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5th July 2011 Archive

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  • South Korea to throw away schoolbooks by 2015

    Teachers to be given 'digital training'

    The Korean government plans to digitise all school textbooks by 2015, and have students of all ages access "education content" via smartphones, tablet PCs and smart televisions. The Korean Education Ministry has set the bold timetable to accelerate "smart learning", it announced last week. The ministry plans to digitise all …

    Networks 5 Jul 01:00

  • Nokia X7 Symbian Anna smartphone

    Review End of an era?

    When you buy a mobile, you know that you’re likely to be stuck with it for the life of your contract. Good news: you’ll get used to its quirks and differences. Bad news: you can only watch as gorgeous handsets are released for the next year or two. Smart move? Nokia's X7 But what’s trickier about the new Nokia X7 is that it …

    reghardware 5 Jul 06:00

  • Apple MacBook Airs to get new, superfast 19nm Flash

    Obvious implications for the iPad

    Apple's revised MacBook Air notebook is set to get a speed boost by using very fast and very small new flash memory chips from Toshiba. According to a story in Japan's Macotakara site, Apple is set to use flash built on a 19nm process and transferring data at 400Mbit/s using the Toggle DDR2.0 interface. There is only one …

    Hardware 5 Jul 08:00

  • Local councils shed CIOs as cuts bite

    Opportunity for outsourcers, but pickings may be slim

    Many local councils that jettisoned CIOs or senior decision-makers in the rush to cut costs lack a coherent IT strategy, according to a panel debate by Netgear. The Coalition last week boasted that the Efficiency and Reform Group (ERG) had saved £800m by squeezing public sector suppliers, but others further down the food chain …

    CIO 5 Jul 08:30

  • Intrinsic Technology flogged to management for £30m

    IT and comms reseller attracts VC investment

    Intrinsic Technology chief exec Mike Mason has led a management buy of the Merseyside-based reseller backed by venture capitalist RJD Partners. In a statement, Mason confirmed the MBO team had bought the business from founder and majority shareholder Allan Gauld for £30m, an eye-watering price despite healthy 2010 results. …

    Channel Register 5 Jul 08:36

  • UK will obey barmy Euro unisex-insurance rules from 2013

    'Goes against the grain of common sense'

    The UK Government is to abide by a European ruling on the use of gender in insurance, although it says the judgment goes against common sense. In March 2011, the European Court of Justice ruled in a test case known as the Test-Achats case that from 21 December 2012 insurers will no longer be able to use gender as a factor in …

    Law 5 Jul 09:00

  • Atlantis crew prepare for the 'Final Countdown'

    End of an era for US manned spaceflight

    The last crew of the orbiter Atlantis arrived at Kennedy Space Center yesterday ahead of the "Final Countdown" of the space shuttle programme. Commander Chris Ferguson said: "I think I speak for the whole crew in that we are delighted to be here after a very arduous nine-month training flow and we're thrilled to finally be …

    Space 5 Jul 09:08

  • Quantum says it's back and ready to join the storage fray

    Comment 'The cloud is nothing new'

    Quantum is heading towards big data and the cloud. It will produce its own big data arrays with StorNext software controlling them, and add cloud storage tiers for DXi and StorNext. The company is a legacy tape vendor, being a member of the LTO consortium as well as a manufacturer of Scalar tape libraries, which has …

    Storage 5 Jul 09:30

  • Benefits of boozing outweigh harms, says survey

    Aha! So that's why people do it so much!

    Trick-cyclists in Seattle have confirmed a poorly acknowledged reality: that for many people, the benefits of drinking – even heavy drinking, on occasion – outweigh the downsides. Psychologists at the University of Washington, conducting the study, contend that this is a matter of perception rather than reality and have dubbed …

    Science 5 Jul 09:32

  • Google shutters Realtime Search after Twitter deal expires

    Tweet firehose still spraying into Bing, Yahoo

    Twitter's deal with Google to include updates in Mountain View's search results ended on 2 July. As a result Google's Realtime Search function, which also provided feeds from Facebook fan page updates among other social network guff, went offline and is currently displaying a 404 error message. Search Engine Land got this …

    Networks 5 Jul 09:44

  • ALK CoPilot Live Premium HD

    Android App of the Week Get your motor running

    I’ve been using ALK’s CoPilot 8 for Android since I reviewed it in these pages back in 2009. I liked it a lot then and still do. So when ALK announced a major upgrade, my ears pricked up. CoPilot Live's nav screen is tidier than before The first thing you notice about Premium is the redesigned menu system. I’m not sure it’s …

    reghardware 5 Jul 10:00

  • Sony quietly tests PlayStation Network revamp

    Aesthetic support

    Sony is developing a PlayStation Network design upgrade that could transform the online environment into a more image-driven layout along the lines of Xbox Live and Steam, Reg Hardware has learned. Many PSN users say the current PSN is far too text heavy, so Sony is now market-testing a new design that de-clutters the screen …

    reghardware 5 Jul 10:53

  • NotW accused of hacking Milly Dowler's voicemail

    'Heinous' and 'despicable', says family's lawyer

    Pressure on the News of the World over phone-hacking allegations intensified still further on Tuesday after allegations surfaced that journalists at the paper intercepted the voicemail messages of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler. Hacks working for the NoTW allegedly deleted voicemail messages sent to Dowler at the time she …

    Crime 5 Jul 10:55

  • DIY provisioning: the answer to your virtualisation dreams?

