19th August 2011 Archive

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Apotheker prescribes transformation elixir for HP

Down the hatch, dinosaur

As everyone knows by now, Hewlett-Packard is trying to buy the British software company Autonomy as it shuts down its webOS hardware business and hopes to spin off its Personal Systems Group. But here's a question for you: In HP's third fiscal quarter, which of its units actually showed year-on-year as well as sequential …

Hardware 19 Aug 2011, 00:05
Better sunspot forecasts on the way

The weather: cloudy with a chance of global IT disruption

With a solar maximum expected next year, predicting sunspot activity is going to be a hot topic. An international team of scientists has announced that it can identify emerging sunspots earlier than is currently possible. The work, published in Science, is based on detecting acoustic waves that provide a “signature” of an …

Science 19 Aug 2011, 01:00
Apple augments reality, tells you where to go

Patent filing stokes iPhone Maps app

Apple has filed a patent application for putting a mash-up of augmented reality and turn-by-turn navigation onto your iPhone. The filing, entitled "Augmented reality maps", describes an enhancement of how iOS's currently combines the capabilities of the iPhone's location services–enabled Maps app with the device's internal …

Mobile 19 Aug 2011, 04:00
HP chief bows to Jobsian cult

The ~~tablet~~ Apple effect

Why is HP killing its webOS tablet and hoping to spin-off its PC business? Apple. During HP's quarterly earnings call with reporters and analysts on Thursday afternoon, company CEO Leo Apotheker explained the company's unexpected about-face with an admission that may seem paradoxical on the surface, but ultimately makes …

Hardware 19 Aug 2011, 04:13
AES crypto broken by 'groundbreaking' attack

Updated Faster than simply brute-forcing

Cryptographers have discovered a way to break the Advanced Encryption Standard used to protect everything from top-secret government documents to online banking transactions. The technique, which was published in a paper (PDF) presented Wednesday as part of the Crypto 2011 cryptology conference in Santa Barbara, California, …

Security 19 Aug 2011, 05:00
RIM BlackBerry Bold 9900

Review The latest in riot gear

With Android steaming ahead of Apple in terms of sales, and Windows Phone 7 soon to launch on Nokia handsets, RIM has got its work cut out to make sure BlackBerry can stay relevant and desirable in these fast-paced times. The slimmest BlackBerry yet: RIM's Bold 9900 The company has just announced three new handsets, …

reghardware 19 Aug 2011, 06:00
ISS 'naut shoots first ever 3D footage in space

3D Vid At last something to watch on 3D telly

The European Space Agency (ESA) is chuffed as ninepence to release the first ever 3D video shot in space. The vid, which can be viewed in all its glory using a 3D TV or conventional red/blue stereo specs, was shot by NASA astronaut Ron Garan aboard the International Space Station using a futuristic shoebox-sized camera developed …

Science 19 Aug 2011, 08:01
ID and Passport Service uncloaks 2012 online plans

Apply for a Brit passport from anywhere in the world

The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) is to introduce a new online passport application service in early 2012 in an effort to improve its interactions with customers. In its business plan for 2011-12 (28-page PDF/2.2MB), the IPS says that it will replace its current PASS passport application system with one that will allow …

Government 19 Aug 2011, 08:26
Sony preps Luke Skywalker-style digital binoculars

'Yeah, they're Sandpeople all right'

Now you too can hunt missing droids in the Jundland Wastes thanks to Sony - and its new "world's first" digital binoculars. And you don't just get too watch riderless banthas - you can video them in 1080p HD too, geotagging the location so you can avoid getting bashed with a Gaffi stick next time you're out. The DEV-3 and …

reghardware 19 Aug 2011, 08:34
Hits keep on coming: HP buys Autonomy for $11bn cash

Brit techbiz poster-boy Autonomous no more

HP has confirmed it is buying Cambridge-based enterprise software company Autonomy for $10.24bn (£6.2bn). The acquisition was half-confirmed during last night's conference call, when the ink giant said the two companies were "in talks". But a statement from Autonomy this morning said the two company boards had agreed a cash …

