7th January 2010 Archive

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Cisco mobilizes US Olympics audience

AT&T's network quivers in fear

Cisco is teaming up with US broadcaster NBC to make mobile phone network providers like AT&T squat and receive an HD Olympics video enema. The network equipment giant said Wednesday it has expanded its partnership with NBC as the broadcaster's official network infrastructure provider for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games …

Media 7 Jan 2010, 00:12
Easily spoofed traffic can crash routers, Juniper warns

Ashes, ashes all fall down

Juniper Networks is warning customers of a critical flaw in its gateway routers that allows attackers to crash the devices by sending them small amounts of easily-spoofed traffic. In an advisory sent Wednesday afternoon, the networking company said a variety of devices could be forced to reboot by sending them internet packets …

Security 7 Jan 2010, 01:44
LG heralds 'first' single-lens 3D projector

CES 2010 Avatar in your living room

LG today showed off what it claimed is the world's first single-lens 3D projector capable of casting a 1080p image onto your wall. LG's CF3D: World first? The CF3D uses Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) technology to generate the image - the actual display is a 15mm panel deep within the machine. The picture is interpolated …

Hardware 7 Jan 2010, 02:08
Sony readies family-friendly internet access gadget

CES 2010 Chumby tech inside

Sony today unveiled its take on the internet tablet: a stand up or lie down device it calls Dash and is styled a "personal internet viewer". Based around a 7in LCD touchscreen, Dash sports an unusual triangular design that allows it to be placed upright digital photo frame style or laid flat, on a kitchen work surface, say. In …

Hardware 7 Jan 2010, 02:34
Sony shows own-brand SD memory cards

CES 2010 End of giant's 'not invented here' syndrome?

Sony has more tightly clasped the SD memory card standard to its corporate bosom. Future Cyber-shot digital cameras, Handycam camcorders and other Sony gadgets will gain SD card slots, thus far seen only on its Vaio laptops and e-book readers. Sony said it will also begin selling own-brand SD and Micro SD memory cards in a …

Hardware 7 Jan 2010, 02:52
Samsung shows off e-book readers you can doodle on

CES 2010 Digital marginalia

Samsung briefly whipped out its alternatives to Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader: the E6 and E101 e-book readers, both of which not only offer wireless connectivity but can be used as notepads too. Screen size separates the E6 from the E101: the former has a 6in E Ink panel, the latter a 10in one. Both also sport stereo …

Hardware 7 Jan 2010, 03:40
Third Ruby-on-Rails beta nears launch

With added Merb

A beta for the third iteration of the wildly popular Ruby on Rails is due later this month or in early February. Rails founder David Heinemeier Hansson told InfoWorld the feature-completed beta would pave the way for general release in the first quarter of the year. Among features planned for Ruby on Rails 3 are Merb, the …

Developer 7 Jan 2010, 06:02
Westminster lays ground for shared networks

City Council instigates shared services for capital

Westminster City Council has begun a procurement for next generation network services that could be taken up around London. It has published a tender in the Official Journal of the European Union for networks capable of carrying data, IP telephony, integrated email, voicemail, instant messaging, audio and video conferencing …

Broadband 7 Jan 2010, 07:02
Feds ratchet Galleon insider trading case

More charges for Raj?

The Federal prosecutors building a case against Raj Rajaratnam, the man at the heart of an insider trading scandal that erupted in October last year, are preparing additional charges against the founder of the Galleon hedge fund. The news comes as one of his alleged co-conspirators, Anil Kumar, a director at management …

Financial News 7 Jan 2010, 07:02
Software engineer rated best job of 2010 (almost)

Those damn actuaries!

When it comes to stress levels, salary and sheer physical demands on your body, it doesn't get much better than being a software engineer. Well, almost. To really land on your feet - or, as it might be, on your buttocks in some plush swivel chair and a comfy office somewhere - you need to be an actuary. Yes, actuaries have …

Developer 7 Jan 2010, 07:02
It's official: Blogging is a dangerous business

Report suggests 2009 was worst ever year for bloggers

2009 was a bad year for freedom of speech across the world, with journalists and bloggers getting the worst of it. According to a report (pdf) released last week by internationally respected organisation Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF), journalists bore the brunt of the crackdown – but there was also a sharp rise in action …

Media 7 Jan 2010, 08:02
Popcorn Hour C-200

Review DIY media centre, anyone?

