The most recent News from V3.co.uk

Web domains remained big business in 2009

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:42:00 GMT

David Neal, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 14:42:00

Major sales kept market afloat through the recession, says Sedo study

The domain name industry has emerged unscathed from the economic slowdown, according to new figures released today by domain name marketplace Sedo.

The Sedo Domain Marketing Study 2009 (PDF) found that keyword-related .co.uk domains remained big business in 2009, highlighting the sale of software.co.uk for £150,000, and horseracing.co.uk and onlinecasino.co.uk for £100,000 each.

The report said that all of the top 10 domains registered in the UK last year were keyword related.

However, while .co.uk domains are popular, they were beaten into second place in the list of country code Top Level Domains by .de, the extension for Germany.

The top selling domain names overall were russia.com, which sold for £904,319, and brazil.com, which went for £302,489. The .com extensions were the most popular overall, accounting for just under 50 per cent of all registrations. The .net domain accounted for just six per cent.

"We expect to see ongoing demand for premium virtual real estate in 2010, with geo, descriptive, .org and .com domains leading the charge as domain investors and marketers from organisations of all sizes continue to leverage domains to meet their business goals," said Jeremiah Johnston, chief operating officer at Sedo.

Google launches dedicated Nexus One helpline

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:48:00 GMT

Dan Worth, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 12:48:00

Web giant finally appeases angry users

Google has finally bowed to pressure from frustrated Nexus One customers by setting up a dedicated telephone helpline for users of its new smartphone.

Customers had complained in January of problems with the 3G connections on their phones, saying that Google, T-Mobile and HTC all seemed unsure over which was responsible for providing user support. Others bemoaned Google's reliance on the online channel to interact with customers.

However, Google explained in a new statement that, while it had previously hoped to address customers' questions via online support, it will now provide a dedicated phone line.

"Our approach with our new consumer channel is to learn fast and continue to improve, and we have been developing our capabilities to provide a number from Google, 888-48-NEXUS (63987), for live phone support," the firm said.

The phone line will currently offer advice only on purchasing inquiries for customers with existing orders, but the company plans to add technical support for device and software inquiries and pre-sales support in the future.

Google also said that HTC, which manufactures the handset, will provide Nexus One support for troubleshooting, repairs and returns, while T-Mobile will continue to offer phone support for service plan inquiries.

However, Google said that it remains committed to using online support where possible.

"We focused initially on providing the best possible customer support through our online channel, and our experience in the one month since the Nexus One launch enabled us to enhance that online support offering significantly," the statement said.

Google issued an over-the-air update last week for the Nexus One that fixed the 3G problems and added several new features, including Google Maps 3.4.

Consumers blame retailers for online fraud

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:35:00 GMT

David Neal, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 12:35:00

CyberSource report identifies 'hardcore' of people who never shop online

Consumers place the blame for online fraud squarely on the retailer, rather than themselves, according to the UK Online Fraud Report 2010 from payment processor CyberSource released today.

Almost a quarter of UK adults believe that it is the responsibility of retailers to ensure a safe and secure online shopping experience, the report found, while just 12 per cent acknowledged that an incidence of fraud may be down to the shopper.

Sixteen per cent of respondents blame the banks, 12 per cent blame their ISP, 12 per cent blame the government and card schemes, while five per cent believe that the police should do more about online fraud.

However, more consumers are taking their own measures to ensure the safety of their transactions. CyberSource said that 85 per cent of respondents are wise enough to look for signs that a web page is secure, for example the green address bar or padlock logo, and the same percentage will only shop on stores that offer extra measures such as Visa's Verified by Visa and MasterCard's SecureCode. Card readers are used by just under 30 per cent of shoppers.

"Consumers say they feel that retailers are primarily accountable for making online shopping safer. But consumers themselves have a role in this effort, and they should be encouraged to play it," said Simon Stokes, managing director at CyberSource.

"Never divulge personal information on social networking sites, for example, and never respond to requests for personal information from banks or government agencies that should already have that information.

"And, of course, those of us in the e-commerce industry need to do more to help educate consumers on ways in which security can be boosted."

CyberSource has identified a hardcore of people who refuse to shop online, which Stoke described as a huge untapped market. Just over a third of these people do not have internet access, but the majority are put off by security fears.

"With the right strategies in place, online retailers can provide a safe and secure environment for their customers. However, the public perception may differ," said Stokes.

"Retailers should clearly inform consumers not only about the anti-fraud methods they employ, but the efforts they take to secure sensitive payment data. This is particularly important as companies look to grow their internet sales channel and tap into the high proportion of consumers that are yet to embrace online shopping."

Safer Internet Day highlights online threats

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:07:00 GMT

Phil Muncaster, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 12:07:00

Annual initiative warns of phishing, ID theft and social network attacks

Security experts have used the European Union's annual Safer Internet Day initiative today to renew warnings about online fraud and malware, particularly on social networking sites.

