The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

21st January 2010 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

  • Liquid Computing evaporates staff

    Upstart snugs belt

    The word on the street this week is that Liquid Computing, an upstart server maker that has rejiggered its product line a number of times to try to get some traction, has laid off some workers as it tightens its belt in these harsh economic times. Liquid Computing has just confirmed those rumors. As El Reg explained back in …

    Servers 21 Jan 00:54

  • Microsoft sues TiVo in AT&T solidarity play

    Patent, patent, who's got the patent?

    Microsoft has sued TiVo. Why? Because TiVo sued AT&T. Not to mention some allegations of patent infringement. Dow Jones reports that Microsoft filed suit against the leading DV recorder manufacturer late Tuesday in the US federal court. Redmond claims that in displaying programming information, TiVo illegally uses technology …

    Music and Media 21 Jan 01:17

  • Oracle to detail delayed Sun roadmap

    Start your chainsaws

    Oracle's stalled $5.6bn acquisition of Sun Microsystems looks like its finally received approval from European antitrust regulators. On Wednesday, the database giant said that next week, its chief executive Larry Ellison will outline a strategy for the combined companies and their roadmaps during a webcast. The event could …

    Applications 21 Jan 02:08

  • Oracle power couple take Manhattan by billboard

    The price of love

    A bizarre series of billboards have appeared in Manhattan, featuring the grinning mugs of Oracle president Charles Phillips and partner YaVaughnie Wilkins. The posters feature a touchingly romantic message - from "c.e.p," aka Phillips - complete with an incredibly long URL that invites passing New Yorkers to visit an online …

    Odds and Sods 21 Jan 06:02

  • Cisco gives biz vids preferential treatment

    Wireless gears chooses CEO over skateboarding dog

    Cisco is a firm believer that streaming video is key to the future of business collaboration over 802.11n wireless networks. It also reckons a CEO's company-wide speech should take precedence over you showing your buddies a video where a dog rides a skateboard. To that end, Cisco has cooked up a new set of tools for its …

    Data Networking 21 Jan 06:02

  • Amazon opens Kindle to third-party apps

    SDK thumbs nose at Apple

    Amazon is opening its Kindle ebook reader to third-party software apps as part of an apparent effort to fend off an imminent challenge from Apple's tablet. Late Wednesday evening Pacific time, Amazon announced that it will offer a Kindle SDK (software development kit) sometime next month. The initial release will be billed as …

    Music and Media 21 Jan 06:56

  • 3PAR gives storage weight loss guarantee

    Storage capacity liposuction

    3PAR has joined in the storage guarantee program game and is saying customers can get 50 per cent primary data storage capacity savings by migrating off legacy storage to the latest 3PAR kit. The offer is available to Avatar-loving storage warriors on a YouTube video spoof of James Cameron's 3D epic fantasy. Customers have …

    Storage 21 Jan 07:02

  • Virgin trials P2P deep packet snooping

    Copyright infringement probe

    Virgin Media has begun trials of new packet-sniffing software designed to measure the level of illicit music-sharing over its network. This article originally stated that Virgin Media's trial of CView has begun. This was incorrect, the system has not yet been implemented. We regret the error. The trial will see Virgin monitor …

    Music and Media 21 Jan 07:02

  • Conceptronic Grab'n'Go FullHD media player

    Review Retro rocket-styled streamer, anyone?

    We’re always worried when we receive products from companies with names such as ‘Conceptronic’ as it suggests a very hardware-oriented frame of mind. And, like so many of the media player devices that we’ve reviewed in recent months, the Grab'n'Go FullHD Media Player turned out to be a neatly designed piece of hardware that is …

    Reg Hardware 21 Jan 08:02

  • Server Virtualisation for real

    Webcast 11am today...set monitors to live

    At 11am GMT today we’ve got some experts in our studio running through a real-life server virtualisation project. You can watch them right here. The plan for the one-hour event is to explore how a Virtualisation project can massively enhance your business, cut costs and generally make you something of a superhero in your …

    Virtualisation Lab 21 Jan 08:02

  • Server and desktop virtualisation projects are shoddy

    So say these guys - so what's the problem?

