15th July 2010 Archive

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Apple swaps good iPhones for bad, say fanbois

Updated Jobs says nothing — until Friday

Today's rumeur du jour concerning Apple's ongoing antennagate fiasco: Cupertino has secretly fixed the Jobsian handset's Death Grip defect, and is now quietly collecting the bad phones and replacing them with good ones. This is the type of tinfoil-hatted twaddle that could only be inspired by the actions of a company as …

Mobile 15 Jul 00:25
Microsoft's modest Bing tinkerers on Google trip

Maps, mobile and Dell help

Ex-Walmart man and current Microsoftie Kevin Turner might have peppered partners with anti-Google talking points this week, but the team that's building Redmond's challenger Bing aren't so gung-ho. In fact, they're being uncharacteristically soft-spoken — for Microsoft — about their hopes for the future and dreams of changing …

Music and Media 15 Jul 00:38
Mozilla snuffs password pilfering Firefox add-on

Beware unreviewed software calling itself Mozilla Sniffer

Mozilla has disabled and block-listed a Firefox add-on containing code that nabs login data sent to any website and reroutes it to a remote server. The add-on — known as, um, Mozilla Sniffer — was uploaded to the Firefox add-on site on June 6, and the malicious code was discovered on Monday, after which the add-on was block- …

Malware 15 Jul 00:42
Neon Software sells cut-down zPrime for IMS

Accelerate flatfile mainframe databases for a buck

IBM's System z11 mainframes are just around the corner, and Neon Software, the maker of the zPrime tool for offloading work from expensive to cheap engines on Big Blue's mainframes, has to do something to get the attention of mainframers. How does $1 for a license for tweaked zPrime tool that lets it accelerate IMS flatfile …

Servers 15 Jul 06:02
Buyer's Guide: all-in-one inkjet printers

Group Test How to make the right choice

In the home, where print volumes are typically low, inkjet printers rule. You simply won't find colour lasers or laser-based all-in-ones at the £150 price point around which all the printers in this Group Test are offered. Inkjets also have the versatility to be able to print quality photos as well as strong colours and …

reghardware 15 Jul 07:02
Brother MFC-490CW

Review Small, neat and cheap to buy

Brother has a wealth of all-in-ones looking much like the MFC-490CW. The gently curved upper surface makes it look slightly old, though this is mitigated by the widescreen LCD, which allows for a photo thumbnail and a menu to be displayed side by side. The controls are well laid out, and the front lip of the machine contains …

reghardware 15 Jul 07:02
Canon Pixma MX350

Review Good printing - but there's a price to pay

This machine follows the same style lines as other all-in-ones in Canon’s range, with a large case in black and silver. The ADF for the scanner is integrated into an angled surround which holds the control panel, and includes a feed tray which folds shut to clean up the look of the machine when it’s not scanning. The …

reghardware 15 Jul 07:02
Epson Stylus SX610FW

Review Capable and quick

On the ‘looks the business’ scales, this machine will take quite a counterweight. Big and glossy black, it has a wavy top concealing its 30-sheet ADF. Open the input tray and the output tray drops away – very neat. The front control panel, which can be swung out to several different angles, holds a bright, 63mm LCD and large, …

reghardware 15 Jul 07:02
HP Officejet 6500

Review The value-for-money option?

Looking like somebody’s given a pair of compasses to a penguin and told it to design an all-in-one, the Officejet 6500’s black and white body is all wide-radius curves. From the cheeky quiff at the end of its 35-sheet ADF feed tray to its double-size, 250-sheet paper tray, it’s unexpected in looks and function. This is the …

reghardware 15 Jul 07:02
Kodak ESP 7

Review Too many corners cut?

Although a late arrival at the inkjet printer ball, Kodak’s wealth of photographic and imaging knowledge has helped carve it a clever niche in the market. Its current advertising run, stressing the low cost of running its machines, shows where it’s aiming. All the machines in the ESP range use the same print engine, which …

reghardware 15 Jul 07:02
Lexmark Intuition S505

Review Basic box

Lexmark’s Home Office range of all-in-ones, like Kodak’s, share the same print engine and are distinguished, one from another, by their feature sets and price. Although it has an SRP of £150, the S505 is closer to the bottom than the top of the range and you can find it heavily discounted. The printer has a conventional design …

reghardware 15 Jul 07:02
All-in-One Inkjet Printers

Group Test And the best multifunction machines are...

