| New Zealand softens software patent ban Posted: 29 Aug 2012 03:45 PM PDT Amendment welcomed by vendors, laywers New Zealand has passed legislation which partially forbids the granting of software patents – but has come under trenchant criticism by the NZ Open Source Society for abandoning local developers.… |
| Republican manifesto calls for internet freedom but no net neutrality Posted: 29 Aug 2012 03:37 PM PDT Trust the corporate sector to do you right The Republican Party has decided on its official platform for the coming presidential election, and where tech is concerned, it's running on a ticket of reforming the FCC, dumping net neutrality, and selling off wireless spectrum as fast as it can find it.… |
| Customs contradicts vendors over IT pricing Posted: 29 Aug 2012 02:48 PM PDT Joins Treasury in endorsing 'grey market' The Australian Information Industry Association's claim that customs duty contributes to high IT prices in this country has been flatly contradicted by the Australian Customs Service.… |
| Intel adding wireless power sharing for smartphones and laptops Posted: 29 Aug 2012 01:35 PM PDT Dump the cords in 2014 Intel has said it'll start shipping laptops and smartphones that can share power wirelessly towards the end of next year.… |
| Gelsinger wants VMware to be the Apple of the data centre Posted: 29 Aug 2012 12:44 PM PDT Innovation without arrogance the goal ... just like Cupertino? VMworld 2012 Incoming VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger has not decided on personal goals for his time in the virty company's big chair, but does know what he hopes is the end result: a reputation for innovation to match that acquired by Apple.… |
| Fired Toyota coder trashes systems, steals data Posted: 29 Aug 2012 12:33 PM PDT Insider info leak could cause 'irreparable damage' A fired former IT contractor for Toyota's US manufacturing wing has been ordered not to leave the country after allegedly accessing the company's servers, downloading proprietary information, and sabotaging its systems.… |
| Look out, world! SUSE Linux's OpenStack control-freak is loose Posted: 29 Aug 2012 11:03 AM PDT And it's chasing a cloudy bandwagon CloudOpen 2012 Commercial Linux distributor SUSE Linux is moving up into the clouds with a commercially supported release of its OpenStack cloud control-freak.… |
| AMD to double up cores with Jaguars Posted: 29 Aug 2012 10:25 AM PDT And maybe finally a Cat server variant Hot Chips For those of us hoping that Advanced Micro Devices would get into the low-powered server racket with some earnestness, it looks like the forthcoming processors based on the "Jaguar" cores will fit the bill quite nicely.… |
| VMware adds EMC daddy's deduping backup to vSphere Posted: 29 Aug 2012 10:06 AM PDT Prepares for backlash of the backup vendors... VMware is embedding EMC's Avamar deduplicating backup software into ESXi with the vSphere Data Protection product, making VMware seem more like EMC's baby than an open child.… |
| Speaking in Tech: VMware vNerds drop it like it's hot – LIVE Posted: 29 Aug 2012 09:34 AM PDT The usual suspects at our enterprise tech-cast broadcast from the centre of the action |
| Red Hat's JBoss gets BPM facelift Posted: 29 Aug 2012 08:58 AM PDT Acquisition expands middleware reach Red Hat is continuing to spread out in middleware, and has just snapped up business process management (BPM) tech developed by Spanish start-up Polymita Technologies.… |
| Samsung chucks 'free' Galaxy S III at dragon sketcher Posted: 29 Aug 2012 08:27 AM PDT It's paid for itself in publicity A Canadian who adorned his request for a free phone with a sketch of a dragon, and received a kangaroo in response, has now been rewarded with a custom S III as Samsung spots some good PR.… |
| Privacy warriors win right to fight Google's itty-bitty FTC payout Posted: 29 Aug 2012 08:01 AM PDT Is that $22m for stalking punters missing a zero or two? Opposition to Google's $22.5m privacy blunder settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission is heating up: lobby group Consumer Watchdog confirmed today it has won the right to file a brief against the deal.… |
| Targeted firm smacks back, chucks patent sueball at Overland Posted: 29 Aug 2012 07:27 AM PDT What do you mean we're the ones infringing YOUR intellectual property? Storage firm Quantum has bared its teeth at the T Rex of tape – aka Overland Storage – and counter-sued for patent infringement.… |
| Young alcoholic star 'covered in fluids needed for birth of alien life' Posted: 29 Aug 2012 07:15 AM PDT THEY CAME quite literally FROM OUTER SPACE Top astro-boffins are chuffed today to announce that they have detected large amounts of chemicals necessary to birth alien life - not to mention some alcohol - drifting in space around a young star just 400 light-years away.… |
| 'FIRST ever' Linux, Mac OS X-only password sniffing Trojan spotted Posted: 29 Aug 2012 07:03 AM PDT Windows? Who the hell uses that? Security researchers have discovered a potential dangerous Linux and Mac OS X cross-platform trojan.… |
| Ho ho ho! Apple's Samsung ban bid pushed back to Christmas Posted: 29 Aug 2012 06:25 AM PDT South Koreans gasp for breath after patent smackdown US Judge Lucy Koh has postponed any decision to permanently ban sales of Samsung's mobiles until 6 December - just in time for the Christmas rush. The request to remove Sammy's gear from shop shelves came from Apple, which had just trounced its tech rival in their ongoing epic patent lawsuit.… |