    Take control of your destiny

    If you have ever had to justify the deployment of a new server, you will know what an uphill struggle it can be to clear all kinds of technical and business hurdles. Some of these can be addressed by virtualisation, but often all that does is move the bottlenecks further down the line, as well as add a few “virtual” problems …

    Data Centre 5 Jul 11:00

  • Plans to move gov online 'lack cyber-security', say MPs

    Cabinet Office warned not to deliver half-baked effort

    MPs have expressed serious concern about a lack of cyber-security plans detailed in the government's IT and communications strategy. A Public Accounts Committee report warned that the "ambitious" plans laid out by the Cabinet Office in March this year needed further clarity. "The strategy only makes one reference to cyber- …

    Government 5 Jul 11:18

  • HP plan for faster, 64GB TouchPad leaks out

    Early adopter penalty?

    HP has only just announced its TouchPad tablet - which isn't even shipping in the UK yet - but it's already gearing up to release an upgraded version, it seems. According to slides allegedly leaked from an HP presentation, the WebOS-based fondleslab will gain 64GB of storage and an unspecified "processor bump" in August, …

    reghardware 5 Jul 11:22

  • Popular FTP package download tarball poisoned

    'Someone having a few lulz', suggests author

    A backdoor has been discovered in the source code of a widely used FTP package. Version 2.3.4 of the source code for vsftpd – billed as probably the most secure and fastest FTP server for Unix-like systems – was replaced with a compromised version with an invalid signature. The dodgy tarball version of the code was uploaded …

    Malware 5 Jul 11:23

  • Northamber to split with vendors again

    Surrey distie set to break with Cisco and Toshiba

    Cisco and Toshiba are winding down their agreement with Surrey-based distribution veteran Northamber. The two-year deal with the networking linchpin covered products in its Small Business Technology Group (SBTG) – mini versions of the classic Cisco routing, switching, security and unified comms lines. Talking to The Register …

    Channel Register 5 Jul 11:26

  • Chinese coal blamed for global warming er... cooling

    Economists ride into sulphurous cloud of aerosols

    The refusal of the global temperatures to rise as predicted has caused much angst among academics. "The fact is that we can't account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty that we can't," wrote one in 2009. Either the instruments were wrong, or the heat energy had gone missing somewhere. Now a team of …

    Environment 5 Jul 11:51

  • Transformers: Dark of the Moon

    Review Robotic behaviour

    Last year's War for Cybertron salvaged Transformers from gaming's scrapyard. While still not fully realising the potential of the IP, High Moon Studios' game combined reverential treatment of the fiction with solid controls and decent gameplay to mark a high point for the franchise. Step on it, or someone'll step on it You' …

    reghardware 5 Jul 12:00

  • Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray available to order

    Snappy days

    Play.com has started to take preorders for the Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray, now scheduled for launch this summer. Announced last month, the Xperia Ray runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread and sports a 3.3in, 480 x 854 touchscreen display of the type Sony E calls a "Reality Display". The handset also packs an 8Mp camera, complete with a …

    reghardware 5 Jul 12:28

  • Apple orders millions of iPhone 5s for September release

    Insiders blabber again

    Apple has allegedly ordered 15 million iPhone 5 handsets from its Taiwanese manufacturing partners with a view to start shipping the gadget in September. Well, that's what those familiar unnamed insiders from Taiwan's component world say. Apparently, notebook manufacturer Pegatron Technology has landed the Apple order, …

    reghardware 5 Jul 12:45

  • HP poaches latest ESSN EMEA boss from Logica

    Pins hopes on Peter Ryan outlasting his predecessor

    HP has nabbed Logica's chief client director Peter Ryan to operate as EMEA senior veep of the enterprise, servers, storage and networking (EESN) biz group. Ryan replaces previous incumbent Frederic Dussart, who quit the job after just three months and handed over the reins on an interim basis to Johan Deschuyffeleer, SVP EMEA …

    Servers 5 Jul 13:32

  • Mexican narco attempts suitcase jailbreak

    Visiting girlfriend pulled over improbable weight of 'underwear'

    A member of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel looks likely to be serving at least part of his 20-year jail sentence with his girlfriend, after she unsuccessfully attempted to smuggle him out of chokey in a suitcase. Juan Ramírez Tijerina's squeeze, María del Mar Arjona Rivero, paid him a visit last Saturday at the Centro de …

    Bootnotes 5 Jul 13:33

  • Burnish your blacklists to patrol internet access

    Desktop Stop them at the gates

    What makes PCs so popular is the range of software you can run on them. But, as always, with great power comes great responsibility. And one of the first decisions you need to make about your desktop estate is who you give the power to. Some users may well benefit from full admin privileges, given the range of "revolutionary" …

    Desktop Strategy 5 Jul 15:00

  • Tablet fever cools as e-readers heat up

    Who says Americans don't read?

