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23rd February 2012 Archive

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  • HP insists Whitman is new broom to clean up execution

    Damns Apotheker with faint praise

    With HP’s latest quarterly earnings looking so poor, you’d expect the traditional financial analyst’s call to be dominated by concerns on the minutiae of performance. But every question was on leadership. HP’s chairman Ray Lane said that the company had been “jolted” by the departure of Mark Hurd, and the board had made the …

    Financial News 23 Feb 2012, 00:32

  • Innovation aborted in South Australia

    Innovate SA gets shut down

    One of Australia’ more progressive government initiatives for start-ups and tech entrepreneurs Innovate SA has been dumped by the South Australian state government, which has pulled essential funding. As part of a wide ranging review of the South Australian Government’s finances, the Sustainable Budget Commission made a …

    Business 23 Feb 2012, 02:34

  • Aus visual search start-up goes global

    Oops there it is

    Adelaide based start-up Thereitis.com has raised the funds to commercialise its patented user interface technology. Thereitis says its “visual search” methodology provides a faster, easier way for online customers to sift through visual data, from shoes to friends to music. It has also secured a Commercialisation Australia …

    Business 23 Feb 2012, 03:00

  • Unknown fault darkens Australia’s Internet

    Updated: a Dodo routed the net to a brief extinction

    Customers of major Australian ISPs are stranded with no connection to the outside world this afternoon, taken out of action by an as-yet-undiagnosed routing fault. As is typical of a country in which too many services are dependent on too few international links, The Register can directly confirm that the outage affected …

    Networks 23 Feb 2012, 04:08

  • Heatmiser PRT-TS Wi-Fi RF thermostat

    Review Hot property

    With fuel bills ever rising, keeping an eye on your heating makes good sense, and Heatmiser’s Wi-Fi thermostat is intended to help you do just that. It’s based around a large, 3 x 2.5in touchscreen, which controls a timer/thermostat with its wireless features enabling configuration from an iOS device. Heatmiser's PRT-TS: …

    Hardware 23 Feb 2012, 07:00

  • Daniel Craig like Connery, Skyfall helmsman suggests

    Sam Mendes risks wrath of 'Best Bond' bores

    The director of forthcoming 007 romp Skyfall has provocatively suggested a certain similarity between Daniel Craig and Sean Connery - something which will no doubt give "Best Bond" pub bores something to bang on about all week. Speaking in his first Skyfall "Videoblog", Sam Mendes praises Casino Royale and wisely avoids all …

    Bootnotes 23 Feb 2012, 07:04

  • Grooveshark blocked in Denmark by copyright warriors

    Updated DNS-level barrier appeal expected

    A Danish copyright group has won a court order to block music streaming site Grooveshark from the nation's pastry-munching pirates. In a report of questionable accuracy* (the plaintiff RettighedsAlliancen is incorrectly described as a "local IFPI") at tech site Comon Hutch-owned mobile operator 3 must implement the block …

    Law 23 Feb 2012, 08:02

  • Hitachi GST waggles nippy 2.5-incher at Ultrabooks

    Size does matter with Travelstar's single-platter hardness

    Remember Hitachi GST's 500GB single-platter Travelstar? Well, now it spins faster and jets out data quicker, possibly having been accelerated for the Ultrabook market. In December 2010 the Z5K500 2.5-incher rotated at 5,400 RPM and had a measly 4MB cache and 3Gbit/s SATA interface. Behold the Z7K500 marvel: 7,200 RPM, 32MB …

    Storage 23 Feb 2012, 08:27

  • Cabinet Office 'fesses up to Cloud Store gremlins

    Boss vows to 'fix that dratted feedback form'

    IT and comms suppliers are unable to tweak their entries in the government's Cloud Store because the only mechanism to do this is not working properly. The first tranche of Blighty's public sector cloud framework was released to market on Sunday, an online catalogue including 1,700 services - though not all are yet available …

    The Channel 23 Feb 2012, 09:01

  • Blighty's PC biz braces for another rocky ride

    But consumer sales on the mend

    IDC has more than halved UK PC shipment forecasts for 2012 on the back of falling demand across much of the commercial space, particularly in public sector. The bean counter had expected growth of 5.4 per cent year-on-year but has downgraded this to just two per cent or 10.9 million boxes being sold into channels. "If you …

    The Channel 23 Feb 2012, 09:31

  • Grid Lens

    iOS App of the Week Frame and fortune

    Grid Lens is a fun little photography app that allows you to combine multiple images within a single shot. Single lens mode The app uses a grid to divide the image on the iPhone’s screen into a series of frames. You can then take photos in two different ways. Single-lens mode allows you to take a single photo and then uses …

