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28th February 2012 Archive

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  • AT&T plan: Let content providers pay your bandwidth bill

    Sounds good at first, but...

    AT&T is developing a plan that would allow mobile-application developers and content providers to pay for the wireless bandwidth required to use their apps or downlload their content. "A feature that we're hoping to have out sometime next year is the equivalent of 800 numbers that would say, if you take this app, this app will …

    Mobile 28 Feb 2012, 00:42

  • Cray ekes out profit in diminished Q4

    Banking on Nvidia 'Kepler' GPUs in 2012

    Supercomputer maker Cray took a bit of a hit in 2011 thanks to AMD's delay in shipping its "Interlagos" Opteron 6200 processors, which had a cascading effect on shipments and acceptances of Cray's XE6 and XK6 machines in the fourth quarter. But despite the delays, which made sales smaller than Cray had hoped this time last year …

    HPC 28 Feb 2012, 01:00

  • Cisco to push threat intelligence to all devices

    RSA 2012 Adds SecureX to big and middling firewalls

    Cisco plans to push security intelligence into its entire firewall line in an attempt to make its hardware a lot smarter and ease the load on IT managers. On Tuesday, Cisco will announce the extension of its SecureX threat monitoring system into some of its largest firewalls, with the Cisco ASA CX firewall. It's also upgrading …

    Security 28 Feb 2012, 02:00

  • Ten... top Android games

    App of the Week Special Master blasters and more

    Traditionally, if you wanted your phone or media player to double up as a gaming platform, you bought an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. But the last 12 months have seen a veritable revolution in the number and quality of games available for Android. Some of the games here had me giggling like a fool, others had me twiddling my …

    Phones 28 Feb 2012, 07:00

  • UK.gov to double number of biometric chips for immigrants

    Post Office steps up effort to meet 400k-a-year target

    The government is to double the number of people required to have a biometric residence permit (BRP) to stay in the UK, raising the number to 400,000 a year. The system is being expanded to include refugees and those given the right to live in the UK permanently. It will mean that all non-EEA (European Economic Area) nationals …

    Government 28 Feb 2012, 08:03

  • Cyber-security startup to flash major Android soft spots at RSA

    Ex-McAfee bods grab $26m to take on hackers

    Three big-hitters in the world of cyber security have launched a firm that intends to unmask hackers and their motives, and they've scooped up $26m to get it started. As one of its first acts, CrowdStrike plans to unveil an overview of Android's weak spots in a demo at the RSA on 29 Feb. CrowdStrike launched in "stealth-mode" …

    Security 28 Feb 2012, 08:32

  • EC: 'Friends-only' natter not subject to 'right to be forgotten'

    Chitchat not in draft new data protection law

    The operators of social networking sites, such as Facebook, would not be obliged to delete every piece of information about individuals that they host under proposed new EU 'right to be forgotten' laws, the European Commission has said. The Commission said that the platforms would not have to delete information that users …

    Law 28 Feb 2012, 09:01

  • Euro banks slam dot-bank plan

    Battle brews over American domain project

    European banking regulators have slammed an American-led plan to create a new ".bank" top-level domain, saying it could give way to "a more dangerous form of phishing". The European Banking Authority wrote to California-based domain name industry overseer ICANN earlier this month to say that plans for financially oriented …

    Hosting 28 Feb 2012, 09:32

  • Dixons preps movie download service

    Knowhow will join Ultraviolet too

    Dixons Retail - better known these days as Currys and PC World - will launch an online movie service on Thursday. Called Knowhow, the service will initially be available on Windows and Mac computers, but Dixons promised Android and iOS apps "within the next six months". Some smart TVs - most likely Dixons' own brand, Logik - …

    Hardware 28 Feb 2012, 09:43

  • Proview's Apple iPad rights war goes global, reaches ESSEX

    Claims Cupertino backed Brit biz to nab tablet name

    Failed Asian monitor biz Proview has filed an amended complaint to a US court against Apple, implicating a company registered in the UK and seeking to regain worldwide rights to the IPAD trademark. The tweaked paperwork details further the alleged deception with which Apple and its fruity cohorts entered into in order to obtain …

    Business 28 Feb 2012, 10:06

  • Reading this? You're probably planning to skill up on HTML5 in 2012

    There's gold in them there mobile coding languages

    Hoary old coders are skilling up on mobile says a survey from CWJobs, revealing that 81 per cent of UK IT pros are planning to refresh their skill sets by sitting down and swotting up on some HTML5 in 2012. One in five (19 per cent) of the 1,366 IT pros surveyed through the jobs site was planning to go the whole hog and …

