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Photo of Apple iPhone 5C in a range of colors

Microsoft mocks Apple and new iPhones in vids it quickly pulls

Microsoft has posted and then pulled several videos in which it mocks Apple's new iPhones. The seven videos first appeared over the weekend on the Windows Phone YouTube channel. All have since been made private, but as will happen online various folks pinched copies of the vids so we can all enjoy them. Here's one titled “ …
Simon Sharwood, 16 Sep 2013
Parts for the Liberator 3D printed pistol1

'Liberator' 3D printed gun enters London's V&A Museum

The Liberator, the 3D printed pistol that debuted earlier this year and quickly earned a ban from The US State Department and The Reg's scorn , has found its way into London's prestigious Victoria & Albert Museum. The V&A, as the museum is affectionately known, specialises in decorative arts and design. The Liberator falls into …
Simon Sharwood, 15 Sep 2013

Billionaire engineer Ray Dolby, 80, dies at home in San Francisco

Obit Ray Dolby, the engineer who for most of the last half century has improved our ability to record and play high-fidelity sound and who founded Dolby Labs, has passed away at his home in San Francisco after being diagnosed with acute leukemia earlier in the year. "Today we lost a friend, mentor and true visionary," said Kevin …
Iain Thomson, 13 Sep 2013

Microsoft announces iPad amnesty for fanbois

Sick of your iPad and want to swap it for something that's far less desirable? Microsoft wants to help you out. Redmond has launched a scheme offering a $200 gift card in exchange for a "gently used" iPad 2, 3 or 4. You'll need to give them your charger cable as well and make sure your fondleslab is wiped clean - both on the …
Jasper Hamill, 13 Sep 2013

Nokia's 41Mp Lumia 1020 'launches' in UK - but hoi polloi must wait

Nokia's impressive 41Mp Lumia 1020 flagship may have "launched" worldwide - with festivities including a glitzy Shoreditch gallery party featuring photographer David Bailey, actor Bill Nighy and cannibal entrepreneur Steve Bong - but UK punters won't get delivery until the end of the month. Some Blighty operators and retailers …
Andrew Orlowski, 13 Sep 2013
ZTE Open, the Firefox OS smartphone

ZTE Open: This dirt-cheap smartphone is a swing and a miss

Review Of the various open source Android challengers currently under development, the Mozilla Foundation's Firefox OS was the first to reach the market with actual, commercially available products. The ZTE Open smartphone is one such product. Unfortunately, that's about all it's got going for it. When ZTE started selling the Open via …
Neil McAllister, 13 Sep 2013
Child swearing

TWO can play this 64-bit mobile game, says Samsung, crossly

Samsung's next smartphone will feature a 64-bit processor, according to co-chief executive Shin Jong-kyun: he's keen to prove it's not only Apple who can stuff more register bits into a chip. Apple's latest flagship iThing, the iPhone 5S, features a 64-bit ARMv8 processor labelled the A7. The performance boost may not be …
Bill Ray, 13 Sep 2013
Gold iPhone 5s, in'it?

Massively leaked iFail 5S POUNDS pundits, EXCITES chavs

Something for the Weekend, Sir? If it was tedious putting up with the prelaunch hype, it was at least entertaining this week to watch so many commentators backtrack on the cobblers they’d been serving up just hours before the event. I’m talking about the iPhone 5S/iPhone 5C launch, of course. Everyone else has expressed an opinion these past couple of days, so …
Alistair Dabbs, 13 Sep 2013

One day we'll look back and say this was the end of the software platform

Comment I was once told by an editor not to waste too much time following Apple and other companies that sold hardware and software together. He was reflecting the conventional wisdom in the late 1990s: any manufacturer that dared to "add value" by integrating its software into its hardware would be destroyed. Microsoft and Dell would …
Andrew Orlowski, 13 Sep 2013

Intel touts 2-in-1s, the 'new' reincarnation of convertibles

IDF13 To hear Intel tell it, the Next Big Thing™ in mobile computing will be the "2-in-1" (née "convertible"), which combines a traditional clamshell laptop form factor with a tablet that detaches from the keyboard, or flips, twists, or slides over it. "The innovators at Intel and our partners have come up with the 2-in-1 – it's the …
Rik Myslewski, 12 Sep 2013
Jakob Wagner Wine Thermometer

