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15th February 2012 Archive

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  • Mobile internet devices to outnumber humans this year

    Skynet’s plans proceeding well

    The number of mobile devices will outstrip the global population in 2012, according to Cisco’s latest Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast. The company predicts that the number of mobile devices, including those for purely machine-to-machine contact, will pass the human population this year – and there will be over 10 billion …

    Mobile 15 Feb 01:12

  • Heartland Institute documents leaked

    Koch-up or konspiracy?

    Gifted amateurs and interested activists the world over are poring over documents published on the Desmog blog and elsewhere, which appear to detail the US think-tank the Heartland Institute’s budget and anti-climate-change strategy. A list of the documents can be found on Skeptical Science, here (I am referring to this list …

    Energy 15 Feb 03:38

  • Intel 520 240GB SSD

    Review Sandforce inside

    The rumour mill was working overtime throughout 2011 with suggestions that Intel was considering forsaking the Marvell controllers it had used for its previous generation of consumer SSDs, the 510 series. The story went that the company was jumping into bed with another third party controller manufacturer, namely Sandforce, for …

    reghardware 15 Feb 07:00

  • Child abuse files stolen from council worker in PUB - £100k fine

    Another council coughs £80k for HAND-DELIVERING kid's info to neighbour

    The UK's data protection watchdog has fined two English council bodies a total of £180,000 after finding they had failed to keep "highly sensitive information" about children secure. Croydon Council was fined £100,000 after a bag containing papers about a child sex abuse court case was stolen from a social worker in a pub in …

    Government 15 Feb 08:04

  • Microsoft code not the security sieve sysadmins should be worried about

    Study finds hackers aren't hitting the apps your biz thinks they are

    The gap between software patched by IT departments and the applications cyber-criminals actually target is leaving organisations at a greater risk of attack. And despite system administrators' efforts to keep Microsoft-supplied packages up to date, non-Redmond software is almost exclusively responsible for the growth in …

    Enterprise Security 15 Feb 09:03

  • Blighty's gov to spunk up to £2.9b on crim-stalking tech

    Six-year deal touted for software and gear by Ministry of Justice

    The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is looking to spend up to £2.9bn on electronic monitoring technology. The department monitors about 25,000 people electronically at any one time, using the technology to help enforce the curfew of a individual with a community order, court bail order or released on licence. Some 116,000 people …

    Government 15 Feb 09:32

  • Europeans turn backs on Ultrabooks

    Cheap 15-inchers or pricey Macs, s'il vous plait

    Europeans don't want Ultrabooks - and their lack of interest in the platform will hit Intel's platform market share forecast where it hurts. So reckon Taiwanese notebook component makers, quoted by DigiTimes, some of who have suggested that far from accounting for 40 per cent of the notebook market, as Intel has predicted, …

    reghardware 15 Feb 09:42

  • Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards

    Antique Code Show Thanks for the mammaries

    I'm actually surprised that it took till 1987 for someone to make a real effort and bring sexy time into a computer game. This new sub-genre effectively combined sex, comedy and gaming into a somewhat sleazy but hilarious adventure. It's all about the polyester leisure suit and gold chains... feel that static burn. Your …

    reghardware 15 Feb 10:00

  • SanDisk spins up speedy SSDs

    One for punters, one for PC makers

    SanDisk has taken the wraps off a couple of SSDs with 6Gb/s Sata connectivity. The X100 SSD offers sequential read and write speeds of up to 500 MB/s and 420MB/s, respectively, SanDisk claimed. It'll be available in capacities of 32GB to 512GB, in 2.5in cased and naked mSata form-factors. Joining the X100 is the Extreme SSD …

    reghardware 15 Feb 10:02

  • HP iSCSI slogger usurped by younger flashy model

    6.4TB P4900 for just $199k

    HP has announced an all-flash version of its LeftHand Networks P4000 iSCSI storage array, the P4900 Flash P4000s are supported already in the form of P4000 Virtual Storage Appliances (VSA) which uses DAS on linked servers and turns it into an iSCSI-accessed storage area network (SAN). If the DAS is flash then the VSA is flash- …

    Channel Register 15 Feb 10:21

  • Changing room spy cam sparks privacy tsar blast

    Hong Kong biz barons told snooping on staff is bad, mmkay

    Hong Kong privacy tsar Allan Chiang has been forced to clarify to bosses that it’s not OK to spy on their employees, after property company Hong Yip was found to have installed spy cameras in one of its buildings to monitor staff. In a lengthy investigation report, the privacy commissioner revealed that two security guards in …

