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30th October 2012 Archive

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  • AMD to partner with ARM for server CPUs by 2014

    SeaMicro's fabric is the 'secret sauce'

    AMD and ARM have entered into a partnership that will see 64-bit ARM-based Opteron server processors appear from the Intel competitors, with release planned for 2014. "We look to disrupt the status quo," AMD CEO Rory Read told reporters and analysts at a San Francisco briefing on Monday afternoon. "We look forward, to drive …

    Servers 30 Oct 00:12

  • Lenovo tops China's smartphone market in just six months

    Huawei and ZTE left for dead, now to swamp Samsung

    Despite launching its first smartphone in the second quarter of 2012, Lenovo is already the top Chinese smartphone company, according to analyst outfit TrendForce. Lenovo has captured 14.7 per cent of China's smartphone market, leapfrogging past rivals ZTE and Huawei, both of which have been in the market far longer. Samsung …

    Business 30 Oct 01:01

  • France again threatens Google with link tax

    Fetchez la vache, says Hollande, after Schmidt visit resolves nothing

    French President François Hollande has told Google chair Eric Schmidt his nation intends to proceed with plans to force the Chocolate Factory to pay when it links to news content. Hollande, Aurélie Filippetti (France's Minister of Culture and Communication) and Fleur Pellerin (Minister for Small and Medium Enterprises, …

    Policy 30 Oct 02:46

  • Optus says age of mobile growth is over

    Carrier says 'No' to partners as Australia has 'too much distribution capacity'

    Optus has declared the age of growing mobile subscriber numbers is over, signalling a revised retail strategy focussed on its own outlets. “As the Australian mobile market matures and we move from a period of growth to one of customer retention, we need a distribution model that reflects this,” Rohan Ganeson, the carrier's MD …

    Networks 30 Oct 03:29

  • Japanese toilet can save penalty kicks

    Bring on the Germans...

    Just when you thought Japan had moved on from its stereotyped image as a nation that creates bizarre, useless technology, it comes up with the Super Great Toilet Keeper (SGTK) – a bespoke toilet designed to save penalties. The football-mad throne is a bizarre, one-off collaborative project between Japan’s leading toilet-maker …

    Bootnotes 30 Oct 06:36

  • Sandy takes out NYC colo facility

    The diesel's run out by now

    Post-tropical storm Sandy, as the event is now known, has taken out at least one piece of significant information infrastructure. Internap, which operates a global content delivery network and data centres to make it work, has reportedly emailed customers the following warning earlier today about one of its facilities in New …

    Data Center 30 Oct 07:13

  • Apple turns off Siri’s potty mouth

    Cupertino fun police bow to Chinese laws

    Apple has moved to clean up its digital assistant app Siri in China by deactivating the part of its brain that until recently directed users to the nearest prostitutes. News broke over a week ago that the app happily responded to queries such as "I want to visit prostitutes” with a selection of local listings for escort …

    Bootnotes 30 Oct 07:30

  • World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria review

    Review Paw choice?

    A couple of years ago I was addicted to Farmville and I've always had a soft spot for Pokémon. As much as I hate to say, it the Mists of Pandaria is coming over all Pokéville 2. Everyone is battling minipets or farming, which all feels a bit twee but I can’t deny it’s also extremely enjoyable... except when I see my baby polar …

    Games 30 Oct 08:00

  • Freesat downs own website after Downton quickie

    Not Sky you say? Tell me more...

    A 40-second spot during last night's Downton Abbey was enough to knock out the Freesat website as viewers rushed to find out more about how to get satellite TV for less. The spot highlighted Freesat's new <freetime> offering which integrates the various free VoD services offered by the BBC, ITV and so forth, but the spike in …

    Media 30 Oct 08:28

  • Top dog EMC: Clear off, hybrid upstarts, VNX2 is a million-IOPS monster

    Exclusive Rockies update should also give Dell, HDS, HP, IBM and NetApp the fear

    EMC is developing a follow-on VNX storage array that will combine flash and disk drive storage in a hybrid arrangement and deliver a million IOPS of performance. It will run a Rockies update of the VNX operating environment software, Flare and Dart. This information comes from accounts of EMC World presentations earlier this …

    Storage 30 Oct 08:56

  • Avnet TS confirms EMEA exec line-up

    Rejigs structure as it digests Magirus buy

    Avnet Technology Solutions has tweaked its organisational structure in EMEA and named those execs with a seat at the top table after completing the acquisition of Magirus. Joining the senior management team in the region, Christian Magirus, COO at the self titled distie becomes veep for services. The channel veteran will look …

