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8th February 2011 Archive

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  • Credit report resellers settle charges over data breaches

    1,800 reports exposed

    Three resellers of credit information have settled federal charges they didn't do enough to prevent security breaches that exposed sensitive consumer information to hackers. The companies – Washington state-based ACRAnet Inc. and SettlementOne Credit Corporation and Statewide Credit Services of California – have agreed to …

    Security 8 Feb 2011, 00:13

  • LG to carry uctv.fm

    GoConnect wraps IPTV content deal

    Continuing the great wrap-up of IPTV content in consumer electronics, former ISP GoConnect has announced that its uctv.fm “station” will be available on TVs from LG. The music-focused uctv.fm includes the company’s music portal Undercover.fm, unsigned artists under its Soundcheck brand, internationally aggregated content – and …

    Music and Media 8 Feb 2011, 03:10

  • Google man open sources Chrome build system

    'We call it Ninja. It strikes quickly'

    Google Chrome developer Evan Martin has open sourced the custom-designed build system he uses to build the browser's Linux port. Martin calls the system Ninja because it "strikes quickly." According to Martin's Ninja manual, he previously used a customized system based on the old GNU Make build-automation system, and while …

    Developer 8 Feb 2011, 04:32

  • Oracle and Java: Mobile dev FAIL dooms Ellison's future

    Open...and Shut Follow the money now, pay later

    For those who have built their careers coding in Java, a recent Forrester report should give them hope that Java will continue to put food on the table for a long time. Sort of. While Forrester analysts Jeffrey Hammond and John Rymer insist Java has "a long future at the core of enterprise computing architectures," they're …

    Developer 8 Feb 2011, 05:00

  • Steve Woz: From wooden Apples to iPhone love

    Interview Computing the human equation

    Steve Wozniak loves computers. He really loves computers. Apple's cofounder is currently using six in-car navigation systems, trying to decide which one plots the best route, and he carries as many as six cell phones. Each time one of his handsets is spotted in public, it generates fresh buzz among those desperate to find …

    Music and Media 8 Feb 2011, 05:49

  • Smartphones 'out sell' PCs for first time

    The new personal computer

    The smartphone is the new personal computer of choice. According to the device counters at IDC, makers of smartphones shipped 100.9 million devices in the fourth quarter of 2010, an 87.2 per cent increase from the 53.9 million units that were consumed in the final quarter of 2009. For the first time, smartphones have surpassed …

    Mobile 8 Feb 2011, 06:00

  • Nokia C5-03 budget touchscreen smartphone

    Review Pocket friendly in more ways than one

    

With touchscreen smartphones all the rage, handsets with a decent spec and a 3in or larger screen are now filtering down to PAYG packages priced at around £100. For that sort of money you don't have a huge choice - the Orange San Francisco, Samsung Europa and Sony Ericsson X10 Mini stand out as the few worth considering. The …

    reghardware 8 Feb 2011, 07:00

  • Israel's data protection laws given EU approval

    Officially as safe as Canada

    Israel has formally joined the list of seven countries whose data protection laws are considered strong enough for companies there to receive and process personal data from companies in the European Union. The European Commission has formalised a decision taken last October to deem Israel's data protection laws 'adequate' for …

    Government 8 Feb 2011, 08:00

  • DEC founder Ken Olsen is dead

    Obituary Silence at the Mill

    Ken Olsen, the founder of minicomputer and client/server company Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) died on Sunday. He was 84 years-old. Olsen started out a maverick, pioneered and drove the minicomputer and supermini revolutions, and then became a dinosaur. But unlike many other senior DEC executives he remains a much-loved …

    Channel Register 8 Feb 2011, 08:54

  • CDMA Verizon iPhone 4 contains GSM chip

    Universal connectivity for iPhone 5?