The theme of this year's event is 'Think B4 U Post' and is mainly targeted at the online threats facing young people, but Phil D'Angio, online security expert at VeriSign, warned that all web users are potentially at risk.

"Most people have their name and date of birth on social networking sites like Facebook. Many also post their mobile phone numbers and email addresses," he said.

"If you throw a party and invite your friends online, criminals can then retrieve your postal address. Additional data like your mother's maiden name and your place of work are easy to find. Before you know it, you're a prime target for identity theft."

Andrew Brandt, malware researcher at security firm Webroot, also used the occasion to warn about the "myriad dangers" threatening the safety of everyone online.

"Key-logging software disguised as 'updates' are everywhere, fake security alerts pop up when you least expect them, phishing web pages are more cleverly designed than ever to steal your passwords, spam is choking email, worms stalk social networks, and even your mobile phone is at risk of malicious software designed to steal valuable information," he wrote in a blog posting.

"The big question on everyone's mind is what do you do to protect yourself?"

Brandt's advice is that users should update their machines, and switch from Internet Explorer to the Firefox browser, which he argued has two of the most effective plug-ins for security.

"NoScript blocks nearly every type of browser exploit from working, which can save your behind if you click something you shouldn't," he said.

"Web of Trust uses feedback from participants to rate the safety of web sites, and will warn you before you visit a dangerous page."

Microsoft denies Windows 7 battery problems

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:55:00 GMT

David Neal, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 11:55:00

Replacement warning functioning normally, claims software giant

Microsoft has denied recent claims that Windows 7 may be affecting battery performance in laptop computers, maintaining that any problems lie with the batteries themselves.

The company explained in a blog post yesterday why the operating system is recommending a battery change for some laptop users, and describing the reasons behind the alerts.

Many people have reported a notification in Windows 7 that allies itself with the battery meter icon, and informs users if the system senses that the battery needs replacing.

Some users have suggested that this is the fault of Windows 7, or is an error caused by the new operating system, but Microsoft has denied these assertions.

"Several press articles this past week have drawn attention to blog and forum postings by users claiming that Windows 7 is warning them to 'consider replacing your battery' in systems which appeared to be operating satisfactorily before upgrading to Windows 7," wrote Windows president Steven Sinofsky on the Windows engineering blog.

He stressed that the failing batteries are not the fault of Windows, and that the warning correctly identifies the need for a new battery.

"To the very best of the collective ecosystem knowledge, Windows 7 is correctly warning that batteries are in fact failing, and Windows 7 is neither incorrectly reporting on battery status nor in any way whatsoever causing batteries to reach this state," he added.

"In every case we have been able to identify that the battery being reported on was in fact in need of recommended replacement."

Sinofsky explained that PC batteries degrade over time, and lose their ability to hold a charge.

"A quick check of mainstream laptops will show that batteries usually have a warranty of 12 months, which is about the length of time when statistically we expect to see noticeable degradation (meaning that you start to notice the need to charge more frequently)," he said.

Microsoft estimates that by the time a laptop is a year old it will hold its charge for just two hours, as opposed to the five hours it would have provided when new.

Windows 7 has a threshold of 60 per cent battery degradation, so any laptops performing at 40 per cent of designed capacity will cause the message to appear.

Sinofsky claimed that an internal Microsoft investigation had proved that the messages were not false positives, and were not incorrectly warning about perfectly healthy batteries.

BT confirms one millionth Wi-Fi hotspot

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:22:00 GMT

Dan Worth, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 11:22:00

Customers expected to rack up a billion minutes a year

BT has announced that it has reached its target of building a network of one million Wi-Fi hotspots.

The telecoms giant claimed that the deployment gives it the largest Wi-Fi network in the UK and Ireland, and said that the hotspots cover a wide range of locations to offer availability in homes, city centres, high-street stores and businesses.

Gavin Patterson, chief executive at BT Retail, said that the firm had tried to keep pace with customers' growing expectations to stay connected wherever they are.

"We have grown from 500,000 to one million hotspots within six months, and will continue to add more to meet the demand from smartphone, laptop, iPod and now e-reader users," he said.

The one million Wi-Fi locations can be broken down into 860,000 public hotspots, 137,000 business hubs, and around 3,800 Openzone installations in airports, hotels and high-street shops.

BT also announced that it expects customer use of its Wi-Fi networks to exceed more than a billion minutes a year, measured from April 2009 to March 2010.

The company said that the peak can be explained in part by the huge growth in UK iPhone traffic as mobile phone providers, including Orange, O2 and Vodafone, signed deals with BT to use Openzone Wi-Fi access in the past eight months.

In a slightly unusual move BT has not specified where the millionth hotspot was activated but will launch a competition on 11 February to find it. More details will be revealed on BT Openzone's Twitter account.