Much like the trend for mobile phones to have cameras, inkjet printers with scanners seems to be the norm these days. With all the models on test producing photo quality prints yet costing less than £150, you might think you’re getting something for nothing. Of course, along with the scanner doubling as a colour photocopier – …

reghardware 15 Jul 07:02
All-in-One Inkjet Printers: Best Buys

Group Test The pick of the printers

Before I announce which printers have won Reg Hardware awards, let's first see how they measure up against each other. Print-speed Tests Multi-page Printing Output in pages per minute (PPM) Longer bars are better Photo Printing Time to print 15 x 10cm photo in Seconds (s) Shorter bars are better Running Cost Results …

reghardware 15 Jul 07:02
Government begins RIPA review

Peeking at snooping laws

The Government will review the use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA), the law that governs state tapping of phone, email and internet use. The law will be looked at as part of a wider review of counter-terrorism laws. Civil liberties campaigners criticised several anti-terrorism laws introduced by the …

Government 15 Jul 07:02
ICO repeats jail call as complaints soar

Anyone listening to the watchdog puppy?

Complaints about potential privacy violations soared by 30 per cent last year, according to regulator the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). Complaints about public bodies' failure to comply with the Freedom of Information Act jumped by 20 per cent. The ICO is responsible for ensuring that organizations keep in line with …

Law 15 Jul 08:05
UK.gov slams Facebook over Moat fan clubs

Er, seen the Spending Challenge site, Dave?

Prime Minister David Cameron said yesterday that he would make an official complaint to Facebook because it is hosting discussions and support groups for Raoul Moat. But he might start a little nearer to home. The two sites supposedly set up to support Treasury spending cuts and to crowd-source laws which need repealing are …

Government 15 Jul 08:18
Intel and Micron team up for flash fab

New NAND chip plant

Intel and Micron will start building a new fabrication plant for NAND flash chips by the end of the year, according to a DigiTimes report. Toshiba will have a new flash fab coming online in Japan in early 2011, and building should start this month. Samsung also has a new fab in South Korea coming online next year. Flash fabs …

Storage 15 Jul 08:42
Kaspersky blocks BBC News over false phishing fears

Updated Access denied

Kaspersky's security software created confusion on Wednesday after it blocked the redesigned BBC News site and other web properties. The Russian security firm's widely used Internet Security 2011 package labelled the revamped news site as a phishing risk, warning users against visiting it. The Auntie-blocking behaviour …

Malware 15 Jul 08:47
Samsung preps shake-to-play MP3 gadget

Rattle yer Tic Tocs

This is the new Samsung Tic Toc, which despite the clockwork name, is actually a palm-sized MP3 player. Controlled by motion, to skip tracks, for example, you hold the device horizontally and shake left or right. To adjust volume, hold the player vertically before pressing up or down. Click three times to skip albums. A …

reghardware 15 Jul 09:45
NTT spends £2bn on DiData

Reseller giant turning Japanese

NTT, the Japanese telco, has bought Dimension Data, the South African but London-listed reseller group. NTT is offering £2.1bn, or £1.20 a share, for the company. The cash offer has already been accepted by directors, Venfin DD Holdings Limited and Allan Gray who together represent 52 per cent of issued shares. NTT is …

Channel Register 15 Jul 09:49
HPC in the cloud? Not so much

Supercomputing types not caught by the fluff

Here’s a great blog (“Elite HPC and the Cloud Culture Clash”) discussing how much – well, actually, how little – the current hype behind cloud computing is swaying folks at large supercomputing sites. In the article, Nicole Hemsoth correctly identifies cloud computing as more of a business model than radical new technology. …

HPC Blog 15 Jul 09:50
Home Office publishes draft reform plan

Crime data to be published

Information sharing, the publication of crime data and support for the e-Borders programme are all in the Home Office Structural Reform Plan. A draft (pdf) of the plan has been published on the department's website. It places an emphasis on tackling crime and anti-social behaviour, increasing the accountability of the police, …

Government 15 Jul 09:56
1.5TB 2.5-inch drives

By the end of the year

You can't rely on disk drive manufactures to tell you much at all about new higher-capacity drives coming our way, but you can get hints from their OEMs. ProStor CEO Frank Herbist recently gave out a loud one. ProStor makes removable RDX disk drives, 2.5-inch drives inside a rugged case, and the InfiniVault RDX autoloader and …

Blocks and Files 15 Jul 10:04
Apple to shrink MacBook Air

Set for relaunch as 11.6in mini-laptop?

