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14th July 2011 Archive

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  • NZ boffins take the plunge with submarine cable deal

    Splash public cash on Pacific Fibre

    New Zealand's newest international cable project, Pacific Fibre, has negotiated a revised contract from its first customer REANNZ for the supply of international capacity valued at NZ$91m. REANNZ (Research & Education Advanced Network NZ) owns and operates Karen – the Kiwi Advanced Research and Education Network – on behalf of …

    Broadband 14 Jul 2011, 00:01

  • Amazon's anti-iPad arises 'in October'

    The other Jobsian nemesis

    Amazon will answer Apple's iPad before October, according to a report citing people familiar with the matter. The Wall Street Journal reports that in the third quarter, Amazon will introduce a full-fledged Android fondleslab as well as two new versions of its existing Kindle ereader. One of these Kindles will include a …

    Media 14 Jul 2011, 00:02

  • NBN Co completes 4G spectrum spend

    While ACMA is yet to resolve TV interference issues

    NBN Co has secured spots of regional spectrum in Western Australia, the Northern Territory, South Australia, outback Queensland and far west New South Wales for AU$1.3m. The spectrum will bolster its high-speed wireless broadband services rollout. NBN Co secured it at the Australian Communications and Media Authority spectrum …

    Business 14 Jul 2011, 00:30

  • ISPs under a wholesale price squeeze, says Hackett

    Internode forced to rejig plans

    Internode founder Simon Hackett has accused “a powerful monopoly service provider” of engaging in a price squeeze that has forced the ISP to downgrade some of its plans. In this blog post, Hackett has written that it’s become necessary to increase the effective price-per-gigabyte of the company’s “EasyReach” class of plans. …

    Hosting 14 Jul 2011, 01:30

  • Microsoft COO: Our greatest enemy is old Windows

    WPC 2011 'Windows XP, Office 2003, IE6 - you know what? Dead'

    The cloud doesn't hurt Microsoft's business, but the company does suffer an image problem related to "old software", according to the company's chief operating officer. Speaking to 14,000 Microsoft partners on Wednesday, Kevin Turner played down fears that the cloud will hurt Microsoft's software business, insisting that it …

    Software 14 Jul 2011, 04:47

  • Defragger salesman frags HP

    'You need my stuff, don't listen to them,' shouts man

    Defrag software supplier Diskeeper has denounced HP for failing to mention fragmentation issues. Mandeep Birdi, a technical presales consultant at Diskeeper Corp Europe, said: "It's unfortunately becoming a little too common for me to hear from many customers who are adding SANs to their network estate, that their SAN vendor …

    Storage 14 Jul 2011, 06:30

  • Ten... wireless speakers

    Product Round-up In the air tonight

    The iPod can take credit for creating an entirely new market for compact speaker systems, yet iPod sales are now starting to taper off as people move their music onto smartphones and tablets. No one wants their phone or tablet to be out of action while it’s docked inside a speaker system, so manufacturers are now adding …

    Hardware 14 Jul 2011, 07:00

  • EMC intros the mini VMAX

    For those who don't want their back-ends compromised

    EMC has formally launched its down-sized VMAX, the VMAXe. The system is physically smaller in size than VMAX, coming in a 19-inch rack and only needing single-phase power. It uses the VMAX architecture and software (Enginuity 5875+) and is a pre-configured hardware and software offering with optional fully-automated storage …

    Storage 14 Jul 2011, 07:30

  • Cisco's new UK/Ireland channel boss confirmed

    Govbiz guvnor Richards to ascend throne

    Cisco may be waving goodbye to its current global channel boss Thierry Drilhon – in his current role at least – but is preparing to usher in Richard Roberts as the new reseller head for the UK and Ireland. As previously revealed, local channel boss Bernadette Wightman is moving to a global position running Cisco's Cloud Centre …

    The Channel 14 Jul 2011, 07:42

  • Sega forums still closed a month after mystery hack

    Digital pillage leaves lasting damage

    Sega's forum remains offline almost a month after its forums and other sites were hit by hacktivists. Hackers broke into Sega's systems and made off with user registration details, email addresses, birth dates and encrypted passwords of around 1.3 million users last month. No financial data was exposed by the hack, which was …

    Security 14 Jul 2011, 07:43

  • Advice on offshoring issued to UK.gov IT bodies

    No particular reason ...

