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13th April 2012 Archive

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  • ICANN top shelf domain rush derailed by tech glitch

    Not too late to register your dot brand

    The closing submission to register for ICANN’s elite and pricey brand-centric generic top level domains (gTLDs ) has been extended, due to a software snafu. The deadline has been extend by a week after a software glitch brought down the application submission system. ICANN said yesterday that after spotting the disturbance it …

    Networks 13 Apr 00:39

  • Vevo comes to Australia

    MCM takes the local reigns

    The joint venture music video service devised by Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group, Vevo, has entered the Australian market in partnership with local player MCM Media. Vevo, which was launched in late 2009 as a dying gasp for financial resurrection from the major music labels, also features backing from Abu …

    Music and Media 13 Apr 01:43

  • India orders 7.5 million Microsoft cloud services

    Technical education colleges adopt Live@Edu, Office 365

    The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has just handed Microsoft it's biggest order for cloudy wares, in the form of a deal that will see seven million students and half a million staff hook up to the Redmond cloud. AICTE is the Indian government's agency charged with developing and delivering technical …

    Cloud 13 Apr 02:27

  • Soup up your home network

    Gizmo Week Tips for tuning a modern LAN

    There can’t be many Reg Hardware readers who don’t have a home network. In fact, these days you’d have to look hard indeed to find an ISP that sells its connection as strictly single PC only and just tosses in a USB modem rather than some sort of router. A decade or so ago, just about any network would do. My flat still has …

    reghardware 13 Apr 07:00

  • Life on Mars found – in 1976

    Re-analysis of Viking data suggests microbes took the bait

    The USA’s Viking mission found life on Mars, says a new paper that has re-analysed data collected by the two probes. Complexity Analysis of the Viking Labeled Release Experiments (PDF), published yesterday in the International Journal of Aeronautic and Space Sciences, asserts that a test designed to detect microbial life did …

    Science 13 Apr 07:05

  • Chinese whispers point to Huawei bid for Motorola

    Google could take the patents and run

    Huawei remained tight lipped today on rumours that the Chinese handset giant is set to sign a deal for ailing mobile biz Motorola just eight months after Google splashed $12.5bn on acquiring the firm. The Chinese telecoms equipment maker, which has ambitious growth plans for its global handset business, told The Reg it had no …

    Networks 13 Apr 07:14

  • New fake anti-virus shakes down frightened file-sharers

    Scareware brands Windows Registry Editor a smut 'tool', punts 'safe' torrents

    Security researchers have discovered a strain of fake anti-virus software that tries to intimidate supposed file-sharers into paying for worthless software. SFX Fake AV, first detected by freebie antivirus scanner firm Malwarebytes, blends the features of scareware with those more associated with ransomware Trojans. The …

    Malware 13 Apr 07:27

  • ICANN flubs new domain deadline after site snafu

    'Unusual behaviour' blamed in gTLD hiccup

    ICANN has extended the deadline for companies to apply for new generic top-level domains after "unusual behaviour" forced it to shut down its online application system. Just 12 hours before the 2359 UTC filing deadline last night, ICANN took its TLD Application System offline, saying it needed time to repair an unspecified …

    Hosting 13 Apr 07:40

  • 'Real time' PAYE pilot goes live at HMRC

    10 employers volunteer to take part in the trial

    HMRC has launched a pilot of Real Time Information (RTI) for PAYE. Under RTI, employers and pension providers will notify HMRC about PAYE payments at the time they are made, rather than solely at the end of the year. RTI will eventually support the operation of universal credit, the government's welfare programme that brings …

    Government 13 Apr 08:02

  • Hitachi spins up 'leccy fan motor sans rare earths

    Where's your monopoly now, China?

    Japanese electronics giant Hitachi has unveiled what it claims to be a highly efficient mid-sized electric motor built without using the rare earth minerals which have become essential to the production of much of modern technology. The 11kw motor is designed to power pumps or fans in factories and tunnels and should be ready …

    Hardware 13 Apr 08:15

  • Appeals court cracks open Google AdWords v Rosetta Stone case

    Second look at whether keyword ad policy infringed trademark rights

    Google may be liable for direct and contributory trade mark infringement as well as trade mark dilution because of the way it allowed a language learning software company's trademarks to be bought as "keyword advertising" terms by others, a US court has ruled. The US Court of Appeals overturned (47-page/122KB PDF) a district …

    Law 13 Apr 08:41

  • Pasce Minirig micro speaker

    Accessory of the Week Powerhouse

    British audio engineering firm Pasce has made such a big splash with its Minirig speakers that it had to stop taking orders for a while to replenish its stocks. It tells me that they’re available to buy again now, so I took a pair for a spin. The speakers are sold individually, intended to be used with portable devices such …

    reghardware 13 Apr 09:00

  • 'Selling your citizens to foreigner is not acceptable!'

