16th January 2008 Archive

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Mac lambs line up for slaughter

Is Apple airtight?

The unveiling of Apple's super-thin MacBook Air promises to expand further the Mac user base. That's troubling news for a platform that, as it enjoys greater uptake, risks the darker side of fandom - stalkers. Or, in this case, hackers and virus writers. Security specialist F-Secure's latest claim to have discovered the first …

Security 16 Jan 00:09
Investors shred Intel over double-digit Q4 gains

Fear is in the share

Intel today turned in record fourth quarter revenue and then saw investors pummel its share price in after-hours trading. Thank for the effort, guys. The chip maker posted an 11 per cent rise in revenue to $10.7bn. It also kicked net income higher by a whopping 51 per cent to $2.3bn. But these flashy figures fell below the …

Hardware 16 Jan 00:23
REALbasic for iPhone?

Macworld 2008 SDK definitely, maybe

Uncertainty over Apple's iPhone SDK is making a least one potential partner cautious about backing the phone, despite its popularity. Geoff, the president and chief executive of REAL Software (the company that created REALbasic), has expressed interest in porting his company's cross-platform language to the iPhone as part of a …

Developer 16 Jan 01:25
IBM: Treasure Island Revisited

Comment Even rivers of gold run dry

If ever there was proof that the financial community does not understand the basics of a legacy IT company, the euphoria over yesterday's IBM results preview said it all. News of IBM's profit sent the technology sector up,which in turn drove up the broader markets, confusing many IT observers. IBM a stellar performer - I don't …

Channel Register 16 Jan 03:33
Trademark fast-track launched, but value questioned

Pay £300 to knock a few weeks off

Trademark applicants will soon be able to pay an extra £300 to be fast-tracked through the system, but one expert has said the new plan will only shave a few weeks from a process that can take years. The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) has announced that trademark applicants will be able to pay £300 to cut the waiting …

Law 16 Jan 10:14
E-government is working for DVLA

A functioning government IT project? Surely not.

A report from the National Audit Office (NAO) on the use of technology by UK vehicle licensing agencies has found that rare beast - a working government IT project. It's worth noting though that data security was not part of the government spending watchdog's brief this time. The NAO looked at six services from three agencies …

Government 16 Jan 10:20
T-Mobile looks to ADSL for mobile backhaul

IP within 3G within IP, over Ethernet

T-Mobile has completed German trials using ADSL to backhaul data from 3G base stations by encapsulating HSDPA data in the IP stream. In doing so it has proven the technology is viable for the next generation of mobile services. The trials have been running for the last six months and included several hundred base stations, …

Mobile 16 Jan 10:48
C&W eyes Pipex access network

What a carve-up

The remains of Pipex are being picked over by Cable and Wireless as part of a planned outsourcing deal. Engineers and consultants arrived onsite yesterday for talks to take over the running of the access network that connect customers to Pipex's London core network and the internet. The talks form the next stage of Pipex's …

Telecoms 16 Jan 10:52
Clash of the compacts: Eee vs Air

Apple or Asus?

The hottest mobile products of the moment? Undoubtedly, Apple's MacBook Air and Asus' Eee PC. So how do these would-be pinnacles of ultra-portability compare? Let's take a look at the features each machine offers: There's no doubt, on the basis of the specs, the Air has the Eee licked on performance, usability, wireless …

Reg Hardware 16 Jan 11:17
DIY Russian war robot plays nanny to inventor's kid

Eructate! Eructate!

Today's dodgy robot story comes from Russia, where reports have it that a powerful wardroid under development has been given unusual duties. The deadly combat machine, doubtless more accustomed to mowing helpless fleshies like grass, has been reassigned in a cheesy sitcom-style twist as a robo-nanny in charge of looking after …

Bootnotes 16 Jan 11:17
Star Wars USB Flash drives touch down

"Princess Leia in the 4GB"

If you’re working on plans for a Death Star III, then there’s a new gadget in the galaxy designed to secure your vital blueprints: a Star Wars-themed USB memory stick. Star Wars USB sticks: choose your favourite The USB drives are available as one of four characters, including Register Hardware’s personal favourite, Darth …

Reg Hardware 16 Jan 11:35
Intel holds back 3.2GHz gaming CPU release

Ties in with retiming of X48 chipset debut

Intel's next Core 2 Extreme gaming processor, the QX9770 - reviewed here - won't debut until late February/early March and not this month after all, it has been claimed. The new schedule is attested by Taiwanese motherboard-maker moles cited by DigiTimes. We can't say we're entirely surprised. In December 2007, it was claimed …