Wonder why Apple hasn't yet updated the MacBook Air the way it has with all its other notebooks? Because the skinny laptop is about to shrunk even further, it has been claimed. According to a market watcher with Taiwanese newssite DigiTimes, Apple will re-launch the Air at some point in the coming months with an 11.6in screen …

reghardware 15 Jul 10:10
iPhone 4 developers get software update, but will it fix death grip?

Fanbois, watch the signals grow!

Apple’s iPhone 4 hasn’t even hit its one-month anniversary yet, but the company has already issued a software update that might fix the death grip problem affecting the device’s antenna. However, despite the fact that iOS 4.1 was made available to developers late yesterday, the Cupertino outfit is keeping quiet until Friday, …

Mobile 15 Jul 10:25
FBI hunt gun-waving, skateboarding bank robber

Feds ramp up search after thief's quick rollaway

The FBI in San Diego are hunting a low-tech bank robber who shunned the usual getaway car and fled from his latest heist on a skateboard. The bandana'd bandit was armed with a black semi-automatic pistol when he held up the Comercia Bank in San Diego on Monday. He apparently lifted his shirt, showing off his weapon, and …

Bootnotes 15 Jul 10:28
A curious case of the shingles

Just the facts ma'am, just the facts

The topic of shingled writes as a way of boosting hard drive capacity discussed in my article Drive suppliers hitting capacity increase difficulties earned me a rebuke from HDD, a very occasional Reg commentard. He has this to say : Shingled recording being used in the marketplace currently? If you have some proof of this, …

Blocks and Files 15 Jul 10:38
NHS loses massive Microsoft licensing rebate

World's largest licensing deal ditched

Software licensing in the National Health Service is about to get a lot more complicated, and a lot more expensive. Back in 2004 the Office of Government Commerce signed a massive deal with Microsoft to provide all desktop software within the NHS. This followed some very high-level lobbying from both Bill Gates and Steve …

Channel Register 15 Jul 10:49
Pentax relaunches 'vintage-look' compact

Optio I-10 looks like your dad's camera

Pentax has taken its Optio I-10 compact camera and given it a tasty retro makeover. With that leather-esque body, case and strap, it certainly looks like my dad's old camera. The internals are modern, though: 12.1Mp sensor; 5x optical zoom; 28mm wide angle lens; CCD-shift shake-reduction rig; 720p video shooting capability; …

reghardware 15 Jul 10:58
Vista-hating Microsoft throws poo at Apple's iPhone 4

'I'm OK with that'

Microsoft really, really hates its dud Vista operating system - so much so that it can now openly badmouth its own product while taking a bitchy stab at Apple and its current iPhone 4 antenna woes. The company’s COO Kevin Turner took to the stage at Microsoft’s annual partner shindig yesterday to offload some snarky soundbites …

Operating Systems 15 Jul 11:09
Freeview reaches out to EPG-less DVR owners

Relief for Digifusion users?

Freeview has offered a ray of hope to the hundreds of Brits who own DVRs rendered effectively useless at recording future programmes because the company delivering the machines' Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) stopped doing so. The issue affects owners of ten very early receivers and DVRs, including six models by Digifusion, …

reghardware 15 Jul 11:14
Researchers expose privacy flaws in Chatroulette

Block and tackle

Privacy shortcomings in Chatroulette expose users to security risks, according to a study by security researchers. Boffins at the University of Colorado at Boulder and McGill University were able to show that a pre-recorded low-quality video of an attractive woman could fool the majority of participants into thinking the feed …

Crime 15 Jul 11:20
Miracle-tech that could fix almost everything: Major advance

Boffinry excitement in superconducting circles

Topflight boffins believe they may be on the track of the fabled room-temperature superconductor, a technology which - if achieved - promises to revolutionise various fields including hover trains, electric power, mighty dimension-portal atom smashers and even supercomputing. The new science relates to the study of copper- …

Physics 15 Jul 11:31
UK.gov abandons 2012 rural broadband pledge

Digital divide stays for now

The government has dumped a commitment to deliver universal access to 2Mbit/s broadband by 2012. The culture secretary Jeremy Hunt said this morning that the previous government had failed to allocate enough funding to meet the schedule. Instead, he pledged that all households will have access to a 2Mbit/s downstream service …

Government 15 Jul 12:02
Packard Bell Butterfly XS 11.6in notebook

Review The lepidopterist's laptop?

