19th March 2008 Archive

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Apple unleashes monster patch batch on Mac faithful

105MB of justice

Apple released a massive security update on Tuesday that patched at least 80 vulnerabilities in its Tiger and Leopard operating systems, many of which were critical. The massive patch batch amounts to a download of more than 105MB, and that doesn't include a separate 25MB file that installs version 3.1 of Apple's Safari …

Enterprise Security 19 Mar 00:19
Arthur C. Clarke dead at 90

The Final Odyssey

Arthur C. Clarke has died at the age of 90. The famed writer and visionary died early Wednesday morning at a hospital near his home in Sri Lanka, The Times reports. Most famous for expanding his short story "The Sentinel" into a novel and screenplay that served as the basis for Stanley's Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space …

Space 19 Mar 00:33
Symantec shines storage management software for Server 2008

Five point — oh, it'll be out in June

Symantec today is giving a good three-month notice that point upgrades for Veritas Storage Foundation and Server Cluster Software are on the way. Slated for a June release, Storage Foundation and Veritas Cluster Server 5.1 for Windows updates OS and hardware compatibility, adds some new wizards, and improved performance. Both …

Channel Register 19 Mar 02:58
Patent Office loses software not a patent case

Is it or isn't it?

Symbian has won a High Court judgement against the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) which refused to grant it a software patent. The company applied to protect how a computer indexes functions which can then be used by different applications on the device. Mr Justice Patten said the case showed the difference between …

Law 19 Mar 06:02
Windows hardware challenge draws on resources

Project Watch: Microsoft 2008 Things get heavy

Here's a question for you: what hardware does it take to run an entirely new, pre-release Windows operating system and 1TB-worth of SQL Server 2008 community technology preview? This question seems simple to answer, but the challenge comes in locating the requisite hardware. One problem that always arises when using any beta …

Software 19 Mar 06:02
Motorola to offload half its Birmingham staff

Job losses to stem money losses

Motorola is poised to axe half the staff at its design facility in Birmingham, as the mobile company tries to turn around its beleaguered mobile devices division. All the 121 staff at the facility were told Tuesday they are "at risk of redundancy". Motorola is proposing to make half of them redundant and said it may close the …

Mobile 19 Mar 07:02
How the BBC plans to save your ISP

Auntie's next big iPlayer gamble

The BBC iPlayer is now an undeniable success with consumers. The technological mistakes and management waste of its lengthy gestation are almost forgotten in the flush of popular excitement surrounding the fact that now - at last - quality television is available on demand on the web. A hostage to this success, the Corporation …

Telecoms 19 Mar 07:02
The USB wedding ring

With this ring, i thee web

Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning asked us to count the ways I love thee. But if modern-day wedding ring designer Jennifer Flume gets her way, then you’ll be counting the ways in gigabytes and diamond carats. The concept USB wedding ring has in-built storage space Flume has designed two concept diamond wedding rings …

Reg Hardware 19 Mar 10:03
Avaya banks on recession to push cheap comms kit

Drops price into bargain basement

Avaya has launched a bargain basement version of its unified communications offering which is aimed to appeal to customers worried about the economic downturn. The telephony vendor has repackaged its existing unified communications products, saying they're now available for $0.15 per user per day. It proudly trumpets the fact …

Data Networking 19 Mar 10:05
US 700Mhz auction raises $19.6bn

But winners yet to be announced

The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) has announced the end of the US 700MHz auction, but won't be saying who's snapped up the frequencies for another 10 days or so while they officially close the sale. The delay is down to the lack of bids on the D block, which had a reserve of $1.6bn and an obligation to provide a …

Mobile 19 Mar 10:13
Yahoo! tries to whip investors into line

Promises moon on a stick

Yahoo! increased the pressure on Microsoft to up its offer for the internet firm yesterday by telling investors it expects to double cash flow over the next three years. Jerry Yang gave the presentation to institutional shareholders in order to persuade them that the company is worth more than the $44bn Microsoft has offered …

Financial News 19 Mar 10:26
Apple US retail sales leap past PC par

MacBook Air driving demand?

