The Register

Chrome celebrates second b-day with sixth release

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 22:05:08 GMT

Remember the Googasm

Google is celebrating Chrome's second birthday by releasing a new stable version of its rapidly evolving browser, offering a slightly simpler user interface, an automatic form filler, and the ability to synchronize extensions and form data across machines.…

Semi biz starts to cool off

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:11:09 GMT

Mobile chips warming up as PC chips chill

While chip makers are not white-knuckled with fear as they were during the economic meltdown of late 2008 and early 2009, they were hoping that the recent boom in chip sales would hold for a couple of quarters — and it probably won't.…

Microsoft freshens retro code lock-down tool

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:01:58 GMT

Teaching old apps new tricks

Microsoft has released a new version of a software tool that developers and administrators can use to harden older applications against common vulnerabilities.…

Jobs moves to the heavens with Apple TV

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:58:07 GMT

You rent from his cloud

Analysis With its Apple TV revamp announced Wednesday, Apple dipped its toes into the entertainment cloud — if you'll forgive a muddled metaphor. It's a tentative baby step, but expect more cloudy offerings from Cupertino if the experiment is a success.…

Free On-Demand Webcast - Virtualizing the Hard Stuff

Microsoft buffs Silverlight for HTML5 video contest

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:01:05 GMT

'We're more consistent. And we're here'

Microsoft has tried to justify its Silverlight media player in the age of HTML5.…

Twitter tightens grip on own firehose

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:18:40 GMT

Microbloggy thing tracks all links clicked

Twitter is on a mission to regain control of its own firehose.…

Wikileaks founder blasts reopening of rape probe

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:28:42 GMT

New 'unrelated' case filed in US

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has blasted Sweden's investigation into allegations against him for sexual misconduct after prosecutors reopened a probe into charges he raped a woman last month.…

Microsoft slings mud in VMware living room

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:11:51 GMT

Taunts estranged son

VMworld Microsoft's assault on VMware knows no bounds.…

LaCie catches ultra-small USB Flash drive bug

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:06:29 GMT

MosKeyto flies in

Ordinary USB Flash drives to darn big for you? LaCie's new MosKeyto protrudes a mere 6mm from the USB port it's connected to.…

Free On-Demand Webcast - Virtualizing the Hard Stuff

HyTrust takes auditing, monitoring to the clouds

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:54:31 GMT

Safe SOX for your virtual box

VMworld Virtual security appliance maker HyTrust is revving up its wares with a new 2.1 release and positioning itself as the go-to partner for auditing and compliance for VMware's new vCloud Director.…

Dell throws in 3PAR towel

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:35:12 GMT

HP pumps fist

Dell has admitted defeat in its attempt to buy 3PAR.…

HMRC issues CD-rom alert to employers

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:17:35 GMT

Quaint system to be replaced in 2011

HM Revenue and Customs has warned employers who use its Employer CD-rom to update it immediately to avoid miscalculations.…

Toshiba touts £329 Folio Android tablet

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:07:04 GMT

'Failio' spec?

Do computer companies never learn from history? Clearly not, if Toshiba is anything to go by. Today, it launched its Android tablet, revealing the gadget is called Folio.…

US loses last chance for free wireless

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:44:06 GMT

Never a flyer, but finally grounded for good

An audacious plan to provide free wireless internet access across the US has finally been killed off by the FCC, much to the delight of the cellular industry.…

AOL goes soul-searching with Google in 5-year deal

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:19:14 GMT

Gets into mobile search (result), agrees to provide content to YouTube (not so much)

AOL has signed a deal with Google to make it the sole provider for paid text-based search and contextual ads on the company's US websites for the next five years.…

Free On-Demand Webcast - Virtualizing the Hard Stuff

iTunes update plugs WebKit flaw

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:16:46 GMT

Ping-pong

The latest version of iTunes for Windows addresses 13 security vulnerabilities, as well as adding much-publicised social networking functionality.…

Boris bikes for tourists delayed till year end

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:07:46 GMT

Systems not robust enough

Visitors to London, and anyone else without a full account, will not be able to hire Boris bikes until the end of the year.…

HP bids $2.4bn for 3PAR

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:48:33 GMT

Dell's new offer given drubbing

HP has raised its bid for 3PAR to $33 a share, around $2.4bn, beating a revised Dell offer made earlier today.…

Apple states tax take on UK iPod pricing

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:04:17 GMT

You pay this, we take that, George Osborne gets the other, Eurocrats get the rest

Apple has made it explicitly clear how much more its charging UK consumers for its kit than US-based buyers.…

Jobs takes swing at Google over Android activations

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:41:36 GMT

Who's got the bigger count?

