15th November 2004 Archive

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Ebookers cuts losses

Job cuts help

Online travel agent Ebookers cut its losses in the third quarter thanks to a lower wage bill arising from job cuts. The firm said it is still in discussions about a possible sale and "a further announcement will be made in due course". Gross sales for the three months ended 30 September 2004 were £159m, up from £145m for the …

Financial News 15 Nov 2004, 09:40
Dow Jones acquires CBSMarketwatch

$519m website play

The publisher of the Wall Street Journal is buying CBSMarketwatch for $519m. Dow Jones and Co is paying $18 per share for the San Francisco firm behind cbsmarketwatch.com. This represents a premium of 7.2 per cent based on Friday's closing price or 46.5 per cent based on the 60 day average price. Larry Kramer, chairman and …

Financial News 15 Nov 2004, 10:06
Elpida IPO raises $967m

Memory maker announces first half-yearly profit, too

Japanese memory maker Elpida IPO'd on the Tokyo stock exchange this morning, floating 32.6 per cent of the company. The company also posted its first ever half-yearly profit on surging sales. The 29.15m shares were launched at ¥3500 ($33) - just above the anticipated ¥3400 ($32) - and quickly rose to ¥3640 ($35). The flotation …

Financial News 15 Nov 2004, 10:24
AMD updates roadmap

Adds Pacifica, Presidio - multi-core and/or 65nm parts

AMD has updated its roadmap, stretching its public processor production plan out into 2006 to add a pair of new CPUs to its future line-up. So far, AMD has publicly committed itself to dual-core Opteron and Athlon 64 designs, all fabbed at 90nm. 'Toledo', a dual core Athlon 64-FX, plus dual-core Opteron 1xx, 2xx and 8xx series …

System Builder 15 Nov 2004, 10:51
Online roulette has Germans in a spin

Punters enjoy live action via webcam

Some 1800 people have registered for online roulette from casino Spielbank Wiesbaden since the service opened in July, Heise Online reports. Spielbank Wiesbaden operates Germany's only licenced internet roulette operation. Wiesbaden casino - with its filigree woodcarvings, golden friezes and crystal chandeliers - was already …

Financial News 15 Nov 2004, 10:52
Government IT laid bare

Read it and weep...

The Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland has published a damning report into the cancellation of a human resources and payroll system for the Northern Ireland civil service. The project cost £3.3m and after nine years never delivered a workable system. The Department of Finance and Personnel signed a contract …

Public Sector 15 Nov 2004, 11:22
Boris Johnson website falls eerily silent

No foppish wit from Tory lothario? For shame

There is a distinct lack of foppish wit and public school drollery to be had this morning down at the website of sacked shadow Arts minister Boris Johnson — made to walk the plank over the weekend after allegedly lying to Conservative supremo Michael Howard over an affair with luscious blue-blood hackette Petronella Wyatt. …

Bootnotes 15 Nov 2004, 11:58
Intel 3.8GHz P4 570J slips out

Sony touts desktop based on new chip

Intel's 3.8GHz Pentium 4 570J has yet to be added to the chip maker's price list, but it's expected to be launched today and indeed has already started appearing in the Japanese chip stores. Sony has even launched a Vaio Type R desktop PC based on the new processor. With Intel's decision to drop the 4GHz P4, the 570J - the 'J …

System Builder 15 Nov 2004, 11:59
Sony enhances tiny wireless pen PC

Speed, storage boost

Sony will ship an updated version of its Vaio U-series tiny PC next month, increasing the micro marvel's hard drive capacity and processor speed. The Vaio VGN-U71P is based on a ultra-low voltage, 90nm 1.1GHz Pentium M 733, up from the previous model's 130nm 1GHz CPU. The new chip offers 2MB of L2 cache - double that of the …

Mobile 15 Nov 2004, 12:00
Thus squeezed by tough conditions

Remains chipper

Thus, the Glasgow-based alternative telco, blamed fierce competition for a slide in earnings as rival operators scrap hard for new business. Confirmation that market conditions remain tough came as the company behind the Demon internet brand reported that while turnover for the six months to the end of September was up 13 per …

Financial News 15 Nov 2004, 12:00
Will 3G save the phone repair industry?

Nokia fixers predict rise in faults

As Vodafone bids for space in Santa’s sack with the long-awaited launch of 3G mobiles, it could be a long awaited Christmas present for a sector of the mobile industry which has been having an utterly miserable time. Nokia’s repair outfits have seen catastrophic falls in business, as the Finnish giant finally gets to grips with …

Mobile 15 Nov 2004, 12:01
Apple iPod Flash said to ship January

Into production next month, apparently

Talk of iPod's rumoured low-cost Flash-based iPod continues with the claim that Apple will put the machine into production next month in a bid to build stockpiles sufficient to satisfy post-Christmas demand. According to an AppleInsider report citing "extremely reliable sources", Apple wants to have at least 2m of the machines …

Mac Channel 15 Nov 2004, 12:25
Alleged software piracy CADs collared

Greek and Brit on '£360m' counterfeit rap

Two people were arrested last week for allegedly masterminding a multi-million dollar software software piracy ring following a joint operation by Greek and British police. The duo, one Greek and one Briton, are accused of selling counterfeit computer aided design software for $905, much less than the going rate, Reuters reports …

Applications 15 Nov 2004, 12:42
Tiscali eyes profit in 2005

Revs up, losses down

Tiscali reckons it's still on course to make a profit next year as it continued to improve key financial indicators during the last quarter. Revenues were up 22 per cent in the three months to the end of September from €222m (£155m) last year to €270.6m (£188.5m). The European ISP made a pre-tax loss of €33.3m (£23m), a 54 per …