    QuotW Plus: 'This will be the most significant iPhone upgrade'

    This was the week when flagging Finnish phone firm Nokia had a few fumbles. First, its US Lumia 900 launch didn't go quite as smoothly as it had hoped, when excited American early adopters who rushed out to snap up the mobe on the first weekend found a wireless data bug. Nokia quickly said that models were now being …

    Bootnotes 13 Apr 09:23

  • Intel penetrates PCIe flash biz with long-lasting hardness

    Duracell-Bunny-styled SSD 910 goes on... and on

    A little while after its competitors, Intel has come up with its own PCIe flash card, the SSD 910. It is not a speed king, but boy, does it last: five years at 10 full writes a day. The SSD 910 caps out Intel's 300 and 700 SSD ranges. It is a half-height, half-length PCIe gen 2 x8 card storing 400GB or 800GB of 25nm MLC flash …

    Storage 13 Apr 09:42

  • Sharp starts punching out IGZO LCDs for retina screens

    Apple 'iTV' contender?

    They came too late for the iPad 3, but Sharp has now begun producing ultra-high resolution LCD panels based on its IGZO technology. Sharp today said it was making available 32in, 3840 x 2160 panels - that's 140 dots per inch - for monitors, plus 10in, 2560 x 1600 (300dpi) and 7in, 1280 x 800 (217dpi) for tablets. IGZO stands …

    reghardware 13 Apr 09:44

  • Australia OKs iOS for classified comms

    Spooks get guide on 'hardening' iPhones, iPads

    Australia's Defence Signals Directorate, an agency charged with collecting signals intelligence and educating the rest of the government about security, has green-lit Apple's iOS for use in “classified Australian government communications”. The decision doesn't mean spooks can nip out to a phone shop and start chattering away …

    Security 13 Apr 10:00

  • ICANN: Privates leaked in top-level domain land grab blunder

    gTLD applications viewable by rival web biz barons

    ICANN has revealed that it took down its top-level domain application system yesterday after discovering a potentially serious data leakage vulnerability. As El Reg reported earlier today, ICANN shut down its TLD Application System (TAS) – the web application companies use to apply for new gTLDs – due to unspecified "unusual …

    Hosting 13 Apr 10:17

  • Valve seeks geek to design 'platform hardware'

    New kit on the box

    Valve has hinted it is building its own hardware platform, possibly to tie in with its Steam online games service, after reaching out for an experienced electronics engineer to help with the project. "We’re developing hardware to enhance [gaming] experiences, and you can be a key part of making that happen," reads a post on …

    reghardware 13 Apr 10:30

  • Star sacrifices 2,000 comets a DAY to cloak twin planets in dust

    Pic Ice cloud hid worlds from boffins - until now

    Astroboffins using a new multinational observatory have spotted evidence of two planets orbiting nearby star Fomalhaut – which is just 25 light years away and cloaked in a comet graveyard. The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a joint project between Europe, the US, East Asia and Chile is still only in its …

    Space 13 Apr 10:38

  • Laptop computers are crap

    Something for the Weekend, Sir? Time to flush them away

    Occasionally, the crumbs scavenged by the Dabbs clan are supplemented with purchases from a local food emporium, the expenditure being partly funded by product reviews that I submit to El Reg. El Reg, by the way, is a real person in a kind of virtual concept common to all omnipresent beings. The last time I was granted an …

    reghardware 13 Apr 11:00

  • Two teens cuffed after Blighty's anti-terror hotline hacked

    Officials' private chats recorded, bunged on YouTube

    Two teenagers have been arrested after hackers attacked Scotland Yard’s anti-terror hotline, eavesdropped on a conversation between officials and uploaded a recording to the internet. The two males, aged 16 and 17, were cuffed in the West Midlands by cops from the Police Central e-Crime Unit. A Scotland Yard spokesman said the …

    Crime 13 Apr 11:12

  • Kinect gives Skyrim fans something to shout about

    Dragons, talk to me

    The Elder Scrolls V is set to support Microsoft's Kinect for Xbox 360, meaning Dragonborn fans can take control of their Skyrim experience through voice and gesture control. The update lets users yell dragon shouts, command followers and control hotkeys, as well navigate that inconvenient UI menu with ease. A full list of …

    reghardware 13 Apr 11:35

  • So what's the worst movie NEVER made?

