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2nd March 2010 Archive

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  • Nvidia drives in second-gen Ion

    Revamped HD graphics for netbooks

    Expect a raft of souped up netbooks to follow Nvidia's launch of its second-generation Ion graphics platform today. Acer announced its Ion 2-based netbook, the Aspire One 532G, earlier this year, but it'll be joined by Asus, which today took the wraps off the 12in Eee PC 1201PN. It also launched a couple of Ion 2 nettops, all …

    Hardware 2 Mar 2010, 05:02

  • IBM sneak peeks Nehalem EX iron

    Goes modular with homegrown chipset

    At the CeBIT monster IT trade show in Hannover, Germany today, IBM will preview its forthcoming System x and BladeCenter servers based on the eight-core "Nehalem-EX" Xeon processors. While the Nehalem-EX chips have been pitched for the upper end of the x64 range, IBM is taking a different approach with its initial Nehalem-EX …

    HPC 2 Mar 2010, 05:26

  • Oracle buys into Sun's 'Project Copy Linux' dream

    Former Sun exec lowers red flags

    A former Sun Microsystems' executive has re-assured worried OpenSolaris users the open-source operating system has a future under new owner Oracle. Dan Roberts, Oracle director of product management, has said the database giant will continue to invest in OpenSolaris and will deliver the operating system's next incarnation: …

    Operating Systems 2 Mar 2010, 06:02

  • Cisco rolls out mobile VPN trifecta

    Remote access without borders

    It was back in October that Cisco first revealed its latest corporate vision to mush a whole bunch of enterprise Web 2.0-ish concepts into what it calls the new "borderless networks" architecture. It's something to do with combining in-house network kit and cloud-based technology to deliver services and applications to anyone …

    Networks 2 Mar 2010, 06:02

  • MPs get ready to grubby hands in 'wash-up'

    Clean-up marks count down to election

    If you thought that the guillotine coming down on government business effectively halfway through the parliamentary session meant that much of the controversial legislation now before Parliament will just go away, think again. As those looking for a flutter on the date of the general election narrow their options to just three …

    Government 2 Mar 2010, 07:02

  • iPad launch may be limited to US, says analyst

    'Manufacturing bottleneck'

    Apple's forthcoming iPad launch may be delayed a month or limited to the US due to an "unspecified production problem," according to one market analyst. In a research to note published on Monday, Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek claims to have heard rumblings that a "manufacturing bottleneck" at the iPad's producer will …

    Hardware 2 Mar 2010, 07:02

  • Race Telcom WiGoMo One

    Review The mobile phone for overprotective parents

    Tracking someone’s location using GPS technology is often regarded as sneaky or underhand, but what if you’re simply a paranoid protective parent craving the security of knowing your child’s whereabouts – day or night? Intensive care: Race Telcom's WiGoMo One and GPS beacon Manufacturer Race Telecom aims to allay that fear …

    Phones 2 Mar 2010, 08:02

  • OpSource puffs up VMware cloud

    RHEL 4 and CentOS into the fold

    OpSource is beefing up the infrastructure cloud it rolled out in beta last summer and put into production in the fall. OpSource has long provided infrastructure that some software companies have used to deploy SaaS versions of their applications, and it's in the process of repositioning itself as a provider of more generic x64 …

    Servers 2 Mar 2010, 08:02

  • Google Chrome API experiments with browser history

    Historical override

    Google has added a pair of "experimental" APIs to its Chrome browser, including one for querying and modifying the user's browser history and one for accessing info involving Google's new-age process model. Both the "experimental history" API and the "experimental processes" API are now available with Chrome's dev channel …

    Developer 2 Mar 2010, 09:02

  • Secret documents: The Truth about MoD's UFO files

    'Soon they will have no paperwork at all'

    Following an announcement by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) that it will no longer keep files of reported UFO sightings, it has emerged after painstaking detective work that - in fact - it is no longer doing so. The shock move by the MoD was revealed at the weekend by Blighty's foremost UFO expert and talking head, Dr David …

    Government 2 Mar 2010, 09:31

  • NASA sniffs out (yet more) lunar ice

    North pole craters lined with the stuff

    NASA has announced that the Moon's north pole is packing substantial amounts of water ice, lurking in around 40 small craters. The evidence comes from the agency's Mini-SAR (aka Mini-RF) instrument, a synthetic aperture radar which travelled aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft. The device used "the polarization properties …

    Science 2 Mar 2010, 09:42

  • Getting there – the road to virtualisation

    Lab Are you playing the maturity game?

