31st May 2005 Archive

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Dual-core Pentiums boost PC demand

Replacement activity

Demand for Intel's new dual-processor chips will help to support demand for PCs in 2005, Gartner says. Intel last week launched its Pentium D840, 830 and 820 dual-core processors for use in both home and office desktop PCs. The Pentium D is Intel's second dual-core processor, following the introduction of the Pentium Extreme …

System Builder 31 May 2005, 08:19
AMD launches dual-core Athlon 64 X2

Computex 2005 Slowest X2 faster than fastest Pentium D, claims AMD exec

AMD formally launched its Athlon 64 X2 dual-core desktop processor today and pledged superior performance across the range than Intel's rival dual-core offerings can deliver. The X2 series is available in two flavours, one with 1MB of L2 cache and the other with 2MB, in each case split 50:50 between the two cores. The latter is …

PCs 31 May 2005, 08:25
Intel announces 64-bit Celerons

Computex 2005 Shipping in volume, apparently

Intel today formally committed itself to bringing its EM64T 64-bit processing extensions down into the Celeron D line of low-cost desktop chips. The chips are "shipping in volume" and Intel has "products in the marketplace", the company's joint marketing chief, Anand Chandrasekher, said at Computex 2005, today. He didn't …

PCs 31 May 2005, 08:43
Israel unmasks spyware ring

Corporate espionage

Just connect your PC to the Internet. That's all it takes, for your worst nightmares to come true - and the Israeli Spyware scandal which broke last week illustrates, better than any amount of preaching, that the real security risk has nothing to do with open access WiFi. The story, too juicy to be ignored by the IT media, …

Security 31 May 2005, 08:52
Gates' Microsoft down to the wire for EU compliance

Commission will take time over fine

This story has expired from The Register's archive. You can now find it at its original location on the Forbes.com website: http://www.forbes.com/facesinthenews/2005/05/30/0530autofacescan01.html?partner=theregister.

Operating Systems 31 May 2005, 09:10
Intel exposes 65nm dual-core Xeons

Computex 2005 Platforms on parade

Intel demonstrated its upcoming dual-core Xeon DP chip, 'Dempsey', along with its 'Blackford' chipset, at Computex 2005 today - the first time the 65nm beast has been seen in public. The chip giant also had its 'Paxville' Xeon MP dualie on display, though that will be fabbed at 90nm. Like Dempsey, Paxville is due to ship in Q1 …

Servers 31 May 2005, 09:18
Cheating wife? Try GPS panties

Keeping tabs on errant females worldwide

Those readers who suspect that their other half may be playing away from home, or that their teenage daughter is currently getting down and dirty with some spotty ne'er-do-well are pointed in the direction of the ultimate errant female tracking device: the truly sensational forget-me-not panties. It's fair to say that while we …

Bootnotes 31 May 2005, 10:11
ATI unveils CrossFire

Computex 2005 'More compatible than SLI', Nvidia-rival claims

ATI has indeed decided to name its multi-GPU graphics technology 'CrossFire', the company announced today when it launched the system as a more affordable, more compatible alternative to Nvidia's SLi. As anticipated, CrossFire combines two ATI Radeon graphics cards, though only one has to directly support the technology. It had …

System Builder 31 May 2005, 10:20
TDC snaps up Swiss Ascom

On a roll

TDC has snapped up the business arm of Ascom's Swiss division - which provides LAN services - for DKK161m (£14.6m). Danish outfit TDC said the deal - which still needs regulatory approval - makes TDC Switzerland a major player in the provision of integrated IP-based communications solutions for the business market. Hans Peter …

Financial News 31 May 2005, 10:24
Cost of ID Cards could triple, plan could breach DRA

Oh no it won't, says Home Office

The UK government has dismissed a report from the London School of Economics (LSE) which suggests ID cards could cost as much as three times as planned. The LSE's analysis comes as the UK's plan faces a fresh challenge from human rights organisation Privacy International, which claims the cards discriminate against disabled …

Public Sector 31 May 2005, 10:51
July trial for Sasser suspect

Arrest followed tip-off

The German teenager accused of creating the infamous Sasser worm faces a July trial for computer sabotage offences. Sven Jaschan, 19, was arrested in the village of Waffensen near Rotenburg, in northern Germany, on suspicion of writing and distributing the Sasser worm in May 2004. He later confessed to police that he was both …

Anti-Virus 31 May 2005, 11:07
Security barometer survey - the results are in

Reg Reader Studies Read on...