Reg Hardware 16 Jan 11:50
Crazy Frog millionaires invest in Facebook

Taking on the world, one annoying product at a time

The three brothers who coined millions from the Crazy Frog phenomenon have followed Microsoft in taking a stake in Facebook. "Crazy" Mark Zuckerberg. The German Samwer boys sold their ringtones firm Jamba to Verisign in 2004. It went for $273m on the back of irritating buuh-bud-uh-bu-buuh noises, but Verisign quickly …

Financial News 16 Jan 11:52
Acquisition-happy Game not anti-competitive

Green light for Gamestation deal

Game Group today learned that its acquisition of rival firm Gamestation has been formally cleared by the Competition Commission. The Office of Fair Trading kicked off an investigation in August last year following claims that Game would nullify competition by merging with another games console group. However, the commission …

Channel Register 16 Jan 11:58
Dell tells customer 'Mac is good option'

Anything Jobs can do...

Computer giant Dell stunned a Reg reader seeking a processor upgrade when it told him he might want to consider a "Mac". The El Reg reader had emailed the firm's hardware technical support team asking whether it was possible to upgrade his one year old Dimension 9150's processor to a Core2 CPU without having to also replace …

Hardware 16 Jan 11:59
Amazon defies French courts over shipping costs

Does the crime and pays the fine

Amazon.fr is continuing to pay daily fines rather than comply with a court order which forbids it from offering free shipping for some purchases made from its French website. The US firm was taken to court by French booksellers in December accused of discounting some books by more than five per cent of list price when free …

Law 16 Jan 12:00
US boffins create darkest material ever

Blacker than a black cat in a coal cellar

US researchers announced yesterday they'd concocted the darkest material on the planet - a carbon nanotube substance so black it absorbs more than 99.9 per cent of light, Reuters reports. In fact, the stuff's so unrelentingly black it's "30 times darker than a carbon substance used by the US National Institute of Standards and …

Physics 16 Jan 12:33
Vodafone USB Modem 7.2

Review HSDPA - and HSUPA - for the masses?

It's shiny, white and looks like a bar of soap. But hook it up to your computer and you can surf the internet at speeds of up to 7.2Mb/s - in theory, at least. Yes, it's Vodafone's latest wireless modem, the Mobile Broadband USB Modem 7.2. It's cutely curvaceous, rounded at the corners, while the top and bottom panels arch …

Reg Hardware 16 Jan 12:47
FDA approves cloned animal products

Preliminary findings rule foodstuffs safe

The US's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday declared foodstuffs derived from some cloned animals safe. The FDA said: "After years of detailed study and analysis, the Food and Drug Administration has concluded that meat and milk from clones of cattle, swine, and goats, and the offspring of clones from any species …

Biology 16 Jan 12:51
BEA finally says yes to Oracle - for $8.5bn

Larry flashes extra cash

Oracle has signed a definitive agreement to buy BEA for $8.5bn. Larry Ellison's Oracle will pay $19.375 for each BEA share - BEA shares were trading at $15.58 before the offer was made. The two have been courting for some time although Oracle walked away from a possible deal in October after saying it could not better its …

Channel Register 16 Jan 13:34
Tom Cruise Scientology vid leaks onto net

Thesp offers nine minutes of enlightenment

A nine-minute video showing Tom Cruise chatting about his Scientology beliefs has leaked onto the net, allegedly much to the chagrin of the Church of Scientology. The four-year-old clip popped up yesterday on YouTube "for a few hours", and was subsequently republished by Radar and Defamer before removal from all three. In it, …

Entertainment 16 Jan 14:00
OOXML marks the spot, says research firm

ODF? It's for poseurs

Large organisations that are considering a move away from Microsoft's Office Open XML (OOXML) in favour of rival standard (Open Document Format) ODF should think again, concludes a new report. Analysts at Burton Group on Monday turned up the heat in what is an already fiery debate about which standard should be internationally …

IT Director 16 Jan 14:08
Motor titans crowd aboard 'green' bandwagon

Hot air now figuring prominently in debate

The struggle among motor-industry biggies regarding who can seem the greenest (while simultaneously not actually doing very much about carbon emissions) continues. Toyota and GM are vying for supremacy in the plug-in hybrid stakes, Ferrari has dipped a toe in biofuel, and out of left field come French and Indian contenders with …

