10th September 2004 Archive

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Coming soon: the eight-hour notebook battery

IDF Fall '04 Well, soon-ish

New battery technologies have the potential to take notebook battery life beyond five hours, ultimately reaching eight hours of charge by 2010. "When we talk to people about mobile computing, battery life is the thing they most want improved," said Anand Chandrasekher, general manager of Intel’s Mobile Platforms Group. "But …

PCs 10 Sep 2004, 07:10
Oracle wins US antitrust suit

Big victory, Europe still to come

Oracle scored a stunning victory yesterday, when a federal judge ruled that its hostile bid for Peoplesoft was not anti-competitive. In a 164-page ruling, District Judge Vaughn Walker rejected the "narrow market" definition of the enterprise software market used by the DoJ and supported by most of the software industry, in its …

Hardware 10 Sep 2004, 07:42
Vodafone launches Wi-Fi Pocket PC

VPA III follows O2's XDA IIs, T-Mobile's MDA III

First T-Mobile, then O2 and now mobile phone network Vodafone has signed up to offer the same keyboard-equipped Wi-Fi Pocket PC. Vodafone is calling its version of the device the VPA III - compared to T-Mobile's MDA III and O2's XDA IIs. VPA stands for Vodafone Personal Assistant. The VPA, like its rivals, features a slide out …

Mobile 10 Sep 2004, 08:43
Slowing H2 chip sales to hit 2005's growth - report

Cause: softening in notebook PC and mobile phone demand

Market watcher iSuppli last night cut its forecast for 2005's global chip sales growth citing a slowdown in H2 2004 growth. While H1 2004 sales are 31.4 per cent higher than the year-ago half's total, H2 2004 year-on-year growth is likely to come in at just 20 per cent, iSuppli reckons. H2 2003's sales were higher than H1 2003 …

System Builder 10 Sep 2004, 09:05
5,000 Swansea workers to vote on IT strike

Holding Swansea to ransom, says council

Five thousand council workers are to balloted on industrial action next week in support of 100 IT workers striking against plans to privatise their department. Ballot papers will be sent out to 5,000 Unison members from September 16. The result of the vote is expected to be announced before the end of the month. One hundred IT …

IT Director 10 Sep 2004, 09:50
Cisco snaffles network monitoring firm

Channel plan for NetSolve acquisition

Cisco yesterday announced a deal to buy network monitoring firm NetSolve for $11 per share or approximately $128m. The acquisition of NetSolve, which is subject to stockholder and regulatory approvals, is expected to close in Cisco's Q2 '05. NetSolve which was founded in 1987, went public in 1999 and has 292 employees will join …

Financial News 10 Sep 2004, 09:55
Daleks invade Blackpool

And it's all for charity. Blimey

Let's face it, galactic übervillains the Daleks are not noted for their charity work. They have not to our knowledge distributed teddies and balloons in the wards of Great Ormond Street hospital, nor have they ever done a bungee jump in aid of leukaemia research. We are, therefore, surprised to learn that at 9.30am on Saturday …

Bootnotes 10 Sep 2004, 09:58
BT broadband crash toll rises to 10,000

Telco working to clear upgrade backlog

Some 10,000 people were hit by BT's "systems failure" on Monday delaying orders for people hooking up to broadband. A spokeswoman for the UK's dominant fixed-line telco was still unable to say how many of the 10,000 were left without broadband access because of the problem. For new broadband punters, the outage would have …

Telecoms 10 Sep 2004, 10:28
Canon Japan disses entire UK gypsy IT sector

Oh dear

Following hot on the heels of our recent piece on the the Atacama "Whore" computer - a classic example of unfortunate product branding - we are today obliged to reader Oli Maxwell, who forwarded us "another fine example of a cross culture mishap a new product from Canon Japan": That's right, Canon is clearly not pitching its …

