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17th April 2013 Archive

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  • Entangled matter the next big thing in qubits

    Teleportation inches forward

    Researchers at the Max Planck Institute are trumpeting as a breakthrough the successful teleportation of quantum information over 21 metres. To be fair, however, the record they're claiming to have set is for “matter-matter teleportation” – rather than merely carrying a quantum state such as polarisation between a pair of …

    Science 17 Apr 00:04

  • Oracle slaps critical patch on insecure Java

    Tries to educate users about potential dangers of in-browser Java apps

    Oracle has issued a critical update patch for Java as the database giant works to shore up confidence in the widely used code. The security update fixes 42 security flaws, 19 of which merit a 10 (most severe) rating acording to the CVVS metric the company uses to evaluate the software. Along with this, Oracle has also sought …

    Security 17 Apr 00:17

  • Desultory figures from Intel as Otellini makes his last call

    Expects data centers and touch to revive fortunes

    After 39 years at Chipzilla and over 80 earnings calls Paul Otellini has just finished his final one before stepping down in May. He didn't so much leave with a bang as a whimper. The company booked $12.6bn in revenue for Q1 2013, down nearly a billion from the last quarter, and profits dropped 25 per cent to $2bn, over half …

    Financial News 17 Apr 00:26

  • Huawei Ascend Mate lands in Australia

    But where's 'Oz tax'?

    Huawei is clearly hoping that 2013 will be the year that it shakes off the “cheap” image, but its Ascend Mate, first seen earlier this year at CES, still sports a notable $AU429 price tag. But a second agenda is at work, with the 1280x720 resolution, 6.1-inch Ascend Mate based on Huawei's own silicon and a custom UI – both of …

    Phones 17 Apr 03:28

  • Yahoo! thanks! Asian! equity! for! 36! PERCENT! income! boost!

    Irony police circle as Jerry Yang's far-sighted deal buys Mayer more time

    Yahoo! has beaten Wall Street expectations by reporting a 36 per cent year-on-year increase in net income last quarter, but CEO Marissa Mayer has investments in Yahoo! Japan and Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba to thank for the respite. The ailing firm has been undergoing a minor renaissance since the former Googler took over …

    Financial News 17 Apr 05:02

  • O2 tries something completely new: Honesty

    Monthly bill to be torn from real cost of 'free' phone

    O2 UK hired circus performers at a PR event this week to launch its new Refresh tariff, which it was forced to confirm ahead of schedule thanks to a media leak. But despite its use of a cut-price Derren Brown, the payment plan really does represent something completely new: honesty. As in, one can see exactly how much of the …

    Networks 17 Apr 05:04

  • AMAZEBALLS: Buy a doomed Apple TV, get a replacement free

    3rd-gen Wi-Fi-hungry telly boxes can't do Wi-Fi

    Apple has admitted its third-generation Apple TV box is dicky and has offered to replace faulty units. The fruity firm confessed that "small numbers" of the units suffered from dodgy Wi-Fi connections. Although the set-top box has a wired Ethernet port, the flaw is crippling for fanbois who are allergic to trailing cables and …

    Hardware 17 Apr 06:04

  • Hands up who wants 3D finger-controlled fridges? That's the spirit

    Analysis You thought 'slide to unlock' was bad? Gestures are the next patent battle

    Finger gestures in three dimensions are the next big thing in controlling computers, or so we're sadly told. The companies betting that we'll want to manipulate everything electronic around us with a wave of a hand are already laying claim to various types of body movement. The technology to detect gestures is included in …

    Developer 17 Apr 06:29

  • Chinese iOS pirate Kuaiyong launches web app store

    Bad news for Apple developers targeting PRC

    A Chinese group which has made it its mission to take a bite out of Apple’s iTunes revenue share is at it again, launching a full web version of its iOS app store jam-packed with pirated content. Chinese language app Kuayiong was originally launched at the tail end of last year to fill the gap left by the equally dodgy …

    Applications 17 Apr 06:43

  • Angry Birds fire back: Vulture cousins menace UK city's mobiles

    Brits must suffer until mast eggs hatch

    Vodafone engineers dispatched to fix a Southampton mobile mast found a nesting Peregrine falcon - a protected species which must be left alone until its eggs hatch - leaving local residents with limited mobile coverage. The BBC tells us the eggs can be expected to hatch in June, but until then the nest and the attending pair …

    Mobile 17 Apr 07:03

  • Are biofuels Europe's sh*ttiest idea ever?

