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13th December 2011 Archive

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  • Bristol boffins bring qubit computing a tiny step closer

    Spooky action at a VERY SMALL distance

    Until now, quantum computing has suffered the same problem that vacuum tubes had in the 1950s: the hardware’s too damn big – a problem addressed by Bristol boffins who have put a reconfigurable two-qubit processor on a single chip. Just creating and manipulating a pair of qubits usually needs a tabletop’s worth of equipment, …

    Science 13 Dec 2011, 00:02

  • Jimbo Wales ponders Wikipedia blackout

    Asks Wikipedians: 'Should we go dark to protest SOPA?'

    Wikipedia founder Jimbo Wales is contemplating taking "the encyclopedia anyone can edit" down – temporarily – in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) currently wending its way through Congress. But first he wants to hear your opinion. "My own view is that a community strike was very powerful and successful in Italy …

    Media 13 Dec 2011, 00:17

  • Certification for Malaysian IT pros?

    Government seeks BOFH control

    A proposal to introduce a bill to force all IT workers in Malaysia to be certified and registered via a single industry body has sparked agitation in the tech sector. If the proposed legislation, the Board of Computing Professionals Malaysia Bill 2011 (BCPM), is passed, Malaysia will be the first country with a law which …

    Business 13 Dec 2011, 00:30

  • RIM BlackBerry Curve 9380 with BBM music

    Review Going for a song?

    Perhaps sensing that it’s on the verge of losing the smartphone battle, BlackBerry manufacturer RIM has all but swamped the market recently with a rash of handsets, each offering something a little bit different. The Curve 9380 is the midrange full-screen model, smaller and cheaper than the Torch 9860, and with no hard Qwerty …

    Phones 13 Dec 2011, 07:00

  • Hynix figures to win on NAND by being smaller than rivals

    Ha ha, with my 15nm tech I run between your legs, giants

    Hynix, which trails Samsung and Toshiba in the flash market, is trying to gain ground on them with a 20 per cent better NAND process. As measured by iSupply, Hynix had just 13.5 per cent by revenue of the NAND market in the second 2011 quarter, with Samsung leading with its 41.6 per cent, Toshiba second with 28.7 per cent, and …

    The Channel 13 Dec 2011, 07:58

  • Typosquatters set up booby-trapped High Street names

    Xmas shoppers who carnt spel targeted

    Fraudsters have established thousands of typosquatting sites designed to hoodwink customers of popular shopping sites into handing over personal information to fraudulent dopplegangers. Utilising slightly misspelled domain names, prospective marks are taken to mirror sites designed to either harvest personal data or subject …

    The Channel 13 Dec 2011, 08:32

  • Micron plans to force itself into tablets, ultrabooks

    Aims to pump up its fab before entry

    Micron is going to enter the market for tablet and ultrabook flash next year with mSATA solid state drives. Kevin Kilbuck, Micron's marketing director for NAND solutions, is quoted in the Taipei Times as saying Micron is talking to ultrabook makers about mSATA interface SSD supply next year. It is increasing the output of its …

    Storage 13 Dec 2011, 08:58

  • ISIS signs Gemalto, aims to scoff Google Wallet's lunch

    Two thirds of American bonk-banking goes Dutchy

    The ISIS Consortium has awarded the contract for running its NFC platform to Dutch specialist Gemalto, claiming that two thirds of proximity transactions will end up being routed through the company's service. ISIS can make that claim as it counts AT&T, T-Mobile USA and Verizon as its members, and will be managing the …

    Financial News 13 Dec 2011, 09:18

  • P2P veterans sue the Cloud ... for copying their stuff

    Man, this is totally different to the RIAA

    Google, Amazon, Dropbox and VMWare are on the receiving end of a law suit brought by former P2Ptards who claim that cloud products from the big companies infringe their peer-sharing patents. Kazaa founder Kevin Bermeister and StreamCast and Morpheus founder Michael Weiss - two pioneers of file-sharing in the early 2000s - have …

    Virtualization 13 Dec 2011, 09:38

  • Go Contacts EX

    Android App of the Week Better contacts management by a country dial?

    There are dozens of dialer apps in the Android Market. Actually, that’s a lie: I’ve found nine. The best I’ve tried is the dialer component of Contacts EX from the Go Developer Team, one of the most consistently impressive and reliable bunch of coders for the Android platform. Download Go Contacts EX and you end up with two …

    Phones 13 Dec 2011, 10:00

  • Startup's enviable flash stamina 'attracts Apple's gaze'

    New rumour: Anobit could be bought for $500m

    Apple is rumoured to be considering buying Anobit, a flash controller startup whose signal processing technology makes cheap non-volatile memory as reliable as the more expensive stuff. Anobit's signal massage therapy can entice usable information from old flash cells that other controller technology would write off, thus …

    The Channel 13 Dec 2011, 10:19

  • Is Microsoft brewing a Win8, WinPho code merge?