The results of last month's Security barometer survey have been collected, perused and compiled and are now available to all interested readers in a handy PDF format. Thanks very much to all those who participated - your input enabled us to draw some interesting conclusions about the psychology of security, which we summarise …

Reg Technology Panel 31 May 2005, 11:10
The French can spell 'Doom'

And ninethly Don't cry for Jacques

The essence of life is the smile of round female bottoms, under the shadow of cosmic boredom - Guy de Maupassant Jacques called me two weeks ago in a panicked state. He needed an incredible amount of help to pull off a "yes" vote on the EU constitution. He needed the counsel of a genius political observer and ultimate …

Bootnotes 31 May 2005, 11:37
Introducing the drunk-busting steering wheel

You're pissed and going nowhere

A US inventor reckons he has improved on the good old "breath alcohol ignition interlock" with a skin sensor which will immobilise your car if you're seven sheets to the wind. Existing systems rely on the half-cut driver breathing into a device which then refuses to fire up the car. Dennis Bellehumeur's cunning plan is to use …

Bootnotes 31 May 2005, 11:47
EU to decide on Microsoft fine in July

It'll take time to analyse the proposal

European Union officials have said they will wait until the end of July to make a decision on whether or not to impose extra fines on Microsoft over the legal ruling that the company had abused its market dominance. The deadline for the software maker to comply with the March 2004 ruling expires at midnight tonight. EU …

Software 31 May 2005, 11:51
Tougher laws planned to combat mobile phone thefts - report

Holy handsets

The UK Government is looking to tackle some of the "causes of crime" by making it easier to cuff villains who trade in stolen mobile phones. With an estimated 700,000 handsets nicked each year in the UK, the Government is concerned that these small, valuable and desirable items are fuelling thefts and muggings. The problem is …

Mobile 31 May 2005, 11:53
Microsoft nose-to-nose with Unix server rivals

Ready to knock heads

Sales of Windows-based servers has pulled even with those of Unix-based boxes for the first time ever, according to first quarter 2005 sales figures from researcher IDC. In an overall up server market, IDC counted $4.2bn worth of Microsoft Windows server sales on the back of 12 percent growth. Total Unix sales also hit $4.2bn …

Servers 31 May 2005, 13:27
Irish college deploys fingerprint scanners

No bunking off for you, my lad

It was with a little fanfare of trumpets that St Andrew's College in Dublin today announced it has rolled out a biometric student registering solution which allows the reading of kids' fingerprints without physically storing an image of same. The TruancyGuard system - deployed by thrustingly-monikered Adrenalin - is being …

ID 31 May 2005, 14:01
June date for Bluephone launch

five-four-three-etc

BT looks set to unveil its much-awaited Bluephone in the next fortnight or so. Although a date hasn't been finalised for the commercial launch of the all singing all dancing "Batphone", El Reg has learned that a date around the middle of June is being eyed by execs at the monster telco. Once the handset is given an airing, …

Mobile 31 May 2005, 14:03
Chips hit squall in April

SIA confident on full year

The chip industry’s fight back hit the ropes in April, dropping 1.2 per cent on the previous month. Total chip sales were $18.2bn in April, compared to $18.4bn in March, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported today. This was 6.9 per cent up on the previous year, a comparatively limp rise. The trade group put the drop …

PCs 31 May 2005, 14:30
Hitachi caught swapping APIs with IBM . . . again

Pays to play

Bitter storage rivals Hitachi and IBM have again agreed to cooperate for the good of their shared storage customers. The two companies last week revealed a licensing agreement that should see Hitachi improve the way its storage systems work with IBM's mainframes. Hitachi has licensed the FICON/ESCON interface for IBM's …

