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4th August 2010 Archive

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  • Adobe confirms remote code-execution flaw in Reader (again)

    Separate PDF vuln in Safari hits iPhone, too

    A security researcher has uncovered yet another vulnerability in Adobe Reader that allows hackers to execute malicious code on computers by tricking their users into opening booby-trapped files. Charlie Miller, principal security analyst at Independent Security Evaluators, disclosed the critical flaw at last week's Black Hat …

    Malware 4 Aug 00:18

  • Etón Soulra solar-powered iPod dock

    Review Let there be light… and sound

    While there are plenty of solar chargers to keep gadgets going in the great outdoors, sun-powered iPod speaker docks are rather thin on the ground. Step forward Californian company Etón Corporation, which specialises in portable and often eco-friendly products such as wind-up and solar radios. Waiting for the sun: Etón's …

    reghardware 4 Aug 07:02

  • Dixons aims high, medium and low with own-brand blizzard

    Customers sliced and diced

    Dixons is aiming low to high with four new own-brand lines for its PC World and Currys stores. Let's give them a twirl, starting at the bargain basement end and work our way through to the sleek, quite expensive, Scandinavian sounding brand. Currys Essentials was created to make "straightforward products at unbeatable …

    reghardware 4 Aug 07:02

  • Saudi Arabia beats UAE to BlackBerry ban

    Shutters come down Friday

    BlackBerry users residing in, or visiting, Saudi Arabia should ensure that they can get to their messages another way, as the government is asking operators to block RIM’s email service from Friday. Other countries, notably the neighbouring UAE, have threatened to cut off the BlackBerry's email service, which provides messages …

    Mobile 4 Aug 08:48

  • Vodafone upsets customers with upgrade downgrade

    Users up in arms

    Vodafone customers with an HTC Desire, waiting for Android 2.2, instead got a new firmware version packed with Vodafone bloat. Froyo is the new version of Android and adds some useful features to Google’s mobile OS. Vodafone customers have been waiting excitedly for an upgrade their HTC Desire phones, but on installation they …

    Telecoms 4 Aug 10:07

  • Indonesian parliament gets smut eyeful

    Now that's what I call an early day motion... er...

    There were red faces at the Indonesian parliament this week after miscreants somehow managed to stream a porn video through an internal TV channel. Officials apparently struggled to turn off the smut stream from an adult website for 15 minutes before finally restoring control. The incident came in the run-up to the proposed …

    Bootnotes 4 Aug 10:08

  • Carnivorous plague mice 'wiping out towns' in US Midwest

    Burrowing bioweapon corpse-feast dog-squirrel horror

    Top boffins in the States believe they have unmasked the mystery attacker responsible for repeatedly wiping out towns in the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains, slaughtering thousands of inhabitants. The massacres are apparently being carried out by a type of carnivorous mouse, described by scientists as "nasty little beasties …

    Biology 4 Aug 10:11

  • Scotland's police inspector slams data entry record

    Skelly not happy

    The accuracy of information on the Police National Computer (PNC) is being affected by problems with IT and data entry at Scottish police forces, according to a new report. PNC Inspections: National overview report, published by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland, calls for the country's police forces to improve the …

    Policing 4 Aug 10:44

  • Sky faces competition probe over film rights

    Ofcom calls in Competition Commission

    The Competition Commission will investigate whether Sky is using a stranglehold on film rights to harm its competitors in the pay-TV market. The communications regulator Ofcom today formally asked for the probe, expressing concerns that because of the way film rights are sold, Sky has "the incentive and ability to distort …

    Music and Media 4 Aug 10:52

  • Google to allow trade marks as keywords across Europe

    Other UK changes afoot too

    Google will let companies use competitors' trade marks as keywords to trigger search adverts in all European countries for the first time. The move will test the interpretation of a number of EU and national court rulings on the controversial practice. Google's AdWords system sells the right to have an ad displayed when a …

    IT Director 4 Aug 10:54

  • Hotmail upgrade finally reaches 350m users

    Plumbs depths of Web2.0rhea

    Microsoft has taken its sweet time to roll out its new version of Hotmail to its 350 million users, but everyone has now been upgraded. The software vendor said that most Hotmail fans got the latest version in the past week. In late May Microsoft plastered tube stations, buses and billboards with its bewildering “New Busy” …

    Applications 4 Aug 11:01

  • Botnet that pwned 100,000 UK PCs taken out

    Researchers crowbar entry into cybercrime server

    Security researchers have uncovered the command and control network of a Zeus 2 botnet sub-system targeted at UK surfers that controlled an estimated 100,000 computers. Cybercrooks based in eastern Europe used a variant of the Zeus 2 cybercrime toolkit to harvest personal data - including bank log-ins, credit and debit card …

