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28th January 2011 Archive

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  • Gadgets boost software-centric Microsoft quarter

    Kinect all you want. PCs and servers rule

    Gadgets gave Microsoft a boost during the Christmas shopping season, but Redmond remains heavily dependent on the sale of PC and server software. On Thursday, Microsoft reported an 86 per cent jump in income for the unit that's home to the Xbox, Kinect, and Windows Phone 7, and the unit's revenue grew 55 per cent. Microsoft …

    Financial News 28 Jan 2011, 00:57

  • Google named babysitter for steroidal white space Wi-Fi

    Internecine squabbling already underway

    Google has been named as one of the nine companies the US Federal Communications Commission has selected to administer the database necessary for the management of unused broadcast-television bandwidth known as "white space". The FCC's order also provides pages of guidelines about how the database should be used locality-by- …

    Wireless 28 Jan 2011, 01:04

  • FBI serves 40 search warrants in Anonymous crackdown

    Worldwide DDoS dragnet

    FBI agents executed more than 40 search warrants on Thursday as part of an investigation into coordinated web attacks carried out by the hacking collective known as Anonymous. The distributed denial-of-service attacks targeted US companies that angered the ragtag group, presumably because they cut off services WikiLeaks needed …

    Crime 28 Jan 2011, 01:05

  • Iomega SSD 128GB USB 3.0 drive

    Review SuperSpeed performance anxiety

    Kingston Tech is not the only SSD manufacturer now bringing out USB 3.0 external drives. Iomega’s unimaginatively named SSD Flash Drive comes in three capacities: 64GB, 128GB and 256GB. With the latter costing £624, it's a purchase that demands a significant leap of faith. Iomega's SSD Flash Drive joins the SuperSpeed …

    reghardware 28 Jan 2011, 07:00

  • Ten Roars at sports fans

    Your comments matter to us, so we bought them

    Australian broadcaster Network Ten is pumping up its digital content chops taking a minority stake in independent sports opinion website The Roar. The Roar, launched in 2007 by digital media start-up Conversant Media aided by a small amount of angel capital, now claims 140,000 monthly users. Conversant Media CEO and founder …

    Music and Media 28 Jan 2011, 07:35

  • Gov unveils plans to reduce employment tribunal claims

    Claims will be arbitrated before they reach tribunal

    The government will remove the right of employees of one year standing to make unfair dismissal claims, will allow more Employment Tribunals to sit with a single judge and could ask claimants to pay to make a claim, it has said. Plans to reform the way that employees can make claims will also force all claims into arbitration …

    Small Biz 28 Jan 2011, 08:00

  • Egypt switches off the internet

    The server at www.egypt.gov.eg is taking too long to respond

    The Egyptian government is restricting internet access and mobile phone coverage ahead of what are expected to be the week's largest demonstrations later today. As this blogpost from Renesys notes the website for the Egyptian Stock Exchange might be available, but little else is. European-Asian fibre-optics appear unaffected …

    Government 28 Jan 2011, 09:05

  • Quantum and NEC claim dedupe speed records

    Speed records across entry-level, mid-range and high-end

    For sheer high-end deduplication grunt, no one comes close to NEC and its HYDRAstore, but Quantum is claiming the entry-level and mid-range dedupe speed laurels with its revamped DXi software. Version two of this software, with a revamped inline data flow, is available for the DXi 4500 entry-level and 6500 mid-range systems. …

    Storage 28 Jan 2011, 10:13

  • DWP seeks data for identity verification service

    Will pay supplier up to £2m for collection of benefit claimants' info

    The Department for Work and Pensions has published a tender worth up to £2m for the supply of biographical data to identity online benefit claimants. The chosen supplier will provide biographical data to supplement information already available to the department, according to a notice published in the Official Journal of the …

    Government 28 Jan 2011, 10:18

  • Apple, Rim edge up world phone seller list

    1.4 billion handsets shipped in 2010

    Research in Motion (Rim) and Apple both may be, respectively, 2010's second and third most successful smartphone makers, but in the broader handset business they rate merely fourth and fifth. Not so long ago, neither would have appeared outside the generic Others category, so their 2010 placing, in numbers released this …

    reghardware 28 Jan 2011, 10:21

  • Microsoft hits autistic Xboxer with cheat evidence

    Boy's mum confesses to 'mistake'

