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7th February 2011 Archive

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  • TiVo hits pause button in Australia

    Staff shed in restructure, Fetch TV a buyer?

    Just over a week after a much-publicised kick-off in New Zealand, it has emerged TiVo's A/NZ partner Hybrid TV has wound back operations to a skeleton staff. Sources have told The Register an asset sale for the video-on-demand platform could be on the cards. Robbie Minicola, CEO of TiVo Australia’s licensee Hybrid TV, has …

    Media 7 Feb 2011, 04:42

  • Egypt to release 'missing' Google exec on Monday

    Ghonim (apparently) under government custody

    Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq has said that "missing" Google exec Wael Ghonim will released on Monday, according to a report citing Egyptian state television. Ghonim – Google's head of marketing for the Middle East and North Africa – has been missing since January 27, and he was apparently arrested after joining protests …

    Government 7 Feb 2011, 05:24

  • 'Red Hat for stats' goes toe-to-toe with SAS

    Analyze this

    Revolution Analytics – the company that launched last year to be the "Red Hat for stats", providing an extended version of the open source R programming language and runtime – is going directly after analytics juggernaut SAS Institute with its latest release: R Enterprise 4.2. With the updated release, Revolution's Enterprise …

    Software 7 Feb 2011, 05:29

  • Google does fractals in HTML5

    Take a break with Julia and Mandelbrot

    Fractals. They're porn for techies. Well, truth be told, porn is porn for techies. But fractals aren't far behind. Fractals are far more interesting, at least in the long run. And you can look at fractals at the office without worrying if the boss will walk by. If you're a techie, it's time you visited Google Labs project …

    Media 7 Feb 2011, 05:50

  • Myer breaks ranks on 'net retailing

    The internet didn’t eat our homework

    Australian retailer Myer has broken ranks with other major retailers like Gerry Harvey and Solomon Lew by saying that internet shopping isn’t slaughtering its sales. Issuing an earnings guidance statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, Myer said sales for the first half of 2011 were down 3.54 per cent on the previous period …

    Financial News 7 Feb 2011, 06:39

  • AOL buys Huffington Post

    1 + 1 = 11 ... err, yes ...

    AOL is paying £190m for the Huffington Post – the ragbag collection of once Democrat-leaning blogs founded in 2005. The announcement – modestly titled "A Brand New Media Universe", with the strap line "A Merger of Visions" – was signed at the SuperBowl yesterday. The deal makes HuffPo boss Arianna Huffington president and …

    Financial News 7 Feb 2011, 09:23

  • Nokia boss 'plans Great Purge'

    De-Finnification of the leadership

    Stephen Elop wants to purge Nokia's Executive Board, with some key executives leaving the company, reports German weekly WirthschaftsWoche. Up to half of the nine Board appointees will leave or be replaced, reports the weekly, representing a "De-Finnification" of the company's leadership. The German report suggests that EVP of …

    Mobile 7 Feb 2011, 09:49

  • NASA 'naut Kelly rejoins Endeavour crew

    Wife Gabrielle Giffords on the mend

    NASA astronaut Mark Kelly is back on board space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission to the ISS, following a month's leave to be at the bedside of his wife Gabrielle Giffords. Kelly's participation in the last scheduled shuttle flight had been in doubt following the shooting of congresswoman Giffords in Tuscon. Kelly …

    Science 7 Feb 2011, 09:53

  • Juniper stuffs money into Violin

    Joins Toshiba in backing startup

    Juniper Networks has joined Toshiba in pumping money into flash memory array startup Violin Memory to the tune of $35m. Violin uses Toshiba chips in its products, but what is Juniper's angle? Violin flash memory arrays connect to servers and provide a storage resource, shared by several servers if needed, that is very much …

    Storage 7 Feb 2011, 10:00

  • Stroppy Belgian students in Ryanair mutiny

    Baggage fees rumpus grounds university mob

    More than 100 Belgians are stranded in Lanzarote's Guacimeta airport after staging a "mutiny" over Ryanair baggage fees. According to local paper La Provincia, 120 university students, aged between 20 and 22, arrived in the Canary Islands in two groups on 27 and 29 January for a week's knees-up. It was evidently a lively …

    Bootnotes 7 Feb 2011, 10:03

  • Vodafone nabs new Nexus

    Operator to offer second-gen Googlephone

    Vodafone has got its hands on the Google-Samsung Nexus S - reviewed here. The second-generation Googlephone is currently available through Carphone Warehouse, which is selling it for a whopping four pence less than it was before, provided you pay a £10 pay-as-you-go top-up. Carphone Warehouse's generous Nexus S discount …

