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20th July 2010 Archive

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  • Apple details privacy policies for US Congressmen

    Not sharing location info with carriers

    Apple has sent Congress an explanation of its location-based information-gathering and privacy policies. The 13-page letter letter from Apple's general counsel Bruce Sewell sent on July 12, in direct response to a "Dear Mr. Jobs" letter penned late last month by US Representatives Edward J. Markey and Joe Barton, co-chairs of …

    Mobile 20 Jul 2010, 00:17

  • Reg reader tweaks Jobs with Judasphone.com

    Ms Annbel Tenna makes light of death grip

    Despite Steve Jobs' assurance that "There is no Antennagate", that squeaky-hinged barrier keeps a-flapping — and more than one good soul has found humor amid the grating creaks. Or the creaking grates. Or whatever. Take, for example, the euphoniously psuedonymed Ms Annabel Tenna, whose new Judasphone.com website (she must read …

    Odds and Sods 20 Jul 2010, 04:27

  • NASA drops Ubuntu's Koala food for (real) open source

    Open core is not open source: a cautionary tale

    NASA is dropping Eucalyptus from its Nebula infrastructure cloud not only because its engineers believe the open source platform can't achieve the sort of scale they require, but also because it isn't entirely open source. NASA chief technology officer Chris Kemp tells The Reg that as his engineers attempted to contribute …

    Software 20 Jul 2010, 05:09

  • Advent MT22 21.5in touchscreen all-in-one desktop

    Review Budget point and prod PC

    Although best known for its low cost PCs and laptops, Advent does occasionally produce slightly more interesting models. Its new MT22 all-in-one PC is a case in point, and follows on from previous attempts such as the AIO-100 and AIO-156. Advent’s MT22: finger friendly all-in-one Based around a 21.5in touchscreen, the MT22 …

    reghardware 20 Jul 2010, 07:02

  • Bubble-baron Bigelow bags Boeing boosters

    Farnborough 'Bob, bless him, is the nearest thing to commercial space'

    Colourful inflatable space-bubble kingpin Robert Bigelow has allied with US aerospace globocorp Boeing for the purpose of "making space travel commercial the way air travel became commercial a century ago". Overheard at the briefing: 'There will definitely be less Krazy Glue involved in the real one' Bigelow and execs from …

    Space 20 Jul 2010, 07:42

  • Intel escapes monopoly fine as competition probe ends

    More volume pricing restrictions

    Chip giant Intel looks set to escape an anti-trust fine from the Federal Trade Commission. The two sides have reached an agreement to end the probe on similar terms to those Intel agreed with AMD. The deal means Intel will have to follow some restrictions on volume pricing of graphics processors, not just of chips. The deal …

    PCs & Chips 20 Jul 2010, 08:59

  • Extraterrestrials strafe Bosnian with meteorites

    'I have no doubt I am being targeted by aliens'

    A Bosnian man whose house has been hit six times by meteorites has come to the conclusion he's done something to hack off ET, the Telegraph reports. Radivoje Lajic, 50, from the village of Gornji Lajici, near Prijedor in northern Bosnia, has suffered half a dozen strikes since November 2007. Spookily, the impacts always happen …

    Bootnotes 20 Jul 2010, 09:01

  • Sky announcement on Easynet sell-off expected by Thursday

    We'll talk about this speculation later

    Sky is expected to finalise a deal for a management buyout of its networking business Easynet by the end of this week. The firms declined to comment for our story yesterday regarding ongoing negotiations between Easynet's CEO David Rowe and CTO Justin Fielder, and Sky. However, following publication Easynet wrote to all staff …

    Telecoms 20 Jul 2010, 09:10

  • Sharp readies colour e-book reader

    Seeking international publishing partners, 'pparently

    Sharp is to enter the e-book reader market. The Japanese company isn't saying much about what kind of devices it will offer, only that they will display files in the XMDF - "ever-eXtending Mobile Document Format" - files, tweaked to allow video and audio content to be embedded and presented, as well as the text and still that …

    reghardware 20 Jul 2010, 09:28

  • Dell swallows deduping and compressing Ocarina

    Startup to bought out in 3 years

    Dell is buying Ocarina, the deduplication startup which compresses a multitude of supposedly incompressible image files and which has just announced a second and software-only deduplication product other suppliers can include in their storage product stacks. Dell's deduplication strategy has resembled a roller coaster with …

    Storage 20 Jul 2010, 09:37

  • EU pledges huge spend for small biz R&D

    Biggest ever investment

    The European Commission has pledged €6.4bn for research investments across Europe in various areas for both academics and small businesses. In total 16,000 organisations should benefit including 3,000 small businesses. The cash will be awarded after a 'call for proposals' - which should start later today. The Commission hopes …