    Competition Reader pitches invited for imaginary cinematic outrages

    Our hunt for the worst movie ever proved highly popular with you, our beloved cinema-going readers, and the list of nominees makes such chilling reading that we began to wonder if it would be possible to shoot a film so atrocious that it would prompt audiences to run screaming from the cinema vowing never again to badmouth …

    Bootnotes 13 Apr 11:41

  • Fate of punters' Megaupload files to be thrashed out in court

    25PB of data could head to The Great Recycling Bin In The Sky

    A court in the US could decide today whether or not to dump the files of Megaupload users, seized in the case against founder Kim Dotcom. Regular Joes who stored their legal files with Megaupload have been worried that their data will just get deleted since the government has gotten the evidence it needs from the site's …

    Law 13 Apr 12:02

  • Euro climate probe Envisat silenced, boffins baffled

    ESA loses contact with ageing space workhorse

    Engineers at the European Space Agency have lost contact with their environment-studying satellite Envisat, which stopped sending data five days ago. Envisat, the largest Earth observation spacecraft ever built, has been beaming back information about our world's land, atmosphere, oceans and ice caps for the last ten years. …

    Space 13 Apr 12:16

  • Printers SMASHED to bits in Office Space copycat revenge vid

    Vid Volunteers queue to get own back on irksome tech

    Of all the devices making our working lives harder, printers take top billing. Never mind computers that crash mid-PowerPoint or smartphones that inexplicably can’t find the network – these, at least, are complicated, multi-function devices with a lot going on. But printers? These have one job and one job only: put ink on paper …

    Bootnotes 13 Apr 12:38

  • Texas judge lets Apple duel patent sabre-rattler Lodsys

    Foxconn-rebrander lifts sword to defend iOS devs

    A Texas judge has decided Apple will be allowed into the trenches to fight patent-holding firm Lodsys, on behalf of iOS developers, almost a year after Cupertino made the request. The news comes from courtroom-lurker Florian Mueller, who points out that the public filing clearly states Apple can get involved in the case which …

    Developer 13 Apr 13:01

  • MIT's mind-reading Mosh pits itself against SSH daemons

    No! I meant rm * not rm .*

    Researchers at MIT have refined the Secure Shell network protocol and boasted their replacement system overcomes some of SSH's more annoying drawbacks. Mosh (aka mobile shell) is designed to keep connections alive when clients roam across Wi-Fi networks or switch to mobile data connections. In addition the revamp eliminates …

    Developer 13 Apr 13:17

  • Google boss points to low-end tablet for fight with Amazon

    Fire it up

    Google has hinted that it's rumoured forthcoming tablet will compete with Amazon's Kindle Fire rather than high-end slates such as Apple's iPad 3. The online advertising giant's CEO, Larry Page, told financial analysts that Google believes there will be "a lot of success at the lower end" of the tablet market, Mobile Today …

    reghardware 13 Apr 13:35

  • Daisy Group blows £28m on VoIP blower biz

    Lose a COO, gain Worldwide Group Holdings

    Acquisitive business communications provider Daisy Group has coughed £28m to acquire audio-conferencing and call-handling player Worldwide Group Holdings (WGH). The deal could rise in cost – dependant on EBITDA growth over an agreed earn-out period – and will be funded by cash from Royal Bank of Scotland, which joins Daisy's …

    Channel Register 13 Apr 13:39

  • Apple finally deploys Mac Flashback Trojan terminator

    Zombie OS X bot army drops to 270,000 strong

    Apple has released a tool that removes the infamous Flashback Trojan from infected Macs. The utility, billed as a Java security update, also disables Java applets by default - but only on machines running OS X Lion, the latest version. The update turns off Java applet execution by default for all browsers, not just Safari. …

    Malware 13 Apr 14:01

  • Ultrabook price vice prised open by flash-disk half-breeds

    Analyst: Pressure on performance and cost will spark hybrid demand

    Hybrid disk drives are on their way to becoming a fixture in computing: Seagate has had design wins at Dell and other OEMs. So says financial analyst Aaron Rakers of Stifel Nicolaus. Ultrabook pricing is the driver here. To get Intel's Macbook Air knock-off down into the $650 to $750 area from its current $999 price point will …

