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12th December 2012 Archive

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  • Dell wants to be more than your box provider

    Dell World 2012 Solutions in hand – but supply your own drinks

    If you are sitting around bored at work and you happen to keep a bottle of whisky in your desk, I have a new drinking game for you. In fact, you better switch to beer. The game is simple: log into the keynotes at Dell World 2012, which is being hosted by Dell this week in Austin, Texas, and every time one of the top brass says " …

    Servers 12 Dec 00:01

  • Netflix names Google Fiber the fastest ISP in the US

    AT&T the slowest mobile provider

    Content streamer Netflix has released the first in a planned monthly listing of the fastest internet service providers operating in the US, and so far Google Fiber is the top dog. That's good news for the residents of both Kansas Cities and a lucky few in Stanford, California, but not a lot of use for anyone else. Second on …

    Networks 12 Dec 00:05

  • After 50 years, Europe gets one patent to rule them all

    New European Patent Organisation will apply patents to 25 nations

    Patent trolls have a new bridge to hide under, after the European Union (EU) today announced that it will now offer applicants the chance to win a single patent spanning 25 member nations. The EU has been haggling over this issue for more than 50 years - a unified patent system was one of the EU's founding aspirations, while a …

    Policy 12 Dec 00:57

  • Dying to make greener batteries

    Plant molecule a replacement for cobalt

    A common and ancient plant dye could replace cobalt and help deliver greener lithium-ion batteries, according to a study out of America. Purpurin, an extract of the common Madder plant, turns out to have the right characteristics to use as a cathode, according to research led by The City College of New York (along with Rice …

    Science 12 Dec 01:03

  • Trolls and their ilk now file majority of patent suits

    Study shows manufacturers, start-ups losing out

    A study into the current state of patent litigation has shown that for the first time the majority of disputes have been brought by companies that predominantly hold and license patents rather than producing goods with them. Research by law professor Colleen Chien at Silicon Valley's Santa Clara University showed that in 2012 …

    Law 12 Dec 01:15

  • Microsoft Surface to hit third-party stores on Wednesday

    US, Australia first, other countries to follow

    Microsoft has confirmed that it has ramped up production of its Surface fondleslabs in advance of a new global retail sales push, one that should see the devices hit third-party retail store shelves as early as this Wednesday. "The public reaction to Surface has been exciting to see," Surface general manager Panos Panay said …

    Games 12 Dec 01:19

  • Asia’s chip giant MediaTek reveals quad core SoC

    Analysts predict another price war

    Taiwanese chip giant MediaTek is staking its claim to the high-end smartphone market with its first quad core offering which it hopes will give it an edge over rival Qualcomm in the high stakes China market and beyond. The firm, Asia’s largest chip producer, has until now had success mainly with feature phones and low end …

    Mobile 12 Dec 02:01

  • Broadcom's new chip aims NFC at every smartphone

    'Quad-combo' Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, FM, NFC chip provides no-brainer bonking

    Communications chipmaker Broadcom has made it easier and more cost-effective for smartphone manufacturers to include the new hotness of tap-to-communicate near-field communication (NFC) in their handsets with the release of a new quad-radio wireless chip that provides support for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, FM, and NFC. Broadcom's new …

    Hardware 12 Dec 02:06

  • Another Apple maps desert death trap down under

    'Mount Isa' is 141kms from the actual town

    Just when Apple thought it couldn't get any worse for its beleaguered Maps app, which has been leading motorists deep into the desert when they try to find the town of Mildura, The Register can reveal another SNAFU that could send travellers to an even less hospitable destination. The site in question is Mount Isa, a town in …

    Networks 12 Dec 03:15

  • North Korean rocket works, puts something into orbit

    Cunning PR ruse had West thinking launch would be delayed due to glitches

    North Korea has successfully launched a rocket that it claims is a peaceful vehicle, but which western nations suspect is a long-range missile. The launch took place at around 01:00 GMT and saw a Kwangmyongsong-3 rocket soar aloft, according to Reuters. The North American Airspace Defense Command (NORAD) published the …

    Science 12 Dec 04:36

  • Linux kernel dumps 386 chip support

    'Good riddance!' says chief penguin Torvalds

    Linus Torvalds has announced the Linux kernel no longer supports Intel's 80386 processors. Reg readers will doubtless recall that the 386 debuted way back in 1985 and made something of a splash when the chip found its way into PCs made by Compaq before an IBM PC bearing the processor reached the market. 386s screamed along, …

    Operating Systems 12 Dec 06:54

  • Is EMC really jealous of these nubile storage upstarts?