    Small Biz 20 Jul 2010, 09:54

  • Yellow alert over Windows shortcut flaw

    'Wide-scale exploitation is only a matter of time'

    Windows Shortcut's zero-day attack code has gone public. The development increases the risk that the attack vector, already used by the highly sophisticated Stuxnet Trojan to attack Scada control systems, will be applied against a wider range of vulnerable systems. All versions of Windows are potentially vulnerable to the …

    Enterprise Security 20 Jul 2010, 09:56

  • Panasonic plugs movie rental service into net tellies

    Acetrax added to VieraCast roster

    Panasonic has brought the Acetrax movie rental and downloads service to its internet-connected Viera HD TVs. The Lovefilm-like Acetrax is delivered through VieraCast, Panasonic's internet TV front-end. Viera owners will need to sign up for the service at the Acetrax website and set up an account to which rental and download …

    reghardware 20 Jul 2010, 10:02

  • Symbian fans to get Foundation voice

    But are there enough to form a choir?

    Individuals desperate to be more involved in the evolution of Symbian can now get their voice heard thanks to a new free developers' community with Foundation membership. The Symbian Foundation, the body responsible for holding together the now-open-source OS, has always welcomed companies (and their membership fees), but …

    Mobile 20 Jul 2010, 10:32

  • FileMaker Pro squeezes onto an iPhone

    Works better on iPad, though

    FileMaker Pro, the Mac's answer to Microsoft Access, is now available for iOS – allowing the iPhone and iPad into the enterprise, as long as the enterprise is using FileMaker. To be fair, FileMaker Pro is now available for Windows too, but with its Claris heritage it's hard not to think of it as a Mac product first and …

    Mobile 20 Jul 2010, 10:44

  • Russians quizzed over parasailing donkey

    Asinine aerial stunt ends in police probe

    Russian police are less than impressed with the instigators of a parasailing donkey stunt which saw an innocent beast of burden hauled into the skies to promote a private beach on the Sea of Azov. According to AFP, several Russian businessmen decided it was a bright idea to use a flying donkey to advertise their stretch of …

    Bootnotes 20 Jul 2010, 10:48

  • Sharp cuts palmtop from Android cloth

    Netbook-cum-smartphone out next week

    Anyone awaiting the arrival of netbooks running Google's Android OS so impatiently that they'll go anywhere to get one should take a trip to Tokyo next week. On 23 July, Sharp will release Lynx, a 5in clamshell smartphone that combines a Qwerty keyboard and a touch-sensitive 960 x 480 screen, though there's also a trackball if …

    reghardware 20 Jul 2010, 11:19

  • Small biz stays nervous on recovery

    Cost-cutting is focus, not chasing sales

    Small businesses in the UK remain focused on cost-cutting rather than expanding sales to secure their futures. Although the coalition government is hoping the private sector will take up the slack left by big public sector cuts the latest survey of small and medium businesses shows a serious lack of confidence. A survey of …

    Small Biz 20 Jul 2010, 11:20

  • Directgov gets Cabinet Office overlords

    DWP stripped of public services website duty

    Responsibility for the government’s online service - Directgov - is set to become part of the Cabinet Office minister’s brief. Iain Duncan-Smith, who is Secretary for Work and Pensions, currently oversees Directgov’s functions. However, Frances Maude is about to take charge of UK.gov’s website in yet another shake-up …

    Government 20 Jul 2010, 11:32

  • Dell sandboxes Firefox to boost corporate security

    Free application virtualisation tech

    Dell has applied application virtualisation technology to Firefox in order to offer corporates what it claims is a more secure browsing experience. The Dell KACE Secure Browser, which is available for download at no charge from Tuesday, aims to boost enterprise security while introducing businesses to the PC maker's recently …

    Virtualization 20 Jul 2010, 11:38

  • Who cares about encryption?

    Workshop Poll Results Mobility holds the, ahem, key

    We're used to getting a hundred or so responses from the mini-polls we run, but the 383 responses to our recent encryption survey were indicative of just how important this area is to people. In it, we wanted to gauge the gap between aspiration and reality when it comes to encryption – what you think is necessary, versus what …

    Security that Fits 20 Jul 2010, 11:49

  • Council urges army drinkers to break the law

    'Pragmatic' approach to spare council blushes

    At least one northern council – and possibly others – is publicly advising the owners of licensed premises to break the law. Is this a cynical attempt to avoid bad publicity? Or, as council officials describe the advice, simple "pragmatism"? The issue arose last month, with reports in This is Cheshire that Corporal Jon Dykes …

    Law 20 Jul 2010, 11:56

  • Asus switches Eee Pad to Android

    Windows CE out, hurrah

    Asus' upcoming Eee Pad tablet will no longer feature Windows CE but will use Google's Android instead. The downside is that you'll have to wait until next year for it. According to website Netbook News - which got the news straight out of Asus HQ, it claims - the EP101TC will ship with Android 3.0. That version of the OS isn' …

    reghardware 20 Jul 2010, 12:04

  • Creative World of Warcraft headphones

    Review Wireless gear for weekend warriors

    To be honest, I can’t think of anything more embarrassing than wearing a badged set of World of Warcraft headphones. Does it really matter what's stamped on the side when you're sat behind a big monitor anyway? However, Blizzard’s all-conquering MMORPG does have about ten zillion subscribers, and Creative Labs has had …

    reghardware 20 Jul 2010, 12:06

  • Mobile phones cause tinnitus, says study

    The phone's ringing. Oh, no it's not. Must be me then.