    The vast majority of server and desktop virtualisation projects fail to meet their objectives, according to research which implies vendors are misrepresenting the benefits of desktop virtualisation. The research, by Computacenter, looked at 130 UK IT decision makers and found "only six per cent fully achieving ROI (return on …

    Virtualization 21 Jan 08:02

  • Targeted attacks replace botnet floods in telco nightmares

    We the IPv6-unready

    Targeted attacks against backend systems have replaced botnet-powered traffic floods as the main concerns for security staff at telcos and large ISPs. Only one in five of the 132 senior telco security experts quizzed by DDoS security and network management specialists Arbor Networks reported the largest attacks they observed …

    Security 21 Jan 08:02

  • Cyber sleuth sees China's fingerprints on 'Aurora' attacks

    Jury still out

    A security researcher who reverse engineered code used to attack Google and other large companies has said he found what he believes are the fingerprints of Chinese hackers. The telltale sign, according to Joe Stewart, director of SecureWorks' Counter Threat unit, is is an error-checking algorithm in the software that …

    Security 21 Jan 09:02

  • Manchester ID staff suffer isolation as new dawn fades

    Just 1300 Mancunians apply for cards

    The people of Manchester have either lost all interest in travelling abroad and drinking, or couldn't give a monkey's about the government's lame duck ID card scheme, if a commons answer is anything to go by. Manchester is the first big trialling ground for the ID card scheme, before a broader trial across the rest of the …

    Government 21 Jan 09:02

  • German dentists develop 'painless' plasma tooth-blaster

    In-mouth light sabre to replace drilling

    More news of exotic high technology benefiting the human race today, as German gnasher-boffins announce a cunning plan to replace dentists' drills with "painless, contact-free" plasma beam devices. Rotting teeth, one of the most painful (and expensive) medical problems faced by modern humans, are caused when mouth bacteria …

    Physics 21 Jan 09:23

  • Fujitsu faces strike action

    Unite united

    Union Unite has confirmed five more days of strike action at Fujitsu. Starting tomorrow, Friday 22 January, 454 union members at Fujitsu will walk out. Further strike days are planned for Friday 29 January, Monday 1 February, Friday 5 February and Monday 8 February. Unite members in Northern Ireland will strike 26 January, …

    Government 21 Jan 09:25

  • MoD awards £540m extension to DII

    On budget, but 18 months late. 'Spose you can't have it all

    The Ministry of Defence has agreed to the next phase of its Defence Information Infrastructure programme, provided by HP's Atlas Consortium. DII increment 3a, which the MoD agreed to on 18 December 2009, will involve 42,000 more computer terminals working with restricted and secret material at permanent MoD sites, replacing …

    Government 21 Jan 10:23

  • Truphone launches Local Anywhere service

    Only slightly later than expected

    Truphone has finally launched its Local Anywhere service, providing customers with (multiple) local numbers so they can benefit from local rates. The Local Anywhere service was announced at last year's Mobile World Congress, and promised during 2009, so it's only slightly late. The premise is that customers have multiple phone …

    Mobile 21 Jan 10:37

  • 3D TV: Minority interest for years to come

    Regular HD TVs swim in mainstream

    Anyone hoping that 3D TV will greatly boost the consumer electronics industry will find the latest research from DisplaySearch less than comfortable reading, despite its affirming headline data. The market watcher estimates 1.2m 3D-capable HD TVs will ship this year, which sounds like a large number. DisplaySearch expects the …

    Reg Hardware 21 Jan 10:47

  • Wrists playing up? You're shagging too much

    Missionary position fingered for carpal tunnel syndrome

    A US researcher has suggested a possible link between dodgy wrists caused by carpal tunnel syndrome and sex, "when the hands become repeatedly extended while under pressure from the weight of the upper body". The syndrome occurs when "the median nerve, which runs from the forearm into the hand, becomes pressed or squeezed at …

    Biology 21 Jan 10:55

  • Nokia apes Google, gives gratis satnav route guidance

    Ovi Maps rather cheaper to use now

    Nokia has redesigned its Ovi Maps navigation software and has decided to stop making users pay for turn-by-turn guidance. It's hard to conclude that this is not simply a response to Google’s creation of Map Navigation, a free route guidance app for Android devices. Ovi Maps: 3D landmarks help you see where you are The new …

    Reg Hardware 21 Jan 11:03

  • Europe clears Oracle Sun for take-off

    It was open source wot won it

    The European Commission has cleared Oracle's takeover of Sun Microsystems. Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said: "I am now satisfied that competition and innovation will be preserved on all the markets concerned. Oracle's acquisition of Sun has the potential to revitalise important assets and create new and innovative …

    Software 21 Jan 11:17

  • UK gov cuts ribbon on public datasets site

    Web 2.0 gravy boat sets sail, founders

    The Cabinet Office has officially taken the wraps off its data.gov.uk web portal, which is intended to serve as a central repository for British citizens to gain access to some government data. In true government style the site almost immediately was swamped by people eager to mash up the people's data. It launched with more …

    Government 21 Jan 11:24

  • Nokia switches direction and gives away maps

    Anything Google can do...