Environment 16 Jan 14:12
Hungarians unleash dog bark translator

'Oi, Dolittle, throw me a stick'

Hungarian scientists are apparently working on computer software which analyses dog barks and potentially offers people the chance to "better recognise" their mutts' emotions, Reuters reports. Csaba Molnar and colleagues at Budapest's ELTE University have tested the software on 14 dogs of the Hungarian Mudi herding breed in …

Bootnotes 16 Jan 14:13
Messenger reveals Mercury's hidden side

Nice snap of newly-revealed hemisphere

NASA's Messenger has beamed back the first picture of Mercury's hitherto unseen side, snapped from a distance of about 17,000 miles after its first fly-by of the planet yesterday. Messenger photo of Mercury's hitherto unseen side. Image: NASA NASA explains: "The image shows features as small as six miles in size. Similar …

Space 16 Jan 14:47
Boeing knocks back Dreamliner first flight

Further delay for troubled programme

Boeing today announced that the first flight of its 787 Dreamliner will not now take place until "around the end of the second quarter" of 2008 - a roughly three month delay which will see the first aircraft delivered "in early 2009, rather than late 2008". The company late last year rescheduled the 787 programme in the face …

Science 16 Jan 14:52
Sun pulls MySQL into its orbit

Updated: Pays $1bn for Web's favourite free database

Sun Microsystems is to pay $1bn for open source database developer MySQL. MySQL's open source databases are widely used online, but Sun is hoping to increase their use in more traditional IT and enterprise settings. The database is used by many websites - 50,000 copies a day are downloaded. MySQL will be integrated into Sun's …

Servers 16 Jan 14:53
Skullcandy headphones ditch the MP3 player

No player? No problem!

Skullcandy’s cottoned onto the idea that people don’t always like carrying an MP3 player around, and has developed a pair of headphones that do away with it altogether. Skullcandy's Double Agent: integrated SD card slot The manufacturer’s Double Agent set of overhead and foldable cans incorporate a slot for any standard SD …

Reg Hardware 16 Jan 15:07
DLO debuts HD-ready iPod dock

Dock and roll?

Philips-owned audio add-ons maker DLO has created a docking station to let Apple fans connect their dockable iPods up to an HD TV. DLO's HomeDock HD: view iPod content on your HD TV Dubbed HomeDock HD, the minimalist-looking unit not only lets you play all your iPod’s musical content through your telly, but it also connects …

Reg Hardware 16 Jan 15:13
Shure Music Phone Adaptor

Unwired Video Review Use high-end buds with your iPhone

For many of us who are both music and iPhone addicts, the handset's own earbuds aren't really up to the task of hammering out top tunes. But they do have a built-in microphone, which makes it easy to switch between music and calls. Thanks to this gadget, now Shure's top-end 'phones do too. Can't see the video? You'll need …

Reg Hardware 16 Jan 15:13
TalkTalk and Carphone on the naughty step

Updated Must protect customer data better in future

TalkTalk and its parent company Carphone Warehouse have been slapped by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for failing to look after customers' data properly, in breach of the Data Protection Act. An investigation by the ICO revealed both companies were "opening accounts in the wrong names and passing inaccurate …

Telecoms 16 Jan 15:14
Hasbro fires off legal letters over Scrabulous

Scrabble owner spells out copyright law to Facebook

Hasbro Inc, which owns the US and Canadian rights to Scrabble, has asked Facebook to remove its online version "Scrabulous", Reuters reports. A spokeswoman for Mattel in Britain, which owns the Scrabble rights to the rest of the world, confirmed: "Letters have been sent to Facebook in the United States regarding the Scrabulous …

Law 16 Jan 15:36
BPI chief hits back at ISPA over villain of the year jibe

'It's an honour'

The boss of the UK record industry lobby has hit back at ISPA today, branding it out of touch and accusing it of attempting to stall new rules which could disconnect persistent copyright infringers. Internet trade association ISPA nominated the BPI for its annual "internet villain of the year" award "for its heavy handed …

Music and Media 16 Jan 16:10
Should BEA have said yes to Oracle?

Mini Poll Integration 101

Well, the shareholders succumbed in the end, and BEA is now to be part of the mighty machine that is Oracle (see here if you missed the news). This probably didn't come as that much of a surprise to the pundits, and the BEA shareholders must obviously think they're getting a good deal. Beyond the wheeling, dealing and …

Reg Technology Panel 16 Jan 16:33
Computerland appoints brace of directors

And loses another

UK IT services company Computerland has appointed two new directors for sales and service directories. Andrew Carr will run managed services sales. He's been with the firm since 2000 in various sales and management roles, and recently successfully bid for O2's managed service business. He previously worked for The Database …

Channel Register 16 Jan 16:36
Which is the best 5Mp cameraphone?

