11th January 2011 Archive

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Windows 7 Phone glitch spews phantom data

Microsoft investigates daily data mystery

Microsoft is investigating reports that smartphones running its Windows Phone 7 operating system are transmitting huge chunks of data over 3G networks that cause subscribers to exceed their monthly allotments. The phantom data can be as much as 50 MB and is often consumed at the same time on consecutive days, according to one …

Mobile 11 Jan 2011, 00:41
Top CEOs agree: US is down the crapper

CES 2011 Dumb and getting dumber

The leaders of Cisco, GE, and Xerox are worried that the US is losing its competitive edge, and that it's high time to stop grandstanding and do something about it. "I'm optimistic, but I think that's partly because that's in my DNA, but I think we're at an inflection point, unfortunately," warned Cisco chairman and CEO John …

Government 11 Jan 2011, 01:52
Mickos and Eucalyptus lock arms with Red Hat

Ex-MySQL boss RHEVs cloud kit

Marten Mickos – the former MySQL boss who now runs build-your-own-cloud startup Eucalyptus Systems – has hitched his new wagon to Red Hat. In more ways than one. Last month, Mickos and company announced a pact with Red Hat that will see Eucalyptus embrace the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV) hypervisor as well as the …

Infrastructure 11 Jan 2011, 01:56
Google founder sinks $45m in toy boat

Page catches Ellisonian yacht bug

If you have been saving your pennies to hire one of the world's top ten yachts for a weekend getaway, we have some bad news for you: you're now down to nine. Google co-founder Larry Page just landed number eight for €35m (£29m, $45m). "It's an adventure boat and, for its size, I think it is the best around," the yacht's former …

Odds and Sods 11 Jan 2011, 05:00
Archos 43 16GB Android PMP

Review iPod Touch worrier?

Archos has embraced Android with the fervour of a kid in a sweet shop and is in the process of releasing a range of devices with screen sizes ranging from 2.8in - called the 28 - to 10.1in - called, yes you guessed it, the 101, all running Google's mobile OS. Archos' 43: Android tablet or PMP? The 28 and 32 are more pocket …

reghardware 11 Jan 2011, 07:00
Liverpool forward faces possible grilling over 'joke' Twitter pic

Babel gobs off about ref after tweeting pic of Webb in Man U shirt

Liverpool forward Ryan Babel faces probable disciplinary action after reacting to the Merseyside club's predictable defeat at Old Trafford on Sunday by posting on his Twitter page a satirical mocked up picture of match ref Howard Webb in a Man United shirt. Webb, unpopular in Spain as well as the Red half of Merseyside for his …

Music and Media 11 Jan 2011, 09:57
Xiotech sexes up new boxes

Shows off coming hybrid storage blade with flash

Xiotech is rebranding its Emprise products, and its coming hybrid NAND and disk drive storage blade is five times faster than the disk-only blade. Xiotech supplies 3U sealed canisters of disk drives called Intelligent Storage Elements (ISEs) – which include low-level storage array controller functionality, drive manufacturer …

Storage 11 Jan 2011, 10:27
Genes Reunited server storm dumps pile of emails on mailing list

Server comes unspliced, spews 2,000 mails on some users

The mailing list of family history website Genes Reunited went bonkers on Monday, deluging a small minority of subscribers with more than 2,000 emails each. Reg reader Dave was the first to report on the message storm glitch but others have been affected, as a quick search on twitter reveals. "All the messages (all 2,486 of …

Security 11 Jan 2011, 10:28
Couch potatoes riddled with heart disease

Turn off the TV. Now!

Your risk of getting a serious heart problem doubles if you spend more than four hours a day watching TV or playing computer games. If you spend that much time in front of a screen you are extremely unlikely to be doing enough exercise to counteract the bad effects of couch potato-dom. This is the headline finding of an Anglo …

reghardware 11 Jan 2011, 10:42
Apple refuses frozen iPhone repair

Cold customer service for iced phone user

Apple has refused to repair an iPhone 4 on the grounds that it was used in an ambient temperature below zero, in breach of the specifications. Norwegian rag Bergens Tidende reports it was -12 outside as Lenin Kristin Løvvik connected her iPhone to the car stereo for the provision of musical accompaniment on the way in to work …

Mobile 11 Jan 2011, 11:12
Fujitsu leads Home Office supplier spending

Dishes out £136m to IT vendor

The Home Office paid Fujitsu Services £136m in 2009-10, with CSC, Atos and Raytheon among other major suppliers. Figures released by the Home Office to Kable under Freedom of Information have revealed the department's largest supplier of any kind in the 2009-10 financial year was an IT firm, but also that it splits its …

