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13th December 2010 Archive

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  • Oracle demands another $211.6m from SAP

    'Ahem, where's our interest on the $1.3bn?'

    Oracle just keeps rubbing it in with application software rival SAP over the TomorrowNow fiasco. In a court filing on Friday, which was reported by various news outlets (see here and there, Oracle has gone back to the US District Court for the Northern District of California in Oakland, where a jury just awarded Oracle a $1. …

    Software 13 Dec 2010, 04:18

  • Gawker rooted by anonymous hackers

    Passwords, chats, source code aired

    A band of anonymous hackers has rooted the servers of Gawker Media – turning the tables on one of the internet's most ruthless gossip rags by leaking half a gigabyte's worth of its private laundry. Known as Gnosis, the band gave props to 4chan and last week's Operation Payback, which targeted PayPal, MasterCard, Visa, and other …

    Enterprise Security 13 Dec 2010, 05:25

  • Apple iPhone 4 vs... the rest

    2010: it's a wrap Fight, Fight

    The iPhone has been the smartphone to beat since, well, since it was first launched in 2007 - doesn’t that seem a very long time ago now? In the intervening years, it’s gained what some would consider smartphone essentials - 3G network access, cut'n'paste, third-party apps - and it’s changed its look a little with the latest …

    reghardware 13 Dec 2010, 07:00

  • 'Wear levelling' - a bedroom aid for multi-layer cell Flash

    Comment Helps it last longer

    Multi-level cell NAND flash doesn't last as long as single-level cell flash but there are ways to increase its life, under the generic heading of wear-levelling. NAND flash cells have a finite life, in that they only support a specific number of writes before failing to return valid data from a read request. It's necessary to …

    Storage 13 Dec 2010, 09:15

  • IBM's blue bigness: A heftier systems bulge than you'd expect

    Analysis We have two sexy models to prove it ...

    How big is IBM's systems business? Based on my own model of revenues for the company, the answer is that IBM's systems sales each quarter – including servers, storage, operating systems, and maintenance – is considerably larger than its quarterly stats for server sales. A lot larger, in fact, and the business is a lot more …

    Servers 13 Dec 2010, 09:45

  • MSI confirms tablets to be outed at CES

    Windows, Android models pipelined

    No real details were mentioned, alas, but Taiwanese hardware maker MSI has confirmed that it too is hopping on the tablet bandwagon next year. Hopping on the fence too: MSI will be offering two tablets, one based on Intel chippage and running Windows, the other built out of ARM and Android. Branded WindPad, the two tablets …

    reghardware 13 Dec 2010, 09:53

  • Southwest One misses savings target

    Slimmed down council services take a bite out of outsourcing savings

    Somerset CC has confirmed that it is likely to save less than anticipated from its outsourcing deal with IBM due to the "slimming down" of council services. Southwest One, a joint venture between Somerset, Taunton Deane BC, Avon and Somerset Police and IBM, was expected to save the council £172m over seven years, but Somerset …

    Channel Register 13 Dec 2010, 10:09

  • ITV, C4 catch-up players coming to PS3

    Out this week

    PS3 owners willsoon be able to watch ITV and Channel 4 programming. Both stations' catch-up TV viewers are being ported to the PlayStation. ITV Player and 4oD will go live on the PS3 later this week, the Guardian reports. The services join BBC iPlayer, which launched on the Sony games console last year. Unlike iPlayer, the …

    reghardware 13 Dec 2010, 10:37

  • OCZ scores huge OEM client

    Supplier to ship enterprise SSDs to HP, says analyst

    Consumer SSD supplier OCZ has won a tier-1 OEM for its Deneva line of enterprise multi-level cell flash. OCZ, known for its Vertex and Onyx consumer solid state drives (SSDs), unveiled an enterprise drive range called Deneva earlier in the year. It uses multi-level cell (MLC) flash paired with Sandforce 1500 controllers, and …

