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13th May 2011 Archive

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  • Nvidia dollars lifted by Intel's Sandy Bridge ramp, payola

    Tesla GPUs disappoint

    Nvidia has frenemy Intel to thank for its improving financial situation in its first quarter of fiscal 2012. Despite the fact that the graphics and CPU chip maker's revenues and profits for its first quarter ended May 1 were down – revenues fell 4 per cent, to $962m, and net income was down 1.7 per cent, to $135.2m – Wall …

    Financial News 13 May 00:40

  • Easier cookie deleting comes to Adobe Flash

    Privacy menace finally becomes manageable

    Adobe has released a new version of its ubiquitous Flash Player that finally makes it easier for users to delete the digital breadcrumbs some websites have abused to track users against their wishes. Flash 10.3 implements an industry-standard known as NPAPI ClearSiteData for deleting so-called LSOs, or local shared objects. …

    ID 13 May 04:23

  • Google Chromebook: Will the revolution be subscribed?

    Analysis An idea years ahead of its prime

    Google will charge businesses $1,008 to use one of its browser-centric Chromebooks for three years, and the search giant is confident this will slice the total cost of today's business systems in half. That's according to Rajen Sheth, the Google product manager in charge of the company's Chrome OS for Business program, …

    Channel Register 13 May 05:50

  • Darkspore

    Review DNA match

    Yes I am old and I remember when Maxis was all about SimCity. Proving it was the God of simulation the developer then managed to get everyone addicted to the The Sims. At the time, I was too busy having a life (read: taking drugs), to get really stuck in, I hear it on good authority that The Sims 2 was absolutely amazing and had …

    reghardware 13 May 06:00

  • Renault readies sub-£7000 e-car for Blighty

    Battery, doors even, are extra

    Renault is pledging to put an e-car on Britain's roads for as little as £6690. That total will undoubtedly have been calculated with the government's £5000 e-car purchase grant. Even so, it's still well below the five-figure price tag other e-cars, from the likes of Mitsubishi, Peugeot and Nissan, have been set at. There's a …

    reghardware 13 May 07:48

  • Microsoft, Nokia, HTC fight Apple's 'App store' trademark

    'Merely a definition of a thing'

    Microsoft is joining a challenge to Apple's European trademark of Appstore and App Store. The software giant is joining with mobile firms HTC, Nokia and Sony Ericsson to challenge Apple's trademark in Europe. Amazon has filed a similar complaint. The companies want the trademark dismissed as too generic – which might seem a …

    Business 13 May 08:40

  • Reg ed rattles the Red-Headed League

    FoTW He's one o'them self-hatin' gingers

    Our editor Joe Fay usually keeps a pretty low profile, but earlier this week he stuck his resolutely brunette bonce* above the parapet with this piece about a shouty Steve Jobs and MobileMe. One carrot top was prompted to protest: Joe, I am curious why you chose "like a red headed stepchild" as a description for Apples …

    Letters 13 May 08:57

  • Tape sucks, sniffs EMC

    EMC World Steady on now

    It does not compute; EMC resold $25m of tape products from Quantum in 2010 but has just declared "Tape sucks" to thousands of attendees at EMC World in Las Vegas. This isn't channel conflict; it looks like out and out war. Or not - no one on the Quantum booth at the shindig seemed at all offended by EMC's anti-tape keynote …

    Storage 13 May 09:17

  • Jupiter's Io a hotbed of lava

    Moon's OCEAN of MAGMA drives spectacular volcanism

    Scientists perusing data from NASA's Galileo spacecraft have concluded that the spectacular volcanism displayed by Jupiter's moon Io is caused by a substantial subsurface magma ocean. A team from the University of California and the University of Michigan looked at "unexplained signatures [which] appeared in magnetic field …

    Space 13 May 09:19

  • Check Point boss looks beyond 'weapons' for security defence

    Interview Right said Shwed

    De-perimiterisation and the move to cloud computing will not alter the central place the firewall occupies in corporate security architectures, according to Check Point chief exec Gil Shwed. Check Point is advocating a three-phase strategy of security policy enforcement centred around the firewall, user education and …

    Enterprise Security 13 May 09:36

  • Brazilians slap health warnings on knickers

    Undies to warn of cancer peril

    Brazil's Congress has decreed that in future underwear must come with warnings of the perils of cancer, a healthy 12 years after the idea was first proposed by former congressman Barbosa Neto. According to the Telegraph, packaging for bras will advise women to examine their assets regularly, while chaps unwrapping pants will …