Google and Apple's bush war flared up again as Steve Jobs apparently cast aspersions over Android's activation numbers as he unveiled Apple's latest iPod and TV scrub-up yesterday.…

Apple inks Ping trademark deal with golf gear maker

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:29:44 GMT

Orange Ping sticks to sweet stuff

Apple cleared the use of the word Ping with golf company PING before using the name for its new Web2.0 music look-up feature in iTunes.…

Free On-Demand Webcast - Virtualizing the Hard Stuff

General Motors bitchslaps Tesla with Range Anxiety™

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:11:17 GMT

Fixed grins at cheeks-aflame 'leccycar firm

As US motor mammoth GM gears up for the launch of its plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt, it has applied to trademark the term "range anxiety" - meaning the fear suffered by battery-car owners regarding their ability to get home again after a given journey. Upstart battery car maker Tesla Motors has issued a panicky and unconvincing statement in response.…

Verbatim InSight 500GB external hard drive

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:01:02 GMT

Coming clean on capacity

Review Verbatim's InSight external hard drive is an unusual-looking offering, but that odd wave-like curve at the front is home to the unit's status readout screen.…

StreetView passed by Kiwi cops

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:28:19 GMT

Google's data slurp legal in New Zealand

Police in New Zealand have bounced a complaint about Google's StreetView service back to the country's Privacy Commissioner.…

RFID patent pool prices up wireless

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:25:19 GMT

0.08 cents per tag

The RFID Consortium has opened for business after five years of negotiations, providing a one-stop shop for all the patents needed to manufacture RFID tags and readers.…

Punters still puzzled by broadband ads

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:53:36 GMT

Thanks for that Sherlock

It will come as no surprise to regular readers that 90 per cent of UK consumers are confused by broadband advertising - we'd have to assume the missing ten per cent are marketing bods for ISPs.…

My Exchange conversion

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:45:38 GMT

Exchange Server 2010 heals 2007 release trauma

Sysadmin blog Recently I had the opportunity to walk through complete installs of Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2010. Although I have used Exchange Server 2007 for the past two years, as with Vista, I prefer to pretend it never happened.…

Free On-Demand Webcast - Virtualizing the Hard Stuff

NASA seeks inflatable popup roof for camper vans on Mars

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:32:52 GMT

Space 'lofts' to feature two-ply 'bummer shielding'

NASA says it has selected finalists in an engineering competition to design an "inflatable loft", reminiscent of the extending roofs often fitted to camper vans, but in this case intended to deploy from the roof of a "hard-shell prototype habitat" for use by astronauts on the Moon or Mars.…

Hands on with Motorola's Milestone 2 and Defy

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:18:37 GMT

Latest Android handsets shot in the wild

Video Tom Satchwell, Director of Marketing, Motorola Europe demonstrates the company's latest Android offerings, the Milestone 2 and the Defy.…

If HP gets 3PAR, does Donatelli get HP?

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:06:52 GMT

HP, Dell, everyone schtum on 3PAR bids

Opinion 3Par has not issued a statement recommending HP's $2bn bid for the company, despite the ending of a three-day period for Dell to mount a counter-offer.…

Samsung specs up 7in Android tablet

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:04:01 GMT

Vodafone to sell it

Samsung has posted the spec for its upcoming Android tablet, the Galaxy Tab. And Vodafone has announced availability.…

Nokia blows Ovi Files out of the sky

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:52:55 GMT

Get off our cloud

Nokia has pulled the plug on Ovi Files, its cloud-based storage system, and told users they've got a month before the the system gets wiped.…

Symantec and Snoop Dogg launch cybercrime rap contest

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:24:53 GMT

Now thass geekster

Symantec has teamed up with rapper Snoop Dogg to launch a cybercrime rap contest.…

UK.gov fishes for ID ideas

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:14:22 GMT

Turns to IT suppliers, says 'Er, what do you think?'

Directgov has asked IT suppliers to come up with new thinking on identity verification.…

Free On-Demand Webcast - Virtualizing the Hard Stuff

How much aircraft fatigue is too much?