McAfee report highlights inexorable rise of spam

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 08:01:00 GMT

Iain Thomson in San Francisco, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 08:01:00

Overall rates up 11 per cent on 2008

McAfee's threat report for the fourth quarter of 2009 highlighted a drop in spam, although the year ended with overall amounts rising.

Spam levels in the last quarter of the year dropped from a record 175 billion a day in the third quarter to 135 billion, a decline of 24 per cent. However, the levels rose again as spammers looked to scoop last minute shoppers.

"Even though we saw a decline this quarter, the overall historical trend still points upward. Compared with the fourth quarter of 2008, volume is up 35 per cent," the report said.

Around 135.5 billion spam emails were sent every day in 2009, compared with 122 billion a day in 2008 and 76.5 billion a day in 2007.

The US still leads in the production of spam, but by a greatly reduced margin. The country accounted for over a third of all spam at the start of 2009, but this had fallen to 16 per cent by the fourth quarter, ahead of Brazil and India.

Overall malware threats continued to rise, according to the report, nearly doubling over the year.

"2009 was a transformative and evolutionary year for computer threats. Aside from the sheer increase in volume, more and more of these threats were internet based, including web site-driven/based attacks and Web 2.0 attacks," said McAfee.

"We also saw portable storage device threats at an all-time high, as well as rogue security software that has truly got out of control."

The amount of malware aimed at USB storage devices rocketed in 2009, in part due to the popularity of the hardware but also because so many PCs use the Windows autorun feature which means that no user action is required to become infected.

Barnes & Noble Nook reader back in business

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 06:23:00 GMT

Shaun Nichols in San Francisco, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 06:23:00

Retail giant restocks e-book device

Publisher and bookseller Barnes & Noble has resumed sales of its Nook reader tablet, confirming that the device will be on sale online and at retail locations. Customers who purchase in-store will receive special content online.

The devices will be the first offered by Barnes & Noble since the firm was forced to halt shipments during the Christmas rush. The company said that it is stepping up supply and should have Nook units in stock at most of its stores.

Barnes & Noble also said that it will offer a number of new features, such as exclusive books, recipes and feature articles.

"Demand for the Nook continues to be very high, and we are pleased that our customers will be able to buy in our stores and online," said Barnes & Noble president William Lynch.

"In Barnes & Noble stores, Nook owners will enjoy exciting Nook-only content from their favourite authors and other valuable offers, along with fast and free in-store Wi-Fi, which Nook customers have been accessing in droves over the past few weeks."

The Nook will return to a market poised for a major shift since the company first announced the shortfall. Tech heavyweight Apple is preparing for the roll out of its recently unveiled iPad, while Google is also said to be looking at releasing its own tablet system.

Ex-Intel executive owns up to Galleon insider trading

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:37:00 GMT

Iain Thomson in San Francisco, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 01:37:00

Rajiv Goel admits passing classified information for private gain

The former managing director of Intel Capital has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and securities fraud as part of an investigation into insider trading at the Galleon Group hedge fund.

Rajiv Goel admitted to passing on Intel's earning reports to his contact at Galleon before they were released, as well as details about a planned deal between Clearwire Corporation and Sprint Nextel in which Intel had invested.

"I cannot express how sorry I am for my conduct," Goel said in a Federal District Court in Manhattan on Monday, according to reports in The New York Times. "I intend to do the right thing."

Goel will be sentenced in May and faces a possible 25 years in prison. He remains free on bail of $750,000 (£480,000), and is helping investigators with the case.

FBI agents tapped the phones of Galleon chief executive Raj Rajaratnam, and heard Goel pass on the insider information. Goel met Rajaratnam at the Wharton School earning his business degree.

One other former Intel executive, Roomy Khan, has also pleaded guilty to passing information to Galleon, along with other staff from Silicon Valley firms, including IBM.

Rumours abound that Hector Ruiz, former head of GlobalFoundries, and former chairman of AMD, may also be involved.

Linus Torvalds backs Google's Nexus One

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:22:00 GMT

Shaun Nichols in San Francisco, V3.co.uk, Monday 8 February 2010 at 23:22:00

Linux creator raves over Android smartphone

Google's Nexus One smartphone picked up a high-profile fan this weekend after Linux creator Linus Torvalds endorsed the handset.

Torvalds said in a posting on his personal blog titled Happy camper that the Nexus One was "a winner", and praised the device as a major improvement from the earlier G1 Android handset.

Torvalds admitted that he is not a big fan of mobile phones, describing the devices as "an opportunity to be irritated wherever you are".

"I no longer feel like I'm dragging a phone with me 'just in case' I need to get in touch with somebody. Now I have a useful (and admittedly pretty good looking) gadget instead," he wrote. "The fact that you can use it as a phone is kind of secondary."