    The Verizon iPhone 4 contains a radio chip capable of connecting to both CDMA and to GSM networks, a detailed autopsy of the device has revealed. The take-apart was conducted by iFixit.com and exposed the presence of Qualcomm's MDM6600 chip, a part that supports both types of cellular technology when connected to appropriate …

    reghardware 8 Feb 2011, 09:55

  • Chris Mellor: Storage stock picker

    Share buying mini-extravaganza

    Okay, they say, if you know so much about storage why ain't you making shedloads of money, or have you got sh*t for brains? Harsh, but fair. So we took a gamble and dived into the stock market hurly-burly and are now the proud owners of shares in two storage suppliers. Our whiz-kid financial jiggery-pokery was guided by a …

    Blocks and Files 8 Feb 2011, 10:00

  • Russian hacker avoids jail over WorldPay heist

    Updated Crime and punishment

    A Russian hacker received a five-year suspended sentence on Tuesday after pleading guilty to playing a key part in the robbery of $10m from RBS WorldPay in November 2008. Yevgeny Anikin, 27, served as the "software specialist" in a cybercrime ring that hacked into WorldPay's systems and created counterfeit payroll debit cards …

    Crime 8 Feb 2011, 10:00

  • Facebook expands in Asia

    Opens office in Honkers

    Facebook has opened a sales presence in Hong Kong, its second office in Asia in less than six months. The Hong Kong office is being run by freshly appointed North Asia director Jayne Leung. Leung has a digital advertising background, joining the Facebook crew from California-based digital ad outfit The Rubicon Project after …

    Applications 8 Feb 2011, 10:17

  • Microsoft set to reshuffle management pack

    Bring me geeks...

    Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer is reportedly planning to bring in more senior product execs in a management reshuffle at Redmond. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, which cites two people familiar with the situation, Ballmer could announce the team changes in the next few weeks. In recent months, many top name execs have …

    Channel Register 8 Feb 2011, 10:20

  • Sony frees E-mount lens swap spec

    Zeiss, Sigma kit coming to Nex cameras?

    Sony is to give away the specification for its E-mount lens interchange mechanism in a bid to encourage third-party lens makers to support its Nex compact cameras. Launched in 2010, the Nex 3 and Nex 5 still cameras, and the Nex-VG10 camcorder, are compact devices. But unlike most compact cameras they have interchangeable …

    reghardware 8 Feb 2011, 10:22

  • HDS first past VAAI post

    Beats VMware owner EMC

    Hitachi Data Systems says it's the first virtualised storage array vendor to fully integrate with VMware's vStorage API and relieve the hypervisor of storage grunt work. The VMware storage API is called VAAI (vStorage APIs for Array Integration), and the intent is that ESX can offload many storage-related operations to a …

    Storage 8 Feb 2011, 10:38

  • BBC iPlayer iPad app out this week

    Beeb Tweeter sings like a canary

    The BBC's iPlayer app for the iPad will be out on Thursday, a Corporation apparatchik has Tweeted. The message comes from one Geoff Marshall and it reads: "iPlayer App for iPad is being released this Thursday - 10th Feb. 3G connection is browse only. Browse+Playback requires Wi-Fi." Geoff's profile describes the fellow as a " …

    reghardware 8 Feb 2011, 10:56

  • 'Suspicious toilet' provokes Maryland bomb scare

    Courthouse crapper armed with 'electronic device'

    A "suspicious toilet" left outside a government building yesterday provoked a full-scale bomb alert in Towson, Maryland. A security guard spotted the white crapper dumped outside the Old Courthouse at around 8am, and called in the cops. According to the Towson Times, the porcelain loo was packed with "some type of electronic …

    Bootnotes 8 Feb 2011, 10:57

  • Phone networks Tweet PlayStation handset love

    Out on April on O2, etc.

    O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone have all eagerly said they will offering the PlayStation phone - sorry, Sony Ericsson Xperia Play - when it debuts in April. Three, meanwhile, has been Tweeting its enthusiasm for Play advertising, but as yet has nothing official to say about the handset's availability on its network. O2 …

    reghardware 8 Feb 2011, 11:09

  • Facebook causes eating disorders in teenage girls

    When oh when will someone rid us of this scourge?