    Government bodies thinking of offshoring IT functions need to make careful plans to deal with the downsides, according to guidance published on the Cabinet Office website. The document acknowledges the potential benefits of savings, productivity and making better use of skills that may in short supply domestically, but while …

    Policy 14 Jul 2011, 08:00

  • Stipe croons 'Man on the Moon' to Atlantis crew

    Not that any of them ever will be

    The crew of Space Shuttle Atlantis were this morning greeted by R.E.M's Michael Stipe, who delivered a vocal snippet of the band's Man on the Moon, followed by a quick message. Stipe said: “Good morning, Atlantis. This is Michael Stipe from R.E.M. We wish you much success on your mission and thank all the women and men at NASA …

    Science 14 Jul 2011, 08:14

  • Most Adobe Reader installs are out of date

    Patchy patching leaves pdf backdoors open to intrusion

    Six out of every 10 users of Adobe Reader are running vulnerable versions of the ubiquitous PDF reader package, according to stats from freebie anti-virus scanner firm Avast. Adobe applications, behind only browsers and Microsoft Office as a favourite target for hackers, are regularly the target of Trojan-based hacking attacks …

    Security 14 Jul 2011, 08:30

  • Brits lose out as iTunes prices jump

    Aussies do well

    Most stories covering Apple's international price rises have focused on the base price - up from 59p to 69p in the UK, a rise of 16 per cent or so - the increase is higher elsewhere. Case in point: readers buying comics through iPad apps and who used to pay around £1.19 per issue will now pay £1.49 - a 25 per cent price rise …

    Phones 14 Jul 2011, 08:40

  • Google muzzles political dissidents with YouTube ID tweaks

    It's about silo wars not real ones here at Google+

    As recently as February this year, Google allowed its users to sign up to its revenue-challenged video sharing website YouTube using a pseudonym. In fact, Mountain View was so proud of that option that its director of privacy, product and engineering, Alma Whitten, penned a blog post in which she pointed out the importance of …

    Security 14 Jul 2011, 09:00

  • World+Dog to favour dual-core laptops through 2014

    Quad-core won't be big until the year after

    Buy a laptop in 2015, and there will be a 50 per cent chance it will contain a quad-core processor. So says market watcher iHS iSuppli, after sampling current shipment rates. This year fewer than one in ten notebooks - nine per cent, to be precise - will come with a four-core chip. Hexa-core CPUs will reach that level of …

    Laptops 14 Jul 2011, 09:11

  • California Mrs cuffed in drugged-hubby todger slash case

    Unhappy man's manhood macerated in garbage disposal

    A California woman who may have been a tad unhappy about her impending divorce allegedly drugged her estranged hubby's dinner, tied him to a bed, cut off his todger with a 10-inch kitchen knife, and then disposed of the detached penis in the garbage grinder. Catherine Kieu Becker, 48, (pictured), apparently called cops to the …

    Bootnotes 14 Jul 2011, 09:27

  • Half of Virgin Media broadband ads are wrong, says ASA

    ISP gets up to 'up to' tricks

    Virgin Media has been taken to task by ad regulators over 10 separate adverts. The complaints centred on three separate national press adverts, a leaflet, a TV ad and a radio advert. BT complained that the first newspaper advert said that Virgin's fibre optic broadband is twice as fast as that of BT. BT bitched that this …

    Broadband 14 Jul 2011, 09:43

  • Sony intros washable sports Walkman

    Take it into the shower

    Sony has restyled its Walkman W series, its wearable MP3 player that's now washable too - the company has the notion you won't take it off after running, you'll wear it in the shower too - 25 per cent lighter, and gains the word "Sports" to increase its sales appeal to the sedentary. Aspirational? Sure is. Sony says the NWZ- …

    Hardware 14 Jul 2011, 09:46

  • Private equity saves SeeSaw

    Michael Jackson put in charge. Woooo.