| Samsung to offer Apple Dock style Start Button in Windows? Really? Posted: 29 Aug 2012 05:56 AM PDT Making Apple-ish stuff has gone well for them - oh wait We bring good news and bad news for Windows users.… |
| Serco throws US in the clink for wrecking cash targets Posted: 29 Aug 2012 05:41 AM PDT Outsourcer's H1 2012 propped up by rest of the world Outsourcing behemoth Serco missed its targets for the first half of this year as "challenging" US conditions weighed down revenue.… |
| Second LulzSec suspect charged over Sony Pictures hack Posted: 29 Aug 2012 05:18 AM PDT Arizona man hands himself in US police have arrested a second suspect in the June 2011 hacktivist attacks on Sony Pictures Entertainment, an assault that resulted in a breach of passwords and personal data involving 38,000 accounts.… |
| Apple: You'd want hi-fi streamage from us, not poor-people Wi-Fi audio Posted: 29 Aug 2012 05:03 AM PDT Admit it, you want everything to be shiny and swanky Apple is reportedly working with hi-fi manufacturers to stream music over-the-air directly to audio equipment - without the need for Wi-Fi.… |
| IDC: Trying to flog PCs? It's not going to happen Posted: 29 Aug 2012 04:44 AM PDT Box counter slashes sales forecasts... Windows 8 not following the script Market analyst IDC now expects fewer PCs will be sold in 2012 than it had earlier predicted. The box-counter has also revised down its estimate for PC sales over the next four years.… |
| BT wins ad watchdog ruling against BSkyB's 'instant movie' claim Posted: 29 Aug 2012 04:28 AM PDT All a question of broadband speed, dear boy BT successfully argued to the UK's advertising regulator that BSkyB had misled its customers in a press ad that claimed the company's new rental movie service could be accessed "instantly".… |
| Worldwide server sales head south as shipments put on ice Posted: 29 Aug 2012 04:14 AM PDT Unix, mainframe transitions stall Q2 The server market took a bit of a breather again in the second quarter ended in June, say the box counters at IDC. It's not a surprise, with a number of Unix vendors getting ready to launch new boxes, IBM not yet shipping its new System zEC12 mainframes announced this week, and Hewlett-Packard's Integrity Itanium servers still chilled by Oracle's threat to not support its software on the boxes. The x86 server racket can't compensate for all that negativity. And it didn't.… |
| Ten... movies inspired by video games Posted: 29 Aug 2012 04:00 AM PDT Playing in the cinema Film Round-up Capcom's Street Fighter series celebrates its 25th birthday this week and while the world is awash with various mementos – including boxsets and a dedicated Street Fighter site for fans to reminisce on their favourite moments – we decided it was the perfect opportunity to look back at the film adaptations of video game franchises over the years.… |
| DOCTOR WHO world, or Magrathea, SPOTTED* orbiting twin suns Posted: 29 Aug 2012 03:52 AM PDT NASA star scope confirms sci-fi planets realistic Astroboffins have spotted a real-universe analogue of Doctor Who's Time Lord home world Gallifrey - or alternatively the luxury-planet-builders' planet Magrathea of Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy fame - spinning in space around twin suns. And one of them is in a sweet spot distance from its stars to allow life to inhabit it.… |
| Microsoft gives Android punters some official SkyDrive love Posted: 29 Aug 2012 03:43 AM PDT Come and Google Play Android now has an official SkyDrive client, bringing Microsoft's cloud storage to Google's handsets and dragging a little of Redmond's new GUI along with it.… |
| Cops cuff journo over anonymous plod blogger unmasking Posted: 29 Aug 2012 03:26 AM PDT Computer Misuse Act cited Scotland Yard officers arrested a 28-year-old man this morning on suspicion of computer hacking relating to the identification of a previously anonymous blogger in 2009.… |
| New rule on blood-soaked metals in mobes is POINTLESS Posted: 29 Aug 2012 03:12 AM PDT Tech biz already cracked down on Congo's capacitors Analysis There's been much trumpeting of new rules that require companies to 'fess up if they use minerals extracted from war-torn African nations. If this is news to you, try this handy guide El Reg made earlier.… |
| Mars rover will.i.am 'cast: A depressing day for space and technology Posted: 29 Aug 2012 02:51 AM PDT Interplanetary voyages: Boring compared to pop, obviously Comment Picture this. Deep in the incalculable vastness of space, sparse clouds of gas and dust coalesce over uncounted millions of years. At the centre of the resulting disc, gravity rams matter together with such force that a fusion flame is kindled: a small yellow star - a tiny pinprick of light against the black and infinite void - is born.… |
| Intel tries to wangle China crypto-standards deal Posted: 29 Aug 2012 02:37 AM PDT TCM + TPM = TXT Intel has revealed it's working behind the scenes to strike a deal with Chinese regulators that will effectively make the country's closed crypto standard Trusted Cryptography Module (TCM) interoperable with the rest of the world.… |