Torvalds's praise may provide a welcome, albeit minor, bit of good news for Google's Nexus One operation. T-Mobile dropped the price of the phone in January amid reports of sluggish sales.

Google issued a patch for the Nexus One last week to fix a number of connectivity problems.

Dealer jailed over phoney Cisco routers

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:54:00 GMT

Iain Thomson in San Francisco, V3.co.uk, Monday 8 February 2010 at 22:54:00

FBI's crackdown on counterfeit kit continues

A computer reseller has been jailed for two and a half years after an investigation by the FBI into counterfeit computer equipment.

Yongcai Li, a Chinese dealer based in California, was sentenced for his part in the rebadging of generic routing equipment with the Cisco brand.

Li, also known as Michael Lee, sold the routers via his company Gaoyi Tech. He will also have to repay $800,000 (£512,000) to Cisco in lost revenue.

Li was arrested by FBI agents at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year, and pleaded guilty to a count of trafficking in counterfeit goods.

The FBI has been carrying out a five-year crackdown on the growing problem of counterfeit Cisco routers. The investigation has already led to 400 seizures of hardware worth more than $78m (£50m).

One of the FBI's concerns is that rebadged routers may harbour malware that is being used in industrial espionage and online crime.

Cyber crooks play on Bill Cosby death hoax

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:20:00 GMT

Shaun Nichols in San Francisco, V3.co.uk, Monday 8 February 2010 at 21:20:00

Bogus reports pushing malware

An online hoax claiming that US comedian and actor Bill Cosby has died is being used to push a malware attack.

Researchers at security vendor Sophos reported seeing a new round of web sites claiming to offer news of Cosby's death.

The pages attempt to mimic CNN's web site and presents surfers with phoney error messages attempting to push fake anti-virus packages.

"Hunting for information about the story can lead your computer into a nasty malware infection," wrote Sophos senior technology consultant Graham Cluley in a blog posting.

"These poisoned web pages are appearing high in search engine results, bringing the hackers a steady stream of traffic in the form of unsuspecting computer users searching for information about Bill Cosby."

The attacks follow a recent hoax which has spread through the web, particularly on Twitter, reporting that Cosby had died. The rumours spread so far that Cosby himself issued a statement on his web site.

"As you well know, a dead person cannot rebuttal," he wrote. "Therefore, I am rebuttaling to tell you that when I heard the news I immediately began rebuttaling and went into denial."

AMD details Fusion innovations at ISSCC

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:00:00 GMT

Daniel Robinson, V3.co.uk, Monday 8 February 2010 at 20:00:00

Forthcoming chip with four CPU and one GPU cores will also be power-efficient

AMD is to disclose details of its first Fusion processor today at the International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in San Francisco, with an emphasis on design features that will boost the energy efficiency of the forthcoming chip.

Fusion aims to combine standard CPU and graphics processor (GPU) technology into a single chip capable of handling complex calculations such as those required for 3D graphics as well as traditional applications, producing what AMD calls an accelerated processing unit (APU).

Codenamed Llano, the first Fusion APU will sample in the first half of this year and be commercially available in 2011, AMD said. This is set to have four CPU cores plus a GPU supporting Microsoft's DirectX 11 APIs, a clock speed of 3GHz or above, and will also be the firm's first 32nm processor.

"The reason for Fusion is that we ran out of gas on single-core chips, and we realised there is a lot of value if we can exploit heterogeneous computing, which means a lot more than just integrating a GPU," said AMD senior fellow Sam Naffziger.

However, the chief innovations AMD will discuss at ISSCC will be the power management features in Llano, which will be manufactured using a High-K metal gate process.

Among these is the ability to completely disconnect any of the processor cores from the power supply if they are not being used, according to Naffziger.

"If only graphics type calculations are being performed, we can disconnect all of the CPUs and just leave the GPU running, for example," he said.

Completely disconnecting a core greatly reduces current leakage, and this switching is fast enough that cores can power up and down between user keystrokes, Naffziger claimed.

Llano will also feature a digital power management module capable of accurately tracking power consumption in each core, enabling the clock speed to be maximised while staying within thermal constraints.

"This digital approach is a lot better than today's analogue designs whereby you just have to assume the worst case and then budget conservatively," Naffziger explained.

The third innovation involves optimisation of the clock signal distribution around the chip to cut the power required. Traditionally, brute force has been used to push the signal to all corners of the chip without significant delays (known as clock skew), with the result that 20 to 30 per cent of a CPU's power budget can be accounted for by the clock alone.

With Llano, AMD's chip designers have carefully relocated various components of the chip to prune away whole areas of the clock grid and reduce the number of clock buffers by 50 per cent, according to Naffziger.

"What we did is analyse the grid and push [the clock] out to just a limited set of areas. This enabled a cascade of reductions in power consumption," he said.

