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26th May 2010 Archive

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  • Google renews vows with Chrome OS

    Google I/O 'We love Android. But we love you too'

    One day, Google says, it will merge Android and Chrome OS. But at the moment, despite Android's ever-expanding influence, the web colossus is intent on delivering Chrome OS before the end of the year, complete with its inability to run local applications or store local data. "Chrome is part of our strategy to make the web more …

    Operating Systems 26 May 00:43

  • BakBone ditches damp squib ColdSpark

    'Amateurs with handcuffs sh*t the bed,' says analyst

    BakBone Software is closing its one-year-old ColdSpark business and returning to its backup software roots to avoid cash losses. This follows the ousting of CEO Jim Johnson and the appointment of Steve Martin, BakBone's now triple-titled SVP, CFO and interim CEO. He's putting the financial house back in order by closing the …

    Storage 26 May 06:02

  • Halting McKinnon extradition not in our power, says Clegg

    'Legally very complex.' And politically too

    Halting the extradition of Gary McKinnon to the United States isn't within the power of Britain's government leaders, Nick Clegg has suggested. Speaking about the controversial proceedings for the first time since becoming deputy prime minister, Clegg dropped a bombshell on McKinnon supporters arguing the forced transfer would …

    Government 26 May 06:02

  • Vexia Econav 480 satnav

    Review GPS for treehuggers?

    Arguably there’s been nothing really innovative in satnav for some time. But the Econav 480 claims to be able to help you save fuel and the environment by telling you how to drive in a fuel efficient way while getting you from A to B. The Green Economy: Vexia's Econav 480 It does this by comparing your driving with what it …

    reghardware 26 May 07:02

  • NoSQL relationship graph straddles six degrees of separation

    Kevin Bacon and you

    Data management and persistent object-store veteran Objectivity reckons it can now connect you to actor Kevin Bacon using NoSQL. The company's started beta testing its NoSQL InfiniteGraph graph database and API, which it said can search billions of connections and relationships in massive volumes of complex data. The beta is …

    Applications 26 May 07:02

  • Sam Mendes to helm new Jesus Phone ads

    Featuring video chat. Yes, people, VIDEO CHAT

    As the world restlessly kicks its heels ahead of the 7 June launch of the next manifestation of the Jesus Phone, it's been revealed that the Church of Jobs has recruited American Beauty director Sam Mendes to helm a series of TV ads for the miracle device. The revelation comes courtesy of Engadget, which spotted evidence on …

    Mobile 26 May 07:59

  • Amazon Kindle flunked by college students

    Text books aren't book books

    Amazon's Kindle DX is flunking out of college. According to a report by The Seattle Times, the $489, 18.9 ounce (0.54kg) Kindle DX, with its 9.7-inch monchrome e-ink display, is getting bad grades from college students. Amazon distributed Kindle DXs to students at a number of US colleges, then solicited their feedback. What …

    Music and Media 26 May 08:02

  • ScaleMP scales up to 128 nodes

    The 128 node, 64TB virtual SMP

    Big SMP boxes are expensive, and puny two-socket and four-socket boxes are cheap. And for years now, ScaleMP has been trying to use software and fast networks to make a big server out of a bunch of little ones. Managing clusters is a pain in the neck, and applications really like to have a single address space to play in, and …

    HPC 26 May 08:02

  • Statistics prof nails Blackpool hoopla scam

    Golden Mile game 'impossible to win'

    A statistics professor called in by trading standards helped nail a Blackpool hoopla stall operator who fleeced holidaymakers of thousands of pounds in a game which was pretty well "impossible to win", the Telegraph reports. Blackpool Council moved against Philip Williams' Golden Mile operation following complaints that he was …

    Bootnotes 26 May 08:11

  • Consumer segment fuels soaring PC sales

    376 million purchases in 2010

    Worldwide sales of PCs are up almost a fifth on last year from 308.3 million to 376.6 million. In terms of revenue the market has grown 12 per cent to $245.4bn, as consumers in the developed world increasingly see a computer as a necessity, rather than a luxury. Ranjit Atwal, principal research analyst at Gartner, which …

