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8th July 2011 Archive

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  • Apple slices iPhone and iPad ad rates 'by 70%'

    Jobs bows to Google effect

    Apple has sliced rates for its iAd mobile advertising platform by as much as 70 per cent as big name clients depart for rival ad platforms, according to a report citing two people with knowledge of the matter. Bloomberg reports that the likes of Citigroup and JC Penney – which paid $1m or more to run campaigns on iAd when the …

    Music and Media 8 Jul 00:05

  • Microsoft does collaboration with interwebs Word

    Another step closer to the desktop

    Microsoft has taken another tiny step towards a web-based version of Word that duplicates what you get on the desktop. On Thursday, the company announced that you can now co-author documents in the Office Web Apps version of Word if you're working with a document stored on its Skydrive cloud storage system. According to …

    Applications 8 Jul 00:21

  • Optus busted for dodgy broadband ads

    ACCC fines telco A$5.26m for 'misleading' unlimited claims

    Optus has been ordered to pay A$5.26m for misleading advertising in the largest civil penalty dished out by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. The penalty applies to Optus' range of "Think Bigger" and "Supersonic" broadband internet plans, which were launched in April 2010 and August 2010 respectively across a …

    Business 8 Jul 01:00

  • Facebook video chat 'leaks' music plans

    Blogger spots hints in video calling app

    Facebook’s Skype-based video calling app released this week seems to be ready to link up with a yet-to-be-announced music service, according to blogger Jeff Rose. The video chat service uses a plug-in allowing users to launch Skype video calls from their Facebook accounts. Non-video group calls are connected to the Facebook …

    Business 8 Jul 01:00

  • Facebook dev rules tweaked after US antitrust complaint

    Real beef over virtual goods

    Facebook has updated its developer terms of service following an antitrust complaint to the Federal Trade Commission. The company now lets Facebook-game developers charge a lower price for virtual goods when their game runs on other platforms, such as MySpace, Yahoo!, or another website. Previously, Facebook's terms of service …

    Music and Media 8 Jul 01:05

  • Quiet, astronomers at work

    Aus government cuts radio silence deal for SKA

    Australia’s miners, usually famous for their shoulder-chipped sense of entitlement, have agreed to assist Australia’s bid for the international Square Kilometer Array project by not deploying new radio systems close to the proposed site. Radio silence is a key plank of the lengthy SKA selection process, which is attracting the …

    Space 8 Jul 01:30

  • eBay boosts mobile payments with Zong acquisition

    PayPal in your pocket for US$240 million

    Mobile payments outfit Zong is to be assimilated into the PayPal world, following the announcement that eBay is handing over US$240 million in cash to acquire the company. Zong runs the kind of operation that looks like someone anybody could manage: buyers enter their mobile phone numbers when they want to buy something from a …

    Business 8 Jul 02:00

  • iiNet stiffens backbone with 100Gig Ethernet

    Win for Juniper

    iiNet is gearing up for Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN) with Juniper’s first Asia-Pac 100 Gbps Ethernet deployment to beef up backbone capacity. . The ISP put Juniper T1600 core routers into its network at the beginning of the year, and began trialling the 100 Gbps interfaces back in May. The anticipated growth …

    Networks 8 Jul 02:30

  • HTC ChaCha Qwerty Android smartphone

    Review Facebook favourite?

    If there is such a condition as telephonic incontinence then HTC is clearly a sufferer, as it churns out a handset for just about every conceivable demographic. With the ChaCha, the company is focusing on text warriors with a hard Qwerty keyboard and some social networking tweaks. Upbeat performer: HTC's ChaCha This Android …

    reghardware 8 Jul 06:00

  • Nintendo lumbered with lawsuit in 3DS patent row

    Going glasses-free is costly

    Nintendo has been struck with a lawsuit by an intellectual property owner which claims to hold the rights to viewing glasses-free stereoscopic images. The IP owner, Tomita Technologies, founded by ex-Sony staffer Seijiro Tomita, reckons Nintendo's 3DS infringes on one of its patents, Patent Arcade reports. Tomita claims to …

    reghardware 8 Jul 07:28

  • FOIA requests climb to levels last seen when Act came in

    But a quarter get knocked back

    The public asked for the release of more information from public bodies at the start of this year than at any time since the immediate aftermath of the enactment of freedom of information (FOI) laws, the government has said. The number of FOI requests filed between 1 January and 31 March this year was the largest number …

    Government 8 Jul 08:00

  • UK Channel insolvency rates soar to nine-year high

    Trying to make a hardware living? You're 'dead'

    Insolvency rates in the UK channel are at the highest level seen since the dotcom bubble burst, official figures have confirmed. The UK economy is looking shaky: inflation is rising, government is forging ahead with harsh public sector cuts and High Street retailers are going into meltdown; parts of the channel are also …