The result is that Llano will be efficient enough to serve as a mobile processor, according to Naffziger, although he declined to detail whether this meant Llano will be used in laptops or some other device format.

In architecture, the CPU cores of Llano are effectively tweaked versions of those in AMD's Opteron processors, while the GPU is based on the technology in high-end ATI graphics accelerators.

"The underlying architecture [of the CPUs] is the same as our x86 platform, but we've added some non-trivial tweaks to squeeze out even more performance," said Naffziger.

He contrasted AMD's Fusion architecture with Intel's recently introduced Westmere chips, which also integrate graphics functions inside the processor chip package but on a second, separate piece of silicon to the actual CPU cores.

"We are not using a low-end GPU, we're taking our leading state-of-the-art GPU and integrating it on the same chip so it shares the high-bandwidth DDR3 memory and features a high-speed communications channel between all the cores," he said.

Touch-screen models dominate smartphone market

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:34:00 GMT

Iain Thomson in San Francisco, V3.co.uk, Monday 8 February 2010 at 18:34:00

Keyboards on their way out, Canalys report finds

A new report by analyst frim Canalys has found that the majority of smartphones sold worldwide now use a touch-screen interface rather than a keypad.

The report found that 55 per cent of smartphones sold in the last quarter of 2009 were touch-screens. Sales of phones using the interface rose by 138 per cent in 2009, compared to overall smartphone market growth of 41 per cent.

Apple was the leading vendor with 33 per cent of the market, but lost market share to Nokia, which increased touch-screen sales by a whopping 4,000 per cent in 2009 to grab a 29 per cent market share.

"Looking at the whole of 2009, it is no great surprise to see Apple at the top of the table of leading vendors of touch-screen smartphones," said Canalys analyst Tim Shepherd.

"But Nokia stands out as a very close second, seeing tremendous growth thanks to models such as the Nokia 5800 and N97. And Nokia was actually the leading vendor by volume of touch-screen smartphones in the final quarter of the year."

Research of 4,000 buyers by Canalys shows that 60 per cent expect to get a touch-screen model as their next phone. The research found that easy access and use of new applications are key to the buying decision.

"This is an area where Apple is still in an enviable leadership position, having built up a vast, easy-to-access library of content and applications that will continue to drive the success of not only the iPhone, but the other devices it launches, such as the iPad," said Chris Jones, vice president and principal analyst at Canalys.

"For vendors with similar aspirations, attracting developers to their chosen smartphone platforms is an ongoing challenge, especially as more platforms and application stores launch onto the market.

"Developer bandwidth is as big an issue for this industry as network bandwidth. And if you get it right, you have a much more effective lock-in when that user comes to replace their device. It is not just about building new revenue streams."

Overallm 166 million smartphones were sold in 2009, according to the report. Symbian is the most popular operating system with 47 per cent of the market, but RIM and Apple are both showing strong growth.

The biggest loser of last year was Microsoft, which saw its share of the global smartphone market drop by more than 26 per cent in 2009.

Google threatens Chinese copycat site Goojje

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:35:00 GMT

Rosalie Marshall, V3.co.uk, Monday 8 February 2010 at 17:35:00

Blatant rip-off raises search giant's hackles

Google has threatened a Chinese search site called Goojje with legal action for copyright infringement, according to reports emerging from China.

Goojje was established in January at the same time as Google threatened to pull out of China because of a hack attack.

The site has an obviously similar name, logo and function to Google's, and its search results are censored to comply with Chinese law.

The state-controlled Shenzen Economic Daily said that Google has argued in a letter that Goojje users will think the site is associated with its own brand, and warned that it would go to court to protect its intellectual property if the site fails to stop using the logo.

The web giant said in a statement on Monday: "Google officially asked Goojje to stop copying Google's logo, which is protected by trademark."

Goojje has reportedly shown support for Google in the past, however, posting a message when it launched which read: "Sister was very happy when brother gave up the thought of leaving and stayed for sister."

Goojje claims that its name is a pun. The end of the word is an abbreviation of 'jie jie', the Chinese word for sister, while the end of Google's name is similar to 'ge ge', the Chinese word for brother.

Google said in January that it is no longer prepared to censor its search results in China, and that it will pull out of the country altogether if it cannot reach an agreement with the Chinese government.

BT halfway through 24Mbit/s broadband rollout

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:44:00 GMT

Dan Worth, V3.co.uk, Monday 8 February 2010 at 16:44:00

Company claims 20,000+ users added to service every week

BT Wholesale confirmed today that its Whole Broadband Connect (WBC) high-speed broadband service is now available to more than half the country.

The company said in a statement that it had rolled out its next-generation service to 763 exchanges that are able to offer speeds of up to 24Mbit/s.