Popcorn Hour made its name with the rather fine, if also rather expensive A100 and A110 media streamers, but now it has cooked up something strange and new that promises to redefine the breed by offering some unique hardware expansion possibilities. Popcorn Hour's C-200 Networked Media Tank While most media streamers tend …

Hardware 7 Jan 2010, 08:02
Lenovo demos mini laptop with slip-out screen

CES 2010 on Video Leave the keyboard at home

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Hardware 7 Jan 2010, 08:02
Ballmer preempts Jobs with ~~tablet~~ slate trio

CES 2010 Sets record for speech with most Bings

During his keynote presentation Wednesday evening at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer sent a not-too-subtle message to that other Steve, Mr. "CEO of the Decade." Namely, that as the world waits in salivating suspense for what is increasingly certain to be a late-January unveiling …

Hardware 7 Jan 2010, 08:31
Volt switches to smartphone maintenance

Leccy Tech Remotely charge, but not drive

General Motors (GM) has released a free smartphone application to help Chevrolet Volt owners get the most from the e-car’s battery. The Volt's smartphone app offers remote battery management features The OnStar Mobile Experience app is available for the Blackberry Storm, iPhone and Motorola Droid. GM also plans to roll the …

Science 7 Jan 2010, 09:02
Gumtree gives up on dating AND casual sex

It's not you it's me

Free ads service Gumtree is closing its dating and encounters section, claiming it's a reaction to customer feedback. The eBay-owned site said its dating section was giving lower levels of satisfaction than others, so it was closed before Christmas. Managing director Suchi Mukherjee told the BBC it was a difficult decision, …

Media 7 Jan 2010, 10:21
Yes, the Googlephone works in Blighty

And far better than it does in the US

In the US, Google's unlocked Nexus One handset plays with only one major 3G wireless network: T-Mobile's. But in other parts of the world, your options are rather more extensive. Sold from Google's new US-based online phone store, the inaugural Googlephone supports four GSM frequencies: 850MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz, and 1900MHz. So …

Phones 7 Jan 2010, 10:26
How do you manage service levels in a virtualised environment?

Lab Business as usual or whole new ball game?

In previous research projects we’ve examined the impact of service level monitoring and management, and found positive benefits in having a range of associated SLAs in place. No surprises there of course. However, the main finding was that beyond a certain number, it didn’t matter how much ‘extra agreement’ you have: there was …

Virtualisation Lab 7 Jan 2010, 11:22
Nexus One teardown: 'nicely put together'

802.11n Wi-Fi support

The gadget teardown experts at iFixit have forked out $530 for a Google Nexus One smartphone, taken it to bits and posted their thoughts online. The Nexus One cost iFixit $530 (£332/€369) After removing the phone’s plastic rear cover - a process iFixit described as “unbelievably easy”, the 5Mp lens, LED flash bulb, external …

Phones 7 Jan 2010, 11:26
Mobiles protect against Alzheimer's

If you remember you have one

Research showing that mobile phones protect mice against Alzheimer's disease could be bad news for mobile phones. Florida-based boffins have been getting mice on the phone by exposing them to the electromagnetic fields generated by a mobile phone to see how it accelerated Alzheimer's. Instead, they found that the fields …

Phones 7 Jan 2010, 11:27
NASA infrared survey returns first snap

WISE up and running

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has returned its first photograph - a calibration shot of "about 3,000 stars in the Carina constellation": NASA explains* that the eight-second exposure was "captured as the spacecraft stared in a fixed direction, in order to help calibrate its pointing system". Once fully up …

Science 7 Jan 2010, 11:34
Peeved Fujitsu workers down tools - again

January strikes begin as relations with bosses remain icy

Fujitsu Services' workers kicked off a further series of walkouts at the company today, following a clash with management over a pay freeze and redundancies in the UK last November. As we reported last month, hundreds of Fujitsu staff took part in a one day strike on 18 December, after bosses at the firm failed to reach an …