    A survey carried out in Israel shows that the more time young girls spend on Facebook the more likely they are to develop an eating disorder. The evil health consequences of overindulging oneself on the globo-dominant social webbening site were unmasked by profs Yael Latzer and Ruth Katz of Haifa uni's Faculty of Social …

    Applications 8 Feb 2011, 11:13

  • Jackson's Hobbit movies back on track

    Shooting finally kicks off in March

    Shooting on Peter Jackson's two Hobbit movies will finally get underway on 21 March, Reuters reports. The pair of Lord of the Rings prequels were originally slated for release in 2010 and 2011, but have been been hit by a series of delays as well as the departure of director Guillermo del Toro over "issues around the funding …

    Entertainment 8 Feb 2011, 11:14

  • Kindle update to add 'proper' page numbers

    Print or e-ink, you'll get identical indices

    Amazon has posted a preview release of its next Kindle firmware, and it's bringing real page numbers to the platform. An obvious feature of an e-book reader, you might think, but no, Kindle uses "Locations" - large numbers that identify how far into a book you've got and which are supposed to be consistent across Kindles and …

    reghardware 8 Feb 2011, 11:30

  • Revolutionary radio comes in cubes

    Network building with Lego

    Alcatel-Lucent has developed a magical radio that can do 2G, 3G and 4G in a two-inch cube, remove unsightly antennas, reduce network costs enormously, and save the planet too. Claims like that should be greeted with scepticism, but it seems that Alcatel Lucent has achieved something quite remarkable, even if their application …

    Telecoms 8 Feb 2011, 11:40

  • Two councils hit with big fines for laptop blunder

    Unencrypted data gaffe hits Hounslow, Ealing

    The UK's information watchdog has slapped two London councils with hefty penalties for failing to encrypt personal data on laptops that were stolen by thieves. Ealing Council and Hounslow Council were both found to be in serious breach of the Data Protection Act, ruled the Information Commissioner's Office today. It said two …

    Government 8 Feb 2011, 11:42

  • NY hookers cross street from Craigslist to Facebook

    Charlie Sheen likes this

    New York prostitutes are increasingly plying their trade using Facebook instead of Craigslist, following the latter's exit from the adult services business last year. A study by sociology professor Sudhir Venkatesh on trends in the world's oldest profession, published by Wired, estimated that 25 percent of hookers' regular …

    Bootnotes 8 Feb 2011, 12:07

  • Data Robotics grows up for business

    Thin provisioning, SSD and tiering

    Data Robotics is growing up. It has boosted its Drobo storage products for business use, adding thin provisioning, SSD support, tiered data placement, a rackmount box, and a new interface. The Drobo product is known for extreme ease of use, users being able to populate it with 3.5-inch disk drives of any size, and its …

    Storage 8 Feb 2011, 12:12

  • LG presses for PS3 US sales embargo

    Tit for tat patent spat

    LG has set the legal attack dogs on Sony, over Blu-ray playback tech used in the PS3, Bravia TVs and some Sony VAIO laptops and some cameras and camcorders. Where better to do this than the US, where Korean vendor is seeking to stop sales of Sony products that allegedly infringe four LG patents. LG filed the complaint with …

    reghardware 8 Feb 2011, 12:13

  • iPhone owners get walked through confessional

    App absolution: 40 Hail Marys and £1.19 ...

    Hot on the heavenly heels of Pope Benedict XVI's recent invitation to young people to "embrace digital communication"* comes the iPhone "Confession: A Roman Catholic app" – designed to shepherd sinners through the sacramental process towards divine forgiveness. The Indiana developers of the app – Little iApps – say they "took …

    Mobile 8 Feb 2011, 12:43

  • Real Racing 2 for iOS

    Review Wheelie awesome?

    Firemint's Real Racing set the early benchmark for iOS graphics and, along with a handful of other games, confirmed these Apple iDevices' potential as serious handheld gaming platforms. A scalable career mode and blend of simulation and arcade driving styles attracted casual and hardcore gamers alike. And excellent tilt-controls …

    reghardware 8 Feb 2011, 13:00

  • Angry Birds ruffles feathers for Valentine's Day

    Hogs and Kisses

    Valentine's Day is almost upon us and love is in the air, as is Angry Birds, which is back with 15 fresh levels in a themed update. Hogs and Kisses is Rovio's third Season's title - it follows Trick Or Treat and Season's Greedings. The update comes with an initial 15 Valentine's themed levels, but another three are …

    reghardware 8 Feb 2011, 13:00

  • Man stabbed to death by chicken

    Knife-wielding cock shock

    A California man has reportedly suffered a gruesome demise after an accident involving a metal-enhanced cock. José Luis Ochoa, 35, of Lamont, California, a spectator at a cockfight who had previously been fined for owning or training an animal for fighting, died after being stabbed in the leg in Tulare County, the Grauniad …

