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15th April 2011 Archive

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  • Intel to pay OEMs to build Atom-Android tablets?

    Ten bucks here, ten bucks there...

    Intel is said to be preparing an incentive plan that will subsidize OEMs that put Chipzilla's processors into tablets running Android 3.0, aka "Honeycomb". According to a report by DigiTimes on Thursday, the plan will reward "first-tier notebook vendors" by paying them $10 for each tablet they ship with an Intel CPU. Also …

    Mobile 15 Apr 2011, 00:03

  • FCC launches AT&T T-Mobile review

    Gentlemen, start your lawyers, lobbyists, spinmeisters, arm-twisters...

    The US Federal Communications Commission has begun the formal process of reviewing the proposed acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T. The FCC on Thursday issued a Public Notice announcing that it had opened a docket on the matter, and issued a Protective Order outlining "procedures to limit access to proprietary or confidential …

    Networks 15 Apr 2011, 01:10

  • Sonim XP3300 Force rugged mobile phone

    Review Tougher than a Newcastle nightclub bouncer

    California-based phone manufacturer Sonim may not be an instantly recognisable name but it’s no stranger to making robust mobile phones. It was behind the first JCB phone and currently builds the S1 for Land Rover. The XP3300 Force is Sonim’s latest and greatest, the toughest of the tough, the bravest of the brave, the Marshal …

    Phones 15 Apr 2011, 06:00

  • Brazilian fingers wife in venomous vagina murder plot

    Intended victim smelled something fishy

    A Brazilian man has claimed his wife attempted to kill him by putting poison into her vagina and inviting him to drink from the furry cup. The unnamed husband, from São José do Rio Preto, in the state of São Paulo, told cops he and his missus had an argument. She then allegedly doused her privates with a "toxic substance" …

    Bootnotes 15 Apr 2011, 08:56

  • Gmail mystery solved: Google went to Sun for backup

    Oracle tape and IBM LTO drives saved the day, says insider

    Google's lost emails were apparently restored from Oracle StreamLine 8500 tape libraries using LTO drives. Up until now the tape infrastructure Google used to restore its lost emails has been unknown. Our understanding from informed industry sources is that Google has 16 StorageTek StreamLine 8500 tape libraries with both …

    Storage 15 Apr 2011, 09:24

  • Menorcan politician flashes substantial chesticles

    NSFW 'Two great arguments' back would-be mayor's election bid

    A Menorcan political candidate has caused a bit of a rumpus ahead of Spain's forthcoming municipal elections with a seriously in-your-face advert in the local press. Sole Sánchez Mohamed, head of the Partit Democràtic de Ciutadella (PDC), posed with an evidently willing pair of male hands to make her point, or rather, pair of …

    Bootnotes 15 Apr 2011, 09:28

  • White iPhone 4 'in production'

    More moles speak out

    A claim that the white Apple iPhone 4 will be out by the end of the month have been corroborated - sort of - by presumably different moles who say the handset has now gone into production. The sources told Reuters that Taiwan's Foxconn - Apple's customary iPhone manufacturing partner - has the gig. The phones will actually be …

    Phones 15 Apr 2011, 09:37

  • Intel and Micron reach flash frontier

    20nm dies on the way

    Intel and Micron have claimed the flash high ground, or low ground really, with a 20nm process which is ready now. Competitors like Samsung and Toshiba are in the 25nm area and Intel Micron Flash Technologies (IMFT), the Intel Micron JV, has leap-frogged them to 20nm. The smaller the geometry, the more flash cells you can get …

    Storage 15 Apr 2011, 09:41

  • Microsoft data centre guru skips over to cloud-flirty Apple

    Running up and down the stairs

    Apple has poached Microsoft's data centre general manager Kevin Timmons, as Jobs' outfit gets serious about clouds. He is still listed as working at Microsoft as the company's data centre services boss on his LinkedIn account. Timmons only joined the software vendor in June 2009, so his departure - first reported by the Green …