    Despite the annual technology prediction-fest that pollutes the airways each year, it’s fair to say that nobody really knows ‘where it’s all going’. And that’s good, because the world would be a bit boring otherwise. What we do have is a reasonable understanding of the direction in which things are going in general in IT. Plenty …

    Virtualisation Lab 2 Mar 2010, 10:17

  • Qualys crawls into the malware scanning biz

    Friendly robots provide drive-by download alerts

    Qualys is inviting sys admins to sign up to a new free service, QualysGuard Malware Detection, which provides alerts about drive-by-download attacks and malicious scripts on monitored websites. The service is based on behaviour analysis and offers automated alerts when it finds websites with rogue JavaScript, character …

    Security 2 Mar 2010, 10:22

  • Climategate hits Westminster: MPs spring a surprise

    'Don't panic, carry on' isn't working

    Parliament isn’t the place where climate sceptics go to make friends. Just over a year ago, just three MPs voted against the Climate Act, with 463 supporting it. But events took a surprising turn at Parliament’s first Climategate hearing yesterday. MPs who began by roasting sceptics in a bath of warm sarcasm for half an hour …

    Science 2 Mar 2010, 10:32

  • Intel: Think of the children - give them PCs, not e-readers

    Tablets for the kids

    Intel said school kids need computers, not e-readers, as it kicked off the Cebit computer show in Hannover this morning. Apart from the pre-teen crowd, the vendor made a grab for everyone from desk jockeys to data centre managers as it tried to get round the fact it's already made most of its announcements for the quarter. …

    Hardware 2 Mar 2010, 10:33

  • Gulag awaits Russian Olympic trainers

    Medvedev menaces Vancouver flops

    Those of you who like your Russia strictly old school will be delighted to learn that president Dmitry Medvedev has suggested that those responsible for the country's lamentable performance at the Vancouver Winter Olympics would be well advised to clear their desks. Russia clocked up three golds, five silvers and seven bronzes …

    Bootnotes 2 Mar 2010, 10:34

  • Unisys flags up customer storage waste

    80% of large storage shops inefficient, badly run

    Unisys wants to alert its customers to their storage waste by offering a free analytics run, and then help them fix the outflow of wasted storage cash. Storage Fusion, which provides the analytics software, offers it as a service. Its software is given access to a customers' storage infrastucture and goes through its …

    Storage 2 Mar 2010, 10:36

  • NHS denies pre-election stitch-up

    Tech contracts rewritten in a hurry - Tories

    The Department of Health has denied accusations from the Tory party that it is busy rewriting contracts with IT suppliers in a massive stitch-up ahead of the election. The Tories told the BBC that the NHS's Connecting for Health was busy trying to get contracts signed within the next four weeks in order to force any incoming …

    Government 2 Mar 2010, 10:37

  • Apple kicks out quack app, keeps boobs/farts

    But application rules start to emerge

    Apple has rejected an application that quacks on the grounds that it's pointless, apparently failing to notice the true value of what fills the iTunes store. Atlantia Software developed the QuackPhone application, which was rejected by Apple because it "contains minimal user functionality" as explained in the email sent to the …

    Mobile 2 Mar 2010, 10:48

  • Windows Phone 7 blocks out popular HTC model, blames buttons

    Other smartphones fail to meet criteria too

    Windows Mobile 6.5 devices will not be upgradeable to Windows Phone 7. Microsoft confirmed to APCmag.com yesterday that users of popular devices such as the HTC HD2 handset won't upgrade to the company's latest operating system for the mobile network. Even though the HD2 model meets much of the criteria set out in Redmond's ' …

    Mobile 2 Mar 2010, 10:50

  • Hunt for murderer of lost golden cloud toads hots up

    Who 'pulled trigger' on el-Dorado sky forest amphibians?