Intel shows off wine-powered processor and biometric boffinry

IDF13 Day three of the Intel Developer Forum is usually when the firm shows off its future projects and Chipzilla's in-house anthropologist Dr Genevieve Bell took to the keynote stage to demonstrate a processor powered by wine and mobile phones that use your gait or voice as a password. Bell, who thanks to her Australian outback …
Iain Thomson, 12 Sep 2013
Viewsonic Smart Display

Psst.. Wanna Android all-in-one PC? We have the chip tech, says Intel

IDF13 Intel did its bit for the ongoing “tabletisation” of the desktop PC at its Developer Forum this week: it's encouraging engineers to get cracking on Android-powered “Smart Display” systems to go on sale in 2014. The chip giant’s pitch is that these 17- to 21-inch devices - basically, huge tablets with a keyboard - will appeal to …
Tony Smith, 12 Sep 2013

iPhone 5S: Apple, you're BORING us to DEATH (And you too, Samsung)

Comment Apple's keynotes seem to command more mainstream front-page press attention than ever before – but each time, there's less and less to report. Is the modern smartphone era limping to a close? Apple's announcements on Tuesday about the iPhone 5S and 5C were wearily predictable. Cupertino just doesn't seem to be where the action …
Andrew Orlowski, 12 Sep 2013
Thunderbolt Logo

4K-friendly Thunderbolt 2 WILL ship this year, Chipzilla pledges

IDF13 Chip giant Intel has reiterated its pledge to get a faster version of its Thunderbolt connectivity tech out in time for Christmas and its plethora of high-res vid-streaming kit. Speaking at Intel Developer Forum this week, Ben Hacker, who does planning for Intel's Client Connectivity Division, said the firm’s Falcon Crest Falcon …
Tony Smith, 12 Sep 2013
Photo of the iPhone 5S in various colors

iPhone 5S: Fanbois, your prints are safe from the NSA, claim infosec bods

Apple’s decision to bundle a fingerprint scanner with its newly unveiled iPhone 5s has the potential to become a game-changer for personal device authentication. But the success of "Touch ID" fingerprint authentication will depend on security as well as reliability, according to market-watchers. The fruits of Apple's acquisition …
John Leyden, 12 Sep 2013
Rayman Legends

Everybody Loves Rayman: Legends dethrones Mario

Game Theory Heading this week’s games was meant to be Total War: Rome II, but a PC malfunction means I’m having to postpone marching off up the Appian Way until next time. No matter, however, as a feast of games still awaits – including the year’s best platformer... Rayman Legends Wii U owners are a hardy bunch, capable of taking abuse on …
Mike Plant, 12 Sep 2013
A detail of the Breaking Bad lab

Modular smartphones floated by Dutch designer chap

There isn't a product, or even a prototype, but if it could be made to work, why not turn the smartphone into a bunch of replaceable modular components on a standard backplane? It may or may not be feasible, but the notion gathered enough attention that the proposal page, on crowdfunding site Thunderclap.it, was hosed by visitor …
Photo of the iPhone 5S in various colors

One more thing ... Beijing green lights iPhone in China

Apple's infamously stage-managed launch events have been upstaged by China's government, which let it be known the fruity phone company has been granted a license to operate its new iPhone 5S and 5C models on China Mobile’s forthcoming 4G network after its Beijing launch yesterday. The Ministry of Industry and Information …
Phil Muncaster, 12 Sep 2013
BlackBerry logo

BlackBerry goes all 'patch Tuesday' with multi vuln fixes

BlackBerry has issued four patches covering vulnerabilities in Flash, Webkit and libexif on its devices. The Z10, Q10 and PlayBook all need patching for Adobe Flash vulnerabilities. If a user were led to a page containing crafted Flash content, an attacker could execute arbitrary code on an affected device. BSRT-2013-007 notes …

Intel reveals new Haswell-based Chrome OS kit from old, new partners

IDF13 Intel has announced that four of its OEM partners will have new devices based on the company's new "Haswell" chips and running Google's browser-based Chrome OS on the market in time for the holiday shopping season. Or, as Intel software and services headman Doug Fisher described it during his keynote at the Intel Developer Form …
Rik Myslewski, 11 Sep 2013
Space Gray!