Telecoms 15 Nov 2004, 12:45
Boffins unleash robotic cockroach

Rise of the Machines™ scuttles a little closer

A tripartite alliance of scientists has developed what it claims will will be the solution to the perennial cockroach problem - a robotic Judas roach which will have the capability to seek, locate and betray its insect counterparts. The Belgian, French and Swiss team says that the invention is "a breakthrough in mankind’s …

Rise of the Machines 15 Nov 2004, 12:45
UK group preps public digital music 'ATMs'

Updated Two pints of lager and the latest White Stripes single, please

The UK will this week see the launch of music download vending machines that allow punters to purchase songs for cash as easily as buying soft drinks or snacks. Inspired Broadcast Networks (IBN) will leverage its network of 7800 music jukeboxes and games machines, located in pubs and other venues throughout the country, to …

Music and Media 15 Nov 2004, 14:13
European online sales to outpace US

Ecommerce a-go-go

European online sales during the holiday season are set to reach €13bn, according to Forrester Research released. This is €3bn more than the US, at €10bn ($13bn). Sales in the UK, totalling €4.3bn, make up 36 per cent of the total. Germany will account for 29 per cent of the total, at €3.8bn. France will take a nine per cent …

Financial News 15 Nov 2004, 14:44
RIM signs BT to sell Blackberry

Mobile email domination plan proceeds

BT is to offer Research in Motion's Blackberry mobile email and personal information management system, the UK telco said today. The deal puts BT alongside the likes of Vodafone, Orange and co., allowing it to sell Blackberry Enterprise Server software, Blackberry 7230 and 7730 wireless handhelds, and mobile data contracts to …

Data Networking 15 Nov 2004, 14:46
SCH profits grow a little

European buying spree paying off

Specialist Computer Holdings saw turnover increase 8.3 per cent to £1.88bn for the year ended 31 March 2004. Operating profit for the year - before exceptional items - was £30.7m, up slightly from £30.6m for 2003. More than half of total turnover, 56 per cent, came from outside the UK. Continental European turnover was £1, 056m …

Channel Register 15 Nov 2004, 15:15
NetApp says gFiler is its Trojan horse

Virtualised SAN and NAS bid for your storage grid

Network Appliance plans a virtualisation-powered push for its gFiler storage controllers, which are currently sold to add NAS to Hitachi and IBM disk arrays. New software enables gFiler to provision both NAS and SAN volumes from a single virtualised pool of storage. "We have a plan to grow our gFiler business over the next few …

Storage 15 Nov 2004, 15:42
Was Einstein a plagiarist?

Lend us your gravitational field equation, would'ya?

A theoretical physicist at the University of Nevada has published a paper alleging that Einstein did not derive the gravitational field equations at the heart of the General Theory of Relativity, and might in fact have copied key equations from fellow physicist David Hilbert. The two scientists were working in the same area in …

Science 15 Nov 2004, 15:57
Grokster touts 'legal, licensed' p2p music share system

Licenses Mercora 'person-to-person' radio software

Grokster has partnered with 'P2P radio' company Mercora to offer what it claims is "the Internet's largest, legal and licensed peer-to-peer music search and discovery service". Given Grokster's own insistence - backed, it has to be said, by US District Court and appeal court rulings - that its own P2P network is legal, we're …

Music and Media 15 Nov 2004, 16:14
Taser-happy cops floor suicidal six-year-old

Electric justice, US style

Miami-Dade police have announced a review of policy after two kids were zapped with Tasers within a couple of weeks of each other. Tasers fire wire probes which hit suspects with a debilitating electric shock. The first incident involved a six-year old boy who was Tasered at his elementary school. He had broken a picture and …

Bootnotes 15 Nov 2004, 16:19
Pentax Optio X digicam

Review Extremely pocketable?

The diminutive Optio X features a swivel-body design that rotates through 270 degrees. One section houses an excellent 3x optical zoom lens, 5.2 megapixel CCD and flash unit, while the meat of the camera is in the other, larger section, which includes a large, 2in LCD, camera controls, battery and removable SD/MMC storage, …

Reviews 15 Nov 2004, 16:37
Aruba to bring WLAN-level security to LANs

Security at the switch, not the wiring closet

Wireless switch specialist Aruba will next year bring to wired networks the same tight security it provides for WLANs in a bid to provide better protection from inside-the-firewall attacks. During Q1 2005, Aruba will ship a unit that connects to an existing LAN port and provides a buffer between a potentially unauthorised …

Enterprise Security 15 Nov 2004, 16:44
Lexmark denies spyware allegations

No black helicopters here, says printer outfit

Lexmark has firmly denied installing spyware on its customers' computers, after allegations appeared on a Usenet newsgroup that its printers install software that sends personal information back to the company. The poster, calling himself Commander, writes on the comp.periphs.printers Usenet newsgroup, that while he was …

ID 15 Nov 2004, 17:15
Dell re-enters the blade-o-sphere

Cheap, thin and middle of the road

After talking up its new line of blade servers for months, Dell went ahead today and delivered some product. Dell, not surprisingly, is touting its new blade server as a space and cost-saving improvement over standard 1U rack servers. Customers can fit 10 of Dell's PowerEdge 1855 servers into a 7U high chassis. All in all, this …

Servers 15 Nov 2004, 18:08
Sun stares down Red Hat with Solaris 10

The price is right for war

If you can't beat them, join them and then beat them. That appears to be the flag Sun Microsystems will be waving today as it officially unveils Solaris 10 (even though the OS won't actually ship until January). Sun is eliminating the fee customers have paid in the past to run Solaris x86 on Intel or AMD servers in a bid to …

Operating Systems 15 Nov 2004, 19:42