    PCs & Chips 26 May 08:19

  • BT workers to ballot for strike

    The Conservatives must be back in power

    The Communication Workers Union, representing 55,000 BT workers, is to ballot staff on strike action against a perceived pay cut in the face of company profits and management bonuses. BT has offered workers a 2 per cent pay rise, but the union argues that given an inflation rate of 4.4 per cent that actually means cutting …

    Telecoms 26 May 09:22

  • Oz government in filter paranoia meltdown

    Just because they're out to get you, doesn't mean you're not deluded

    In a performance punctuated with all the hallmarks of paranoia, Australian Communications Minister Stephen Conroy laid into internet giant Google earlier this week, suggesting that the approach taken by their chief executive, Eric Schmidt, is a "bit creepy". Google hit back yesterday, saying that Conroy had singled it out as …

    Government 26 May 09:24

  • X-51 hypersonic scramjet flight delayed by errant freighter

    Lucky escape for wandering mariners

    The X-51A Waverider scramjet test scheduled for yesterday has been delayed for 24 hours by a freighter wandering into the Pacific firing range where the trial flight is to take place. According to a statement issued by US spokesmen at Edwards airforce base - where the X-51's launch aircraft, a modified B-52 bomber operated by …

    Space 26 May 09:33

  • McAfee buys Trust Digital for iPhone enterprise safety

    Trust us, we're anti-virus experts

    McAfee has bought privately-held enterprise mobility management and security startup Trust Digital. The terms of the deal, announced Tuesday, were undisclosed. The agreement will allow McAfee to offer a wider range of enterprise-targeted mobile security products for smartphone platforms, including iPhone OS, Android, Web OS, …

    Enterprise Security 26 May 09:42

  • More power to Apple iPad, says MSI

    Releases USB utility for faster charging

    Manufacturer MSI has released a utility for its Windows-based computers that will allow them to charge Apple iPads more quickly. The tool, i-Charger, is an application that ups a USB port's power output from 0.5A to 1.2A. While the iPad will charge over a regular, half-an-amp power feed, it prefers the higher rating. i- …

    reghardware 26 May 09:54

  • The art of desktop deployment

    Blog Scripted install or imaging?

    Each week brings a new topic to discuss here on the Reg Desktop Management Blog, and this week's is Windows Deployment Services (WDS) vs Ghost-Like Applications (GLAs). Now, unless you already have a fairly good idea what ghost is, that topic would probably be fairly meaningless to you. The topics I discuss in my blog posts are …

    Desktop Mgmt Blog 26 May 10:02

  • BBC upgrades iPlayer to allow 'social propositions'

    Now you can be distracted while watching TV alone

    The BBC has relaunched the website version of its popular iPlayer service in an effort to give the online telly catch-up service a Web2.0rhea sheen. Auntie pushed out an iPlayer beta this morning and said it planned to release a full-fat version in July this year. The Corporation said it had simplified its iPlayer by making …

    Applications 26 May 10:16

  • LaCie rolls out rugged crypto hard drive

    Fingerprint protection

    LaCie has added a fingerprint reader to its rubber-wrapped Rugged external hard drive line. LaCie said the drive - called the Rugged Safe - features "unbreakable 128-bit AES hardware encryption". 'Unbreakable' sounds a lot like 'unsinkable', as the iceberg said to the Titanic. The drive will record up to ten sets of …

    reghardware 26 May 10:43

  • O2 limits unlimited broadband packages

    'Aim for 10GB and you'll be OK'

    Just as it runs a high-profile advertising campaign boasting it is "nobbling broadband niggles", O2 has begun telling users of its "unlimited" broadband packages that they shouldn't download more than 10GB in a month. Those who ignore the warning face disconnection, which might be considered a niggle. The new policy affects …

    Telecoms 26 May 10:44

  • Business intelligence – still an oxymoron?

