25th January 2010 Archive

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China denies role in cyber attacks on Google

Claims 'groundless'

China has denied it was involved in the December cyber attacks on Google and at least 33 other companies. On Monday, the BBC reports, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology rejected claims that the state had anything to do with the attacks - or any others. "The accusation that the Chinese …

Security 25 Jan 2010, 05:03
Platform and Calypso serve risk analysis to traders

Hedging bets on hedge funds

Calypso Technology - one of the handful of multi-asset trading platforms for capital markets - has tapped Platform Computing to provide the grid backbone for its Galapagos risk analysis and hedging applications. Unlike other parts of the Calypso trading platform, Galapagos is only being sold as a service, and that means Calypso …

Applications 25 Jan 2010, 07:02
Data watchdog slaps Southampton Uni hospital

Physician, encrypt thyself

Mark Hackett, chief executive of Southampton University Hospital NHS Trust, has promised to deal properly with data security after one of his staff lost a laptop computer with 33,000 patients' records on it. The laptop was left unattended in a retinal scan van. It was password protected but not encrypted. It was attached to …

Management 25 Jan 2010, 07:02
Omnifone snares HP bundle deal

PC giant cocks an ear

Three years on from its debut, streaming music service Omnifone has gained a toe hold on the desktop, thanks to a major PC deal. HP will bundle its MusicStation service pre-installed in 10 European countries on laptops and desktop PCs. Omnifone has seen Spotify steal much of its thunder, largely because Omnifone has focussed …

Hardware 25 Jan 2010, 09:50
iSlate leaves fingerprints all over the net

It's a big iPhone

Apple's iSlate has been spotted online by Flurry Analytics, sporting an iPhone OS and consumerist tendencies. More than 50 instances of what Flurry calls "Apple's rumoured tablet device" have turned up in the company's records gleaned from application downloads, indicating that the device to be announced on Wednesday is iPhone …

Hardware 25 Jan 2010, 09:59
UK gov ministers offer online Q&A on Afghanistan

Your votes count (in choosing the questions, anyway)

The British foreign and defence ministers are answering questions posed by all comers in an online forum, where the most popular questions are answered first. Thus far, public interest appears fairly low. Secretaries of State Bob Ainsworth (defence) and David Miliband (foreign affairs) can be contacted online here until the …

Government 25 Jan 2010, 10:14
Official: Music biz still risk and revenue phobic

We've tried everything - except attracting customers

An answer to the music industry's woes slipped into the IFPI Annual Report last week, but its significance went unnoticed. Before I get to it, though, here's a poser. “We screw the struggling artist, and pay the suit,” Nick Carr mused recently. Carr was examining a contradiction: information has never been less free, it’s …

Media 25 Jan 2010, 10:21
Loud sex ASBO breach woman spared jail

Will not go down

The Tyne and Wear woman found guilty of breaching an ASBO requiring her to refrain from indulging in unnaturally loud sex has been spared hard time, the Telegraph reports. Caroline Cartwright, 48, was cuffed three times in short succession back in April last year for failing to adhere to the order, which insisted she and hubby …

Bootnotes 25 Jan 2010, 10:54
T-Mobile to revamp tariffs

'Chinese takeaway menu' of options

T-Mobile has confirmed it is to introduce new 18-month and two-year pay monthly mobile tariffs on 1 February. The contract period missing from that sentence is ’12-month’ – these are expected to be ditched by the cellco. Instead, the longer-length tie-ins will come with a free “booster” – a choice of unlimited texts, …

Phones 25 Jan 2010, 11:00
Whirlpool allows old stains to linger on Kitchenaid.com site

Warnings put through spin cycle

Domestic appliance manufacturer Whirlpool has come under fire for failing to clean up a malware infection on one of its sites, months after it was notified of a problem by UK anti-virus firm Sophos. Sophos tried for months to clean-up its Kitchenaid.com website, without success, before going public on the problem on Friday. …

