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8th January 2013 Archive

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  • China to build ANOTHER 100 petaflops hybrid supercomputer by 2014?

    Intel Inside the Middle Kingdom

    We passed through the 10 petaflops barrier in the supercomputer racket last year, and the next station on the train to exaflops is 100 petaflops. China already admitted at last year's International Super Computing '12 shindig that it was working on a kicker to Tianhe-1A hybrid CPU-GOU supercomputer, with the goal of having the …

    HPC 8 Jan 00:18

  • Judge OKs Novell investor suit over Attachmate sale

    Novell board's actions were 'essentially inexplicable'

    A judge in the Delaware Court of Chancery has ruled that members of Novell's board who approved the company's sale to Attachmate must defend their decision in court against allegations that they acted in bad faith by ignoring competitive offers from other parties. Novell's board of directors voted to accept Attachmate's $2.2bn …

    Business 8 Jan 00:32

  • Bacterial quantum tricks could help solar power

    Deep-sea microbe re-energises incoming light with molecular vibrations

    The ocean-dwelling Green Sulphur Bacteria should be interesting without outside help: it can, after all, live at depth of 2,000 meters and still harvest enough energy from light to survive and reproduce. Now, researchers at Cambridge University have found that the little microbe has another interesting characteristic: its …

    Science 8 Jan 01:02

  • After December surge, Apple has sold 40 BEEELLION iOS apps

    Possible last call for Apple in numbers game

    A bumper crop of application buying in December saw Apple's App Store hit the 40 billion download mark on Monday, with two billion of those coming in the month before Christmas. "It has been an incredible year for the iOS developer community," said Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. " …

    Applications 8 Jan 01:33

  • Intel bets the farm on touch-enabled 'convertible and detachable' Ultrabooks

    CES 2013 Beats own deadline for sub-10W Core chips

    To hear Intel tell it, the days of the good ol' laptop are numbered, and the future belongs to touch-enabled convertibles – laptops that lead a double life as both clamshells and tablets. "We fundamentally believe that there's a convergence happening between what traditionally have been notebook computing and tablet computing …

    Tablets 8 Jan 02:16

  • US nuke lab drops Chinese networking kit

    Report says Los Alamos ditched H3C kit over security concerns

    The Los Alamos National Laboratory, home of some US research into nuclear weapons, has replaced networking kit from Chinese vendor H3C over security concerns, according to Reuters. Reuters says it has read internal correspondence suggesting the removal of the H3C devices was undertaken as part of a wider review of risks posed …

    Security 8 Jan 02:31

  • Curiosity gives Martian rock its first scrub down

    DRT – a pretty fancy name for a wire brush

    NASA's Curiosity rover has been bringing a little spit and polish to the Martian surface by using its Dust Removal Tool for the first time to scrub a nearby rock. The spot NASA chose to clean up is a rock in the Yellowknife Bay area of Mars' Gale Crater dubbed "Ekwir_1." The rock needs to be clear of debris so that the Alpha …

    Science 8 Jan 03:05

  • Segway daddy unveils DIY weight-loss stomach pump

    Make sure you leave room for dessert

    Dean Kamen, the serial inventor best known for bringing us the Segway Personal Transporter in 2001, has come up with a new electronic transport system, this time designed to move predigested food out of your stomach to help you lose weight. As reported by The Independent, the technique is known as Aspiration Therapy, and Kamen …

    Hardware 8 Jan 03:07

  • Intel uncloaks 'no excuses' smartphone for emerging markets

    CES 2013 Enough features to make an iPhone user green with envy

    Intel has announced a smartphone reference platform for emerging markets that's a "no excuses multimedia phone," according to the general manager of its mobile and communications group, Mike Bell. "We at Intel think that emerging-market customers shouldn't have to settle for a substandard experience," Bell said at an Intel …