    Reg reader study Tell us what’s really going on

    It’s been a while since we’ve asked any questions about business intelligence. To the infoliterati, it’s a specialist domain that needs many years’ experience before it even starts to make sense. To outsiders however, it’s about whether or not the right information is there at the right time – and quite frequently, often it's …

    Platform Evolution 26 May 10:47

  • BT brings Web 2.0 into the fold

    Onevoice going Ribbit

    BT has folded the Ribbit internet call management service into its Onevoice business offering, combining functionality equivalent to Google Voice with the backing of a proper telecommunications company. BT bought Silicon Valley-based Ribbit for $105m almost two years ago, but integrating the service into BT's corporate …

    Telecoms 26 May 10:57

  • DoJ pokes Apple digital music biz practices, says report

    Jobsian lot accused of corralling record labels

    US Feds are reportedly investigating Apple’s online digital music business practices. According to the New York Times, which cites several people familiar with the matter, the antitrust probe is in its early stages and has involved discussions with major music labels and internet music companies. It’s understood that …

    Music and Media 26 May 10:59

  • Grand Theft Auto demo drives onto iPhone

    Steal cars... for free

    Rockstar Games has announced the release of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Lite for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Effectively a demo version, users are given the first three missions from the full game. Test drive the controls of Huang Lee, a Chinese mobster, in his quest for gangland control over Liberty City. It's the ideal …

    reghardware 26 May 11:08

  • Student Loan Co writes off boss and chairman

    Computer says bye!

    Ralph Seymour-Jackson, the chief executive of the Student Loan Company and its chairman John Goodfellow have fallen on their swords following last year's failures. An interim chairman has been appointed while the board searches for an interim chief executive. Problems with the document-scanning system led to long delays for …

    Government 26 May 11:15

  • Captain Cyborg sidekick implants virus-infected chip

    First Mate Malware and the infected pacemakers of doom

    A second transhumanist RFID-chipping nut has emerged from the academic community at the University of Reading. Professor Kevin Warwick became famous years ago after claiming he was on the way towards becoming a cyborg after he implanted a simple RFID chip in his arm, which allowed sensors to register his presence and perform …

    Malware 26 May 11:20

  • EMC to US.gov: We didn't overbill you but here's $90m anyway

    Our hands are clean

    EMC has paid $87.5m to the US government to settle a lawsuit claiming it paid consultants to recommend EMC product to the US government. This kickback investigation was initiated by a lawsuit filed under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act, which allow private citizens to sue for fraud on behalf …

    Channel Register 26 May 11:35

  • Government yet to set ContactPoint closure date

    Regs changes to be made 'in due course'

    The Department for Education has yet to set a timetable to abolish the controversial database of all children in England. A spokesperson for the department told GC News that, unlike ID cards and the National Identity Register, the abolition of ContactPoint does not require primary legislation. She said that necessary changes …

    Government 26 May 11:39

  • Sony demos very bendy flexible OLED screen

    Wrap it round a pencil and it'll still show video

    Sony has developed an OLED display that's just 80 microns thick, allowing to be bent round anything with a radius of 4mm or more - and to continue to show moving images while this is happening. The prototype panel is just 4.1in across, with a 432 x 240 resolution and show hues from 24-bit, 16.8m-colour palette. It has a 1000:1 …

    reghardware 26 May 11:41

  • EU telecoms market still 'too fragmented'

    Almost as though we were separate countries

    The EU telecoms market is doing okay, but could be doing better, according to the latest report from the European Commission, which blames inconsistent regulation for the lack of a unified approach. The market has done well to sustain its size during 2009 in the face of an overall economic shrinkage of 4.2 per cent. But the …

    Telecoms 26 May 11:49

  • IT Crowd gets fifth series run

    'This isn’t actually a computer, it’s a briefcase'

    Readers rejoice, the IT Crowd is to return with a fifth series of the popular Channel 4 sitcom. IT Crowd creator Graham Linehan confirmed to reporters at a Bafta screening of the upcoming fourth series last night that a fifth instalment of the show had already been commissioned. The über “turn it off and on again” IT support …

    Entertainment 26 May 11:54

  • Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX touchscreen notebook

    Review A light touch?

    Toshiba is evidently very pleased with its Satellite U500 design: it has now based several models on it, including one with joint Ducati branding. The 1EX version reviewed here adds support for Windows 7 touchscreen gestures. Toshiba's Satellite U500-1EX, decked out in an 'interesting' two-tone black and brown The case has …

    reghardware 26 May 12:02

  • Apple's iPad resellers are revolting

    Secrecy rules raise hackles

    Apple's Premium Resellers are getting iPads to sell on Friday - provided their shops pass Apple's stringent standards. But retailers are irritated at Apple's insistence that they do not take pre-orders or publicise the launch on their websites or in store until Friday morning. They were even more annoyed at DSGi's claim that …

    PCs & Chips 26 May 12:10

  • Facebook forces users to expose or remove connections

    Private affiliations purged by social network

    Facebook is asking users to link to education, work, location, employer and likes pages, with connections made public by default. Profile owners who baulk at exposing their affiliations will find the relevant data removed their profile if they refuse to add links. The social networking site began greeting users with the forced …

    Music and Media 26 May 12:37

  • 'Being fat is no worse for you than being a woman'

    Rising health costs not swingbellies' fault?