Channel Register 11 Jan 2011, 11:39
Spam volumes double as Rustock botnet wakes

Great, I was wondering where I could get cheap viagra

Spam volumes have returned to normal following a holiday lull that saw a drastic reduction of junk mail. The Rustock botnet is out of hibernation and back in business, spewing copious volumes of useless junk mail courtesy of hundreds of thousands of compromised Windows machines. Rustock (which specialises in spamvertising …

Spam 11 Jan 2011, 11:40
Logica to rocket cloud revenue with 'exclusive' Microsoft deal

Expects 10 per cent growth

IT outsourcing outfit Logica has inked a deal with Microsoft to offer cloud tech to its Europe, Middle East and Asia customers. Financial terms of the agreement, which Logica described as an "exclusive alliance" between the two companies, were kept secret. The public sector specialist said it expected to see a 10 per cent …

Channel Register 11 Jan 2011, 11:42
Assange bailed again

Extradition battle rumbles on

Julian Assange has been bailed again by a London magistrate ahead of a full extradition hearing next month. The WikiLeaks founder walked free from Belmarsh Magistrates' Court this morning following a brief hearing, in which only minor changes were made to his bail conditions. Assange, who is wanted by Swedish authorities over …

Law 11 Jan 2011, 11:43
ITV juggles Freeview channels

Retune from 2pm today

ITV's main digital channel, ITV1, will today begin being repeated an hour later on Freeview. The catch-up channel, ITV1+1, will be transmitted on band 33, currently the home of ITV2+1. That channel is moving to band 27, on a different multiplex. The upshot: come 2pm today, you'll need to retune your Freeview receiver, be it …

reghardware 11 Jan 2011, 11:46
Logica nets ten-year police deal

Serious money for serious crime coppers

The Serious Organised Crime Agency has signed a ten-year deal with Logica to outsource its IT and case management systems. Alongside Logica, Detica, Qinetiq and Cable & Wireless will also provide the police with services. The £157m contract will give Soca improved ways to collaborate with partners, better use of intelligence …

Channel Register 11 Jan 2011, 11:48
Onkyo CS-545 combo mini hi-fi

Review CDs, remember them?

For music fans who aren’t ready to let go of their CD collection comes the CS-545, a mini system from Japanese audio specialist Onkyo. Aside from the disc drive, there’s an integrated iPhone/iPod dock, stereo line input at the back, radio tuner with 30 presets each for FM and DAB and an alarm timer. You can plug in a USB memory …

reghardware 11 Jan 2011, 12:00
Orange promises to pass on price cuts to broadband buyers

If the future is cheaper...

Orange has pledged to reduce home broadband and landline customers' monthly payments should the price of their plans drop in the future. Available with immediate effect, punters who subscribe to Orange's Broadband and Off Peak Calls deal, or its Broadband and Anytime Calls package are in frame for the commitment. However, …

reghardware 11 Jan 2011, 12:10
Korean web host charged over DDoS extortion scam

Gambling sites who refused to play ball got blitzed by junk traffic

A South Korean webmaster who allegedly maintained a gambling site for local crooks has been arrested over allegations he helped orchestrate denial of service attacks against scores of rival gambling sites that had refused to sign up to his hosting services. The suspect – named only as Lee, 32 – was arrested along with alleged …

Crime 11 Jan 2011, 12:28
Computacenter shares up on profits promise

'Customers are refreshing...'

Computacenter shares are up almost five per cent today on news that profits for last year should be at the top end of estimates. Updating the markets on trading ending 31 December 2010 Computacenter credited growth in services revenue and a return for growth in product sales for the good news. Group revenue for services was …

Channel Register 11 Jan 2011, 12:29
Softbank gets sticky over iPhone proximity payments

In Japan, by the power of adhesive

Japanese network operator Softbank is to begin providing iPhone stickers enabling proximity payments for all the popular banks, for those who can't wait for an NFC-equipped iPhone. The stickers are designed for slapping on the back of an iPhone 4, thus adding something in the way of physical protection for the glass-backed …

Mobile 11 Jan 2011, 12:41
Limping MySpace to offload half of workforce

500 jobs to go

MySpace employees are bracing themselves for huge job cuts, which are reportedly expected to be announced at the struggling News Corp-owned website later today. According to the Financial Times, MySpace has already laid off some of its staff. A cull of around 500 workers, around half of the company's global workforce, is …

Music and Media 11 Jan 2011, 12:42
Space boffins save BT's satellite station for Mars missions

Booming space industry to upgrade historic Goonhilly dishes

Space scientists will redevelop BT's historic Goonhilly satellite station in Cornwall to allow communication with missions to Mars, it is revealed today. The mothballed site will also become a centre of cutting-edge astronomical research as part of a network of huge radio telescopes. Arthur, the world's first parabolic …