    Storage 13 Dec 2010, 10:43

  • Amazon blames hardware – not hackers – for European outage

    Anonymous denies Grinch-style attack on Xmas shoppers

    Problems with Amazon's systems in Europe over the weekend were down to hardware failure rather than hackers, the e-commerce giant said on Sunday. Christmas shoppers trying to complete purchases from Amazon's online stores in the UK, France, Germany, Austria and Italy were locked out for around half an hour on Sunday. Amazon …

    Enterprise Security 13 Dec 2010, 10:50

  • Coder converts Kinect to air guitar

    Tradin' clicks

    And now the application for which Microsoft's Kinect Xbox add-on was born to run: air guitar. Enterprising coder Chris O'Shea says he'd tried to create an air guitar rig three years ago, but it wasn't until the arrival of Kinect and the wealth of hacking tools that followed its launch that allowed him to create a (kind of) …

    reghardware 13 Dec 2010, 11:02

  • Angry Birds find new way to take your money

    The Eagle has landed, with operator billing

    Addressing Android's lack of in-application billing, Rovio, the developer of Angry Birds, has begun asking network operators to collect the cash when a user wants to call for an air strike. In September, Rovio took to the stage to demonstrate how a customer who had purchased Angry Birds could buy an Eagle-powered air strike …

    Mobile 13 Dec 2010, 11:12

  • Twitter diet spam splurge blamed on Gawker compromise

    Spammers spread berry silly nonsense

    Compromised Twitter accounts are being abused to post spam messages promoting a diet website. Tens of thousands of messages promoting an acai berries diet website appeared on Sunday, prompting speculation that a worm was spreading across the micro-blogging service. However, it seems the spam fest was not caused by twits …

    Spam 13 Dec 2010, 11:17

  • Samsung pitches 'luxury' Android tablet

    Bundles leather case for the super rich

    Samsung is pitching its Galaxy Tab at the well-heeled. To that end, it is offering Europe's wealthiest citizens a Luxury Edition of the 7in Android tablet. Will they be impressed? We don't think so. The Luxury Edition Tab, you see, is exactly the same as the version Samsung offers to the proles. Distinguishing the Luxury …

    reghardware 13 Dec 2010, 11:32

  • Google revives ‘network computer’ with dual-OS assault on MS

    Chrome OS injects new life into netbooks and thin clients

    One of the great ironies of this year is that Google and Oracle – now owner of Sun and Java – are locked in legal combat. The irony stems from the fact that, even as they bicker, the concept they did more than anyone else to create is back in the limelight. This is what we used to call the thin client, which then morphed into …

    PCs & Chips 13 Dec 2010, 11:34

  • Mark Zuckerberg's face in your inbox. Forever

    Andrew's Mailbag Embrace and extend – or natural evolution?

    A couple of weeks ago, I pondered the implications of Facebook's embrace and extend into the world of email – see Facebook: Privatising the internet, one Poke at a time. One the one hand, it seems a clear case of one company co-opting internet protocols. On the other hand, these internet protocols haven't kept pace with what …

    Music and Media 13 Dec 2010, 12:30

  • Boffins crack walnut-shaped Iapetus moon mystery

    Moon-moon became ring, prominent bulge followed

    Space boffins studying the puzzling mystery of Iapetus, the walnut-shaped moon of Saturn, believe they may have discovered how the strange body's unique equatorial ridge was formed. The mighty ridge at some places stands 12 miles above the surface average – more than twice as high as Mount Everest's summit is above sea level …

    Space 13 Dec 2010, 12:39

  • Beeb ordered to release TV licensing contract sweeteners

    Capita deal under scrutiny

    The BBC is to be forced to reveal secret sweeteners contained in its licence fee collection deal with Capita within five weeks. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) today gave the corporation a 35-day deadline to disclose the incentives written into the contract. BBC bosses had previously refused requests for the …

    Music and Media 13 Dec 2010, 12:41

  • Paul Allen's monster patent attack hit by judge dismissal

    Interval Licensing reaches for permanent gain

    A US district judge dropped a patent infringement lawsuit filed by a company associated with Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen last Friday. Interval Licensing LLC, which is the patent arm of Interval Research, brought a far-reaching complaint against Google’s YouTube, Apple, Facebook, eBay, Netflix, AOL, Yahoo!, Office Depot, …