    The widely-discredited Body Mass Index (BMI) method of measuring how fat a person is took another hammering today. Scientists in the USA have announced a study showing that an "overweight" BMI is not linked to poor health at all, and even an "obese" rating seems to be nothing to worry about for under-40s. “A lot of people make …

    Biology 26 May 12:40

  • Atlantis bows out with Kennedy touchdown

    Shuttle ends career with successful ISS mission

    Space shuttle Atlantis wrapped its 32nd and final mission today when it touched down at Kennedy Space Center at 12:48 GMT. The venerable vehicle's final day in space began to the wake-up call of Muse's Supermassive Black Hole, played in honour of commander Ken Ham, who led the successful STS-132 mission to the ISS. The 12-day …

    Space 26 May 12:50

  • NetApp beating out EMC

    Analyst lauds cost-effectiveness

    NetApp is becoming the lead storage vendor in virtualised environments because it offers a more seamless and cost-effective approach than EMC. That's the view of Mark Moscowitz, a J P Morgan analyst, in a note published on May 25. He says there is a secular shift to mid-range storage which is benefitting NetApp more than EMC …

    Storage 26 May 13:19

  • TwitPic-nicking Mail nicked

    Final bill no picnic

    If you’re going to nick TwitPics, it pays to read the small print first. That could be a salutary lesson for the Daily Mail, currently facing a bill of almost ten times the going rate after lifting a professional photographer’s pics from the web and then attempting to claim that as they were "in the public domain", they didn’t …

    Music and Media 26 May 13:21

  • Microsoft morris dancers upset Soho with Hotmail relaunch

    Council tells 'em to turn it down

    Office drones around Soho's Golden Square have complained to the council about the racket caused by Microsoft's ongoing attempt to attract more users to Hotmail through the medium of dance. Vulture Central is within spitting distance of the square where Hotmail flacks have set up shop for the day, so we took the opportunity …

    Applications 26 May 14:08

  • Carrier cans 'jinxed' mobile number after all owners die

    'Your number's up, mate'

    Bulgarian mobile network Mobitel has reportedly blocked the phone number 0888 888 888 after it emerged that everyone to whom it was assigned died. So noted the Daily Telegraph this week, much to the undoubted joy of numerologists and conspiracy theory wonks. But it's worth noting that two of the three owners of the number …

    reghardware 26 May 14:26

  • Have Dell's EMC storage revenues been falling?

    Comment Weaker CLARiiON calls

    Dell seems to have recorded an annual decline in sales of its EMC CLARiiON-sourced storage, according to its latest quarterly results. The company has just announced its first fiscal 2011 quarter results, and overall storage revenues were $554m, up 3.7 per cent year-on-year, and down 7.5 per cent compared to the previous …

    Storage 26 May 15:07

  • Foxconn website defaced after iPhone assembly plant suicides

    'Model suicide jumping facility' now hiring

    A subtle defacement of the website of electronics manufacturer Foxconn has drawn further attention to an alarming spate of worker suicides at a plant in southern China. Nine of the workers at a Shenzen plant where iPhones and other hi-tech kit is assembled have killed themselves this year, with a further two unsuccessful …

    Enterprise Security 26 May 15:11

  • Music biz pot calls Apple black

    Comment Second thoughts about Steve's golden handcuffs

    Here's a question. Do you think Walker's Crisps are the most popular because people just love Walker's crisps? Until the 1980s the British snack business comprised lots of local favourites. Big money marketing changed that, and in the early 1990s, PepsiCo spent millions on muscling the 'portfolio' of 'brands' it had acquired, …

