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1st April 2011 Archive

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  • HP taps Google's print server in the sky

    Print jobs via interwebs

    HP has announced that its ePrint printers are the first to support Google Cloud Print, a service that lets print via the interwebs. "With HP ePrint and cloud-aware printers, you get the best experience printing via Google Cloud Print," crowed Stephen Nigro headman of HP's Imaging and Printing Group in a canned statement. …

    Cloud 1 Apr 2011, 04:00

  • Ubuntu's high-risk Linux Narwhal beta floats

    Multi-touch or bust?

    Canonical's short march towards multi-touch success (or its slow slide in to oblivion) is a step closer to completion. On Thursday, it released the Ubuntu 11.04 beta. Codenamed Natty Narwhal, Ubuntu 11.04 is the first version of the Linux distro that defaults to Unity, the multi-touch interface we were once told was for touch- …

    Operating Systems 1 Apr 2011, 05:43

  • Ten... tech treats for mum

    Product Round-up Ready for Mother's Day, lads?

    Yes, Sunday, 3 April is Mother's Day, a celebration of matters maternal that stretches back to pre-Christian Roman times, but one no son - or partner whose significant other has offspring - dare ignore. So, with a day or so to go, here is Reg Hardware selection of ten tech its the mother(s) in your life - will be pleased to …

    Top Ten 1 Apr 2011, 06:00

  • W**k-O-Meter

    NSFW App of the Week Onan the Barbarian

    If you're going to do something, do it properly. A fine creed, and just as applicable to playing the pink oboe as any other worthwhile hobby. Designed not only to tell you how well you are doing it and what effect it’s having, but also to encourage the development of your technique and make it a more pleasurable experience, …

    Phones 1 Apr 2011, 07:00

  • The Cisco Borg in your TV

    An overview of Videoscape

    Regardless of your feelings toward Cisco – whether you’ve been absorbed into the Borg or are preserving your precarious freedom on the outside – the company’s CTO in Australia, Kevin Bloch, at least offers that rare combination of enviable technical competence and media-accessibility. So it was that at Cisco Live, an event …

    Networks 1 Apr 2011, 08:00

  • The X-Factor goes virtually mobile, expands voting

    April Fools We're not just a TV show now

    The X Factor, staple of end-of-year TV viewing, is set to launch its own MVNO with a branded handset providing discounted voting and access to exclusive X Factor content. The X Factor Network will be a virtual network operator, and the company isn't saying who will be hosting the infrastructure, but it will have its own …

    Mobile 1 Apr 2011, 08:00

  • Prevention is better than cure

    Webcast Ensuring IT services stay fit and healthy with proactive monitoring

    Delivering a service is dependent on getting networks, storage, servers, operating systems, middleware and applications to work together to agreed levels. But we know how difficult it is to keep these complex chains running reliably; and problems gets more acute as we throw virtualisation in to the mix. The answer is to keep …

    Tech Panel 1 Apr 2011, 08:15

  • Seagate triples up heads/platter ratio

    April Fools Determined to break out of HDD I/O trap

    In a final attempt to break out of the I/O density gap crippling hard disk drive I/O, Seagate is introducing drives with three heads per platter that will dramatically cut latency and seek times. Chairman and CEO Stephen Luczo said: "Latency and seek time delays are the open door through which flash drives are pouring in to …

    Storage 1 Apr 2011, 09:08

  • Official: PS3 has more fanboys than the Xbox 360 does

    Installed bases compared

    There are now more Playstation 3s out there than Xbox 360s, it has been claimed. Market watcher Strategy Analytics said the Sony console's installed base hit 43.4m units worldwide at the end of 2010, just ahead of the 360's total, 42.9m. That puts Sony a little over one percentage point ahead, and it's still well behind the …

    Games 1 Apr 2011, 09:32

  • Labour MP says police should clamp down on online incitement

    Shadow Treasury Minister David Hanson has tips for Theresa

    Police need to clamp down not just on violent protesters, but also on the twits – and any other social networkers – who encourage them online. That was the view expressed by Labour Shadow Treasury Minister, David Hanson, who intervened during debate on last weekend's violent events in the centre of London, to remind the home …

    Government 1 Apr 2011, 09:42

  • Mobile operators ditch Tube plans

    Sing hosanna!

