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Apple ups revenue estimates in wake of nine million–phone weekend
In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple has announced that it now expects its revenue to come in at the high end of the range it projected when it announced its financial results for its third fiscal quarter of 2013 this July.
In the filing this Monday, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer cited the sale of nine …
BlackBerry inks deal to go private for $4.7bn
BlackBerry – or, as the struggling Canadian smartphone manufacturer has been renamed by the chattering classes, "Beleaguered BlackBerry" – has signed a letter of intent to be taken private by a consortium led by Fairfax Financial Holdings of Toronto, Ontario.
Fairfax currently owns about 10 per cent of BlackBerry, and the …
Can't fit slab AND mobe in your tight pockets? 10 tablets with built-in 3G/4G
Product Round-up If you want a tablet that is always connected to the internet, there are several options to consider.
One that involves no extra hardware expense is simply to use your smartphone as a wireless hotspot, routing connections over 3 or 4G - if your chosen mobile network lets you. Another option, which has the advantage of not …
Oracle's Ellison talks up 'ungodly speeds' of in-memory database. SAP: *Cough* Hana
OpenWorld Oracle headman Larry Ellison kicked off this year's OpenWorld conference on Sunday by touting the lightning-fast performance of the Oracle 12c database's new in-memory database caching option, and he brought along some brand-new hardware to prove his point.
In-memory databases are nothing new, of course. SAP has long flaunted …
VMware to customers: STOP INSTALLING OUR SOFTWARE! NOW!
Update In a move likely timed to coincide with the opening of Oracle OpenWorld, VMware has made vSphere 5.5 available for download here - but the release of the latest version of its flagship product has been marred by the issuance of a warning to users of vSphere Replication 5.1 NOT to install 5.5.
vSphere Replication is a business …
BlackBerry BLOODBATH! Company warns of nearly $1bn quarterly loss
BlackBerry surprised Wall Street by releasing its second quarter earnings early on Friday, but it was hardly the kind of surprise where a dancer jumps out of a cake.
The Canadian smartphone maker warned the market that it expects to post revenues of around $1.6bn when it files its formal earnings report on September 27 – a …
E-book him! Entire Judge Dredd back catalogue gets iDevice treatment
Dredd fans! Tharg the Mighty has added almost every single 2000AD story the future lawman has passed judgement in - well, apart from the ones that were once banned by m’learned colleagues - to the official iDevice app.
Yes, the Judge Dredd Complete Case Files compendia - which extend to a colossal 20 volumes - are now available …
Ex-BT boss bags £9 MILLION bye-bye bundle, moves to key gov post
BT's former boss Ian Livingston just received an extremely generous leaving present from the telecoms giant – 2.6 million shares in the company worth about £8.9m.
Earlier this month, Livingston left BT for his new, unpaid job in the House of Lords as Prime Minister David Cameron's Minister of State for Trade and Investment.
The …
Axe falls: Virgin Media plans to kill 600 management jobs
Virgin Media is shedding up to 600 management jobs in the wake of Liberty Global's takeover of the British telco.
The Register understands that the cost-cutting restructure is intended to help the company focus on growth. A source close to the situation told us that, in the coming months, most of the other UK-based positions – …
Microsoft explains its new financial reporting structure – sort of
In a meeting with financial analysts on Thursday, Microsoft for the first time disclosed details of its new financial reporting structure, in light of the radical organizational restructuring that CEO Steve Ballmer announced in July.
As we were told, gone are the classic five business groups units – Windows, Server and Tools, …
Ex-CEO Elop's plunder to total $25m in voyage from Nokia to Microsoft
Outgoing Nokia CEO Stephen Elop will receive compensation and bonuses totaling approximately $25.4m as he departs the company for his new position at Microsoft.
The payout was revealed in proxy materials for the Finnish firm's "Extraordinary General Meeting" to be held on November 19, during which shareholders are expected to …
We saw you admire that rack: UK server sales are finally recovering
Crack open the champers, suppliers - the UK server market actually GREW in Q2, ending five consecutive quarters of misery for those left brushing the dust off their systems.
Factory revenues went up four per cent in calendar Q2 to $501m as legacy systems rebounded due to increased project work that followed mainframe product …
BlackBerry's Heins readies the hatchet yet again
BlackBerry plans to make significant staffing cuts by the end of the year, sources claim, which will see the Canadian firm shed as much as 40 per cent of its total workforce.
As many as 5,080 of BlackBerry's approximately 12,700 employees could get the axe under the plan, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing …
Oracle revenues miss expectations – AGAIN
Oracle posted lower than expected revenue for the first quarter of its 2014 financial year, making it the third consecutive quarter that the database giant has missed analyst expectations.