    The upending of SeeSaw has been cancelled. Owner Arqiva today announced it had flogged off 75 per cent of the online video-on-demand service. Arqiva will retain 25 per cent of the company, the rest going to a group of venture capitalists, private equity punters and merchant bankers. SeeSaw will be overseen by Michael Jackson …

    Hardware 14 Jul 2011, 09:46

  • Before the PC: IBM invents virtualisation

    A brief history of virtualisation

    Virtualisation is not a novelty. It's actually one of the last pieces of the design of 1960s computers to trickle down to the PC – and only by understanding where it came from and how it was and is used can you begin to see the shape of its future in its PC incarnation. As described in our first article in this series, current …

    Enterprise Tech 14 Jul 2011, 10:00

  • CIA's DARPA working on human-brain-mimicking tech

    Company that built the first internet node hired

    The company which built the first ever internet nodes back in the 1960s – and which gave the world the "@" symbol in email, among other things – has been hired by the US intelligence community to work on technology which could mimic "the brain's ability to make sense of large amounts of haphazard, partial information". Back in …

    Government 14 Jul 2011, 10:13

  • Blighty's rocketeers gather for ballistic love-in

    'It's British, naturally string is involved'

    Those of you with a penchant for things that go really fast with flames coming out of the back are directed to this weekend's Festival of Rocketry 2011 – Europe's "largest model and amateur rocketry event", which blasts off on Friday at Oxhill in Warwickshire. The three-day shindig is organised by the United Kingdom Rocketry …

    SPB 14 Jul 2011, 10:27

  • Facebook begins to challenge Google in UK internet

    Google up, but search down overall vs Web 2.0

    Google has increased its dominance in the UK search sector, according to the latest numbers, but search itself – though growing in absolute terms – now accounts for a lower proportion of the traffic hitting websites than it formerly did as social networks make their presence felt. The numbers come from the latest roundup from …

    Networks 14 Jul 2011, 10:42

  • Spotify to launch invite-only service in US

    Britney Spears is gagging for it

    Spotify is following the current trend among Web2.0 companies to lure new customers in by offering online services on an invite-only basis with the launch of the music streaming site in the US later today. It's also a good way of building up a list of email addresses that Spotify can hoard for marketing purposes down the line …

    Media 14 Jul 2011, 10:58

  • Files Connect

    iOS App of the Week Fetch files for your fondleslab

    I use Dropbox to sync files between computers and mobile devices, but the problem with Dropbox is that you can only sync files and folders that you’ve already placed into the Dropbox folders on those devices. I’m not that organised and when I’m using my iPhone or iPad I often find that I’d like to quickly browse my desktop …

    Phones 14 Jul 2011, 11:00

  • MAJOR HACK: Voda femtocells open phones up to intercept

    Updated Pass within 50m of one, they own your phone

    Security researchers claim to have uncovered a serious security hole in Vodafone's mobile network. Security shortcomings in the femtocell technology supplied by the mobile phone giant create a means to extract information that would allow hackers to intercept calls or impersonate users that connect through a compromised device …

    Mobile 14 Jul 2011, 11:06

  • GCHQ losing its 'internet whizzes' to Microsoft, Google

    'Mission Fantastic' tech-spooks lured away by triple pay

    British spooks, who are increasingly being tasked with wading into the so-called cybersecurity threat, have been fretting about the dearth of internet experts at GCHQ because the intelligence agency can't compete for expertise with the likes of Microsoft and Google. The agency's director told the Intelligence and Security …

    Government 14 Jul 2011, 11:12

  • Official: Pastafarian strainer titfer is religious headgear

    All hail his noodly appendages, say Austrians

    Pastafarians worldwide are celebrating after a landmark Austrian decision in favour of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster paved the way for its recognition as a full-fat religion. Until now, worshippers of His Noodly Appendages have until now been nothing more than a marginal cult battling the dark forces of …

    Bootnotes 14 Jul 2011, 11:19

  • Acer slips to 4th place as global PC sales edge up

    Lenovo shoves onto podium alongside HP and Dell

    Acer dropped out of the medal positions in the global PC arena, and was shunted into fourth spot as HP, Dell and Lenovo made more of the growth in professional products across emerging markets to offset weakened retail demand in mature IT economies. Shipments into the channel – as opposed to sales out to customers – edged up a …

    Hardware 14 Jul 2011, 11:28

  • Steelie Neelie: 'Help us form Brussels data breach policy'

    'Please be proportionate' begs UK ICO

    The European Commission is asking for feedback on practical rules to ensure that anyone in Europe who has their private data breached will be told. New rules across Europe mean that telcos are meant to tell you if they lose your data. But what is needed now is feedback on how the rules are working and how, in practical terms, …