Cloud 19 Aug 2011, 08:42
Average sozzled Brit sinks 5,800 pints during life

Spends £58,201 on booze before kicking bucket

A "shock" survey has revealed that the average Brit will sink 5,800 pints during a lifetime of hardened drinking, washed down with 8,700 glasses of wine, 2,900 bottles of cider, 5,800 shots of spirits, 1,450 cocktails, 1,450 glasses of liquor and a similar number of glasses of bubbly. The cost of this boozing is £962 a year, …

Bootnotes 19 Aug 2011, 08:58
Man builds gadget to silence annoying TV pundits

'Starkey, mute'

Whether it's Brian Cox telling you how amazing everything is or the Go Compare guy wobbling around to the rehashed tune he sings, television is awash with codswallop that can easily become annoying. Many of us simply hit the mute button, or possibly even standby, should such irritations become too much to bear. However, one …

reghardware 19 Aug 2011, 09:00
Dragons Den Jones to offload Data Select to management

Amassing cash to snap up firms cheap in coming double-dip?

Dragons Den star Peter Jones is understood to be in talks with the management team at Data Select to sell the mobile distributor, according to industry sources. The empire got a bit smaller this week as Jones flogged his machine-to-machine (M2M) comms specialist Wireless Logic to mid-market private equity firm ECI Partners for …

Business 19 Aug 2011, 09:26
Sky Movies too expensive, says Competition Commission

Double whammy from regulator, Ultraviolet

Sky's movie business, enjoyed by a third of the households in Britain, may be devastated by a new competition ruling. The Competition Commission's investigation into the pay TV movie business has made a preliminary conclusion – and reckons punters are paying £50m to £60m more each year than they should. Ofcom had previously …

Media 19 Aug 2011, 09:41
LOHAN will return to Earth by flying (open) sourcer

Our space beauty gets a bit of geeky goodness inside her

We at the El Reg Special Projects Bureau are delighted to welcome the OpenPilot initiative aboard our Low Orbit Helium Assisted Navigator (LOHAN) programme. The chaps from OpenPilot got in touch to say they reckoned their CopterControl board (pictured below) could do the job of guiding the Vulture 2 aircraft back to terra …

SPB 19 Aug 2011, 10:01
Scientists devise 260GB CD-size glass disc storage tech

Make light work of archiving

Superman's "memory crystals" have flown out of the realm of fiction into fact now that boffins have found a way to store 50GB of data in a disc of glass no bigger than the screen of a basic mobile phone. The memory is highly durable. It is able to survive heat of up to 1000° C and is resistant to the knocks and bumps that …

reghardware 19 Aug 2011, 10:06
China Mobile pushes Jobs for Sino-flava 4G iPhone

Already has 7m+ Jesus mobe users without even offering it

China Mobile has 7.44 million iPhones on its network, despite not selling them or even offering a 3G network, so there's huge potential if it can get the iPhone 4 speaking Chinese. And that is the plan, according to China Mobile's chairman, who told investors that he had met with Steve Jobs to talk about an iPhone 4 model …

Mobile 19 Aug 2011, 10:17
BOFH: Beer, shinies, death by fire, rats IN THAT ORDER

Episode 12 Nonsense, I have not yet begun to defile myself ...

Not much surprises me about middle management any more, least of all their inability to prioritise. I mean the core router could have crapped itself, the HR & Financials databases might be offline a day before pay day and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse could be in the freight elevator pressing "2" yet some "compliance …

BOFH 19 Aug 2011, 10:31
Hundreds of Brit pubs to offer free WiFi

Guess where this piece was written

BT Openzone and Heineken are teaming up to offer drinkers in 100 UK pubs Wi-Fi access. The partnership will then be extended to include another 200 bars and pubs by the end of 2012. The two have also done a deal with mini-Independent newspaper i to put its content online as part of the "Heineken hub". The Wi-Fi pub is of …

Cloud 19 Aug 2011, 10:43
Ridley Scott confirmed for Blade Runner pre/sequel

Harrison Ford's out, though

Ridley Scott is to return to his vision of a futuristic Los Angeles by directing a follow-up to the 1982 SF classic Blade Runner. Rumours of a sequel have graced t'interweb for some time now, but the camera is most definitely set to roll with Scott in the director seat, after Alcon Entertainment - the studio which secured the …

reghardware 19 Aug 2011, 10:43
Motorola Atrix Lapdock

Accessory of the Week It's a... phone-book?