Where does the dividing line between netbooks and notebooks lie? Is an 11.6in screen small enough to dismiss any ideas of true notebook status? Conversely, does having a DVD rewriter lift a portable forever out of netbookdom? Packard Bell's Easynote Butterfly XS: flighty? For those who want an ultra-portable, but aren't …

reghardware 15 Jul 13:02
Four cuffed in Spain over political website vandalism

KO crew knocked out

Spanish police have arrested four people of a hacking crew blamed for defacing the websites of the main two political parties in Spain. As well as allegedly adding a red fist to the site of PSOE (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) and PP (Partido Popular), the hackers also sprayed digital graffiti on the website of TV gossip …

Crime 15 Jul 13:25
Cal Pol: Turn Jacko's ranch into state park

The got to be there tourist attraction

Wide-eyed children could once again be roaming free around Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch if a California lawmaker gets his way. California assemblyman Mike Davis has suggested the state should consider taking over the singer's old digs in Santa Barbara County. Neverland became notorious as the singer became increasingly …

Bootnotes 15 Jul 13:36
Schools and hospitals to be tapped for superfast broadband

Public sector networks could plug 'final third'

The government is discussing opening up public sector internet infrastructure to bring down the cost of introducing faster broadband nationwide. The talks could create initiatives such as connecting fibre links owned by NHS hospitals and schools to local homes and businesses. Broadband minister Ed Vaizey said exploring such …

Telecoms 15 Jul 13:49
Cloud music: Apple set to clean up

Thanks to fanbois, apparently

Never underestimate the power of an incumbent. And never underestimate the willingness of Apple's user base to try new products bearing the fruit logo. A poll of Cupertino fanbois by NPD has found a remarkably high willingness to pay for a 'cloud' music service. The researchers extrapolate that up to 15 million fanbois would …

Music and Media 15 Jul 13:51
Cable lays plan for graduate tax

You want fries and extra income tax payments with that?

Vince Cable today laid out the ground rules for debate on funding higher education and strongly hinted he favours a graduate tax. But he stressed this was the start, not the end, of the debate. Cable, an ex-lecturer at the University of Glasgow, said that after 50 years of expanding universities the UK now had to accept that a …

Science 15 Jul 13:58
US Army trials Iron Man super-trooper exoskeleton

HULC™: the ruggedisation is complete

A powered exoskeleton suit designed to let soldiers march and fight carrying huge loads of weaponry, equipment and armour is to enter testing with the US Army. That box of pies plainly isn't going to last him long. The machine in question is of course the Human Universal Load Carrier (HULC™), nowadays a product line …

Government 15 Jul 14:27
Torrent sites: Here today, gone tomorrow and no one even cares

Brein orders pirates to 'clog off!', TorrentFreak goes into meltdown

Dutch anti-piracy group Brein claimed last week to have closed down 422 torrent sites in the first half of this year, but shockingly* nobody actually noticed until today. TorrentFreak belatedly reported that it had failed to read Brein’s press release, dated 8 July, and the freetard-loving site apologised to its readers for …

Music and Media 15 Jul 15:11
One-time UK PC giant takes on iPad

Elonex signs HMV to sell colour e-book reader

We're not sure we'd agree with HMV's claim that Elonex is "world renowned for their e-book readers", not least because the UK company only released its first one a year ago, and that appears to have faded away with Elonex's bookshop partner of the time, Borders UK, which went into administration in November 2009. However, …

reghardware 15 Jul 15:18
Sony intros colourful, long-running PMP

Tempted by travel tech?

With holidays approaching and long journeys ahead, travel gadgets are flying off the shelves. So it should come as no surprise that Sony has announced a new PMP. Aimed at a young generation, the Sony Walkman E450 Video MP3 player comes with a 2in, 240 x 320 screen. Choose from 4GB, 8GB and 16GB versions in a range of funky …

reghardware 15 Jul 15:27
Dell OEMs server management from Microsoft

Systems Center Essentials 2010, integrated and cheaper

If you use Dell PowerEdge servers in conjunction with Microsoft's Windows operating system, Dell is going to make your life a little bit easier while also saving you some dough. Like its peers in the x64 server racket, Dell has service processors and box management tools to manage its PowerEdge rack and tower servers and the …

