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23rd July 2012 Archive

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  • Japanese publisher, staff arrested over backup software offer

    Copyright protection gets insane

    Those software-laden DVDs that adorn the covers of newsstand computer magazines can get you into serious trouble in Japan, where four staff at a book publisher have been arrested because of naught software included in the popular 'onserts'. Those arrested include an executive (Yoshiaki Kaizuka) of Sensai Books, which had …

    Policy 23 Jul 00:40

  • HTML 5 gets forked up

    Judean People's Front and People's Front of Judea go their own way

    Splitters! That's the cry which may well be echoing out across the web in coming days, as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG) have decided to pursue their common agenda of a marvellous new standard for the web by doing things differently. The split seems amicable …

    Software 23 Jul 00:58

  • Windows 8 'bad' for desktop users - Gartner's one-word review

    Enterprise users laugh at nice-to-touch, frustrating-to-click-on OS

    Analyst firm Gartner has chosen just one word to describe Windows 8 for desktop users: “Bad”. Research Director Gunnar Berger put the imminent OS through its paces in a five-part review which found that Windows 8 is pretty good when used on touch-screen devices. Microsoft loaned Berger a Samsung slate device and he found that …

    Windows 8 23 Jul 01:51

  • USB charges up to 100 watts

    One cable to rule them all while avoiding e-waste

    The USB Promoter Group has a new ambition: using the ubiquitous connectivity standard to power your laptop while saving the planet eliminating the need for proprietary power bricks along the way. The general idea, as outlined in the newly-completed USB Power Delivery Specification, is to deliver up to 100 watts over USB. That …

    Hardware 23 Jul 03:33

  • Coles signs up for Office 365

    Down, down, staff administration costs are down, for 100,000 staff

    Insistently non-rapacious supermarket chain Coles has become the latest company to sign off on a press release declaring it has adopted Microsoft's cloudy productivity suite Office 365. The chain's buy doesn't seem to be a “we found a company of knowledge workers that wants to do everything in the browser and beat Google to …

    Cloud 23 Jul 04:29

  • Now IPAD victor Proview is sued by its OWN law firm

    Monitor biz still hasn't paid its lawyers their fees

    Proview, the tech firm which recently forced Apple to part with $60 million to use the IPAD trademark in China, is now being sued by its own law firm after failing to pay its fees for the case. Grandall Law Firm (as the firm is formally known) is after a four per cent slice of the settlement pay-out, which amounts to around $2 …

    Business 23 Jul 04:56

  • China's broadband population is SHRINKING

    More get their mobiles out to get online

    China’s internet population reached a whopping 530 million over the past six months, but its broadband subscriber base actually shrank as mobile became the most popular way for users to get online for the first time. The government’s latest twice-yearly data dump, the Statistical Report on Internet Development in China, …

    Networks 23 Jul 05:56

  • Cisco blends server with a twist of flash, tastes benchmark glory

    2-socket win with Violin memory for the extra kick

    A server's job is to run applications as fast as it can, and it looks like flash memory is becoming an essential ingredient in the race for speed. Server-maker Cisco has just bagged a VMmark benchmark for doing just that – in its case using networked Violin Memory flash storage – paving the way to all performance-focused servers …

    Storage 23 Jul 07:03

  • Huawei and ZTE scrap for mid-range UK market share

    Chinese Ice Cream fight

    Chinese mobile manufacturers Huawei and ZTE each announced the UK rollout of their respective mid-range handsets last week, the Ascend P1 and the Grand X. Huawei's Ascend P1 packs a 4.3in touchscreen display with a resolution of 960 x 540. It comes running into the market with a 1.5GHz TI OMAP 4460 dual-core processor powering …

    reghardware 23 Jul 07:11

  • Fear not, Linux admins: There are TOOLS to help you

    Sysadmin blog No, we don't mean the PFY down the hall

    Most Linux distributions have a significant focus on security. This does not mean they are necessarily ready for production out of the box. Tools like SELinux, excellent firewall options, and robust access controls can make Linux exceptionally secure. Despite this, actually deploying a Linux system into production still requires …