    Mobile chief now straddles both OS dev teams

    Microsoft’s Windows Phone chief Andy Lees has been given a new role, leading a stealth project straddling Windows Phone and Windows 8. Lees, who’d served as president of Microsoft’s Windows Phone division, has been set to work on what CEO Steve Ballmer called a “time-critical opportunity focused on driving maximum impact in …

    Developer 13 Dec 2011, 10:41

  • Learning about chip design from Silicon Roundabout

    'Let me through - I'm a nontrepreneur!'

    Yesterday would have been the 84th birthday of Robert Noyce - who with Jack Kirby invented the integrated circuit, and who was one of the three founders of Intel. A day to talk about chips, then. The high-risk business of designing microprocessors is fascinating: the cost of failure is enormous, many designs fail to set the …

    Small Biz 13 Dec 2011, 11:02

  • Sony takes PS Vita on Blighty-wide tour

    Try before you buy

    Sony will take the PlayStation Vita out on the road ahead of the device's launch in February 2012, offering British gamers the chance to try before they buy. Attendees to the various "Vita Rooms" will have access to titles such as Uncharted: Golden Abyss, FIFA 12, Reality Fighters, MotorStorm RC, ModNation Racers: Road Trip, …

    Games 13 Dec 2011, 11:14

  • Steelie Neelie dreams of apps slurping public data for free

    EU digital chief proposes pumping info to devs

    Steelie Neelie Kroes, European digital agenda commissioner, has called for public data to be more easily and cheaply accessible, a move that could benefit smartphone and web developers. Kroes is proposing a revision to the 2003 directive on reuse of public information [PDF, 7-pages] that will make it easier for companies to …

    Developer 13 Dec 2011, 11:22

  • Ofcom squeezes local TV into 20 cities' tight White Spaces

    Grimbsy, Swansea, London and others in the frame

    Ofcom has identified 20 locations where it believes local telly, broadcast in White Space, is technically possible, and stands the best chance of being commercially viable. The list includes Birmingham and Glasgow as well as Norwich and Leeds, but it's the London site which will most likely be contested by bidders. Those …

    Small Biz 13 Dec 2011, 11:42

  • Asus Tegra 3, Android 4 tablet priced up for Brits

    Incoming January 2012

    Online retailer Clove has priced up the eagerly anticipated Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime - a tablet will not only serve up a slice of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich but also Nvidia's five-core Tegra 3 chip. Clove wants £551 for the 10in tablet, which incorporates 64GB of solid-state storage, 2.4GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi, an 8Mp …

    Tablets 13 Dec 2011, 11:43

  • Laptop bags: 13- and 14-inchers

    Xmas Gift Guide Mid-size machine holders

    Fed up of lugging your laptop around in a tatty old backpack? Fancy something a little more stylish? Feel your other half ought to carry a pack that's more chic? Here are five of the best bags for 13in and 14in laptops that Reg Hardware saw during 2011. We'd recommend any of the following bags, but our favourite is listed on …

    Laptops 13 Dec 2011, 12:00

  • AOL sweeps 3.5m dial-up users under web biz rug

    Is CEO Tim Armstrong brushing away old tech?

    AOL is folding its dial-up business into the company's web services division, in a move that boss Tim Armstrong hopes will simplify its structure. At the height of its popularity, AOL had more than 25 million dial-up subscribers in the US. That figure has significantly fallen, forcing the ailing firm to shift its strategy over …

    Networks 13 Dec 2011, 12:19

  • Sony off the hook for killing Linux on PS3

    Insufficient evidence against it, says Judge

    A federal judge has fully dismissed a class-action lawsuit brought against Sony over the electronics giant's decision to axe "Other OS" support from its PlayStation 3 console. US District Court Judge Richard Seeborg granted a request by Sony to dismiss the case under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act because there were …

    Software 13 Dec 2011, 12:24

  • God particle hunt breakthrough expected TODAY

    Cancel lunch - significant Higgs boson data promised

    Expect an update on modern science's understanding of the fabric of the universe this lunchtime: physicists working on the Large Hadron Collider will announce their latest findings at 1300 GMT. The boffins will reveal whether or not their results indicate the existence of the Higgs boson, the "god particle" that gives mass to …

