AMD tussle over antitrust case evidence

Dueling file motions seek sanction

Intel and AMD crossed sabers in US District court on Wednesday with dueling motions seeking sanctions against one another. Both their calls for courtly relief relate to the other's supposedly abominable email-saving strategies for the antitrust case filed by AMD four years ago. Intel to AMD: I know you are, but what am I? …

The Channel 15 Oct 2009, 20:37
AMD bleeds less in Q3 than expected

School kids to the rescue

Computer sales may be recovering, but Advanced Micro Devices was still bleeding money in the third quarter. Never-the-less, AMD on Thursday posted a narrower loss than most Wall Street soothsayers had predicted. Similar to Intel, which reported its Q3 yesterday, AMD said its shipments rose from the previous quarter, thanks to …

Financial News 15 Oct 2009, 22:55
Aussie Sex Party in evangelist head-to-head

Sex, satanism, sacrifice...oh my

The stage is set for an epic confrontation this weekend, as Christian evangelists and members of the Australian Sex Party go head to head on Mount Ainslie near Canberra. The story began back in August, when radical Minister Danny Nalliah blogged about disturbing goings-on atop Mount Ainslie, at a site overlooking the Federal …

Bootnotes 15 Oct 2009, 22:59
Google says Meltdown's darkest days are over

Chocolate Factory whips out checkbook

Google has decreed that the darkest days of the global economic meltdown are now over. This afternoon, as the company announced a 7 per cent leap in third-quarter revenues, Google boss Eric Schmidt said: "While there is a lot of uncertainty about the pace of economic recovery, we believe the worst of the recession is behind us …

Financial News 15 Oct 2009, 23:17
IBM wrings more profits out of declining Q3

Bullish on Q4

IBM has not tried to defy the gravity of the economic meltdown, but rather has used it as a means to wring more profits out of its business, and in the third quarter Big Blue continued to expand its bottom line even as its top line continued to shrink. In the quarter ended in September, IBM posted revenue of $23.6bn, down 6.9 …

Financial News 15 Oct 2009, 23:20
Sun preps cell-phone Java plan for netbooks

OpenWorld 09 Modules not globules

Sun Microsystems is working with partners to make Java telecomsy for netbooks. The company hopes to deliver a modular version of Java Micro Edition (Java ME) "sometime" next year, which would let netbooks running Java offer more of the kinds of features used in cell phones and are currently enabled on such devices through the …

Developer 15 Oct 2009, 23:29