    Law 15 Feb 10:39

  • Apple's Chinese labourers get 1.6 per cent of iPad loot - report

    Foxconn staff get only $8 of tablet's $499 price tag

    As Apple desperately tries to repaint itself as a caring company when it comes to workers’ rights, news has emerged that employees in its suppliers’ Chinese factories get just $8 of the $499 sale price of each iPad 2. Several news sources cite a Korea Daily report which claims that, based on average salaries, workers in the …

    Channel Register 15 Feb 11:02

  • UK cops cuff suspect after RnBXclusive takedown

    Anti-crime-gang squad seizes music site, starts asking questions

    Blighty's Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) has arrested an individual in connection with the closure of UK music exchange site rnbxclusive.com, an agency spokesperson told The Reg. In a statement, SOCA cops said they had taken action against the website as part of a criminal investigation and stated that the person was …

    Policing 15 Feb 11:16

  • Apple tops smartphone seller chart

    Sales to real punters, not shipments from factories, this time

    Apple put more smartphones in the hands of punters than any other vendor during Q4 2011, and was the third most purchased brand in the mobile phone market as a whole. The iPhone maker's chart position comes from market watcher Gartner. Unlike other handset business stats released by other research companies, Gartner's numbers …

    reghardware 15 Feb 11:26

  • Whistleblower: Decade-long Nortel hack 'traced to China'

    They had access to everything

    Nortel was the victim of a years-long network security breach that allowed hackers to extract its trade secrets, according to a veteran of the bankrupt Canadian telco systems biz. The hackers stole at least seven passwords from top executives before downloading research, business plans, technical papers, corporate emails and …

    Enterprise Security 15 Feb 11:41

  • Proview fears fanbois will derail iPad export ban bid

    Chinese love Apple gear too much, warn customs officials

    Chinese firm Proview has admitted it might be tough to get a ban on iPads in China, despite the ruling that the name infringes on their trademark, because the local customs authorities are unlikely to get involved. Proview International Holdings, which claims to have held the trademark on the name "IPAD" since 2000, won its …

    Channel Register 15 Feb 12:02

  • Motorola 'Intel inside' Android 4.0 phone spied on web

    Hello Medfield

    Details of Motorola's first Android 4.0 smartphone have leaked online, with the device also the company's first handset to sport Intel's 'Medfield' Atom platform. The above images of the unnamed device were posted to PocketNow, which says Moto opted out of employing traditional Texas Instruments OMAP processors in favour of …

    reghardware 15 Feb 12:14

  • Disk fab output pumping up, prices 'to stay high and dry'

    Flood-hit makers to meet hard drive demand by mid-2012 - analyst

    Demand for hard disk drives will outstrip supply until at least the middle of 2012, analysts at IHS reckon, as a result of the deadly Thai factory floods that dented drive production. Disk assembly rates will creep up during 2012 but prices will remain high. Shipments of hard drives are expected to rise in every quarter, year- …

    Channel Register 15 Feb 12:18

  • Sony pitches pay-as-you-go power sockets

    Charged to charge

    Sony tapped into the energy market this week to reveal a series of electric wall outlets capable of controlling the connected kit's power consumption. The electronics giant proposed smart sockets that only feed electricity to previously-approved devices. A separate digital hub unit will track all of the energy consumed. The …

    reghardware 15 Feb 12:33

  • Mobile networks told to sniff punters' privates for profit

    How else to make money once everyone has a smartphone?

    Mobile network operators will have to be more cavalier in their approach to customer data if they're going to be able to make money once mobile penetration becomes ubiquitous. That's according to a new white paper from Analysys Mason, which was sponsored by CommProve, which just happens to have to perfect technology to make …

    Telecoms 15 Feb 12:38

  • HP Pavilion dm1-4125ea 11.6in netbook

    Review AMD's Atom smasher

    Now that everyone and their dog has or wants a smartphone or tablet, the recent drop in netbook sales can hardly be a surprise. Yet does this mean there is no space for a small, cheap laptop? Of course not and HP’s recently refreshed Pavilion dm1 is a fine example of why I hope the breed never dies. HP's Pavilion dm1-4125EA: …

    reghardware 15 Feb 13:00

  • 500 Brit techies at risk over NHS IT fiasco

    Contractor CSC cuts staff after UK ditches duff patient record system

    Up to 500 IT workers could lose their jobs over CSC's botched computer system for the NHS, which is costing everyone involved with the fiasco dearly. UK staff received an email that informed them the company had entered a 90-day consultation period to figure out how to reduce the number of people on the project - which could …

    Business 15 Feb 13:02

  • Bonkers MS security update flags Google.com as malign

    Don't be evil silly

    A dodgy update to Microsoft's anti-virus software on Tuesday meant users of the software were wrongly warned that Google's homepage was infected with the infamous Blackhole Exploit Kit. Users of Microsoft's Forefront corporate security products (here) and freebie Security Essentials scanner software (here) were both affected …

