8th January 2007 Archive

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Samsung preps ultra-slim music player

Nano nobbler?

CES 2007 Samsung will in March ship its next attempt to out-Nano the iPod Nano, a Nano-wide 7mm-thick music player sporting a 1.8in OLED screen. It's clearly got LG's Chocolate phone in its sights too: Samsung's K3 has blue-backlit touch-sensitive controls. The K3 is essentially Samsung's K5 - launched in Europe last …

Reg Hardware 8 Jan 2007, 01:55
Sony to bring Flash-only UMPC to US

Premium by name, premium by price

CES 2007 Sony will bring its Flash-based Vaio UX ultra-mobile PC (UMPC) out of Japan next month when it ships the UX Premium Micro PC in the US. Premium by name, premium by nature - the handheld wireless computer will retail for a whopping $2,500. But boy does it look smart. Unlike the current UX, the Premium edition - aka …

Reg Hardware 8 Jan 2007, 02:49
Samsung unveils second-gen Blu-ray Disc player

CES 2007 Samsung has announced the second generation of its Blu-ray Disc player, this one designed to convert 1080i content to 1080p, add 7.1-channel audio and to support remote device control across HDMI links. The BD-P1200 contains Samsung's Hollywood-quality Video (HQV) processor which can de-interlace 1080i images into …

Reg Hardware 8 Jan 2007, 03:07
Flying wang survivor threatens DMCA action

Comment Don't fear the griefer

Has Linden Labs gone mad and started attacking the very journos who satisfy its dependence on hype? A couple of recent headlines would suggest so, but readers needn't be alarmed. The ZDNet headline got it a bit wrong: "Virtual land owner challenges press freedom in Second Life", suggesting that freedom of the press to operate …

Music and Media 8 Jan 2007, 05:59
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 four-core CPU

Review Quad-core goes mainstream, sort of...

At the beginning of November Intel launched its four-core Core 2 Extreme QX6700 processor, where the Q, of course, stands for 'quad'. This Extreme processor has an unlocked multiplier so we reviewers can have fun experimenting with a £650 piece of silicon while the buying public regards Extreme products as a technological …

Reg Hardware 8 Jan 2007, 06:02
Sonos adds Windows Media DRM to multi-room music system

CES 2007 High-end multi-room digital audio player maker Sonos today added support for Microsoft's Plays for Sure DRM-protected music technology to its hardware via a system software update. Available today, Sonos System Software 2.1 allows tracks purchased through the likes of Napster, Virgin Digitial and HMV to be beamed …

Reg Hardware 8 Jan 2007, 07:02
Test, test and test again

Should testing drive development or development drive testing?

Almost no-one disagrees with the idea of testing, writes David Norfolk. but many people fail to follow an uncompromising test-centric process. Recently, I had the chance to ask Richard Collins, Development Strategist at a specialist software vendor, why he believes that test-driven development is the way to build better software …

Developer 8 Jan 2007, 07:02
Women are Ireland's top e-shoppers

Don't touch that mouse Siobhan

Online shopping in Ireland is a woman's world according to a new study by researchers from Dublin City University (DCU). The survey, conducted by Dr Regina Connolly and Dr Sarah Ingle of DCU, asked users of online retailer Buy4Now about their shopping habits and found that 70 per cent of users were women aged between 30 and 50 …

Financial News 8 Jan 2007, 10:50
UK domain name dispute rules could change

Rulebook 'out of date' - Nominet

The rulebook used in most disputes over .uk domain names is out of date, according to Nominet, the .uk domain name registry. Its suggestions for revision include the introduction of a financial deterrent against cybersquatting. A person wishing to complain about another party's ownership of a domain name has a choice between …

Music and Media 8 Jan 2007, 10:56
Fancy a free car? Try Maplin

Sensational mobile phone giveaway

Those readers who need a new set of wheels but are short of cash should pop down to UK electronics outft Maplin and try this search which makes you an offer you certainly can't refuse: Crikey. As our informant Mat Moore put it: "I'll take 10!!!" ®

Music and Media 8 Jan 2007, 10:58
Scots dump 40m poo in Edinburgh field

Hi-res profanity greets visiting aliens

We Brits are an unfriendly bunch, and no mistake. While visiting aliens who touch down in the US of A might be greeted by hysterical crowds of skywatchers bearing "Welcome to our planet" banners, any extraterrestrial sweeping the skies above the UK is likely to get an eyeful of this: This 40m greeting can be found to the …

Music and Media 8 Jan 2007, 11:01
Mankind saved from OpenOffice bugs

Document cataclysm averted

Users of the popular alternative office suites, OpenOffice and StarOffice, need to upgrade following the discovery of a trio of potentially serious security bugs. The security bugs stem from flaws in the image processing components of the packages involved in handling common graphic formats, WMF and EMF, as explained here. As …