Business 7 Jan 2010, 12:09
Anti-paedo vetting boss warns against relying on databases

Grounds for false confidence

The man in charge of millions of new anti-paedophile checks has spoken of the "false confidence" over child safety that the scheme could breed. Sir Roger Singleton, a former Barnados chief executive, is chair of the Independent Safeguarding Authority, launched late last year to screen all prospective workers and volunteers who …

Law 7 Jan 2010, 12:12
MS brings Project Natal to gamers' senses in Xmas 2010

Pre-Natal advice

Project Natal, Microsoft motion sensing technology for the Xbox 360, will ship in the "holiday season" in 2010, the company said yesterday. Non-Americans, that translates into a probable late November launch date. Natal is a 20cm-or-so long sensor bar that attaches to the XBox 360, probably by USB, that enables you to play …

Games 7 Jan 2010, 12:12
Freed Peter Moore will be 'paid in full' for time as Iraq hostage

Exclusive US to cough up 31 months of danger pay

IT consultant Peter Moore - now back in Britain after being held hostage by kidnappers in Iraq for two and a half years - will be paid in full for the time he spent in captivity, The Register has learned. Moore was seized along with four British security operatives at the Iraqi finance ministry in 2007, by a large party of Shi …

Government 7 Jan 2010, 12:21
MEPs put virtual strip machines on the block

Send cheques, postal orders and privacy concerns to...

The European Parliament has finally gotten round to slapping a 'for sale' notice on half a dozen body scanners it has had lying around its buildings for the last five years. The belated sale, which was forced by MEPs' privacy qualms, will probably speed national governments' plans to get up close and personal with the rest of …

Government 7 Jan 2010, 12:35
Southampton chap lodges todger in steel pipe

Cue fire brigade, angle grinder, 'steady hand', etc. etc.

A Southampton man who somehow got his todger stuck in a three-inch length of steel pipe had to be cut free by eight firemen bearing an angle grinder, the Southern Daily Echo reports. The drama began when the unnamed 30-something chap presented himself at Southampton General Hospital's A&E department suffering from "restricted …

Bootnotes 7 Jan 2010, 12:38
Blu-ray capacity to increase by a third

Expansion benefits prospects for HD and 3D takeup

Blu-ray disk capacity can increase by a third because of enhanced signal processing and a new way to evaluate media quality. Current Blu-ray disks store 25GB per layer and this can increase to 33.4GB through the use of Partial Response Maximum Likelihood (PRML) signal processing, which doesn't need any change to the existing …

Hardware 7 Jan 2010, 12:55
Moto's morphing Android mounts balance beam

The gymnast's phone?

Motorola has expanded its Android smartphone portfolio with a quirky little number called Backflip. Motorola's Backflip runs Android and Motoblur The phone supposedly combines the “social savviness and personalization” of Motoblur – Motorola’s UI for syncing contacts, posts, feeds, messages, emails and photos from the likes …

Phones 7 Jan 2010, 12:55
Packard Bell oneTwo M

Review All-in-one kitchenware?

As the world swings inexorably away from desktop PCs towards notebooks, netbooks and PMPs, the PC has to adapt or die. One way to go, as Packard Bell would have it, is the touchscreen media PC. It follows the iMac paradigm that the whole thing should be built into the back of a large-format LCD screen. A nice touch? PackBell' …

Hardware 7 Jan 2010, 13:02
UK mobile operators call for UK competition regulation

Rivals use watchdogs to annoy T-Orange as much as possible

UK mobile operators, with the exception of T-Mobile and Orange, have called for the UK authorities to investigate the creation of T-Orange rather than trusting Brussels. T-Mobile and Orange were hoping an EU-level investigation could wave the merger through smoothly, but everyone else wants to see as much investigation as …

