23rd December 2011 Archive

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Nikon Coolpix P7100 compact camera

Review All at your fingertips

Just over a year ago Nikon released the Coolpix P7000 to slug it out with Canon’s PowerShot G12. Both cameras appeal to the high-end consumer who wants most of the controls and features of a DSLR in the body of a compact. With the Coolpix P7100, Nikon introduces some welcome new features and tweaks including a tilting screen and …

reghardware 23 Dec 07:00
Japan mobe operators muscle in on NFC tap-cash

This walled garden has become a prison!

Japan's three dominant mobile operators – DoCoMo, KDDI and Softbank – have banded together to ensure customers can transition from the proprietary FeliCa to the standard NFC payments. The move apes that of operators around the world, who have realised that if they're going to prevent Google – and perhaps Apple – from …

Developer 23 Dec 08:02
AMD loses marketing boss

Dessau depart-you

Nigel Dessau, AMD's marketing boss, is departing the perennial number two CPU chip-maker to become a three-minute mentor. Dessau is AMD's SVP and chief marketing officer, and came from Sun where he was appointed as the VP for all of storage marketing and business operations in June 2006, and then VP for Alliances as well. …

PCs & Chips 23 Dec 09:02
Lincolnshire cops to chuck £200m at G4S in ICT deal

Company beats off competition to grab preferred bidder status

Lincolnshire police authority has made security specialist G4S its preferred bidder in an outsourcing deal that will include ICT, back office and command and control and could be developed into a shared service for other police forces in the country. The company is on course to land a 10-year, strategic partnership contract …

Security 23 Dec 09:35
'Other land uses bring in more money than frankincense'

QuotW Plus 'I have written self-aware code'

This was the week when the rumours about potential suitors for Research in Motion started as the firm's fortunes continued to flag. Various industry whispers put Amazon, Microsoft and Nokia in a partnership, HTC and Samsung in the hot seat for a possible BlackBerry-maker buy. Sony launched its new handheld console to the …

Bootnotes 23 Dec 10:00
Blocking Twitter, Facebook during riots not such a hot idea - MPs

No, really?

Shutting down social media during times of civil unrest would be "actively unhelpful" and should not happen, a committee of MPs has said. The Home Affairs Committee said that evidence from the riots in English cities in August showed that law enforcement had used social media to tackle the problem and that rioters had used …

Crime 23 Dec 10:31
Online Christmas orders from retailers go titsup

IT glitches at Fortnum & Mason and Sainsbury's hamper operations

Looks like Christmas won't be delivered for hundreds of families this weekend who've shopped online at Sainsbury's and Fortnum & Mason, thanks to IT problems. Fortnum & Mason has blamed "severe" IT problems for its failure to deliver its famous luxury hampers in time for the big day. The high-end retailer is now no longer …

Business 23 Dec 11:04
BOFH: The Explosive Christmas Evacuation

Episode 20 HR roasting on an open fire...

Everyone loves the last day. The prospect of holidays ahead always puts people in a good mood which in turn leads to generosity, indulgence and poorly-thought-through dalliances in front of recording devices. But more than that, in the season of goodwill those in the service side of the company get some recognition for the …

BOFH 23 Dec 11:33
Smartphone accessories

Xmas Gift Guide Mobile attachment

As Apple's advertising points out, when it comes to most activities, there's usually an app for them. But not every task can be performed with a handset alone. Sometimes hardware is required to utilise the brains of a smartphone and take functionality further. Whether you seek solution for better typing, improved battery life …

reghardware 23 Dec 12:00
Nokia, Skype, ARM: Microsoft's big year in review

MicroBite Why 2011 is critical for 2012 at Redmond

2011 saw Microsoft place a some big bets to break into new markets: putting Windows on ARM to challenge the iPad, becoming a web telco with the record-breaking $8.5bn purchase of Skype, and an exclusive deal with handset manufacturer Nokia to deliver smart phones using nothing but Windows Phone. Some choices seemed logical: …

Microbite 23 Dec 12:32
Go Daddy boycott threat for backing hated anti-piracy law

Site owners transfer domains from pro-SOPA registrar

Internet users have called for a boycott of web hosting giant Go Daddy over its public support of the Stop Online Piracy Act in the US. While the company has publicly supported SOPA and similarly controversial proposed legislation for months, its position went largely unnoticed until a thread on Reddit gained legs yesterday. …

Hosting 23 Dec 13:02
Arcade emulator MAME slips under Apple radar

Grab it before Cupertino notices

The popular arcade emulator MAME is now available in the iTunes store, for free, but don't expect it to stay there for long as Apple has never tolerated this kind of thing before. MAME emulates the hardware of old arcade consoles, only needing the requisite ROMs to be able to play thousands of games - from Centipede to Joust …

Applications 23 Dec 13:31
LightSquared demands FCC ruling

Patience – and money – running out fast

LightSquared has filed a petition for Declaratory Ruling with the FCC for confirmation of its right to exist, as it's running out of cash fast and needs a decision. The company was expecting a decision by the end of the year, but confidence in its plan has been shaken by the selective leaking of test results and ongoing claims …

Wireless 23 Dec 14:05
Make room, internet, there's another 5 million domains to fit in

.com and .de top the charts in Q3 figures

There were almost 220 million internet domain names at the end of September, an increase of 4.9 million on June, according to the latest numbers from Verisign. The 2.3 per cent increase was driven largely by growth in country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs such as .uk and .de), according to the company's latest quarterly …

Hosting 23 Dec 14:34
TMS needs more clout in SSD giant competition

CEO Holly Frost sets out reasons for seeking a sale

Where did that come from? Yesterday, out of the blue, news came that RamSan vendor TMS was looking to be bought or have a thumping investment from a large partner. Why? The flash market is set to rocket and it has a good track record. Why on earth does it need a sugar daddy? We asked TMS CEO Holly Frost some questions about …

Channel Register 23 Dec 15:01
No winner in Android v iPhone 2011 marathon

Open ... and Shut Microsoft celebrates patent smack downs

The wheat is increasingly being separated from the chaff in mobile. Unfortunately, what's not clear yet is which is the wheat, and which is the chaff. In the ongoing war between Apple's iOS and Google's Android, both camps have plenty to cheer about - and to moan about. Just take a look at recent headlines. In my own news feed …

Mobile 23 Dec 15:35
Another Alliance pushes into White Space

Filling the airwaves with IEEE goodness

The WhiteSpace Alliance will endorse the IEEE 802.22 standard for networks operating in unused television frequencies, but world domination is far from assured. While most developed countries are agreed that White Space should be filled – with unlicensed devices reliant on a central database of available frequencies – beyond …

Wireless 23 Dec 16:04
AOL sings soothing profit lullaby to nervous investors

But advertising's going down the toilet, says shareholder

AOL has moved to quieten down investors after activist shareholders Starboard Value LP accused the web biz of making "staggering" losses in its traditional areas and sinking money in unproven new ventures. Starboard has just bought a 4.5 per cent stake in the company, according to Reuters, and promptly criticised AOL for a …

Financial News 23 Dec 16:33
RIM: BlackBerry 10 is fine, delays are down to chip ship slip

CEO slams 'inaccurate and uninformed' blog post

RIM has strenuously denied that hiccups in development are delaying the launch of phones based on its new OS, citing chip deliveries as the problem. In an explicit statement RIM's CEO Mike Lazaridis says the Boy Genius Report blog, reporting problems with the upcoming BlackBerry 10* OS, is "inaccurate and uninformed". He then …

Developer 23 Dec 16:55