Enterprise Security 8 Jan 2007, 11:12
Gates talks up Vista

CES 20067 Bill wants a server in your home

Bill Gates opened the Consumer Electronics Show by talking up the consumer attraction of Vista - something he hasn't done since last year's Consumer Electronics Show. After listening to the marketing puff for the new operating system the audience even got a product demo from a marketing bod. Gates returned to the fray to …

Software 8 Jan 2007, 11:35
Cocaine found on 99.9% of UK banknotes

Spanish euros also tainted with nose ajax

Pretty well every banknote in the UK shows traces of cocaine, forensic scientists have claimed. According to a report in the Sunday Telegraph, 99.9 per cent of the two billion notes currently in circulation have come into contact with Bolivian marching powder. Bristol-based company Mass Spec Analytical tested over "1,500 £10 …

Music and Media 8 Jan 2007, 11:44
Brits offered lessons in French rudeness

Click here to perfect your Gallic Shrug

It's a well-known fact that to successfully blend into an alien environment you have to adopt local customs. In the case of Newcastle, for example, this might involve downing 20 Bacardi Breezers in a nightclub and then fighting the police at 3am. When it comes to Paris, however, you just need to be bloody rude. Of course, …

Music and Media 8 Jan 2007, 12:07
Phoenix tears Stafford from BT

Appoints Chief Operating Officer

Phoenix IT Group has appointed Jeremy Stafford as Chief Operating Officer. He will take up his position and join the Phoenix board by 1 July 2007. Stafford (44) is moving from BT, where he worked for 16 years, most recently as Managing Director, Government Business. He was previously UK MD, BT Syntegra, and before this led a …

Channel Register 8 Jan 2007, 12:55
HM Revenue phish surfaces

Tax attacks

Phishing fraudsters are targeting UK taxpayers in the latest attempt to dupe the gullible into handing over sensitive financial details. The bogus emails promised prospective marks a fictitious tax refund of £70. The attack represents part of the ongoing trend for fraudsters to extend to scope of targets for fraud beyond …

ID 8 Jan 2007, 12:56
Big January sale at Cash'n'Carrion

Site offer Huge savings on shirts, caps and more...

Reg merchandising tentacle Cash'n'Carrion is clearing its shelves in anticipation of some new, exciting products for 2007 and has accordingly slashed prices on a range of existing stock. Yes indeed, for a limited period you can bag yourself a Hacker polo shirt for just £9.99, a BOFH t-shirt for a mere £4.99 and any of our …

Site News 8 Jan 2007, 13:07
'Plutoed' is 2006 word of the year

The American Dialect Society has spoken

The American Dialect Society (ADS) has voted "plutoed" its 2006 word of the year. The verb, meaning " to demote or devalue someone or something", beat "climate canary" (an organism or species whose poor health or declining numbers hint at a larger environmental catastrophe on the horizon) in a run-off vote to secure the crown, …

Music and Media 8 Jan 2007, 13:54
VoIP-powered model car racing is go

What?..No, faster!..What?..Don't crash...Oh

A version of Scalextrix has been developed with the slot cars controlled by shouting down a VoIP line. The game is the brain child of developer Christopher Paretti. The volume of a voice signal is processed and hooked up to act as the equivalent of squeezing the trigger on the perennial children's favourite. The subtlety of …

VoIP 8 Jan 2007, 14:18
BT Fusion goes Wi-Fi

Bluetooth bites the dust for converged mobile/VoIP service

BT has unleashed a second wave of consumer handsets for its as yet unspectacular performing Fusion converged VoIP/mobile telephone service. The new kit will let individual punters take advantage of BT's Openzone hotspots for the first time to get cheaper VoIP calls when out and about. The Nokia 6136, Motorola A910 and Samsung …

Telecoms 8 Jan 2007, 15:07
MI5 offers fear by email

Terror alerts by email

The Security Service MI5 will announce tomorrow that subscribers to its website can sign up for email notification of changes to the current threat level. A spokeswoman for the Home Office said: "There will be two electronic lists, one for people interested in updates to the threat level and one for changes and updates to the …

Government 8 Jan 2007, 15:16
Becta's schools software scheme reported to EC

Small firm complains about Becta and big business

An advisor to Becta, the education technology quango, has complained to the European Commission about its procurement process for firms to provide online learning platforms and content to British schools. Of 119 suppliers who expressed an interest last year in tendering to supply Learning Platforms - personalised, online …

Public Sector 8 Jan 2007, 15:25
PlusNet email goes adrift

Not again...