    Mobile 7 Feb 2011, 10:14

  • Anonymous pwns security firm that probed its membership

    HBGary gets the ACS:Law treatment

    The Anonymous hacking collective took revenge on a security firm that had investigated its membership on Sunday. HBGary Federal has been seeking to uncloak the identities of senior members of Anonymous involved in attacks against financial services firms, such as PayPal and Mastercard, that had suspended accounts run by …

    Security 7 Feb 2011, 10:15

  • NASA snaps Sun in super STEREO

    Twin probes image star's 'three-dimensional glory'

    NASA has released the first images from its twin Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) probes as they moved into position on opposite sides of the Sun. The above snap shows the far side of the Sun captured on 2 February, when the two spacecraft weren't quite separated by 180 degrees, hence the small gap in the …

    Science 7 Feb 2011, 10:24

  • BlueArc puts replication on a diet

    Thin replication

    Hardware-accelerated filer supplier BlueArc has stopped replicating useless data with its latest software release. Replication involves sending copied storage data to a nearby or remote storage array for disaster-recovery protection. The JetMirror feature of version 8 of BlueArc's System Software is claimed to replicate large …

    Virtualization 7 Feb 2011, 10:53

  • Indian courts 'rule astrology is a science'

    British papers about as truthful as astrologers

    Oh those crazy Indians! A high court judge in the subcontinent has apparently ruled that astrology is a pukka science like physics or chemistry. Or maybe not. The Telegraph reports that the Bombay High Court (it is officially still called that, before everyone gets on our case about "Mumbai") has decided that proper scientists …

    Bootnotes 7 Feb 2011, 10:55

  • Six... budget Blu-ray Disc players

    Product Round-up HD hardware at low prices

    Christmas is past but it's still winter. The nights are cold and damp. What better way to spend them that at home, snug the sofa, a cool nut-brown ale in your hand and a fine film on your new HD TV? In which case, you'll need a Blu-ray Disc player. Manufacturers are, of course, hyping their high-end models. But for those of us …

    Hardware 7 Feb 2011, 11:00

  • Nasdaq admits hackers planted malware on web portal

    Stock tickler

    Nasdaq admitted on Saturday that unidentified hackers had succeeded in planting malware on one of its portals. The US stock exchange is keen to stress that trading systems were not affected by suspicious files found on Directors Desk, a web-based dashboard application used by an estimated 10,000 execs worldwide. In a statement …

    Security 7 Feb 2011, 11:08

  • First fondleslab found in 1970s kids TV sci-fi gem

    Apple iPad inspired by Tomorrow People

    At last it can be revealed: Apple owes the look of the "magical" iPad to a team of telepathic teens from the 1970s - The Tomorrow People. The 'jaunting' group's leader, John, played by actor Nicholas Young, could often be seen sporting his futuristic tablet - complete with silvery casing, shiny black bezel and 9.7in display - …

    Tablets 7 Feb 2011, 11:08

  • BT erects private cloud defences

    Hybrid vigour

    BT is offering a private cloud option to data centre customers. The service, which opened for business in the UK last week, is called Virtual Data Centre (VDC) Private and it is designed to address customer concerns over data protection and Cloud security. BT has operated VDC On Demand since June 2009 and it claims this …

    Cloud 7 Feb 2011, 11:29

  • Sir Elton outs iPad 2 release date

    Pop star wants fondleslab for Skyping

    Several readers emailed us this morning claiming that Elton John today suggested that the iPad 2 will be on sale in April. The Grammy Award-winning star's comments came on BBC One's breakfast show this morning. Unfortunately, we can't confirm his words: the programme isn't available in BBC iPlayer, and no one's uploaded the …

    Tablets 7 Feb 2011, 11:34

  • Sony Ericsson confirms PlayStation phone

    Ready to Play?

    Sony Ericsson has confirmed the imminent launch of the Xperia Play, promising a full revelation set for 13 February, just ahead of Mobile World Congress (MWC). The Sony Ericsson Facebook page, states "Android is ready to play" and shows a familiar image of the PlayStation phone, along with that eerie commercial we were …

    Phones 7 Feb 2011, 11:40

  • North Africa will need more revolution before it attracts IT tourists

    Comment Soviet-like red tape still choking small firms and free markets

    Woo Hoo! Tens of millions of well-educated, young and above all, cheap workers for the capitalists among us to go and exploit! Quick, quick, get out the airline schedule and book that seat to Tunis, or Cairo or – coming soon no doubt – Algiers. Money money money, it's a capitalist world! Hmm, what, you mean that's not your …