Security 25 Jan 2010, 11:04
Sun squeals over 'UK's first iPhone baby'

Calendar used to conceive for first time ever

This morning's Scottish Sun held the front page with an "exclusive" detailing how a couple used an iPhone application to help them conceive. Disappointingly, the app used wasn't measuring sexual performance, nor did the couple turn to a little light phone-based porn to get them into the mood. The Free Menstrual Calendar keeps …

Mobile 25 Jan 2010, 11:05
UK PS3 sales exceed 3m units

Wii remains triumphant

UK sales of the PlayStation 3 recently surpassed 3m units, Sony has claimed. Some 2.2m PS3s had already been sold across the land by July 2009, according to Sony. So the company sold 800,000-odd units between the summer and the tail end of last week, when the new sales total was published. The console still has some way to go …

Games 25 Jan 2010, 11:22
Jumbo-jet laser cannon tested against missile

Vid Nork splash weapon tickles surrogate gently

The US Missile Defence Agency has released video of its jumbo-jet-mounted laser cannon - intended to beam down nuclear missiles lifting off from enemy countries - in action, playing its ray on a test rocket off California. Here's the vid: According to the MDA: The Airborne Laser (ABL) research and development platform …

Science 25 Jan 2010, 11:46
Death of a commentard: Can the iSlate kill off Web 2.0?

Comment Tablet to tongue-tie twitterings. Terrific

Get rid of the keyboard and a computer changes from an input device to one designed for the consumption of content - ideal for all those whose contribution we'd happily do without. Tablet computers are coming, powered by Apple's much-anticipated entry into the market, but putting a computer onto a slate doesn't just create a …

Mobile 25 Jan 2010, 11:47
Wikileaks pledge drive hobbled by PayPal suspension

Cheers, Pal

Wikileaks, the anonymous whistleblowing website, says PayPal has frozen its account, frustrating its fundraising efforts. The website, which has stopped publishing leaked documents during its donation drive, said that PayPal took the action on Saturday. "This is the second time that this has happened. The last time we …

Government 25 Jan 2010, 11:48
Sony Alpha A550

Review Less is more?

The positioning of the Sony’s Alpha A550 in its DSLR line-up is a bold move. At this price point the company has left off some features that most manufacturers are offering as must-haves, namely, HD Video and customisation of picture profiles. What the A550 has instead are features more suited to still photography, with a …

Hardware 25 Jan 2010, 12:02
Bloated Office 2010 kicks dirt in face of old computers

Features-heavy suite piles on CPU, RAM pounds

Microsoft has confirmed that the upgrade path from Office 2003 to its upcoming Office 2010 suite won’t necessarily be an easy one for customers to follow. The software maker said on Friday that PCs capable of running Office 2007 would be able play nice with Office 2010. However, punters still using Office 2003 won’t have …

Management 25 Jan 2010, 12:08
Slovak biker spat linked to rare destructive worm

Hi-tech equivalent of tyre-slashing spreads globally

A rare example of a destructive computer worm has been spotted on the web. Zimuse-A and its variant, Zimuse-B, overwrite MBR (Master Boot Record) files on infected drives with their own data, either 40 days or 20 days respectively after infection. This malicious behaviour corrupts records and makes data recovery difficult if …

Security 25 Jan 2010, 12:11
Swan couple in surprise divorce

Gloucestershire wildfowl sanctuary witnesses rare bust-up

A Gloucestershire wildfowl sanctuary has witnessed a rare bust-up between a pair of Bewick's swans, who've apparently decided to go their separate ways in a surprise "divorce". The pair in question turned up at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust centre at Slimbridge on their annual migration from Arctic Russia, but each with a …

Science 25 Jan 2010, 12:17
Ladbrokes, police probe data breach

Millions of customer profiles for sale

Ladbrokes is investigating the loss of thousands of customer details from one of its databases, but is reassuring gamblers that the information did not include bank details or passwords. The Mail on Sunday was approached by an Australian man named Daniel who claimed to have access to Ladbrokes' database of 4.5 million …