    The mother of an autistic 11-year-old boy who went on US TV to lambast Microsoft for labelling her son an Xbox Live cheat has admitted she made a mistake, after Microsoft released evidence for the lad's actions. The company insisted Julias Jackson's achievements were fraudulently obtained, Seattle-based US TV channel Q13 Fox …

    reghardware 28 Jan 2011, 10:39

  • UK fraud losses soar to over £38bn

    Public sector cops the lion's share of fraudulent scams

    Fraud cost the UK economy more than £38bn over the last 12 months, according to the latest annual statistics from the UK's National Fraud Authority. The figures represent an increase of nearly £8bn (or more than 25 per cent) for the losses recorded by the same Annual Fraud Indicator last year. Fraud in the public sector (£21. …

    Small Biz 28 Jan 2011, 10:48

  • Gatwick Airport security swoops on 3-inch rifle

    Contains deadly toy soldier menace

    A Canadian tourist has admitted Gatwick Airport security operatives "successfully protected the free world from the threat of terrorism" after relieving him of a deadly three-inch plastic rifle. Ken Lloyd was about to jet home packing a nine-inch tall replica of an armed British soldier in his hand luggage. The innocent £135 …

    Bootnotes 28 Jan 2011, 10:49

  • Finnish regulator calls for iPhone refunds

    It's cold in Finland, bloody cold

    Finnish iPhone users unhappy at the inability of the handset to operate below zero are entitled to their money back, even if the limitation appears in the small print. The clarification comes from the Finland's Consumer Agency, as reported by Finnish news agency YLE.fi, in response to numerous questions from concerned Finns …

    Mobile 28 Jan 2011, 10:56

  • LinkedIn to go public this year

    Social network for biz set eyes Wall Street

    LinkedIn Corp confirmed yesterday that the company will go public this year. The decision by LinkedIn, which was founded in 2002, to snuggle up to Wall Street is significant because it's the first such social network to make the jump this year. Plenty of noises have been coming out of the Facebook camp, which recently …

    Financial News 28 Jan 2011, 10:58

  • Hobbit helmsman Jackson hit by $190K credit card scam

    What has it got in its pocketses?

    Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson was the target of a US$190,000 (£120,000) credit card fraud that sought to bail out a struggling business. The recently-knighted Hobbit helmsman used his American Express card to buy items from the Michigan Toy Soldier Company, which specialises in the sale of historical miniatures. …

    Crime 28 Jan 2011, 11:10

  • UK a 3D TV nation? Not half

    Not even a quarter, Sky's figures show

    Satellite broadcaster Sky said yesterday it now has more than 70,000 subscribers for its 3D TV channel. Now, a week earlier, the chief engineer of Sky owner BSkyB, Chris Johns, revealed that the company estimated that, by the end of 2010, some 140,000 British homes had a 3D TV. Johns said BSkyB had initially expected the …

    reghardware 28 Jan 2011, 11:25

  • Buying into the cloud

    Hosted Apps Maintaining security and compliance in a SaaS world

    A lot of companies are reporting that individual departments and even business users are adopting SaaS or cloud-based applications. This freedom to choose is a useful one, as it gives departments the flexibility to get the job done, and the likelihood is that the use of such services will continue to expand. We’ve seen this …

    Hosted Apps 28 Jan 2011, 11:42

  • Google's Schmidt perplexed by Facebook blather, still fears MS

    I want you to notice, when I'm not around

    Outgoing Google boss Eric Schmidt is perplexed by people who keep suggesting that Facebook is now Mountain View's biggest rival. It's not – Microsoft is, says Schmidt. We at Vulture Towers think that's a pretty obvious statement of fact, but Uncle Eric is a bit narked that Facebook is stealing so much thunder from Google's …

    Financial News 28 Jan 2011, 11:44

  • Sci/tech doctorate protects you from unemployment – in the US

    Picture rather different in old Blighty

    Research carried out in the US suggests that having a science doctorate there will almost entirely protect you from becoming unemployed, a picture contrasting with that in the UK. Data gathered in 2008 and released yesterday by the US National Science Foundation shows that doctorate degree holders in science, engineering or …

    Science 28 Jan 2011, 11:46

  • Dead Space 2

    Review The nightmare returns

    If you’re of a nervous, sensitive disposition I advise you to look away now. For, you see, Dead Space 2 – Visceral’s space-based survival horror – is instantly, and without question, one of gaming’s most gruesome penny dreadfuls to date; eclipsing even its predecessor in the nausea-inducing stakes. Bodies will be mutilated, …

    reghardware 28 Jan 2011, 12:00

  • Apple and Google: New CEOs, old strategies

    Taking the fight to Facebook?