    Developer 28 Feb 2012, 10:19

  • Orange to impose overseas data cap to beat bill shock

    MWC 2012 Pitches pre-pay bundles at roamers too

    Orange wants to make roaming less of an ordeal, today saying it will bundle voice, texts and data into a single, pay-as-you-go style package to make it easier to charge for using phones overseas. The new packages will allow punters to buy airtime, SMS allowances and volumes of date in bulk before travelling. Orange said the …

    Phones 28 Feb 2012, 10:24

  • Hungry Dell iron monsters FEAST on your puny apps

    Compellent and arrays feed server flash beast

    Dell is adding Micron-based Express Flash to its servers and will feed the server flash beast from Compellent arrays. Brian Payne, executive director of PowerEdge marketing at Dell, showed us the 2.5-inch SSD slot at the front of one of Dell's twelfth generation servers at a launch event at the temple of UK rugby, Twickenham …

    Virtualization 28 Feb 2012, 10:41

  • Nokia opens e-books for WinPho mobiles

    MWC 2012 It's an Instapaper clone too

    Nokia has launched an e-book reader app for its Lumia smartphones. It also plans to take on the likes of Flipboard and Instapaper by pulling down web content and social network updates and presenting them magazine-style on its handsets' screens. Nokia Reading - which, for British readers, might suggest there's a Nokie …

    Phones 28 Feb 2012, 10:44

  • Silicon Valley's assault on Mobile's Gated Kingdom

    Part one Barbarians at the IP gateway

    The Gated Kingdom guarded by the mobile industry is the last great frontier for Silicon Valley to crack. These vast, vertically integrated companies handle much of our communication – and they make pots of money. But standards are set by closed-door cabals of equipment vendors and operators and move at glacial pace, locking out …

    Mobile 28 Feb 2012, 11:00

  • Cineworld flaunts '4D' movies

    You'll be shaking in your seats - literally

    British cinema chain Cineworld has announced it will branch out beyond mere 3D offerings - 'Pah!' - into a fourth dimension, with vibrating seats (ahem) that synchronise their shaking to the action on screen. The company will open the first of these movie houses in Glasgow next month, fitting 35 seats from simulator specialist …

    Hardware 28 Feb 2012, 11:03

  • Bone-bothering boffins build GIANT penguin from fossils

    Tall, thin linux geek bird roamed New Zealand 25m years ago

    Bone-bothering boffins have reconstructed a giant prehistoric penguin species from fossils that were first found in New Zealand in 1977. Artist's impression of Kairuku penguins. Credit: Chris Gaskin, Geology Museum, University of Otago Ewan Fordyce, a palaeontologist at the island nation's University of Otago, found the …

    Science 28 Feb 2012, 11:14

  • Linux PC-in-a-stick to cost coders £139

    Cotton Candy orders now being taken

    Norway's FXI Technologies has begun taking orders for its ultra-tiny CStick Cotton Candy Linux computer, pricing the PC-in-a-stick at just £139 for Brits. That's excluding shipping and import taxes, mind, and even then FXI admitted that the wee gadget will be shipping in limited quantities when it becomes available next …

    Hardware 28 Feb 2012, 11:31

  • China raked in £184bn from IT outsourcing in 2011

    It was a very good year to be in software and services

    China’s software and IT outsourcing industry is booming, rising by a third in 2011 to reach a whopping 1.84 trillion yuan (£184.33bn), according to new government figures released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The stats, seen by state-run news agency Xinhua, represent around a 4 per cent increase on …

    Management 28 Feb 2012, 11:38

  • Bookeen Cybook Odyssey e-book reader

    Review The one with the animated E Ink screen

    Amazon's brutal drive to bring down the price of e-book readers to 89 quid has made buying one of these gadgets easy. If you're disinterested in e-book DRM formats – they're all bad, IMHO – there's little reason not to opt for this cheapest-of-the-lot model. I'd like to be able to say the Cybook Odyssey, from French e-reader …

    Tablets 28 Feb 2012, 12:00

  • Epic net outage in Africa as FOUR undersea cables chopped

    Ship blunders allegedly to blame

    Underwater data cables linking East Africa to the Middle East and Europe have been severed, bringing transfer rates to their knees in nine countries. In a bizarre coincidence, a ship allegedly dropped anchor off the coast of Kenya on Saturday in a restricted area, cutting The East African Marine Systems (TEAMS) cable - shortly …