    A long-running boffinry brouhaha regarding the disappearance of a rare golden toad has taken a new turn, with the latest team of scientists insisting that in fact human-driven climate change was not responsible for the creatures' demise. Toad-murder detectives at work in the cloud forests. The auric amphibians in question …

    Science 2 Mar 2010, 11:07

  • Intel exec takes medical leave

    Architecture boss taking time out

    Senior Intel exec Sean Maloney has had a stroke which will put him on medical leave for some time. Maloney used to run the chip giant's sales and marketing arm but was shifted to joint head of architecture late last year. According to a statement he is expected to make a full recovery but it is likely to take some months. …

    Hardware 2 Mar 2010, 11:15

  • Intel shows off 48 cores

    Servertastic chips

    Intel demoed its experimental 48 core chip at Cebit this morning as it (almost) nailed down the dates for its latest real world server chips. The vendor has been touting the 48 core part around as part of its vision of massively parallel systems. It describes it as a single chip cloud. An Intel researcher said the part used a …

    Hardware 2 Mar 2010, 11:17

  • Converged IT stacks threaten storage interfaces

    Comment Vertical optimisation could oust layered standard interfaces

    In a world of converged IT stacks the standard interfaces on which external storage depends are threatened. External storage depends upon standard interfaces: Ethernet and NFS/CIFS/TCP/IP for filers and iSCSI and Fibre Channel for block access. We have a layered approach to connecting servers and external storage, and also …

    Storage 2 Mar 2010, 11:19

  • WoW authenticators bypassed by middlemen hackers

    Your shiny weapons are no good here

    Crooks have developed a man-in-the-middle-attack designed to circumvent authentication kit used by dedicated World of Warcraft gamers. The ruse relies on tricking gamers into installing Trojans disguised as gaming ad-ons. Once applied the malware allows hackers to capture and relay authentication commands next time a victim …

    Security 2 Mar 2010, 11:42

  • Micron to make even teenier NAND dies

    25nm ain't small enough

    Not content with shrinking its NAND flash process to 25nm, Micron is heading below that level next year. We don't know exactly how small the NAND dies are going to get but DigiTimes reports Micron will get there next year. The company hasn't even started mass-producing its 25nm product yet and it's pretty advanced. As Micron …

    Storage 2 Mar 2010, 11:53

  • Sony: PS3 leap year glitch caused network lockout

    Clock up

    Old-style PlayStation 3 consoles are now able to reconnect to the PlayStation Network, after a glitch in the machine's internal clock blocked access to the online service. Sony last night confirmed early claims that the clock was to blame. The bug caused the console to treat 2010 as a leap year and so change the date at …

    Games 2 Mar 2010, 11:54

  • Google now owns location advertising

    US patent awarded

    Google has been awarded a patent on advertisements targeted by location, which bodes badly for any competitor without its own patent stack. The patent, which was filed in 2004 and awarded last week (and spotted by Venture Beat), covers "determining and/or using location information in an ad system". It seems pretty …

    Applications 2 Mar 2010, 12:12

  • IEEE names 28-year-old woman its new 'Face of Engineering'

    'Energiser Bunny' is tech's answer to Megan Fox

    Global engineering association the IEEE has chosen a woman described by her supervisors as "the 'Energizer Bunny'" as its designated "New Face of Engineering" for 2010. World Peace? Not specifically. But she does like helping children. Sanna Gaspard is a PhD student at Carnegie Mellon uni in the States, and was picked as …

    Bootnotes 2 Mar 2010, 12:14

  • 3D TVs to drop below £1000 in 2012

    Only early adopters need apply until then

    World+Dog will buy 4.2m 3D TVs this year as early adopters pay through the nose for the latest telly technology: sets will typically set them back $1768 (£1184), US-based market watcher iSuppli has calculated. The researchers reckons that $600-700 premium over regular LED-backlit LCD TVs will keep 3D out of the mainstream for …