    The Channel 7 Feb 2011, 11:42

  • Glasses-free 3D TV sales stumble

    Demand half of what Toshiba hoped for

    Toshiba's attempt to interest us all in 3D TVs that don't require special glasses has fallen flat. The company sold fewer than half the sets it expected it would in the first month of sales, a senior executive has revealed. Masaaki Osumi, president of Toshiba's Visual Products Company, revealed the news in an interview last …

    Hardware 7 Feb 2011, 11:58

  • Getting your virtual hands dirty with virtual networking

    You need something to link all those virtual servers

    We're all familiar with the concept of a virtual server. However, when planning and implementing a virtualisation project, it's not just the servers that can be and should be virtualised – it's the network too. Among the first differences that you'll notice when setting up a virtual machine (VM) is the network setup. Naturally …

    Data Center 7 Feb 2011, 12:05

  • Robot naval stealth fighter takes to the air

    Vid Mav and Iceman get to work on their CVs

    The disappearance of swaggering pilots from the flight decks of US naval aircraft carriers came a step closer on Friday with the first flight of the X-47B robot tailhook stealth jet. The X-47B is intended to demonstrate that unmanned aircraft can take off from aircraft carrier catapults and land back on deck again using …

    Science 7 Feb 2011, 12:16

  • Assange fights extradition in court

    Charge me or release me

    Julian Assange's lawyers are in court now to fight his extradition to Sweden by arguing that prosecutors have failed to follow correct procedures. Swedish authorities want to question Assange in relation to alleged sex offences. But his defence solicitors claim that prosecutors must charge him with an offence, and therefore …

    Law 7 Feb 2011, 12:19

  • Super-thin materials could POWER our WORLD

    Basic research on 1-atom-thick nanosheets shows many hypothetical uses

    Oxford and Dublin boffins have unlocked a doorway leading to more than 150 super-thin exotic nanosheet materials just one atom thick. The names sound like a chemist's molecular roll call: boron nitride (BN), molybdenum disulphide (MoS2), and bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3). None of these compounds are new – but single-atom-thick* …

    Science 7 Feb 2011, 12:34

  • Android Open NFC gets a bit more open

    Our abstraction is more abstract than your abstraction

    Inside Secure is about to launch a more abstracted NFC API, one compatible with Android versions 2.3 and (notably) 2.4, allowing developers to start showing what's possible with NFC. The new implementation of the Open NFC (Near Field Communications) API will be available for download from the end of the month, with Inside …

    Mobile 7 Feb 2011, 12:46

  • Rovio to fling Angry Birds at Nintendo 3DS

    Angry Birds developer Rovio has confirmed that the fowl-flinging hit will be coming to Nintendo's 3D handheld games console, the 3DS. The company Tweeted that "all three current games" - the Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons and the upcoming tie-in with the cartoon Rio - will be released on the 3DS, most likely by download, …

    Games 7 Feb 2011, 12:51

  • Hawaii boffins: Aerosols add to Amazon rainfall

    More pollutants equal less crazy weather

    Boffins based in Hawaii say that over the last 60 years emissions of aerosols - soot and other particulates often emitted by diesel engines, coal powerplants etc - have led to increased rainfall in the rainforests of the Amazon and central Africa, and have also resulted in "fewer extreme [weather] events". Hiroki Tokinaga and …

    Science 7 Feb 2011, 12:54

  • Nationwide customers find online front door shut

    It pays to decide to go outside and find a branch

    Nationwide Building Society customers looking to check their accounts or peruse mortgage rates via its online front door were left frustrated today as its website's front page told them it was, er, too busy. Customers typing in nationwide.co.uk today were greeted with the following: Server is too busy The front page seems to …

    Management 7 Feb 2011, 13:26

  • Iranian state telly bins foreign cuisine

    Local recipes only for Persian Jamie Olivers

    Iran has banned cookery programmes featuring foreign fare in an attempt to combat the threat of alien nosh to the nation's gastronomic identity. According to the Washington Post, the deputy head of Iran's state broadcaster Ali Darabi, announced the clampdown during a visit to one of the country's 30 state-run TV channels. He …

    Bootnotes 7 Feb 2011, 13:30

  • Overzealous anti-paedo scheme not dead yet

    Scale back and rebrand of VBS is likely later this week

    Volunteers and those working with children will only need to undergo intrusive vetting of their private lives in future if they work in "sensitive posts" or "have intensive contact with children or vulnerable people". That, at least, is the claim made by the Telegraph, in an exclusive on the "demise" of New Labour’s much- …

    Government 7 Feb 2011, 13:53

  • Ofcom okays Derren Brown psychic-baiting

    Opinion of regulator's dead relatives pending

    Ofcom has ruled that the psychic at the centre of an episode of Derren Brown Investigates was treated fairly. The show, which was broadcast by Channel 4 in May, centred on Joe Power, a Liverpool psychic who claimed he could talk to the dead. Power claimed that he didn't know the show, which featured Derren Brown following him …

    Media 7 Feb 2011, 14:36

  • HP intros 'lay it flat' all-in-one touchscreen PC

    Rather like Apple 2009 patent application...