Oracle announced revenues of $8.38bn and earnings per share of 59 cents on Wednesday, compared to the $8.48bn and EPS of 56 cents that the …
Google fluffs DEATH DEFEATING startup Calico
Google has helped found a company that will focus on life extension technologies, presumably because if you die, then you can't click on ads.
The death-defeating company "Calico" was announced by Google chief Larry Page in an insubstantial blog post on Wednesday, along with a PR-puffed article in Time magazine.
Calico's chief …
You thought slinging Photoshop into the cloud would fail? Look who's laughing NOW
Despite banking a smaller cash haul than it managed this time last year, Adobe's share price rallied last night - as it crashed through the one million cloud subscriber mark.
The maker of the Creative Cloud added 331,000 more paying people to the internet-served software package, according to its paperwork for its third quarter …
So you think you know all about configuration management
David Norfolk is practice leader with responsibility for development and governance at Bloor Research International. He is on the committee of the BCS Configuration Management Specialist Group.
Last month El Reg published an article by me that introduces the concepts of configuration management. You can read it here. In this …
Redmond cash splash follows mobile hash
Microsoft has decided to fling handfuls of cash at its shareholders, in the form of a 22 percent increase in its quarterly dividend, and renewing its $US40 billion share buyback program.
The decision comes as Microsoft seeks a replacement for outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer, and seeks to digest its $US7 billion acquisition of its …
Tightwad music spaffer Pandora opens box for Wall St to fill with cash
Controversial webcaster Pandora, under fire for running its music streaming business with the iron grip of a plantation owner, is returning to Wall Street for a cash injection.
The company floated in 2011 and its popularity (it has 70 million listeners), revenues (up 55 per cent year on year) and share price (now almost $25) …
How do you choose your vendors?
Sysadmin blog Part of ranking vendors (and their products) involves attaching a certain level of priority to the different categories you judge them on. Everyone is going to value different elements of a supplier relationship differently, so the items on my list should be considered to be "in no particular order." I leave it as an exercise …
Bill Gates again world's richest, tops in US for 20th straight year
Bill Gates has regained his title as World's Richest Human, and has also been named the US's wealthiest person for the 20th consecutive year.
According to Forbes' annual survey of the 400 top members of the silk-stockinged class, Gates elbowed Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim off the summit of Mt. Moola, posting a net worth …
'British Bill Gates' Lynch laments HP's Autonomy 'botch-up'
Mike Lynch, once billed as Britain’s Bill Gates, has lamented the handling of his former company Autonomy, saying Hewlett-Packard fumbled the acquisition.
In a softball CNBC interview where he pushed his Invoke Capital venture fund, Lynch said Autonomy was the “next generation of software” until HP "dropped the ball".
In …
Apple's liquid-crystal screen pusher mulls $2bn IPO – report
Tokyo-based Apple supplier Japan Display is reportedly considering an initial public offering which could raise up to $2bn.
The firm makes screens for the iPhone 5C as well as the 5S. It was created by a government-backed fund which integrated screen-making businesses spun off from Japanese firms Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi after …
OK, so we paid a bill late, but did BT have to do this?
Opinion One of the pains of running a business is billing and cash collection, especially if your customers are big. It really doesn’t matter what you put on the quote or the invoice, they pretty much pay you when they feel like it, and 60 days is usually the quickest if you’re lucky. In effect, SMBs act in aggregate as an unwilling …
From launch to orbit: The new commercial space pioneers
Feature We all know that many 20th century prophecies of life in the new millennium never came to pass. Among them were flying cars, meals-in-a-pill and annihilation by Skynet, to name but a few. However, taking the crown of unfulfilled expectations has to be private spaceflight for business or pleasure.
With all the rapid space tech …
Paypal not sure if its bargepole is long enough for crowdfunding
Paypal is considering its policy on crowdfund payments after freezing transactions on a number of mob-monetised projects.
The online money-sending service has announced that is looking into how best to move forward with crowdfunding, after admitting that its "existing policies and processes aren’t working quite right for this …
Apple named in criminal lawsuit over Premier League–streaming app
Apple has been summoned to court in Thailand for approving an app which streams UK Premier League football games to an iPhone, in breach of the exclusive contract signed by local telly firm Cable Thai Holding.
CTH paid $300m for the exclusive rights to show chaps kicking a ball around a pitch on a Saturday afternoon, according …
Senator halts Google's taxpayer-subsidized executive jet fuel deal
A year-long investigation by US senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) into Google's use of NASA's Silicon Valley airport has shown that the company benefited from buying cheap aviation fuel from NASA at a discounted price arranged by the Pentagon.
"Are some executives getting a special deal on fuel that isn't available to other …
Extreme Networks coughs $180m for 'no overlap' rival Enterasys
Plucky upstart Extreme Networks has swallowed the larger, privately held Ethernet switching player Enterasys Networks for $180m in cold hard cash - and some shares.
