12th May 2004 Archive

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Sulphur fuels battery breakthrough

Queue here for Li-S

Tucson-based Sion Power Corporation has demonstrated a new generation of batteries based on Li-S (Lithium Sulfur) technology. The demonstration at WinHEC last week powered a Transmeta Crusoe-based Tablet PC for a working day. Long anticipated as the lighter successor to Lithium Polymer, Sion claims that the Li-S battery pack at …

Science 12 May 2004, 01:13
Sony shows wireless PlayStation Portable

Phew, what a scorcher

Sony yesterday unwrapped the PlayStation Portable (PSP) and pledged to put PlayStation 2 visuals in the palm of players' hands around the world by next Spring. And almost 100 developers have pledged to support the handheld console, Sony said. The PSP's key feature is a 4.3in 16:9 ratio, 480 x 272, 32-bit colour TFT LCD, with …

Consoles 12 May 2004, 08:44
Phatbot arrest throws open trade in zombie PCs

10 cents a PC for access

The arrest of the suspected author of the Phatbot Trojan could lead to valuable clues about the illicit trade in zombie PCs. The arrest of the alleged Phatbot perp was overshadowed by the unmasking of the admitted Sasser author, Sven Jaschan. But the Phatbot case may shed the mostlight into the dark recesses of the computer …

Anti-Virus 12 May 2004, 09:07
French call for SMS boycott

Europe in Brief Too expensive by half

Consumer watchdog Union Fédérale des Consommateurs (UFC-Que Choisir) in France has called for a national SMS boycott, claiming that tariffs for short messages are getting too high. Sending an SMS message in France costs 13 eurocents. But with profit margins of 80 per cent telecom operators can easily lower the price by 4 or 5 …

Mobile 12 May 2004, 09:25
UK Eurocrats vote to legalise spam

It was five years ago today... 12 May 1999

Welcome indeed to a new El Reg feature - the snappily-titled It was five years ago today... Well, it's less of a feature and more of a teary-eyed wander down memory lane. Each and every day we will bring you a choice and select cut from yesteryear so that we can all have a right good nostalge about how lovely it must have been …

Spam 12 May 2004, 09:26
Nintendo DS: more communicator than console?

Instant messaging, VoIP potential revealed

Nintendo yesterday launched its Nintendo DS handheld console, as anticipated. But while many of the details had already been revealed, the videogame pioneer did manage to pull a few surprises out of the bag. First up, the DS will offer a voice recognition capability, allowing Nintendo to forecast a future where in-game avatars …

Consoles 12 May 2004, 09:27
Sony, IBM to offer Cell workstations for Xmas

December ship schedule

Sony and IBM today said they will ship workstations based on the pair's upcoming Cell parallel processing chip in December. The machines will be geared toward digital content creation, so we're essentially talking PlayStation 3 software development machines here. The companies' announcement doesn't mention the next-generation …

Consoles 12 May 2004, 09:57
Hutchison raises $2bn in soap sale

Ditches Chinese joint venture

Hutchison Whampoa, owner of UK mobile network 3, is selling its stake Chinese joint venture with soap behemoth Procter and Gamble to its partner for $2bn. The business, set up in 1988, sells shampoo and baby products in mainland China. Hutchison is looking for cash to offset continuing losses from its 3G networks. In March …

Mobile 12 May 2004, 10:01
HP to launch custom gaming rigs

Watch out, system builders

HP is to challenge on system builders next month when it launches the Compaq X, a high-performance gaming oriented PC that the company will custom-build for buyers. HP's pitch is that the Compaq X will be offered with a far wider range of component options than its more mainstream desktops. That, it hopes, will attract the …

Channel 12 May 2004, 10:26
Northern Ireland touts low IT wages

Forget Bangalore, come to Belfast

A survey carried out by Invest NI has shown that Belfast technology workers are among the lowest-paid in Europe. The report, carried out by Watson Wyatt on behalf of the Northern Ireland investment agency, said that high-tech salaries in Belfast are among the lowest of cities surveyed in the UK, Europe, the US and Canada. Only …

IT Director 12 May 2004, 10:41
Broadband worth 52 days a year to UK.biz

Lost productivity recovered

UK businesses that upgrade to broadband recover a massive 52 days in year in lost productivity, according to new research. The study, conducted by ntl, found that small firms which replaced dial-up connections with broadband significantly improved their productivity and communication. The study found that 56 per cent of small …

Small Biz 12 May 2004, 10:41
Dothan-based P4 appears on Intel roadmap

Model number too low for 3.73GHz clock, 1066MHz FSB?