    The American passion for tablets is declining just as e-reader growth is accelerating. Between January and May of this year, tablet ownership in the US grew from 7 to 8 per cent of the population, according to a new report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Previously Pew reports, tablet sales had been climbing …

    Music and Media 5 Jul 17:20

  • EnterpriseDB comforts HP-UX shops with PostgreSQL

    Come on, HP. Buy the thing. Then buy Red Hat

    EnterpriseDB – the entity that sells an extended version of the open source PostgreSQL database as well as commercial-grade support for that software – is sitting pretty. At just the moment that Hewlett-Packard is embroiled in a lawsuit concerning Oracle's cessation of development of its database, middleware, and applications …

    Applications 5 Jul 17:31

  • Facebook snuffs Chrome extension for uncaging 'friends' data

    What your friends share with you is not yours

    Facebook has blocked a Google Chrome extension that let you export information about your Facebook "friends" so that data can be shuttled into competing services. Known as Facebook Friends Exporter, the extension had become particularly popular of late as a means of moving "friends data" into Google's latest Facebook …

    Music and Media 5 Jul 17:35

  • Anti-PowerPoint Party vows end to death by slides

    Brain turning to mush? There's an APPP for that

    Everybody complains about PowerPoint presentations. But nobody does anything about them – until now. Meet Switzerland's Anti-PowerPoint Party, aka the APPP. "The APPP sees itself as the advocate of approximately 250 Million people worldwide, who, every month, are obliged to be present during boring presentations in companies, …

    Music and Media 5 Jul 19:23

  • Facebook, Google, and the war to lock you in

    Open...and Shut Their Own Private Interwebs

    Facebook isn't necessarily the new Compuserve, and Google might not be angling to be the Hotel California of tech, but all of the big web giants seem intent on locking their users into experiencing a single-vendor web. Facebook riled users this week by throttling their ability to export their Facebook friends' data for use …

    Music and Media 5 Jul 19:25

  • Call of Duty given ultimate Star Wars makeover

    Modder warfare

    A group of modders have launched a Star Wars themed takeover for Call of Duty 4, giving gamers the chance to play Modern Warfare as an Imperial Stormtrooper or Rebel Alliance soldier. Galactic Warfare stitches elements from Star Wars, including locations, characters and weapons, with Modern Warfare's multiplayer gameplay. Have …

    reghardware 5 Jul 19:36

  • Microsoft strategy chief quits Redmond

    Facebook, Nokia, Sun, Novell. He sweet-talked them all

    Microsoft's head of strategy is stepping down from the company. Senior vice president of strategy and partnership Hank Vigil is leaving Microsoft to advise early-stage startups and focus on investing, according to All Things D. Vigil worked with Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer and the rest of the company's senior …

    Business 5 Jul 20:01

  • Verizon Wireless ends unlimited data plans

    Just like AT&T. Only more expensive

    Verizon Wireless – the largest wireless carrier in the US – will no longer offer unlimited data plans to new customers beginning on Thursday, July 7. Currently, the carrier offers unlimited data plans for $30 a month. But as reported by Reuters, Verizon's new $30 plan will limit data usage to 2GB. Those who exceed 2GB will pay …

    Mobile 5 Jul 21:09

  • Chip makers thrive on tablets, e-readers, cars

    Semiconductor sales rise despite PC doldrums

    The PC market might be cooling a bit, but the world's appetite for tablets and e-readers and cars with all kinds of electronic gadgetry is helping prop up the semiconductor industry just the same. That's the current prognosis from the Semiconductor Industry Association, which reckons that chip makers raked in a little over $ …

    PCs & Chips 5 Jul 21:23

  • Cisco drives epic Chinese surveillance network, says report

    Half million Big Brother cams

    Cisco and other western companies are reportedly working with the Chinese government to install a network of one half-million surveillance cameras in the rapidly growing commercial and industrial metropolis, Chongqing. Citing people familiar with the deal, The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that Cisco will …

    Data Networking 5 Jul 22:06

  • Microsoft publishes Wi-Fi data collection code

    'Look at us! We're not Google!'

    Microsoft has published code for the software that its roving vehicles use to collect wireless network information. The move is an apparent attempt to make Microsoft look good next to Google. On Tuesday, the software giant proudly told the world that it had published some of the code used by the Microsoft vehicles that drive …

    Software 5 Jul 22:35

  • Sony signs development deal with Aussie audiophiles

    Audio Pixels takes patents up to 11

    Sony has signed a joint development agreement with Australian audio technology company Audio Pixels Holdings. The deal will see Sony funding the lion's share of costs associated with turning Audio Pixels' technology patents into a mass-manufacturable product. ASX listed Audio Pixels chairman Fred Bart said the he anticipated …

    Business 5 Jul 23:45