| Hack on Saudi Aramco hit 30,000 workstations, oil firm admits Posted: 29 Aug 2012 02:18 AM PDT First hacktivist-style assault to use malware? Analysis Saudi Aramco said that it had put its network back online on Saturday, 10 days after a malware attack floored 30,000 workstations at the oil giant.… |
| Apple: I love to hate, and hate to love thee Posted: 29 Aug 2012 02:03 AM PDT Rebel, patent wrangler, aggressive litigator Open ... and Shut I want to hate Apple. The company takes the most egregious of Microsoft's monopolistic practices and raises them to an art form.… |
| RIP Brian Wynne Oakley: Saviour of Bletchley Park Posted: 29 Aug 2012 01:41 AM PDT When Big Government was a good thing Obituary Brian Wynne Oakley has died aged 85. According to the Real Time Club, of which Oakley was a chairman, he "enjoyed a very distinguished career playing a major role in the development of computing both in the UK and in Europe".… |
| Heartbroken app-maker Qt sneaks into Android's bed Posted: 29 Aug 2012 01:21 AM PDT The library that's too cute to kill The effort towards a Qt library for Android is progressing, with a fourth and final alpha release being sent out the door – despite confidence in the platform having steadily eroded since Nokia dumped it.… |
| Low sunspot activity linked to rivers freezing: Mini Ice Age on way? Posted: 29 Aug 2012 12:56 AM PDT 'CO2 is certainly a climate factor, but so is the Sun' A team of boffins in Germany say they have found a statistical link between periods of low solar activity and very cold winters in Europe. Some physicists believe that a long period of low solar activity - like the "Maunder Minimum" of the 17th and 18th centuries - could be on the cards in coming decades, so the new research might indicate an upcoming "mini Ice Age".… |
| Number-plate spycams riddled with flaws, top cop admits Posted: 29 Aug 2012 12:32 AM PDT Crims know location of some ANPR cameras, helps them evade capture on the road UK Police have been granted the right to continue to keep secret the locations of controversial automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras, after winning a freedom of information tribunal - even as they admit that criminals know the whereabouts of some of the spycams.… |
| Ghostbusters Posted: 29 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT Plasma TV? Antique Code Show In 1984 Activision released their adaptation of the classic movie Ghostbusters. I was 12 and remember after seeing the movie wanting the game more than George Michael's Careless Whisper which, in hindsight, was quite a sensible choice.… |
| More of Kim Dotcom's booty released by court Posted: 28 Aug 2012 11:00 PM PDT Lord of uploads outlines even more mega upload service The New Zealand High Court has unleashed some of Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom's considerable assets in order to help the contentious entrepreneur cover his legal fees in New Zealand.… |
| AMD CTO spills 'Steamroller' core specs Posted: 28 Aug 2012 09:23 PM PDT Shows off impending Opteron SeaMicro microserver Hot Chips Mark Papermaster, CTO at Advanced Micro Devices, gave the keynote address at the Hot Chips 24 conference in Cupertino today. Papermaster's mission was ostensibly to talk about heterogeneous computing, a drum that the chip peddler has been banging on since last fall. But the real news was that Papermaster divulged some of the feeds and speeds of the "Steamroller" core modules for desktop and server processors while also showing off a variant of the SeaMicro microserver sporting an Opteron socket.… |
| Mission Impossible for animation house Fuel VFX Posted: 28 Aug 2012 08:51 PM PDT Oz company titsup despite work on Avengers, Prometheus and Iron Man 2 The trailblazing Australian visual effects outfit behind CG animation for Ridley Scott's Prometheus, The Avengers, Mission Impossible and Iron Man 2 has plunged into voluntary administration.… |
| Windows Azure adds code-free data services for mobile apps Posted: 28 Aug 2012 05:24 PM PDT Cloudy database backends in less than five minutes Microsoft on Tuesday launched a preview of Windows Azure Mobile Services, a new capability for Redmond's cloud platform that allows software developers to deploy backend services for mobile applications without any server-side coding.… |
| Leaked Genius Bar manual shows Apple's smooth seductions Posted: 28 Aug 2012 05:23 PM PDT It's all about empathy, and making the sale A copy of the training manual used to prepare Apple employees for work at its in-store Genius Bars shows the smooth patter and sales mindset Cupertino seeks to indoctrinate into staff.… |
| Lab-on-a-chip takes Eureka prize Posted: 28 Aug 2012 04:54 PM PDT Sniffing out the sarin A chip-sized lab designed to detect chemicals in small traces was among the Eureka prize-winners announced last night (August 28).… |
| NYT fights back against links-in-texts patent Posted: 28 Aug 2012 03:47 PM PDT Troll meets big billygoat A patent covering sending HTML links in text messages is to get a legal workout, with the New York Times telling the patent holder "see you in court".… |
| 'Intel made more virty cash than VMware' Posted: 28 Aug 2012 03:18 PM PDT And that's why Cisco won't fear Nicira, says VMware's top cloud man VMworld 2012 Cisco and other networking hardware vendors needn't fear VMware's acquisition of virtual networking company Nicira, because they'll end up selling mountains of virtualisation-friendly kit.… |