    Servers 23 Jul 07:33

  • Capita inks another local council deal, pockets £154m

    West Sussex County hands firm telecommunications, pensions admin contract

    West Sussex County council has awarded Capita a 10-year deal for the outsourcing of various support services, including telecommunications and pension fund administration, worth £154m. According to a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union, Capita, which was named as the council's preferred bidder last month, will …

    Government 23 Jul 08:01

  • Gov must act on 'innocent' web-browsing copyright timebomb

    Media monitoring biz: The time to legislate is now

    The government should legislate rather than wait for the UK or the European courts to rule on whether internet users have to pay to browse websites, a UK media monitoring business has said. James Mackenzie, commercial director of Cutbot, told Out-Law.com that businesses and internet users could both suffer if the government …

    Law 23 Jul 08:32

  • Is running IT for the Olympics the worst job in the world?

    The results will be in in August

    It's going to be the Worst Tech Job in the world ... or the best. It all depends on how the Olympics IT works this summer. Michele Hyron will be either in front of a Parliamentary committee explaining why the tech at the Olympics was a fiasco, or enjoying a well-earned rest - because she is ATOS's chief integrator for the …

    CIO 23 Jul 09:03

  • Techie accused of snooping wife's email cleared of wrongdoing

    His ex had been checking his texts, court hears

    A computer technician accused of hacking into his wife's webmail account to search for evidence of an affair has been cleared of all wrongdoing. A computer hacking charge against Leon Walker was dropped after it emerged in court that his then-partner Clara Walker had been reading her husband's mobile text messages at the same …

    Security 23 Jul 09:36

  • Scottish cloud abacus gobbled by control freak RightScale

    Need a job in Scotland?

    If you think keeping track of the technical differences between cloud systems is hard, try figuring out what compute, storage, and network capacity on various platforms can cost. It's enough to give you migraine, which is why cloud control freak RightScale, which spans multiple public and private systems, has acquired small …

    Cloud 23 Jul 10:02

  • Rupert Murdoch legs it from British newspaper boards

    Reaches for remote control

    Rupert Murdoch has quit the boards of his once beloved British newspaper business, paving the way for the tycoon's News Corp empire to be split in two. The media giant confirmed in June that Murdoch would head up the broadcasting and entertainment division created from the breakup of News Corp. For Murdoch, it's a significant …

    Media 23 Jul 10:25

  • JELLYFISH bio-bot built with rat cells to mend broken hearts

    We can rebuild him... we have the technology

    Boffins have fashioned an artificial bio-engineered jellyfish from rat cells that could one day fix up badly damaged human heart tissue. Researchers from Harvard and Caltech working towards building an artificial human heart cobbled together some silicon and some living rat heart cells to make a jellyfish that can pump through …

    Science 23 Jul 10:42

  • Nike+ Fuelband activity monitor review

    Wrist action for your inner Olympian

    I’m on a roll. Well, a streak, actually. That’s what Nike calls it when you hit your activity target for three days on the trot. The Nike+ FuelBand aims to get you fitter by scrutinising what you do. Motion carried: Nike+ Fuelband activity monitor The theory is that by keeping tabs on how many steps you take, how quickly …

    reghardware 23 Jul 11:00

  • Why DOES Google lobby so much?