Intel will introduce processors operating across a 1066MHz frontside bus next quarter. Only two chips will gain the new FSB clock speed: a 3.46GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition in Q3 and a 3.73GHz Pentium 4 in Q4, according to roadmaps revealed at an Intel Channel Conference and dutifully reported by Anandtech. The odd thing is …

Channel 12 May 2004, 10:57
MS patch day: nothing critical

Solitary fix. Stay calm

The Microsoft patch train rolled back into security central last night with a mercifully light load. In contrast to last month when we had four patches addressing 20 vulnerabilities - including the flaw infamously exploited by the Sasser worm - this month around we have just a single, solitary new patch. This patch corrects a …

Anti-Virus 12 May 2004, 10:59
Ofcom must act on £50 broadband 'barrier'

Activation fee is 'block to mass acceptance' says ISP

PlusNet has called on BT Wholesale to cut the up-front cost of signing up to ADSL claiming the £50 fee is the "single biggest block to mass acceptance of broadband". Unless BT moves to slash the cost of the activation fee, the Sheffield-based ISP wants communications regulator Ofcom to intervene and force the UK's dominant fixed …

Telecoms 12 May 2004, 11:01
EC rules against illegal 'subsidy' of France Telecom

'Psychological state aid'

The European Commission is to take action against the French government for illegally subsidising France Telecom. But the accusations do not centre on illegal loans. Originally the government faced investigation over a €9bn credit line, which the Commission now accepts did not exist. Instead the eurocrats are claiming comments …

Telecoms 12 May 2004, 11:03
Supercooled lead hats aid brain scans

It's all about the Meissner effect

Magnetic brain scans look set to get more accurate, thanks to medical physicists at Los Alamos. The researchers have said they can filter out electronic background noise during measurements of brain activity if the patient wears a lead helmet. Taking direct measurements of brain activity can only be done using …

Science 12 May 2004, 11:10
SAP snuggles up to IBM and MS

Signs deals, hires programmers

SAP has announced new deals with IBM and Microsoft, including a plan to work more closely with IBM to sell products to retail customers. The two companies will share consulting knowledge and improve business process analysis and best practice. SAP for Retail, SAP NetWeaver, IBM Store Integration Framework and IBM WebSphere are …

Data Networking 12 May 2004, 11:23
MS drags Linspire back to court

Wants €100,000 fine per day

Microsoft is taking Linspire back to court and demanding a €100 000 a day fine. Linspire is "the-operating-system-formerly-known-as-Lindows", which changed its name after Microsoft launched legal action in Finland, France, Sweden, the Netherlands and Canada. The company originally changed its name to Lin--s, but Microsoft …

Operating Systems 12 May 2004, 11:26
Chinese youths trash Internet café

Barred teens beat staff

Staff at a Chinese Internet cafe have resigned after they were beaten up last week by a gang of 16 teenagers barred from entering the cybercafe. The gang of youths beat one worker with bins and fire extinguishers before trashing the Internet café. Earlier they threatened to beat up anyone who "dared to check identity cards" …

Music and Media 12 May 2004, 11:40
PalmOne pledges to boost Treo shipments

And Palm OS takes lead over Symbian, Windows

PalmSource today trumpeted research findings that indicate the Palm OS is the US' leading smart phone operating system, even as its former owner, PalmOne, was promising to end the supply problems that have hindered sales of its Treo 600 handset. PalmSource's numbers come from US market watcher NPD, which tracks retail sales. …

Mobile 12 May 2004, 11:45
Wal-Mart attracts more RFID flak

Consumer group up in arms over privacy

Grass-roots consumer group Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (CASPIAN), which is fighting retail surveillance schemes, says that Wal-Mart's decision to tag individual items on its store floor using radio frequency identification or RFID violates a call for a moratorium issued last November by 40 …

ID 12 May 2004, 11:54
UK indies sign to Napster...