    Bootnotes 13 May 10:11

  • Android Market goes commercial in 131 countries

    No more excuses for free Angry Birds

    The Android Marketplace now takes payments in 131 countries, Google has revealed, leaving China and Greenland as the biggest blanks on the map along with some of the more war-torn countries. That's up from the 32 countries that supported paid apps last September, and includes the Philippines which has been a notable exception …

    Telecoms 13 May 10:25

  • Microsoft ID expert confirms departure from Redmond

    Kim Cameron worries about industry trends on privacy, security

    Kim Cameron has broken his silence and confirmed that he has indeed quit his identity architect job at Microsoft. In an interview posted on the ID conferences website, Cameron said he was worried about what he described as "forward-facing issues" at the software company. He went on to explain that Redmond's core plans on …

    ID 13 May 10:45

  • Glass aeroplanes and iPads on the way, say boffins

    New metalglass wondro-stuff 'tougher than titanium'

    A new breakthrough in superspeed pulse mould technology will allow aeroplanes, mobile phone casings and suchlike to be made out of a miraculous type of glass which is as tough as metal, according to the inventors of the new process. So-called "metallic glass" has been well known since 1960 and has been in industrial production …

    PCs & Chips 13 May 10:48

  • Agency worker rights should be set in comparison with staff, says gov

    Should get roughly same dosh and conditions as comparable permies

    Employers should compare agency workers to members of its staff who do "broadly similar work" in order to establish what rights the temporary worker is entitled to, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has said. There is no obligation for companies to make a comparison to establish the workers' rights, but …

    Small Biz 13 May 10:52

  • Microsoft pledges Kinect games explosion

    Moving forward

    Microsoft has announced that the number of Kinect games available top buy will have tripled by the end of the year. Since its launch six months ago, the Xbox 360 Kinect has seen a fairly limited supply of titles come its way and many of us are still waiting for a groundbreaking game that realises its potential. Perhaps …

    reghardware 13 May 10:55

  • Europe promises immigration action as North Africa moves

    Keeping Schengen safe from 'Southern Mediterranean'

    The European Council met yesterday to discuss the future of the Schengen Agreement - which allows free travel between 25 European countries - in the light of revolutions in north Africa. The Council refers to events in "Southern Mediterranean" or even "Southern Neighbourhood Region" – an area you might know as north Africa. …

    Government 13 May 10:57

  • Impatient punters trade PS3s for Xbox 360s

    I want network now!

    Retailers say PS3 consoles are being exchanged in record numbers as a result of the PlayStation Network outage. In an interview with Edge magazine, an unnamed store manager from a major UK retailer said: “In the first week of downtime we did not really see any major change in sales or trades... However from the second week …

    reghardware 13 May 10:58

  • BOFH: Every silver lining has a cloud

    Episode 5 Tout, tout, through and about, your callow life in dismay...

    "Code Magenta," the PFY mumbles quietly as he wanders past me on the way to Mission Control. "Code Magenta!" the Director's PA repeats in hushed tones, unable to keep her nose out of things that don’t concern her – "What does that mean?" "It's a systems code about operational availability," I lie. "We have various codes …

    BOFH 13 May 11:00

  • Haumea: Mysterious radioactive rugby-ball world

    Boffins probe secrets of bizarro Kuiper belt denizen

    The fifth "dwarf planet" of the solar system, Haumea, is shaped like a rugby ball 2,000km long and its icy surface is warmed by radioactive uranium and thorium ores in its interior. The strange ellipsoid world is thought to have a day just four hours long, and is attended by a brace of moons as it circles the Sun far out in the …

    Space 13 May 11:41

  • Software pirates should offer up more booty, says BSA

    Damages for unlawful software use not high enough, says industry body

    Software companies should be entitled to bigger damages for the use of copied software, industry lobby group the Business Software Alliance (BSA) has said. Damages law needs to be changed so that companies are entitled to damages greater than the current rate of the equivalent to the cost of the software which has been copied …

    Applications 13 May 12:04

  • Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 micro four thirds camera

    Review EVIL compact gets the 3D treatment

    While Panasonic further extends the range of its Micro Four Thirds cameras with the recently announced Lumix DMC-G3, this new arrival with its bulging bridge form factor won’t be for everyone. Keeping up with Olympus with its PEN models, the Lumix DMC-GF1 was Panasonic’s first compact MFT alternative and with the DMC-GF2, the …

    reghardware 13 May 12:07

  • Would putting all the climate scientists in a room solve global warming...