BT Wholesale also explained that fibre has now been added to its WBC offering to support fibre-to-the-cabinet services that deliver download speeds of up to 40Mbit/s and upstream rates of up to 10Mbit/s.

Sian Baldwin, broadband director at BT Wholesale, claimed that this combination of services will help to ensure that as much of the UK as possible can benefit from high-speed broadband.

"Already more than 550,000 end users are enjoying our ADSL2+ copper service, with more than 20,000 to 30,000 end user customers being added each week," she said.

Baldwin added that faster broadband speeds are an essential tool to help businesses cope with the tough economic conditions and competitive environment.

BT has been investing in its network infrastructure since July 2008 as part of a £1.5bn rollout of next-generation services, and has said previously that it remains on track to meet its target of offering 100Mbit/s services to homes by 2012.

However, the firm has come under fire for these rollouts after Virgin Media questioned whether it is really necessary to add new fibre in areas where Virgin is already offering high-speed access.

Trend Micro touts Worry-Free Business as web service

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:13:00 GMT

Shaun Nichols in San Francisco, V3.co.uk, Monday 8 February 2010 at 15:13:00

SME offering will target remote workers

Trend Micro has unveiled a web-based version of its Worry-Free Business Security offering.

The new platform will allow enterprises of up to 2,500 users to configure and manage their security platform as a web-based service.

Like the on-premise version of Worry-Free Business, the web-based platform will combine internet and malware protection with USB and wireless security, and use the company's Smart Protection Network for vulnerability and malware protection updates.

The target audience for the web version of the platform will be small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that have to manage remote workers.

Greg Boyle, global product marketing manager at Trend Micro, told V3.co.uk that many SMEs rely on preinstalled consumer security packages for remote workers, creating patchwork security protection and leaving businesses at risk.

"We are offering this because of the increasing proliferation [of remote workers] within the SME environment," he said.

"One of the complexities is the inability to control or manage those workers, and that can be a big loss to the business."

The company also expects the service to appeal to larger organisations looking to manage branch offices, and partnering companies seeking to offer managed IT security services for smaller firms.

However, one area where the service may not be practical is for companies already running the on-premise version of Worry-Free Business Security.

Boyle said that the service needs to be managed separately from the in-house version, and should be seen as a separate platform rather than a way to extend an existing deployment to remote workers.

"It is really designed as one or the other, rather than a complementary solution," he explained.

Faulty Dell Inspiron case reopened

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:31:00 GMT

Rosalie Marshall, V3.co.uk, Monday 8 February 2010 at 14:31:00

Class-action suit back on after Court of Appeals intervention

Dell is being sued again over the alleged selling of faulty Inspiron notebooks that contained poor cooling systems and power suuplies.

A federal district court dismissed the charges in 2008, but the Court of Appeals in San Francisco has overturned the decision.

The Court of Appeals said in its ruling that the district court had "abused its discretion when it dismissed plaintiffs' action for failure to prosecute".

Dell is accused of breaking consumer laws by selling the notebooks containing flaws which cause the machines to shut down suddenly or fail to boot up.

The case is being pursued as a class-action lawsuit by Michael Omstead, Melissa Malloy and Lisa Smith, individually and on behalf of all others in similar situations.

The case is known as Omstead et al v. Dell Inc, number 08-16479, and was submitted to the Court of Appeals on 7 October last year.

Dell has refused to comment on the case.

Cloud Net offers dedicated plug-and-play VoIP

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:21:00 GMT

Dan Worth, V3.co.uk, Monday 8 February 2010 at 14:21:00

Firm claims industry first with fixed monthly fee offering

Cloud Net is to offer a dedicated VoIP and businesses switchboard (PBX) service for a fixed monthly fee, claiming that the service will save money on call costs for small businesses, startups and home workers.

The company said that Cloud Net Connect Hosted VoIP is the first offering of its kind to provide a plug-and-play VoIP system which removes the need to pay for new PBX hardware or handsets.

Cloud Net owns and maintains the network on which the service operates, rather than leasing network space, and claims to guarantee a high level of service, although businesses are also free to run the service via their existing broadband provider.

Charles Chance, managing director at Cloud Net, said that the success of software such as Skype means that companies are aware of the benefits of VoIP, adding that today's announcement provides a simple and cost-effective answer.

"We believe we are the first company to allow customers to truly benefit from a plug-and-play business VoIP solution. We have removed the headache of deciphering pricing plans by making our costs all-inclusive," he said.

Cloud Net offers features such as conferencing, caller ID, voice mail and call recording within each package on offer, in addition to free calls to other offices and remote workers on the company's network.

Calls outside the Cloud Net network offer competitive rates, the firm said. Calls to UK landlines and mobiles start at 9p per minute, while international calls include from 1.3p per minute to the US and from 3.2p per minute to New Zealand.

The service will be available at a starting price of £8.50 per user per month, including handsets.