    Servers 15 Apr 2011, 09:46

  • 1000s of websites vanish as TalkTalk lets domain slip

    Updated Butterfingers

    TalkTalk has apparently let the ukgateway.net domain slip from its DNS servers, knocking thousands of small business and clubs off the internet. The problem emerged on Thursday when sites using the ukgateway.net domain started disappearing, and now the entire domain has vanished leaving the sites orphaned and untraceable, …

    Small Biz 15 Apr 2011, 09:48

  • Wii 2 announcement in June

    Definitely maybe, say sources

    File this one under 'bloody obvious if you think about'. Nintendo's next Wii will be capable of HD output, it has been claimed with such a high level of likelihood, it'll only be wrong if the console pioneer's managers have gone seriously round the twist. The 'claim' comes from GameInformer, which cites multiple sources, …

    Games 15 Apr 2011, 09:53

  • Measuring the basics of supplier management

    Workshop Down to brass tacks

    How a system such as ERP is configured to get the best from suppliers depends on the sophistication of the system, but some fundamentals apply to pretty much everyone. What most companies want to know is which suppliers give the best price, or the best service, or a combination of the two. In the suppliers ledger you keep …

    Doing Better Business 15 Apr 2011, 10:00

  • New tech lets you drink exhaust fumes

    Handy in Afghanistan – or in an airship

    US government boffins have come up with a cunning plan to use diesel fuel for two purposes – both conventionally to generate power, then afterwards as drinking water. The technology to be used will also be of interest to airship enthusiasts, as it could be used in one of the major problems facing helium-filled dirigibles. The …

    Science 15 Apr 2011, 10:14

  • Got a buck to send M Night Shyamalan to film school?

    It turns out his talent was dead all along!

    Those of you unfortunate enough to have spent money seeing The Last Airbender will doubtless be only too willing to blow one more dollar to send M Night Shyamalan back to film school. That's the aim of the splendidly-named M Night School campaign, which declares: "Certainly, there must be 150,000 of us film lovers out there …

    Bootnotes 15 Apr 2011, 10:20

  • Emerging nations built bit bypass round Europe

    BRICS countries plunge deep into the Atlantic to build a fast lane

    The internet packets flowing between the emerging economic powerhouses of the New World will soon bypass Europe entirely. This week the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – agreed to build a 12.8Tbit/s undersea link between Brazil and South Africa and Angola. The South Atlantic Express cable system …

    Broadband 15 Apr 2011, 10:36

  • EU and US agree to run joint cyberwar exercise in 2011

    Global thermo-botnet warfare

    The EU and the US have agreed to work more closely on the fight against cyber-crime and in the promotion of cyber-security. A meeting between EU home affairs commissioner Cecilia Malmström, responsible for the fight against cybercrime, and US Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano agreed to run a joint EU-US cyber- …

    Security 15 Apr 2011, 10:39

  • FTP celebrates ruby anniversary

    Many happy RETRs

    File Transfer Protocol (FTP) marks its 40th anniversary on Saturday (April 16). The venerable network protocol was first proposed by Abhay Bhushan of MIT in April 1971 as a means to transfer large files between disparate systems that made up ARPANet, the celebrated forerunner to the modern interweb. The protocol required a …

    Data Networking 15 Apr 2011, 10:52

  • Reviewers slam BlackBerry PlayBook software

    No BB messages without your smartphone attached

    Research in Motion launched the BlackBerry PlayBook in the States last night, and with it reviewers' non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) have expired. What they are saying does not inspire confidence. The hardware meets with approval, but is being let down by RIM's software. The key case for the prosecution: no on-board email, a …

    Tablets 15 Apr 2011, 10:54

  • Wading through the software licensing minefield

    Desktop Sweat those assets

    Efficient licence management is crucial for a number of reasons, but they boil down to two: cost containment and legality. According to an IDC survey on software pricing and licensing, conducted in 2010, almost all the respondents believed that some of their software licence expenditure went on either under-used or unused …