    Storage 13 Apr 14:32

  • Microsoft UK boss Frazer takes slow boat to China HQ

    Picks up office keys from Michel van der Bel

    Microsoft UK boss Gordon Frazier is heading east to the COO office in the Greater China Region (GCR), swapping roles with Michel van der Bel. Sixteen-year Microsoft veteran Frazier took the UK reins from previous incumbent Alistair Baker in July 2006 after relocating from the operation in South Africa, but he is not the only …

    Channel Register 13 Apr 15:02

  • CAPITALISM without PROFITS - Welcome to the Instagram Era!

    ¡Bong! Let's put Fraud Laws on the scrapheap - where they belong

    Doubters, shut your mouths now - and nail them shut. Two great pieces of news from the US have validated Silicon Roundabout as the pulsating heart of a new British economy. And a whole new way of doing capitalism. Firstly, Facebook bought Instagram for $1bn. Instagram sounds like a coke dealer who turns up very quickly indeed …

    Bootnotes 13 Apr 15:15

  • It's all in the wrist: E-ink smartwatch Pebble bags $2m

    Upstart wanted just $100k, clocked much more

    A group of people who designed an e-ink watch and were looking for $100,000 to fund its production raised that in a couple of hours – and they're now well on their way to having $2m to spend. The "Pebble" watch comes from the team that created the smartphone-on-a-watch inPulse. The Pebble is a smaller version of that product, …

    Small Biz 13 Apr 15:33

  • Cloud WAR! Open season on Amazon for cloudy rivals

    Open... and Shut From tire-kicking to tire-buying

    The industry's most promising cloud platforms have one thing in common: none of them are winning. At least, not if we equate "winning" with "lots of users" and "lots of revenue" or, more simply put, with "displacing Amazon Web Services." Even so, competition between the big contenders - OpenStack (Rackspace), CloudFoundry ( …

    CIO 13 Apr 16:04

  • Thais trample over Chinese to snatch Asia's e-shopping crown

    Mobile driving growth in emerging markets

    Thailand has emerged as the surprise leader in online shopping in Asia thanks to its strength in the mobile space although it is China which will run away with the global e-commerce crown by 2015, according to two new reports out this week. MasterCard’s Worldwide Online Shopping survey revealed that 80 per cent of people in …

    Business 13 Apr 16:32

  • Gartner snips 2012 IT spending forecast – again

    A little more off the top, and some off the bottom

    The prognosticators at market research firm Gartner are polishing their crystal balls again and have gazed into 2012 to see what the IT spending picture looks like, and it's a bit worse than they expected only a few months ago. And thus they have taken a little more off the top of their IT spending projections for the current …

    Business 13 Apr 17:03

  • FBI track alleged Anon from unsanitised busty babe pic

    Body of evidence

    An alleged member of Anonymous has been tracked down after he posted a picture of his scantily clad girlfriend in an image bragging about his hacking exploits. Higinio O. Ochoa III from Texas has been charged hacking into the websites of at least four US law enforcement agencies before, in one case at least, posting personal …

    Security 13 Apr 17:26

  • Starck brewing 'fairly, if not very, revolutionary' Apple THING

    'I regularly visit Steve Jobs' wife,' adds Frenchman

    Gallic product design hotshot Philippe Starck says he's working on a "fairly, if not very, revolutionary" project with Apple that will be out in time for Christmas. Starck dropped the bombshell in an interview with French radio station France Info, but declined to elaborate on what he meant due to Apple's "secrecy cult", AFP …

    Hardware 13 Apr 18:04

  • Balsillie planned to bust open BlackBerry network before leaving

    Board rejected scheme to focus on new handsets

    Ousted RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie spent his last few months at the helm developing a radical strategy to transform the fortunes of the trouble Canadian company by opening up its network to provide basic data plans to non-smartphone users. Two contacts with knowledge of the deal told Reuters that the plan called for the company …

    Mobile 13 Apr 20:16

  • NASA brainstorms with John Q Public for 2018 Mars mission

    If the money's in the pot, that is

    NASA is asking for ideas from the general public for probes and tools to send to Mars in 2018, as part of its longer term plan to have humans visit the Red Planet in decades to come. "We're planning an agency-wide effort to look at Mars activities as we go forward, including the president's challenge to send humans into the …

    Space 13 Apr 21:28