    HP has revamped its touchscreen all-in-one desktop PCs with the ability to lay them almost flat, tablet style. The new TouchSmart 610, announced today but not set to ship until later this week, is built around a 23in, 1920 x 1080 display. Usually mounted up right, monitor fashion, the new TouchSmart can also "recline from …

    Hardware 7 Feb 2011, 15:09

  • Canon intros entry-level DSLRs

    Some flashy lenses too

    Canon has bulked out the popular EOS camera range with two entry-level DSLRs, as well as some high-end lenses and flash units. The EOS 600D has an 18Mp sensor and offers 1080p recording, which can be watched back on its 3in hi-res rotatable LCD. The EOS 1100D has a 12.2Mp sensor, handles 720p recording and has a 2.7in LCD. …

    Hardware 7 Feb 2011, 15:12

  • Last.fm charges for mobile

    Free-for-all across other platforms

    Last.fm will start charging for streaming to its mobile applications from next Tuesday, although the desktop web versions of the site in the UK, Germany and the USA will remain free. So too, curiously, will the Windows Mobile 7 version of the service – but not in Germany. Xbox Live members in the US will continue to get free …

    Media 7 Feb 2011, 15:47

  • IP review visits Silicon Valley shrines

    Screw the creatives, show us the money!

    Two years ago Google embarked on a campaign to import US-style "fair use" into British copyright law. Three months ago the new Coalition obliged, by commissioning an independent review to examine growth and intellectual property, specifically tacking onto the group's To Do list. This may strike you as odd, since the UK …

    Media 7 Feb 2011, 15:58

  • Superphones: A security nightmare waiting to happen

    Smartphones don't tell the half of it

    If I sit down with a PC from the late 90s and a modern PC I bought yesterday they are quite obviously the same animal. The operating system has changed, and there have been some minor innovations. With the exception of speed and support for the newest protocols, a PC from the late 90s could be used to perform exactly the same …

    Servers 7 Feb 2011, 16:00

  • Cisco munches Inlet for $95m

    Why invent when you can buy?

    With video streaming in its many different forms hogging an increasing chunk of bandwidth out there on the Intertubes, networking giant Cisco Systems wants to be dominant in IP TV – whatever that might be some day. That is why it has ponied up $95m in cash to acquire Inlet Technologies. Inlet, based in Raleigh, North Carolina …

    Data Networking 7 Feb 2011, 16:38

  • Google exec/activist 'released' by Egyptian authorities

    Wael Ghonim had been missing for two weeks

    A Google executive who is believed to have been held in detention in Cairo since last month has been released, according to reports. Wael Ghonim, Google's head of marketing for the Middle East and North Africa, disappeared some time after 27 January, when public protests against President Hosni Mubarak began. The company …

    Government 7 Feb 2011, 16:40

  • De-Finnistration: Nokia to shift HQ to US?

    Exclusive Elop's radical plan

    Well-placed sources at Nokia suggest Stephen Elop is considering shifting the executive centre of gravity to Silicon Valley, creating a virtual HQ in the United States. The move would be as radical as any of those made by his predecessors in the company's 150-year history. Elop became Nokia's first non-Finnish CEO in September …

    Mobile 7 Feb 2011, 16:41

  • Disabled dude demands EA improves gaming access

    Control customisation is key

    A disabled man is campaigning for EA to adapt the controls on Dead Space 2, so he can play the game using only his chin. Gaming enthusiast Gareth suffers from cerebral palsy and, as a result, can't move his arms. He pursues his passion by controlling a mouse with his chin. Gareth raised his dilemma in a thread at Overclockers …

    Games 7 Feb 2011, 16:55

  • Critics slam feds for 'unprecedented' domain seizure

    What would China do?