The buy makes Extreme the fourth largest Ethernet switching maker on the planet in revenue terms, behind Cisco, HP and Huawei, according to ZK Research.
NASDAQ- …
Privacy lawsuits: Will sueballs lobbed at US cloud services hit you where it HURTS?
Sysadmin blog Thinking of using US cloud services, outsourcing to a US-based provider or just leasing a piece of their cloud and concerned about lawsuits? Here's some food for thought.
Privacy, of course, became the overarching concern of many after former US National Security Agency sysadmin Edward Snowden leaked documents about the country' …
Twitter announces it's going public, via Twitter
Bird-backed babble network Twitter has filed for an IPO.
The blue avian-branded company announced on Thursday that it had submitted an S-1 form to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in, of course, a tweet.
"This Tweet does not constitute an offer of any securities for sale," the social network cautioned. At the time of …
Dell, the man, prevails in quest to wrest Dell, the company, from Wall Street
Analysis So that's done, then. Shareholders of IT giant Dell have approved a $24.9bn private takeover bid put together by company founder Michael Dell, Silver Lake Partners, and borrowed dough from Microsoft and a slew of banks. Now Wall Street will be off Dell's back as it tries to reorganize itself for the future of computing, …
So WHY does Huawei's enigmatic boss shun the West's spotlight?
The elusive chairman and founder of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei shies away from publicity – not because his past is marred by controversy, but rather because he doesn't want to become the next Steve Jobs or Steve Ballmer: a celebrity, of sorts, taking the focus away from the multinational's work.
That, at least, is the view of …
Shareholders tell Mike 'Just Do It': Dell to go PRIVATE for $24.9bn
Dell shareholders have given the green light to Mickey D to take the company he founded nearly three decades ago private – again.
Approval from investors was never really in doubt after activist investor Carl Icahn, who seems more interested in Apple, revealed that he and partner SAM had given up the ownership battle, clearing …
ATTACK of the ROBOT BANKERS brings stock market to its knees
Automated "predatory" robot bankers caused a number of serious glitches that sent the global financial system shuddering to a halt, researchers have claimed.
Boffins from the University of Miami found that squadrons of "ultrafast" and out of control trading algorithms caused major spikes and crashes in the market. These dramatic …
Facebook stock-spaffers officially LOSERS: Stock hits all-time high of $45
Facebook shares rose over three per cent to a new high yesterday, finally breaking past $45 for the first time since its IPOcalypse last year.
This means that even those who paid the highest price the shares hit on the first day of trading would no longer be out of pocket if they sold – that is, if they have held on to their …
Top UK billionaires considerably richer than Chinese ones ... for now
A rundown of the richest people in China has revealed that the very wealthiest British billionaires collectively boast more cash than their counterparts in the People's Republic.
The top ten wealthiest Chinese citizens are worth a total of £69.31billion ($109.3billion), according to an annual analysis by the Hurun Research …
Joyless times at cloudy Joyent: CTO packs bags, heads for hills
Cofounder Jason Hoffman is resigning from his chief technology officer position at cloud computing provider Joyent.
In a blog on the company's website he writes, "I cofounded Joyent 10 years ago when I was working as a scientist and looking for a better way to run compute on my data... [The] 'think differently' spirit of …
BBC releases MYSTERY RIDDLE poster for Doctor Who anniversary episode
Pic The BBC has released a teaser image for the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special, which will be a feature-length episode called The Day of the Doctor.
Doctor Who 50th Anniversary episode poster. Credit: BBC (click to enlarge)
The pic is full of clues about the episode, showing two damaged Daleks, the Tenth, Eleventh and "X" …
IBM offloads customer services biz for half a BEELLION DOLLARS
IBM is planning to outsource its Business Process Outsourcing customer services after last night confirming plans to offload the unit to US tech distie and BPO player Synnex for $505m.
Under the terms of the deal, Synnex will cough $430m in cash and $75m in stock to take on 45,000 soon-to-be-ex IBMers operating across a network …
Tell me why I don't like Moon days: Bob Geldof heads into SPAAACE
Sir Bob Geldof has dubbed himself the "first rock astronaut" after confirming that he'll be on a trip to space in 2015 with the Space Expedition Corporation.
Bob Geldof
The Boomtown Rat said he was given the chance to go on the trip after his band agreed to perform at a charity ball where further flights on the same trip will …
HP dumped from Dow Jones Industrial Average
Hewlett-Packard may still pull more than a hundred billion dollars a year through the door, but that's no longer enough for the company to win a place on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, (DJIA) the venerable and prestigious basket of 30 stocks held to represent a vital sample of American listed companies.
HP's removal from the …