Phones 7 Jan 2010, 13:03
Boris bares data bunker

Mashup-on-Thames

Efforts to open up datasets held by public bodies will receive a big boost today, with Boris Johnson announcing he will publish reams of crime, education, environmental and health information from London's archives. Some 200 local authority and City Hall datasets will be made available via the "London Datastore", a new website …

Government 7 Jan 2010, 13:06
ID card scheme for foreigns extended

Footballers and troublesome priests next to say 'cheese'

The government's much loved ID card scheme was extended yesterday - from now on Tier 2 foreign nationals will have to apply for a card if they wish to extend their stay in the UK. Tier 2 includes skilled workers, ministers of religion, sportsmen and women, representatives of overseas businesses and dependants. Forcing three …

Government 7 Jan 2010, 13:12
Johnson reveals ID register linked to NI numbers

It's a one-stop data shop

Home Secretary Alan Johnson has confirmed that the National Identity Register contains National Insurance numbers and answers to 'shared secrets'. In a revelation that is likely to intensify the arguments over the privacy implications of the database, Johnson claimed the NI numbers have been included to "aid identity …

Government 7 Jan 2010, 13:40
Galileo sat-nav contracts, startup dates announced

French nukes to get precision guidance from 2014

The European Commission has announced contracts for the procurement of the first 14 operational Galileo navigation-and-timing satellites. The Galileo service is now expected to begin offering some service as of "early 2014". However the date for full, reliable global coverage - which would require a minimum of 24 operating …

Science 7 Jan 2010, 13:49
Pioneer puts Pandora Radio in your car

CES 2010 But only if you have an iPhone

Pioneer hammered another nail in the coffin of traditional music radio when it announced that its new top-end car-audio and satnav system would - among many other features - include support for Pandora Radio. There's one major hitch with the Pandora support in the new AVIC-X920BT in-dash AV receiver, however: you need an …

Science 7 Jan 2010, 14:02
Will a service pack for Windows 7 rock up anytime soon?

Analysis Schtopp, this SP1 isn't ready yet

Eagle-eyed bloggers who, it seems, have nothing better to do with their time then to scan Microsoft’s Windows 7 underbelly, recently discovered a Registry Key that points to service pack 1 of the operating system. Windows 7 has only been available to consumers for less than three months, and already there is talk about when …

Operating Systems 7 Jan 2010, 14:22
Boxee shows telly-ready media playback box

CES 2010 on Video Content from Nas to screen

Boxee shows telly-ready media playback box var MediaPlayerVars = { '_': { 'http://www.youtube.com/v/Yu5SAzbVSGg': { width: 560, height: 340 } } }; Watch in HD at Reg Hardware's YouTube channel Can't see the video? Download FlashPlayer from Adobe.com

Media 7 Jan 2010, 14:27
Toshiba updates snazzy netbooks with latest Atom tech

CES 2010 Battery life boost

Toshiba has equipped its NB200 netbook - our favourite netbook of 2009 - with Intel's latest Atom chippery, and upped the machine's model number in the process. It's not clear whether anything separates the NB300 from the NB305 beyond colour. The 300 is black, the 305 will be available in a choice of white or brown shades, as …

Hardware 7 Jan 2010, 14:34
UK videogaming sales shrink in 2009

Which makes it second best year ever

The value of videogame and console sales in the UK fell 18 per cent in 2009. This is not as bad as it may seem at first sight - 2008 was a record year and 2009 ranks as the second best for the games sector. According to figures from industry watcher GfK Chart-Track, UK gamers spent £3.3bn on videogames last year – down from £ …

Games 7 Jan 2010, 14:44
Dell reveals Pliant SSD-shaped hole in new array

Looks like a design win

Dell is adding a solid state drive (SSD) option to its PowerVault MD1220 array this quarter and it looks like start-up Pliant has won the supply deal. Dell's product page describing the MD1220 has a hot-linked note in the second paragraph, that says: "Availability of Solid State Drives (SSD’s) on PowerVault MD1220 expected Q1 …

Storage 7 Jan 2010, 15:18
Google tosses extra $27.5m on pile to buy On2 Technologies