    Broadband 28 Feb 2012, 12:19

  • Toyota, Samsung partner on car, phone connectivity

    MWC 2012 MirrorLink app, dashboard inbound

    Samsung and Toyota are going to combine cars and smartphones this year, allowing the Japanese auto giant's vehicles to interact with the South Korean company's handsets. The upshot: the arrival of the Samsung Car Mode app, which will allow Toyota cars to connect to the phone wirelessly and present the handset's media …

    Phones 28 Feb 2012, 12:23

  • Telcos gang up to snatch in-app cash from Google, Apple

    Updated*: MWC 2012 Nine operators draw up WAC API blueprint

    Nine operators have implemented an in-application API for the Wholesale Applications Community, so AJAX apps will soon be able to empty your pockets just like the competition can. The new API – supported by AT&T, Deutsche Telecom and Telefonica among others – permits a WAC application to bill the user for in-application events …

    Mobile 28 Feb 2012, 12:38

  • Microsoft 'fesses credit cards exposed by Indian store hack

    U-turn leaves punters in hot pickle

    Microsoft India has warned customers of its online store that their financial details may have been compromised, backtracking on a previous statement to the contrary. Chinese hackers, apparently members of a group known as Evil Shadow Team, were thought to have breached Microsoft’s systems earlier this month, defacing the …

    Security 28 Feb 2012, 13:01

  • Yahoo! threatens! Facebook! with! patent! spanking!

    Pay up or see us in court! yells Yahoo!

    Like certain other tech companies that have failed to keep up with rivals' innovations, Yahoo! is resorting to a patent battle to top up its revenues. The web firm is trying to persuade Facebook to license ten to 20 of its patents that deal with advertising, personalisation of web pages, social networking and messaging, people …

    Business 28 Feb 2012, 13:17

  • Windows Phone armed with 'military-grade' email upgrade

    Office invasion planned

    Microsoft is bullet-proofing email on Windows Phone in an effort to follow Apple and Google into the workplace. Redmond has announced a deal with Good Technology to make Good for Enterprise available for use on Windows Phone 7.5 devices. The US mobile specialist will deliver FIPS-certified, 192-bit AES encrypted messaging for …

    Security 28 Feb 2012, 13:28

  • Samsung admits Android tablet cash haul is disappointing

    'We're not doing very well in fondleslab biz'

    Samsung has 'fessed up to something that the industry already knew: punters are still not falling for the charms of its fondleslabs. In a moment of candour at Mobile World Congress that Samsung product strategy exec Hankil Yoon is now possibly regretting, he admitted to CNET: "Honestly, we're not doing very well in the tablet …

    The Channel 28 Feb 2012, 13:42

  • Storage players pitch DRM tech for downloads

    If World+Dog streams HD, who'll buy our hard drives then?

    Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox have said they are working on yet another DRM technology for HD video, this time with the support of storage companies WD and SanDisk. The endeavour is codenamed 'Project Phenix' [sic] and if it won't do much for consumers' ability to spell, it will, the principals promised, give them "an …

    Hardware 28 Feb 2012, 13:55

  • Quantum computing IN OUR LIFETIME - IBM breakthrough

    Big Blue boffins crack pesky unstable qubit puzzle

    IBM boffins reckon their research has catapulted quantum computing forward a few decades, making it possible within our lifetime. The scientists say that they've come up with a way to extend the amount of time that qubits retain their quantum state, thereby reducing errors in computations. “In the past, people have said, …

    Science 28 Feb 2012, 14:02

  • For those thinking Private Cloud

    Live today Here’s your project check list

    Our very own Tim Phillips is dragging some clever sorts from the industry and beyond into a studio to talk about building private clouds. They’re remit is ‘be helpful’ and to give us a, ‘check list for building a private cloud.’ We’re hoping by the time they're finished you'll have something of a weighty steer on what it takes …

    Cloud 28 Feb 2012, 14:12

  • Nicked sensitive Avnet server disks sparks ICO probe

    Watchdog sniffs 'potential data breach' at distie

    The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has confirmed it is investigating a potential data breach at Avnet Technology Solutions (TS) following the break-in prior to Christmas. As previously reported, thieves raided the enterprise distie's Haslingden office on 21 December and made off with hard disk drives containing …