If you had thought that Motorola’s Android offerings might have ended up as the also-rans in the mêlée of Googlephone handsets, then recent events in the mobile marketplace would suggest it could well be the standard bearer. The Chocolate Factory’s bid for Motorola’s Mobility division – the handset and tablet line – certainly …

reghardware 19 Aug 2011, 11:00
T-Mobile JavaScript comment stripper breaks websites

It's not optimisation, it's pessimisation

Attempts by T-Mobile to speed up mobile data connections are breaking websites. The bug intermittently affects mobile device users and PC users using tethered connections. It is caused by "optimisations" to the sites' Javascript code made on the fly, in attempt to optimise the amount of data received. Instead of stripping out …

Developer 19 Aug 2011, 11:02
Lib Dems want pirate-friendly, one-speed net

Interview 'Yarr! Vote for Black Julian, me mateys'

Lib Dems are appealing to the vital online pirate vote at this year's party conference, putting the membership on collision course with LibDem ministers in the coalition government. In a new IT policy paper called "Preparing The Ground", a team of party activists led by Cambridge MP Julian Huppert calls for the Digital Economy …

Networks 19 Aug 2011, 11:22
Poor IT could leave Brit troops hanging in Afghanistan

Just not enough, just not in time

Poor IT is threatening defence supplies until a new programme is implemented in 2014, a group of MPs has warned in a new report. In "The use of information to manage the defence logistics supply chain", the public accounts committee (PAC) says the IT systems now being used to track supplies are not up to the task, due largely …

Government 19 Aug 2011, 11:38
P10000: What HP wants to make instead of PCs, tablets

Sources drop tantalising hints on mystery array

Recent rumours have renewed storage industry interest in a forthcoming topping-out of the HP 3PAR range with the P10000. We first heard about a new, unnamed box in July, but sources are now telling us about a P10000 which will slot in above the current range-topper, the 800TB raw capacity T-Class and its smaller brother, the F …

Storage 19 Aug 2011, 11:58
Brits buy more e-books than other Euro readers

Flying off the shelves

Brits are embracing e-books more enthusiastically than anyone in Europe, the numbers show. Last year, UK e-book buyers were responsible for half of Western Europe's digital book spending - even though the nation only accounts for 15 per cent of Europe's combined spending on physical books, market watcher Futuresource said …

reghardware 19 Aug 2011, 12:01
New Apple move against Galaxy Tab on Euro front

Jobs wants rival slabs shipped back to Samsung right now

Apple has told the Dutch court it expects Samsung to write to all its European dealers recalling Galaxy phones and tablets, with stock to be returned within 14 days at Samsung's expense. The letter, seen by Dutch publication Webwereld, requires all stocks to be immediately shipped back to the Netherlands (where Samsung handles …

Business 19 Aug 2011, 12:18
Nexsan stuffs its box with Tosh flash

Opens dressing-gown to reveal 13,800 IOPS/watt bulge

Nexsan's E5000 flash-accelerated NAS box uses new Tosh flash. The Toshiba MKz001GZB is a 100GB, 2.5-inch SSD that uses 32nm process single level cell flash to deliver 90,000 random read IOPS, 17,400 random write ones, 500MB/sec sequential read bandwidth and 250MB/sec sequential write speed. It has a SAS 6Gbit/s interface and …

Storage 19 Aug 2011, 12:37
Sony: PlayStation Vita will win gamers back from tablets, phones

Exec in lauding own product SHOCK

Sony has hit back at analysts who say its PlayStation Vita will struggle in the face of smartphone and tablet gaming, insisting punters will in fact discard those rival products for the Sony handheld. Shocker! Sony marketing man John Koller, in an interview with Gamespot, dismissed those analysts' claims, saying the company …

reghardware 19 Aug 2011, 12:40
Hardware-happy HP has swallowed a Sun death pill

Analysis Doomed bid to get out of making actual machinery

Leo Apotheker has joined a long line of Silicon Valley CEOs who have struggled to stop their hardware-centric tech companies slipping into the dustbin of history. Hewlett-Packard's chief executive has unveiled an audacious plan to turn his company from the planet's single biggest maker of PCs into, er, a software company. To …

Business 19 Aug 2011, 12:52
Who the hell cares about five nines anymore?