Enisa report highlights social networking dangers

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:50:00 GMT

David Neal, V3.co.uk, Monday 8 February 2010 at 13:50:00

New guidelines aim to minimise the risks

The European Network and Information Security Agency (Enisa) has released a new report into the dangers of using social networking sites, particularly from mobile phones.

Enisa outlined a number of risks and threats associated with using the sites, and advised individuals and organisations to follow 17 golden rules.

Many people use their mobile phones to access such sites, and Enisa warned users to keep them secure and try to avoid any business information falling into the wrong hands.

The Online as soon as it happens report said that the growth in the use of social networking sites has been so great that malware writers are enjoying rich pickings. The report therefore advises users to change their online routine.

Studies in Europe have found that users have a very basic level of security awareness about social networking sites, and the report identifies the risks, and suggests ways to avoid falling victim.

The biggest risk for companies is information leakage. Enisa cited one case of a university professor who had suffered when someone created an offensive profile for him on Facebook, and another in which Virgin Atlantic had disciplined 13 employees for posting comments criticising passengers.

"This report provides practical, hands-on advice on how to stay safe online, anywhere and anytime, when enjoying mobile social networks," said Dr Udo Helmbrecht, executive director of Enisa.

The guide includes simple steps, such as always logging out once a session is over, and not using auto-complete tools to fill in passwords and other forms. Workers should also not mix work and personal contacts, Enisa warned.

Google planning mobile speech-to-speech translator

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:23:00 GMT

David Neal, V3.co.uk, Monday 8 February 2010 at 13:23:00

Voice recognition and translation service ready in 'a few years', claims search giant

Google has been discussing new software under development which it claims could let mobile phones translate speech "almost instantly".

A report in The Sunday Times said that Google is adding voice recognition and automatic translation to its mobile applications. The firm already offers automatic text translations on its web pages, and has plans to launch the system for mobile devices.

"We think speech-to-speech translation should be possible and will work reasonably well in a few years' time," said Franz Och, Google's head of translation services, in an interview with the paper.

"Clearly, for it to work smoothly, you need a combination of high-accuracy machine translation and high-accuracy voice recognition, and that's what we are working on."

Och acknowledged that translation software still has some way to go, but said that a number of recent improvements suggested that it would soon be to up to the task of translating speech correctly.

"If you look at the progress in machine translation and corresponding advances in voice recognition, there has been huge progress recently," he said.

Automatic text translators are now reasonably effective, but voice recognition has proved more challenging, Och explained.

"Everyone has a different voice, accent and pitch," he said. "But recognition should be effective with mobile phones because by nature they are personal to you. The phone should get a feel for your voice from past voice search queries, for example."

It is this constant use that will make or break translation, according to Och, who claimed that the more it is adopted and used the better and more accurate it will become.

"Google is exploiting its vast database of web sites and translated documents to improve the accuracy of its system. The more data we input, the better the quality," he said.

When contacted Google would not comment further on the news.

Gartner offers business process management tips

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:56:00 GMT

Rosalie Marshall, V3.co.uk, Monday 8 February 2010 at 12:56:00

Focus on proving success when starting out, says analyst firm

Gartner has published a number of guidelines for businesses wanting to improve the processes by which they operate.

Managing business processes more efficiently has been a key topic since software emerged that modeled business processes and suggested ways to boost their automation, integration and collaboration.

As the recession hit in September 2008, analyst firms advised organisations to focus on improving business process management (BPM) to cut back on costs and be ready for the upturn when it came.

Now that the UK downturn has officially ended, businesses should be ready to go. However, for those that are not, Gartner has published its Seven Key Guidelines to BPM Project Success which it said organisations can use to attain BPM success.

"Compliance with these guidelines will translate into a very high probability of project success, and will be a major boost for business interest in adopting BPM as a programme," said Gartner analyst Bill Rosser.

Rosser explained that businesses just starting out on BPM should begin with small, straightforward projects of limited scope, rather than going for a major overhaul of an end-to-end process straightaway. This will allow the business to see a quick payback, and become more positive about future BPM projects.

Those wanting to drive projects forward should start out with high-value processes that are clearly aligned to business goals and that can be measured by only a few metrics, Rosser continued. He suggested a disciplined post-project review to show the project's quantitative degree of improvement.

The analyst also said that the project should involve all the relevant stakeholders for each process, who should agree on the desired performance improvement. Although this may seem obvious, Rosser said, it is not uncommon for different stakeholders to have different views about what success means for a particular process enhancement.

Getting the people who actually do the work of the process onboard can also help drive a project's success, Rosser said. Staff can offer their own perspective on how they can work more efficiently, making them feel like experts in their field and giving them a sense of ownership about what they do.

Finally, Rosser told organisations to employ an "enthusiastic business sponsor" who will not be in charge of the project but will benefit from the new level of business performance.