    The Channel 28 Feb 2012, 14:31

  • Dell: 'Now they see they HAVE to consider working with us'

    Muhaha! Data centre dominance shall be ours

    Dell is relying on its EMEA channel to take it into enterprise data centres as the big biz becomes a bigger and bigger focus for Round Rock. The 12G server launch, the integration of Force10 network products and new 10GbitE-capable EqualLogic arrays come from a company that is marching full tilt towards enterprise data centres …

    The Channel 28 Feb 2012, 14:43

  • Apple tells Siri rival Evi: Get a facelift and you can stay

    Brit voice command app may not be axed from App Store

    A British voice-recognition app that works like Siri may be allowed to stay in Apple's App Store, if it makes some changes, says a report in The Verge. Information app Evi was approved and launched in the iTunes store on 23 January 2012. But on Friday it seemed that Apple's App Store arbitrators had changed their minds and …

    Developer 28 Feb 2012, 15:03

  • Price-comparison site: OCZ reviews 'questionable'

    Trip Advisor revisited?

    Austrian price comparison site Geizhals has flagged up reviews of OCZ's flash products on its site as suspicious. Geizhals said there had been a sudden positive spike in the reviews of OCZ's flash products. Geizhals manager Yannikos Marinos told Heise Online (German, auto-translated to English) that 55 products had been given …

    Storage 28 Feb 2012, 15:32

  • Cops cuff premium-rate SMS Android malware suspects

    French plod nab duo after 100k euros slurped

    French police have arrested two men over an Android malware scam that netted an estimated €100,000, according to L'Informaticien. The unnamed duo are suspected of infecting more than 2,000 Android smartphones with the Foncy Trojan, a strain of malware that sent text messages to premium-rate numbers at a cost of €4.5 a pop. The …

    Security 28 Feb 2012, 16:02

  • Sumlock Electronics faces liquidation

    Family-run reseller shuts up shop after 36 years

    North East-based family-run reseller Sumlock Electronics is to be liquidated, according to a filing to Companies House. The VMware, NEC and Sophos partner, which was incorporated in 1976, is understood to have encountered terminal cash flow difficulties in recent months that forced it to shut up shop. Business advisor Walsh …

    The Channel 28 Feb 2012, 16:14

  • Mobile net kingpins v the world: 'Why should we pay the 4G tab?'

    MWC 2012 The data crunch is coming – and Apple makes the crunchiest phones

    Life’s tough for a mobile operator. The regulators treat you like a cash cow and the over-the-top services are leeching all the money. And unless we get back to the good old days of the 1990s, they "won’t be able to make the investments necessary for 4G". This was the tone of the Mobile Operator Strategies Keynote at Mobile …

    Mobile 28 Feb 2012, 16:19

  • Wii workouts unlikely to improve fitness

    Researchers suggest compensation

    Trying to keep your nippers in trim with a Nintendo Wii workout may be pointless. Research suggests motion-controlled videogame systems do very little to help kids fulfill their daily exercise requirements. The study, conducted by a team from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, saw 78 children handed Wii consoles …

    Games 28 Feb 2012, 16:19

  • O2 to balance work, life on smartphones

    MWC 2012 Business and pleasure in one handset

    Spanish telco - and O2 owner - Telefonica has taken aim at folk with a single mobile for both business and pleasure with the launch of a cloud-based service that lets them flip the phones between these two roles at will. The service, called Dual Persona, uses the cloud to run a virtual business phone, accessed through the …

    Phones 28 Feb 2012, 16:21

  • Top Rambus attack dog Harold Hughes to retire

    Lawyers' best friend going

    Rambus CEO Harold Hughes is stepping down - causing grief, devastation and woe in intellectual property lawyers' offices across the USA. Since 2005 he has led the memory technology firm, well-known for its litigious endeavours, and will stay in post until a successor is found. A search is underway. In a canned statement, he …

    Business 28 Feb 2012, 16:42

  • Texas flash: TMS Ramsan-820 born in the USA

    Reassures US buyers it's keeping jobs onshore

    TMS latest RamSan-820 is a high-availability box that the Texans say packs more terabytes into its 1U rack case than that of any other vendor. The 820 is an eMLC version of the SLC RamSan-720 and an update on the still available RamSan-810 with its 10TB of eMLC in 1U. The 820 offers up to 24TB of flash with the same 2D Flash …