    Science 13 Dec 2011, 12:28

  • Google beams disaster tourists into tsunami aftermath

    Street View before-and-after gallery erected

    Google spy cars have been out snapping the wreckage from the Japanese tsunami, so everyone can see the damage a big wave can do and how long reconstruction is taking. The dating of images isn't limited to those taken in Japan: every picture in Street View worldwide now has a month and year attached - finally ending the game of …

    Software 13 Dec 2011, 12:43

  • NetWare-Linux love child turned up to 11

    SUSE Linux 11 SP1, that is

    Novell and SUSE Linux may technically be separate companies, but they are owned by the same Attachmate conglomerate and they still have to work together on specific products, such as Open Enterprise Server, which bolts NetWare print and file services to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. In the wake of buying Novell for $2.2bn back …

    Virtualization 13 Dec 2011, 13:02

  • Now Post Office branches hit by computer glitches

    Xmas queue misery after Royal Mail's web fail

    Computer glitches reduced Post Office branch services to a crawl on Monday. The Post Office network was knocked for six in two 30-minute periods, leading to long queues on one of the busiest posting days in the run-up to Christmas. The bugs coincided with problems accessing services on the Post Office website. The Post Office …

    Small Biz 13 Dec 2011, 13:19

  • Virginia ponders tax breaks for (dead) human space flights

    The right stuff - cremated

    The US may not be able to singlehandedly put a live man into space right now, but Virginia politicians may be about to boost the number of dead Americans catapulted into orbit. The Virginia General Assembly is soon to consider a bill that will allow an income tax deduction of up to $8,000 (£5,100) for burials in space, WTVR …

    Science 13 Dec 2011, 13:41

  • Windows Phones message hub hit by killer SMS

    Text of doom

    A security flaw has been discovered in Microsoft's Windows Phone OS which allows hackers to disable a handset's messaging system by SMS. A malicious text can be sent which stops the SMS service from working, WinRumours reports. A factory reset is the only way to remedy the issue. Although the SMS content is hidden from view, …

    Phones 13 Dec 2011, 13:46

  • Winamp mends trio of old-school security holes

    Heap overflow? Winamp? Party like it's 1999

    An update to Winamp closes a terrible trio of critical security holes in the popular media player application. The rather old-school vulnerabilities involve a brace of integer overflow cockups in the in_avi.dll plug-in and a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in the in_mod.dll plug-in library. All three flaws create a …

    Software 13 Dec 2011, 14:02

  • Ebooks must stay fat with VAT, blame the EU, MPs told

    UK.gov is the cat with the eggnog cream

    When it comes to applying VAT to ebooks, the UK government remains bound by EU law, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury told MPs yesterday. In October 2010 HM Revenue & Customs described the process of supplying "text by electronic transmission" via the internet - such as Amazon flogging ebooks on its Kindle Store - as …

    Media 13 Dec 2011, 14:18

  • World's biggest music streaming service launches - for tech idiots

    There's a lot of them out there

    A new music streaming service launches today in 23 territories, the biggest launch so far. You're unlikely to want to sign up - it's aimed not at the tech-savvy user but at someone who has broadband but finds Spotify too complex. That's a surprisingly large demographic, however, and given how much unpaid technical support time …

    Software 13 Dec 2011, 14:42

  • Higgs boson hunters have god particle in their sights

    Are universe's secrets lurking in energy spike?

    The Higgs boson has been glimpsed by boffins at CERN who are now much closer to pinning down the particle after crunching through hundreds of gigabytes of raw data. Previous work at CERN over the summer had whittled down the mass range in which the Higgs was most likely to be found, with the results presented by Fabiola …

    Science 13 Dec 2011, 14:46

  • AT&T and Deutsche Telekom stall for time with DoJ

    Extra month to sort out proposed T-Mobile US merger

    AT&T and Deutsche Telekom have given themselves an extra month to figure out how to rescue their legislator-challenged deal for T-Mobile USA. The US Department of Justice agreed to postpone its court case against the deal, in which AT&T snaps up Deutsche's US subsidiary, until January 18. The telcos were due in court this …

    Mobile 13 Dec 2011, 15:04

  • Strictly Come Dancing in 3D: the facts

    How to avoid missing celebrity hoofers in three dimensions

    Apparently some Brits are keen on the BBC's playground for sparkly attired hoofers, Strictly Come Dancing, which comes to its latest grand final this Saturday. Tech watchers have an interest too: it's one of the first BBC shows to be transmitted in 3D via Freeview HD. Don't want to miss the 'action'? Gone Digital's Nigel …

    Hardware 13 Dec 2011, 15:22

  • Microsoft dishes free phones to Android detractors

    Diss to win

    Microsoft is tempting Android smartphone owners with free Windows Phones if they take to the Twittersphere and let rip on how bad they think Google's OS is. Microsoft's Ben Rudolph launched the competition last night through a Tweet. “Share your android malware story… and you could win a #windowsphone upgrade,” he said. …

    Phones 13 Dec 2011, 15:34

  • Android malware victims offered free WinPhones by MS

    'Haven't they suffered enough?'