    London tube travellers have been saved from the menace of mobiles on the underground, as plans to extend mobile phone coverage onto trains have been canned. The four operators were working with Chinese provider Huawei to extend coverage in time for the Olympics. Everything Everywhere, O2, Three and Vodafone said: "We have …

    Mobile 1 Apr 2011, 10:00

  • Asus Eee Pad Transformer

    Hands On Honeycomb hybrid with docking done right?

    Asus has been showcasing its Eee Pad Transformer Android 3.0 tablet this week, Transformer being the word the company uses to highlight this 10.1in, 1280 x 800 tablet’s hybrid design that will turn it into a netbook in the click of a dock. Honeycomb centre Only last week, Acer was showing off its own interpretation of the …

    Tablets 1 Apr 2011, 10:01

  • Stock-trading teen hacker jailed again over 2nd scam

    Back inside for $100k swindle attempt

    A hacker jailed at 19 for a stock-trading scam has been jailed for three years over a new fraud, this time involving attempts to swindle a currency exchange out of $100,000. Van T Dinh became infamous in 2003, aged just 19, when he hacked into the account of another trader in order to offload worthless stock derivatives he had …

    Security 1 Apr 2011, 10:13

  • London Olympics get pay-by-wave

    Visa and Samsung are in, but it takes three to tango

    Samsung will be handing out Olympic phones to athletes at the 2012 Olympics and Visa will be taking NFC payments from them, but the pair will still need an operator to make it work. The model of phone hasn't been announced, but it will be handed out free to athletes attending the Olympic and Paralympics games and on sale to …

    Mobile 1 Apr 2011, 10:30

  • The Register Guide to London's Silicon Roundabout Tech Startups

    April Fools The cream of the crap crop

    Prime Minister David Cameron hails them as the young, wealth-creating foundation of tomorrow's economy. But who are they? Here's El Reg's guide to the stars of London's vibrant tech startup scene - whose drive and energy is already ripping up the rules of government, and traditional profit-loss accounting methods. The …

    Bootnotes 1 Apr 2011, 10:31

  • Rikki don't lose (sight of) that number

    Workshop Navigating Sales through the morass

    The “number” is the most important word in any sales person’s vocabulary. It means the target, the total amount of closed business that needs to be achieved, whether in a month, a quarter or a year. Once that period is ended, the reset button is pressed and the cycle starts again. Anyone who has been at the sharp end of sales …

    Doing Better Business 1 Apr 2011, 11:00

  • US gov 'transparency' websites targeted for big, fat budget cuts

    Oh Mr President, you shouldn't have

    A campaign is underway in the US to save the government-endorsed website Data.gov and six other portals from the axe. Ironically, one of the sites earmarked for the budget slash includes the USAspending.gov portal. "Some of the most important technology programs that keep Washington accountable are in danger of being …

    Government 1 Apr 2011, 11:18

  • Amazon Payments heads into meat space

    The NFC gate swings both ways

    Amazon plans to take its payment platform into the real world, using NFC tags to identify goods for purchase from the online store, but who attaches those tags is not clear. The service, which Bloomberg reports based on conversations with "two people with knowledge of the project", involves the customer tapping their phone …

    Mobile 1 Apr 2011, 11:41

  • Misty Martian volcano caught on camera

    Nice postcard from ESA's Mars Express

    The European Space Agency (ESA) has released a fetching composite image of a couple of Martian volcanoes, one of them caught with "icy clouds" drifting past its summit. The two volcanoes, dubbed Ceraunius Tholus (left) and Uranius Tholus were caught on camera by the Mars Express spacecraft in three passes between 25 November …

    Science 1 Apr 2011, 11:47

  • Fight global warming with Asimov-style Psychohistory - profs

    'Social decision sciences' to adjust dwindling public concern

    Trick-cyclists in Blighty and the USA have called for a new "science of communicating science" to be deployed in order to deal with the fact that public concern over global warming has plunged in recent years. This won't do at all "We need to move on from a sterile debate about whether global warming is happening or not," …

    Science 1 Apr 2011, 11:49

  • StoneFly flies faster with Fusion-io

    Flashy OEM deal

    StoneFly is going to bundle Fusion-io server flash with its virtual IP SAN appliance, giving it lightning-like performance. The company provides IP SANS or software that runs as a virtual machine and turns the allocated host server's disk drive storage into an iSCSI storage area network (SAN) resource, in roughly the same way …

