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28th April 2011 Archive

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  • Middleware hotshot to bake biz-friendly apps

    Magnet Systems exits stealth with big backers

    Alfred Chuang, who brought the TCP/IP stack to the original IBM PC, ran several software product development units at Sun Microsystems, and was one of the founders of middleware software maker BEA Systems, wants to take another crack at business software. Specifically, Chuang's startup, Magnet Systems, which just came out of …

    Applications 28 Apr 2011, 00:48

  • PlayStation Network credit cards protected by encryption

    User passwords? Not so much

    All credit card information stored on Sony's PlayStation Network was encrypted, the company said one day after warning users their user names, passwords, birth dates and home addresses were stolen in a security breach. “The entire credit card table was encrypted and we have no evidence that credit card data was taken,” Sony …

    Games 28 Apr 2011, 01:10

  • Yahoo! Finds! Buyer! For! Doomed! Delicious!

    YouTube founders grab a tasty morsel

    YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen have found something to do with some of the $1.6 billion they made selling the service to Google, buying bookmarking service Delicious from Yahoo! Inc. Yahoo! has been trying to find a way to offload the service since last year. With no buyer in sight around December, the company …

    Media 28 Apr 2011, 04:00

  • YouTube to launch paid video-on-demand service

    Studios on board, reports claim

    YouTube is reportedly poised to launch a paid streaming movie-on-demand service with the okay of a number of Hollywood studios. Speculation suggests that the service may launch next week however neither Google nor YouTube have responded to the claims. Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Brothers, Universal and a raft of …

    Media 28 Apr 2011, 04:00

  • Open source Hadoop engineers may spin off from Yahoo!

    Hooligans could birth stuffed elephant startup

    Yahoo! may spin off its Hadoop engineering division, creating a startup offering support and services around the open-source distributed number-crunching platform, according to a report citing people familiar with the matter. The Wall Street Journal reports that Yahoo! is "weighing" a Hadoop spin-off and that Silicon Valley …

    Cloud 28 Apr 2011, 04:38

  • US Supremes deal death blow to class action lawsuits

    States' rights turned on their head

    The US Supreme Court has granted a whopping victory to AT&T, the US Chamber of Commerce, and supportive corporations, by reversing previous court decisions that had prevented corporations from requiring individual arbitration of customers' complaint. By issuing its 5-4 decision on Wednesday, the Court has essentially stripped …

    Law 28 Apr 2011, 04:42

  • XSysInfo memory manager

    iOS App of the Week Peek under the iOS bonnet with this diagnostic app

    Android devices have a memory manager utility that can show you which apps and services are running in the background, and allow you to shut them down in order to free up some extra memory.    XSysInfo provides more data than iOS 4's multitasking menu, including apps' impact on battery life (right) Apple, being Apple, likes …

    Phones 28 Apr 2011, 06:00

  • PSN hack triggers lawsuit

    Sony sued over data loss

    A gamer is suing Sony over the data breach in which the personal details of more than 70 million PlayStation Network and Qriocity users were stolen. Although Sony has maintained that there is no evidence of the theft of card data, a complaint filed in the Federal Court in San Francisco accuses the company of failing to protect …

    Games 28 Apr 2011, 06:00

  • Footy coming to mobiles next year

    Telstra to broadcast Aussie rules on mobiles, T-Box, maybe even on broadband

    The Australian Football League has abandoned the usual sports strategy of trying to play different broadcast bidders against each other for rights deals, and instead has dealt with a consortium that includes all three major outlet streams: free-to-air TV, pay TV, and internet streaming. The result is a A$1.25bn five-year …

    Networks 28 Apr 2011, 06:49

  • Farewell, Novell

    $2.2bn Attachmate buy done and dusted

    The sale of former local-area networking powerhouse Novell to Attachmate has been completed. The $2.2bn sale was first announced in November, and it ends the independent life of a once-dominant network operating system vendor. In later years, its original market snuffed out by Microsoft, the company had become the home of the …

    Software 28 Apr 2011, 07:00

  • Online PVR goes live in Australia

    Beem ends beta

    Beem.com.au – an online PVR service – has exited its “invitation-only” beta phase and launched services to the public. The "personal cloud storage for TV shows" records programmes from Australia’s free-to-air TV channels for replay over the internet. At the moment, the service only supports PC-based browsers, but its home …