...as Wippit licenses Sony songs

Napster has won the backing of the UK's Association of Independent Music (AIM) trade organisation with a deal that will allow the digital music download service to offer 50,000 songs from 50 independent labels on a worldwide basis. Meanwhile, UK-based Napster rival Wippit announced today that it has added Sony to its roster of …

Music and Media 12 May 2004, 12:40
Brits avoid MMS in droves

Just not interested, it seems

Mobile phone loving Brits have yet to embrace the multimedia messaging revolution, according to a poll conducted by NOP which is bound to strike fear and terror into the hearts of mobile operators. So far, 80 per cent of us have studiously avoided the new technology. There is a real mismatch between availability of technology …

Mobile 12 May 2004, 13:15
Captain Cyborg terrorises UK conference

Gives speech on, er, speechless communication

We recently said that we would be giving Kev "Captain Cyborg" Warwick no further coverage on this august organ. Sadly, we lied. The reason for this shameless U-turn is the news that the robotic prof has been giving forth at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's 2004 training conference. Naturally, you'd like …

Bootnotes 12 May 2004, 14:07
'Spam King' gets restraining order against SpamCop

Temporary gag

A bulk mailing company headed by notorious spammer Scott Richter has won a restraining order against anti-spam reporting service SpamCop. Following an order by a Northern California District Court judge on Monday SpamCop is obliged to temporarily stop reporting complaints about Richter's company, OptinRealBig.com, to third- …

Spam 12 May 2004, 14:08
Cadence finds Intel's missing Fister

Captain Itanic takes on CEO role

They say that the captain always goes down with the ship, but Mike Fister, former server processor chief at Intel, bucked that trend by leaving the company today. Fister has departed Intel to become CEO of Cadence Design Systems. Fister will be replaced at Intel by Abhijit (Abhi) Talwalkar, who most recently served as vice …

Servers 12 May 2004, 14:14
Competition good for broadband - OECD

Splendid

The threat of competition from wireless broadband providers is forcing incumbent telcos to speed-up the roll-out of DSL services. What's more, incumbent that fail to react to competitive pressures will face losing punters as they shop around for alternative broadband and telecoms providers. That's just one of the themes …

Telecoms 12 May 2004, 15:08
On MS, GeCAD, lead hats and perlite

Letters Oh, and X-rays, too

We never get letters about the things we expect letters about. But even we lowly hacks had a feeling this one would prompt a response. After all, it had all the ingredients: Microsoft, Linux, viruses and behavious that could, in low light, seem slightly suspicious. Yes, we mean the purchase of GeCAD. Dear Mr Leyden: In your " …

Letters 12 May 2004, 15:12
Microsoft treads softly on compliance

Touchy-feely approach backed with big stick

Microsoft is taking a new approach to tackling piracy in the UK. The company's newly-appointed head of Licence Compliance Alex Hilton recently visited Vulture Central and admitted that previous MS anti-piracy efforts could be fairly compared to "a drive-by shooting". His appearence at El Reg saw him touting an altogether gentler …

Software 12 May 2004, 15:38
Napster gags university over RIAA's student tax

No free music. No free speech

Napster moved into damage control mode today after a university gave some idea as to how much a RIAA music tax will add to student costs. Ohio University has put up a survey site to see if students are willing to pay $3 per month for the Napster music service. The $3 figure is the first concrete number given by any school …

Music and Media 12 May 2004, 17:40
Can Veritas shift from dove to hawk?

Analysis Growing pains

To shift from software lackey to data center dominatrix, Veritas will need to make sure the basic tenets of the company can mature at the same pace as product - a feat it may not be capable of pulling off. At present, Veritas is caught in a rather pleasant software limbo. Its core file system, volume manager and data back-up …

Servers 12 May 2004, 18:11
Picture messaging: Peace and love breaks out

GSM and CDMA camps agree on MMS interop

In a rare example of co-operation, the rival standards bodies behind the world's two main mobile phone technologies have rushed through technical standards that will ensure American networks can exchange picture messages. The GSM MMS (Multimedia Messaging) standard is in place with over 200 GSM operators around the world and is …

Mobile 12 May 2004, 19:50