    Storage 1 Apr 2011, 11:55

  • DNSSEC finally goes mainstream

    VeriSign enables more secure tech on .com top-level domain

    DNSSEC, a more secure version of the internet domain name to IP address lookup protocol, was enabled on the .com top-level domain on Thursday. The move by VeriSign, the operator of .com, marks an important milestone in the adoption of the technology, now accessible to 80 million registered domains. The internet's root servers …

    Security 1 Apr 2011, 11:59

  • BlackBerry Torch 9800 Super App Compo: the winners

    Applause for app ideas

    Last month, we asked you to imagine your ideal BlackBerry Super App to run on the sizzling new BlackBerry Torch - and to tell us all about it. Hundreds of you, from all around the world, submitted your ideas, leaving the judges - Reg Hardware Editor Tony Smith, Research in Motion UK marketing director Richard Pilkington and …

    Phones 1 Apr 2011, 12:00

  • Total War: Shogun 2

    Review The seven thousand samurai

    Apart from porn and the Total War series, why would anyone own a PC? Shogun 2 coming out, best get down to Akihabara’s Yodobashi Camera and spend some hard earned cash on a graphics card update – couldn't resist the ATI PowerColor 6950 2GB – time to watch my frame rate soar. Marshing on Real time strategy now seems to be …

    Games 1 Apr 2011, 12:32

  • US Army inks $66m deal for Judge Dredd smart-rifles

    'Airburst stun bomb!' 'Armour piercing!'

    The US Army's futuristic Judge Dredd style computer smart-rifle project, the XM-25, is moving ahead. Developer ATK, which has so far made just five prototype weapons, inked a $65.8m deal this week to move the weapon into manufacturing. "Freeze, perp! All right, you asked for it. Airburst stun bomb!" The XM-25 works much as …

    Science 1 Apr 2011, 13:24

  • Sony reveals DAB+ radio range

    Retro receivers

    Sony has introduced its first DAB+ radios, bringing forward the technology while rewinding time with design. The Sony XDR-S16DBP is a retro-looking portable radio encompassed by a wooden body that delivers sound through two built-in 0.8W speakers. An compact LCD screen displays all the relevant information. The Sony XDR- …

    Hardware 1 Apr 2011, 13:33

  • Computacenter buys into the clouds

    Minority stake in collaboration firm

    Britain's biggest reseller Computacenter has bought a minority stake in a Basingstoke-based cloud specialist. Computacenter is paying £500,000 for shares in ICS Solutions Limited, a Microsoft Gold Partner and collaboration and cloud specialist. In a statement to the London Stock Exchange Computacenter said the cash investment …

    Cloud 1 Apr 2011, 13:43

  • LG cries foul over rival's rank language

    And your TVs are !!#@!!@#:# too

    Electronics giant LG may sue Samsung for allegedly using profane language in a heated debate over 3D TV technology. Both Korean companies claim to be better than the other and have been bickering over the matter all year - if not for longer. As the world's biggest telly makers rugged competitiveness is to be expected. However …

    Hardware 1 Apr 2011, 13:50

  • Oxfordshire cops switch speed cameras back on

    Seventh speedy sense prompts three-point turn - but will it work?

    Oxfordshire police have turned speed cameras back on as others throughout England switch theirs off, prompting questions as to whether senior police and county council figures are playing politics. Last August, following the withdrawal of central government funds, Oxfordshire made motoring history by being the first county to …

    Law 1 Apr 2011, 14:24

  • Apple plays cloud catch-up

    May delay iOS 5 to ensure it can compete

    Apple may be untouchable in tablets and hard to beat for mobile user experience, but it will prove more vulnerable as the focus of innovation moves to the cloud. Cupertino's offering here is a mess, with a collection of non-harmonised services such as MobileMe. It will need to do a lot of work to fend off Google, as well as …

    Cloud 1 Apr 2011, 14:57

  • Arkansas governor spanks arse cleavage

    Baggy trousers madness

    The governor of Arkansas has struck a blow for fashion and common decency by outlawing the practice among students of turning up to school with their trousers at half-mast. On Wednesday, Mike Beebe signed the historic bill which prohibits clothing which exposes "underwear, buttocks or the breast of a female". The move was …

    Bootnotes 1 Apr 2011, 14:59

  • Nigeria fails to enact cyber crime laws

    Continue to fill your boots, miscreants!