    Bootnotes 8 Feb 2011, 13:15

  • Android goes virtual

    Prepared to be assimilated

    As of today, Myriad's Dalvik virtual machine can run any Android application on the Maemo-based Nokia N900, with other platforms to follow soon. The idea is to get manufacturers to preinstall Alien Dalvik, as the company calls its virtual machine, or licence the VM to developers who can bundle it with their applications. It …

    Mobile 8 Feb 2011, 13:41

  • Apple under threat from ... Windows tablets

    Eh?

    It's not just Android-based alternatives that will threaten the iPad's dominance of the new tablet market - so too will Windows machines. The battle will commence in 2013, says market watcher IHS iSuppli, which reckons that is when Microsoft will introduce a new version of Windows for tablets. Assuming it's rather better than …

    reghardware 8 Feb 2011, 13:43

  • New desktop, new DV strategy

    Desktop virtualisation A refreshing approach to desktop virtualisation

    With the economy looking a little rosier, companies are coming round to upgrades that have been on hold for longer than usual. As they refresh the corporate desktop, should they be looking at desktop virtualisation too? Mark Bowker, analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group, thinks IT decision-makers can minimise headaches and …

    Desktop Virtualisation 8 Feb 2011, 13:49

  • Facebook's position on real names not negotiable for dissidents

    You can still be an activist – just don't tell anyone

    Facebook's real-name-only approach is non-negotiable – despite claims that it puts political activists at risk, one of its senior policy execs said this morning. Simon Axten, of Facebook's public policy team, said today that the "real name culture" was an essential element of the social networking platform. However, the policy …

    Applications 8 Feb 2011, 13:53

  • A brief history of the BlackBerry UI

    Obvious thinking

    About half the people with a BlackBerry know that if you press space twice you get full-stop space. But only a few of them know that you can use space in email addresses to get full-stops and @ symbols. Tell them and their eyes light up with the thought that their little tool has just become that much more productive. This is …

    reghardware 8 Feb 2011, 14:00

  • Elon Musk's rocket booked by Google X-Prize moon robot

    Falcon 9 to carry rover to historic Apollo 11 site

    President Obama and NASA may have abandoned Bush-era plans for a return to the Moon: but it now appears that private companies, motivated by Google money, may yet reap a bonanza of lunar "economic  and scientific treasures". The latest development comes in the form of an announcement at the weekend by would-be Moon- …

    Space 8 Feb 2011, 14:45

  • The good, the bad and the ugly

    Hosted apps How SaaS providers measure up on managing info risk

    Interested in software as a service (SaaS) but worried about the risks to your information? That’s understandable, given the chatter and FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) that surrounds this area. What are the risks you really need to consider in making an objective assessment? The answer will depend on your own situation and …

    Hosted Apps 8 Feb 2011, 14:48

  • Greenpeace co-founder talks biotech, nuclear and climate

    Interview Why do they hate science, and why are they so miserable?

    Canadian environmentalist Patrick Moore describes himself as a treehugger. As a co-founder of Greenpeace, who was on board the Rainbow Warrior when it was blown up, he hardly has to prove his chops. He's now published a memoir-cum-manifesto, Confessions of A Greenpeace Dropout. He's in favour of ground heat pumps – every new …

    Energy 8 Feb 2011, 14:52

  • Of Dell, storage and stacks

    More is needed

    Last week I spent a couple of days at a Dell event reserved for partners in Milan. It's always interesting to talk with vendors and their partners to know more about their market perception and field strategies... especially during lunches and dinners with good food and red wine. Partners All the world thinks Dell is a direct …

    Blocks and Files 8 Feb 2011, 15:00

  • Norway to probe Sony's PS3 Linux 'downgrade'