    Nokia has started giving away Ovi Maps including turn-by-turn directions, removing one more source of income in the ongoing battle to out-freebie Google. Ovi Maps runs on Nokia's Symbian-based handsets, and synchronises with the online version for when you want to use a bigger screen. Until this morning, lost punters could …

    Mobile 21 Jan 11:28

  • Cardiff tops UK plastic fraud list

    Er, in your face, London!

    Cardiff has displaced London as the worst place in the UK for card fraud, according to a new survey of fraud hotspots. More than a third (37 per cent) of residents of the Welsh capital have been victims of card fraud at least once since 2007, according to an annual update to a Card Fraud Index maintained by CPP, which sells …

    Crime 21 Jan 11:40

  • MPs frozen out of super-secret copyright talks

    Preferences of foreign governments take precedence

    The government has refused to give MPs access to papers on international negotiations about copyright enforcement on the internet and at national borders. Junior business minister David Lammy said he could not put documents about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in the House of Commons Library, because other …

    Music and Media 21 Jan 11:57

  • Sony Ericsson releases videocam-cum-smartphone

    Vivaz shoots and uploads 720p video

    Sony Ericsson has historically only sold mobile phones, but now the firm has launched a camcorder that also makes voice calls. OK, technically the Vivaz is a smartphone. But SE has equipped the mobile with HD video capture and video shortcut keys to market the mobile at anyone who feels the need to “record spontaneous moments …

    Reg Hardware 21 Jan 12:20

  • Data protection and virtualised machines

    Lab Eggs, meet basket

    Let’s face it, we’re not very good at backups. It’s nothing to be ashamed about. Few organisations could one hundred percent put their hands on their hearts and say, “Yup, we’ve got it covered!” And as my esteemed colleague Tony Lock likes to point out, even places that think they have backups taped (if you’ll excuse the pun …

    Virtualisation Lab 21 Jan 12:23

  • 1984 film classification law gets reboot

    Lords press replay on video act

    Anyone hoping that 2010 was the year when they could produce smut or violence for direct release to DVD, without undergoing the tiresome process of having their work checked and classified by the British Board of Film Classification, can hit pause now. Such hopes were dashed yesterday as the House of Lords breathed fresh life …

    Law 21 Jan 12:26

  • Xbox Live to display download cash values

    MS Point exchange rate clarification

    Microsoft may display cash values alongside its existing virtual currency on Xbox Live in a bid to end consumer confusion. Download content from Xbox Live and you pay for it with Microsoft Points. A given download's cash value can be ambiguous. While 5000 Points cost £42.50 to buy, many gamers need to nip off and grab a …

    Reg Hardware 21 Jan 12:30

  • Seagate sales surge in Q2

    Revenues up a third

    Seagate's second fiscal 2010 quarter was a blast, with revenues up a third and half a billion profit. Seagate took $3.3bn in the last calendar quarter of 2009, that's 33 per cent up on the year-ago quarter's $2.27bn. It made a $533m profit, which compares astoundingly well to the loss of $2.8bn - yes, billion - a year ago. …

    Storage 21 Jan 12:31

  • Google taps Gmail for more clicks with ad tweak

    Hit me slowly, hit me quick

    Google has tweaked how it slots ads into Gmail, so that you need never be short of distractions while reading your email. The world's largest ad broker has done its best to tell Googlemail users that the change is intended to serve its users with adverts that might better meet their needs. But the reality is of course much …

    Applications 21 Jan 12:39

  • Google explains China Syndrome by advertising - on Google

    As China ring-fences internet spat

    Google is serving up an explanation of its China syndrome difficulties amongst its sponsored search results - but has apparently balked at the idea of pouring its marketing budget into Bing or Yahoo!'s pockets. Searchengineland spotted that users tapping 'Google China' into Google will see the usual slew of results, as well as …

    Music and Media 21 Jan 13:20

  • Exeter Uni goes offline to fight mystery malware

    Great late coursework excuse

    The University of Exeter took the unusual step of temporarily taking its network down this week in response to a virulent virus outbreak. Computers at the south west England university were taken offline on Monday for a clean-up in response to an unidentified malware outbreak, which has since been contained. By Thursday the …

    Malware 21 Jan 13:21

  • BT reveals faster broadband pricing

    To infinity and the bank

    BT's new faster broadband service will cost from £19.99 per month, it's been announced today. The group's Retail division will sell connections based on fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) technology as "BT Infinity", theoretically capable of downstream speeds of up to 40Mbit/s. There will be a £50 connection charge for the basic …

    Telecoms 21 Jan 13:34

  • UK HP workers will strike tomorrow

    MoD and DWP sites set for walkout

    HP workers are going on strike tomorrow, following talks which delayed the first mooted day of action in December. Talks between unions and HP ended yesterday without agreement. About 1,000 people are expected to be involved. They want better job security and better pay as well as recognition of collective bargaining rights …

    Financial News 21 Jan 14:18

  • HP preps pico-projector laptops

    Wall as extra display, anyone?