Mountain View wallet expands to compress video

Google sprinkled some much needed sugar over its bid to take over On2 Technologies today by agreeing to pony up $134m, after On2 shareholders grumbled that they were getting a raw deal from last August's original $106.5m offer. “Under the revised terms, each outstanding share of On2 common stock will receive 0.0010 of a share …

Financial News 7 Jan 2010, 16:02
Sarko gets crypto mobe after BlackBerry ban

French president given 'beautiful' Thales smartphone

Nicolas Sarkozy and 20,000 of his French government lieutenants will be equipped with specially-commissioned encrypted smartphones, following fears over the security of BlackBerries. Back in 2007, SGDN, the French equivalent of MI5, banned ministers and civil servants from using RIM's devices, citing "a problem of data …

Mobile 7 Jan 2010, 16:09
Prosecutors claim BitTorrent admin had $300K

OiNK man in court

Alan Ellis, the 26-year old man accused of administering the OiNK file sharing service, told a court today he was not guilty of conspiracy to defraud. Ellis was arrested in October 2007 for running the invite-only site. He was pinched in Middlesborough, and servers in Holland were seized by Dutch police in raids code-named ' …

Media 7 Jan 2010, 16:25
Intel intros 'ultimate' Wi-Fi card

CES 2010 Centrino no longer a laptop brand

It's official, Centrino is now no longer a laptop platform brand, it's solely for wireless adaptors, of which Intel announced a trio of new models today. Top of the list: the Centrino Ultimate N 6300, which the chip maker claimed, delivers range-leading 802.11n Wi-Fi throughput of up to 450Mb/s - though you'll need an access …

Hardware 7 Jan 2010, 16:40
US music royalties' collector sues T-Mobile over ringback tones

Noise is golden

Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) quietly filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the US wing of T-Mobile last month. On 19 December the performing rights’ group fingered the telecoms firm for allegedly using unlicensed copies of BMI’s repertoire on its ringback tones service. The BMI said it had licensed ringback tones on …

Mobile 7 Jan 2010, 16:47
LG preps 17mm-skinny HD netbook

CES 2010 And a more chunky one too

LG is readying a pair of juicy portables to extend its netbook and ultra-skinny notebook families, including a machine possibly based on Intel's as-yet-unlaunched next-gen Atom platform for handheld tablets. First up, the X300, an 11.6in machine with a 1366 x 768 display. Just 17.5mm thick and 980g in weight, the X300 packs 1- …

Hardware 7 Jan 2010, 17:00
BMC gulps down Java management minnow

Expect more

Management specialist BMC Software has shelled out to buy Phurnace Software, a privately held and venture backed maker of tools to manage the release-cycles of commercial Java applications. Phurnace Software was established in 2007 and its Deliver line of application release management tools for Java applications got their …

Applications 7 Jan 2010, 18:59
Eurostar goes tits up again

Train stuck in tunnel

Remember the five Eurostar trains that broke down in the channel tunnel because snow got into the electrics and melted? A train has got stuck in the tunnel again. Eurostar had claimed its engineers had fixed the problem by improving the shielding of the electronics from snow-laden air coming in through the engine inlet vents. …

Bootnotes 7 Jan 2010, 19:05
France floats Google music-and-movie tax

Vive la différence

France should tax Google and other online US giants to subsidize local music and movie industries, a report commissioned by the country's culture ministry has recommended. A new proposal to tax internet advertising revenue was among the recommendations offered by the government-appointed panel. Money raised would finance the …

Media 7 Jan 2010, 19:21
Palm jumps to Verizon with two new phones

CES 2010 - Updated Meet the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus

Palm announced today that it will jump from Sprint to Verizon when it releases two new phones on January 25. Speaking to reporters at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, Palm Chairman and chief executive Jon Rubinstein said the new phones - the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus - "will be available exclusively on the …

Mobile 7 Jan 2010, 21:00
Ghost of Gates' tablet haunts Microsoft's future

Touch us, please!