    Mobile 8 Jan 03:08

  • Lenovo, EA, Intel unite to DESTROY our childhood memories

    CES 2013 Today's happy nuclear family basks in the glow of a 'Table PC'

    Exactly why someone would want to play Monopoly on an all-in-one PC lying flat on the kitchen table, Intel didn't say, but a tableau vivant of a nuclear family doing just that was the centerpiece of a "Bringing Back Family Night" demo the company presented during a press event at CES 2013 on Monday. In the demo, introduced by …

    Hardware 8 Jan 03:47

  • Adobe offers free trip to PowerPC era

    'Free' download of CS2 is real, but crusty

    Creative types tired of forking out wads of cash to Adobe can now get their hands on its flagship Creative Suite for free. The catch? It's only version 2.0 of the suite almost certainly won't run on a modern Mac. News of the 'free' download for those with an Adobe.com account came to light yesterday, producing frenzied …

    Software 8 Jan 04:11

  • Chinese go online to protest censorship

    Celebs and activists mobilise support for hacked-off hacks

    China’s prohibitive controls on freedom of speech have provoked an unprecedented outpouring of online protest, after celebrities, popular bloggers, businessmen and ordinary netizens took to the web to voice their support for journalists at an influential newspaper who protested against censorship of their work. Hacks at …

    Policy 8 Jan 04:47

  • Bob Dylan's new album is 'Copyright Extension Collection'

    The times they are a-changin', thanks to Cliff Richard

    Europe's decision to extend copyright on music recordings from 50 to 70 years has just produced a curiosity: a four-disk compilation of Bob Dylan tunes that publisher Sony Music has come right out and called “The Copyright Extension Collection”. The new laws were introduced in September 2011 and became known as “Cliff's Law”, …

    Law 8 Jan 05:54

  • Chinese man pleads guilty to $100m piracy scam

    Microsoft, Oracle and SAP among victim, NASA was one buyer

    A Chinese businessman has pleaded guilty to copyright infringement on an epic scale after helping to crack and sell pirated high-end software worth in excess of $US100m over a three year period. Xiang Li of Chengdu in China’s south-western Sichuan province, disputed the value of the software he sold but pleaded guilty to …

    Law 8 Jan 06:10

  • 2013 in storage: Flash, file systems and... Is CDMI actually HAPPENING?

    Storagebod Plus - Storage arrays: The Next Generation

    There are a lot of things bubbling away in the storage pot at the moment and it appears to be almost ready to serve. Acquisitions are adding ingredients and we should see quite a few in early 2013 as well as firms snap up tech to flesh out the next generation of storage arrays. Yes, we will see some more tick-tock refreshes; …

    Storage 8 Jan 07:04

  • New gov rules stick pin into bloated ICT frameworks

    Cabinet: Suppliers 'of all sizes' need to get a fair crack

    Following an internal review of government IT procurement, the Cabinet Office has announced that it has scrapped plans to use some existing ICT frameworks. It has said that government departments will only be able to establish framework agreements in future if they can show it will "explicitly deliver against key strategic …

    Government 8 Jan 08:03

  • Facebook snubs storage barons for cheapo Far East kit - insiders

    Blocks and Files EMC? HP? We'll get our own arrays... bitch

    Facebook and other vast data-centre operators such as Google, Amazon and Baidu are reportedly shunning storage arrays from Dell, EMC, HP and NetApp for cheap boxes from Taiwan. According to supply chain insiders, the dominant social network is going to buy bargain storage kit from Taiwanese original design manufacturers (ODMs …

    Storage 8 Jan 09:05

  • FAVI smacks your dumb TV with £30 Android SmartStick

    El Reg tests Raspberry-Pi-media-player-for-the-lazy

    FAVI has brought out an Android stick that turns "any TV into a Smart TV", that's the pitch, and it's not far wrong as long as your TV has HDMI, you have a nearby port where you can juice up the dongle via mini-USB - and if you don't mind pushing an arrow around the screen every now and then. The FAVI SmartStick is an Android …

    Hardware 8 Jan 09:31

  • China throws 3G net over disputed island chain

    Where there's coverage so follows ownership

    The Spratly Islands now have 3G coverage, connecting the uninhabited rocks and reefs to China's telecommunications network, much to the annoyance of Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and the Philippines. The 750 specks of land which make up the Islands do host some soldiers, and fishing vessels will no doubt appreciate the coverage, …

    Mobile 8 Jan 10:02

  • Nokia chief Elop: 'Android? Hey, anything's possible!'