    A study published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine claims evidence that mobile phones cause tinnitus, persistent ringing in the ears. The premise is that microwave radiation (or "radio waves" as we sometimes call them) cause a calcium imbalance, or something like that – the study doesn't present evidence of the …

    Mobile 20 Jul 2010, 12:17

  • C&W issues profit warning on public sector cuts

    Shares slump at unscheduled update

    Cable and Wireless shares tumbled more than 20 per cent this morning after it warned investors it would miss profit targets because of cuts in the public sector. "Following the new government's emergency budget in late June, non-contracted spending in the UK public sector has slowed very significantly," it said in an …

    Data Networking 20 Jul 2010, 12:29

  • RIP: The copyright quango that wanted to terminate your rights

    What was the point of SABIP?

    As we reported yesterday, the Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property is to be abolished. The Coalition has decided that dismantling copyright is a task that the Intellectual Property Office is quite capable of performing without assistance, and has folded SABIP's duties back into the IPO. SABIP was founded in 2008 …

    Government 20 Jul 2010, 12:39

  • HTC Wildfire Android smartphone

    Review The best value Googlephone around?

    So you like the sound of this Android smartphone business, but you don’t want to spend a fortune? Well, the HTC Wildfire isn’t the first budget Android blower, but it’s arguably the best. Hot product: HTC's Wildfire Previously, if you wanted an Android phone on the cheap you had to sacrifice stuff. First to go would usually …

    reghardware 20 Jul 2010, 13:02

  • Knives out for Nokia boss

    Suomi wrestling

    Nokia is seeking a new boss and for the first time he won't be a Finnish national, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The paper claims that a decision to replace CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo will be made by the end of the month. The nature of the sources suggests the board, under pressure from investors, has already …

    Mobile 20 Jul 2010, 14:06

  • Google switches on Buzz firehose

    More a streak of p*ss than a stream

    Google’s Buzz firehose trickled into action yesterday when the company opened up its data stream to developers. The world’s largest ad broker has teamed up with Collecta, Gnip, Superfeedr, OneRiot and Postrank Analytics in an undisclosed launch deal to help splatter coders’ apps with Buzz using an API that Google debuted in …

    Developer 20 Jul 2010, 14:14

  • UK's Watchkeeper drone 'can see footprints through cloud'

    Farnborough Also 'keep off the grass' signs, apparently

    UK military robot spyplanes due to be fielded in Afghanistan within two years are fitted with radar so sensitive, according to its makers, that it can detect not only individual people moving about on the ground - but even the footprints they leave in the dirt. Now with footprint-following mode. The spyplane in question is …

    Physics 20 Jul 2010, 14:44

  • Adobe to fortify widely exploited Reader with security sandbox

    Like airbags for apps

    Under criticism for being the world's most exploited application, Adobe Systems' Reader program will soon include a security design that's intended to thwart malicious attacks against end users. Borrowing a page from engineers at Microsoft and Google, Adobe is adding the a so-called sandbox feature to Adobe Reader for Windows …

    Malware 20 Jul 2010, 15:02

  • Grey beards seize power at Big Blue

    Software and systems get merged

    In the wake of reporting IBM's second quarter financial results yesterday afternoon, Sam Palmisano, the company's president, chief executive officer, and chairman sent an email to all the employees saying that Big Blue was reorganizing its operations to better reflect the modern IT world. In the moves announced yesterday, a …

    Servers 20 Jul 2010, 15:23

  • Russia confirms shiny new cosmodrome

    $800m facility to give 'full independence of space activities'

    Russia will guarantee its full space independence with a new cosmodrome in the country's far eastern Amur region, the BBC reports. Prime minister Vladimir Putin has confirmed that the $800m facility - first announced back in 2007 - should be up and running by 2015. The chosen site is close to the town of Uglegorsk, some 100km …

    Space 20 Jul 2010, 15:26

  • Lenovo eyes iPad-alternative opportunity

    LePad to run Android 3.0?