    Special report No, no, Brits, this is how a web-friendly country should be run

    Last month we reported how Google was astroturfing British politics by chivvying "citizen groups" to show spontaneous support for policies that benefit Google. Here's another example. Google sponsored a "mentoring" event for tech startups, called the "Campus Grand National" last Monday. For US readers, the Grand National is a …

    Government 23 Jul 11:03

  • Facebook, Last.fm and pals to reach deep into Ubuntu

    Zillions of browser tabs banished by 'web apps'

    Websites will be able to hook into the Ubuntu desktop in the Linux distro's next release - allowing, for example, users to receive "new message" pings from webmail services. Canonical boss and spaceman Mark Shuttleworth announced the availability of "web apps" in Ubuntu 12.10, due in October, at OSCON, Canonical marketing veep …

    Operating Systems 23 Jul 11:24

  • Brit holidaymakers forced to surf in the sea, not online

    Three international roaming goes titsup

    Holidaymakers hoping to surreptitiously surf the net from the beach with their Three mobiles were stranded when an outage killed their signal. Web addicts abroad were forced to entertain their kids instead of staring into the soothing glow from their smartphones when a network that carries international traffic for Three fell …

    Mobile 23 Jul 11:39

  • Canon debuts EOS M compact system camera

    Better late than never

    Seemingly bowing to peer pressure, Canon has finally unveiled its own compact system camera, the EOS M. A mirrorless interchangeable-lens snapper that features its new EF-M lens mount and an 18Mp APS-C CMOS sensor. Rather than try a new imaging format, Canon is playing it safe with DSLR tech in a small body and competing with …

    reghardware 23 Jul 11:59

  • Marvell marvels at WiGig, licenses Wilocity silicon

    Love at 60GHz

    Chip maker Marvell has licensed WiGig silicon designer Wilocity's 60GHz tech for future high-speed wireless networking and cable-killing kit. Wilocity has been focusing on WiGig for some years now. WiGig - aka Wirless Gigabit - extends 2.4GHz and 5GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi into the 60GHz band to deliver fast but in-room only …

    reghardware 23 Jul 12:03

  • Google plucks Gmail app maker Sparrow from the sky

    You are the wind beneath my wi... Arrgh!

    Google has bought email application maker Sparrow for an undisclosed sum. The Paris-based startup confirmed on Friday that it had been acquired by the advertising and search giant. Sparrow said in a statement announcing the buyout: We care a lot about how people communicate, and we did our best to provide you with the most …

    Applications 23 Jul 12:19

  • Samsung flogs 10 million Galaxy S IIIs in 7 weeks

    Not quite keeping up with the iPhone 4S

    Samsung has sold more than 10 million of its flagship Galaxy S III phones worldwide in seven weeks, according to Shin Jong-kyun, the company's mobile tech top dog. The phone was first unveiled on 29 May in the UK, it runs Android Ice Cream Sandwich and it packs a 1280 x 720 PenTile OLED display and an ARM Cortex A9-based quad- …

    Mobile 23 Jul 12:28

  • Nokia woos networks with 'exclusive Windows 8 mobe deals'

    Microsoft's Finnish friend chases iPhone effect - report

    Nokia is keeping schtum amid claims it hopes to sign exclusive deals with European mobile operators for its planned Windows Phone 8 smartphones. The handset-maker is negotiating with carriers to grant sole rights to sell its phones running Microsoft’s next mobile OS in different countries, according to the Financial Times. The …

    Windows 8 23 Jul 12:46

  • Amazon erects 'digital hub' near Silicon Roundabout

    Mega media centre draws staffers from Pushbutton, LoveFilm

    Amazon is opening a new eight-storey office in London just west of Shoreditch's Silicon Roundabout to house design teams, software devs and engineers from its July 2011 acquisition Pushbutton and its video-on-demand subsidiary LoveFilm. Staffers at the new centre will work on developing platforms and APIs for "the next …

    Cloud 23 Jul 13:02

  • EMC's creepy challenge: Give Big Data a 'human face'

    A bog reader coffee table book to explain what on Earth is it

    EMC is sponsoring a photo-journalism project called "The Human Face of Big Data", which will spread 100 "leading photographers" across 30 countries to document the collection and use of data. In a few months' time, the project will culminate in the publication of a coffee table book and iPad app containing the best of the …