"This person is absolutely sold on the idea and encourages both the business operating staff and the BPM implementation staff to get things done," said Rosser.

"Once one task is completed, this same sponsor, who is ideally influential in the organisation, will continue to promote the great results to peers and superiors.

"This requirement is so vital that, if such a sponsor is not available, IT leaders should pursue another project."

IBM launches new range of Power7 servers

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:36:00 GMT

Phil Muncaster, V3.co.uk, Monday 8 February 2010 at 12:36:00

Systems could offer improved energy efficiency and performance at lower cost

IBM today launched its next-generation Power7 systems, designed to help customers process and analyse large amounts of data in real time, while using less energy and boosting performance and return on investment.

The move is IBM's latest attempt to grab further market share in the $14bn (£9bn) Unix space, having already managed what it claims to be a 12 point revenue share gain since 2004.

The announcement covers four new hardware offerings: the Power 770 mid-range server with up to 64 cores; the Power 755 high-performance computing cluster node with 32 cores; the mid-market 750 Express server which has four times the processing capacity of its Power 550 predecessor; and the Power 780 high-end server.

The Power 780 features a TurboCore workload optimising mode which can deliver up to two times the performance per core of Power6 processor-based systems, according to IBM, and is therefore useful for running applications with high per-core performance requirements.

When not in TurboCore mode, all Power7 processors are in MaxCore mode with up to eight cores per socket and four threads per core, or 32 threads in total.

IBM also announced an Intelligent Threads feature which can vary dynamically based on demand, and Intelligent Energy technology which ensures that customers get better "performance per watt", according to IBM UK Power systems leader Robert Reuben.

"This is critical as we are seeing many examples where there is limited electrical power in key datacentres, especially in London," he said.

"People can't expand power use or floor space but, by consolidating workloads or replacing systems with Power7, they will be able to deliver with their existing footprint."

Another new feature of Power7 is active memory expansion, which manages to expand the memory capacity of the systems by dynamically adjusting the amount of compressed memory based on a workload's memory needs.

Power7 systems also support 1,000 virtual servers or "partitions" on a single system, over four times as many as on Power6, said IBM.

"We don't think one kind of system fits all. You need different kinds of systems for different workloads," said Reuben. "We are positioning these as first-generation workload optimised systems for a smarter planet."

Reuben added that the software group at IBM has "strongly participated" in the release by re-engineering some of its core products to take advantage of the new capabilities offered by Power7.

WebSphere, DB2, InfoSphere Warehouse and Cognos are key among these software products.

Nokia vows to fight US investors' law suit

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:01:00 GMT

Dan Worth, V3.co.uk, Monday 8 February 2010 at 12:01:00

American Depository Receipts investors unhappy with production delays in 2008

Nokia has said that it will fight an action filed against the company by US investors in the company's American Depository Receipts (ADRs).

The firm said in a statement that it had reviewed the allegations contained in the complaint and believes that they are without merit. Nokia said that it intends to "defend itself against the complaint vigorously".

The suit alleges that Nokia hid production delays in 2008 that caused phone prices and operating margins to decline, and instead focused on the expected launch of several new handsets.

The investors claim that the company was aware of these delays, but failed to make them public when discussing sales of devices between 24 January and 5 September 2008.

An ADR allows US investors to buy shares in foreign companies that trade on the US markets without the need for cross-border or cross-currency transactions. They are priced in US dollars and are traded like shares.

Nokia's ADR price dropped $0.35 to $13.39 (£8.59) on the New York Stock Exchange after news of the lawsuit emerged.

The complaint represents yet another legal challenge for the handset giant. Apple is suing Nokia over 13 alleged patent infringements after Nokia issued its own action against Apple in October.

Nokia has since filed two more suits against Apple asking US courts to block imports of Apple devices into the US while also seeking financial recompense for the alleged use of Nokia technologies without a licence.

Chinese hacker school shut down

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:59:00 GMT

David Neal, V3.co.uk, Monday 8 February 2010 at 11:59:00

Authorities arrest three in raid on Black Hawk Safety Net

A report in the China Daily newspaper claims that the country's biggest hacker training site has been shut down by the authorities.

The paper said that three people have been arrested, and that assets to the value of ¥1.7m (£160,000) have been seized, suggesting that the site was big business.

The Black Hawk Safety Net site was set up in 2005, and had some 12,000 members, all of whom may have paid up to ¥2,000 (£190) for training in hacking and other online criminal activities.

A further 170,000 people were registered on the site, but had not paid a fee and had received only low level hacking tips and tricks, according to the report.

The authorities seized a number of web servers, five computers and a car.

China's recently created anti-hacking laws make it illegal to attack software and other computer programs.

However the country's reputation has recently been tarnished by allegations that hackers from the region have been involved in cyber attacks on Google and UK businesses.