    The Channel 30 Oct 09:22

  • Vodafone in bed with Gemalto in bonking-for-money transaction

    Worldwide deal to provide trust on demand

    Gemalto will be providing trusted services for Vodafone's customers around the world, including NFC payments, in a multi-year contract between the two companies. The deal will see Gemalto providing the end-to-end infrastructure necessary to secure mobile applications, including pay-by-bonk and ticketing, utilising a secure …

    Mobile 30 Oct 09:31

  • OEMs and sellers must pay refunds on software faults - OFT

    Likewise on dodgy film downloads, DVDs etc

    Businesses that sell digital content to consumers should generally be responsible for providing refunds when services connected to that content fall below "quality standards" due to faults with the content, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has said. The UK's consumer protection regulator said that consumers should have a " …

    Government 30 Oct 10:02

  • Hitachi buys Horizon to save UK's nuclear future

    Germans get the wind up and dash for gas: Japan steps in

    Japanese tech giant Hitachi has swooped in to rescue the UK’s foundering Horizon nuclear energy project with a commitment to generating thousands of new jobs and knock-on benefits for the local supply chain. Horizon Nuclear Power was put up for sale by its German owners E.On and RWE in the spring without having built a single …

    Financial News 30 Oct 10:18

  • Intel halves SSD power draw with 20nm chip shift

    335 series of solid-state drives launched

    Intel has updated its line of low-end solid-state drives by introducing the 335, a 240GB 6Gb/s Sata unit based on 20nm Flash chippery. The chip giant claimed the 335 delivers up to 500MB/s sequential read and 450MB/s sequential write speeds. For random read and writes, it can do 42k IOPS and 52k IOPS, respectively, Intel said …

    Hardware 30 Oct 10:19

  • Hurricane Sandy blows away Gizmodo, HuffPo, various other blogs

    Aggregation Turbines shut down by Frankenstorm debris

    Hurricane Sandy has taken out five of New York's biggest blogsites - the Huffington Post and all its global offshoots; Buzzfeed; and the Gawker portfolio - Gizmodo US, Gawker, Jezebel. The downtime was reported from 1900 Eastern Daylight Time (2300 GMT) last night. Visits to the blogs currently call up a host of "connection …

    Media 30 Oct 10:32

  • WinPho 8 fans now able to order HTC handsets

    Nicer colours than Nokia's?

    HTC's Windows Phone 8 range went up for pre-order today as the company prepares to flood the market with its 8X and 8S handsets this Friday. The brightly coloured blowers - announced last month - join the roster of WinPho 8 devices set to complement Microsoft's platform release this week. Unlike devices from Nokia and others, …

    Apps 30 Oct 10:46

  • Your mouse may actually be a RAT in disguise

    Plague-bearing horrors mask themselves as rodent chum

    Security researchers have discovered a Trojan that attaches its malicious code to routines normally used only to control the inputs from mouse clicks. The tactic is designed to smuggle malicious code past automated threat analysis systems. During such procedures there's no user input and certainly no mouse moving and clicking …

    Security 30 Oct 10:46

  • Riverbed to slurp Opnet for cool $1 billion

    Management software, comfort food for a tough economy

    Network gear manufacturer Riverbed Technology is about to slurp software firm Opnet Technologies for a cool $1bn. Opnet's software manages traffic on networks, an area of the industry that has held steadier than orders for network hardware. Like everyone else in the world, telcos are tightening their belts and waiting for the …

    Financial News 30 Oct 10:59

  • Brit 4G live TODAY: At last you can bust your data cap in 5 minutes

    In some areas - but we'll sell you a handset regardless

    EE's 4G network goes live today, offering a lucky few in eleven cites the chance to exceed their data caps in less than five minutes, while competitors remind us that not all 4G networks are made equal. The network goes live this morning in eleven cities, with the company promising coverage to 98 per cent of the population by …

    Mobile 30 Oct 11:18

  • JDA Software looking to sell itself, they do say

    Seeking friend, solvent, gsoh, for discreet transaction

    Enterprise tech firm JDA Software is rumoured to be trying to sell itself, hiring JPMorgan Chase to look for those who might be willing to gobble it. Sources told Reuters that the sale process was at an advanced stage and both private equity and tech firms were interested in the company. JDA's financial results for 2011 came …

    Financial News 30 Oct 11:38

  • Israeli cops penetrated by army of fake generals with trojans

    Syrian rebels also hit, Iran's name murmured

    Israeli police departments were pulled offline last Thursday following the discovery of a Trojan especially targeted at law enforcement networks in the Jewish state. The malware was distributed using spammed messages, spoofed so that they appeared to come from the head of the Israel Defense Forces, Benny Gantz. The malicious …