    Storage 23 Jul 13:29

  • ITC was wrong: Apple, RIM owe us $1bn for that patent – Kodak

    Bankrupt biz insists mobe makers used its designs

    Bankrupt camera firm Kodak is going to appeal a US regulator's decision that neither Apple nor RIM had infringed on one of its patents. Kodak is trying to recover what it claims are lost revenues from illegal use of patent '218, a patent used in previewing digital pictures, which the firm says amounts to around $1bn (£643m). …

    Business 23 Jul 14:01

  • Self-pwned: Black Hat says soz for phishing attack scare

    Black Hat conference Looked like phish, smelled like phish, but was just a cock-up

    Organisers of the annual Black Hat conference have apologised after an estimated 7,500 conference delegates received a suspicious email yesterday resembling a phishing attack. The dodgy email, informing entrants of a supposed password reset, was sent out after a volunteer with ITN International, the third-party firm handling …

    Security 23 Jul 14:31

  • Greenbytes crunches up ex-Apple man's Zevo ZFS

    Flash array vendor gets Tens Complement

    Networked flash array vendor Greenbytes has bought Zevo ZFS for Mac from developer Tens Complement, and gained itself a new chairman, storage industry veteran Stephen O'Donnell. Tens Complement was founded by ex-Apple engineer Don Brady and has been developing Zevo, a version of ZFS (Zettabyte File System) that was built for …

    Storage 23 Jul 15:02

  • Google suspends 16GB Nexus 7 orders

    Punters swallow too many tablets

    Google suspended orders of its 16GB Nexus 7 tablet this week, after underestimating demand for the 7in Jelly Bean slate. The company was forced to halt further requests for the £199 slate through its Google Play store, as consumers shunned the cheaper 8GB model in favour of the higher capacity version and swallowed Google's …

    reghardware 23 Jul 15:18

  • Amazon to bash down Google, Apple with SIX new tablets - report

    All sorts of sizes to fight off Galaxy, iPad and new kid Windows 8 RT

    Undeterred by the stumbling of Kindle Fire, Amazon is reported to be preparing even more tablets. Amazon plans six tablets, ranging in size, but including the 10-inch form factor, which seem to go beyond purely e-reading, Reuters claims. Its report suggests the tablets will be tied into Amazon’s market, helping it sell more …

    Hardware 23 Jul 15:42

  • Amazon.com hacking suspect 'cuffed in Cyprus

    DoJ seeks extradition

    A Russian man thought to be connected to a series of denial-of-service attacks against Amazon in 2008 has been arrested in Cyprus. The US Attorney's Office said Dmitry Olegovich Zubakha, 25, from Moscow, Russia, is also suspected of running DDoS attacks against Priceline.com and eBay. He stands accused of aggravated identity …

    Security 23 Jul 16:03

  • ARM grabs TSMC's 3D FinFETs for future 64-bit PC brains

    Will it be a RISCy move for the v8 family?

    ARM says its 64-bit ARMv8 processor architecture is a real contender for servers and PCs. But without an appropriate process from major fab partners to etch the chips, the design doesn't matter all that much. That's why an agreement between the stewards of the ARM designs and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp is vital if …

    Hardware 23 Jul 16:32

  • Iranian nuke plants rocked in midnight 'heavy metal blast'

    Boffins suffer AC-DC problems as virus defences ramped up

    Iran's military will establish a cyber-defence headquarters, the country's official news agency IRNA reports - just in time to sort out an alleged heavy-metal infection at its nuclear labs. The centre - staffed by an unspecified number of personnel - "would be commissioned to design and adopt comprehensive approaches in line …

    Security 23 Jul 17:02

  • Next-gen Enyo 2.0 framework rises from ruins of Web OS

    Stable cross-platform release for open-source toolkit

    Devs at HP's Enyo project – the framework that once powered the applications on HP's discarded WebOS TouchPad tablet – have just released a stable version of the second major iteration, Enyo 2.0. The first iteration of Enyo – Enyo 1.0 – was intended as a platform-independent tool kit and was focused on apps on the Web OS …