    The status of Lenovo's rather cute'n'skinny Skylight netbook may be uncertain, but the Chinese computer maker has at least committed itself to release an iPad alternative by the end of the year. Apparently, Lenovo has confirmed the debut of "LePad" - Lenovo's answer to the iPad in much the same way its LePhone targets the …

    reghardware 20 Jul 2010, 15:42

  • MP3tunes and Roku stream music to your TV

    To boob tube via Wi-Fi

    Today's forecast for personal music collections: cloudy. Apple is reportedly mulling a move to iTunes-in-the-cloud (that big ol' North Carolina data center is just about ready), Google and Microsoft are making their moves, We7 and Spotify are tapping toes in the UK and beyond, and MP3tunes has opened it's free-if-you-don't- …

    Music and Media 20 Jul 2010, 17:31

  • Google discovers Chrome can (really) block ads

    AdBlock add-on of Firefox proportions

    Google Chrome now includes the ability to completely block resources from loading inside the browser, and the latest incarnation of the AdBlock extension for Chrome is using this "beforeload" event to not only hide ads from the user but prevent them from downloading entirely. This brings the Chrome AdBlock extension in line …

    Applications 20 Jul 2010, 18:31

  • IBM preps Power7 iron for August launch

    Four bitty boxes and one enormous revenue engine

    With its hardware revenues taking hits since last fall because of impending server launches across its various lines, IBM has been pulling out the stops to move up announcements. Not only is the System zEnterprise 196 mainframe (formerly known as z11) being pulled forward to a July 22 launch, but now the entry and high-end …

    Servers 20 Jul 2010, 18:51

  • Google image search gets facelift

    Nips, tucks, and ads

    Google has revamped its image search service, rolling out a spruced-up interface and a new breed of image ad meant to dovetail with "organic" results. Designed to "make it easy to look at more images at once," the new interface uses a tiled layout that eliminates all that white space that turned up on the old version of Google …

    Music and Media 20 Jul 2010, 20:47

  • Apple revenue tops bullish expectations by $1bn

    iPod sales slipping. But who gives a %$#@?

    The Wall Street moneymen were expecting a big quarter for Apple, and with today's announcement that the Cupertinians had pulled in $15.7bn in revenue in their third quarter of fiscal 2010, those prognosticating financial folks got what they were hoping for — and a billion dollars more. "It was a phenomenal quarter that …

    Financial News 20 Jul 2010, 21:02

  • IE and Safari lets attackers steal user names and addresses

    Ripe for the picking, researcher says

    The Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari browsers are susceptible to attacks that allow webmasters to glean highly sensitive information about the people visiting their sites, including their full names, email addresses, location, and even stored passwords, a security researcher says. In a talk scheduled for next week …

    Security 20 Jul 2010, 21:15

  • Apple iPad – the 'Tickle Me Elmo' of 2010

    Can't make 'em fast enough

    Apple will sell 12.9 million iPads before the end of this year, according to the market watchers at iSuppli, upping their earlier estimate of 7.1 million "magical and revolutionary" devices. "The iPad is shaping up to be the 'Tickle Me Elmo' of the 2010 holiday season," said iSuppli's Rhoda Alexander in a statement, meaning …

    Music and Media 20 Jul 2010, 22:40

  • Fake Toy Story 3 scams creates malign buzz

    Woody's Roundup rogues

    Scammers have taken advantage of the buzz around the recent release of Toy Story 3 to bait bogus survey sites and pop-up software scams. The bogus sites ostensibly punting complete, steaming media downloads of the latest adventures of Buzz and Woody actual redirect the credulous through a thicket of potentially harmful and …

    Malware 20 Jul 2010, 22:43

  • Yahoo! blames so-so revenues on 'sluggish' search

    Bing tests ahoy!

    After all that Meltdown-induced cost-cutting and Bartzian reshaping, Yahoo!'s profits rose 32 per cent during the second quarter. But revenues grew a mere two per cent, failing to reach the expectations of both the Wall Street guessmen and Yahoo! itself. "We continued on our promise to improve operating income and margins," …

    Financial News 20 Jul 2010, 22:53

  • Google Chrome bug bounty ups Mozilla's ante

    $3,133.7 for most 'elite' reports

    Two days after Mozilla sextupled the bug bounty paid to security researchers to $3,000, Google has upped the ante for vulnerabilities that are reported in its Chrome browser. In a continuing play on elite hacker speak, Google will begin paying as much as $3,133.70 for the most critical bugs that are brought to its attention, …

    Security 20 Jul 2010, 23:06

  • VMware juggernaut rolls on and on

    Q2 sales up 48%

    Server virtualization juggernaut VMware gets to keep its title. In its second quarter ended in June, the company pushed sales up 47.9 per cent, to $673.9m, and despite some heavy research, development, sales, and marketing costs, its net income hit $74.5m. That's a 2.3 per cent profit increase. If Microsoft wasn't giving its …

    Virtualization 20 Jul 2010, 23:50