    Security 30 Oct 12:02

  • Lenovo ThinkPad Helix turns Westward

    Convertible Ultrabook spied on Israel website

    Lenovo’s convertible Ultrabook, the Helix, has made an appearance on the company’s Israel website. The Windows 8-running laptop sports a removable display which operates independently of the keyboard section, Asus Transformer style. IdeaPad Lynx Lenovo hasn’t said much about the device, but the Israeli site notes it’ll …

    Laptops 30 Oct 12:09

  • Forstall ousted from Apple after refusing to apologise for Maps

    Took him to the exit instead of the CEO's office

    iOS chief Scott Forstall was ousted from Apple because he wouldn't say sorry for Maps, the WSJ reports. Forstall, who oversaw the production of iOS6 and its Apple Maps app, apparently refused to sign the official apology later offered by Tim Cook to customers for the poor quality of the navigation product. According to the …

    Business 30 Oct 12:18

  • Nokia primes Lumias for Windows Phone 8 push

    Flashy snappers sets 'em apart

    Nokia hopes to make a splash in the Windows Phone 8 pool when its Lumia 920 and 820 hits shelves later this week. The hotly anticipated Lumia 920 takes Nokia's PureView photography tech into the WinPho arena with an 8.7Mp sensor and f/2.0 aperture. The results - unlikely to be as impressive as the fake footage used in Nokia' …

    Apps 30 Oct 12:52

  • UK's Intellectual Property Obliteration office attacked by Parliament

    'If the copyright cops won't protect rights, who will?'

    With the British economy now increasingly dependent on "intangibles" - brands, designs, patents and copyright - a cross-party group of MPs and peers has called for stronger support for the industries which produce such things at Whitehall. It has also called for bureaucrats to stop kicking these industries in the nuts whenever …

    Government 30 Oct 12:57

  • Forgetting Microsoft: How Steve Ballmer's Surface could win

    Open ... and Shut Ignore Apple, it's Google he must take on

    In a Windows world we bought the product. In Google's world we are the product. Judging from market share trends, we apparently don't mind being bought and sold. At least, so long as the price is right. Yes, Apple gets all the news (and profits), but it's Google Android that is set to displace Microsoft Windows by 2016, …

    Operating Systems 30 Oct 13:26

  • Volunteers sought to see if anyone actually can hear you scream in space

    Violent alien baby in your stomach not compulsory

    Those of you who've ever wondered if the Alien assertion that "in space, nobody can hear you scream" has any scientific basis can now put it to the test, thanks to Cambridge University Spaceflight (CUSF). In December, CUSF will be blasting a Google Android phone into orbit as part of the STRaND-1 nanosatellite payload. The …

    Science 30 Oct 14:02

  • First eyes EVER SEEN (by definition) appeared 700 million years ago

    Here's looking at you, jellyfish

    Animals were seeing stuff a lot earlier than previously thought, a new study suggests. When exactly the ability to see evolved in animals has been hotly contested among boffins, but researchers from Bristol and Maynooth universities reckon a group of marine animals first "saw" the light 700 million years ago. Using computer …

    Science 30 Oct 14:29

  • Xbox mod spreads KILLER Borderlands 2 GERM

    Innocent gamers face permanent character death

    A bug in Borderlands 2 has spread like virtual flu, permanently killing off characters if they die during a game. Worse, some players are deliberately spreading the infection to gamers they don't like, it has been claimed. The issue only affects Xbox 360 players - the sound you can hear is our very own PS3-loving 'Anonymous …

    Games 30 Oct 15:09

  • TalkTalk to Ofcom: 'Talented, lovely monopolist' BT must be reeled in

    Just how superfast can a one-horse race really be?

    While broadband minister Ed Vaizey insisted this morning that competition remained active in the dash to grab public sector cash aimed at the deployment of faster fibre networks across Britain, TalkTalk's boss is worried about the lack of rivalry in the business. National telco BT remains the only operator to have secured …

    Broadband 30 Oct 15:31

  • Family sues Foxconn in brain-damaged worker compensation case

    Fondleslabricator trying to slash payout, say relatives

    The family of the Foxconn worker who lost his brain after a factory accident is taking the tech manufacturer to court over its attempts to move him from his hospital. Zhang Tingzhen is currently in hospital in Shenzhen, but Foxconn is trying to get him to travel to Huizhou to have his disability assessment because the company …