    Applications 23 Jul 18:02

  • Oracle lowers the flag on Fortress language project

    The latest ex-Sun effort to be felled by Larry's axe

    Oracle is shuttering the long-running Fortress programming language research project, in the database giant's latest move to divest itself of the less-profitable pieces of Sun Microsystems' software portfolio. "After working nearly a decade on the design, development, and implementation of the Fortress programming language, …

    Developer 23 Jul 19:43

  • Buzz: iPhone 5 arrives September 21, demand 'unprecedented'

    New connector? Check. Larger display? Well, sort of...

    Apple's highly anticipated iPhone 5 – or whatever the marketeers at Cupertino choose to call it – will be released on September 21, according to the iPhone rumor du jour. In addition, a new survey shows the pent-up demand for it to be "unprecedented." A Monday article on the French-language website App4Phone (Google …

    Mobile 23 Jul 19:44

  • Oracle readies Exalogic 2.0 'engineered systems'

    Renames x86 boxes, but still has some gaps to fill

    Software giant Oracle is not so much in the server business as it is in the stack business, and it has made no pretense about it whatsoever. In fact, the company has gone out of its way to remind Wall Street and customers alike that it has no desire to be in the volume x86 server business, but rather bought Sun Microsystems two …

    Servers 23 Jul 20:53

  • Cisco to axe 1,300 (more) employees worldwide

    Why? 'To drive simplicity, speed of decisions and agility'

    Networking megacorp and server wannabe Cisco Systems plans to lay off 1,300 workers – about 2 per cent of its global workforce. The company did not immediately respond to our request for comment, but MarketWatch reports that head spokeswoman Karen Tillman downplayed the importance of the move in an emailed statement. "We …

    Business 23 Jul 21:53

  • Skype: Nearly half of adults don't install software updates

    They're too worried about security to upgrade security

    A new survey commissioned by Skype reveals that 40 per cent of adults do not always update their software when prompted to do so, and that 25 per cent skip software updates because they think they offer no real benefit. The survey was offered on Skype's behalf to some 350,000 individuals in the US, UK, and Germany by internet …

    Software 23 Jul 22:02

  • VMware shells out $1.26bn for virtual networker Nicira

    Dead serious about software-defined data centers

    The networking business just got a wake-up call from server virtualizer VMware in the guise of a $1.26bn acquisition of virty networker Nicira. VMware's CTO Steve Herrod has been talking up the concept of the "software-defined data center" for the past couple of months, and the server virtualization juggernaut and cloud …

    Virtualization 23 Jul 23:01

  • Time for Victoria to adapt, says Climate Commission

    Urges state to bite the bullet on solar

    Climate change is already affecting rainfall in the Australian state of Victoria, according to Australia's Climate Commission which is therefore advocating a range of mitigation and adaptation measures. Among the suggestions contained in the Climate Commission's report, Victorian climate impacts and opportunities is the …

    Science 23 Jul 23:05

  • Australians receive SMS death threats

    Police point out hitmen are not actually chasing you, ergo cannot be bought off

    Hundreds of Australians have received unsolicited TXT messages in which their imminent demise is predicted, along with an offer to avoid a hitman's gunsights if they fork over some hard-earned. The messages read as follows: “Someone paid me to kill you, get spared, 48 hours to pay $5000.00 if you inform police or anybody …

    Security 23 Jul 23:43

  • ‘Printed boat’ places second in novelty race

    Getting serious with 3D printing

    A student club from the University of Washington has not only used 3D printing to build a boat – it’s taken the boat to second place in the university’s annual Milk Carton Derby at Seattle’s Green Lake. Even better than that: the 3D printer had to be set up to use HDPE – milk carton plastic – to print the boat, a material …

    Bootnotes 23 Jul 23:59