    Networks 28 Apr 2011, 07:08

  • PayPal pushes eBay earnings

    Sticking to its knitting

    eBay is celebrating a 20 per cent jump in profits in the last quarter, thanks mainly to its payment system PayPal. The online tat bazaar grew net revenues in the first quarter of 2011 to $2.5bn, up 16 per cent and net income was up 20 per cent to £398m. eBay's chief executive John Donahoe said 2011 was off to a strong start …

    Financial News 28 Apr 2011, 09:03

  • Royal guests free to tweet and hang out with Facebook friends

    Ain't no jammin' goin' on

    The royal wedding won't be blanketed in a smog of radio-jamming despite reports to the contrary; such a measure is unnecessary and unworkable, not to mention illegal. Yahoo! seems to have started the rumour, claiming that Westminster Abbey will be covered with a mobile block to prevent guests tweeting when they should be …

    Mobile 28 Apr 2011, 09:08

  • More than one way to build a cloud (and there always will be)

    Cloud Feel the fabrics

    The open systems revolution of the late 1980s and early 1990s, which espoused interoperability between platforms, made the various Unix operating systems the world’s most popular server platforms. If you consider Linux a kind of Unix, then you can argue that although Windows has spread into small and medium businesses, the …

    Enterprise Tech 28 Apr 2011, 09:28

  • Nikon image authentication system cracked

    So obviously Photoshopped

    Russian encryption specialist ElcomSoft has discovered flaws in Nikon's systems for ensuring that images have not been tampered with. The flaw in Nikon's Image Authentication System creates a means to produce forged pictures that would successfully pass validation checks. The security weakness uncovered by ElcomSoft revolves …

    Security 28 Apr 2011, 09:44

  • Departments reveal mobile device spending

    Defence splurged £6.6m on 45,000 'devices' and data services in 2009-10

    The Department for Transport spent £1.5m on mobile telephones and related data services in the 2010-11 financial year. The department, which has seven executive agencies, disclosed that 7,757 officials were issued with mobile phones such as BlackBerrys and other 3G devices in that year. The department was responding to a …

    Government 28 Apr 2011, 09:46

  • Latvian hack's hack story leads to hack-hacking

    'Don't try jumping higher than your own...'

    An enraged Latvian hacker went batshit over an article criticising security at small, low-cost hosting companies and defaced the website of the news agency LETA. The hacker used sophisticated techniques to fight off efforts to restore service to hundreds of the news agency's customers. LETA, which is privately owned, calls …

    Security 28 Apr 2011, 10:00

  • Targeted phish frags XBox gamers

    Updated Microsoft warns Modern Warfare 2 players not to eat the 'subtle' phish

    Microsoft has warned users of Xbox Live to be wary of targeted phishing scams that attempt to hoodwink users into handing over their gamer tags and passwords. Phishing, fake point generators that actually contain malware and various other forms of nastiness are nothing new in the world of online gaming. The latest scam …

    Games 28 Apr 2011, 10:06

  • Beyoncé sued over aborted videogame deal

    Crazy in litigation

    Beyoncé has been branded a grinch after she decided not to endorse a dance videogame, driving the developer to sack dozens of coders in the week before Christmas. New York studio Gate Five is suing Beyoncé for "a bad faith breach of contract", alleging the curvacious chanteuse pulled out of the project on what "appeared to be …

    Games 28 Apr 2011, 10:45

  • Desktop Virtualisation beyond VDI

    Interview Decisions, decisions

    Desktop virtualisation isn't just about the client, and it isn't all about VDI. Intel’s Stuart Dommett explains to Tim Phillips why there are more options for the virtual desktop than before, what Intel has been building in to its products to make those options more viable, and why he thinks it’s one of the top two or three …

    Enterprise Tech 28 Apr 2011, 11:00

  • The Sandy Bridge Hackintosh

    Run Mac OS X on Intel's new Core i

    My challenge from Reg Hardware: build a PC, install Mac OS X on it, and explain how you can do it too. Today's Macs use standard Intel-type components. A key difference from Windows is that Mac OS X loads though a boot mechanism known as EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface). Some obscure Apple-proprietary concoction, no doubt? …