    Malware 15 Feb 13:14

  • FCC hangs up on 4G broadband biz LightSquared

    Let the legal shenanigans begin

    The US regulator has issued a statement saying it plans to suspend the waiver under which LightSquared was planning to build its national 4G network, putting the kibosh on the whole plan. The statement is in response to a letter from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) which recommended the …

    Wireless 15 Feb 13:26

  • HP chiefs bet big at Vegas on cloud payday

    Resell ours or build your own, says biz

    Cloud computing is forecast to balloon to an $143bn industry by 2013, according to HP's internal analysis, and the tech company wants to put a framework in place for resellers to help it swipe a slice of the action. And now HP is taking the show to Vegas, dishing out a bunch of cloud-related channel programmes at the invite-only …

    Channel Register 15 Feb 13:43

  • Life at Googleplex REVEALED in hot pics

    Or slightly hinted at anyway

    Ever wondered what it would be like to work in the bosom of a warm, cuddly company for which making money is incidental to saving/taking over the world? A place so magical and mysterious that it has been nicknamed The Chocolate Factory after Roald Dahl's immortal creation? Well, wonder no more, as Mountain View has chosen to …

    Developer 15 Feb 14:04

  • Hey Commentards! This pre-populated 'reply to' is for you

    Deniggling

    We took our time to remove this niggle, but you should like this little update: If you click the "reply" button on a comment containing a headline your "Title field" is now pre-populated with "Re: (same headline)" You can if you like change this to insert your own headline or - if you are perverse, depopulate the field …

    Site News 15 Feb 14:10

  • Sony 'fesses to Whitney Houston price hike 'error'

    Albums mistakenly made more expensive hours after diva's death

    Sony Music has finally issued a statement on hiking the price of tragic pop songstress Whitney Houston's albums after her death, apologising for the "error" in the iTunes listing. On Monday, reporters fell over themselves to reveal that the price of Houston's Ultimate Collection had gone from £4.99 to £7.99 in the UK's Apple …

    Music and Media 15 Feb 14:32

  • Shareholders! attempt! Yahoo! coup!

    Investor tries to muscle onto board amid Asian talks snag

    Troublemaking Yahoo! shareholder Daniel Loeb, head of hedge fund Third Point, has filed with the SEC to appoint himself - and three other directors nominated by him - to the board of the beleaguered web firm. Loeb has been a constant agitator of Yahoo! since the web biz first wobbled, and called for the resignations of co- …

    Business 15 Feb 15:02

  • Boy burned in Nintendo sensor substitution

    Candle in the Wii

    Firefighters today warned gamers not to simulate the Nintendo Wii's sensor bar with candles after an eight-year-old boy set himself on fire doing just that. The nipper from Carmarthenshire was hospitalised with burns to his arms and chest after using tea candles in place of the console's sensor, BBC News reports. The Wii's …

    reghardware 15 Feb 15:10

  • Acer's proud Wang: We're on the rise at last

    Return to profit in Q4 can't stave off £142m loss in 2011

    Acer returned to profit in the fourth quarter, albeit marginally, but the recovery came too late in the year to prevent it from posting very significant losses for the whole of 2011. The once high-flying Taiwanese notebook linchpin was slapped by an inventory crisis in March when it discovered stock "abnormalities" in a …

    Channel Register 15 Feb 15:28

  • Google tightens its Wallet after PIN reset goof

    Now only proper hackers can steal punters' dosh

    Google has started provisioning electronic wallets again having fixed the more trivial security flaw in its product - though determined hackers will still get in. Google suspended the supply of Wallets after it emerged that simply clearing the application data resulted in the protecting PIN being reset, so now anyone trying to …

    Security 15 Feb 16:04

  • Mobile chiefs warned: Ditch unlimited tariffs... or else

    Regulators ready to pounce, says Ovum

    Analysts have warned Asia Pacific mobile operators that they risk alienating customers and incurring the wrath of regulators if they don’t ditch unlimited data tariffs and focus more on quality of service. The forthcoming Mobile Broadband Industry Survey 2011-12 from analyst house Ovum found that operators are getting the …

    Mobile 15 Feb 16:18

  • SanDisk snaps up PCIe cacher

    FlashSoft is now SanDisk's IP

    Solid state storage supplier SanDisk has bought a PCIe caching software supplier, FlashSoft, equipping it to compete with other caching PCIe flash suppliers such as EMC (VFCache), Fusion-io (directCache and ioTurbine), OCZ (SANRAD), and TMS (Nevex). FlashSoft was privately held and the financial terms are being kept …

    Storage 15 Feb 16:39

  • 'Linux for cloud' floats anti-Amazon cloud taster

    Updated Dev, test, now b*gger off!