Q&A

I need your help choosing what mobile phone to buy. Here's what it has to do: 1. It has to have a great camera quality - above 5Mp or more - led or xenon flash are both fine with me. 2. A big, bright screen, touch or no touchscreen are both fine. 3. Great speaker sound quality for playing music. Please give me more than one …

Reg Hardware 16 Jan 16:38
Laptop web and weather innovations

Find a Wi-Fi network on a stormy hillside

Since Apple’s MacBook Air laptop will soon be available for drooling over, Mac fans everywhere will need sure-fire web access and a way of protecting the super-thin machine from the elements. Soyntec's Wififinder bag: makes finding Wi-Fi networks as easy as pie Thankfully, the Wififinder range of laptop bags from Soyntec …

Reg Hardware 16 Jan 16:48
UK police release fugitive paedophile

Failed to recognise official website most wanted

South Yorkshire police arrested and released a child abuser who was on the run, despite him being listed on a recently-launched online "most wanted" database. Joshua Karney, 30, was arrested in Barnsley on 24 November for drunkenness. Karney, described as having a strong Dublin accent, was fined and then released. A later …

Law 16 Jan 16:50
i-mate denies putting itself on the market

i-mate, your mate, anyone's mate

Windows Mobile device manufacturer i-mate has denied rumours that the company is up for sale, but admits having a "strategic review" of the options given the lacklustre performance of the last 12 months. This morning the FT reported that i-mate was on the market following a profits warning from the company, attributed to …

Mobile 16 Jan 16:53
Mystery web infection grows, but cause remains elusive

Security research, Web 2.0 style

The mystery over a cluster of poisoned websites distributing a toxic malware cocktail may be better understood but it's still not solved. Five days ago, we wrote about the infection of several hundred websites that was unlike anything seasoned researchers had seen before. Mary Landesman, a cyber gumshoe who first brought it to …

Channel Register 16 Jan 18:40
Dip into concept programming

Do what it says on the tin

It's always a good time for a new paradigm in software development and one of the latest is concept programming. Originated as a private project by Hewlett Packard (HP) software engineer Christophe de Dinechin in 2000, interest in concept programming is on the rise following publication of an updated description late last year …

Software 16 Jan 19:11
Sun stashes more cash in Q2

Tech titans hold steady

Lost in all the hullabaloo over the $1bn MySQL buy were Sun Microsystems' preliminary second quarter results. For the quarter ended Dec. 30, Sun posted revenue of $3.6bn - a 1 per cent increase over the $3.57bn reported in the same period last year. Working off preliminary figures, Sun thinks it will report net income between …

Servers 16 Jan 19:20
Quad-core Xeons use small power plant to maul Opterons

When Fully buffered DIMMs attack

A recent benchmark comparing quad-core chips asserts that Intel Xeon-based servers have an edge in performance but are complete power hogs when compared to the dainty energy appetite of AMD Opteron-based servers. The test was conducted by the computer performance consulting firm Neal Nelson & Associates. It showed Intel Xeon- …

Servers 16 Jan 20:55
Former Brocade boss gets 21 months in prison

Switch sensei sized for stripes

Gregory Reyes, the former chief of Brocade, today was sentenced to 21 months in prison and fined $15m for masterminding a securities scheme using backdated options. Reyes was the first executive in the US who went to trial over the improper dating of stock-option awards. Altering the date of stock options records so they …

Law 16 Jan 23:31
Showdown over encryption password in child porn case

First of its kind ... but not the last

A bid by the US government to force a child porn suspect to surrender his encryption password has sparked fierce debate about whether the move violates constitutional protections against self-incrimination. The case, which is reported here by The Washington Post, is likely the first time a court has waded into the issue. It …

Law 16 Jan 23:42
Meet the world's premier open source vendor - Sun

Analysis Red Hat, Dell, IBM and HP get SAMPed

Almost five years ago, Sun's then CEO Scott McNealy told me his company had little intention of entering the great database fray. "You know, we haven't decided that is a war we want to go fight," he said. "Why not let them all beat each others' brains in?". By laying down $1bn for MySQL, Sun fattened its arsenal and flashed …

Servers 16 Jan 23:43