    Phones 23 Feb 2012, 10:00

  • Nominet to launch .wales and .cymru

    Welsh gov backs bilingual domains, rugby legend to head up advisory group

    Wales is to get two new top-level internet domains – one for Welsh speakers and one for the rest of us – under a deal announced yesterday between the Welsh government and .uk registry Nominet. The move to apply for both .wales and .cymru sidesteps criticism that the Welsh government was planning to abandon the Welsh language …

    Hosting 23 Feb 2012, 10:17

  • Freetard-friendly MP allegedly cuffed after scrap in Commons bar

    Plods called after pints spilled, punches thrown

    The freetards' second-favourite MP, Eric Joyce (sample quote: "It's highly debatable that downloading is theft") has allegedly been arrested following a fight in the Strangers Bar at the House of Commons. An anonymous eyewitness quoted at Total Politics alleged that Joyce, 51, head-butted a Conservative MP and punched a Labour …

    Government 23 Feb 2012, 10:24

  • China cuffs 905 suspects in online black market purge

    8,000 emporiums eradicated

    The Chinese authorities have gone on yet another web crackdown, shutting close to 8,000 websites, although this time the target appears to have been genuine criminal ventures rather than sites spouting politically incorrect sentiments or peddling smut. State-run news agency Xinhua reported that 7,846 sites were axed by the …

    Government 23 Feb 2012, 10:41

  • Govt warns 4G may make Freeview UNWATCHABLE

    Frequency, Uncertainty and Doubt

    Britain's 4G mobile phone networks will mess up Freeview reception for rather a lot of folk, it has has been claimed. The notion is that 4G will operate on a frequency very close to the UHF bands currently hosting analogue and digital TV transmission. The UHF TV band runs from 471.25MHz up to 847.25MHz. That pushes it into …

    Hardware 23 Feb 2012, 10:53

  • LG touts Tegra 3 talker

    Optimus 4X HD exposed

    LG has revealed what it has in store for next week's Mobile World Congress (MWC): specifically its Nvidia Tegra 3-based smartphone, the Optimus 4X HD. The 4X HD joins a party of five-core smartphones heading to MWC, where it will be joined by Fujitsu, which flaunted its own Tegra 3 offering yesterday. LG's Android 4.0 Ice …

    Phones 23 Feb 2012, 10:59

  • UK.gov vows to purify TV with £180m from mobile networks

    £10,000 per home to protect Freeview from 4G signals

    Bored of waiting for Ofcom's consultation on the possible interference between 4G telephony and Freeview TV, the Ministry of Fun has said it will spend £180m of operators' money mitigating the problem. Ofcom has been looking into the matter since July, and is expected to publish a report soon. But it shouldn't be a surprise to …

    Government 23 Feb 2012, 11:02

  • Juniper buys Mykonos to beat off web app attacks

    The art of deception

    Juniper has bought web application security firm Mykonos Software in a deal valued at around $80m (£51m) in cash. Mykonos develops technology designed to secure websites and web applications from advanced hacker attacks. The software uses "deception-based technology' that uses honeypotting to detect and divert attacks. The …

    Financial News 23 Feb 2012, 11:13

  • Third of Blighty stuck on snail-speed broadband

    UK.gov's uphill battle to get us superfast by 2015 revealed

    The UK government will have a tough time fulfilling its superfast broadband promises for the country with a third of British postcodes still stuck at sloth-like speeds. The country's average download speed is 6.742Mbit/s, but a third of houses are below 5Mbit/s, a quarter have less than 4Mbit/s and one in ten are crawling …

    Broadband 23 Feb 2012, 11:28

  • Foxconn allegedly hid underage workers from inspectors

    Updated Non-profit claims iPad-maker cheated in factory audit

    Apple faces increased pressure today after its manufacturing partner Foxconn was accused of using forced student labour and hiding underage workers during high-profile independent inspections last week. Foxconn also makes components for other manufacturers, but Apple is its most prominent customer. The Register spoke to Debby …

    Law 23 Feb 2012, 11:50

  • Microsoft apes Google social search master plan

    Building a separate internet with Facebook... bitch

    Every now and again Microsoft comes along to remind us of two things: it's still a big name in online search and remains very cosy with the world's biggest social network, Facebook. Meanwhile, Google has been busy injecting its once gleaming search engine with far to much Web2.0rrhea, by adding what it describes as more " …