    Storagebod Something's rattled the tech giant's data centre cage

    It's kinda heartwarming to see an EMC veep publicly accuse a storage journo of misquoting him on XtremIO - but only because it feels like the spats of days gone by are back. It doesn't matter if it's about network-attached storage or flash; switch around the jargon and you’ll probably find the same blog entries work and the …

    Storage 12 Dec 07:01

  • Review: Apple iMac 21.5in late 2012

    An extremely thin client

    I'm a sitting behind a 2010 iMac. You know, it's one with the dodgy Seagate hard drives that Apple is replacing en masse. I must get this sorted soon, but it hasn't died ye—. Long time no see: Apple's late 2012 21.5in iMac Now I'm sitting behind a very late 2012 iMac. It's the super slim one that's all sealed up so no one …

    Hardware 12 Dec 08:00

  • Samsung's smart TVs 'wide open' to exploits

    The downside to being 'more like a PC'

    Samsung's Smart TV has a vulnerability which allows remote attackers to swipe data, according to security researchers. Malta-based security start-up ReVuln claims to have discovered a zero-day vulnerability affecting Smart TV, in particularly a Samsung TV LED 3D. Smart TV can be used to browse the internet, use social …

    Security 12 Dec 08:58

  • Tweeting bankers warned: U better not mislead customers...LOL

    Did u rly just tranfer £20k instead of £200 #checkthedecimaldumbass

    Banks must remember regulatory compliance issues when interacting with customers via Twitter, says an expert. Banks face regulatory risks when responding to customers through social media channels, a legal expert has said. A new study by Virgin Media Business has revealed that 63 per cent of banks now respond to customer …

    Financial News 12 Dec 09:32

  • Russian space research org targeted by mystery malware attack

    Korean message forum becomes cyber-espionage hub

    Security researchers have discovered a targeted attack against Russian hi-tech firm that appears to originate in Korea. The "Sanny" attack* is malware-based and geared towards stealing login information from Russian telecommunications, information technology and space research organisations. The first stage of the assault …

    Security 12 Dec 10:03

  • Microsoft licence cops kick in TWICE as many customers' doors as rivals

    30,000 companies face Redmond audit, says analyst

    Microsoft audited far more customers on software licensing than its rivals managed during 2012 - and Redmond is expected to turn the screws further over the next two years. Redmond’s compliance troops swooped on 51 per cent of enterprises and partners polled for the 2012 Software Pricing and Licensing Survey by IDC and …

    Management 12 Dec 10:28

  • Revealed: The Brit-built GRAVITY-powered light that costs $5

    Vid From the department of 'why didn't I think of that!'

    An ingenious gravity-powered light source has reached its first funding goal in four days. Co-invented by industrial designer Martin Riddiford - who crafted Psion's hardware - the cheap kit allows an LED to be run for 30 minutes from a three-second pull on a rope. Gravity does the rest. The GravityLight was devised with …

    Science 12 Dec 10:57

  • Speaking in Tech: The day Dell's server guys said 'Cloud is bulls**t'

    Podcast Hunger Games meets IT: 'Not everyone is going to make it through'

    Live from Austin, it's an enterprise and consumer tech cast with some of the biggest brains in the cloudy business. Weirding you out today are humble hosts Ed Saipetch and Sarah Vela. This week, Ed and Sarah take over the podcast live at Dell World 2012 while Greg Knieriemen takes a week off. Our special guests this week are …

    Cloud 12 Dec 11:22

  • London Blitz bomb web map a hit-and-miss affair

    Interesting but inaccurate WWII mashup lacks the human angle

    Last week a fanfare of press trumpets heralded the launch of Bomb Sight, an online map showing just where Luftwaffe bombs fell on London during the Blitz from October 1940 to June 1941. The Bomb Sight team from the University of Portsmouth "geo-referenced" the Bomb Census Survey maps held at The National Archives and " …

    Bootnotes 12 Dec 11:43

  • Review: Mio Cyclo 300 cycling satnav

    On yer bike, mate

    For some people cycling is about the exercise, for some it’s about the countryside and for some it’s about the gadgets. The carbon fibre water bottles and rare alloy spokes. Mio's Cyclo 300 all weather satnav It’s easy to assume that a bike computer is something which is only right for those in the third category but even …

    Hardware 12 Dec 12:00

  • Apple TV demand may drive Samsung-sapping sales

    Cook, consumers keenly interested in iTelly

    The idea that Apple is working on some kind of smart TV refuses to die, the notion regularly refreshed by rumour and the occasional soundbite from senior company executives. CEO Tim Cook only last week expressed his “intense interest” in the evolution of the TV in a nudge, nudge, wink, wink interview with US TV channel NBC. …

