9th > January > 2008 Archive
26
Xbox 360 could back Blu-ray
CES
The format wars have taken another turn this afternoon as Microsoft announced its Xbox 360 console might feature Blu-ray in the near future.
Covenant energy sword added to Halo 3 replica arsenal
CES
If you've already got the Xbox 360 special edition console and Lego-like Master Chief figures, but you still feel like you hadn't quite satisfied your Halo habit, you need a Covenant plasma pistol, rifle... or energy sword.
LG lifts skirt, reveals watchphone
CES
The wristphone is back, this time courtesy of LG. But while the manufacturer showed off its idea of what such a gadget should look like, there's no guarantee it'll ever come to market.
Excuse me sir: there's a rootkit in your master boot record
Security mavens have uncovered a new class of attacks that attach malware to the bowels of a hard drive, making it extremely hard to detect and even harder to remove.
Dengue fever threatens continental US
US health officials have warned that the global warming and inadequate control of mosquito populations could see dengue fever spread from the tropics to the continental US, Reuters reports.
Six firms cough for unlicensed software
Three US financial services firms have paid large fines for using unlicensed software in their offices.
Fluorescent sow drops glow-in-the-dark piglets
One of the three transgenic "glow-in the dark" pigs born back in 2006 in China's Northeast Agricultural University in Harbin has given birth to fluorescent piglets, indicating the "technology to breed transgenic pigs via cell nuclear transfer is mature", according to professor Liu Zhonghua.
Reaper airborne war-droids to patrol 2012 Olympics
The RAF will use its new force of MQ-9 "Reaper" robo-planes to patrol the skies above the London Olympics in 2012, according to reports.
Noxon 2 and iPod Touch trouble
I recently purchased a TerraTec Noxon 2 internet radio and iPod dock but seem to be having problems in playing music from my iPod Touch - reviewed here.
Google turns Irish town 3D
It is said that certain events put your town on the map, but one Irish town is taking things even further. It’s set to be immortalised in 3D on the Google Earth mapping application.
Ion readies USB-connected VHS player
CES
Ion, the company behind those USB turntables much loved by those of us old enough to not only know what vinyl is but to have invested in an LP collection, is hoping to win over folk with home movies and films recorded on VHS.
Lord Triesman on P2P, pop-ups and the Klaxons
Interview
Convincing internet users who are used to gorging themselves on free movies and music that they shouldn't do it may be like telling Pope Urban VIII the Earth goes round the Sun, but the government claims it's possible - by rejigging the copyright laws.
Digital cert glitch trips up UK passport site
Digital certificate glitches have affected the operation of a secondary website used for UK passport applications.
Apple cuts UK iTunes prices
The European Commission has ended its antitrust investigation into Apple after the computing giant agreed to cut the price UK consumers pay to download music for their iPods.
Computacenter shrugs off economic fears
Computacenter today shrugged off any suggestion that it could be hit by the credit crunch crisis, even as evidence mounted that the contagion is spreading from the financial sector to the High Street.
NY corpse attempts to cash welfare cheque
Two men were arrested yesterday in New York's Hell's Kitchen district after failing to convince staff at a "check-cashing store" to honour the welfare cheque of a deceased friend, the New York Times reports.
Blackberry Pearl 8120 smartphone
Unwired Video Review
Everyone knows that the Blackberry is de rigeuer for corporate types, but now RIM is making a real push to get the mobile email devices into the hands of consumers too. The Pearl 8120 builds on the original slimline Pearl and adds some cool new features - like Wi-Fi and a better camera.
Email security: Where are we @?
Reg Guide
Email is no longer an option in the business environment. Like many technologies that have grown by individual demand rather than organisational imposition, email crept up on corporations by stealth, becoming an essential tool before anyone cared to notice.
RSA loses sales and security jobs in EMC restructuring
RSA Security is to scrap staff as part of a restructuring plan aimed at boosting efficiency across parent firm EMC.
UK gov scraps '£1bn' prisoner tracking system
David Hanson, minister of state at the Ministry of Justice, told the Commons yesterday that the over-budget project to link prison and probation IT systems is being canned.
Amiga explains AmigaOS 5 AmigaAnywhere
CES on Video
It's the next generation of the Amiga operating system - company President Bill McEwen reveals what it's all about...
Sysadmin jailed for 30 months over failed logic bomb
A former sysadmin at Medco Health Solutions, a US prescription management and health information firm, has been jailed for 30 months over a failed attempt to destroy its systems using a "logic bomb" computer virus.
Parents to get classroom spynet in 2010
Every parent of a secondary school pupil will have online access to real-time data on their child's behaviour by 2010 under new targets set today by schools minister Jim Knight.
Qualcomm quietly buys up Bluetooth experts
C-Net is reporting that last December Qualcomm quietly bought up audio-streaming specialists Open Internet North America, though neither company has made a formal announcement about the purchase.
LG laptop goes up in flames
A journalist was awoken by a hot news story yesterday: the realisation that his LG Electronics laptop had just exploded.