    ID 4 Aug 11:29

  • UK music worth £3.9bn

    Bucks recession trend

    The UK music industry grew 4.7 per cent last year, according to the PRS annual survey. What's remarkable is that consumers spent pretty much the same in 2009 as they did in 2008 - while computer game sales fell 11 per cent, and DVD movie sales fell 10 per cent. Live music continues to boom, with revenues up 9.4 per cent to £1 …

    Music and Media 4 Aug 11:31

  • Hands on with Nintendo 3DS

    Pushes all the right buttons

    When Nintendo invited us last week to an event to show off its three dimensional portable gaming console, the 3DS, I wasn't as excited as I should have been. A Nintendo fan since my first Duckhunt, I'd be lying if I said I was uninterested, but apart from a World Cup match in the cinema, 3D technology has never impressed me. …

    reghardware 4 Aug 11:56

  • Apple smartens up music file-sharing via iDisk

    Cloud streaming stealth launched? Not really...

    Apple has stealthily added "cloud" music streaming without telling anyone - even its own customers, according to MP3Tunes' Michael Robertson. The feature, which is part of iDisk, allows password-free music sharing and playback. On closer inspection - this isn't exactly true. File-sharing has always been part of iDisk. It's …

    Applications 4 Aug 12:26

  • Symantec leak hints at PureDisk on NetBackup 5000

    Secret dedupe tech

    Symantec appears to be close to introducing a NetBackup 5000 appliance running PureDisk deduplication software, if a leaked manual is real. The Symantec NetBackup 5000 Getting Started Guide looks like a standard Symantec document. The Register has seen v6.6.0.2 revision 2, with a 2010 date. It describes a NetBackup 5000 …

    Storage 4 Aug 12:32

  • Brussels delays data protection reforms

    Complex overhaul

    The European Commission has effectively pushed back plans to overhaul the Data Protection Directive by up to a year under pressure from national regulators. Commissioner Viviane Reding said in March that she would publish her legislative proposals by the end of this year, but that deadline has now been abandoned. Instead, this …

    Law 4 Aug 12:45

  • Terrafugia Transition flying car redesign - first analysis

    Crash protection robs lardo pilots of golf clubs

    The Terrafugia Transition - the nearest thing to a flying car expected on the civil market in the near future - has been redesigned following last year's flight tests of a proof-of-concept prototype. New and improved ... but it's lost 90lb of payload. The new design includes some significant changes from the original …

    Physics 4 Aug 12:46

  • Vonage offers free 3G calls for iPhone, Droid Facebookers

    Bitchslapped cheeks aflame at Skype and Fring

    Vonage, the respectable face of VoIP, has launched a mobile client allowing iPhone and Android users to make VoIP calls for free, as long as they’re calling a Facebook friend. The application, which is appearing now on iTunes and the Android Marketplace, lists those Facebook contacts who also have the application installed ( …

    VoIP 4 Aug 13:13

  • AOL sales drop by a quarter, reports billion dollar loss

    'Getting healthier everyday'

    AOL blew another hole in its finances today after the internet veteran posted a massive quarterly loss, having swallowed a Q2 goodwill impairment charge related to its sell-off of Bebo. Worse still, the company saw its advertising revenue plummet 27 per cent to $296.9m in the quarter ended 30 June. In the same period a year …

    Financial News 4 Aug 13:19

  • Scotland Yard cuffs six in megaquid phish ring probe

    Operation Dynamophone nabs suspects

    Six suspected fraudsters have been arrested in the UK and Ireland over their alleged involvement in a bank and credit card phishing scam that affected tens of thousands of victims and resulted in losses of millions of pounds. Five men and one woman, aged 25 to 40, were arrested in London and County Meath, Ireland on Tuesday …

    Crime 4 Aug 13:57

  • Superhero game beta sucks boobs into honeypot

    'Absolutely the most useless Beta key in history'

    Gamers anxious to try out DC Universe Online ahead of its official release have become the targets of a scam designed to trick them into completing bogus surveys. DC Universe Online, a multiplayer online game for Playstation 3 and PCs, will allow gamers to take out bad guys alongside the likes of Batman, Superman and other DC …

    Software 4 Aug 15:06

  • Red Dead Redemption reloads with add-ons

    First pack on its way

    As mentioned last month, the first of four Red Dead Redemption packs is on its way, starting with Legends and Killers, downloadable from early next week. As well as nine multiplayer map locations, the Tomahawk weapon and further Achievement or Trophy opportunities, eight characters from Red Dead Revolver will debut on the …

    reghardware 4 Aug 15:23

  • LiMo rumoured set for recall to Linux mothership

    It's an Android world out there

    The operator-backed LiMo Foundation is on the verge of folding into the Linux Foundation, according to Taiwanese manufacturers working with the standard. Digitimes reports that Vodafone has given up on the platform following poor sales of its LiMo-based Vodafone 360 handsets, and that the remaining partners are having a hard …