    Hardware 12 Dec 12:10

  • UN's 'bid to wrestle control of internet' stalled by asterisk

    WCIT2012 Consensus by exhaustion remains best hope for ITU treaty

    It is day eight of the World Conference on International Telecommunications, the ITU conference that has Google so panicked, and more than 600 delegates are locked in debate over the significance of an asterisk with no compromise in sight and time running out. The ITU conference is debating the International Telecommunication …

    Networks 12 Dec 12:19

  • Top-secret US spaceplane sets off on another classified mission

    First X-37B launches for the second time

    The US Air Force has relaunched the first of its super-secret X-37B spaceplanes, the OTV-1, sending it on another mysterious mission in space. OTV-1's first mission was back in 2010. The experimental unmanned spaceship headed off from Cape Canaveral yesterday, just a few months after the second X-37B, OTV-2, made an …

    Science 12 Dec 12:41

  • Email is so last century

    Why don’t we just phase it out?

    Over the course of the past year or two we have started to hear that email is becoming less relevant in this era of social networking. With websites such as Facebook grabbing the world’s attention and organisations encouraged to communicate with all and sundry via sites such as Twitter and LinkedIn, many are seriously …

    Management 12 Dec 13:01

  • Avaya tosses 400 UK resellers overboard

    Swim, channel men, SWIM

    Biz comms Avaya has made good on its promise to toss 400 bit-part channel partners overboard, and claims to have cut the cost and complexity of training as it looks to rebuild part of the base. As exclusively revealed by The Channel back in July, Avaya UK chief Simon Culmer said the firm was going to axe half of its 800-strong …

    The Channel 12 Dec 13:36

  • MPs: 'Chilling' new libel law will CENSOR THE TRUTH online

    We're not trolling, you can silence a site with an email

    A proposed overhaul to the UK's stringent libel law could have "a chilling effect on those publishing material online", an influential human rights committee warned today. The tabled amendments to the law of defamation could force website owners to take down defamatory material on request even if there is a valid legal defence …

    Law 12 Dec 13:57

  • Is this the sleek new BlackBerry mobe that will save RIM jobs?

    Photo QNX pocket-stroker pics emerge ahead of January launch

    A gallery of the first BlackBerry handset running RIM's new QNX-powered operating system has spilled onto the interwebs. Portions of the device, which are awaiting approval from mobile network operators, have been glimpsed for several months - but this is by far the fullest detail available. The photos reveal a lush high-end …

    Mobile 12 Dec 14:16

  • Worldwide Gmail crash was due to Google Sync bug

    Engineer: How Oompah-Loompah config foul-up pulled down world's email

    It was a Googler misconfiguring a sync server that took out Chrome and Gmail on Monday, an engineer has stated on dev forums. The reason for Gmail's brief burnout on Monday has been winkled out, and it was connected to the rolling crashes suffered on the Chrome browser on the same day. It was a human error in configuring a …

    Data Center 12 Dec 14:26

  • Guatemalan judge orders McAfee released from detention

    Just wants to 'fish and swim', no more aerotrekking

    A Guatemalan judge has reportedly ordered the release of John McAfee, after ruling the anti-virus pioneer turned Belizean manhunt target was being detained illegally. McAfee is due to be released from detention at the central immigration centre in Guatemala City on Wednesday. In an update to his official blog, McAfee said he …

    Security 12 Dec 14:57

  • Elon Musk's solar energy biz scraps IPO liftoff at last minute

    SolarCity's stock debut postponed, sources whisper

    Elon Musk's clean tech venture, SolarCity, has delayed its initial public offering at the last minute, putting the shares, which had been due to start trading today, on hold. The solar energy firm is struggling to price its stock sale amid troubles in the sector, sources told Reuters and the New York Times. According to an …

    Financial News 12 Dec 15:23

  • WCIT settles into a long night as deadlocks solidify ... into logjam

    Names, numbers and addresses, but not the internet

    With the asterisk debate postponed, the delegates in Dubai have arrived at the meat of the proposed treaty on international telecoms and are hitting deadlocks which make one wonder if any of them have seen the proposals before. The USA has been busy reiterating that it wants the ITU to stay in the first couple of ISO layers, …

    Networks 12 Dec 15:58

  • Feds smash international cybercrime ring with Power of Facebook

    Ad-men and G-men form potent globo force

    The FBI have said that with the help of Facebook, they've taken down an international crime gang who went on an $850m botnet spree. The ten suspects are allegedly responsible for multiple variants of the Yahos malware, which is linked to more than 11 million computer takeovers and over $850m in losses using the Butterfly …