    Desktop Strategy 15 Apr 2011, 11:00

  • YouView mandates Linux, HD content encryption

    Set-top box spec published

    YouView has posted the technical specifications set-top box and TV makers will need to follow in order to support the would-be standard IPTV platform. The specs will please punters who favour the Linux operating system - it's the mandated OS for YouView-compatible devices - but will annoy anyone who hopes to shift recorded HD …

    Hardware 15 Apr 2011, 11:38

  • Apple spits out increment iOS version

    Another chance to lock up jailbroken handsets

    Apple has shot out iOS version 4.3.2, fixing a couple of FaceTime bugs, and providing better connectivity when roaming, while giving itself another opportunity to close up opened handsets. The development team behind ultrasn0w; today's de rigueur jailbreaking tool, are warning users off the latest update for fear of finding …

    Phones 15 Apr 2011, 11:39

  • Gaddafi's missus joins Lads from Lagos

    'I need HELP to get out of this marriage'

    The news yesterday that the Lads from Lagos had surfaced in Libya came as no surprise to the El Reg African affairs bureau, although the righteous shoeing Suleiman Evaristo Mohammed administered to the English language did have us reaching for the medicinal brandy. Here's a related, rather better constructed and quite …

    Bootnotes 15 Apr 2011, 11:50

  • Creative set to follow Cisco out of camcorders

    No more Vado launches in the pipeline

    Creative may be about to follow Cisco's lead and withdraw from the pocket camcorder biz. Cisco announced this week that it is killing off its Flip Video camera line, which it acquired when it bought Flip creator Pure Digital in 2009. Creative has been offering its Vado family of YouTube-centric camcorders for almost as long as …

    Hardware 15 Apr 2011, 11:55

  • Plane or train? Tape or disk? Reg readers speak

    You the expert Disk speed versus tape economy and removabiity

    Plane or train? We asked four Reg-readers with storage smarts to say where and when we should use disk-based data protection and where we should cross the line and use tape. Three did just that. The fourth identified a fourth use-case for tape and added a salutary reminder that it has to be managed; it is absolutely not a start- …

    Storage 15 Apr 2011, 12:00

  • Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed

    Review Geared up for action

    Just how can a new racing game carve out a niche in a saturated genre? How can you improve on the intensity of Race Driver Grid, the visuals of F1 2010, or the driving physics of Gran Turismo 5 and Forza 3? Pretty straight forward Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed seeks to answer those questions not through innovation, but …

    Games 15 Apr 2011, 12:00

  • RAF Eurofighters make devastating attack – on Parliament

    Should have called it Operation Guy Fawkes, not Ellamy

    The RAF has blown up two apparently abandoned Libyan tanks using a Eurofighter Typhoon jet in a move which appears to have been motivated more by Whitehall infighting than by any attempt to battle the forces of dictator Muammar Gaddafi. The following video was released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) yesterday afternoon, less …

    Government 15 Apr 2011, 12:00

  • Optimising IT isn’t all about the cloud

    Have you had enough of the rhetoric?

    Are you sick of cloud computing being shoved down your throat as the answer to all IT delivery problems? Or perhaps you are a convert and can't get enough of the 'C' word. Well we at Freeform Dynamics are pretty fed up with having the same sorts of discussions over and over again. It's getting a bit wearing having to keep on …

    Business 15 Apr 2011, 12:05

  • UK.gov signals weary welcome to Brussels' web cookies law

    Browser buddies with GSOH sought by communications minister

    A European Union directive on web cookies that comes into force next month was today endorsed by the UK government, with some caveats attached. Communications minister Ed Vaizey said the UK.gov had no plans to "gold-plate" the EU regulations by bringing in additional measures. However, the Department for Culture, Media and …

    Media 15 Apr 2011, 12:18

  • Google counterattacks MS in US.gov cloud contract row

    It's MS that doesn't have security certification, says Google in court papers

    Google has fired back at Microsoft allegations that its cloud-based service aren't fit for government. The search giant argues that Redmond's technology has not yet met government-mandated security standards while cloud-based services from Google have, despite Redmond's suggestions otherwise. Last week, Microsoft accused …

    Applications 15 Apr 2011, 13:09

  • So, what's the best sci-fi film never made?