    How does a cloud project solve a problem like Amazon? The once genteel etailer of toasters, books and CDs has now become a byword for "cloud". People just can't stop stuffing more of their data into Amazon's EC2 service. The number of objects held in EC2's S3 storage service grew by nearly 200 per cent in 2011 to 762 billion, …

    Virtualization 15 Feb 17:05

  • HD bandwidth limits BBC Olympics 3D coverage

    Highlights show, two ceremonies, one race

    The BBC has revealed what parts of next summer Olympic Games it plans to beam into homes in glorious 3D-o-Vision. And it's not an awful lot, really. The opening and closing ceremonies will be transmitted in 3D, as will "nightly highlights" of each day's athletic antics. We were hoping for the ladies' beach volleyball …

    reghardware 15 Feb 17:22

  • Critical IE update dominates Valentine’s Patch Tuesday

    Explorer patch the only one giving sysadmins the fear

    The Valentine’s Day edition of Patch Tuesday brought nine security bulletins that collectively address 21 software vulnerabilities. The batch includes four critical updates but the consensus among security experts is that a security patch for IE is the only one that sysadmins need to worry about. That's because MS12-010 …

    Security 15 Feb 17:27

  • Femtocell Forum grows big – rebrands as Small

    That's just over a smidge larger

    The Femtocell Forum has changed its name to the Small Cell Forum, reflecting how the tech is migrating upwards, but also how femtos haven't yet set the world alight. The organisation has been successful in uniting femtocell manufacturers, and around the world there are a scattering of deployments – most of which conform to the …

    Mobile 15 Feb 18:09

  • Apple seeks permission to kick Kodak's corpse

    Asks court to allow patent claim against dying photo icon

    Apple has asked the New York branch of the US Bankruptcy Court for permission to sue what's left of Kodak, the once-mighty film firm, for patent infringment. "Apple requests express authority from this court before it initiates the actions out of an abundance of caution," Apple's lawyers wrote somewhat ungrammatically in the …

    Law 15 Feb 18:56

  • Nekkid Tech: Big data divas, Whitney and how to OWN the cloud

    Podcast Look into my eyes, take me to the clouds above

    Last week's Nekkid Tech was all about the future of tape as a storage medium and back-up software lock-ins. This episode, Greg Knieriemen and trusty sidekick Ed Saipetch (@edasi) shift a gear and chat about cloud hosting, big data, Mardi Gras and er, divas. Joining them are Dell storage evangelist Gina Minks (@gminks) and Diva …

    Cloud 15 Feb 19:03

  • Twitter mobile apps storing address books for 18 months

    Tim Cook quizzed by Congress on privacy

    Twitter has become the latest in a growing list of companies caught storing user’s data without making it explicit. The company has admitted that it is storing the entire address books of users for 18 months, if they use the “Find Friends” feature on its iOS and Android clients. The function searches through your existing …

    Applications 15 Feb 19:13

  • Linux talent shortage drives up salaries

    Pick your perquisites, Penguin people

    It pays to be a Linux expert, and if you have any needs that are not being met by your employer and you have Linux skills, now might be a good time to start making some demands. The Linux Foundation, the non-profit consortium that fosters the expansion of Linux and which gives Linus Torvalds his paycheck, tag-teamed with Dice …

    Developer 15 Feb 20:06

  • Cisco complains to the EU about Microsoft/Skype deal

    Wants assurances Redmond won’t lock down video

    Cisco has issued a formal complaint to the General Court of the European Union over Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype, saying it needs assurances that Redmond will play fair on standards. “The industry recognizes the need for ubiquitous unified communications interoperability, particularly between Microsoft/Skype and Cisco …

    Government 15 Feb 20:47

  • Internet simulcasts don’t need extra royalties

    Oz labels lose case against radio stations

    Musicians and record labels will probably be joining the queue behind sports codes and mobile carriers to demand more rights-holder-friendly copyright laws, after losing an internet radio case in the Federal Court yesterday. Justice Lindsay Foster has ruled that a radio station need only pay once for the right to broadcast a …

    Music and Media 15 Feb 21:30

  • BlueGene/Q heads for Melbourne

    Live sciences get Big Blue green boost

    Victoria’s troubled VLSCI at the University of Melbourne has announced that IBM is to supply an 836-teraflops BlueGene/Q supercomputer for the research centre by June this year. The Victorian Life Sciences Computation Initiative is a $AU100 million project with the state government tipping in half of the investment. It came …

    HPC 15 Feb 22:00

  • Cupertino to ban permissionless address book copying

    A lesson in faking sincerity

    Apple – arguably a villain in the “Path copies your address book” brouhaha – has, under pressure from US lawmakers, decided to require that apps prompt users before accessing their address book data. According to Reuters, the decision came after members of the US House Energy and Commerce committee asked Apple to provide the …

    Applications 15 Feb 22:30