A Bluetooth headset just for women
Sony Ericsson hopes to draw the ladies in with its latest gadget: a Bluetooth headset designed with a lady's needs in mind.
Is it or isn't it? Brown keeps bottling the ID card question
For the third time in four days, Gordon Brown has sown doubts about the future of compulsory ID cards for UK citizens. Speaking at prime minister's question time today, Brown confirmed that it was "policy" for ID cards to become compulsory, but added the rider that this was subject to a vote in parliament.
Alienware heads off on a curve with gaming screen design
CES on Video
It's curved an it has got an enormous resolution. Yes, it's Alienware's monster monitor, and here's what all the fuss is about...
GM sees future: Cars and drivers full of booze
US motor heavyweight GM is determinedly presenting itself as a technological innovator ready to break with its old-school, big iron image. The car colossus' CEO, Rick Wagoner, has been giving speeches and briefings in recent days boosting his firm's efforts in development of new, greener prime movers and radical electronics.
IT contractors cry foul over HMRC income splitting law
IT contractors are up in arms about government legalisation that will overhaul income splitting arrangements among individuals following a landmark case that Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) lost.
T-Mobile bundles Wi-Fi with Web 'n Walk
T-Mobile customers signing up to Web 'n Walk Plus (or Max) will get free access to the operator's 39,000 hot spots from January. So for £12.50 a month users can get 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, and be allowed to use instant messaging too...
SoBig anniversary marks birth of the botnet
Wednesday (9 January) marks the fifth anniversary of the SoBig-A virus, an item of malware experts reckon marked the transition to money rather than mischief as the main drive behind malware creation.
Ofcom's radio carve-up could cut out mesh
Ofcom has published the first of its consultation documents looking at how Spectrum Usage Rights (SURs) are going to work in the real world, and the future looks bad for mesh networks with their lack of centralised control.
Toshiba raises colours in portable storage battle
Toshiba has added a touch of style to its portable hard drives, whilst also breaking a record. It claims to be the first manufacturer to launch a 320GB 2.5in form factor portable HDD.
Wii Fit sells 1m copies in Japan
Traditional exercise is officially dead, at least in Japan. Nintendo’s Wii Fit video game has already sold one million copies to Japanese customers hungry for some virtual physical activity.
Cash-strapped NHS seeks Project Manager
The "Essential & Specialist IT Skills Service Co-ordinators" among you will be delighted to learn that, if you're feeling charitable, NHS Connecting for Health is offering a seven-month gig up in sunny Leeds:
Lenovo waves around ultra-light sub-laptop
CES on Video
Lenovo has big things planned for it's consumer-friendly little laptop, the IdeaPad U110...
LG shows gadget based on next-gen Intel UMPC chip
CES
LG has craftily shown off an ultra-mobile PC based on Intel's as-yet-unlaunched '45nm Silverthorne' processor at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
Panasonic unveils web-enabled Plasma TVs
CES
Panasonic claims to have created the industry’s first internet-enabled plasma TVs, part of its Viera range of displays.
Revealed: USB 3.0 jacks and sockets
CES
USB 3.0, the upcoming version of the universal add-on standard re-engineered for the HD era, made a small appearance at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). It wasn't demonstrated in operation, but we did get to see what the new connectors look like.
Fully patched PCs are a rare breed
A small minority of users - as few as one in 20 - is running fully-patched Windows PCs.
Sadville bans usury
Is nothing sacred? The global financial crisis has encroached on that escapist Garden of the Id, Second Life.
Feds to probe Comcast's BitTorrent busting
At long last, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will investigate claims that Comcast has put a choke hold on P2P file-sharing traffic.
SWsoft strokes Apple with Parallels Server beta
SWsoft has issued the sort of anticipated beta release of a hypervisor-style server virtualization product - Parallels Server.
Build a Silverlight media player
Hands on
Microsoft's deal with US media giant NBC Universal to stream this summer's Olympic Games online using Silverlight represents a major demonstration of the potential of Microsoft's emerging browser-based runtime and streaming service.
Xbox Live account takeovers put users at risk
Hackers have hijacked the Xbox Live account of a celebrity gamer and made off with a prized piece of virtual armor in a brazen act that suggests the online Microsoft service still puts the security of its users at risk.
Aruba Networks takes to AirWave for $37m
Wireless switch specialist Aruba Networks is buying AirWave Wireless, a multi-vendor WLAN management firm, for $37m.
Google's Android - big name, big question on payment
If you're a Trekkie it may have already occurred to you that Google is a little like the Borg. The company, it seems, is determined to assimilate all information-, advertising- and search-based services in its path. And now, mobile has fallen under the company’s rapacious gaze.
UK spooks deliberately leaked 'Squidgygate' tapes
The infamous "Squidgygate" tapes of Princess Diana speaking intimately with an alleged lover were recorded by the Government Communications Headquarters and deliberately leaked over the public airwaves, her former bodyguard told an inquest panel looking into her death.
Microsoft set to milk mobile Messenger mavens?
Mobile Windows Live Messenger users are reporting that Microsoft wants to take their money. But Redmond says it hasn't decided whether to take their money or not.