    Media 2 Mar 2010, 12:34

  • BBC confirms death of 6Music, slashes online budget by a quarter

    Still hopes to connect Web2.0rhea dots, however

    The BBC plans to axe its 6Music digital radio channel by the end of 2011 as part of a pledge made by the Corporation's director-general to cut costs at the Beeb. The BBC Trust published the BBC's 79-page strategy review this morning. It was leaked to the press last week. Under the proposals, which are now subject to a 12-week …

    Media 2 Mar 2010, 12:36

  • How to pimp your supercomputer

    The HPC Advisory Council is here to help

    Today, The Register's resident HPC analyst Dan Olds discusses the HPC Advisory Council, for this exclusive webcast. Just two years old, the HPC Advisory Council is already making big waves in the high-end computing community, with 200 members, split fairly evenly between vendors and users such as commercial outfits, research …

    HPC 2 Mar 2010, 13:02

  • National Theatre hack forces password reset

    Minor drama

    Some 17,000 culture vultures registered to the UK's National Theatre website need to reset their passwords after the site was hacked. The 20 February attack hit systems storing the logins of 17,000 (or around three per cent) of the 500,000 plus registered with the site. Only email, password, name and contact information was …

    Security 2 Mar 2010, 13:08

  • The anthrax scare: Case and flask closed

    But conspiracy theories still very much open

    When the US government closed the anthrax case recently, the committee to clear Bruce Ivins and all the conspiracy theorists again emerged from the closet. Because the case took so long and the bioterrorist was at the center of the US biodefense research community, careers and reputations were made and lost on it. The …

    Government 2 Mar 2010, 13:09

  • Nokia intros last of its four phone files

    N, X, E and now C series

    The rumour did the rounds a month or so back, but now Nokia has confirmed that it will brand all future phones into one of four product lines. Three - the E, X and N series - have been around for some time, but the fourth made its debut today: the C series. Nokia's C5: one for Sir Clive? Its first member: the C5, a Symbian …

    Phones 2 Mar 2010, 13:14

  • Oz watchdog nips Pammie Anderson's bikini-clad ass

    Domain outfit's TV ad 'crosses line of decency'

    Oz's Advertising Standards Bureau has declared that fantasy bikini-clad minxes hosed with cream in a slo-mo cavort is not a legitimate way to punt an internet domain registration outfit: The ASB received 40 complaints over the ad for Perth-based Crazy Domains. Viewer analysis concluded the video was "all about sex, got …

    Bootnotes 2 Mar 2010, 13:36

  • Logitech unveils Harmony universal remote duet

    One control to rule them all

    Logitech has introduced two more models to its Harmony line of all-in-one remote controls. The Harmony 600 has a monochrome screen - the Harmony 650 is the colour option. The 600's display presents the commands at your disposal, while the 650's screen shows icons for your favourite TV stations. Logitech's Harmony 600: black …

    Hardware 2 Mar 2010, 14:08

  • Android app brings in $13K a month

    It's not just iPhone developers who get rich

    One Android developer is earning more than $400 a day from his find-your-car application, proving it's not just Apple fans who'll pay for basic apps. Much has been made of the millions awaiting those who decide to develop for Apple's iPhone: the UK government even sponsored a help guide. But Google fans will be pleased to hear …

    Small Biz 2 Mar 2010, 14:46

  • Asus assures no more delays for keyboard-computer

    Phantom Eee will manifest soon, honest

    Asus promised today that its much delayed Eee keyboard PC will finally ship in April. The device, which integrates an entire PC into a single keyboard unit, was unveiled at Cebit last year. However, shipping product has yet to appear. The most recent forecast shipdate was... last month, and the product was still a no-show. …

    Hardware 2 Mar 2010, 14:52

  • Google Maps boss to Germans: 'We don't want to invade you'

    Offers nervy burghers Street View delete tool

    The man behind Google Street View assured Germany the firm didn't want to invade as it sought to allay the country's privacy concerns today. While Google has been driving its Street View cars around Germany for a couple of years, the service has yet to launch in the country, due to a particularly touchy Teutonic attitude to …