    You decide...

    Note: Nominations are now closed. Thanks for the stampede of sugestions. We're now ploughing through the lot to make the final selection for the poll. Watch this space... We know a lot of you are sci-fi buffs, and have your own personal feelings on what would make the ultimate sci-fi movie. The recent news that Paramount will …

    Hardware 15 Apr 2011, 13:14

  • Ericsson to offshore hundreds of contract positions

    A quarter of support roles to go overseas

    Ericsson is cutting back on its contract roster to the tune of "several hundred" UK staff, with the roles going out to India and Romania in the interests of lower costs. Ericsson, one of the biggest suppliers of networking infrastructure to the cellular industry, said that support functions and office roles would be switched …

    Management 15 Apr 2011, 13:27

  • Google whacked with another monopoly moan

    Another day, another nation

    Google has been hit with yet another competition complaint - this one accusing the search and ad giant of abusing its dominant position for mobile operating systems. Two South Korean companies - NHN, which runs the country's largest search engine, and Daum Communications - have complained to the Fair Trade Commission of the …

    Mobile 15 Apr 2011, 13:50

  • Stitch in time saves 900 support calls

    Rewiring support for VDI shops

    Centralising the desktop has upsides and downsides for support staff. The upside is that, done correctly, the IT department gets more control over the desktop, enabling them both to prevent potential problems before they happen, and also to analyse any anomalies more easily from a central point. "In days gone by, if a trader …

    Desktop Virtualisation 15 Apr 2011, 14:00

  • Sony ships 50m PS3s

    Not all of them into punters' hands, but still more than Microsoft

    Sony has shipped more than 50m machines. It has also shipped 8m Move accessories. The Move total runs to 3 April, but since that's only five days after the PS3's tally, we think they're close enough to be comparable. Equally, while these are shipments into the retail channel - not to punters, in other words - we can't see too …

    Games 15 Apr 2011, 14:16

  • Google donates a billion cores to boffins

    Hundreds of teraflops for the taking

    Universities, government labs, and sometimes IT vendors donate their excess supercomputing capacity through grants to academics to help advance various sciences. Now Google is letting boffins loose on its systems. In a blog post, Alfred Spector, vice president of research and special initiatives at the Chocolate Factory, said …

    Servers 15 Apr 2011, 14:17

  • New Obama-style missile defence scores test goal

    Sat-nab navy missile picks off target above Pacific

    The US missile-defence programme has announced a successful test in which a theatre-range ballistic missile of the type possessed by various rogue nations was destroyed above the atmosphere by an interceptor launched from a warship in the Pacific. The US Navy pops one off. At 7:52pm last night (UK time), according to a …

    Science 15 Apr 2011, 14:37

  • Hertz offers Londoners e-cars for hire

    iMiEV now, Nissan Leaf soon

    Hertz is to give the chance to hoon around London Town in an e-car for just four quid an hour. The catch: you have to join the rental company's Connect by Hertz pay-as-you-go club. Membership cost £50 a year even if you never drive one of the firm's cars. Eye-MiEV Sign up, though, and you can now hire a Mitsubishi iMiEV …

    Science 15 Apr 2011, 14:43

  • Google unleashes toon squirrel on freetard uploaders

    Stop. We mean it. Honest

    Copyright scofflaw Google has launched a new campaign - to educate people about respecting copyright. And as you might imagine, it has all the sincerity you could expect from David Irving's guide to the Torah. Popular little guy It's aimed at YouTube users who have been flagged for copyright infringement, and includes a …