    A vocal chorus of lawmakers and policy wonks are decrying the US government's practice of seizing large numbers of internet domain names without first giving the owners a chance to defend themselves in court. The latest installment of Operation in our Sites came last week with the seizure of 10 addresses for websites accused of …

    Law 7 Feb 2011, 18:32

  • Google keen to settle antitrust investigation

    In 'tentative talks' as probe seeks traffic data, ad contracts

    Google is in "tentative" negotiations with European Union regulators to end the EU's investigation into allegations that the company abused its dominant position in the online search market, according to a report citing a source familiar with the case. The news comes just after lame duck Google CEO Eric Schmidt told The Sunday …

    Business 7 Feb 2011, 19:08

  • Banshee man dumps Novell for Skype duo

    Fresh fields, new platforms?

    Novell is losing a key figure driving development of the Banshee open-source music player it helped pioneer. Banshee creator Aaron Bockover is leaving Novell after six years and joining Skype co-founders Janus Friis with Niklas Zennström on their latest venture: an on-demand, social music service called Rdio. Bockover is …

    Applications 7 Feb 2011, 19:53

  • SCO: 'Someone wants to buy our software biz!'

    Mystery co. vows return to former SCO 'glory'

    SCO says it has selected a buyer for its software product business: a mystery company known as UnXis Group. "We are extremely confident that, with the support of our customers and business partners, we will rapidly restore SCO to its former glory and that UnXis will soon emerge as a major player in the information technology …

    Software 7 Feb 2011, 20:32

  • 'Mark-of-the-Beast' bug topples Java apps

    Inflicts major harm with limited resources

    A bug in Oracle's Java programming framework causes computers to freeze when they encounter certain numerical values with large numbers of decimal places, a flaw that makes websites susceptible to highly efficient denial-of-service attacks. The vulnerability in the latest version of Java is similar to a flaw discovered last …

    Security 7 Feb 2011, 20:33

  • Australian Liberal MPs splurge on sticky, delicious ... toner

    Will this get enough on eBay to pay for the Qld floods?

    In a stunning spending spree dubbed “tonergate” by those who append –gate to any potential political scandal, News.com.au has reported that opposition MPs in Australia blew close to $100,000 per week on office supplies last year, ahead of a change to parliamentary allowance rules. News.com.au based its Daily Telegraph report …

    Policy 7 Feb 2011, 20:52

  • We’ll also resell NBN services – VIVIDwireless

    TD-LTE demonstrated in Sydney

    VIVIDwireless, the Perth-based 4G operator which yesterday demonstrated its use of Huawei TD-LTE kit in Sydney, told journalists it would probably become an NBN reseller when the national fibre network was rolled out. Answering questions after the company had shown files downloading at better than 100 Mbps (on, to be fair, a …

    Broadband 7 Feb 2011, 20:53

  • BMC in $1.2m Mac Tel win

    Someone to watch over me

    Hard on the heels of announcements by Macquarie Telecom that it is expanding its footprint in the cloud computing market and building a new data centre, BMC has announced that Mac Tel will use its tools for infrastructure management. In a deal worth $A1.2 million, Macquarie Telecom will buy BMC’s BladeLogic server automation …

    Cloud 7 Feb 2011, 21:09

  • VMware takes on Google Apps with Zimbra 7

    Collaboration. It's for users, not competitors

    VMware is ramping up the rhetoric against Google Apps with today's launch of Zimbra 7, the latest iteration of the email and collaboration software the company picked up early last year from Yahoo! The Zimbra Collaboration Server, as the software is now called, is available for Canonical's Ubuntu, Red Hat's Enterprise Linux, …

    The Channel 7 Feb 2011, 21:24

  • 'Tree Octopus' proves journos no smarter than 13-year-old Americans

    We believe anything we read on the wire

    During Saturday – at least to this writer, it may have started Friday in the lagging time-zones – a story started to take off on Twitter, news sites and blogs. Picking up – either marginally re-written or verbatim – a wire release, journalists were gratified to discover that the Internet makes kids stupid. Specifically, the …

    Science 7 Feb 2011, 21:32

  • T-Mobile answers Verizon iPhone with free handsets

    A little Valentine's day luv

    Just as the much-ballyhooed Verizon Wireless iPhone is making its debut in the US, smaller rival T-Mobile is attempting to grab the spotlight with a new promotion: on this Friday and Saturday, all of its phones will be free with a two-year contract. And that "all" includes high-end models such as the Android-equipped HSPA+ …

    Phones 7 Feb 2011, 22:31

  • Mozilla plans four Firefoxes in 2011

    The Chrome effect

    Mozilla is planning to release four new versions of Firefox this year, shortening the browser's traditional release cycle considerably. To date, the open source outfit has released a new version of the browser every 12 to 18 months or so. Presumably, the proposed move is a response to Google, which now releases a new version …

    Applications 7 Feb 2011, 23:03