    Financial News 13 Dec 2010, 12:47

  • US Navy achieves '100 mile' hypersonic railgun test shot

    Electro-hypercannon could bring back the dreadnought era

    The US Navy, continuing its quest for a hypervelocity cannon which might restore the big-gun dreadnought to its lost dominion over the seas, has carried out a new and record-breaking railgun test. This latest trial firing pushed muzzle energy to a blistering 33 megajoules (MJ). The muzzle velocity, as in the previous 10 …

    Science 13 Dec 2010, 12:53

  • DUI suspect was watching porn DVD

    One hand on the wheel...

    An Indianoplis man was pulled in by cops last week for drunk driving while watching porn. Actually, he was only charged with drunk driving – Indiana law not appearing to have a law governing the viewing of smut while hurtling down the highway while nominally in control of a tonne-and-a-half of car. At least not at the moment …

    Bootnotes 13 Dec 2010, 12:57

  • Grey marketing is great - if you're the importer...

    Opinion Distributors toe an ever-shifting line

    Let's face it: those of us who are in the distribution channel (and that means the distribution channel for absolutely anything, not just tech goods) are in a bit of a bind when we start to discuss grey or parallel imports. For we're absolutely outraged at the idea that anyone might try to bring in cheaper versions from other …

    Channel Register 13 Dec 2010, 13:07

  • Dutch hacker group offers to 're-educate' teen hacktivists

    Make info-love, not war

    A Dutch hackers collective named Revspace wants to "re-educate" Dutch teens suspected of cyberattacks against Mastercard and Visa and websites of the Dutch National Prosecutors Office – and turn them into "ethical hackers". Last week, Dutch police arrested a 16-year-old boy for participating in web attacks against MasterCard …

    Enterprise Security 13 Dec 2010, 13:15

  • Xbox 360 outsells PS3 2:1

    Kinect-ic energy

    Microsoft has been selling a lot more Kinect bundles than Sony has sold PlayStation 3 and Move combos a US market watcher has claimed. And that suggests that it's selling more than twice as many consoles as its arch-rival is. According to Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, by way of Industry Gamers, "about …

    reghardware 13 Dec 2010, 13:16

  • Panda did not hire VXer

    Chinese whispers whack facts on Fujacks black hat

    Panda Security has reaffirmed its policy of not hiring hackers following incorrect reports that it had hired a infamous Chinese virus writer. Li Jun, author of the Fujacks worm, "found a job with Panda following his recent release from prison", according to local reports. Not so, according to Panda Security chief exec Juan …

    Malware 13 Dec 2010, 13:57

  • Paris Hilton meets bikers, opens up... wallet

    Two strokes for now – four strokes later

    Paris Hilton may have been keeping her head down recently, but rumours are circulating that she will be roaring back into the spotlight next year by sponsoring a motorbike team. The multi-talented heiress will be lending her name to the 125GP class TeamSuperMartxe VIP by Paris Hilton, reports Asphaltandrubber. While many …

    Bootnotes 13 Dec 2010, 14:08

  • The deal is done: Dell is buying Compellent

    Christmas comes early in Minneapolis

    The deal is on: Compellent has agreed to be bought by Dell for $27.75/share. That makes a total equity value of approximately $960m, or about $820m, net of Compellent’s cash. The transaction is subject to approval by Compellent’s shareholders and is expected to close in early 2011. The price is $0.25 higher than the price …

    Storage 13 Dec 2010, 14:42

  • Men may be able to grow a new pancreas from their testicles

    Dead chaps' junk used to cure diabetic mice

    Topflight geneticists say they have managed to cure diabetes in mice by grafting material from dead men's testicles onto them. The development may mean that in future, human (male) diabetes sufferers can in effect grow a replacement bollock-based pancreas from such tissues. According to an announcement from the lab involved, …