Almost ten years after Bill Gates personally bought into the idea of the tablet PC, Microsoft's hawking the concept as something fresh. It was Comdex 2001, the dawn of a new decade and a new century, when Microsoft's then chairman and chief software architect unveiled prototype tablet computers from Acer, Compaq, Fujitsu and …

Hardware 7 Jan 2010, 21:21
Ion add-on to equip iPhone with full Qwerty keyboard

CES 2010 iType turns you handset into a Sinclair Z88

Ion, a company best known for its USB turntables and cassette decks, has introduced a Qwerty keyboard add on for... the iPhone. Ion's iType: fast text entry on the iPhone No mere clip-on BlackBerry-style mini keypad, the iType is a near full-size board with a space in which to sit the handset in landscape mode. The iType …

Hardware 7 Jan 2010, 21:47
Intel unloads 32-nanometer Cores blitz

CES 2010 Squeezes into embedded

Intel has kicked off the Computer Electronics Show extravaganza and gadget fest by unloading a slew of desktop, laptop, and embedded x64 processors from its Westmere family of 32-nanometer products. Intel previewed its plans for the Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 chips in mid-December, saying it would get the desktop parts, …

Hardware 7 Jan 2010, 21:58
Google open-source boss comes clean on Android

'We could do better,' DiBona tells devs

Google open source guru Chris DiBona has acknowledged that the company's freewheeling approach to building a mobile operating system can cause a few headaches for developers, with unfamiliar versions of its Android OS appearing on new phones with little warning. But, he says, that's not developers' main concern - nor Google's …

Developer 7 Jan 2010, 22:05
Samsung e-book reader range doubles in a day

CES 2010 Yesterday two models, today four, including Kindle lookalike

Samsung's upcoming line of e-book readers is larger than the company's initial announcement suggested, taking in a Kindle-style model with a keyboard and a basic unit in addition to the two versions highlighted yesterday. Then, the line consisted of the 6in E6 and the 10.1in E101. But with the opening today of Samsung's CES …

Hardware 7 Jan 2010, 22:13
Samsung's translucent OLED finds home in MP3 player

CES 2010 Warning, gimmick approaching

Samsung has shown off IceTouch, the first ever MP3 player to sport a see-through screen. It's a total gimmick, of course, but an amusing one. It's fun - once, at least - to turn it around and look at all the menus written backwards. Likewise, peering past the 'Now Playing' screen to what's in front of you. Cute, but what's …

Hardware 7 Jan 2010, 22:25
AMD's former chip arm to bake Qualcomm wafers

GlobalFoundries lands third customer

AMD's former chip manufacturing arm GlobalFoundries has inked its third customer for its wafer baking operations: wireless chip-maker Qualcomm. Qualcomm said it would be submitting masks to GlobalFoundries sometime this year that make use of the wafer baker's 45 nanometer low-power processes - current Fab 1 - with an eye …

Hardware 7 Jan 2010, 22:38
Motorola's latest Android 'andset demo'd

CES 2010 on Video Ladies and Gentlemen, we present Backflip

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Phones 7 Jan 2010, 22:51
El Reg sparks international incident with Olympics committee

Flips out over Cisco comment

El Reg has sparked an international crisis of gun-boat proportions. Seems we've raised the hackles of the US Olympic Commission in our article, Cisco mobilizes US Olympics audience. Our piece quoted from an early Cisco Systems' press release draft that stated the company's Flip video cameras would be passed out to athletes at …

Media 7 Jan 2010, 23:18
Windows Mobile 7.0 due on LG phones this year

CES 2010 Retailers, get ready

LG Electronics has confirmed the first devices featuring Microsoft's highly anticipated Windows 7 Mobile will hit retailers in 2010. LG is reported to have told the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, it will ship phones running Windows Mobile 7 and 6.5 this year. Gizmodo reported LG saying Microsoft …

Phones 7 Jan 2010, 23:54
RSA crypto defiled again, with factoring of 768-bit keys

More where that came from

Yet another domino in the RSA encryption scheme has fallen with the announcement Thursday that cryptographers have broken 768-bit keys using the widely used public-key algorithm. An international team of mathematicians, computer scientists and cryptographers broke the key though NFS, or number field sieve, which allowed them …

Security 7 Jan 2010, 23:56