    HP will launch a range of notebooks with integrated pico-projectors later this year. Monty Wong, VP of HP Taiwan’s PC division, told DigiTimes that the company wants to place each machine's projector above the display – roughly where the webcam usually sits. Hopefully, HP will have the sense to face the projector away from …

    Reg Hardware 21 Jan 14:21

  • Egyptian mobile users warned off Koran-based ringtones

    Stick to prayer, invocation and recitation, says Mufti

    Egypt's supreme religious law authority has delivered a stinging slap to mobile users who were adapting verses from the Koran as ringtones, saying they were violating the sanctity of the word of God. Mufti Ali Gomaa has put a stop to the practice, according to Reuters, on the basis that users could truncate the holy verses …

    Mobile 21 Jan 14:34

  • NASA flying-car man designs electric VTOL podcraft

    'Puffin' tailsitter offers just 6 minutes' hover, though

    A NASA engineer long obsessed with flying cars has produced a concept design for a one-man, electrically powered helicopter/plane/glider podcraft. However the work was done largely without backing from NASA, and designer Mark Moore admits that battery technology must improve massively before the design becomes practical. …

    Science 21 Jan 14:35

  • iPhone keeps buried earthquake victim alive for three days

    Medical app, flight mode aids trapped snapper

    An American filmmaker trapped under the rubble of his hotel used his iPhone for medical advice, while relying on his SLR for light and paper for recording his last thoughts. Happily, Dan Woolley was rescued after 65 hours of being trapped after the Haiti earthquake with nothing but a couple of grands' worth of electronics and …

    Mobile 21 Jan 15:01

  • Nominet appoints itself web policeman

    Domain name suspensions to order

    Nominet has announced it will suspend the domain name of any .uk website suspected of being involved in criminal activity. Registrars who receive "credible reports" about their domain names can now use a Nominet tool that will immediately "lock" it while they investigate the website. The lock means suspect websites will still …

    Telecoms 21 Jan 15:01

  • Lloyds, RBS ditching more tech workers

    And more likely soon

    Lloyds has announced over 500 more jobs cuts, hard on the heels of Royal Bank of Scotland's announcement it is laying off 221 techies at its Dublin Technology Centre. The Dublin centre is to shut later this year with the loss of 196 jobs and 25 posts in Belfast will also go. Some people will be transferred to other RBS offices …

    IT Director 21 Jan 15:26

  • RockYou hack reveals easy-to-crack passwords

    ABC, easy as 123

    Analysis of the 32 million passwords recently exposed in the breach of social media application developer RockYou last month provides further proof that consumers routinely use easy to guess login credentials. Sensitive login credentials - stored in plain text - were left exposed because of a SQL injection bug in RockYou's …

    ID 21 Jan 15:28

  • Bogged-down Mars rover may be doomed to chilly death

    Unable to point solar panels at low midwinter sun

    NASA says that its "scrappy" Mars rover, Spirit - which has spent six years prowling the ochre wilderness of the red planet - may finally be stuffed. Bogged in a sand trap, the machine is unable to align its solar panels correctly for the coming Martian winter, meaning that it will probably expire from the cold. According to a …

    Space 21 Jan 15:48

  • More MIDs with ARM than Atom by 2013

    Intel's netbook lead will quickly vanish, says analyst

    Looking forward to the day when ARM chips appear in more handheld internet devices than Intel and other x86 processors do? You may not have too long to wait - though don't expect an overnight switch. Market watcher ABI Research today said ARM will overtake Intel as the platform of choice for netbooks, MIDs, tablets and UMPCs …

    Reg Hardware 21 Jan 16:02

  • Microsoft's top lawyer demands a cloud computing law

    Analysis Kicking yobs outta town square

    Redmond's top legal mouthpiece Brad Smith is calling on US lawmakers to overhaul rules on cloud computing, just as the company ramps up its efforts to belatedly step on other vendors' toes in that marketplace. He asked Congress yesterday to legislate cloud computing, in a move to protect business and consumer information. …

    IT Director 21 Jan 16:02

  • Survey shows strong demand for Apple tablet

    Punters putting off laptop purchases as a result?