    Will HTML5 lure away Windows Phone mobe maker?

    Nokia chief exec Stephen Elop has sparked speculation about his company's commitment to its partnership with Microsoft and Windows Phone. Asked flat out by Spanish daily El Pais if Nokia will produce Android devices, Elop replied "today we are engaged and satisfied with Microsoft, but anything is possible" - an eye-catching …

    Operating Systems 8 Jan 10:28

  • UK Apple cart Square punched in the wallet as sales, profit fall

    Loss of major customer and sick economy blamed

    Not everything emblazoned with a fruit-shaped badge of honour is immune to the cold winds of recession: just ask London-based Apple channel partner Square Group. The business's turnover dropped 15 per cent to £24m and profits fell 36.8 per cent to £250,000 in the year to 31 March 2012, according to a filing this week at …

    The Channel 8 Jan 11:03

  • Sir James Dyson slams gov's 'obsession' with Silicon Roundabout

    Actual inventor of stuff disses Cameron's crush on Media2.0 websluts

    Inventor Sir James Dyson has criticised the UK government for putting "web fads and video gaming" ahead of more "tangible technology" that Britain can export. In an interview with the Radio Times magazine, the creator of the bagless vacuum cleaner said ministers needed to address a serious lack of engineering graduates in the …

    Small Biz 8 Jan 11:19

  • Tablets to out-sell notebooks this year, reckons tech prophet

    But laptops will become de facto fondleslabs

    Will 2013 be the year that tablets overtake laptops as the most-shipped type of computer tech? Market watcher NPD DisplaySearch certainly thinks so. It now reckons some 240 million tablets ranging in screen size from 5.6 inches to 13.3 will ship during 2013 - almost 16 per cent more than the 207 million notebooks that will ship …

    Management 8 Jan 11:39

  • Ten affordable mid-sized Full HD monitors

    Product Round-up Give your PC a facelift

    Monitors don’t age very well; growing, as they do, dimmer and yellower as time passes. Premium panel technologies are now also considerably cheaper than they once were, so if you haven’t updated your display in a while, the chances are it’s now more than a little bit rubbish. I’ve taken a look at ten of the best affordable …

    Hardware 8 Jan 12:00

  • Hey Lenovo, want to kill Apple? Look to Samsung hitman for tips

    Analysis If it walks like a ThinkPad and quacks like a ThinkPad it's not an iPad

    IBM's decision to sell its PC business to Chinese manufacturer Lenovo in 2004 seemed rather curious. Yes, hardware wasn't quite as profitable as software or services, but this was years ahead of the recession, before the advent of the iPhone and iPad; sales of PCs were ticking along and the imperial success of the netbook was …

    Hardware 8 Jan 12:31

  • Nvidia fixes hole that turns PCs into remote-control toys for hackers

    More importantly, new driver boosts Call of Duty graphics

    Nvidia has plugged a critical flaw in its graphics card software that allowed hackers to gain "super-user" access to vulnerable PCs over a network. The Nvidia GeForce display driver update, version 310.90, also features a number of other bug fixes and performance upgrades. "The vulnerability allows a remote attacker with a …

    Security 8 Jan 12:57

  • Switching to IT: Which qualifications are worthwhile?