Security 25 Jan 2010, 12:19
Acer to ship more than 1m Chrome netbooks

E-book readers and Apple-inspired tablets too

Acer has narrowed its Chrome OS netbook release window from H2 2010 to the third quarter. It’s also preparing to launch an e-book reader and – guess what – a tablet too. The e-book reader’s due to be announced in the June, the company has told Bloomberg, and feature a 6in monochrome screen – an E Ink job, we’d guess. It’ll be …

Hardware 25 Jan 2010, 12:32
Pope tells priests - get to grips with blogs, web vids

Stained glass not a digital medium, apparently

The Pope has ordered his priests to get more active on the net to spread the word of God, while warning them not to get carried away by the false idols of the digital world. In a message highlighting that 2010 is the Year for Priests (Catholics only) and flagging up May's 44th World Communications Day, Pope Benedict reminds …

Media 25 Jan 2010, 12:35
Galaxy Portal joins Samsung's Android gang

Delayed smartphone finally launched

A smartphone with augmented reality at its heart has been unveiled as Samsung’s latest addition to its growing UK portfolio of Android mobiles. First seen back in September 2009 and subsequently delayed by Samsung for unspecified reasons, the Galaxy Portal handset – also known as the i5700 – is available exclusively through T- …

Phones 25 Jan 2010, 12:37
Government expects £277m from vetting scheme

That'll be £64 to you, squire

The Home Office has disclosed the amount it expects to raise from applications to the Vetting and Barring Scheme. Home Office minister Meg Hillier said that the £277m of revenue expected in the scheme's first three years is intended to cover the estimated costs of both the Vetting and Barring Scheme and the Criminal Records …

Government 25 Jan 2010, 12:40
UK.gov uses booze to lure London kids into ID scheme

Madchester scheme heads south

Young people in London are getting the chance to get their hands on an ID card, the lucky so-and-sos. The next stage of the Home Office's attempts to get the cards accepted is to target those privacy-disregarding, Facebook-obsessed youths in the capital. People aged between 16 and 24 years old who hold a current or recently …

Government 25 Jan 2010, 12:42
NZ police pursue cuffed and naked fugitive

'Very evasive' perp leads cops a 40km merry dance

New Zealand police were last Friday led a merry dance by a prisoner who gave them the slip while en route to court in Whakatane, on the country's north island. According to the New Zealand Herald, cops twice cornered 34-year-old Werimu Rangi Hauraki following his escape, but on both occasions the dreadlocked, six-foot fugitive …

Bootnotes 25 Jan 2010, 12:54
Nokia app to stream live skydive record attempt

Watch Felix Baumgartner jump from 120,000ft

Nokia has designed an application to let mobile phone users watch in real time skydiver Felix Baumgartner’s upcoming attempt at breaking the sound barrier. The Austrian extreme sportsman plans to jump from a parachute at a height of roughly 120,000ft. Baumgartner hopes to become the first person to break the sound barrier – …

Phones 25 Jan 2010, 12:54
Talend takes swipe at data-integration duo

Open-source comes to MDM

Data integration specialist Talend hopes to undercut closed-source vendors on Master Data Management with its planned delivery today of technology acquired from Amalto. Talend is expected to release its Enterprise Edition featuring open-source MDM under a subscription license of between $50,000 and $100,000 depending on users …

Applications 25 Jan 2010, 13:02
AMD adds Black Edition to Phenom range

Mysterious, sinister variant in five strong chip update

AMD fleshed out its Phenom II and Athlon II ranges with a quintet of fresh processors today, three of which barely trouble the $100 price barrier. The AMD Athlon II X2 255 is a 3.1GHz, 65W part which will cost $74 in industrial quantities, while the AMD Athlon II X3 440 is a 3Gz 90W part, setting you back $84. The AMD Athlon …