    Both Apple and Google saw their CEOs stepping into the background this month, for different reasons, but there was still a sense of an old guard standing aside. However, the change is likely to come from outside. Apple and Google, two of the companies that have helped define the new web age – once the closest of allies, now …

    Mobile 28 Jan 2011, 12:03

  • Naked Honolulu bloke rescued from garbage chute

    'Had been drinking heavily'

    Honolulu firefighters yesterday extracted a naked man from a rubbish chute after he unsuccessfully attempted to evade cops by taking the fast route out of a Waikiki apartment building. Police responded to a 4am 911 call from a resident on the seventh floor who told them his roommate "had been drinking heavily, physically …

    Bootnotes 28 Jan 2011, 12:05

  • Tablets be DRAMmed – 9 times as much

    How big will tablets grow?

    Research house IHS iSuppli says tablet computers will need nine times more DRAM this year than last. Tablet computers are forecast to need 353.3 million gigabits of DRAM this year, on the back of 57.6 million tablets shipped. This DRAM demand is 834.7 per cent more than the 37.8 million gigabits 17.1 million tablets needed in …

    PCs & Chips 28 Jan 2011, 12:09

  • Toshiba intros laptop that CHANGES COLOUR

    Welcome your nano-tech chameleonoid overlords

    Toshiba has come up with a laptop, the Dynabook Qosmio T750, which has a lid which changes colour - the first of its kind, the Japanese giant claimed. Well, sort of. The blue-lidded box – the colour is called "shiny ocean" – sports "shimmering" metallic colours that run from turquoise through to deep blue and purple depending …

    reghardware 28 Jan 2011, 12:20

  • Vodafone confirms Egypt lock-down

    Just obeying orders...

    Vodafone has confirmed it has shut down mobile services in Egypt on instructions from the government, which is trying to quell increasingly angry protests. The mobile giant said: "All mobile operators in Egypt have been instructed to suspend services in selected areas. Under Egyptian legislation, the authorities have the right …

    Telecoms 28 Jan 2011, 12:31

  • Opera fixes critical form-handling flaw

    Second act, malicious spies and click-jackers exit stage left

    Opera has updated its browser to correct a cross-platform vulnerability that created a possible mechanism for hackers to inject malicious code into vulnerable systems. The critical security bug stemmed from flaws in handling large form inputs, as explained in an advisory by the Norwegian software developer here. Version 11.01 …

    Enterprise Security 28 Jan 2011, 12:44

  • O2 to upgrade southern UK network

    Wider bands, wider technologies

    Nokia Siemens Networks has landed a contract to upgrade the O2 network covering the south of England, dropping in base stations capable of working across frequencies and technologies. The deal, financial details of which aren't being released, will see Flexi Multiradio Base Stations deployed across the south, allowing O2 to …

    Mobile 28 Jan 2011, 12:53

  • Time to get productive?

    Video The January rush is over

    No doubt it’s been a hectic month with lots of unfulfilled work resolutions already flying out of the window. But we may be able to offer some respite from the dawn of another frustratingly unproductive year. In December we did a couple of broadcasts on productivity – starting with some proper, as opposed to ethereal, …

    Tech Panel 28 Jan 2011, 12:57

  • Digital TV team sets 3D standard

    DVB-3DTV ready to go

    The Digital Video Broadcasting Project, the organisation which oversees the DVB digital TV technology and its component standards, such as the DVB-T2 system Freeview HD uses, has added 3D to the specification. DVB-3DTV, which will be formally published next month, defines how broadcasters should transmit 3D TV programming and …

    reghardware 28 Jan 2011, 13:06

  • Microsoft loses Office 365 man

    Yet another cloudy exec bites dust

    Microsoft may have its head in the clouds a little too much at the moment, given that it just lost its corporate veep of online services. Dave Thompson, who headed up Redmond's Office 365 business, is retiring from the company later this year after 21 years at Microsoft. Microsoft shoved its productivity suite of apps into a …

    Channel Register 28 Jan 2011, 13:21

  • Amazon: e-books outsell dead-tree copies

    Paper in decline

    Amazon sold more e-books than physical books during the last three months of 2010, the online retail giant has claimed. Amazon announced in July 2010 that it was selling more e-books than hardbacks, but that's no cause for amazement because hardback sales have been declining for years and are a small percentage of books sold …

    reghardware 28 Jan 2011, 13:27

  • World's first space met office goes live

    Will offer warnings of ion storms, 'space Katrinas'