    Analysis Famine-causing ... and not even environmentally friendly

    The craze for biofuels* - a part of EU legislation for a decade** now - is costing Europeans a fortune and isn't even environmentally friendly, a new report (PDF) by renowned British thinktank Chatham House argues. In the name of "climate change reduction", the EU passed a mandate requiring 10 per cent of transport energy to …

    Science 17 Apr 07:26

  • Eerie satnav boffinry claims it can predict THE FUTURE

    In 20ft stop, turn around, don't bother eating at that restaurant

    Do you hate driving in the city? Do you fly into a rage when you can’t find a parking spot after spending hours in heavy traffic on the way to your destination? Do you have trouble deciphering satnav directions while paying attention to your surroundings? Or do you get easily distracted while driving and become a safety threat …

    Hardware 17 Apr 08:06

  • Cloudscaling licenses Juniper virty networking for new OpenStack distro

    Getting ready for Grizzly with OCS 2.5 this summer

    Cloudscaling, one of the upstarts trying to become the Red Hat of OpenStack, has unveiled OCS 2.5, the third major release of its Open Cloud System. While it prepares for the coming of "Grizzly" - the latest OpenStack release - Cloudscaling has also inked a deal with Juniper Networks to put Juniper's virtual networking software …

    Cloud 17 Apr 08:29

  • Move over, Mythbusters: Was Archimedes an ancient STEVE JOBS?

    Happy 2,300th, old man... Beware of turtleneck-wearing Greeks?

    Happy birthday Archimedes! The Syracusan mathematician, engineer and philosopher came into the world in 287BC. We don't know the exact date of his birth 2,300 years ago, but an appreciation of the twenty-third centenary of his birth seems apt. An engraving from 1824 edition of Mechanics Magazine. Source:Wikimedia (public …

    Science 17 Apr 09:04

  • Google erects tech specs tech specs, APIs hit the decks

    First head-mounted Glass gear roll off production line

    Google's much-hyped Project Glass spectacles are inching closer to launch and the Chocolate Factory has released an application programming interface (API) guide and management software for the headgear. The first techno-specs, dubbed Google Glass Explorer Edition, are already rolling off the production line, the firm said in …

    Hardware 17 Apr 09:34

  • TalkTalk ads banned by watchdog over 'misleading' YouView offer

    When free ain't 'free' cos there's a 50 quid fee

    Budget ISP TalkTalk has been warned to be careful with how its uses the term "free" in the future, after the telco was found by the ads watchdog to have "misled" customers over claims it had made about one of its promotional deals. The company had run a TV commercial and sent out a direct mailing late last year for a broadband …

    Media 17 Apr 10:05

  • EU trade chief looks to reboot anti-dumping case against Huawei, ZTE

    Commission looks to ministers after firms refuse to complain

    The EU's top trade investigator is going to try to get permission to probe Chinese telcos Huawei and ZTE, despite the fact that European firms like Ericsson refuse to complain about them. The European Commission, like US government officials, have been looking into Huawei and ZTE over alleged state subsidies that let them …

    Government 17 Apr 10:27

  • EU trade chief looks to reboot anti-dumping case against Huawei, ZTE

    Commission looks to ministers after firms refuse to complain

    The EU's top trade investigator is going to try to get permission to probe Chinese telcos Huawei and ZTE, despite the fact that European firms like Ericsson refuse to complain about them. The European Commission, like US government officials, have been looking into Huawei and ZTE over alleged state subsidies that let them …

    Government 17 Apr 10:28

  • Office 365 - what's in it for you? Speak your brains

    Live Chat Navigate the features and licensing maze with Mary-Jo Foley and Team Reg

    Microsoft Office is the planet’s most ubiquitous productivity suite and Word and Excel still set the standard on personal productivity apps. The way the software suite is embedded in each office's day-to-day business means that with each new update, Microsoft finds itself struggling to convince people to upgrade. After all, …

    Applications 17 Apr 11:04

  • Win a Nexus 7 with reed.co.uk and El Reg

    Competition And find your next job too...

    reed.co.uk and The Register have teamed up to offer Reg readers in the UK the chance to win a shiny new Nexus 7 tablet. To enter, all you need to do is sign up for reed.co.uk’s jobs by email service using the short form below. reed.co.uk will then send you only the jobs you're interested in as and when new opportunities that …

    Jobs 17 Apr 11:26

  • Foxconn must pay Microsoft for EVERY Android thing it makes

    New deal to earn dosh from Google's labours

    Microsoft will collect a royalty for every device built by Foxconn that runs Google operating systems Android or Chrome OS. Hon Hai, the parent of the Chinese electronics behemoth, confirmed today it has inked a deal to license unspecified Microsoft patents on smartphones, tablets and TVs built by Foxconn that use Google's …