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:01:04 GMT

HPC eases the strain

Here’s another “How HPC saves your worthless hide” type of story - our pals at InsideHPC publicized a collaboration between the Federal Aviation Administration and the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) that should increase air safety for people riding on planes and for the people standing around underneath them.…

Cyber-jihadists deface home of teddy bears' picnic

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 08:08:30 GMT

Get their Belvoirs mixed up

Geographically mixed-up Algerian hackers made themselves look rather silly by defacing the website of an English stately home instead of Belvoir Fortress in Israel, their intended target.…

Dixons sales ain't all that

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:55:56 GMT

iPads and World Cup should've been a bigger boost

DSGi shares fell very slightly this morning after the company said trading had held steady in the three months ended 24 July.…

Boffins explain greatest ever free kick

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:50:41 GMT

Roberto Carlos and his amazing exponential spiral

Scientists have agreeably concluded that Roberto Carlos's 1997 free kick against France - a seemingly impossible blast into the back of the net from 115ft - was not the fluke some have claimed.…

Large companies ignore data centre advice - survey

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:01:02 GMT

Feel the need for it though

Large companies across the UK increasingly turn to independent consultants when they want advice on the design and specification of a data centre. Almost all of them then ignore some or all of that advice, according to research released today.…

D-Link DHP-306AV powerline Ethernet adaptor

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:01:02 GMT

Network your mains cabling

Review I use a couple of Devolo dLAN AVplus powerline Ethernet adaptors at home, to hook up my wired-only Sony Bravia connected telly to my router. They're great adaptors, but with a pass-through three-pin power socket, they're bulky. D-Link's latest adaptor, the DHP-306AV, offers a more compact alternative.…

MokaFive outs bare-metal PC hypervisor

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 06:00:02 GMT

Somewhere between VMware and Citrix

Disappointed with the ridiculously skinny PC coverage offered by the XenClient bare-metal hypervisor just announced by Citrix Systems? Annoyed that VMware took its Client Virtualization Platform, also a so-called type 1 hypervisor for PCs, out behind the barn and gave it the Old Yeller? Then MokaFive is cooking up something you might find useful.…

Free On-Demand Webcast - Virtualizing the Hard Stuff

New iPod crew: 'Phoney, futuristic, retro, doomed'

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:37:39 GMT

Apple admits error shock

Apple has revamped three quarters of its iPod line. Or, more accurately, it upgraded one quarter, redesigned another, took a step back in time with a third, and left the final, not-even-mentioned quarter alone.…

Microsoft locks down Windows Phone 7 code

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:57:42 GMT

10 million hours of test

Windows Phone 7 is finally finished.…

Feds crack phone clone scam that cost Sprint $15m

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:51:53 GMT

More than 10,000 accounts spoofed

Federal prosecutors have uncovered a scam that used tens of thousands of cloned cellphones to defraud Sprint out of $15m in lost long distance revenue.…

Red Hat in talks to buy JBoss cloud fluffer Makara

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 22:39:47 GMT

Middleware union

Red Hat is in talks to buy a JBoss cloud provisioning startup called Makara, according to a source familiar with the matter.…

SUSE Linux hitches ride on enemy hypervisor

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 21:58:42 GMT

Straddles vSphere in search of cash

VMworld Strange bedfellows VMware and Novell have officially released SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for VMware, a version of Novell's open source OS that piggybacks on every copy of VMware's vSphere hypervisor.…

Free On-Demand Webcast - Virtualizing the Hard Stuff

Apple goes social with musical Ping

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:46:02 GMT

Games, networking and music

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has unveiled the next two generations of iOS, updates that will bring multiplayer gaming and high-definition photography to iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches next week and wireless printing and media streaming in November.…

Cray and SGI push upgrades to latest supers

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:55:01 GMT

Tickle me, Elmo

Supercomputer makers Cray and Silicon Graphics have done years of engineering to get their respective XE6 and Altix UV 1000 massively parallel supercomputers to market. And now, despite research funding woes among governments, research institutions, and corporations, the two companies face the challenging task of convincing customers of their prior machines to upgrade to the new iron.…

VMware app dev platform gazes beyond SpringSource Java

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:46:57 GMT

Eyes Ruby, PHP, .NET

VMworld VMware says that its Cloud Application Platform – a means of building and deploying applications that has grown up around the SpringSource Java framework – will eventually embrace other programming languages, including Ruby-on-Rails, PHP, and perhaps .NET.…

Microsoft releases FixIt for critical flaw in 100 apps

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:57:51 GMT

Relief for Firefox, Nvidia, PowerPoint

Microsoft has released a software tool that helps system administrators protect PCs against a critical class of vulnerabilities found in more than 100 applications from a variety of software makers.…