    Market research from US stats gatherer ChangeWave suggests Apple fans may be delaying laptop purchases just in case the much-rumoured iPad tablet shows up. Earlier this month, ChangeWave asked 3314 consumers about their recent and anticipated buying habits. Together, 18 per cent of respondents said they were very or somewhat …

    Reg Hardware 21 Jan 16:44

  • Clinton throws down the gauntlet to China over Google

    But was the gauntlet made in China?

    Hillary Clinton has demanded that Beijing investigate the widespread hacking attack on Western businesses that has prompted Google to threaten to leave the country. The US Secretary of State made the demand in a speech on internet freedom in Washington DC, in which she claimed the free movement of information strengthened …

    Government 21 Jan 16:45

  • Firefox 3.6 goes live and final

    Next up: Flash resistant coating

    Mozilla has officially released Firefox 3.6, the latest incarnation of its open-source web browser. After little more than a week of testing on a pair of release candidates, the browser's final version can now be downloaded here. It's available for Windows, Linux, and Mac. Mike Beltzner, Mozilla's director of Firefox …

    Applications 21 Jan 17:02

  • iPad pictures revealed

    Just not Apple's iPad

    Apple might not be calling its forthcoming device the iPad, but it is acting to stop anyone else using the name. Fujitsu some months ago launched what it calls an "iPad", aimed at retail environments, prompting Apple to appeal to the US Patent & Trademark office for an extension to the time during which it's allowed to appeal …

    Mobile 21 Jan 17:04

  • Oracle: Mine is bigger and, um, more integrated

    Comment Ellison flaunts Sun unit

    With the European Union finally giving approval of the $7.4bn acquisition of Sun Microsystems by Oracle, the players in the IT industry can finally don their armor - made of iron, of course, and polished with software - to prepare for battle in the field of integrated systems. Oracle and its Sun division, which could retain …

    Servers 21 Jan 18:32

  • Emergency IE patch goes live as exploits proliferate

    Updated 'Hundreds of sites' locked and loaded

    Microsoft released an emergency security update for all versions of Internet Explorer on Thursday as attacks exploiting a critical vulnerability in the widely used browser spread to hundreds of websites. The patch fixing the IE vulnerability used to penetrate the defenses of Google and other large companies came as anti-virus …

    Security 21 Jan 19:01

  • YouTube and Hulu dabble in for-pay vids

    Fees to pay the bills

    Two of the internet's most popular video websites are planning to charge users to watch certain movies and television shows online. YouTube and Hulu both have schemes to erect paywalls around a limited amount of content in order to drum up revenues that online advertising has failed to provide, according to recent …

    Music and Media 21 Jan 19:28

  • Amazon 'makes it easier' for authors to DRM Kindle ebooks

    Updated Integrated text shackling

    Update: This story has been updated to clarify what has changed with DRM and Amazon's Digital Text Platform. No-DRM, Amazon says, was always the default with the platform. Amazon has added a new tool to its Kindle self-publishing service that lets authors and small publishers easily choose between DRM and no DRM when uploading …

    Music and Media 21 Jan 20:14

  • IFPI wants another stab at OiNK

    Squeeze owner till he squeals

    One of the world’s top music trade bodies warned today that the fight against UK BitTorrent tracker OiNK won't end with the recent acquittal of its creator and administrator, Alan Ellis. John Kennedy, chief executive of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), said the industry is considering civil …

    Music and Media 21 Jan 22:04

  • AMD chief hails Intel-assisted 'transformation'

    Litigation pays

    AMD president and chief executive Dirk Meyer has called the company's fourth-quarter 2009 financial results "another milestone in our transformation." That is, a transformation from a money-losing microprocessor manufacturer in the same quarter last year, when it lost $1.424bn, to a profitable microprocessor designer in its …

    PCs & Chips 21 Jan 22:43

  • More problems for Apple's top desktop

    Your clunker will be delayed

    Apple's star-crossed top-of-the-line iMac is causing new problems for Cupertino - but this time it's not about cracked casings or flickering displays. It's just late. Again. Thanks to some sharp eyes at AppleInsider, we've been alerted to a posting on Apple's online store that shipments of 27-inch iMacs - both the Core 2 Duo …

    PCs & Chips 21 Jan 22:53

  • Google money machine returns to overdrive

    'An extraordinary end to a roller coaster year'

    Google's top secret money machine returned to overdrive during the fourth quarter, with the web giant reporting a 17 per cent leap in revenue from a year ago. In October, as the company announced its Q3 earnings, Mountain View chief Eric Schmidt told the world that the worst days of the worldwide recession were over, and …

    Financial News 21 Jan 23:15