Gaffe-prone ISP PlusNet has done it again - email services disappeared on Friday and customers are still struggling to get missing messages back. The most recent problems began on Friday and they're not fixed yet. But at least the company hasn't actually deleted any emails this time - it just can't deliver them. We received …

Networks 8 Jan 2007, 15:33
TDK touts compact Blu-ray Disc format

'Mini BD' is 33 per cent smaller

CES 2007 TDK today demo'd what it's calling 'Mini Blu-ray Discs' - single-layer recordable and re-writeable discs that are 8cm in diameter and capable of holding 16.5GB of data. The company also launched inkjet-printable standard-size BD-R media. The smaller discs are prototypes - they have yet to be approved by the Blu-ray …

Reg Hardware 8 Jan 2007, 15:43
Internet video patent suit hits Google and Apple

Intertainer plans patent licensing business

Google, Apple and Napster are being sued over their online video businesses by a company that stopped offering internet video years ago. Intertainer holds a patent that it says is being infringed by some of the tech world's biggest names. The company now only consists of two people, according to press reports, but it will seek …

Financial News 8 Jan 2007, 16:18
MS culls Patch Tuesday litter

And then there were four

Microsoft has scaled back the number of patches it plans to release on Tuesday as part of its regular monthly security updates cycle. Instead of releasing eight patches (as previously planned) Redmond will only release four. These patches will include a critical update for Windows and three involving Office, at least one of …

Security 8 Jan 2007, 16:38
Intel releases workstation-friendly quad-core Xeons

Core 2 Quad under cover

CES 2007 Intel today rolled out a pair of four-core Xeon server chips for single-socket systems. The two CPUs, the Xeon X3210 and X3220, are effectively Core 2 Quads rebranded. Both combine two dual-core processors in a single chip package. The two Xeons are clocked at 2.13GHz and 2.4GHz, respectively. Both run over a 1066MHz …

Reg Hardware 8 Jan 2007, 17:23
Ukrainian drunk escapes dolphin gang drowning attempt

RZSL Murderous Crimean cetaceans mar New Year dip

Ukrainian emergency workers saved a drunken swimmer in the Black Sea from an attack by a pod of killer dolphins who were trying to drown him. The man was reportedly "heavily under the influence of alcohol" at the time. He had braved the near-freezing dolphin-infested waters in the belief they would be good for his health. That' …

Biology 8 Jan 2007, 17:46
Belkin readies iPod music recorder, mixer

CES 2007 Accessory maker Belkin today unveiled what it claimed is the first four-channel audio mixer and recorder for Apple's fifth-generation iPod. It also introduced a Bluetooth music streaming kit for the iconic digital music player. Belkin's TuneStudio turns a 5G iPod into a portable recording studio. Recordings are …

Reg Hardware 8 Jan 2007, 17:54
The billion dollar ringtones war

Column Civil strife as labels fight publishers

Ringtones are a huge business. According to Jupiter Research, ringtones generated $6.6bn dollars in global revenue in 2006. They are also one of the most contested areas of the music business with a fierce battle being fought between major record labels and music publishers. The labels have argued for years that music publishers …

Mobile 8 Jan 2007, 18:30
Matrox upgrades multi-monitor dongle with DVI ports

CES 2007 Matrox will this quarter ship the DualHead2Go Digital Edition, an enhanced version of its notebook-oriented multi-monitor driver dongle which now sports a pair of DVI digital monitor connectors in place of the original version's VGA outputs. The $229 add-on connects to a laptop's VGA port and expands the image …

Reg Hardware 8 Jan 2007, 18:50
Sling shows SlingPlayer-for-TV gadget

Send Slingbox-sent TV shows to a... TV

CES 2007 Slingbox maker Sling Media today unveiled a box that takes a TV pictures sent out over a network by Sling's signature device and displays it on a TV. SlingCatcher will also show internet-hosted content on a telly without the need for a computer in between. It's a logical move. Slingbox was all about sending TV …

Reg Hardware 8 Jan 2007, 19:35
Microsoft bans Scroogle

Updated Bah! Humbuggle!

Microsoft's MSN Messenger service doesn't want you talking dirty - and its definition of dirty talk is quite peculiar. If you send an instant message containing the word "scroogle.org" via the Microsoft service, the message never arrives. The sender doesn't know it was discarded, and the recipient has no indication that it was …

Music and Media 8 Jan 2007, 19:49
SanDisk readies Wi-Fi music, widescreen video players

CES 2007 SanDisk today introduced its take on Microsoft's Zune music player: a compact Flash-based unit with a 2.2in LCD and Wi-Fi. Called the Sansa Connect, the player is ready to receive internet radio and connect to Plays for Sure music download stores over the air. SanDisk's pitch is freedom from a PC. With an all-you- …

Reg Hardware 8 Jan 2007, 21:01
NCR hopes to cash in on Teradata spinout

And then there were two

NCR has kicked out one of its "pillars" by setting its Teradata division free as a separate company. The cash register maker today announced plans to split into two publicly traded companies. One company - NCR - will continue selling a wide range of goods, stretching from point of sale machines to servers. The other - …

Financial News 8 Jan 2007, 22:57