    Channel Register 8 Jul 08:26

  • Solitary critical Windows update to star in modest Patch Tuesday

    Four square

    Microsoft is to issue four bulletins next Tuesday – one of which is critical – as part of the July edition of its Patch Tuesday update cycle. The sole critical update involves an unspecified flaw restricted to Windows 7 and Windows Vista. Another bulletin tackles a remote code execution bug in Visio 2003 SP3. The other two " …

    Malware 8 Jul 08:49

  • Sony to can MiniDisc Walkman

    19-year-old player no longer has legs

    While the news will prompt an uncomprehending look from 99 per cent of Brits, the few remaining fans of Sony's MiniDisc format will mourn the MD Walkman's passing when production ceases in September. Last year, Sony canned production of cassette Walkman players. The MD Walkman was launched in Japan in 1992, and that's one of …

    reghardware 8 Jul 08:56

  • MTI acquires GSS

    Storage integrator snaps up security shop

    Global Secure Systems (GSS), the security services reseller, has sold up to storage integrator MTI – EMC's third largest partner across EMEA – giving it the comfort of of a more financially secure parent. "In today's market, to do the business that we want to, we needed a certain scale. And it's a tough environment, so there …

    Channel Register 8 Jul 09:02

  • Press body looks at its naughty bits as hacking scandal grinds on

    PCC to review journos' code, backtracks on prior report clearing NotW

    The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) is to review the rules that govern press behaviour in the UK to maintain public confidence in newspapers in the wake of the News of the World phone hacking scandal, it has said. The self-regulatory industry body, which deals with complaints about content in newspapers and magazines, said …

    Law 8 Jul 09:15

  • OCZ fails to kill off Blue Screen Of Death issue

    SandForce-powered SSDs still failing

    Despite firmware upgrades, some OCZ Agility and Vertex SSD users are still suffering Blue Screen of Death episodes. We came across Vertex BSOD episodes in June and have been told by Gym Ratz, our poster, that he is still BSOD'd but that a replacement Crucial SSD is working perfectly. To get my PC back in action and prove it …

    Storage 8 Jul 09:21

  • PM promises change as police interview ex-spokesman

    Email hack on dead UK soldier revealed

    Andy Coulson, the former editor of the News of the World and Prime Minister's former official spokesman, is being interviewed by the Metropolitan Police about allegations that – despite his earlier denial – he knew about phone-hacking at the paper during his tenure. Another as-yet-unnamed senior journalist at the paper also …

    Government 8 Jul 09:54

  • M-Edge e-Luminator Touch

    Accessory of the Week Lights up e-books. Lights up books too

    The Kindle may have a screen that works well in bright light, but the quid pro quo is poor visibility in the dark. No backlight, you see. Enter M-Edge's e-Luminator Touch, a tiny angle-poise lamp for e-book readers - and paper books too. The bottom end of the accessory is built like one of those clip-over-the-page bookmarks …

    reghardware 8 Jul 10:00

  • Will News of the Screws reappear as Sunday.co.uk?

    Is mysterious Sun On Sunday domain name a red herring?

    As the hacking scandal at the News of the World continued to unravel this week, an individual mysteriously registered the domain name sunonsunday.co.uk on 5 July. Two days later, News International said it would shut down the NotW. This Sunday's issue will be the final one, after 168 years of the weekly tabloid. The …

    CIO 8 Jul 10:02

  • Coulson arrested

    Updated PM's spokesman, and another man, banged up

    The former official spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron – and the former editor of the the News of the World – has been arrested. However, Andy Coulson has not been named by the Metropolitan Police statement, which refers to a "43-year-old man arrested on charges of suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications …

    Law 8 Jul 10:33

  • Doom guy: tablets, phones to be gaming platforms of the future

    Mobile kit will soon be more powerful than consoles, says Carmack

    id Software's John Carmack has talked up the future of mobile gaming and why tablets, smartphones and cloud-gaming services such as OnLive will become the dominant gaming platforms. The man behind FPS classics from Doom to Quake shared his views in an interview with IndustryGamers. "It’s unquestionable that within a very …

    reghardware 8 Jul 10:39

  • NHS told: freeze all Microsoft spend

    Coalition re-centralises purchasing

    The Cabinet Office is halting all but emergency purchases of Microsoft software in the NHS as it negotiates a pan-government procurement deal with the software giant. The Crown Representative, headed by former Micro Focus CEO Stephen Kelly – appointed by Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude in April – is leading talks with 20 …

    Applications 8 Jul 10:53

  • Moles say Mac OS X Lion to bound in next week

    Updated MacBook Airs too?