Servers 15 Jul 15:54
Opera lands 'Carakan' JavaScript engine on mobiles

Betas Opera Mobile 10.1 for Nokia S/60

Opera has brought its revamped "Carakan" JavaScript engine and Vega graphics library to smartphones, releasing a beta incarnation of Opera Mobile 10.1 for Nokia's Symbian-based S60 platform. Carakan debuted with version 10.50 of Opera's desktop browser, significantly boosting JavaScript performance. In a blog post, Opera …

Applications 15 Jul 17:02
Apple antenna guru 'warned Steve Jobs' over Judas Phone

Carrier foresaw Death Grip too, says report

Apple's senior antenna expert told Steve Jobs during the "early design phase" of the iPhone 4 that the handset's exterior antennas could cause dropped calls, according to a report citing a person familiar with the matter. Bloomberg reports that Apple senior engineer Ruben Caballero warned the company's management that the …

Mobile 15 Jul 18:20
Cloud fluffer ready to lighten Microsoft's load

Rackspace talks private Azure

Web-hosting giant Rackspace could be among the first to deliver private versions of Microsoft's Azure cloud, free of Redmond's control. Rackspace has had discussions with Microsoft to run Azure in its own data centers, the company's told The Reg. Already a Microsoft hosting and cloud partner, Rackspace believes the world is …

Servers 15 Jul 18:47
NZ government makes software 'unpatentable' (for now)

Future guidelines to address embedded code

The New Zealand government has decided to push through the country's contentious new Patent Bill without making any amendments to it, thereby making software "unpatentable". However, NZ's commerce minister Simon Power noted that the country's Intellectual Property Office would draft new guidelines once the Bill has passed the …

Government 15 Jul 19:04
So long then, Windows 2000

Dead man walking in Memphis

Windows NT 4.0 made Microsoft an operating system player for file servers and crushed NetWare, but it was Windows 2000 Server and Advanced Server that stormed the walls of the glasshouse and smashed enough windows to actually get inside and start taking over the joint. And now, it is dead. At least as far as Microsoft is …

Operating Systems 15 Jul 19:21
Hubble eyes sun-roasted exoplanet

Gas giant's atmosphere blown into comet-like tail

Observations from the Hubble Space Telescope's Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) have determined that gas giant HD 209458b is having a really bad hair day, orbiting so close to its star that its atmosphere is being stripped away by cosmic winds and cast into space in a "comet-like tail". HD 209458b - lying some 153 light- …

Space 15 Jul 19:30
Ellison loses bid for US basketball franchise

Warriors SoNotLarry's

Larry Ellison, as you all know, is accustomed to getting his way. But even the richest billionaire in Silicon Valley can't always get what he wants. And so it is with Ellison's desire to own the Golden State Warriors, where the chief executive officer of Oracle missed the jump ball to a Joe Lacob, a partner at Silicon Valley …

Business 15 Jul 20:31
Apple spews Judas Phone signal bar 'fix' to world+dog

iOS 4.0.1 ~~ends Death Grip~~

Apple has released the promised iOS update designed to improve the way the Judas Phone displays signal strength bars – and fool fanbois into thinking there's no problem with the company's antenna design. iOS 4.0.1 offers the new formula not only on the Judas Phone, but also on the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 3. According to a …

Mobile 15 Jul 21:07
Android PHP option planned for Javaphobes

Scripted response

PHP is coming to Google's Android phones for those averse to programming in Java or going native. The PHP for Android (PFA) site says here that its goal is to make PHP development in Android "not only possible but also feasible providing tools and documentation." The project's main sponsor is open-source and Linux specialist …

Developer 15 Jul 21:58
Google profits swell (only) 24 per cent

UK lag

Google's revenues leapt 24 per cent during the second quarter, and profits rose 24 per cent as well. But that wasn't enough to satisfy the Wall Street guessmen. Mountain View raked in $5.09bn during the quarter ending June 30, up from $4bn in last year's Q2, while income rose to $1.84bn, up from $1.48bn. "Everyone read the …

Business 15 Jul 22:05
AMD sales up – but ink still red

Fresh Fusion APUs, Bulldozer on doorstep

If you have been wondering where those extra profits that Intel raked in during its best quarter ever came from in Q2, it looks like some of that black ink came right out of the hide of Advanced Micro Devices. The CPU and GPU seller posted decent sales of $1.65bn, up 39.6 per cent, in the quarter ended in June. That's more …

Financial News 15 Jul 23:23