Apple took 14 per cent of the US retail computer market last month - 25 per cent if you look at its share in terms of sales revenue - figures from market watcher NPD reveal. This time last year, NPD's numbers show Apple's unit and revenue retail shares were nine per cent and 14 per cent, respectively. Apple shifted 55 per cent …

Reg Hardware 19 Mar 10:40
ICO to focus on reducing risk, not enforcement

'We have to be selective with our interventions'

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has said that its aim is to protect people from the risks associated with abuses of their personal data rather than strictly enforce the law. It has announced its broad aims in a new strategy document (pdf). The document will guide its activities overall, prioritising the use of its …

Law 19 Mar 11:02
Intel prices up four wireless modules for 'Centrino 2'

Not all WiMax modules are created equal

Intel's upcoming WiMax module for laptops, 'Echo Peak', is going to add at least $34 to the price of a new notebook, if leaked pricing information is to be believed. But watch out for cheaper offerings. Why? Because Intel will be offering two versions of Echo Peak. It's said as much itself, but thanks to Taiwanese industry …

Reg Hardware 19 Mar 11:10
Tolkien first edition goes for a bundle

£60,000? Yes, we wants it

An anonymous bidder has paid £60,000 for a first edition of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit at auction, the Times reports. The book, which went under the hammer at Bonhams in London, was expected to fetch only half that amount. The copy was dedicated to Elaine Griffiths, a friend of the author, who was partly responsible for its …

Entertainment 19 Mar 11:31
Future iPods to come bundled with free iTunes access?

Music gratis, hardware more expensive

Apple could soon offer an unlimited music bundle with future iPods and iPhones if the plan strikes a chord with the music industry. Such a scheme might see the company adding around $100 to the price of the hardware to allow punters who selected that package to access the entire iTunes Store music library for free, for as long …

Reg Hardware 19 Mar 11:41
Security researchers show how to hook phishers

Sniffing out bad sushi

Security researchers are cooking up tactics for beating phishing fraudsters at their own game. Phishers perennially set up fraudulent sites on servers they have compromised. But due to the sheer volume of sites that need to be set up to perform a successful phishing expedition, fraudsters tend to be sloppy. This allows those …

Crime 19 Mar 12:03
US State puts violent videogames under scrutiny

Proposed law would make age-ratings legally enforceable

Legal bigwigs met in Massachusetts yesterday to discuss the possible introduction of a law to ban retailers from selling violent videogames to kids. No offical ruling has been given yet. However, the law, known as House Bill 1423, states games depicting “violence in a manner patently offensive to prevailing standards in the …

Reg Hardware 19 Mar 12:06
Peking University preps online swearing edict

Take away the right to say 'f*** the government'

In a magnificently ambitious move, Peking University is thinking of banning its students from gossiping or being sweary online. According to China Daily, University president Xu Zhihong is considering obliging students of the institution and perhaps its tutors to abide by new rules of internet cleanliness and decorum. The …

Government 19 Mar 12:14
Apple 'mulls all-you-can-eat music plan'

iTunes Unlimited: A lock-in for life?

So now we can guess why Apple has clung so tightly to DRM, which has all but disappeared from major label digital music retail in recent months. It remains a powerful bargaining chip. The tech giant is negotiating with the music business to offer unlimited downloads from its iTunes store, the FT reports today. Money would be …

Music and Media 19 Mar 12:22
Apache rules web server landscape

Almost half of top 100

Apache is still top of the web server charts with just under half of the top 100 US websites running on the open source software. Researchers looked at the top 100 US websites, according to Alexa.com. By looking at the HTTP response headers they were able to identify the operating system for all but 11 of the websites. …

Applications 19 Mar 12:26
Roberts WM-201 Wi-Fi internet radio

Review Internet radio goes mainstream

For a manufacturer of radios like Roberts to produce a Wi-Fi-enabled device shows just how far internet radio has come. About 6000 stations are now available, and radios are becoming increasingly adept at presenting this vast selection in an easy-to-access way. As soon as the product comes out of the box you get the feeling …

Reg Hardware 19 Mar 12:32
Video conferencing gets cheaper, ~~nastier~~ easier

Poor showing precipitates price cuts

HP has slashed the entry price for its top-end video conferencing platform as it tries to convince businesses that it is no longer an unaffordable luxury. The big hardware vendors - most noticeably Cisco, HP and Polycom - have been trying to flog pricey systems which they call telepresence - high-end purpose-built …

Data Networking 19 Mar 12:51
Toshiba confirms $1bn lost ditching HD DVD

Falling Flash prices didn't help either

Toshiba has knocked ¥100bn ($1bn/£498m/€639m) off its full-year pre-tax earnings, blaming not only the elimination of its HD DVD operation but also falling Flash prices. The Japanese giant had previously forecast income of ¥350bn for the full year to 31 March, the company's 2007 fiscal year. It said sales would total ¥7.8tr. …

Reg Hardware 19 Mar 12:53
Twin-lens reflex camera updated for digital era

Complete with hand-crank

If you’re not swayed by titanium-clad compacts or waterproof camcorders, then how about Rolleiflex’s modern take on the traditional 60 x 60mm twin-lens reflex camera? Rolleiflex’s MiniDigi AF 5.0: just three megapixels The Germany company, which has been manufacturing cameras since the 1920s, launched the MiniDigi in 2006. …