    Applications 17 Apr 11:44

  • Dell kills 3-year-old object storage appliance line

    Exclusive Moves to software-only model

    Dell is closing down its DX6000 object storage appliance product line just three years after starting it up. Its OEM'd Caringo software will be available through Dell’s Digital Download Store. But there are concerns that this move will tarnish Dell's reputation as an enterprise raised-floor data centre supplier. Object storage …

    Storage 17 Apr 12:04

  • Speaking in Tech: Put away the tissues - come have beers in London with us

    Podcast Whether they be tears of rage or sorrow, join us for a post-funeral StorageBeer

    It's another recap of the week in tech at El Reg's sole podcast - coming to you live from England's capital this week. Join your host, Greg Knieriemen - Ed Saipetch and Sarah Vela remain Stateside - for a wrap-up of all the latest in consumer technology, and specifically storage. This week, Greg is joined by two special guests …

    Cloud 17 Apr 12:19

  • PC floggers scavenge for crumbs as Apple hoovers up profits

    Macs now 5 times more profitable than 5 biggest PC players

    Apple's idiot tax helped it generate five times more profits from operations than the five biggest PC players combined in Q4, according to beancounter Asymco. Collectively HP, Lenovo, Dell, Acer and Asus flogged 52.8 million boxes equating to 58.6 per cent worldwide unit share, casting a shadow on Apple's 4.6 million Macs - …

    The Channel 17 Apr 12:48

  • Gov.uk named THE BEST THING Britain has made all year

    Website beats Raspberry Pi, The Shard, Olympics et al

    It's a website with all the visual flair you would expect from something designed by "cool" Whitehall bureaucrats. But even though it's something of a plain Jane, the government portal gov.uk has been named Design of the Year 2013 by the Design Museum in London. A suitable gong was handed to the website's team at a ceremony …

    Media 17 Apr 13:04

  • Boffins: Tireless star spurted deadly jets for half an hour at a time

    Long-lasting gamma ray bursts were death throes of a supergiant - study

    Scientists studying one of the biggest cosmic explosions ever recorded have theorised that the enormous bang, from which super long-lasting gamma ray bursts were emitted, was caused by the death of a massive star up to 1,000 times bigger than the Sun. A team at the University of Warwick studied a mysterious explosion recorded …

    Science 17 Apr 13:16

  • Samsung: Posting of fake HTC hate was 'unfortunate'

    Watchdog probes anonymous comments slating rival's mobes

    Samsung staffers slated smartphone arch-rival HTC in fake online reviews - and now a Taiwanese watchdog is investigating. Sammy has since ended the practice of allowing its employees to post anonymous comments, describing the whole affair as "unfortunate" and one that went against its "fundamental principles". It has even been …

    Mobile 17 Apr 13:44

  • Google Apps goes TITSUP for millions - users REJOICE on Twitter

    Cloud rains on parade. Again

    Google's customers are currently complaining about an outage affecting a number of the ad giant's products - including Gmail and storage service Drive. The company said it was investigating reports of disruption to its service and claimed that only 0.007 per cent of its users - which would amount to millions of people - were …

    Applications 17 Apr 14:04

  • Linux in 2013: 'Freakishly awesome' – and who needs a fork?

    LCS2013 Features, performance, security, stability: pick, er, four

    If there was a theme for Day One of the Linux Foundation's seventh annual Linux Collaboration Summit, taking place this week in San Francisco, it was that the Linux community has moved way, way past wondering whether the open source OS will be successful and competitive. "Today I wanted to talk about the state of Linux," Jim …

    Operating Systems 17 Apr 14:33

  • Inside Secure snatches BBC iPlayer downloads from Adobe

    Doctor Who on your Android slablet to follow?

    The BBC's mobile iPlayer client, which allows iOS users to download the national broadcaster's programmes for connectionless viewing, is now using digital rights management from embedded solutions player Inside Secure, which should herald the long-promised Android support. iPhone users have been able to download shows since …

    Media 17 Apr 15:05

  • UK Supreme Court backs news leech in copyright fight

    But asks EU court to give final say on browser cache scuffle

    The UK's Supreme Court has sided with a technology company and a public relations industry group in a long-running copyright case - but bounced it up to Europe for ultimate clarification. The decision (PDF) by the court offers a temporary respite for the Meltwater Group, a parasitic news scraper-cum-headline aggregator, after …

    Law 17 Apr 15:31

  • Brit IT biz boss wrongly 'terminated' in red-tape blunder

    Are you Sarah Connor?