    Commentards, help a fellow reader

    From time to time we dip into El Reg Forums to highlight questions raised by our commentards. Today we republish this post from Thomas 4, who writes: I'm considering a change of career from my current medicinal line of work and stepping into the great grand world of IT. My current plan is starting in helpdesk work and moving …

    Jobs 8 Jan 13:24

  • 5.6TB helium disks could balloon, lift WD onto enterprise throne

    So says a number-cruncher, but is it all hot air?

    Western Digital could topple Seagate as the king of enterprise disk shipments thanks to its helium drives, according to analysts IHS. The technology is being developed by WD's subsidiary Hitachi GST. Read-write heads and spinning magnetic platters in hard drives filled with helium experience less drag rather those in devices …

    Storage 8 Jan 13:38

  • NASA: There are 17 BEEELLION Earth-sized worlds in Milky Way

    Plus: Kepler sniffs out 4 'potentially life-bearing planets'

    Scientists scrubbing up data about starlight from NASA's Kepler telescope have used it to estimate that there are 17 billion other Earths in our galaxy, the Milky Way. Artist's impression of the variety of planets found the Kepler satellite. Credit: C Pulliam and D Aguilar Astrophysicists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center …

    Science 8 Jan 14:32

  • Oracle, Dell, CSC, Xerox, Symantec accused of paying ZERO UK tax

    MPs reel off more 'unethical' titans 'avoiding bills on industrial scale'

    Tech giants Oracle, Xerox, Dell, CSC and Symantec paid no corporate tax in the UK last year despite pocketing nearly £500m from public-sector IT contracts, it was claimed last night. According to a study undertaken by Charlie Elphicke, Conservative MP for Dover, the five US behemoths banked taxpayers' cash and had a combined …

    The Channel 8 Jan 15:03

  • German ebook firm pushes cheapo ereaders into US drug stores

    The txtr, sir? It's in the laxatives aisle

    US book distributor ReaderLink will be pushing German firm txtr's impossibly cheap ereader into US grocery and drug stores, launching a new cloud platform which will also support the devices. The cheap ereaders cost a mere €10 on this side of the pond, but dollar pricing has not yet been announced. Txtr's Beagle ereader was …

    Media 8 Jan 15:29

  • FBI-wanted US bank hack suspect chills in Bangkok cooler

    Vid Algerian cuffed for allegedly siphoning millions

    An alleged computer hacker implicated in the theft of millions of dollars from US banks accounts has been arrested in Bangkok, Thailand. Hamza Bendelladj, 24, is accused of raiding private accounts held with 217 banks and financial companies worldwide in order to fund a lavish lifestyle. His alleged exploits reportedly …

    Security 8 Jan 16:02

  • Dell dangles dongle PC at enormo-display-desiring road warriors

    CES 2013 USB stick-sized Android mini computer, anyone?

    Dell, is that a memory stick-sized Android computer in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me? The former, it turns out. Dell’s Wyse subsidiary - the thin-client computing pioneer the PC giant acquired in April 2012 - will today show off ‘Project Ophelia’ at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas/ Ophelia is a …

    Hardware 8 Jan 16:27

  • 'Not even Santa could save Microsoft's Windows 8'

    Open ... and Shut Didn't buyers know it was Christmas time at all?

    Once upon a time any problem at Microsoft could be magically resolved with a new Windows release. Since Windows Vista, however, that formula hasn't worked. In fact, according to new sales data from NPD Group, it may be getting worse. In late 2012, departing Microsoft board member Reed Hastings called Microsoft's Surface tablet …

    Developer 8 Jan 17:02

  • Bite us, Apple: Samsung hauled in $8.3bn in Q4

    South Korean shiny things rival had a fat Christmas

    Samsung Electronics has released its pre-earnings guidance ahead of revealing its full figures for 2012, and the topline figures for the quarter show that money has been pouring in for the South Korean tech titans. Sales for the last three months of 2012 brought in approximately 56 trillion won ($52.7bn) for Samsung with an …