The service-centric view of system management

Does anyone really care what “five nines” means anymore? For the record, it means 99.999 per cent availability, which means your business managers can founder in digital limbo for just over an eighth of a second each day. That doesn’t sound too bad, does it? What about six seconds a week, or roughly five minutes a year? Talk …

Service Assurance 19 Aug 2011, 13:00
Hedge fund agitator grapples for helm at Brocade

Network galleon beats into 'IT market headwinds'

Brocade has reported its quarterly results with a disappointing outlook and found itself the target of an activist hedge fund investor, Elliot Management, scenting under-valued assets it can profit from. For its third fiscal 2011 quarter, ending 30 July, Brocade's revenues were $503m, down from the preceding quarter's $548m, …

Data Networking 19 Aug 2011, 13:38
Brussels objects to WD's Hitachi GST purchase

Issues beefs, awaits corporate response

The European Union is objecting to Western Digital's proposed purchase of Hitachi GST on antitrust grounds. The European Commission has issued a formal Statement of Objections. A Western Digital SEC filing said: The Statement of Objections sets out the European Commission's preliminary assessment regarding the combination of …

Storage 19 Aug 2011, 14:11
HP's WebOS mess: When smartphone assets go toxic

Stick a fork in Android, it's done

On Tuesday, HP was talking to the Wall Street Journal about putting WebOS in stoves, fridges and cars. By Thursday, HP didn't even want to put WebOS into smartphones and tablets. The platform has been cast adrift just a year after HP completed its $1.2bn purchase of Palm. While it works out what to do with WebOS, HP is canning …

Developer 19 Aug 2011, 14:56
Confab makes sense of dot-everything revolution

Dot-mad, dot-glad, dot-brand, or dot-bland?

It is more than three years ago that El Reg announced the approval of “customized top-level domains”, following two years of policy debate. “ICANN estimates it will begin taking applications in April or May of next year,” we reported. ICANN was a little off in its estimates. It took until June this year – more than two years …

Networks 19 Aug 2011, 16:00
Apple, HTC trim phone forecasts as markets tank

Fewer parts ordered as economocalypse looms

Apple and HTC may be locked in mortal patent combat, but they do agree on one thing: the world economy appears poised to slide into the crapper. Again. The two dueling smartphone makers are among the handset vendors cutting back on chipset orders from Asian suppliers, according to sources speaking to the Taiwanese market …

Mobile 19 Aug 2011, 16:05
Googlola's closed source Android temptation

Open...and Shut Will the code 'stay' open?

Google has long played Android a bit closer to the vest than some would like. Over the years it has taken a beating from open-source advocates and others, most recently resulting in a study declaring it to be the most closed of any open-source mobile platform, a claim that Google's Chris DiBona calls nonsense, indicating that …

Mobile 19 Aug 2011, 17:00
SGI (almost) doubles sales, (almost) halves losses

Foresees a profitable 2012. Finally

Silicon Graphics' latest financial report shows that it's growing and moving towards profitability – but it's not quite there yet. If there were ever a time when SGI needed to make a big sale to get some free PR and possibly a big wad of cash to do a monster supercomputer deal, it's now. And it might just happen. The company …

Financial News 19 Aug 2011, 20:17
Insulin pump attack prompts call for federal probe

Security of medical devices questioned

The hack of a commercially available insulin pump that diabetics can control wirelessly has attracted the attention of US lawmakers who oversee the safety of the nation's airwaves. In a letter drafted earlier this week, US Representatives Anna Eshoo and Edward Markey asked members of the Government Accountability Office to …

Security 19 Aug 2011, 20:23
Lustre file system set for spit 'n' polish

Whamcloud lands deal from OpenSFS

Whamcloud, the startup created in July 2010 to continue development of the open source Lustre supercomputer file system, has secured a $2.1m contract from OpenSFS to spruce it up with new features and functions. Lustre – used on about 60 per cent of the largest supercomputers in the world – is a parallel clustered file system …

HPC 19 Aug 2011, 22:38