    Government 14 Jul 2011, 11:56

  • Yuri Gagarin, legendary 'naut, makes London debut

    First orbital human joins Captain Cook on the Mall

    A statue of Yuri Gagarin has been unveiled by the cosmonaut's daughter, Elena Gagarina, in London. The legendary cosmonaut was the first human being to orbit the planet Earth, back in 1961. He died only 7 years later in an accident during a routine flight in a MiG-15 fighter jet. The statue stands near the British Council, …

    Science 14 Jul 2011, 12:10

  • Scientists snap amazing technicolour dreamtoad

    Lost, never-photographed rainbow batrachian rediscovered

    Determined Malaysian scientists have pulled off a bit of a blinder in the search for lost amphibians, by getting the first snaps of the elusive Borneo rainbow toad. Ansonia latidisca was last seen in 1924 by European explorers, and was until now recorded only in sketch form. Responding to an Conservation International call to …

    Science 14 Jul 2011, 12:23

  • Microsoft plans to open 75 retail stores in US

    Dude, let's camp outside for the Windows 8 launch

    Microsoft is re-hatching its plan to accelerate retail store expansion in the US before turning its sights on the rest of the world. Store locator: Microsoft's retail expansion in the next three years The first iteration came in 1999, when Microsoft set up a shop in San Francisco – but efforts were fairly short-lived as it …

    Business 14 Jul 2011, 12:40

  • Lying Facebook app offers Google+ invites

    Trendjackers spam your friends, slurp your data

    Facebook scammers have latched onto the buzz around Google+, as the theme for a new scam that has already claimed thousands of fans victims. A fake app, called "Google Plus Direct Access", prompts users to visit a page on the social networking site they need to "like" in order to progress: a process that hands over personal …

    Security 14 Jul 2011, 13:01

  • Murdochs won't talk to MPs over phone-hacking scandal

    Rebekah Brooks will defend herself

    News Corporation boss Rupert Murdoch has refused to appear before a committee of MPs who want to probe the media tycoon over phone-hacking allegations made against his sister company News International. But the under-fire chief said he was "fully prepared to give evidence to the forthcoming judge-led inquiry". Murdoch's son …

    Security 14 Jul 2011, 13:28

  • Toshiba gets bit-patterning between its teeth

    Comment HAMR may come too

    Bit-patterned media (BPM) is emerging as a key hard disk drive (HDD) technology focus for Toshiba. Toshiba's two new advanced technology centres are looking at future HDD technologies such as bit-patterned media (BPM) and heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR). According to the general manager of the Advanced Technology …

    Storage 14 Jul 2011, 13:30

  • XIV gets Infiniband and boosted CPUs

    September release date for third-generation box

    IBM has boosted the processors in its third generation XIV array and added InfiniBand for internal communications to make it go faster. There can be from 6 to 15 data modules (enclosures) in an XIV array, each containing 12 of the 7,200rpm, 1 or 2TB SAS drives. Each module has its own multi-core processing resource, …

    Storage 14 Jul 2011, 13:39

  • Sony confirms e-reader update imminent

    Reader line to get wireless comms at last?

    Sony has regularly updated its e-book reader line - aka Reader - in the late summer/early autumn timeframe so it comes as no surprise to learn it'll be doing so again this year. Confirmation of the successor(s) to the 6in PRS-650 and the 5in PRS-350 - respectively dubbed the Touch and Pocket Editions, even though they both …

    Tablets 14 Jul 2011, 15:32

  • Voda: Femtocell phone-hacking vuln was fixed in 2010

    News International scandal stirs interest in old backdoor

    Vodafone said that claims of a vulnerability involving its femtotell base station technology relate to a flaw it fixed a year ago. Security shortcomings in Vodafone's femtocell signal booster technology create a possible means for hacker to intercept calls or impersonate users that connect via a compromised device, The Hacker' …

    Mobile 14 Jul 2011, 16:02

  • Murdoch man who also worked at Scotland Yard ARRESTED

    Billionaire media tyrant and son carpeted by MPs

    A former editor of the News of the World who also worked as a PR consultant to the Metropolitan Police has been arrested. News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch and his son James Murdoch have confirmed they will appear before a Parliamentary committee investigating the phone-hacking scandal that has engulfed their media empire. A …

    Media 14 Jul 2011, 16:13

  • Griffin grounds phone-controlled copter until Xmas

    Whup-whup-whup-whup-whup etc.