    Financial News 8 Jan 17:17

  • Red Hat Linux: Now with Microsoft's Hyper-V drive

    Menace of Umbongo, VM sees Hatters engage Redmond warp

    Red Hat’s Enterprise Linux 5.9 has landed with some cloudy love from Microsoft. The latest version of the Linux distro, released Tuesday, introduces drivers for Microsoft’s closed-source Hyper-V hypervisor rival to VMware’s vSphere. The inclusion of Microsoft’s drivers means improved interoperability and manageability for …

    Operating Systems 8 Jan 17:38

  • EMC gobbles storage and robo-cloud maker iWave

    The bit that Oracle spat out

    EMC has just bought storage and cloud automation biz iWave, which does business with several of EMC's storage rivals. iWave CEO Brent Rhymes said: "I’m thrilled to announce that we are now part of EMC... iWave has successfully collaborated with EMC Corporation for years. [We] strongly believe that this is the right and logical …

    Storage 8 Jan 18:06

  • Dell chief biz gobbler Johnson flees for hedge-fund Blackstone

    IT giant commits to continued embiggening

    'Tis the season for executive management changes. David Johnson, the mergers and acquisition chief that Michael Dell lured away from IBM, is leaving Round Rock to return to the Empire State. Johnson was responsible for architecting Dell's expansion into services, storage, and software after leaving Big Blue. A Dell …

    Business 8 Jan 18:31

  • Seagate: Stuff the cloud, back it all up on our box

    CES 2013 Storage, media streaming plus wireless backup for home networks

    Seagate is showing off two new "cloud storage alternatives" at the Las Vegas CES shindig. Both are disk products that wirelessly stream data to mobile devices and back up a network of home desktop and notebook computers. Seagate has introduced Seagate Central Shared disk drive storage, with 2TB, 3TB or 4TB capacity, for those …

    Storage 8 Jan 19:04

  • Guitar-playing keys enable extremely thin keyboards

    CES 2013 With Strategic Polymers, you don't touch keypad, keypad touch YOU!

    A San Francisco company wants to help laptop, tablet, and smartphone manufacturers in their seemingly insatiable desire to create thinner and thinner devices. Its solution is to replace keyboards and other physical user-interface elements with electro mechanical polymer (EMP) keys that provide localized and individualized haptic …

    Hardware 8 Jan 19:24

  • New York's Chelsea gets free Wi-Fi courtesy of Google

    Leonard Cohen has something else to do in Chelsea

    Google is setting up a free outdoor Wi-Fi zone around its New York headquarters in the Chelsea district, making it available to local residential homes and schools. At a press conference on Tuesday, New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that free Wi-Fi was a "great idea" and the city has already wired up 20 public parks in …

    Hosting 8 Jan 20:09

  • Scientists snap first film of giant squid in action

    Don't worry, it was armless

    A team of scientists and broadcasters have captured the first images of a giant squid swimming and feeding in its natural environment. "It was shining and so beautiful. I was so thrilled when I saw it first hand," Tsunemi Kubodera, a researcher at Japan's National Science Museum told AFP. "Researchers around the world have …

    Science 8 Jan 21:42

  • Do Not Call Register operator breaches Register

    Left hand, meet right hand, write $AUD110k cheque to cover fine

    The company to which Australia outsources operations of its Do Not Call Register has been fined for making telemarketing calls to numbers listed on the Register (not The Register, which we italicise). Australia implemented a Do Not Call Register in 2007, after consumer anger about telemarketing moved the federal government to …

    Law 8 Jan 21:48

  • Drones could help predict fire paths, say researchers

    Irony: bushfire research funding dries up

    As Australia lurches from fiery catastrophe to fiery catastrophe, researchers have proposed the use of drones to provide better predictions of how bushfires may behave. Speaking to IT News, University of Melbourne researcher Dr Thomas Duff said fire prediction depends on data-gathering. As part of the Bushfire Cooperative …

    Science 8 Jan 21:49