Bootnotes 10 Sep 2004, 10:37
Computers make you sick: official

Blind and crippled? You will be soon

A monitor manufacturer has just discovered what most of us have known all along: that computers make you sick and we're all going to end up blind and crippled as a result of excessive keyboard pounding, irishnews.com reports. According to a survey carried out by CTX, which polled 450 workers across Europe: "Three out of four …

Bootnotes 10 Sep 2004, 10:56
EDS to cull workforce

20,000 for the axe

IT services giant EDS is to take an axe to its workforce with up to 20,000 workers likely to lose their jobs over the next two years. EDS chief executive Michael Jordan said yesterday that between 15,000 to 20,000 people "will go out" as part of EDS' drive to reduce its costs by 20 per cent or $3bn. That means around one in …

IT Director 10 Sep 2004, 11:37
Athlon 64 PCI-E chipset here by end of year 'for sure'

And it's integrated

The first PCI Express chipset supporting AMD's Athlon 64 processor line will have surfaced by the end of the year, an industry source situated not a million miles away from the integrated chipset business told us today. "There'll be an AMD [Athlon 64] PCI Express product this year for sure," our knowledgeable source said. "At …

System Builder 10 Sep 2004, 12:05
ATI unwraps All-in-Wonder X800 XT

Dongles ahoy

ATI this week unveiled the Radeon X800-based All-in-Wonder X800 XT, its latest top-end multimedia card. The card's GPU sports 16 pixel processing pipelines fed by six vertex pipelines. In addition to the usual 3D graphics capabilities, ATI leverages the GPU to provide what it claims is superior de-interlacing, video noise …

System Builder 10 Sep 2004, 12:27
Steve Jobs - Apple renaissance man

Analysis Return to the glory days?

Apple clearly missed Steve Jobs desperately from the point that he left Apple in the 1980s to the point when he returned in 1997, fully taking the reins in 2000 when he dropped the "Interim" from his "Interim CEO" title. Apple floundered in his absence and continued to flounder for a while after his return. Fixing what was …

Mac Channel 10 Sep 2004, 12:59
Orange to ship Wi-Fi Pocket 'in October'

Update M2000 same as XDA IIs, VPA III, MDA III

Mobile phone network Orange is preparing to launch its second-generation wireless Pocket PC, the M2000, and, according to web reports, the device will be based on - yes, you've guessed it - the same HTC PDA that's the basis for T-Mobile's MDA III, O2's XDA IIs and Vodafone's VPA III. A report on MoDaCo alleges Orange will …

Mobile 10 Sep 2004, 13:27
Nominet UK founder bows out

Cheerio, Willie Black

Dr Willie Black - the founder of the central registry for all internet domain names ending in .uk - is to stand down as chairman of Nominet UK. A leading figure in Europe's internet community, Dr Black set up Nominet UK nine years ago and has overseen the growth of the company from the early days with just three staff, to an …

Music and Media 10 Sep 2004, 13:37
Video game gals get kit off for Playboy

'Anatomically correct' - allegedly

Well, it had to happen. Playboy magazine's October issue features four "anatomically correct" video games "hotties" as nature - or at least Hugh Hefner - intended. The frolicking fillies include BloodRayne from BloodRayne 2, Luba Licious from Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude and Tala from Darkwatch. We cannot confirm exactly …

Bootnotes 10 Sep 2004, 13:37
Linux poised for move from data centre to desktop - report

Clearly viable on server, client to follow within two years

A report published this week says that Linux is now a credible alternative for the core of the data centre, and will be one at the client end within two years. These are perhaps not what you'd call revolutionary conclusions, but Butler Group's Linux in the Enterprise (further information here) is a fairly detailed and …

Hardware 10 Sep 2004, 13:47
Transmeta ships 90nm Efficeon

But only in 'limited' numbers

Transmeta has begun shipping its 90nm x86-compatible processor, the Efficeon TM8800, the chipmaker said today. It demo'd the part earlier this summer. The company was even able to mention a couple of customers: Japan's Sharp and the hot start-up Orion Multisystems, which will use the 90nm part for its upcoming 'cluster-in-a-box …