    Biology 13 Dec 2010, 14:48

  • T-Mobile tots up cost of £199 iPad 3G

    Operator pitches tablet subsidy

    T-Mobile has become the latest UK mobile phone network to subsidise Apple's iPad. No great surprise, that, since fellow Everything Everywhere-owned cellco, Orange, has already done so, but at last the details of the T-Mobile deal are out. On offer, just the 16GB iPad, available at the subsidised price of £199 in return for …

    reghardware 13 Dec 2010, 14:59

  • Fat NAND controllers to slim down

    NAND controllers to lose die-dependent functions 

    Micron says some flash controller jobs are going to migrate down stack towards the NAND chips, freeing up controller manufacturers from chip-dependent work they shouldn't be doing. It sees low-level flash controllers developing and taking on error management, taking this job away from existing NAND controllers. Micron takes …

    Storage 13 Dec 2010, 15:00

  • Kingston pitches Flash that's, you know, for kids

    Snap together storage

    Storage specialist Kingston has unwrapped a new "fun" Flash drive for anyone whose taste in handy file stores tends to the infantile. The Data Traveler Mini Fun comes not only in 2, 4 and 8GB capacities, but also in two-colour cases: red and black, light and dark blue, and lime and pea green. Each drive pivots centrally to …

    reghardware 13 Dec 2010, 15:13

  • Sudanese voters get SMS hotline

    Just like X-Factor, only with guns

    Sudanese citizens might not be able to cast their ballot by SMS, but they will be able to report intimidation and violence at polling stations by SMS short code. Voters in the forthcoming referendum on creating an independent South Sudan will be able to contribute to a crowd-sourced map of the country which is intended to show …

    Mobile 13 Dec 2010, 15:23

  • Seagate takes a terabyte of the storage apple

    First 1TB 2.5-inch internal spinner

    Seagate has announced the industry's first 7200rpm internal-fit 1TB capacity 2.5-inch hard drive, the Constellation 2. The drive is made for server storage applications, including direct-attached, network-attached and SAN storage, and, as expected, has a 6Gbit/s interface, both SATA and SAS, and capacity points of 250GB, 500GB …

    Storage 13 Dec 2010, 15:34

  • Chinese official gets suspended death sentence over anti-virus scam

    Gov man pocketed bribes to put innocent start-up veep in the slammer

    A Chinese appeals court has confirmed a suspended death sentence against a corrupt official who took bribes and sent an innocent marketing executive to prison for a year in order to line his pockets. Yu Bing, a former director of the network monitoring department of the Ministry of Public Security, embezzled 4.52 million yuan …

    Enterprise Security 13 Dec 2010, 15:54

  • Electric forcefield space sailing-ship tech gets EU funding

    Solar windjammer to be biggest fastest thing ever built

    Finnish space boffins have been awarded €1.7m and placed in charge on an international effort to build the fastest thing ever made by the human race – namely a spacecraft propelled by the pressure of sunlight striking an enormous electrical field. The "electric solar wind sail" is not your common or garden solar sail, familiar …

    Space 13 Dec 2010, 16:48

  • Microsoft joins protest against Google web travel buy

    Deal slurps Bing's software juice

    Microsoft has joined a coalition to challenge Google's purchase of ITA Software, teaming up with a one-time critic of its Bing travel service. Redmond is one of three new members of FairSearch.org, founded to persuade the US Department of Justice to block Google's proposed purchase of ITA Software. Microsoft's Bing search …

    Music and Media 13 Dec 2010, 19:09

  • Grand jury meets to decide fate of WikiLeaks founder

    Assange under microscope

    A federal grand jury in Virginia is meeting to decide whether to bring spying charges against Julian Assange, an attorney for the imprisoned WikiLeaks founder said over the weekend. “We have heard from Swedish authorities there has been a secretly empaneled grand jury in Alexandria (Virginia),” attorney Mark Stephens told Al- …

    Government 13 Dec 2010, 20:07

  • Ad networks owned by Google, Microsoft serve malware

    Javascript obfuscation

    Two of the world's biggest ad serving networks – one owned by Google and the other by Microsoft – have been caught delivering booby-trapped banner ads that infect computers with malware without any action required on the part of the end user. The ads on Google's DoubleClick and Microsoft's rad.msn.com contained heavily …

    Malware 13 Dec 2010, 22:04