Storage 31 May 2005, 14:52
Go-ahead Rev opens Wi-Fi church

Praise the Lord - wirelessly

A Cardiff vicar has addressed the problem of falling congregations by offering his flock a quiet wireless hotspot in which they can seek the meaning of the word salvation on Google while chewing the fat via email with Pope Benny 16. Keith Kimber, of St John's in Cardiff city centre, has sold his soul to Cardiff Council and BT …

Wireless 31 May 2005, 15:06
419er seeks Reg reader for IM romance

A Yahoo! brief encounter

Our recent revelation that Nigerian 419ers had invaded Skype chat provoked a US reader to recount a brief encounter on Yahoo! IM with one blonde, 22-year-old model from London (Hobbies: dancing, etc, etc, according to her profile). Both IM handles have been changed to protect the innocent and the, well, see what you make of it …

Music and Media 31 May 2005, 15:11
HP stakes bid to dominate ID market

Who do you think you are?

HP last week made a grab for a bigger slice of the lucrative identity market with the release of a National Identity System (NIS) based on Microsoft's .NET platform. The technology offers "Secure Identification Management for Governments Around the World" or (put another way) a means for states to keep tabs on their citizens. …

ID 31 May 2005, 15:16
Ofcom eyes phone slamming breaches

New code, new 'vigorous approach to enforcement'

Ofcom has promised to get tough with phone companies found guilty of "slamming" and other dodgy sales techniques in their bid to sign up new punters. New rules introduced last week mean that all telcos flogging fixed line telco services must now adhere to a mandatory code of practice to prevent punters being duped into …

Telecoms 31 May 2005, 15:23
UK eGov projects drive Europe's public IT spend

Something to boast about?

The UK spends more than any other European country on public sector IT, a survey has revealed. British taxpayers will shell out a hefty €20.1bn in 2005, and although the Scandinavian nations spend slightly more per head, the UK investment in technology is 40 per cent larger than France or Germany, and represents 23 per cent of …

Public Sector 31 May 2005, 15:50
SMEs don't get VFM from cellcos

'Second rate value compared to larger enterprises'

Complex tariffs and poor service are just two of the reasons why UK SMEs reckon they get a rough deal from mobile phone operators. According to research carried out by Orange, big corporate customers get better service and value for money from mobilephonecos compared to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). Six out of ten …

Small Biz 31 May 2005, 16:06
UK DTI to co-fund netproject desktop Linux R&D

MS UK's favourite thorn bounces back with secure desktop grant

Open source consultancy netproject has secured a £132,000 R&D grant from the Department of Trade & Industry, matching funds from members of its own Incubator Club, in order to carry out further development of its Secure Open Desktop Architecture (SODA). SODA provides a Linux-based secure, "stateless" desktop which is downloaded …

Software 31 May 2005, 16:26
One of our disc drives is missing

UBS bank hunts client data

Investment bank UBS has launched an investigation after a disc reckoned to contain sensitive client data went missing. The lost drive held data from the bank's Tokyo share trading division raising fears that confidential trading histories from the bank's corporate clients might be disclosed, The Times reports. Japanese …

Enterprise Security 31 May 2005, 16:36
IBM thrusts x460 servers into the eye of the Hurricane

Round two coming

IBM next month will kick off phase two of its Hurricane server plans with a high-end system that can be turned into a 32-processor box. IBM plans to release its xSeries 460 servers on June 17, The Register has learned courtesy of some internal company documents. These new 460 systems have more component options available than …

Servers 31 May 2005, 16:37
The dangers of pointy knives, and that damn frog

Letters Now there's an interesting combination...

Well, it is quite a short haul today, but that is what happens after a bank holiday. We'll kick off with a fabulous example of how stating the bleedin' obvious is something only highly trained professionals can do with a really straight face. Yes, we are on about the startling revelations from relatively senior members of the …

Letters 31 May 2005, 16:52
Blank virus blanks email

In brief More Bagle madness

It's happened yet again. A new version of the Bagle Downloader is spreading like wildfire via email, according to email filtering firm MessageLabs. MessageLabs has intercepted almost 70,000 copies since the arrival of the virus at lunchtime on Tuesday. The virus appears to have originated from a Yahoo! group. The as-yet-unnamed …

Anti-Virus 31 May 2005, 16:53