Hardware 25 Jan 2010, 13:30
Ericsson ups jobs cull to 6,500

Profits plunge, competition rises

Ericsson will be laying off another 1500 people following a quarter that saw net income down to less than a fifth of last year's. In the last three months of 2009 Ericsson's net income was 725m Swedish kronor (£62.5m), on sales of 58bn kroner, compared to the 4bn kroner the company brought in during the same period of 2008, on …

Financial News 25 Jan 2010, 13:34
Australia leaves the internet

~~Invasion~~ Australia Day censorship protest

It's Australia Day tomorrow, and the country's subjects are using it to mark a week of protests against government plans for compulsory internet censorship. www.internetblackout.com.au/ is calling for opponents of the government's plans to black out their profile picture on social networking sites, black out their websites, …

Broadband 25 Jan 2010, 13:55
Only nukes can stop planetsmash asteroids, say US boffins

Nix on the 'world free of nuclear weapons', Mr President

Top American boffins have warned that the US government's efforts to prevent global apocalypse caused by meteor strike are inadequate. The scientists add that nuclear weapons are the only practical means of defence against large, planet-wrecker sized asteroids. In a new report, the US National Research Council says that so- …

Science 25 Jan 2010, 14:22
Damages slashed for US freetard

Happy day for Jammie blighter leaves recording industry in quandary

Infamous music pilferer Jammie Thomas-Rasset has had a $2m damages bill for copying 24 songs slashed by a US judge. Thomas-Rasset will now have to pay $54,000 to the big US music labels, a fraction of the original reward. She used the Kazaa network to share music and was originally hit with damages of $80,000 for each song. …

Media 25 Jan 2010, 15:00
New music file aims to sink piracy using blogs and Twitter

Amazing

A new music file format has become the latest to try to supersede the basic MP3, promising licensed files will have "tangible benefits" over pirated tracks for the first time. MusicDNA has been developed by Dagfinn Bach, part of the team that developed the current de facto standard at the Fraunhofer Institute 20 years ago. …

Media 25 Jan 2010, 15:38
Free postcoders bang on Ordnance Survey door

You've gotta give for what you take

The co-founder of a UK postcode lookup service that was forced to shut down after the Royal Mail threatened the website with legal action in October last year, is calling on the developer community to consult with the government on Ordnance Survey mapping data. Harry Metcalfe, who launched ErnestMarples.com with Richard Pope …

Government 25 Jan 2010, 15:41
Kaspersky update slaps Trojan warning on Google Adsense

Updated Tsk, you and your false positives

An update to Kaspersky's popular anti-virus software on Monday falsely identified Google AdSense as a malicious script. As a result of the false alarm, Kaspersky users visiting sites in Google ad syndication network were falsely warned a site was infected with malicious Trojan-linked JavaScript. Network admins, swamped with …

Security 25 Jan 2010, 16:06
Sony registers 'PlayStationArc' domain name

Motion controller brandname clue?

Evidence is mounting that Sony’s motion controller wand for the PlayStation 3 will be officially called the Arc. The playstationarc.com website is owned by Sony Sony announced last week that the wireless unit will hit the UK this autumn, but stressed that “Motion Controller” may not be gadget’s eventual name. Many believe …

Games 25 Jan 2010, 16:21
Multi-million investment hints at UK battery swap shops

Leccy Tech Better Place wins $350m funding

A UK rollout of Better Place’s battery swapping system now looks all the more certain. The firm has just secured a $350m (£216m) investment from some of the world’s largest banks. The money - $125m (£77m) of which was provided by HSBC – will be used to help Better Place “expand its geographic footprint” by expanding into …