Apple ships new iPods in 'SPAAAAACE ... Gray'

Apple has quietly updated several of its iPod media players with a new color option to match its latest flagship smartphone, the iPhone 5S. The new mobe, which debuted at a media event in Cupertino on Tuesday, comes in three different color schemes: the rather prosaic Silver and Gold, and the oddly named "Space Gray". Now a few …
Neil McAllister, 11 Sep 2013

For PITY'S SAKE, DON'T BUY an iPHONE 5S, begs FSF

The Free Software Foundation has taken issue with fingerprint recognition in the iPhone 5S and has called on users to reject Apple’s closed system smartphones. Executive director John Sullivan used the launch of the iPhone 5S and 5C on Tuesday to zero in on the iPhone 5S, the expensive iPhone variant that comes equipped with a …
Gavin Clarke, 11 Sep 2013
The Register breaking news

Startup claims 1W wireless charging at 10 metres

Another company is claiming to have cracked the mysteries of wireless charging, with an outfit called Ossia saying that using the 2.4 GHz band, it can recharge devices over-the-air at distances of up to 10 metres. Shown off at TechCrunch's Disrupt conference in the video posted here, the charging tech is described as delivering …
The Register breaking news

New iPhones are latte-sipping inner city elitists

Not only has Apple reintroduced the “Australia tax” for its newly-launched iPhone 5 series: it turns out that LTE support doesn't include the 700 MHz bands Telstra and Optus purchased earlier this year. In fact, the iPhone 5c and 5s LTE models only support one of the LTE bands currently in use in this country – the 1800 MHz LTE …

Apple quietly revives iPhone charging and syncing docks

Apple has quietly reintroduced an iPhone accessory that was discontinued when the iPhone 5 was unveiled last September: the lowly but in some quarters much-missed charging and syncing dock. Apparently, Apple didn't want to clutter up its Tuesday-morning rollout of the iPhone 5C and 5S with a mention of such a quotidian piece of …
Rik Myslewski, 11 Sep 2013
Photo of Apple iPhone 5C in a range of colors

Apple slugs Australia with iPhone tax

Apple's newest iPhones have surprised the world with premium pricing, but that premium is even more noticeable in Australia, where punters will be asked to pay more than US shoppers, even once one takes into account exchange rates. The Reg looked at prices for unlocked handsets, recorded on Apple's website. We checked out the US …
Simon Sharwood, 10 Sep 2013

New iPhones: C certainly DOESN'T stand for 'Cheap'

Analysis You wanted new iPhones and you got them. But if anything, the most surprising thing about Apple's big Tuesday reveal was just how little it managed to keep secret from the tech media ahead of the event. As predicted, Cupertino unveiled not one but two new iPhone models – a first – and just like everyone thought, they are named …
Neil McAllister, 10 Sep 2013

Intel reveals 14nm PC, declares Moore's Law 'alive and well'

IDF13 Intel wants you to know that Moore's Law is not dead. And to prove it, CEO Brian Krzanich rolled out his company's next generation of process shrinkage at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco. "I'm here to introduce the first 14-nanometer PC," Krzanich said during his Tuesday keynote. The Ultrabook he displayed to his …
Rik Myslewski, 10 Sep 2013

Intel uncloaks micro-microchip assault with Quark SoCs

IDF13 As ARM has come to rule mobile phones, tablets, and internet-of-things devices, the keynotes at the Intel Developer Forum have turned into glitzy, shock-and-awe affairs that see Daddy Silicon attempting to reassure the world that it, too, is into low-power and mobile. Tuesday's keynote was no different – but it contained at …
Jack Clark, 10 Sep 2013
The Register breaking news

Ready to bin your USB cables yet? Wireless USB hops on WiGig bandwagon

Having failed to carve itself a niche with ultrawide band radio, the USB Implementers Forum has jumped aboard the WiGig bandwagon and will slide up the dial into 60GHz. 60GHz is where WiGig lives, an internationally unlicensed band where there's plenty of space but propagation is poor. WiGig is proposed as the next generation of …
Bill Ray, 10 Sep 2013
Child labourers

We made the iPhones, now we want OUR 'UNPAID' WAGES – student Pegatron toilers

A group of Chinese student workers who have been making iPhones in a Shanghai factory have claimed Apple manufacturer Pegatron owes them unpaid wages – and say they want their cash back. The students handed a list of their grievances to China Labor Watch, which has released a report today making a series of allegations about the …
Jasper Hamill, 10 Sep 2013
Bletchley Park

Google backs gallery of computer-crazed female boffinry at Bletchley Park

Google UK has sponsored a new gallery celebrating the achievements of women in computing at The National Museum of Computing (TNMOC) in Bletchley Park. Women in Computing Gallery at The National Museum of Computing The new exhibition opened as part of a "Google-inspired Heroines of Computing" event, according to TNMOC*. The …
Team Register, 10 Sep 2013
LG Ultra HD curved OLED TV