    Unreasonable change, consumer org claims

    A government agency in Norway has reported Sony to the Consumer Ombudsman after floods of complaints over removal of "Other OS" functionality from PlayStation 3 consoles. Norway's Consumer Council claims Sony breached the Norwegian Marketing Control Act, by withdrawing a key feature after sale. It says Sony's terms of service …

    reghardware 8 Feb 2011, 15:00

  • Facebook exploit toolkit dumbs down rogue app creation

    Scary monster and super profile creeps

    Miscreants have begun selling a cut-price point and click Facebook rogue application generation tool, designed for script kiddies too clueless to code their own malicious application. The rogue Facebook app creation tool kit is available is available at just $25, net security firm Websense reports. The toolkit offers a means …

    Crime 8 Feb 2011, 15:07

  • IBM euthanizes Power6 and Power6+ systems

    Power7, take it or leave it

    If you thought it was tough to get your hands on an Power 520 or Power 550 server using one of IBM's older dual core Power6 or Power6+ processors in the fourth quarter, then you're in for a shock. It is going to get a whole lot harder to get one of these machines very soon ... This is because Big Blue has pulled the plug on …

    Servers 8 Feb 2011, 15:17

  • Mobile data streaming overtakes downloading

    But it's apps that fill the airwaves

    More data is now being streamed to mobile phones than downloaded. The figures come from Allot Communications, as part of its biannual Mobility Report, and drawn from analysis of the traffic delivered to 210 million mobile subscribers around the world. That analysis shows video streaming continues its steady growth as the …

    Mobile 8 Feb 2011, 15:55

  • Texting teenager plunges to his death

    Family blames multi-storey car park

    An Australian teenager has died after he fell from a multi-storey car park while typing a text message. 19-year-old Ryan Robbins escorted a couple of women to their car late last Friday, in Melbourne. After they parted ways, Ryan began texting a friend, while walking. He did not notice the railing - about waist-high - and …

    reghardware 8 Feb 2011, 16:00

  • Nokia's 'Burning Platforms' memo warns of cheapies threat

    Everybody Panic

    One strong theme of Nokia CEO Stephen Elop's 'Burning Platforms' internal memo and its accompanying video (outed exclusively here yesterday) has been overlooked, and this deserves a bit more attention. Elop points out that Nokia lacks competitiveness not just in vital high margin smartphone space – a story that's been told …

    Mobile 8 Feb 2011, 16:51

  • Doner kebab saves bloke's life

    Plugs stab wound with pitta-wrapped delicacy

    A 37-year-old Somerset man can thank fast food for saving his life, after he plugged a serious throat wound with a doner kebab. James Hobbs was attacked in Highbridge on 15 January after he popped out to Tasty Bitez for some meaty goodness. He suffered a deep cut across the throat, but "held the wrapped £3.40 takeaway to his …

    Bootnotes 8 Feb 2011, 16:53

  • VMware hooks up private and public clouds

    Admins can now control all puffery

    Another piece in the vCloud cloudy infrastructure puzzle snaps into place today for VMware, with the delivery of a tool called vCloud Connector. With this plug-in for the vCenter management console for the company's vSphere server hypervisor and related stack, system administrators can now view and control the virtual machines …

    Channel Register 8 Feb 2011, 16:58

  • HTC buys into OnLive for game streaming on phones?

    Also, mad about Saffron Digital

    Mobile phone giant HTC is taking a $39m stake in OnLive - a sign that the cloud-based gaming platform service will show up on smartphones in the near future. OnLive, which launched last year in the States, offers hardcore gaming without the need for a console, with all content remotely stored on servers. Yesterday HTC …

    reghardware 8 Feb 2011, 17:00

  • Sony expands legal offensive to more PS3 hackers

    Sets sights on fail0verflow

    Sony has stepped up its legal offensive against customers who jailbreak its PlayStation 3 game console, filing a series of motions that seek the identity of people who did nothing more than view YouTube videos showing how the latest hack worked. One court filing demands that Google turn over the IP addresses and usernames of …

    Law 8 Feb 2011, 17:58

  • Verizon iPhone 4 jailbroken – already

    The Chronic Dev Team strikes quickly

    Verizon's CDMA-equipped iPhone 4 won't appear in stores until this Thursday, but it has already been jailbroken. Last Friday and Saturday, the ever-helpful folks of the Chronic Dev Team rolled out new versions of their easy-as-pie jailbreaking app, greenpois0n, announcing in the apps' Read Me files that "Verizon iPhone 4 is …