    Here's Griffin Technology's top offering for Christmas: the Helo TC, a 12cm toy helicopter remote controlled using an iPhone for sure and maybe an Android handset too. Parrot's AR.Drone quad-copter will set you back £240 or more, but Griffin's gadget should be yours for £35, company spokesfolks told us this week. Charge the …

    Hardware 14 Jul 2011, 16:20

  • Adobe resuscitates 64-bit Flash for Linux

    Penguins rejoice at prophesy fulfilled

    Adobe has resuscitated Flash Player for 64-bit Linux, drawing cheers from penguins across the planet. On Wednesday, the company released a beta version of Flash Player 11 for the desktop, and this included a 64-bit Linux beta. In June of last year, Adobe murdered an experimental version of Flash 10.1 for 64-bit Linux, but it …

    Developer 14 Jul 2011, 17:24

  • IBM crams Lotus Symphony back into OpenOffice

    Blows kisses at Oracle

    IBM is contributing Lotus Symphony to the Apache Software Foundation, re-uniting this OpenOffice fork with the "official" version of the project. On Wednesday, IBM said it will donate the standalone version of Lotus Symphony to Apache's OpenOffice.org project under an Apache 2.0 license. Open Document Format (ODF) architect …

    Applications 14 Jul 2011, 17:25

  • Apple snuffs iPhone privacy complaint with Korean peanuts

    Updated Sueapple.co.kr

    Apple has paid a South Korean user one million won to settle a complaint arising from unauthorized iPhone collection of that user's location information. This is the first time the Cupertino outfit has made such a payout. Although the amount involved is miniscule – ₩1m converts to just under $950 – what's important is the …

    Media 14 Jul 2011, 17:32

  • Spotify launches unlimited free US service

    Wait for a freebie invite. Or not

    Spotify launched its US presence on Thursday, as it said it would just last week. The multi-million-song streaming-music service comes in three flavors: Free, Unlimited, at $4.99 per month; and Premium, at $9.99 per month. To get the freebie service, you'll need to enter your email address on the Spotify website, and wait to …

    Media 14 Jul 2011, 20:18

  • Google revenues top $9bn in Page's maiden quarter

    Larry 'super excited' with Google Facebook

    Google revenues topped $9 billion during Larry Page's inaugural quarter in charge, a first for the Mountain View ad broker. Page took the opportunity to tell the world how excited he is about Google's latest attempt to mimic Facebook. "We had a great quarter, with revenue up 32 per cent year on year for a record breaking over …

    Financial News 14 Jul 2011, 21:00

  • Boffins build JELL-O memory for your brain

    Squishy memristor implants

    A team of US researchers has fashioned a memory circuit that may provide an electronic bridge between man and machine. "Our memory device is soft and pliable, and functions extremely well in wet environments – similar to the human brain," one of the researchers, Michael Dickey, said when announcing the breakthrough. To …

    Science 14 Jul 2011, 21:11

  • Dell's Kace control freak ARMed for SMBs

    Cover your assets

    In February 2010, Dell shelled out an undisclosed sum for Kace Networks, a vendor of server appliances to rather big companies. Today, the Kace systems management appliance division of Dell set its sights on much smaller businesses with an asset management appliance called the M300. The company hopes the pricey appliance will …

    Small Biz 14 Jul 2011, 21:27

  • Sth Korea govt cracks down on blogger blaggers

    No such thing as a free social media plug

    South Korea’s high profile bloggers and prolific social media mavens are being targeted by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) over the practice of receiving ‘gifts’ from companies in return for favourable reviews or mentions of products. The South Korean government has ushered in new regulations which force companies and bloggers …

    Business 14 Jul 2011, 23:30

  • FBI probes claims of Murdoch 9/11 hack

    Did journos hire gumshoe to bag victim records?

    The FBI is reported to be examining allegations that staff at Rupert Murdoch's News Corp tried to access the mobile phones of 9/11 terrorist-attack victims and their relatives. A spokesperson for the law-enforcement agency in New York told Reuters: "We are aware of the allegations and are looking into it." The probe has …

    Media 14 Jul 2011, 23:57