Space 11 Jan 2011, 12:55
PS3 telly add-on update hit by splash screen crash

Sony shrugs shoulders over PlayTV woes

Rather a lot of users of PlayTV, Sony's DVR accessory for the PlayStation 3, have lost their recordings in an attempt to surmount bugs introduced in a recent update. Following the release late last year of version 2.02 of the PlayTV software – which includes support for Freeview’s series link functions – many users have …

reghardware 11 Jan 2011, 13:14
MP says she was misquoted over DNA test call

Sunday rag got it wrong, says Bristol politician

Bristol East MP Kerry McCarthy has rejected reports in the weekend press that she had "led calls" for the DNA testing of the entire 1-million-resident-strong Bristol area. A reporter on the Sunday Express, where the story originated, also wrote that McCarthy had said that men should be singled out for testing. This resulted …

Policing 11 Jan 2011, 13:23
Where is the EVA going?

Comment The future for HP's new toy

What is HP going to do with the Enterprise Virtual Array? The El Reg strategy department reckons a speed and feed increase is coming but no more than that, because HP doesn't own the clustering EVA functionality, and the newly-acquired 3PAR product has the virtualised data centre/cloud storage on-ramps which EVA lacks. Why do …

Storage 11 Jan 2011, 13:31
2011 Games Preview

What to pre-order

Despite continuing 2009's sales dip, 2010 was still a great year for videogames. While the trend showed gaming wasn't impervious to global recession, the sales figures also proved it is firmly established as the world's leading entertainment medium. So how to improve upon a year that saw Super Mario Galaxy 2, Mass Effect 2 and …

reghardware 11 Jan 2011, 14:00
Nintendo prez to talk Wii 2 at games conference

Or will Satoru Iwata just push the 3DS?

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata is to give a keynote speech at next March's Games Developers Conference. It'll be the twenty-fifth GDC, and while Iwata will undoubtedly look back at the evolution of videogames over the past quarter century, many Nintendo buffs will hope he drops a hint or two concerning the future of the Wii …

reghardware 11 Jan 2011, 14:41
Developer accuses TfL of 'fudging FOI requests'

Spinning its wheels on Boris Bike data?

Transport for London (TfL) is allegedly blocking attempts by the public to use Freedom of Information laws to obtain information from it, according to campaign group Big Brother Watch. At issue is whether TfL has the right to impose terms and conditions on FOI requesters, limiting their use of any information to purposes …

Developer 11 Jan 2011, 14:54
Fire safety gaffe knocks out Webfusion data centre

False alarm triggers mass server shutdown

A bungling fire safety contractor caused a complete shutdown at hosting firm Webfusion's data centre today, crippling thousands of websites. The firm's domain name arm, 123-Reg, was also temporarily offline. "An external third party was carrying out routine maintenance in our data centre, and testing our systems for fire …

Hardware 11 Jan 2011, 14:57
Alacritech wakes up from coma with speedy network file access

Me-too competition for Avere

Boucher is back. Alacritech, a TCP/IP acceleration technology licence fee stream company, has returned to building products with an appliance-accelerating access to network-attached storage (NAS) filers and 'aving a go at Avere. Alacritech was started up in 1997 by Larry Boucher, who is still its CEO. Boucher also founded …

Storage 11 Jan 2011, 15:11
NASA trumpets rocky exoplanet find

Kepler-10b is 'planetary missing link'

NASA has announced it's nailed the first "bone-fide" [sic] rocky exoplanet, which at 1.4 times the diameter of Earth is the smallest such body spotted to date outside our solar system. As its name suggests, Kepler-10b was identified orbiting star Kepler-10 - at a distance of 560 light years from Earth - by the agency's …

Space 11 Jan 2011, 15:13
Freecom touts 'world's skinniest' mobile HDD

Slimline SuperSpeed

Freecom claims its new Mobile Drive Mg, an external HDD for Mac users, is the thinnest drive of its kind in the world. Bad luck, Freecom - Hitachi got there first, with its G-Drive Slim, also 10mm thick. Thin it may be, but that doesn't prevent it from packing in the latest in connectivity tech, USB 3.0. True, Macs haven't …

reghardware 11 Jan 2011, 15:53
Italian bloke sneezes out .22 bullet

New Year's Eve head shot ends in 'amazing' ejection

An Italian labourer seriously impressed doctors by sneezing out a .22 bullet he'd accidentally picked up during lively New Year's Eve celebrations in Naples. Darco Sangermano, 28, copped a stray round in the right side of his head while enjoying the traditional trigger-happy knees-up with his girlfriend. Cue a dash to …