    Mobile 8 Feb 2011, 18:25

  • Facebook moves into Sun Microsystems carcass

    Zuckerberg fills Ellisonian black hole

    Facebook is moving into the space vacated by Sun Microsystems when it disappeared behind the Oracle Iron Curtain. The social networking giant has also purchased 22 acres just adjacent to the old Sun campus in Menlo Park, California. At a press conference this morning announcing the new headquarters, the company said it would …

    Business 8 Feb 2011, 18:49

  • Argonne taps IBM for 10 petaflops super

    More BlueGene/Q details emerge

    The US Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory announced on Tuesday that it has inked a deal with IBM to build a monster BlueGene supercomputer that will weigh in at 10 petaflops of peak theoretical performance when it is operational around the middle of next year. El Reg caught wind of the Mira BlueGene/Q massively …

    HPC 8 Feb 2011, 19:32

  • Assange assault accusers sought 'revenge,' attorneys say

    Financial motive also alleged

    Text messages sent by the two women who accuse Julian Assange of sexually assaulting them refer to revenge and financial gain in messages that undercut the veracity of their claims, attorneys for the WikiLeaks founder said on Tuesday. Testifying in Belmarsh Magistrates' Court in east London, defense witness Björn Hurtig said he …

    Law 8 Feb 2011, 20:07

  • Telstra signs hot Swedish dev for live apps

    IPTV dev Accedo signed to BigPond

    Telstra is working with Swedish IPTV apps provider Accedo Broadband to develop BigPond TV applications for multiple TV and blu-ray platforms. The new applications are powering the delivery of seven Telstra BigPond TV channels to LG and Samsung Connected TV sets and blu-ray players across Australia. Accedo, which worked with …

    Business 8 Feb 2011, 20:25

  • Facebook seeks Asian love

    Opens office in Honkers

    Facebook has opened a sales presence in Hong Kong, its second office in Asia in less than six months, ramping up its engagement with brands and fans. The Hong Kong office is being run by freshly appointed North Asia director Jayne Leung. Leung has a digital advertising background, joining the Facebook crew from California- …

    Business 8 Feb 2011, 20:26

  • Dell unveils 10-inch Windows 7 tablet

    Promises to safeguard Android's future

    Dell has unveiled a 10-inch Windows 7 tablet that it'll layer in next to its collection of Android fondleslabs. On Tuesday, the world's third-largest PC maker showed – briefly – what looked like a mock-up of a planned Windows 7 tablet, coming in the next 30 to 40 days, to press and analysts in San Francisco. Dell's Windows 7 …

    PCs & Chips 8 Feb 2011, 20:43

  • Apple to 'boot boxed software from retail boutiques'

    'Boxes? We don't need no steenkin boxes!'

    Now that Apple has opened its online Mac App Store, it is reportedly poised to evict boxed software from its brick-and-mortar retail stores. "Apple is planning on making the move to all digital sooner than expected at their retail stores," MacRumors reports, citing unnamed sources. With physical shelf space being at a premium …

    Applications 8 Feb 2011, 20:57

  • Bank scorched by stupid Facebook policy

    'Who picked this coffee?' 'You’re sacked!'

    Instead of crafting a social media policy that threatens staff with termination over what they say on social media sites, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia could consider mass-sacking the claque of lawyers, human resources professionals and social media experts that brought down a media firestorm on the financial giant. For …

    Business 8 Feb 2011, 21:04

  • Microsoft finally says adios to Autorun

    Worm bait purged from older Windows

    After a decade of abuse, Autorun is finally being retired in older versions of Windows. On Tuesday, Microsoft began pushing an update that changes the way Windows Server 2008 and earlier versions of the OS respond when USB thumb drives and other portable media are plugged in. Until now, those versions dutifully executed code …

    Security 8 Feb 2011, 21:49

  • Firefox 4 goes to 11 (betas)

    'Do Not Track' header debuts

    Mozilla has released an 11th Firefox beta, adding the "Do Not Track" http header it hopes will become an internet standard. We’ve continued our work to improve performance and stability, while also implementing a 'Do Not Track' privacy feature to provide more control over online behavioral tracking," the open source outfit …

    Applications 8 Feb 2011, 22:28