    The world's first proper space weather service is now going live, according to the boffins setting it up. Forecasts and warnings of fearful radiation storms, ion deluges etc are expected to be invaluable to those operating in the fields of communications and satellites – and life-critical for future astronauts travelling beyond …

    Space 28 Jan 2011, 13:33

  • EU ministers strip consumer rights law of controversial elements

    UK will keep 'right to reject goods'

    EU member states have given a proposed Consumer Rights Directive the go-ahead but have removed its most controversial elements. A European Parliament vote in March is the last hurdle to the passing of the law. Consumer protection advocates have said that the new version of the Directive will have little practical impact on UK …

    Channel Register 28 Jan 2011, 13:47

  • YouTube honours shuttle dead with 'Workplace Safety' ad

    A golden Google inappropriate ad moment

    Today marks the 25th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger disaster, which in 1986 claimed the lives of seven NASA astronauts. The agency has this week been honouring its dead – the Challenger crew as well as those who died aboard Columbia and Apollo 1. It's business as usual down at YouTube, though, and while we were …

    Space 28 Jan 2011, 13:52

  • Malawi poised to outlaw farting

    Clampdown on undisciplined bowels

    Malawi is determined to “mould responsible and disciplined citizens” with a law banning the breaking of wind. The Local Courts Bill of 2010 is set to be presented before a forthcoming parliamentary session by Justice Minister George Chaponda. The legislation also targets ne'er-do-wells "disturbing religious assemblies", " …

    Bootnotes 28 Jan 2011, 13:56

  • UK.gov 'HyperHighway' aims to 'speed up the internet by 100x'

    Will only cost £7.2m, apparently

    The UK government says it hopes to "make the internet 100 times faster" by kicking off a £7.2m research project dubbed "Photonics HyperHighway". David Willetts, minister for universities and science, announced the scheme during a speech at Southampton uni earlier today. “The internet is fundamental to our lives and we use it …

    Data Networking 28 Jan 2011, 14:13

  • O2's free Wi-Fi in detail: How free is free exactly?

    Freer than you might think

    On Wednesday O2 announced that it would be rolling out a free Wi-Fi network, paid for by venues hosting it and backed by advertising model that deserves a little more attention. First, to clarify, this offering isn't limited to smartphones or O2 customers – if you're with Vodafone and want to connect your laptop for free then …

    Mobile 28 Jan 2011, 14:19

  • Yuppie cellphone-style iPhone case comes to Blighty

    The bricks are back in town

    Are you the type who wants to stand out from the modern iPhone user, yet refuses to use a different device? Then why not jump in the DeLorean and take it back to the 1980s with this yuppie-style iPhone case? The 80s phone from Thumbs Up wraps any iPhone 3, 3GS or 4 in a mound of plastic until just the screen remains, giving …

    reghardware 28 Jan 2011, 14:21

  • MSI Windows webpad goes on sale

    How much?

    How much would you pay for a 10in tablet running Windows 7 Home Premium? Whatever your answer, you could still be asked to pay as much as £650 for MSI's WindPad 100, which is just such a gadget. To be fair, retailer Simply Electronics will actually lighten your wallet by only £500, claiming that the £150 difference is a …

    reghardware 28 Jan 2011, 15:03

  • SeeSaw streams UK TV through Boxee

    US IPTV platform gains UK content

    Boxee, the US-based IPTV platform, has now got some UK-oriented content courtesy of UK telly-on-demand provider SeeSaw. SeeSaw has begun a "test service" on Boxee, which can be downloaded and installed a wide variety of kit from computers to old-style Apple TVs - or on D-Link's Boxee set-top box. The Boxee UI is designed to be …

    reghardware 28 Jan 2011, 15:28

  • UK.gov braces for Anonymous hacklash

    Battle lines drawn up in cyberspace

    UK government websites have been warned to brace themselves for website attacks in the wake of the arrest of five Britons as part of an investigation into Anonymous this week. Members of the loosely knit Anonymous hacking collective condemned the arrests, arguing that denial of services attacks are a legitimate protest tactic …

    Policing 28 Jan 2011, 15:42

  • CSC cost-cutting spreads to Europe

    Compulsory holidays all round

    CSC staff in the US have been forced to take a compulsory, temporary pay cut, and now staff in Europe are being told they must take five days leave before 1 April to help the company hit its targets for the financial quarter. In an internal email – seen by the Register – Andy Williams, CSC's president and CEO, wrote: "We are …