Reg Hardware 19 Mar 13:34
Toshiba touts laptop refresh buts keeps mum on specs

Glossy black Satellites coming

Toshiba is getting in early and announcing - sort of - its Centrino 2 laptops ahead of time. Put it this way, while the company took the wraps off its upcoming Satellite and Satellite Pro machines, it said it wouldn't reveal the laptops' specs until Q2. Which is when 'Montevina', Intel's next Centrino revamp, is due to come to …

Reg Hardware 19 Mar 13:34
Shell says still 'undecided' on massive offshoring plan

Outsourcing document full of ifs

Royal Dutch Shell left both staff and potential suppliers on tenterhooks yesterday when it dished out details of its outsourcing programme to UK-based IT workers. As we reported in January, suppliers in the frame for the deal include EDS, AT&T and T-systems, all of whom have been in talks with Shell over the past few months. …

Channel Register 19 Mar 13:35
UK postal vote system 'not fit for purpose'

Lethal to democratic process

The UK electoral system is not fit for purpose because it is too easy to create fake voter registrations. Election commissioner Richard Mawrey QC made the comment as he described postal voting on demand as "lethal to the democratic process", and said the current system means "wholesale electoral fraud is both easy and …

Government 19 Mar 13:41
Phorm agrees to independent inspection of data pimping code

But what's a privacy group doing in bed with it anyway?

Phorm has agreed to allow an independent software expert to inspect its source code as it continues to battle the firestorm provoked by agreements with BT, Virgin Media and Carphone Warehouse to let it build profiles of their broadband customers' web browsing. It seems a move by the battered firm to try to win some public …

Telecoms 19 Mar 14:01
Japanese malware author admits guilt

Movie-munch miscreant on trial for copyright infringement

A Japanese man has confessed to creating a data-destroying Trojan horse. Masato Nakatsuji, 24, admitted in Kyoto District Court that he wrote a Trojan horse that incorporated copyrighted animation footage as a lure. The booby trapped file was distributed via the controversial Winny filesharing system in Japan last year. …

Security 19 Mar 14:12
Mobile termination fees go to Competition Commission

Tribunal passes the buck

BT's argument that Ofcom used the wrong formula to set mobile termination fees has proved compelling - the ongoing case against the regulator has been handed over to the Competition Commission. The case is being pushed by BT and 3UK, the two who have most to lose through the new termination fees set by Ofcom in March last year …

Mobile 19 Mar 14:40
Brown: Jack Bauer spook horde to tackle terrorism

UK's CTU (no, really) will heavily outnumber suspects

Prime Minister Gordon Brown claimed we are safer than we were a year ago, as he outlined his long-awaited National Security Strategy to Parliament today. Brown reeled off the usual list of potential global threats - pandemics, climate change, water/energy/food shortage, and terror - and appeared to take inspiration from …

Public Sector 19 Mar 14:46
Morocco's Facebook faker is freed

Royal pardon

Fouad Mourtada, the IT engineer jailed for setting up a fake Facebook page for a member of the Moroccan Royal family, has been released from prison. He was freed by Royal pardon yesterday evening after 43 days inside. Mourtada had begun a three-year sentence in Oukacha prison in Casablanca. The 26-year-old was arrested in …

Bootnotes 19 Mar 15:33
EDS hoovers up Reading networking firm

Nexagent says yes to EDS

EDS has bought Reading-based firm Nexagent. Nexagent makes software for companies to design, manage, and provision virtual private networks, especially those for large companies which might include several regions. EDS said the buy was part of ongoing investments into its networking capabilities. It reckons Nexagent will mean …

Channel Register 19 Mar 16:10
Dell gets in a state over SSD claims

Slams 'wholly inaccurate' report

Dell has slammed an analyst's claim that a large number of disgruntled customers are returning the vendor's flash drive-based notebooks due to high failure rates. Avian Securities managing partner Avi Cohen said in a report earlier this week that the rate of return on Dell notebooks using solid-state drives ranged from 20-30 …

Channel Register 19 Mar 16:24
WD puts twin-platter 640GB HDD into mass-production

Space efficient

Western Digital has begun churning out its dual-platter 640GB 3.5in Caviar SE16 hard drive in volume, the hard drive manufacturer said today, though buyers will be keener to hear when it'll ship drives with four or more platters. The desktop-oriented SE16 line currently runs to 750GB, the top-of-the-line drive being a model …