    Management 23 Feb 2012, 12:03

  • Woman spanked for dissing ex in Facebook snapshot

    Spanish court objects to obscene t-shirt slogan

    A Spanish divorcée's purse is somewhat lighter after she posted photos on Facebook of herself wearing a t-shirt declaring "My ex-husband's an arsehole" - and was ordered to pay €1,000 damages for her trouble. According to local news reports, the 40-year-old slapped up the snaps in 2010. In December of that year, her former …

    Law 23 Feb 2012, 12:14

  • Toshiba Portégé Z830-10N 13.3in Ultrabook

    Review Five and a half hours on the road

    The last time I tested a Toshiba laptop, it had a glowing orange screen and the keyboard rattled like a box of Lego. Come to think of it, newspapers at the time were scaring readers about ‘house parties’, so it was quite a while ago. So perhaps you can imagine how utterly charming the pretentiously named Portégé Z830-10N …

    Laptops 23 Feb 2012, 12:26

  • RIP: Peak Oil - we won't be running out any time soon

    Analysis Human ingenuity wins the day

    The idea that seized the imaginations of the bien pensant chattering classes in the Noughties – "Peak Oil" – is no longer relevant. So says the commodities team at Citigroup, and policy-makers would be wise to examine the trends they've identified. "Peak Oil" is the point at which the production of conventional crude oil …

    Science 23 Feb 2012, 12:29

  • LinkedIn scoops up browser plugin Rapportive: 'We fell in love'

    Start-up wets pants over marriage to social-network-for-suits

    LinkedIn has bought browser plugin outfit Rapportive for an undisclosed sum. The two-year-old start-up told its users that its handling of their data was now covered by LinkedIn's privacy policy and terms of service. "During our partnership with LinkedIn, we got to know them very well. We found a great overlap between our …

    Management 23 Feb 2012, 12:47

  • Moles say Sony eyeing AMD for PlayStation 4 chips

    Graphics switch on the cards?

    Sony seems set to switch graphical allegiances for its PlayStation 4 console after erstwhile AMD staffers hinted that the processor designer may be heavily involved in the next-generation console's development. The PlayStation 3 currently utilises GPU technology from graphics guru and AMD arch-rival Nvidia, former AMD …

    Games 23 Feb 2012, 12:47

  • Apple, Google, RIM plaster privacy warnings on prying apps

    Cali's chief legal bod strong-arms mobile software stores

    Mobile software that meddles with your sensitive info must have privacy polices and must display them clearly, California's Attorney General Kamala Harris declared yesterday in a statement agreed by all major app sellers. Under the new rule, anyone downloading a program from Apple, Android, RIM, Windows, HP or Amazon stores …

    Applications 23 Feb 2012, 13:03

  • Whitman says HP turnaround will not happen overnight

    Fixing execution and cost cutting outlined as Q1 profits tumble

    Five months into the role as HP CEO, Meg Whitman is finally detailing the tech titan's turnaround plan that involves "fixing execution" and cutting costs to save cash before it ups investments in R&D. In a tough fiscal first quarter, HP ironically saw an upturn in the software and to a much lesser extent the services …

    Management 23 Feb 2012, 13:19

  • iPad lifts Apple to top of mobile PC maker chart

    Fondleslab factor fails to aid HP, Dell et al

    Apple has again been named the world's biggest seller of mobile computers, but it wouldn't even make the top five were it not for the iPad. Fit the fondleslab into the figures and Apple comes away with a Q4 2011 mobile PC market share of 26.6 per cent, a result of shipping 23.4m units during the quarter, market watcher NPD …

    Tablets 23 Feb 2012, 13:32

  • Xeroxiraptor: Boffins to print 3D robot dinosaur

    Star Trek replicator-style fossil tech

    Dino-loving boffins in the US have embarked on their very own Jurassic Park-esque experiment to bring the actions of Earth's favourite prehistoric lizards to life. The researchers, from Philadelphia's Drexel University, are using 3D printing to create dino-bones and then attaching artificial muscles and tendons to create …

    Science 23 Feb 2012, 13:37

  • Obama pushes 'bill of rights' for punters' privates

    Naughty data-slurping web bizes to face FTC spankings

    US President Obama has proposed a "bill of rights" for online privacy that could give the US government greater powers to wallop the likes of Google and Facebook for fumbling sensitive data. White House chiefs have told the Commerce Department to herd internet companies, privacy advocates and related bods into a room to …

    Government 23 Feb 2012, 14:01

  • Capita gets fat slower as government slims down

    Subdued 2011, looking good for 2012

    The government's austerity program has meant tightened belts at Capita, with the services giant citing reduced public sector revenues as a key reason for subdued revenue growth and a slight dip in pre-tax profits in 2011. However, the firm said it had succeeded in grabbing new business and it was again seeing organic growth …

    The Channel 23 Feb 2012, 14:18

  • Hey Commentard! - or is that Commenter?