    Government 2 Mar 2010, 15:17

  • Universal label shows digital gains, praises Spotify

    CD sales still heading south, though

    Universal Music, the world's biggest record label, said digital revenues grew eight per cent in 2009, even though revenue was €4.6bn, 6.2 per cent down on 2008. The company said it made cost cuts to keep profits on course. Publishing was steady while merchandise sales grew 25 per cent. A brief paragraph says it's fully behind …

    Media 2 Mar 2010, 15:18

  • Panasonic punts glove-friendly rugged touchscreen tablet

    ToughBook upgraded

    Need a touchscreen PC you can use outdoors in the depths of Winter? Panasonic will have one for you in September. The version of the ToughBook CF-C1 announced today sports a multi-touch screen - 12.1in, 1280 x 800 - ready to be tapped with a finger or a stylus. It'll be out in July - a generally warm month not known for the …

    Tablets 2 Mar 2010, 15:37

  • Buzz Aldrin goes Dancing With The Stars

    Fly me to the Moon ABC studios

    Following his raptastic hook-up with Snoop Dogg, multi-talented Moon geezer Buzz Aldrin will be strutting his stuff in the forthcoming series of Dancing With The Stars - alongside cream-splattered beach strumpet Pamela Anderson. Season 10 of ABC's terpsichorean spectacular will also feature the celebrity pins of reality TV …

    Bootnotes 2 Mar 2010, 15:39

  • Apple accuses HTC of iPhone tech theft

    Lawsuit launched

    Apple has begun legal proceedings against HTC, alleging the Taiwanese phone manufacturer has used iPhone technology without its say-so. The Mac maker claimed HTC has infringed almost two dozen of its patents, all touching on the iPhone's UI, underlying software architecture and the hardware design. Apple filed a complaint …

    Phones 2 Mar 2010, 15:55

  • Apple is suing HTC

    Touchy feely infringement accusation

    Apple has filed a lawsuit against Taiwanese manufacturer HTC, citing 20 patent infringements including UI and hardware as well as architectural design. Apple has filed suit in the US District Court, as well as the US International Trade Commission (ITC): the latter presumably in the hope of blocking HTC from importing patent- …

    Mobile 2 Mar 2010, 15:57

  • Asus goes small on aluminium, big on Bamboo

    Cebit Shows off latest models, and latest models

    Asus showcased its fourth generation Eee at Cebit today, along with its bamboo-cased business laptops and a series of gaming laptops with two of everything. The Taiwanese motherboard maker turned netbook evangelist brought its usual unique approach to launching technology, with a German model type walking its latest offerings …

    Hardware 2 Mar 2010, 15:59

  • Zombie tactics threaten to poison honeypots

    Hive minds vs bot herders

    Innovations in botnet technology threaten the usefulness of honeypots, one of the main ways to study how bot herders control networks of zombie PCs. Computer scientists led by Cliff Zou and colleagues at the University of Central Florida warn that bot herders can now avoid honeypots - unprotected computers outfitted with …

    Security 2 Mar 2010, 16:13

  • Sony Pictures virtualises filers

    Avere gets a big one

    Sony Pictures Imageworks, the special effects company behind Alice in Wonderland 3D, is virtualising its filers behind Avere appliances. SPI has been in the computer-generated imagery (CGI) field since 1992 and worked on movies such as Die Hard With A Vengeance and Anger Management. It has a digital animation studio in Culver …

    Storage 2 Mar 2010, 16:46

  • IBM cuts more than 1,600 US jobs

    Under the reporting radar

    IBMers from a number of different divisions of the IT giant say that the company initiated another round of "resource actions" on Monday, with somewhere north of 1,600 people estimated to have lost their jobs. The message board at Alliance@IBM, the local branch of the Communications Workers of America union headquartered in …