    Companies House accidentally "terminated" reseller Probrand's co-founder and long-standing director Chris Griesbach in a paperwork bungle. A filing appeared on the official business register's website announcing "appointment terminated, Chris Greisbach". In fact it was Andrew Lawton Smith - fellow Probrand director and group …

    The Channel 17 Apr 15:49

  • US Justice Department pushes for fairer spectrum auctions

    Giants shouldn't be allowed to hoard spectrum to lock out rivals

    The US Department of Justice has written to the FCC warning against indiscriminate use of spectrum auctions, arguing that the mantra of "the highest bidder will make the greatest use" is increasingly outdated. The warning comes in the form of an open letter (PDF, long-winded), just as the FCC is deciding how best to dispose of …

    Government 17 Apr 16:17

  • US to hand out wads of green (cards) in bid to staff tech industry

    Microsoft alone desperate to hire 3000 brains on top pay

    The US government has yielded to industry bosses on some Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skilled-immigration issues, but less on others in a new bill meant to reform the existing immigration system. A bipartisan "Gang of Eight" senators released the highlights of the bill yesterday, after months of …

    Jobs 17 Apr 16:56

  • Google tells Microsoft IE shops: We can help you with those 'legacy apps'

    Offers Explorer users Chrome migration extension with long lists

    Google is chucking Chrome at businesses whose applications are hardwired to Internet Explorer - and coupled its offer with a snub to Redmond, claiming its once-proud browser has become "legacy". The Chocolate Factory today released the Chrome Legacy Browser Support extension that - with additional fiddling courtesy of your IT …

    Management 17 Apr 17:25

  • White House threatens to veto redrafted Cyber Intelligence act

    Still too evil, insist presidential viziers

    The White House has threatened to veto the re-animated Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) over privacy concerns. It's deja vu all over again, as President Barack Obama's administration said that the bill needed to better protect civilians' privacy and reduce the protection from liability the new legislation …

    Government 17 Apr 18:04

  • Microsoft joins the two-step verification party

    Late convert to dual-protection club

    Microsoft is bringing two-factor authentication to its users' accounts over the next couple of days. "With this release you can choose to protect your entire account with two-step verification, regardless of what service (or device) you are using with your Microsoft account," Eric Doerr, group program manager for Microsoft …

    Security 17 Apr 18:09

  • OpenStack: Control freak is a platform, just like Android and iOS

    And increasingly for enterprise users over cloud operators

    The OpenStack Summit is underway this week in Portland, Oregon, and the top brass at the companies who have been building the cloud controller and selling it to customers want everyone to know that this is not some open source project with promise, but a real product that can be put to use in data centers today. Jonathan Bryce …

    Cloud Infrastructure 17 Apr 18:31

  • Intel: Now THIS is how you forge physical, virtual switches

    Chipzilla wants to take over data center and telco networking

    Intel has x86 chips, switch ASICs, and tweaks to the Linux operating system that it says allow it to not only make better physical switches, but is also advancing the idea of using its chip and software tech to build a virtual switch for linking virtualized servers together and to layer network application services onto the …

    Cloud Infrastructure 17 Apr 19:05

  • Data centers can't save Intel's first quarter

    But they might save 2013 if Atom and Xeon chips take off

    The "Sandy Bridge" Xeon E5 replacement ramp for servers is nearly a year old now and clearly hit its stride in the first quarter for Intel, which turned in some pretty sad figures for its PC chip and chipset business. It is a pity that the Data Center and Connected Systems business was not already twice as large, as Intel hopes …

    Servers 17 Apr 20:29

  • Intel grabs API management company Mashery

    Chipzilla takes a slurp of cloud

    With fewer PCs getting sold, little foothold in tablets or phones, and software is busily eating into the value of your terrifically complex server chips, getting into software must seem like a pretty smart move for a chipmaker like Intel. Chipzilla is on a big software push, (as shown by Wednesday's switching announcement), …

    Business 17 Apr 21:12

  • Antares aborted after launchpad mishap

    Supply line separated early

    NASA has had to delay the launch of the Antares private spacecraft following the premature disconnection of a second-stage umbilical. Thankfully, it wasn't a catastrophic launch failure. Antares has missed its launch window, and will need 24 to 48 hours to be returned to “nominal state”, and at the time of writing, NASA was …

    Science 17 Apr 21:25

  • Malware and domain-squatters target Boston Marathon bombing

    Tragedy inspires threats both true and false

    The scummier end of the online community has been quick to use Monday's bombing of the Boston Marathon as bait for multiple malware dispersals, plus a spot of old-fashioned online fraud along the way. Within 24 hours of the blasts, the ISC reported that 234 potentially fake domains have been registered featuring mention of the …

    Security 17 Apr 22:18

  • Boffins spin a solid state qubit in a nucleus

    Reliable quantum memory in silicon

    A group of researchers from the University of New South Wales has produced a functioning solid-state qubit with a read-out fidelity of 99.8 percent, taking the world another step along the path towards a functioning quantum computer. The team used the magnetic spin of the phosphorus nucleus as the basis for their experiment, …

    Science 17 Apr 23:30