Reg Hardware 19 Mar 16:31
Botnet farmers play the international exchange game

Oz installs worth 30 times more than Asia

Spyware authors are prepared to pay botnet farmers or webmasters much more for infecting PCs in the UK or Australia than machines in continental Europe. Selling "installs" is a common practice in the cyber-underworld, the most notable example being in 2005 when Jeanson Ancheta was arrested for building a 400,000-strong botnet …

Channel Register 19 Mar 16:32
Microsoft's Hyper-V release threat level reaches RC status

The virtualisation journey continues

Microsoft today spat out a release candidate build of its delayed virtualisation software Hyper-V. The firm said it has finally reached the inbetweeny post-beta, pre-final release stage for its hypervisor, originally code-named Viridian. Microsoft didn’t say whether the release candidate will be the last code tweak, but did …

Virtualization 19 Mar 17:20
Sun invites VMware to virtual desktop dance

VDI goes all 2.0

These days, when you read about a company providing "seamless integration to third-party virtualization technologies," that usually means one thing: a vendor has added support for VMware's software to its own products. And so we find Sun Microsystems following this pattern with the release of Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI …

Software 19 Mar 18:16
So what's the easiest box to hack - Vista, Ubuntu or OS X?

CanSecWest's Pwn2Own contest returns

This story was updated to correct the maximum prize amount available. Tired of all the knee-jerk banter from fanboys about whose operating system is the most secure? So are the organizers of the CanSecWest security conference, which will be held in Vancouver later this month. And with a contest awarding as much as $20,000 worth …

Enterprise Security 19 Mar 18:53
EMC spoons Brocade's Backbone

OEMs big switch and sprinkles IntelliMagic

EMC has run its finger down Brocade's Backbone and likes what it feels. The storage vendor today said it's primed to resell the Brocade DCX Backbone switch as the Connectrix ED-DCX-B. Because nobody enjoys trudging through old stories to find hardware specs, we'll oblige: The director holds two to eight Fibre Channel blades …

Storage 19 Mar 20:37
DSL Reports back up after DDoS attack

The flood continues

DSL Reports, a website for broadband users, popped back online after being taken down by a distributed denial of service attack. At least 1,100 bot-infested machines took part in the assault, which at one point directed nearly 48MBps of malicious data at the site. The flood continues, although changes to the site's front-end …

Crime 19 Mar 20:40
Microsoft cozies to Eclipse, no tongues though

EclipseCon Seven-year commitment

Microsoft has gone on a second date with Eclipse, this time around Windows Vista, but there's still no commitment to go steady. Courtship, though, is part of a bigger strategy to improve the company's standing in the open source community by 2015, Microsoft said. Sam Ramji, director of Microsoft's open source labs, announced …

Applications 19 Mar 20:54
Google ships database porn tool

Visualize your expense forms

If you're tired of boring old data sets that lack the pizazz of Web 2.0ocity, then Google has the API for you. Meet the Google Visualization API, which gives developers a chance to add a graphical edge to their applications and data. The company this week dished the API out to the public hoping to "make it easier for a wide …

Applications 19 Mar 21:32
Ex-Brocade HR chief gets four month prison sentence

$1.25m worth of sadness, humility and regret

Former Brocade human resources chief Stephanie Jensen was sentenced to 4 months in prison today and fined $1.25m for her part in a stock option backdating scheme. Jensen must also spend her first three months after her prison term in a halfway house and will be under supervised release for one year. "I would do anything to be …

Channel Register 19 Mar 21:43
Comcast accuses FCC of impotence

'Your policies mean nothing'

Comcast has told the chairman of US Federal Communications Commission that he has no legal right to prevent the company from busting BitTorrents. The FCC is currently investigating claims that the big-name ISP put a choke hold on BitTorrents and other P2P traffic. But clearly, Comcast believes this is an epic waste of time. …

Telecoms 19 Mar 21:56
Pennsylvania officials bail after voter reg site springs a leak

Flaw exposes sensitive user data

Pennsylvania officials pulled the plug on a voter registration website after a user posted online instructions that showed the site was exposing sensitive information about people who used the service. The flaw with the state's Voter Registration Application made it possible for anyone on the net to view registration forms …

Government 19 Mar 22:50
Solaris SPARC to x86 software highway opens

x86 to SPARC highway planned

Sun Microsystems has gone totally native. Customers can now run unmodified SPARC/Solaris applications on x86 systems thank to a partnership with Transitive. The two companies also plan to craft a new package for running native x86 applications on SPARC machines. Transitive this week announced that the long in beta QuickTransit …

Servers 19 Mar 23:07