    Storage 28 Feb 2012, 17:02

  • Hacking breach made us stronger says RSA

    RSA 2012 Attack causes rethink on security skills

    RSA president Art Coviello has said the hacking attack that breached its servers ended up making the company stronger and more effective. “Since the breach we've dedicated ourselves to regaining and maintaining your confidence in us, with a sense of urgency as never before to apply the lessons we've learned first hand,” he …

    Security 28 Feb 2012, 17:27

  • Cisco CEO: Mobile cloud threat for service providers

    MWC 2012 Invest, preferably in Cisco

    Network pitchman John Chambers has cautioned service providers that they risk being stranded by the mobile cloud. Chambers, chief executive of Cisco, is reported to have said that the mobile cloud has descended and will change the service provider industry forever. Telcos who don’t adapt risk getting left behind, he told the …

    Mobile 28 Feb 2012, 17:32

  • Apple pledges 'something to see' at iPad 3 launch

    Invites go out to (almost) all

    Apple has mailed out invitations to its eagerly awaited iPad 3 launch on 7 March, telling World+Dog it has "something you really have to see". That's undoubtedly a reference to the new tablet's 9.7in, 2048 x 1536 display, which will offer a higher pixel density than even the 10.1in, 1920 x 1280 panel Asus announced this week …

    Tablets 28 Feb 2012, 18:00

  • Apple issues invitations to March 7 iPad roll-out

    'We have something you really have to see'

    Apple has issued invitations for a March 7 event that will presumably – based on the iPad image that graces the email invite – introduce the oft-rumored iPad 3 with a "retina display", possibly with a resolution of 2048-by-1536 pixels. "We have something you really have to see. And touch," reads the invitation, hinting that …

    Data Center 28 Feb 2012, 18:01

  • AppSense pushes out Dropbox encryption app for iOS

    You left your iPad where..?

    Virtualisation software maker AppSense has moved into Apple kit with the release of its first iOS app ever – DataLocker – a security layer for Dropbox apps. The free app takes the UK-based company into new territory, but the move is all part of the trend towards making the most effective use of virtual resources. Bolstering …

    Virtualization 28 Feb 2012, 18:01

  • Hackers chop down UN eco-agency, release rare data into wild

    Admin logins among files dumped after raid

    Hacktivists claim to have raided the website of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and extracted sensitive internal information. The group, r00tw0rm, dumped an 82MB database file on Pastebin, which appears to contain hundreds of tables with administrator login details and user data. r00tw0rm has been busy over …

    Security 28 Feb 2012, 18:17

  • Stratfor leak: US 'has secret indictment' of Julian Assange

    Email claims charges ready and waiting for him

    US prosecutors have drawn up secret charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, according to a leaked internal email extracted from private US intelligence firm Stratfor and obtained by the whistleblower site. WikiLeaks began releasing the first tranche of more than five million Stratfor emails on Monday in a bid to show …

    Security 28 Feb 2012, 18:26

  • Nekkid Tech: Keep Austin weird

    Podcast AT&T passes the buck, Dell leaves PC brigade and techies headbang at SXSW

    This week Greg Knieriemen and trusty sidekick Ed Saipetch (@edasi) chat to Gina Minks (@gminks) and Nekkid Tech virgin and new media strategist Sarah Vela (@orchid8) about LTE networks; the SXSW tech, biz and music bash in Austin; and why Dell is so keen to branch out. This week's topics: AT&T wants to make app makers pay …

    Virtualization 28 Feb 2012, 18:39

  • Disk shortages stall Q4 server sales (a bit)

    Tier one players slip – except Dell

    Considering the challenges that the server biz has faced in recent months, global server shipments have remained relatively healthy, with revenues impacted mostly by declining IBM mainframe sales. Server shipments in the final quarter of 2011 were adversely impacted by the disk drive shortages from the flooding in Thailand, …

    Servers 28 Feb 2012, 18:50

  • Now Samsung supremo sued by sister in inheritance spat

    Faces off with siblings over dad's shares

    The eldest sister of Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee has joined that exec's brother in filing suit against him over an inheritance from their father. Lee Sook-hee has filed suit with the Seoul Central District Court, claiming that her father left shares in Samsung Life Insurance and Samsung Electronics for all of his …

    Business 28 Feb 2012, 19:03

  • Banking Trojan hijacks live chat to run real-time fraud

    Simpler, faster, better... for crooks

    A new strain of financial malware is hijacking live chat sessions in a bid to hoodwink business banking customers into handing over their banking login credentials or into authorising fraudulent transactions. The attack is being carried out using the Shylock malware platform*, using a configuration that runs a browser-based …