    Microsoft is offering free Windows phones to Android malware victims, providing they are prepared to tell world+dog about their problems. The marketing stunt - already given the hashtag #droidrage on Twitter - follows a run of publicity about android malware. Ben Rudolph (@BenthePCGuy), the Microsoft Windows Phone "evangelist …

    Software 13 Dec 2011, 15:45

  • 2011: annus horribilis for Microsoft and RIM

    Google's year instead

    It's hard to know who has had a worse 2011. Microsoft, because during the first ten months of the year, its old OS outsold its new one? Or RIM, because its market share has more than halved during the same period? Both numbers, centred on the US smartphone biz, come from local market watcher NPD. Its figures, for January …

    Phones 13 Dec 2011, 15:56

  • Why there's real hope for webOS - if HP is committed

    Open...and Shut A forking good alternative to iOS and Android

    It's too soon to declare that Hewlett-Packard has "dump[ed] webOS in the open source trash can", as my friend and mobile open source expert Fabrizio Capobianco insists. But it's also way too soon for HP to speculate on its action being any sort of victory, given the immense difficulties inherent in successfully open sourcing …

    Developer 13 Dec 2011, 16:22

  • Cosmic Cannonball snapped blazing a bloody trail of star guts

    Pic 3,000,000MPH neutron star formed from supernova

    The so-called Cosmic Cannonball, a neutron star moving at over three million miles an hour, has been captured in this new satellite image - or at least the red rose of supernova remnant that encases it. Puppis A supernova remnant captured by WISE. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer ( …

    Science 13 Dec 2011, 16:45

  • Cloud biz ASG unwraps early Xmas gift: Atempo

    Backup software developer snapped up

    ASG has gone and bought itself a Christmas present; Atempo and its archiving and backup software. The price was kept secret. Headquartered in the US but mainly France-based, privately held Atempo supplies backup software, such as Time Navigator, and archive software Digital Archive, which has media product integration with …

    Virtualization 13 Dec 2011, 17:11

  • LightSquared screams 'conspiracy' over leaky test results

    Satellite net biz comes out swinging

    LightSquared's CEO is demanding an investigation into how draft test results on its technology were leaked from a government-assigned testing house to Bloomberg. The testing was to establish if satellite broadband biz LightSquared's mitigation techniques will let it coexist amicably with equipment which relies on signals from …

    Broadband 13 Dec 2011, 17:39

  • Nokia exec: Young fashonistas 'fed up' with iPhone

    Not too happy with Android either, says WinPho punter

    A Nokia exec has identified the target market to which his Espoonians will "deliver services and phones that are different" from the industry-leading iPhone and Android-based smartphones: jaded kids. "What we see is that youth are pretty much fed up with iPhones. Everyone has the iPhone," Nokia Entertainment Global sales …

    Phones 13 Dec 2011, 19:36

  • FCC (finally) cracks down on BLARING! TV! ADS!

    After four and a half years of Rep and Dem squabbles

    The US Federal Communications Commission has issued rules requiring television broadcasters and cable and satellite providers to maintain constant volume levels for programs and commercials. The rules were issued persuant to the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act, better known as the CALM Act, which has been …

    Government 13 Dec 2011, 22:14

  • JB Hi-Fi rolls out own digital music service NOW

    Australian tunes in to the high street

    Gadget house JB HiFi is extending its digital footprint with a music subscription service. Its NOW brand, launched in beta on December 13, claims digital licences to over 10 million songs, with discovery and social media/community plugins. The retailer said that it kicked off with over 100,000 artists and 3 million songs. “ …

    Media 13 Dec 2011, 22:31

  • Trade Me completes IPO, starts trading

    Trans-Tasman float creates $NZ1-billion monster

    Fairfax Media’s New Zealand online auction site Trade Me began trading on the Australian and New Zealand stock exchanges yesterday. The IPO raised a total of $NZ363.5 million and a total of 134.6 million shares have been issued to new investors which include Trade Me staff under the Executive Share Plan. Fairfax Media will …

    Business 13 Dec 2011, 23:30