    Nigeria has failed to pass broad-ranging laws against cybercrime. A collection of six laws put before the country's parliament last month would have outlawed many forms of internet misuse, including spamming, online ID theft, and buying goods online using stolen credit card details. All remain permissible in Nigeria, whose …

    Security 1 Apr 2011, 15:04

  • April Fools Day's Finest

    Nonsense round-up Trick or... trick

    We hate April Fools Day. It makes story writing here at Vulture Central extra difficult, sifting through the endless fictional nonsense trying to find something interesting - and true. However, sometimes the gags can be quite amusing. Here are a few I've stumbled across on my story surfs today. Facebook Status Display T-Shirt …

    Hardware 1 Apr 2011, 15:37

  • Privacy group downplays Google Buzz cash grab

    Unfair that outfits against Mountain View got nada, says EPIC boss

    A US web advocacy outfit has downplayed reports that suggest it is pursing $1.75m over a class action settlement between privacy groups and Google, following Mountain View's social network gaffe with Buzz. The Electronic Privacy Information Center's executive director, Marc Rotenberg, told The Register that "money isn't the …

    Applications 1 Apr 2011, 15:38

  • DARPA: Send limbless troops back to war with robo-arms

    Brainplug cyborgs to get superhuman reaction times

    Radical Pentagon boffins have hit upon a new plan which will assist the USA in its efforts to meet the demand for combat troops in the expanding Wars On Stuff. Disabled servicemen who have lost arms or legs in the fighting thus far will be swiftly equipped with highly capable, ruggedised robotic replacement limbs and sent …

    Science 1 Apr 2011, 15:53

  • Oracle and life after Larry Ellison

    He has to retire some time, doesn't he?

    The disruptor of disruptors, Oracle boss Larry Ellison, will be 67 on August 17 this year. So when will he retire? He will be 70 on August 17, 2014. We hear that the R-word is being mentioned by him to close friends, but we hear this from someone, who knows someone, who knows …. so it's veracity is as certain as Sarah Palin …

    Storage 1 Apr 2011, 16:39

  • Microsoft, Nokia, and RIM's wasted R&D billions

    Open...and Shut Put the lab coats away

    Over the past few decades, governments have decreased their investments in original research, with corporations taking on a greater role. There are plenty of problems with scientific research funded by private, shareholder-driven companies. Perhaps the worst, however, is that corporate R&D, at least in the technology market, …

    Developer 1 Apr 2011, 16:47

  • Google drops Schmidt for Elop, Android for WinPho 7

    April Fools Page bypassed for 'good of market'

    After jumping from Microsoft to Nokia, where he promptly dropped Symbian in favor of Microsoft Windows Phone 7, Steven Elop is moving on once again. To Google. On Friday, Google announced that after a change of heart by its board of directors, Elop rather than cofounder Larry Page will take over the company's CEO post from the …

    Mobile 1 Apr 2011, 18:52

  • Natty Narwhal with Unity: Worst Ubuntu beta ever

    Review Nightmare KDE 4 scenario replayed

    Last year, Mark Shuttleworth christened Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal", saying the disto would be stylish and create a good, lasting first impression. While its debut in beta form is smart looking and definitely chases the fashion in operating-system design it's also the single worst beta release of Ubuntu I've ever tested. …

    Operating Systems 1 Apr 2011, 20:09

  • Single-patent lawsuit hits Apple, Google, Amazon, Priceline...

    ...Hotels.com, Expedia, Sony, Motorola, Kayak, Microsoft, Verizon...

    A Texas-based company known as H-W Technology has sued Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, eBay, Motorola, Nokia, Sony, Verizon, Expedia, Priceline, Hotels.com, and 20 other companies and sister companies, claiming infringement of a single patent. And this is not April's Fool prank. This sort of thing goes on all the time in …

    Mobile 1 Apr 2011, 21:10

  • Firefox 'Do Not Track' header wins first convert

    Ad biz, er, mulls things over

    Mozilla has announced that the Associated Press has become the first organization to adopt the "Do Not Track" http header introduced by Firefox 4. According to a blog post from Mozilla privacy man Alex Fowler, the AP News Registry is now using the header across 800 news sites reaching 175 million unique users a month. He also …

    Security 1 Apr 2011, 23:11