    Skeptics meet Warmists at Cambridge

    Entourages are not something that delegates bring to a conference. Especially if the delegate is a humble public sector scientist. But the private invitation-only event I attended at Downing College Cambridge this week was no ordinary conference. It was an attempt to bring together leading climate scientists and IPCC figures …

    Energy 13 May 12:18

  • Win7 machines harder hit by infection as VXers change tactics

    Java-based exploits and phishing on social networks dominate

    Win7 infection rates rose during the second half of 2010 even as malware hit rates on XP machines declined, according to official statistics from Microsoft. The latest edition of Microsoft's Security Intelligence Report shows an infection rate of four Win7 PCs per 1,000 in the second half of 2010, up from three Win7 PCs per 1, …

    Enterprise Security 13 May 12:29

  • LimeWire settles with record labels, to pay $105m for copyright hurt

    Bitter aftertaste for P2P outfit

    Defunct P2P file-sharing network LimeWire settled out of court with major record companies yesterday in a $105m agreement. The settlement follows a May 2010 ruling by US District Judge Kimba Woods, who found Lime Group and Lime Wire LLC – the parent companies behind LimeWire – had wrongfully assisted users in making pirate …

    Music and Media 13 May 12:30

  • Samsung shows screen that folds seamlessly

    Ironed out the creases

    Researchers have developed a display that folds in half without a visible crease, paving the way for a range of foldable mobile concepts to become reality. A team at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology in South Korea have built a prototype of the screen, publishing the results of their work in a recent issue of …

    reghardware 13 May 13:05

  • Peugeot compo cam aids amateur espionage

    I now know what you did last summer

    Car company Peugeot has a competition on its website, in which you have to find hidden 3008s. It features some astonishing panoramic shots of London, taken sometime last summer, from the top of CentrePoint. You can zoom in, and if you go full screen, it’s pretty impressive. Here’s an overview: One thing that struck me is the …

    reghardware 13 May 13:06

  • Italian bus driver goes completely hands-free

    Mad mook manipulates multiple mobes while steering with elbows

    A Roman bus driver has demonstrated just why Italians are globally celebrated for their automotive skills by steering his vehicle with his elbows while manipulating a brace of mobile phones. Footage of Roberto Noto's "acrobatic" skills was captured by a passenger en route to Rome's Ciampino airport on Wednesday. The concerned …

    Bootnotes 13 May 13:57

  • YouView confirms Technicolor exit

    Fade to black

    Set-top box maker Technicolor has pulled out of the YouView internet TV project. Originally announced as one of the "technology partners" that would be among the first to bring YouView-compatible products to market – a date that’s slipped from this coming summer to early 2012 – Technicolor has apparently decided not to go …

    reghardware 13 May 14:18

  • Facebook 'smear' shock: Journos aghast!

    Why didn't they call us first?

    Newspaper readers will be appalled to discover that a blushing, innocent maiden in Silicon Valley has had her reputation besmirched by a wicked rival. Facebook's PR agency attempted to spin a blogger to write an unfavourable story about rival Google. It's caused an outpouring of distress from Her Majesty's Press today, acting at …

    Music and Media 13 May 14:27

  • Newly spunky Tandberg grapples RDX

    Removable disk rescue road

    Two years ago Tandberg Data was an ailing company, but yesterday it agreed to buy the RDX removable disk assets from ProStor, signalling its return to health. RDX is the removable disk drive cartridge technology devised by ProStor Systems with manufacturing and marketing rights licensed first to Tandberg Data and then to …

    Storage 13 May 14:36

  • Ubisoft whispers the wonder of Wii 2

    Easy to develop for, apparently

    French games publisher Ubisoft has expressed its excitement over Nintendo's Wii successor, suggesting the forthcoming console will be a high-powered piece of kit that developers will find easy to port to. In a call to investors, CEO Yves Guillemot said: "The platform Nintendo is coming with is really a fantastic platform. We …

    reghardware 13 May 15:00

  • 164XXX jubs shake Middle England

    NSFW Chelsea Charms' charms fail to charm This Morning viewers

    The Sun has got itself into a right tizz over the 164XXX jubs of one Chelsea Charms (link NSFW), whose humungous Bulgarian airbags were thrust into the faces of innocent kiddies yesterday on ITV's This Morning. The offending chesticles - dubbed Itsy and Bitsy by "big breast adult performer" and "America's huge boob sweetheart …