    Media 15 Apr 2011, 15:17

  • NFC Forum touts phone-sniffable poster ploy

    Mysterious whitepaper hints at hidden revenue

    The NFC Forum is extolling the benefits of Smart Posters: objects in or on which readable NFC tags have been placed. The business model, however, remains obscure to everyone except Google. Near Field Communications is often used synonymously with proximity payments, but in fact the technology can be used for all sorts of other …

    Mobile 15 Apr 2011, 15:34

  • OpenStack 'floating Linux kernel' rides VMware hypervisor

    With no help from VMware

    OpenStack – the open source "infrastructure cloud" project founded by Rackspace and NASA – has released a third version of its platform, offering support for all major hypervisors. With the new release, codenamed "Cactus", developers have added support for VMware's vSphere hypervisor – without help from VMware. The vSphere …

    Cloud 15 Apr 2011, 16:00

  • Firefox needs heavy hitter Linux power

    Open...and Shut Big boys' browser blind spot

    In the past 20 years Linux has moved from Linus Torvalds' personal hobby to an industry-dominating force, reshaping the server, embedded, and mobile markets. Linux's growth wasn't fueled on the fumes of peace, love, and late-night pizza orders. It has been driven by the collective efforts of many corporations, each intending to …

    Applications 15 Apr 2011, 17:31

  • Wireless devices to break one-billion barrier in 2011

    Tiny ticking time bombs?

    This year, devices with embedded wireless local area networking (WLAN) capability will top one billion for the first time. By 2015, that number will double – and some people are terrified that their ubiquity will spark an electromagnetic apocalypse. These figures come from a study published on Friday by IHS iSuppli. According …

    Broadband 15 Apr 2011, 17:42

  • Perverted Justice vigilante sentenced for DDoS attacks

    Two years for taking out sites chronicling steamy affair

    A computer programmer was sentenced to two years in prison for unleashing crippling attacks on rollingstone.com and other news websites that published humiliating accounts of an adulterous online affair he pursued with a fictitious woman. Bruce Raisley was also ordered to pay $90,383 in restitution for the distributed denial-of …

    Security 15 Apr 2011, 17:43

  • Red Hat muscles in on Ellison's Java fluffing gig

    Linux company claims middleware cred

    Red Hat is chipping in on Oracle's plan to fluff server-side Java - reported exclusively by The Reg - so Larry Ellison's database giant can't claim all the credit for moving the platform forward. The open sourcer has this week submitted a number of proposed specifications on the planned Java Enterprise Edition (Java EE) 7 to …

    Developer 15 Apr 2011, 17:44

  • Ellison's Oracle washes hands of OpenOffice

    Community return promised, Oracle cloud suite MIA

    Oracle is turning OpenOffice into a purely community project, and no longer plans to offer a commercial version of the collaboration suite loved by many. The database giant said on Friday that it believed OpenOffice would be best managed by an organization focused on serving the broad constituency on a non-commercial basis. …

    Applications 15 Apr 2011, 19:36

  • IP registry goes to Defcon 1 as IPv4 doomsday nears

    APNIC activates draconian rationing

    The provider of IP addresses to the Asia Pacific region has activated a major change in the way it allocates them after becoming the first registry to deplete its number of older addresses to fewer than 17 million. APNIC said the depletion of all but its final /8 block of addresses was a “key turning point in IPv4 exhaustion” …

    Networks 15 Apr 2011, 20:31

  • Forget China and India, Sweden is tech's superpower

    Primed for take off

    Sweden has, again, beaten all other countries at what the World Economic Forum describes as "fully integrating new technologies in...competitiveness strategies and using them as a crucial lever for long-term growth." This ongoing Swedish success story is only one intriguing data point in the massive 10th annual Global …

    Financial News 15 Apr 2011, 21:14

  • Skype for Android is vulnerable

    User data exposed

    According to a post at Android Police, confirmed by Skype, the Android version of the popular VoIP app exposes extensive user data. The Android Police report says user IDs, phone numbers, chat logs, and other data is exposed by the vulnerability. User data is stored unencrypted in sqlite3 databases, and Skype for Android uses …

    VoIP 15 Apr 2011, 23:10