    Channel Register 28 Jan 2011, 15:44

  • Guru: Oracle's storage strategy is 'screwy'

    Interview Too much Exadata-type focus and over-priced arrays

    Oracle's storage range is over-priced and incomplete, and its strategy is skewed by being too database appliance-centric, according to a prominent storage guru. Enrico Signoretti, the CEO of Italian storage consultancy Cinetica, has earned a wide following in the storage world through his blogging and tweets (@esignoretti). …

    Channel Register 28 Jan 2011, 16:43

  • Cold call scareware scammers aim to bring Mac fans into the fold

    They prey upon your fear, not your operating system...

    Scareware cold-callers are adapting their tactics in order to target users of Mac machines as well as Windows PCs. Over recent months many prospective victims in the UK and elsewhere have received unexpected calls falsely warning them that malware had been detected on their PC. The scam attempts to hoodwink users into …

    Crime 28 Jan 2011, 16:44

  • Memo to Microsoft, RIM, Nokia: Quit copying Apple!

    Open...and Shut Leadership, please. Not imitation

    It stinks to be number two in a market. Or worse, number three. But that's the position that most consumer technology companies find themselves in today, at least compared to Facebook, Google, and Apple. Everyone else is an also ran, in large part because they're allowing themselves to be defined by someone else's race. Yahoo …

    Mobile 28 Jan 2011, 17:33

  • Verizon borgs Terremark for $1.4bn

    Cloud absorption

    Telecom giant Verizon will shell out $1.4bn in cash to buy managed services and cloud computing partner Terremark Worldwide, bootstrapping itself into the upper echelons of the emerging cloud providers. Verizon Business, the IP networking and hosting arm of the telecom company, already resells white-label cloud computing …

    Cloud Business 28 Jan 2011, 17:48

  • No Jobs, Schmidt deleted: Microsoft can't fail, can it?

    Radio Reg Windows on ARM to the rescue

    From the GUI to the iPad, Microsoft has been in a race to copy and catch up with Apple. On the internet, Microsoft's love of the desktop helped Google surge ahead in search and ads, leaving Microsoft to struggle uphill with Bing. So, we wonder, is there a silver lining for Microsoft in the interruptions in leadership at the …

    Microbite 28 Jan 2011, 19:02

  • Google algorithm change squashes code geek 'webspam'

    More Stackoverflow, please

    Google has rolled out an update to its search algorithms designed to reduce "webspam", aka "the junk you see in search results when websites try to cheat their way into higher positions in search results or otherwise violate search engine quality guidelines". In short, says Google principal engineer and search quality guru …

    Music and Media 28 Jan 2011, 19:16

  • With net unplugged, Egypt cracks down on journos

    BBC man beaten by police in Cairo

    On Friday, with Egypt's internet and cell phone blackout showing no signs of lifting, authorities took a new tack in their attempts to quell protests engulfing the nation: cracking down on journalists reporting on the uprising. A CNN crew covering Friday's clashes between security forces and protesters in Cairo reported having …

    Crime 28 Jan 2011, 19:27

  • Microsoft issues temp fix for serious Windows security bug

    Mitigates script injection threat

    Microsoft has warned customers to apply a temporary security fix to protect against a serious, newly discovered security bug in all supported versions of Windows. The vulnerability results from the way Windows processes webpages containing MIME-formatted content. Attackers can exploit the weakness to run malicious scripts that …

    Malware 28 Jan 2011, 21:50

  • Google and Apple locked horns over iPhone location data

    The roots of Jobsian divorce

    In 2008, as Apple fought Google's efforts to collect user-location data from iPhones via its Google Maps service, the battle between two of the companies' top execs escalated to the point where CEOs Steve Jobs and Eric Schmidt personally intervened to resolve the argument, according reports citing unnamed sources. In a profile …

    Mobile 28 Jan 2011, 22:44

  • Apple iOS app hunger swells

    Survey says: App lovers love apps

    The median user of an Apple iOS device has downloaded 88 apps: 63 are free, and 25 paid. Together with the 20 apps that come preinstalled on an iPhone, that user has 108 apps loaded onto their Jobsian smartphone. Take those numbers with a few dozen grains of salt, however: the stats come from a survey conducted by analysts at …

    Mobile 28 Jan 2011, 22:50