    Bootnotes 13 May 15:06

  • One thumb up for Facebook security improvements

    Outstandingly mediocre

    Security changes designed to curtail the spam and scams that have become endemic on Facebook over recent months have received a cautious welcome from security watchers. Facebook has introduced a raft of features including: a known-bad-site blacklist (via a partnership with crowd-sourced blacklist outfit Web of Trust); …

    ID 13 May 15:28

  • Google 'close to $500m settlement' over illegal drug ads

    Payment would be among largest penalties in US history

    Google has set aside $500 million not for an antitrust settlement, but to settle a US criminal investigation into claims that it made hundreds of millions of dollars from ads purchased by illegal online pharmacies, according to a report citing people familiar with the matter. Earlier this week, in an SEC filing, Google said it …

    Law 13 May 16:30

  • Is Skype Microsoft's PowerPoint part deux?

    MicroBite Verb envy doesn't come cheap

    Microsoft already owns one verb: "PowerPoint. But it's not a very sexy or exciting verb in today's webby world. So, a few years back, Microsoft began searching for another, one that covers something lots of people do online. But Google already owns that one. But this week, chief exec Steve Ballmer finally got his wish. His …

    Microbite 13 May 17:23

  • Kodak wins round in Apple patent brawl

    One down, $1 billion to go

    Struggling photo pioneer Eastman Kodak has won an important round in its long-running patent disputes with Apple. An International Trade Commission judge has ruled that Kodak was not violating two of the patents that Apple claimed it was infringing, and that a third patent isn't valid, according to a report by Bloomberg on …

    Music and Media 13 May 17:42

  • Hackers turn Cisco phones into remote bugging devices

    Confidential communications tapped by default

    Internet phones sold by Cisco Systems ship with a weakness that allows them to be turned into remote bugging devices that intercept confidential communications in a fashion similar to so many Hollywood spy movies, SC Magazine reported. The publication quoted consultants from Australia-based HackLabs, who said customers had lost …

    Telecoms 13 May 18:33

  • Cloud Sherpas lead climb into Google heavens

    Apps for Google Apps

    Cloud Sherpas – an Atlanta, Georgia–based outfit that aims to facilitate the use of Google's Apps suite of online business services – has added several new tools to its flagship application. Known as SherpaTools, the application is designed to ease migration to Google Apps, but also to enhance the suite itself, providing …

    SaaS 13 May 18:51

  • Google and Microsoft in trading places shocker

    Open...and Shut One goes closed. The other goes open

    Microsoft and Google seem to be trading wardrobes of late. Microsoft used to be easy to pick out: black-hat-wearing-bad-guy constantly in hot water with global antitrust authorities and married to proprietary software and not-so-open standards. Google donned a white hat, talked a lot about openness, and was loved everyone ( …

    Software 13 May 19:39

  • Porn found in Osama bin Laden compound

    Huge smut cache stashed in bedroom

    Osama bin Laden's compound may not have had phone or internet service, but it did have porn. Lots of it. According to Reuters and ABC News, the massive smut stash was seized by the US commandos who stormed his Abbottabad, Pakistan, hideout and shot him in the face almost two weeks ago. It was found in a wooden box in bin Laden …

    Music and Media 13 May 22:03

  • Facebook absolved for exposing user info to advertisers

    No harm, no foul, etc.

    A federal judge has gutted a lawsuit filed against Facebook for allegedly leaking users' personal information to advertisers on the grounds that they didn't suffer specific injuries and the leak didn't run afoul of wiretap and computer fraud statutes. The lawsuit, filed in federal Court in San Jose, California, last year, …

    ID 13 May 22:16

  • Security watchers unpick PlayStation hack

    How it might have been hacked

    Security analysts have narrowed down the probable causes of the infamous Sony PlayStation Network breach. Sony is slowly restoring its PlayStation Network and Online Entertainment service following a hack that exposed the personal details of 77 million PlayStation Network gamers and (separately) 25 million customers of its …

    Enterprise Security 13 May 22:19

  • Microsoft BPOS cloud outage burns Exchange converts

    'All in' now looking for a 'way out'

    Microsoft has served up another apology for the unreliability of its cloud after burning converts to its BPOS collaboration service by killing their email. Dave Thompson, corporate vice president for Microsoft's online services, has been telling customers who've gone "all in" on Microsoft's BPOS cloud that he's really "sorry …

    Software 13 May 23:43