    Law 30 Oct 15:56

  • Hmm, I think I'll order an iPad Mini on Amazon ... Oh no I won't

    Etailer offers stinging counter-pooh-pooh to Apple

    Amazon has weighed into the tablet pooh-pooh battle, following Apple's blow by blow comparison with a Samsung Galaxy Tab during the iPad Mini launch last week. The gloves are off down at Tablet Club, and this time the iPad Mini is on the receiving end. Amazon is taking a direct swipe at Apple's littlest Pad with a point by …

    Hardware 30 Oct 16:29

  • Asus gets paid handsomely for swallowing Google's Jellybean

    Strong in fondletops, 'slabs - and still in notebooks

    ASUSTeK - Asus to you and me - has pulled a surprise jump in profit out of the bag as its tablets make up for slow PC sales. The Taiwanese firm reported its largest quarterly profit in more than four years, spurred by its partnership with Google on the Nexus 7 and the enduring popularity of its own-brand snap-on keyboard …

    Financial News 30 Oct 17:02

  • Hurricane Sandy smacks the Big Apple around

    Power, comms, and transport networks take the brunt

    Extreme weather is something we are getting used to here in New York City, and what is clear as we all walk outside to assess the damage from Hurricane Sandy is that the aging infrastructure in the Big Apple was not designed to sustain this kind of hit. Thankfully, this was a Category 1 hurricane with limited amounts of rain, …

    Business 30 Oct 17:25

  • Geneva devastated by monster tsunami, millions at risk

    News just in from 563 AD

    Geologists have found the culprit behind a huge tsunami that devastated the site of the Swiss city of Geneva in 563 AD and say a similar wave could be in the city's future. "Out of its banks it devastated villages with very old men and herds, it even destroyed many holy places with their priests and rose with fury over the …

    Science 30 Oct 19:04

  • Ballmer claims Win 8 sales strong, WinPhone to follow

    Build 2012 'If you want one, you'll want the other'

    Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer kicked off his company's annual Build developer conference on Tuesday by highlighting the new features of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, arguing that they represented an unprecedented opportunity for developers. "Certainly I'm enthused – as enthused as perhaps any moment in our company's history – …

    Windows 8 30 Oct 20:23

  • Google upgrades Gmail interface, now less 'drafty'

    Shifting email towards instant messaging

    Google has begun a series of upgrades to its Gmail user interface, starting with a "compose and reply experience" that brings email composition much closer to an instant messaging format. When you're writing an email and you need to reference another message, the current system of saving to draft, searching for the new email, …

    Applications 30 Oct 21:10

  • Optus breaks up with TeleChoice after ten years

    Telcos tighten up ship

    Australia’s biggest independently owned mobile phone, internet and telecommunications retailer has been left in the cold after negotiations to renew a ten year retail contract with Optus unexpectedly stalled. Optus yesterday revealed that it was revising its retail strategy and opening 33 new retail outlets. In pursuit of …

    Business 30 Oct 21:30

  • New Zealand judge gives cracker community service

    How not to do disclosure

    A Brazilian ski-fields worker has been sentenced to community service in New Zealand for breaking into the network of a Queenstown backpacker lodge, the Otago Daily Times reports. The newspaper says the judge wasn’t impressed either by Daniel Cabral Schiavini’s guilty plea, nor that he notified the Pinewood Lodge that its …

    Law 30 Oct 22:10

  • Faulty network switched closed Melbourne tunnels

    Traffic storm begat traffic chaos

    Private road operator Transurban says a faulty network switch was to blame for a computer fault that crippled Melbourne’s traffic network early in October. The 12-hour shutdown of two key tunnels in Melbourne, the Burnley and Domain tunnels, caused 20 km worth of gridlock. At the time, the company blamed a computer glitch. …

    Business 30 Oct 22:30

  • ARM busts out server-to-superphone superchips

    ARM TechCon Low-power juggernaut takes two more steps towards world domination

    ARM has rolled out a new series of processors – the Cortex-A50 Series – that it says will find their way into everything from smartphones to mega-data centers. The beefier member of the two-chip series has already found at least one data-center home in future ARM-based Opteron server chips, as announced this Monday by AMD. …

    Servers 30 Oct 22:40

  • Stratsec critical of cloud security

    Potential haven for botnets, study finds

    A study conducted by BAE security subsidiary Stratsec claims that cloud services aren’t doing enough to secure their instances against being used to host attacks. The company has described a series of experiments here. Stratsec says it was able to set up botnets – it refers to them as botClouds – on all five of the cloud …

    Security 30 Oct 23:00