    Software 28 Apr 2011, 11:00

  • Panasonic pledges big job cuts

    35,000 fewer staff

    Consumer electronics giant Panasonic is cutting 35,000 jobs in the next three years as it tries to reinvent itself and its corporate culture. Even after the cuts Panasonic will have 350,000 staff. The reorganisation will change management structure from five divisions based on platforms. Instead Panasonic will be run as …

    Financial News 28 Apr 2011, 11:02

  • Alcatel gets free and easy with OpenPlug

    New parent less protective of dev platform revenue stream

    Alcatel Lucent has decided to hand out the developer version of OpenPlug free to drive more Adobe Flex development. Cross-platform development environment OpenPlug doesn't need Adobe Flex; it can plug in to Eclipse too, though that's an "alpha" release. The product is clearly intended for developers wanting to take …

    Mobile 28 Apr 2011, 11:11

  • Revealed: Secret security plan should Kate leave Wills at the altar

    'Operation Pumpkin' prepped for royal runaway bride scenario

    Police and spooks in charge of security for tomorrow's royal wedding have planned for every possible eventuality - including that of Kate leaving Wills at the altar. The top-secret contingency plan for a "runaway bride" scenario has been dubbed "Operation Pumpkin", and if put into effect would see hundreds of operatives switch …

    Bootnotes 28 Apr 2011, 11:15

  • Apple bags iCloud.com domain for $4.5m, says report

    iRain down data centre sleet on you

    Apple has reportedly bought the iCloud.com domain name for $4.5m. According to Gigaom's Om Malik, who cites a source familiar with Sweden-based former iCloud.com owner Xcerion, the transaction took place recently. To add fuel to the rumour, Xcerion's storage-as-a-cloud service recently morphed into a new domain name of …

    Cloud 28 Apr 2011, 11:18

  • Sony brings Skype to Bravia HD TVs

    Remote interest

    Sony has released a firmware update for its Bravia televisions that adds Skype functionality as well as the ability to use smartphones and notebooks as remote control devices. The update means Bravia owners can now recreate their own This Island Earth-style Interocitor, although I doubt there's any Sony TVs shaped like a …

    Hardware 28 Apr 2011, 11:37

  • Guardian shuts local blogs

    Future's not so local after all

    The Grauniad is shutting three local news blogs and likely laying off the three reporters concerned. The blogs were aimed at Cardiff, Edinburgh and Leeds and had a reporter, or "beatblogger", for each. The sites launched in early 2010 and were meant to develop: "new models for journalism and social engagement through a mix of …

    Media 28 Apr 2011, 11:38

  • Atlantis promises to flush out VDI I/O bottlenecks

    Says ILIO will stop your virtual desktop sinking

    A company called Atlantis has come up with a new wheeze on how to deal with VDI-crippling I/O bottlenecks: detect and delete dud I/Os at the NTFS level. Atlantis' ILIO 2.0 product – ILIO stands for In Line Image Optimisation – is a software incarnation of its hardware appliance, and runs as a virtual appliance that works with …

    Storage 28 Apr 2011, 12:50

  • Huawei smacks ZTE with patent and trademark lawsuits

    Updated Chinese whispers on foreign turf

    Huawei has launched patent and trademark litigation against ZTE in Germany, France and Hungary alleging that its competitor has been selling kit bearing Huawei's logo as well as using its technology. Huawei claims that ZTE has been sticking its trademark on some data cards, as well as infringing various patents including those …

    Mobile 28 Apr 2011, 13:09

  • Robot moon lander airship test enhanced by iPhone app

    In Mountain View. Organised by a search guru, actually ...

    A Silicon Valley startup has announced that it is flight testing new NASA-funded robot moon lander technology aboard a rented airship with the aid of an iPhone app intended to exploit social networking. Unsurprisingly perhaps, the company's CTO is a search engine executive. This picture was taken with an iPhone also. The …

    Applications 28 Apr 2011, 13:46

  • Rackspace backtracks over toff-proof sign-up process

    Royals, aristos excluded by double-barrel discrimination

    Rackspace has been forced into a hasty about-turn after it emerged that it was discriminating against aristocrats, power couples and other bigwigs with a sign-up and billing process that refused to recognise double-barrelled surnames. The policy put it totally at odds with a modern Britain that adores Royalty, and prefers its …