    Music and Media 26 May 15:15

  • Three unveils iPad data deals

    Better then rest

    Mobile phone network Three will offer 3G iPad owners 10GB of data for just £15. Compare that to Orange and O2, which will only give you 3GB for the same price, though you do get 'unlimited' Wi-Fi hotspot access thrown in. Vodafone will charge you £25 for 5GB. If you want 10GB from Orange, you'll also pay £25 a month for it. …

    reghardware 26 May 15:31

  • Virtualizing the hard stuff

    Webcast Databases and mission critical workloads

    Most Reg readers have moved on from the early days of virtualizing servers, when the idea was simply to consolidate and save floor space. Yesterday’s virtualization beta-testers are now fully versed in the virtualization game, and they're looking to get more bang for their buck with real projects that deliver benefits across …

    Virtualization 26 May 15:54

  • Netezza pulls back into profit for Q1

    Big swing to profits, big upgrade coming

    Data warehousing and analytics appliance maker Netezza continued to grow revenues in the double digits in the first quarter of fiscal 2011 ended in April, with revenues up 28.2 per cent to $58.2m, and swung to a $2.7m profit compared to a nominal loss in the year ago quarter. As El Reg previously reported, Netezza started to …

    Financial News 26 May 15:55

  • Searchers say bug bars way back to Google

    Updated IE8 back buttons bolloxed

    Google users are complaining of a search bug that prevents them from returning to the company's web-dominating search engine via their browser "back" buttons. The company has acknowledged the bug, saying it affects users running Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8, and it plans to roll out a fix today. According to multiple …

    Software 26 May 17:48

  • Gizmodophone may have forced Jobs' hand

    Updated Is there another iPhone 4G out there?

    One reason Steve Jobs went ballistic over the infamous iPhone-left-in-a-bar escapade may have been that the lost stolen peripatetic prototype was not the one he planned to introduce from the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote stage on June 7. In a Wednesday wrap-up of iPhone 4G rumors, DigiTimes analyst Ming-Chi Kuo — he …

    Mobile 26 May 18:21

  • EU says Google and Microhoo still violate data protection law

    'Your anonymization doesn't anonymize'

    A panel of European Union data protection authorities has told Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! that their data retention policies still do not comply with EU law. On Tuesday, the Article 29 Data Protection Working Party — an independent advisory body on data protection and privacy — sent public letters to the three major search …

    ID 26 May 20:02

  • Facebook unveils simpler privacy controls to spur sharing

    Privacy theatre aims to answer critics

    Facebook simplified privacy settings on Wednesday in response to sustained criticism over previous changes that has reached a crescendo in recent weeks. The changes introduce a one-click control for content. Users can choose to share content on Facebook with friends, friends of friends, or everyone. The social network has …

    ID 26 May 20:09

  • Cisco bugs surrender control of building's critical systems

    Security, HVAC, power systems ripe for plucking

    Cisco Systems has warned of serious vulnerabilities in a device that connects a building's ventilation, lighting, security, and energy supply systems so they can be controlled by IT workers remotely. The networking giant on Wednesday urged users of the Cisco Network Building Mediator products to patch the vulnerabilities, which …

    Security 26 May 20:11

  • VMware overhauls desktop virt line

    Better graphics, Core optimized

    VMware has upgraded its Workstation hypervisor for PCs and Fusion hypervisor for Macs, with the goal of giving them more native performance, particularly for graphics — notorious for being clunky enough to make users cranky. VMware got its start virtualizing desktops and only gradually moved into the data center, and it still …

    Virtualization 26 May 20:36

  • Terracotta ratchets Oracle cache fight

    Updated Open-source double down on WebSphere

    Terracotta is using the open-source cache technology it bought last year to challenge Oracle's application server and in-memory database grid for Java. The company has updated Ehcache by adding expanded support for WebSphere from IBM, the only remaining rival to Oracle's Java Enterprise Edition application server since the …

    Software 26 May 20:43

  • Google hints at native code in Chrome Web Store

    Google I/O Lego Star Wars goes Native Client

    Google has indicated it will offer native code browser applications from the Chrome web apps store that's due to launch later this year. The Chrome Web Store is designed for use with Google's Chrome browser and the company's upcoming Chrome OS, and it would appear that the store will make its debut when the OS hits netbooks in …

    Developer 26 May 23:53