Financial News 10 Sep 2004, 13:53
Skype launches Pocket PC software

WLAN-enabled PDA VoIP chat sensation

Peer-to-peer IP telephony startup Skype yesterday released a version of its software designed for mobile devices running Microsoft's PocketPC operating system. Skype for Pocket PC version 1.0 allows users of wireless LAN-enabled PDAs running Microsoft's Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC to make Voice over IP calls from Wi-Fi …

Mobile 10 Sep 2004, 14:03
Willie Black resigns as Nominet chairman

My work here is done

Dr Willie Black has resigned as the chairman of UK domain registry Nominet, citing the need for new challenges now that the company has settled after nine years of extraordinary growth. He wil leave on 8 December. The decision has come as a surprise to many, for whom Dr Black is the .uk Internet domain. He founded Nominet in …

Music and Media 10 Sep 2004, 14:10
Amazon and M&S keep schtum on ecommerce deal

No comment

Amazon UK has declined to comment on a report that it is to handle the ecommerce operation for high street giant Marks & Spencer. The Evening Standard reports that Amazon UK is in the frame to run M&S online which flogs clothes, homeware and gifts. Not only would Amazon manage the site, it would also handle transactions and …

Financial News 10 Sep 2004, 14:29
Gizmondo UK debut set for 29 October

Handheld console to ship early November

UK-designed handheld games console Gizmondo will be formally launched on 29 October, the maker's parent company, Tiger Telematics, announced today. Sources close to the company have, in the past, told us that once the console is launched it will ship "within a week or so", indicating that consumers will be able to get their …

Consoles 10 Sep 2004, 15:11
IDF Fall 2004 Complete Coverage

All the stories, fresh from the Forum

Our complete coverage from this autumn's Forum in San Francisco. Enterprise IBM strikes out at Intel with new Opteron box Cadence poaches another Intel server staffer Intel admits Itanium pains, plots server future Intel plans for digital planet Beastly Itanium delayed until Q4 Mobile, Internet and Wireless Retro …

System Builder 10 Sep 2004, 15:23
eBay Hawaiian skull vendor on federal rap

Stolen 'native warrior' is actually granny

A Californian man who allegedly sold what he claimed was the 200 year-old skull of a Hawaiian warrior on eBay has been charged with a federal crime that could see him jailed for up to five years if convicted. Jerry David Hasson, 55, of Huntington Beach, California, was charged on Wednesday with a single count of violating the …

Music and Media 10 Sep 2004, 15:48
Gizza job, virus writers ask AV industry

Hidden message in latest MyDoom worm

The unknown authors of the latest variant of the MyDoom email worm have embedded a hidden message inside their code, asking for a job in the anti-virus industry. Like previous variants, the MyDoom-U and MyDoom-V worms spread via email with a malicious file attachment. Opening the attachment results in the activation of the worm …

Anti-Virus 10 Sep 2004, 17:22
Psion mourners see hope in shrunken Communicator

Fingers do the talking

It's five years since Psion launched what proved to be its final consumer product, the Revo, and four years since the company abandoned the consumer market altogether. On a typical European intercity train carriage in the mid 1990s, Psion computers were a common sight. How many of the business plans of subsequent years were …

Mobile 10 Sep 2004, 19:11
Chicago looks to ogle its own with snoop network

Eye on Skokie

Much of the beautiful Chicago architecture will soon be tarnished by unsightly surveillance cameras, if the city's major gets his way. Mayor Richard Daley yesterday revealed plans to put up at least 250 new snooping cameras around town. These will be linked in to similar systems set up by the police and fire departments, parks …

Music and Media 10 Sep 2004, 19:14
Apple lovers start attack against Cornell's Napster trial

Faustian bargain begins to unravel

A small revolt has broken out at Cornell University over the school's use of the Napster music subscription service. The Cornell Daily Sun has been bombarded with letters from current and past students with many of the missives complaining about the anti-Apple stance of Napster. Cornell is currently running a trial of the …

Music and Media 10 Sep 2004, 20:11