TV's goggle gaggle: EVERYBODY'S first with something at consumer tech feast

IFA 2013 If you’re in Berlin and have a tech habit, then IFA, Europe’s biggest consumer electronics show, rages on for another couple of days. On display you'll find all manner of things upon which the consumer tech giants want us to focus our spending – even those that may well soon be redundant. As mobile content viewing explodes, it …
Bob Dormon, 10 Sep 2013
Pimoroni Pi Hub

Bin half-baked Raspberry Pi hubs, says Pimoroni: Try our upper-crust kit

Review Raspberry Pi accessory specialist Pimoroni reckons it has the answer to one of the tiny ARM-based computer’s signal limitations: too few USB ports for all the add-ons you might want to hook up to it. Pi users have dealt with only having a pair of USB 2.0 ports - there's only one on the cheapest, the Model A Pi - by connecting a …
Tony Smith, 10 Sep 2013
Does the global explosion in iPho suggest Apple is getting into the restaurant business?

Five SECRET products Apple won't show today

Apple will this week announce something, probably a new iPhone or two. But during The Reg's recent travels in Asia we've spotted some Apple products that haven't been the subject of endless rumours. We suspect these products are so secret Apple itself doesn't know about them. But that won't stop us bringing you – and Apple's …
Simon Sharwood, 10 Sep 2013
Photo of billboard marketing Microsoft Surface with Windows RT

Microsoft to unveil new Surface slabs at September 23 event

Microsoft will launch the second generation of its Surface fondleslabs at an invitation-only event to be held in New York City on September 23. The company teased the event with invites emailed to media on Monday that gave few details, other than making very plain that Surface will be in the limelight. Even the invitation's text …
Fritz Pfleumer with his magnetic tape recorder

Reelin' in the years: Tracking the history of magnetic tape

Anniversary feature Today marks the 80th anniversary of the first patent filing for a magnetic tape recording medium, though the tech I worked with was a bit more recent than that. Still, it has been quite some time since I last went shopping for tape. I recall the last time as being a deal on a load of JVC miniDV cassettes that I still haven't …
Bob Dormon, 9 Sep 2013

Apple prepares to unleash iPhone 5S, 5C for the GREAT BRAWL OF CHINA

Apple will launch an assault on the booming Chinese smartphone market tomorrow with the announcement of two new iPhones. As well as the expected iPhone 5S, Apple is more or less certain to introduce a cheaper mobe thought to be called the 5C, which is aimed at China and developing markets. China is now the world's biggest …
Jasper Hamill, 9 Sep 2013

Amazon DENIES launch of iPhone-killing freebie smartphone

Amazon won't be launching a freebie phone later this year, in fact it won't launch any phone this year and has no future plans to give hardware away, ever. The story started on Friday as an exclusive from ex-WSJ journo Amir Efrati, and spread across the blogosphere like wildfire as it sounded feasible and came from "people …
Bill Ray, 9 Sep 2013
Nissan Nismo Watch

Smartwatch news: Sleek-but-vaporous timepiece promised by... NISSAN?

Watch out, Apple. Step aside, Samsung. Push off, Pebble. Here comes the latest contender in the smartwatch wrist-grab: er, Nissan. The car maker today pledged to be the first company to tie a smartwatch into a car’s telematics and entertainment systems. Nissan Nismo Watch Nissan’s Nismo Watch concept: Designed “specifically …
Tony Smith, 9 Sep 2013
Google Nexus 7 2013

Google Nexus 7 2013: Fondledroids, THE 7-inch slab has arrived

Review When Google launched the Asus-built Nexus 7 Android tablet back in August 2012, it dropped a big mean city-raised alleycat among the budget tablet pigeons. Starting at only £160 for the 8GB version, the Nexus 7 offered performance, style and build quality (kind of) at a price that previously had only bought you shoddy no-name …
Alun Taylor, 9 Sep 2013
Peugeot 208 GTi

Peugeot 208 GTi: The original hot hatch makes a comeback

Review Back in the day, Peugeot made a truly great little motor car called the 205 GTi. I owned one, the 1.9-litre version, and absolutely loved it. For charging down narrow B-roads few things on four wheels were faster or more enjoyable. Along with the Volkswagen Golf GTi the 205 GTi pretty much created a whole new breed of car in the …
Alun Taylor, 9 Sep 2013