    Software 4 Aug 15:29

  • Labor raids IT piggybank to grease election promises

    Robbing Peter to pay Paul. Or something

    Labor will cut Australia's IT budget to pay for election pledges. This is how it will work. The Gillard government expects to save more than $1bn over four years through better procurement practices introduced by the IT efficiency expert Peter Gershon in 2008. The savings were to be "quarantined" to fund new IT projects. But …

    Public Sector 4 Aug 16:32

  • Vodafone bags UK first for BlackBerry Torch 9800

    Supplier starts shipping soon

    Mobile giants Vodafone is the first UK network to offer the BlackBerry Torch 9800. With the device advertised on Vodafone's website, customers can register interest, but dates and pricing aren't yet available. Reports suggest O2 UK will also stock the Torch 9800, with test units already running O2 SIM cards. Although there is …

    reghardware 4 Aug 16:33

  • FTC settles Intel lawsuit to 'help consumers'

    Update 'Disturbing behavior' curbed

    The US Federal Trade Commission announced Wednesday morning the much-anticipated settlement of a lawsuit it brought against chip maker Intel last December. Rather than seeking money — something Intel has doled out to settle other lawsuits with rival AMD and the European Commission's antitrust authorities — the FTC sought …

    PCs & Chips 4 Aug 16:55

  • Is it a phone? Is it a Taser? No, it's a cattle prod!

    Novel explanation for mobile stun gun

    A Queensland man yesterday pleaded guilty to possession of a Taser disguised as a mobile phone. In his defence, Carl Townroe claimed the device was a cattle prod and not in disguise. Mind you, he also pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana, so the weed may have got to him. Tasers are nasty things and we can think of no …

    Mobile 4 Aug 17:38

  • GPL scores historic court compliance victory

    I want my HDTV settlement

    Open sourcers have scored a major victory in a US court over violation of the GPL. The Software Freedom Conservancy has secured $90,000 in damages for willful infringement of GPLv2, plus nearly $50,000 in costs from Westinghouse Digital Electronics over its illegal distribution of the Unix utility BusyBox. The company has also …

    Software 4 Aug 18:55

  • Judge trounces Register.com in Baidu.com hijacking case

    Idiocy is no excuse

    A federal judge has given Chinese search-engine giant Baidu the green light to proceed with its negligence lawsuit against domain registrar Register.com in a court decision that said an error that wreaked havoc on the Chinese site smacked of intentional wrongdoing. The ruling came after Register.com argued in March that it …

    Enterprise Security 4 Aug 18:55

  • 'Most powerful person in search' calls time on Yahoo!

    Google promotion targets Facebook?

    In the war for internet supremacy, one veteran has retired from the battle while another has new marching orders: Yahoo! trailblazer Srinija Srinivasan has bowed out while Google vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra has reportedly been tapped to head up Mountain View's anti-Facebook offensive. "I'm proud to announce my …

    Music and Media 4 Aug 19:48

  • AMD to crank up performance with Bulldozer Opterons

    Shared components, more clocks

    Although AMD won't release its "Bulldozer" PC and server processors and "Bobcat" mobile processors until sometime next year, the company is expected to be the star of the Hot Chips conference at Stanford University later this month. After all, the IT market is always looking ahead, so AMD has to keep talking about its future …

    PCs & Chips 4 Aug 21:36

  • Apathy kills Google's new-age Wave

    Idea unappreciated beyond the Googleplex

    Google is closing down development of its new-age communications platform Wave due to lack of interest. The Chocolate Factory said Wednesday that it's stopping development of Wave as a stand-alone product because of a lack of user adoption. The Wave site is being put on life support until the end of the year, with the …

    Software 4 Aug 22:10

  • Apple preps iOS fix as Germany warns of iPhone peril

    Flick a slider, get rooted

    Apple plans to issue fixes for two security flaws that when exploited together allow attackers to remotely install malicious apps on iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches. Although the critical vulnerabilities surfaced over the weekend, Apple officials didn't acknowledge them until Wednesday, the same day the German government …

    Malware 4 Aug 23:34

  • Microsoft strikes Salesforce patent payola

    Settlement riddle

    Salesforce.com is paying good money to make Microsoft's patent infringement lawsuit go away, Redmond has said. In a strangely worded statement from Microsoft on Wednesday announcing a patent-licensing settlement with Salesforce, Microsoft has slyly said that while the contents of the companies' agreement have not been …

    Business 4 Aug 23:38