Science 25 Jan 2010, 16:26
MacSaga.com not linked to Macworld says mag

Retailer's website says it is

Macworld UK has warned its readers not to trust retail website MacSaga.com - which claims to be owned by the magazine’s publisher, IDG Communications. MacSaga’s 'About Us' page says: “This website is owned and operated by IDG Communications Limited of 101 Euston Road, London, NW1 2RA, United Kingdom.” The contact number it …

Hardware 25 Jan 2010, 17:13
Mozilla buries heels on un-YouTube open video

We will not pay license fees. Ever

Mozilla vice president of engineering Mike Shaver has reiterated that the open source outfit has no intention of rolling the H.264 video codec into its Firefox browser, even though the likes of YouTube and Vimeo are using the patented codec with early versions of their plug-in-free HTML5 video players. Firefox supports the …

Media 25 Jan 2010, 18:22
Juniper, Polycom counter Cisco with video con play

Telepresence as a service from somebody else

Juniper Networks and Polycom have formed an alliance to sell enterprise telepresence and video conferencing services through third-party providers, in an apparent effort to counter Cisco's recent acquisition of video-conferencing gear maker Tandberg. Juniper and Polycom are already rivals to Cisco in their respective fields, …

Data Networking 25 Jan 2010, 18:49
IT spending to rise in 2010, says Gartner

CIOs not so sure

Like its peers in the IT market research community, Gartner has been polishing its crystal balls for the past few months, hoping to predict what global IT spending will look like in 2010. The answer is up from 2009's levels, but this may have a lot to do with the currency effects of translating global sales into U.S. dollars. A …

Management 25 Jan 2010, 19:09
Apple to end AT&T's iPhone exclusive?

Good news. For AT&T

Apple's hyper-hyped iPad may not be the only thing on Steve Jobs' agenda when he takes the stage this Wednesday at San Francisco's Yerba Buena center. The latest word on the street is that Apple may also announce the end of its US iPhone-exclusivity deal with AT&T. Over the weekend, HotHardware reported that they have been " …

Phones 25 Jan 2010, 19:36
Once impenetrable PS3 cracked wide open

iPhone hacker: 'I have great power'

The first hacker to successfully jailbreak the iPhone says he has pulled off yet another modding marvel, this time penetrating the previously impervious PlayStation 3 gaming console. The hack by 20-year-old George Hotz, aka geohot, is significant because the PS3 was the only game console that hadn't been hacked, despite being …

Games 25 Jan 2010, 19:51
Google Chrome 4 lands (Windows) extensions on world+dog

Fanbois still waiting

Google has unveiled a "stable" Windows version of Chrome 4.0, providing all PC-based users with access to its new Chrome extension gallery. Mountain View unveiled Chrome extensions in early December, but until today, they were only available to those running the Chrome 4.0 beta. Google says the Chrome extensions gallery now …

Applications 25 Jan 2010, 21:17
Oil companies hit by 'state' cyber attacks, says report

Petrol reserves data targeted

At least three US oil companies were victims of highly targeted, email-borne attacks designed to siphon valuable data from their corporate networks and send it abroad, according to a published report citing unnamed people and government documents. The attacks against Marathon Oil, ExxonMobil, and ConocoPhillips began with …

Security 25 Jan 2010, 21:44
Apple earnings leap 50 per cent

Updated Jobs: 'We're a $50 billion company'

Apple began one of the most important weeks in its recent history by reporting a 50 per cent jump in profits for the first quarter of its fiscal year when compared with the same period in 2009. This Wednesday, Apple is all but certain to unveil its long-awaited but still inscrutable iPad. Monday's news, however, left no room …

Hardware 25 Jan 2010, 22:00
VMware profits pinched in Q4

Services can't save the day

For all the talk about how server virtualization's day has finally come for the x64 server platform - and how the economic meltdown has finally given customers the impetus to go virtual with their iron - VMware couldn't grow both sales and profits in the final quarter of 2009. It is probably safe to blame Microsoft's Hyper-V …

Virtualization 25 Jan 2010, 22:25