    Servers 2 Mar 2010, 16:49

  • LTO-5 tape comes from Quantum and Overland

    Dead-ended road-map

    Both Quantum and Overland have announced LTO5 tape products, but the LTO consortium still has nowhere for tape users to go after LTO-6. Linear Tape Open (LTO) 5 is the fifth LTO format and specifies cartridges holding 1.5TB of raw data with a 140MB/sec transfer rate. SpectraLogic was first to announce systems, in September …

    Storage 2 Mar 2010, 16:51

  • iPhone ego clash costs Flash at Virgin America

    Updated HTML for all

    Update: This story has been updated to show that although Virgin American is not using Flash on its home page, it is using Flash elsewhere on its site As Silicon Valley titans Apple and Adobe System deck it out over the weakness of Flash, one Valley-based outfit has put Adobe's Flash in its place - and that place isn't …

    Developer 2 Mar 2010, 17:02

  • Woman called Window joins Apple

    Ex-Mozilla security bod dons white earbuds

    Ex-Mozilla security boss Window Snyder has joined Apple. Snyder, who worked at Mozilla between 2006 and 2008, and is credited with making Firefox's security response more professional, joins Apple after a spell in consulting. Prior to joining Mozilla, Snyder worked at Microsoft where she acted as security lead on Microsoft …

    Security 2 Mar 2010, 17:04

  • FCC talks National Broadband

    TV spectrum for the interwebs

    The FCC reckons that the private sector can't be trusted with public safety and that TV companies should sell off some spectrum to ensure broadband for all. It's just over two weeks until the FCC presents its National Broadband Plan (March 16th), but already, the regulator has started slipping out details of the plan, …

    Networks 2 Mar 2010, 18:02

  • Microsoft wants to put infected PCs in rubber room

    RSA And while you're at it, watch out for the cloud

    A top Microsoft executive is floating the idea of creating mandatory quarantines for computers with malware infections that pose a risk to internet users. The informal proposal, made Tuesday by Microsoft Vice President of Trustworthy Computing Scott Charney, was short on specifics, such as who would be responsible for …

    Security 2 Mar 2010, 19:17

  • Chrome beta bakes in auto-translation

    Pickier privacy settings

    Google has added automatic translation and a more granular set of privacy options in the latest beta of its Chrome browser. The new additions are ready for user testing on the Chrome beta channel. The beta release, however, requires a machine running Windows Vista or XP SP2. Windows 7, Linux, and Mac users don't have the …

    Applications 2 Mar 2010, 19:43

  • Ballmer: One day, Bing will actually make money

    Big Steve on Firefox, the iPhone, and search bribery

    Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has insisted that one day, the company's Google-battling Bing search engine will actually make money. "Search is going to be an ever-growing share of Microsoft's profits," the big man bellowed - literally bellowed - during a wide-ranging question and answer keynote this morning at the …

    Media 2 Mar 2010, 19:51

  • Authorities dismantle botnet with 13 million infected PCs

    Half of Fortune 1000 touched

    One of the world's biggest botnets has been taken down, cracking open a global platform that infiltrated more than half of the Fortune 1000 companies, according to the Associated Press. The take down came as authorities in Spain arrested three of the ringleaders of the the botnet, dubbed Mariposa. The suspects haven't been …

    Security 2 Mar 2010, 20:50

  • Opera 10.50 goes from pre-alpha to final in 10 weeks

    How to race a Windows ballot screen

    A day after Microsoft rolled out its Windows browser ballot screen to EU netizens, Opera officially released the Windows incarnation of its latest and greatest desktop browser. With an eye on Redmond's ballot screen roll-out, the Norwegian browser maker took Opera 10.50 for Windows from pre-Alpha to final version in about 10 …

    Applications 2 Mar 2010, 22:08

  • US burg renames self 'Google'

    What would you do for Gigabit internet?

    Google is looking for US locations to test its own ultra-high-speed fibre optic networks, and there's no city more eager to be chosen than Google, Kansas. Bill Bunten, mayor of the state capital formally known as Topeka, Kansas signed a proclamation on Monday temporarily renaming the city "Google" in an effort to convince the …

    Networks 2 Mar 2010, 23:02