    Cloud 28 Apr 2011, 14:08

  • Pads propel PC market growth

    Q1 shipments jump matched by tablet numbers

    World PC'n'pad shipments were up seven per cent during Q1 2011, market watcher Canalys said today. And, interestingly, seven per cent of the devices counted were tablets. Shipments made during the quarter topped 88.6m units, up from 82.8m in Q1 2010. Some 6.4m tablets shipped during the quarter, higher than the unit increase. …

    Tablets 28 Apr 2011, 14:58

  • Russian security start-up kits up 30,000 state bank ATMs, terminals

    Creating cash from chaos

    Cash machine crime has created a new market for start-up Russian security firm SafenSoft. The firm has persuaded fberbank, the former Soviet-era state bank, to roll out SafenSoft's TPSecure ATM software to 30,000 cash machines and point of sales terminals across Russia. The technology is designed to preserve system integrity …

    Security 28 Apr 2011, 15:08

  • Japanese quake flattens Fujitsu's homeland sales

    Chip, system sales up thanks to Kei supercomputer

    Japanese IT conglomerate Fujitsu is one of several companies wrestling with supply issues in the wake of the Sendai earthquake and tsunami in March. The disaster had an impact on Fujitsu's fiscal 2010 year, which closed at the end of March, but the company ended the year as well as expected considering the issues it is facing …

    Servers 28 Apr 2011, 15:24

  • Ubuntu 'Natty Narwhal' breaks the surface

    Canonical goes live with 11.04

    If you are looking for something to do before the Royal Wedding gets under way, Canonical has officially released Ubuntu "Natty Narwhal". The company opened up the mirror floodgates at 11:36 am Greenwich Mean Time for Ubuntu 11.04 for desktops, notebooks, and netbooks and its server companion, Ubuntu Server 11.04. Last week, …

    Operating Systems 28 Apr 2011, 17:10

  • Google sued over – yes – Android location tracking

    Like Apple. But not like Apple

    Google has been sued over its Android location tracking practices, days after a similar suit was brought against Apple. According to The Detroit News, two Michigan women have filled a $50 million class-action suit against the web giant, demanding that the company stop offering Android phones that can track a user's location. …

    Security 28 Apr 2011, 21:56

  • Aus convergence review kicks off

    Ex-'Project Kangaroo' guru joins team

    The Australian government’s long-awaited review of the media and communications regulatory framework is finally underway with the release of an issues framing paper and a call for submissions. The review is to look at Australia's regulation of the media and communications industries. Earlier this year, its terms of reference …

    Government 28 Apr 2011, 22:18

  • Mobile Active stung for Bieber fraud fever

    Fined $225k for dodgy ads

    Mobile ringtone and gaming provider Mobile Active has been busted by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for false and misleading advertising practices from two of its subsidiaries Global One Mobile Entertainment and 6G. A Federal Court has forced the company to pay fines totaling AUS$225,000 for the offences …

    Mobile 28 Apr 2011, 22:19

  • Microsoft profits soar 31% on Office, Xbox

    Windows on the wane

    Microsoft profits climbed 31 per cent during the quarter ending March 31, thanks to strong performance from the company's Office and Xbox divisions. During its fiscal third quarter, the software giant racked up $5.23 billion in profits, a 31 per cent jump from a year ago, while revenues reached $16.43 billion, a 13 per cent …

    Financial News 28 Apr 2011, 22:41

  • Australians believe good things about the Internet

    Net users describe themselves as left-leaning law-breakers ... or not

    The problem with a study like the Australian National University’s ANUpoll ”Public opinion on internet use and civil society isn’t the study itself, but the ease with which people over-interpret its findings. I have no problem with the hard data in the study. For example, the idea that 82 per cent of respondents were frequent …

    Policy 28 Apr 2011, 23:23

  • Foxconn staffers cuffed for leaking iPad 2 design in 2010

    Don’t mess with Apple’s IP

    It has emerged that Chinese contract electronics manufacturer Foxconn, famous for suicidal employees, authoritarian control over its workers, and contracts for Apple, last year handed three employees over to police for leaking the design of the iPad 2. The news, only now emerging from China, comes a month after Chinese police …

    Tablets 28 Apr 2011, 23:24