    Mac OS X 10.7 Lion will go on sale next Thursday, 14 July, it has been claimed. With paid-up developers now able to download Lion's first Golden Master (GM) seed, a variety of sites - among them 9to5 Mac and AppleInsider - are quoting retail moles who say staff are being kept in work late on the 13th, presumably to kit out the …

    reghardware 8 Jul 11:07

  • Whiptail cracks on: VCs pump it full of flash cash

    Comment Plans to demolish disk arrays

    Two venture capital firms have pumped A-round initial funding cash into flash array start-up Whiptail. What's got them so fired up? Whiptail's XLR8r appliance is an all-flash memory array that can store things like VDI images and pump them out to booting PCs faster than a disk drive array. Whiptail CEO Dan Crain said: "We're …

    Storage 8 Jul 11:24

  • Parmo v poutine: The ultimate post-pub nosh deathmatch

    Middlesbrough battles Canada for supersaturated supremacy

    It's Friday, and since we have no doubt you lot will be rolling out of your local hostelry later having partaken of a few liveners, you might want to consider just what mouthwatering treat will best cap off your night on the town. Well, we at the El Reg Special Projects Bureau have a couple of suggestions from the wonderful …

    SPB 8 Jul 11:57

  • Samsung BD-D8900 Blu-ray player and DVR combo

    Review Perfect combination?

    On the face of it, Samsung's BD-D8900 seems to be the ideal convergence product that will allow you to get rid of the stack of boxes that hide under your TV. Not only does this deck act as a 3D-compatible Blu-ray player, but it also has an integrated twin tuner Freeview HD DVR, along with support for Samsung's Smart Hub internet …

    reghardware 8 Jul 12:00

  • Portuguese hackers strike back at Moody's downgrade

    Sub prime dishonour

    Portuguese hackers responded to a negative assessment of the country's ability to repay loans by defacing the website of credit reference agency Moody's. The defacement restores the rating of the debt-crippled nation to the highest (A++) mark, while simultaneously attacking Moody's website security and business practices. One …

    Enterprise Security 8 Jul 12:03

  • The Infosmack on: Designing for VMware

    Podcast Deep dive

    This week we have another Infosmack Deep Dive, with hosts Nigel Poulton and Chris Evans. With their guests they debate the merits of building new technology form the ground up specifically for VMware, versus taking existing technology and bending and twisting it to work well with VMware. Listen using the Reg media player …

    Infosmack 8 Jul 12:08

  • Schmidt preaches 'deep integration' desire with Facebook, Twitter

    As Google+ ambitions come into view

    Google chairman Eric Schmidt reckons that Mountain View's decision to keep invites to its latest social network to a minimum is already starting to pay off for the company. It announced Google+ last week, when it began a limited "field test" that was clearly done to make the project more desirable among the happy-clappy Web2.0 …

    Applications 8 Jul 13:19

  • HP may replace 3PAR hardware

    Updated Rumour mill grinds out another one

    El Reg is hearing that HP will replace its flagship 3PAR T- and F-Class storage arrays with new, more powerful hardware next quarter. HP 3PAR T-Class array The current 3PAR arrays use X86 processors plus 3PAR's third-generation ASIC hardware to speed up array operations and increase the array's responsiveness and …

    Storage 8 Jul 13:51

  • Unemployment rate inches up in the US

    IT sector hangs out Help Wanted sign

    Economists were not expecting for the US economy to create a lot of jobs in June, but they did reckon north of 100,000 workers, net of layoffs, would be added to the labor pool last month. They guessed wrong. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US economy only added 18,000 jobs, less than one-tenth the amount needed …

    Financial News 8 Jul 14:28

  • SNIA Archiving for data protection in the modern data centre

    Deep dive Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

    El Reg has teamed up with the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) for a series of deep dive articles. Each month, the SNIA will deliver a comprehensive introduction to basic storage networking concepts. This month the SNIA examines archiving in today's data centres. What is an archive? An archive is a collection of …

    Storage 8 Jul 14:33

  • Baidu rejigs business units, operations boss quits

    Biggest Chinese search engine rotates execs

    China's number one search engine is restructuring its business operations and has let go of its senior veep Shen Haoyu for "personal reasons". It plans to shake up its sales, commercial operations, user products and technologies, and commercial products and technologies divisions. The company said in a statement that it would …

    Applications 8 Jul 14:37

  • London could face cuts for not sharing services

    City has so far made just £1.2m savings out of £300m annual target...