    Poll You decide. OK, we decide

    Last month a Reg reader contacted us via our Twitter account to complain about the use of the word "freetard", on the grounds that, as an analogue of "retard", the word was derogatory to people with mental handicaps. Americans may have a little difficulty in understanding the substance of this complaint, in the way that most …

    Site News 23 Feb 2012, 14:26

  • LOHAN's fantastical flying truss cleared for lift-off

    Airborne handling test imminent

    Our Low Orbit Helium Assisted Navigator experimental flying truss is just about poised for lift-off, but before it leaves the ground we thought we'd update LOHAN fans on the proposed test rigs. Our initial plan was to suspend the truss horizontally between two helium-filled meteorological balloons. That drew a some sceptical …

    SPB 23 Feb 2012, 14:37

  • Virgin Media boards the 4G train

    Exclusive Is that a spectrum auction catalogue in your pocket?

    Virgin Media is planning trials of 4G telephony in several UK cities, dropping fibre-connected LTE Small Cells into urban areas, to see how easily decent coverage could be established. This follows a single-cell trial the company did in Oxford Street in December, but involves more areas and a lot more cells. Virgin Media isn't …

    Broadband 23 Feb 2012, 15:01

  • Apple vs Bank of China in iPad Shanghai showdown

    Now Proview and state backers want talks after court setback

    Apple's IPAD trademark fight in China has taken on a whole new dimension: its opponent isn't merely defunct monitor biz Proview, but the state-backed Bank of China. Ranked in the top 20 biggest banks in the world, Bank of China is 69 per cent owned by the Chinese state and – according to Bloomberg – has part-owned Proview and …

    Law 23 Feb 2012, 15:14

  • Brits guard Facebook passwords more than work logins – survey

    Too many of the damn things to remember

    A survey of UK consumers revealed many are far more careful with their social network login credentials than passwords that grant access to corporate systems. A third - 34 per cent - of 2,000 people quizzed admitted sharing their work passwords, but 80 per cent of the same group were unwilling to reveal their Facebook login …

    Security 23 Feb 2012, 15:28

  • Samsung warms up smartphone operated oven

    Tap and swipe for steamin' snacks

    And it's over to Samsung for the latest in kitchen kit for lazy-arse cooks: a smartphone-controlled, app-operated oven. The Zipel MC368GAAW5A combi oven sports bactericidal ceramic plates that cook your grub with good old-fashioned heat rather than than vitamin-zapping microwaves - though if you like your food cooked nuclear …

    Hardware 23 Feb 2012, 15:32

  • Dimension Data takes on all cloud comers

    Public, private, any way you want it

    South Africa–based systems integrator Dimension Data is launching a mashup of its IT services and the cloudy infrastructure it acquired last year along with OpSource, in a new offering it calls Cloud Solutions. It's no more crazy for a system integrator to fluff up infrastructure clouds than it is for the world's largest …

    Cloud 23 Feb 2012, 15:44

  • Smart has high IOPS for super-fast, smarter SSDs

    Reads at a hell of a lick

    A super-fast random reading SSD has been launched by Smart Modular Technlogies' spun-off business unit. Smart Modular Technologies (SMT) is becoming a memory seller with Smart Storage Systems (SSS), the new business unit, becoming the solid state drive (SSD) seller. It has been given – among other SSDs – the Optimus solid …

    Storage 23 Feb 2012, 16:04

  • Everything Everywhere pushes towards 4G, wants to show off its wad

    HSPA+ in six months, LTE by year-end

    Everything Everywhere is planning to deploy 4G into the UK by the end of 2012, but mostly just to remind everyone how much it is investing in UK infrastructure. The switch to HSPA+, which will see those nearest the transmitters doubling their 3G connection speeds, will happen in the next six months or so, and, if Ofcom will …

    Broadband 23 Feb 2012, 16:18

  • Telcos, mobile pushers muck in to trial 'clever' Wi-Fi

    Hotspot 2.0: We don't need no skeenkin' logon

    Fourteen of the largest telecommunications companies around the world have participated in successful trials of Hotspot 2.0, which made it easier for them to use Wi-Fi. During the trials, users received devices which can automatically attach to Wi-Fi when its available, and present credentials without having to bother the user …