    Security 12 Dec 16:35

  • Microsoft Santa gifts you with 5 critical fixes in Xmas Patch Tuesday

    Still using Word? You'll want to read this

    December's Patch Tuesday brought seven bulletins from Microsoft, five of which cover critical security vulnerabilities. A critical update for MS Word (MS12-079) is rated by security watchers as the most important of the batch. A flaw in Rich Text Format (RTF) processing poses a severe risk because Microsoft Outlook …

    Security 12 Dec 17:02

  • SolidFire bags blue chip execs, hopes storage street cred will follow

    Start-up hires seasoned HP 3PAR bods

    When a flash start-up gets a product for enterprise cloud service providers out the door it needs to become enterprise-like itself. SolidFire has done just that and recruited a trio of blue-chip storage execs. SolidFire makes modular scale-out flash arrays, with quality of service facilities, for cloud service providers. These …

    Storage 12 Dec 18:02

  • Wait, what's that rumble in the storage jungle? Yes, it's Ceph

    Open ... and Shut But can the open-source distributed file system, er, make any money?

    In the open-source world, there are few enablers to success more potent than being distributed within the mainline Linux kernel. Every open-source company I know aspires to such broad, built-in distribution. Which is one reason why I'm so bullish on the future of Ceph, an open-source, massively scalable distributed storage …

    Management 12 Dec 19:06

  • Facebook adding new privacy control tools for your 'stuff'

    Voting's done, let's get on with it

    Facebook has moved swiftly to introduce changes to its privacy controls and settings and it will roll out new tools to restrict access to posted material and edit past posts in the next week or so. The privacy settings menu has been simplified to three topics: "Who can see my stuff?" "Who can contact me?" and "How do I stop …

    Business 12 Dec 19:38

  • AssangeTM spins Oz Senate candidacy again

    Nobody’s written about me for hours

    Julian AssangeTM has proven yet again the international media's inability to use Google, generating a media flurry by re-announcing his intention to seek a Senate seat in Australia's 2013 election. The holed-up fugitive’s “me-for-the-Senate” plan, announced in March 2012 – nine months ago – got repeated in an interview and …

    Government 12 Dec 21:23

  • Xamarin tool lets devs build .Net apps for Mac OS X

    Code for Macs the Microsoft way

    Cross-platform developer tools vendor Xamarin has released Xamarin.Mac, a new toolkit that allows developers to build applications for deployment to Apple's Mac App Store using Microsoft's C# language and the .Net Framework. "With the release of Xamarin.Mac, it is now possible to build apps in C# for over 2.2 billion devices …

    Developer 12 Dec 21:38

  • GE boffins build micro-lungs to cool PC innards

    Puffing piezoelectronics outpace fatter fans

    Researchers at General Electric has developed a new air-cooling system based on human lungs that's half the size of conventional computer fans but just as effective at keeping things chilly. You just purse your lips and... (click to enlarge) The prototype uses 40mm by 40mm thin metal plates which are bonded to ceramic …

    Hardware 12 Dec 22:59

  • Australian app inquiry launches

    Aussies asked to think of the children ... and how much they spend by mistake

    Australia’s Commonwealth Consumer Affairs Advisory Council (CCAAC) has kicked off its inquiry into apps, releasing the survey and an Issues Paper it will use to gather opinions and frame policy. The inquiry was announced last month, when Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury said that the government wanted to investigate the ways …

    Policy 12 Dec 23:00

  • Internet Explorer tracks cursor even when minimised

    Keep calm: it’s only being exploited by adware blood-suckers ... probably

    A security researcher has published yet another reason not to use Internet Explorer for anything, under any circumstances: it can track your mouse cursor movements, even when it’s minimised. Affecting all versions newer than IE 6.0, and with no plans for a fix by Microsoft, the bug is demonstrated here (not being an IE user, …

    Security 12 Dec 23:14

  • Dell shoots for number one in servers, adds OpenStack to public cloud

    Dell World 2012 Ex-Prez Clinton preaches optimism, and R&D spending, to the multitudes

    It is Dell World day two, and company founder, chairman, and CEO Michael Dell took the stage a half-hour late to talk, once again, about the repositioning of the company that bears his name to be a bigger player in the IT racket. He also invited former President Bill Clinton, who spoke for what seemed like about three hours …

    Servers 12 Dec 23:30

  • Apptio puffs up freebie cost control freak for public clouds

    Hooks into the full-tilt-boogie, SaaSy IT bean counter

    For the past five years, Apptio has been building and expanding a cloudy service to manage your IT the way the CFO wants you to: by counting the beans as well as the clocks and bytes so you can figure out what the services your data center provides actually cost lines of business. Now Apptio wants to count the cost of your …

    Cloud 12 Dec 23:40