    The London Assembly's budget and performance committee has been told that police, fire and transport authorities that do not share back office services may have their budgets cut. Police, fire and transport organisations that resist sharing services are frustrating progress on Boris Johnson's plans to save £300m annually by …

    Government 8 Jul 14:53

  • Canuck ultralight pilot drops in on strip club

    Lands in parking lot for a flying visit

    A Canadian microlight pilot is set to go down in aviation history after landing in the parking lot of a strip joint in Carignan, southeast of Montreal, popping in for a quick break and then flying off. Local cops got a 911 call from a concerned citizen who thought the aircraft had crashed outside the Le Rendez-Vous last …

    Bootnotes 8 Jul 15:11

  • JVC sees double with sexy dual iDevice dock

    Two's company

    JVC has announced a docking device that holds two iDevices simultaneously. It plays CDs too. The UX-VJ5 comes with two 15W speakers as well as an FM/AM tuner, PC input and a USB port. The big selling point here though are the two docks, so users can charge their iPad and iPhone at the same time. These can be rotated too, to …

    reghardware 8 Jul 15:23

  • Oracle resellers: 'Give us our cash and make it snappy'

    Oracle playing scrooge with rebates

    Oracle resellers are praying for quicker turnaround times for rebate payments under the revamped model, as many are struggling with cash-flow issues. To qualify for the kick-backs unveiled last week, dealers must satisfy three criteria: they must register all deals on the vendor's Open Market Model (OMM) system; services must …

    Channel Register 8 Jul 15:37

  • Atlantis blasts off on last shuttle mission

    It's The Final Countdown, nah nah naah naaaaah....

    Space shuttle Atlantis blasted off from Kennedy Space Center at 15:30 GMT today on its STS-135 mission to the International Space Station. On board for the shuttle programme's swansong flight are commander Chris Ferguson, pilot Doug Hurley, and mission specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim. They'll deliver the Raffaello …

    Space 8 Jul 15:40

  • Dev's iPhone cable melts after iOS 5 upgrade

    'I am the Lord of Hellfire, and I bring you...'

    An iDevice software developer has claimed his iPhone 4's USB cable "caught fire" after he installed iOS 5 on the device. Florida-based coder Gus Pinto, whose Twitter profile has his occupation as "pioneering Mac desktop virtualisation", Tweeted today: "My charging cable caught on fire while charging my iPhone 4 running iOS5 …

    reghardware 8 Jul 16:01

  • MS to launch R2-D2 Xbox 360 and Kinect

    Pushing buttons for Star Wars fans

    Microsoft knows that avid fans will buy anything with the beloved Star Wars branding, which is probably why it plans to launch a limited-edition R2-D2 themed Xbox 360 console and Kinect sensor, to coincide with the launch of Kinect Star Wars this November. According to Kinectaku, the R2-D2 Xbox 360 will be white and blue to …

    reghardware 8 Jul 16:12

  • Java cloud spins Jenkins Eclipse tool

    Back at you, Oracle

    The Hudson open-source project that Oracle recently surrendered to Eclipse is getting a little more community competition. Platform-as-a-service startup CloudBees has announced the availability of a CloudBees Eclipse toolkit plug-in for Java developers. The CloudBees service includes the open source continuous integration …

    Developer 8 Jul 17:07

  • Dell's faulty PC legal woes worsen (again)

    Ailing Optiplex? Lawyers feel your pain

    The ongoing legal imbroglio over Dell's allegedly defective Optiplex computers took another turn this week when a proposed class-action lawsuit broadened its scope. The consumer-rights law firm of Hagens Berman LLP filed suit in August of last year on behalf of New York chiropractor Richard Statler, alleging that five Optiplex …

    Hardware 8 Jul 18:19

  • Feds seize kit from Apple Store spyware artist

    Stealth face cams win Secret Service visit

    An artist who surreptitiously installed a video art installation on computers in two New York Apple Stores says that four US Secret Service agents awakened him on Thursday morning, produced a search warrant, then confiscated his couputers and other kit. Kyle McDonald The project that got Brooklyn, New York, media artist …

    ID 8 Jul 20:57

  • Google gives in: Schmidt to face US antitrust grilling

    Half relents, sends one of top two

    Google has agreed to have Eric Schmidt answer US politicians' concerns that the company is running an anticompetitive search and ads monopoly. Schmidt will testify before the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights in the Fall. He will appear after the committee's Senators Herb Kohl and Mike …

    Software 8 Jul 23:35

  • Apple patent: 'Pour' your data from iPhone to iPad

    Or flick it from fondleslab to device across room

    One day, if Apple follows through on work embodied in a recent patent application, you'll be able to "pour" data from your iPhone into an iPad lying on a table below it. Or, with the flick of the wrist, you'll "throw" photos and videos from your iPod touch onto your desktop Mac's display. Or you'll gently blow a file to a …

    Mobile 8 Jul 23:37