    Broadband 23 Feb 2012, 16:37

  • White Spaces squeak though US Payroll Tax Bill

    $7bn for emergency services, $15bn for tax cuts

    Both houses of the US government have now approved bills to auction off $22bn worth of radio spectrum, but white spaces will remain licence-free – much to the delight of the industry. White Space spectrum was threatened by those who feel licence money could be poured into the national debt, but opponents reckon more unlicensed …

    Broadband 23 Feb 2012, 16:58

  • Who's adding DRM to HTML5? Microsoft, Google and Netflix

    Tag team's copy protection plan 'unethical'

    With tech companies abandoning the proprietary Flash and Silverlight media players for HTML5, it was inevitable somebody would try to inject DRM into the virgin spec. Microsoft, Google and Netflix are that “somebody”, having submitted a proposed modification to HTML5 to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for “encrypted media …

    Developer 23 Feb 2012, 17:19

  • Feds apply for DNSChanger safety net extension

    Apply for extension before millions of infected PCs are disconnected

    Federal authorities have applied for permission to extend the operation of a safety net that allows machines infected by the DNSChanger Trojan to surf the net as normal beyond a 8 March deadline. DNSChanger changed an infected system's domain name system (DNS) settings to point towards rogue servers that hijacked web searches …

    Government 23 Feb 2012, 17:38

  • Brocade's profits collapse is over

    But Klayko's crew has work to do

    Fibre Channel networking giant Brocade has kissed its profits collapse goodbye with a roaring first fiscal 2012 quarter. Revenues were $561m, up 2 per cent sequentially and 3 per cent annually – a bit weak in growth terms but a revenue record for Brocade. Profits were $59m, a huge boost on the previous quarter's $4m loss and …

    Financial News 23 Feb 2012, 18:02

  • Apple files patent for 'polished meteorite' keyboard

    Thin, light, 'aesthetically pleasing'

    Apple has filed a patent application for a key-travel design that it claims will allow for a "thin profile, aesthetically pleasing keyboard." Keyboard aesthetics, the filing claims, is of great importance because "outward appearance contributes to the overall impression that the user has of the computing device." Quite …

    Mobile 23 Feb 2012, 19:05

  • Intel joins The Document Foundation, pushes LibreOffice

    Redmond pines for bygone WinTel hegemony

    Intel has begun distributing the open source LibreOffice suite via its online AppUp Store, and has joined the board of The Document Foundation (TDF) – a decision that will have many of the Redmond old-guard fuming. "I have been using LibreOffice from day one for presentations at conferences and for data analysis," said Dawn …

    Applications 23 Feb 2012, 20:12

  • Astrolabe backs off, timezone database safe

    You can’t copyright facts

    When you next tell a friend what time tomorrow’s sunrise is expected, you can do so without worrying whether you need to field a lawsuit. US horoscope software company Astrolabe has withdrawn the lawsuit which last year saw the Unix timezone database shuttered. The lawsuit accused David Olsen, custodian of the Time Zone and …

    Operating Systems 23 Feb 2012, 21:30

  • Oracle extends Linux support to 10 years

    Dangles Ksplice lure for Red Hat customers

    Oracle has reaffirmed that it's in the Linux business to stay by extending the support lifecycle of its own-brand build to ten years, and tempting Red Hat users with a trial offer of its Ksplice patching system. While the extended lifecycle may provide enough reassurance to win over a few customers, Oracle hopes the 30-day …

    Operating Systems 23 Feb 2012, 21:35

  • Cloud altitude changing with climate: NZ study

    NASA Terra sat data reveals ten-year fall

    A University of Auckland analysis of ten years’ worth of NASA satellite data suggests that changing atmospheric temperatures are impacting cloud formation, with fewer clouds forming at the highest altitudes. The study, by Professor Roger Davis and honours student Matthew Molloy, is designed to help feed cloud height into …

    Science 23 Feb 2012, 22:30

  • Aus business learns to love the NBN

    Alca-Lu report reveals digital urges

    Australian businesses claim that resource gaps are hindering their participation in the digital economy, specifically broadband. A new report from Alcatel-Lucent, with research conducted by Nielsen, on the merging digital economy claims that around half of respondents believe faster broadband is essential to boost their …

    Business 23 Feb 2012, 23:32

  • Schmidt's $1.45bn Google stock sale compelled by adultery?

    May top Murdoch for world's most expensive divorce

    Eric Schmidt's recent sale of over $1.45bn (£914m) in Google stock raised eyebrows on Wall Street, but a report now suggests he needs the liquidity to pay off his wife for a divorce. "There are many reasons why he's selling shares, mostly business reasons, but he's also working towards a transition and an amicable separation …

    Financial News 23 Feb 2012, 23:47