Bootnotes 11 Jan 2011, 15:57
4G networks can screw up cable TV

I want my MTV, and phone calls too

LTE can knock out cable TV, according to new analysis funded by Ofcom, which is bad news for anyone who likes to talk and watch at the same time. The study confirms suggestions last year that LTE deployments could interfere with cable-TV. Ofcom's research found this could indeed happen if the LTE handset is exactly the same …

Mobile 11 Jan 2011, 16:05
ESA hits scientists with hefty Planck

Celestial microwave data for your viewing pleasure

The European Space Agency has released the first scientific results from its Planck microwave observatory, representing "thousands of very cold, individual sources which the scientific community is now free to explore". Among the goodies on offer is "evidence for an otherwise invisible population of galaxies shrouded in dust …

Space 11 Jan 2011, 16:26
Groupon buys big after $1bn funding round

Coupon crusade continues with three-company spree

Coupon website Groupon has scooped up three companies offering similar services in Israel, India and South Africa, after it completed a $950m round of funding from investors yesterday. The 3,000-strong outfit, which recently walked away from a multi-billion dollar takeover bid by Google, said it had bought coupon deal sites …

Financial News 11 Jan 2011, 16:41
Apple 4 Verizon. True

Updated iPhone coming to second US network

It's official: Apple's iPhone 4 will be available on US carrier Verizon's network on 10 February. Tweaked for CDMA - all the others use GSM - the handset will be priced at $200 for the 16GB model and $300 for the 32GB version. Verizon subscribers can order ahead of the rush, on 3 February. Unique to Verizon's iPhone: 3G …

reghardware 11 Jan 2011, 16:52
Google opens API for url shrinker

goo.gl app tap

Google has launched an API for its new url shortening service. When the company launched its goo.gl url shortener to world+dog in the fall, it promised to eventually provide a programming interface, and on Monday, it finally rolled the thing out at Google Code Labs – to much fanfare among the Googly set. "With this API, …

Developer 11 Jan 2011, 19:25
Windows on ARM: leading from the rear

Analysis Should you be excited yet?

Bill Gates may have long departed, but he's still in charge at Microsoft, in spirit at least. Every year Chairman Bill would return from a "reading week" – I prefer to think that Bill got lost on his annual trip to the shopping mall – having noticed that there were lots of newfangled TVs / watches / phones / pacemakers about, …

PCs & Chips 11 Jan 2011, 20:02
Researcher cracks Wi-Fi passwords with Amazon cloud

Return of the Caveman attack

A security researcher has tapped Amazon's cloud computing service to crack Wi-Fi passwords in a fraction of the time and for a fraction of the cost of using his own gear. Thomas Roth of Cologne, Germany told Reuters he used custom software running on Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud service to break into a WPA-PSK protected …

Security 11 Jan 2011, 20:17
Aussie gov web wonks declare clouds have grey areas

Financial benefits clear. Law, security still a worry

The Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO), has raised legal and contractual issues as key concerns in government adoption of cloud computing. The office has released a consultation draft, "Cloud Computing Strategic Direction Paper, Opportunities and applicability for use by Australian Government", and has …

Channel Register 11 Jan 2011, 22:00
Oracle's Sword of Damocles forces open source ~~fork~~ rename

Hudson out, Jenkins in

With Larry Ellison dangling the sword of Damocles over their heads, the leaders of the Hudson community have decided to rename the popular open-source software-build project and move it to a new code repository on GitHub. If their proposal is accepted by the rest of the community, Hudson will be rechristened Jenkins. Late last …

Developer 11 Jan 2011, 22:09
Lawyers fear Assange faces death penalty in US

Guantanamo Bay and torture too

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could be imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay or face the death penalty if he's extradited to the US, his attorneys argued in court papers released Tuesday. The document, which outlines the defense Assange's legal team intends to use next month at a hearing over Sweden's request for extradition, says …

Government 11 Jan 2011, 22:37
Verizon: CDMA iPad to join iPhone

'World iPad' on horizon?

Hot on the heels of Verizon's announcement on Tuesday that it will begin to offer an Apple iPhone 4 on its CDMA network on February 10 comes word that a CDMA iPad is also in the works. According to Bloomberg, Verizon Communications CFO Francis Shammo has said that Apple will provide Verizon Wireless with an iPad that has its …

Mobile 11 Jan 2011, 23:17
Uncle Sam bankrolls Cray XT6m deal

Colorado State bags bargain teraflops

Supercomputer maker Cray can't just sell huge machines to a handful of government and academic labs flush with government funding. It also has to sell them to universities and private companies that are tapping into smaller amounts of Uncle Sam's largess. So it is with an XT6m supercomputer deal that Cray is bringing online …

HPC 11 Jan 2011, 23:38