    Security 28 Feb 2012, 19:36

  • Younger generation taking 'sledgehammer' to security

    RSA 2012 Digital natives v digital immigrants

    The new generation of "digital natives" coming into the workplace is going to blow apart existing security practices, Symantec's CEO Enrique Salem warns. In his keynote speech on Tuesday at the RSA 2012 conference in San Francisco, Salem said that the current young generation, born in the 1990s, has a radically different …

    Security 28 Feb 2012, 20:02

  • Fat margins squeeze Apple against Android

    Open ... and Shut iPhone subsidies can't beat 'free'

    There are a million ways to over-analyse iOS versus Android market share, but one thing is often overlooked: Apple's high-margin strategy depends upon buying customers through subsidies, and may not be able to keep pace with Android's low-cost model over time. Google's Android growth - 250 per cent in 2011 - is particularly …

    Management 28 Feb 2012, 20:07

  • Apple's German win was really our victory, honest, says Motorola

    'Years of fruitless negotiation' ending?

    Motorola Mobility (MMI) says it has been 'vindicated' in Monday's ruling by a German appeals court, which permitted Apple to continue selling the iPhone and iPad in that country during Cupertino's appeal of a December legal victory in an Apple-MMI patent tussle. "We believe that inventors should be paid for their innovations, …

    Law 28 Feb 2012, 20:49

  • SUSE Linux moves to 3.0 kernel with SP2

    Bread-and-butter file system goes mainstream

    SUSE Linux, the commercial Linux distributor owned by software conglomerate Attachmate, is moving up to the Linux 3.0 kernel and also taking the btrfs file system mainstream alongside Linux container virtual private servers. These and other changes to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 are contained in Service Pack 2, available …

    Virtualization 28 Feb 2012, 21:05

  • Telstra gets ready for the split

    ACCC okays break-up plan; opposition finds shark and jumps

    In a landmark move, the Australian regulator has accepted Telstra’s structural separation undertaking (SSU) to be implemented via the migration to the National Broadband Network. After many months of work, including revisions to Telstra's original proposals, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission gave the SSU the …

    Business 28 Feb 2012, 21:32

  • Optus fails to silence AFL boss

    Joins long list of people who can’t get Demetriou to shut up

    After winning the first round of its TV Now court case, Optus has had a minor loss when it asked an Australian court to stop Australian Football League boss Andrew Demetriou. The original loss, in which the Federal Court decided that TV Now is legal (a decision which is predictably subject to an appeal), didn’t deter Mr …

    Law 28 Feb 2012, 22:00

  • M2 Telecoms buys some Time

    Hungrry for more acquisitions

    M2 Telecommunications continues its acquisition drive, snapping up Time Telecom via subsidiary Southern Cross Telco for $AU18.5 million. The Time Group has around 30,000 small and medium sized business and residential customers Australia-wide. The complex transaction involves paying the cash consideration over three tranches …

    Business 28 Feb 2012, 22:30

  • The problem with Telstra’s NBN plans

    Copper in the incumbent’s saddlebags

    Regulatory rules have helped put Telstra in the uncomfortable position of launching the most expensive National Broadband Network fibre-based plans in the Australian market. The incumbent carrier, which launched its fibre-based plans yesterday, has faced unfavourable coverage in the national media for the cost of services, and …

    Broadband 28 Feb 2012, 23:00

  • Virgin Galactic announces test flight plans

    Can Branson get it up in 2012?

    Virgin Galactic has announced that it expects to go ex-atmospheric in a test flight this year. The announcement comes hard on Virgin Galactic’s remarks to Playboy magazine about long-term hopes to give space extra sex-appeal via an orbital nookie palace. With Reuters reporting that Virgin Galactic has pre-sold 500 customers, …

    Science 28 Feb 2012, 23:30

  • Commbank shouts free beer, meals, to promote NFC

    "Kaching Kachampions" sling punters a tenner or buy dinner after demo

    Australia’s Commonwealth Bank is buying beer or paying punters ten Australian dollars to endure a brief lesson in its Kaching wireless payments app. Launched in late 2011 and since downloaded more than 110,000 times, Kaching allows peer-to-peer payments between smartphone owners. Users don’t need to know each other’s account …

    Networks 28 Feb 2012, 23:30