XenSource looks to invade Windows base

XenSource has prepped its first major charge at Microsoft Windows customers with a new package that includes the open source Xen hypervisor along with some management software, reports The Register (3 April).

The Register reports that the XenEnterprise package has gone into beta and includes the Xen 3.0 hypervisor along with the installer and management console tools that XenSource formerly sold as its Optimizer product. The publication says that the software will, of course, be available to Linux customers as well as Windows users, but XenSource expects the package might appeal most to the Windows crowd.

According to The Register, thus far, XenSource has been tied to Linux servers only. The inclusion, however, of virtualization hardware tools in new chips from Intel and AMD has made it possible for Xen to work with all x86 operating systems, including Microsoft's Windows line.

Most Linux customers will tap XenSource's software via the upcoming releases of SuSE Enterprise Server 10 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0, which will have the Xen hypervisor technology built-in. Linux customers are also free to take the open source Xen package and install it as they see fit, says The Register.

{mospagebreaktitle=Merger deal reached with Lucent and Alcatel}Merger deal reached with Lucent and Alcatel

Alcatel and Lucent Technologies have said that they have reached agreement on a US$13.4 billion merger that will create a French-American maker of telecommunications equipment with revenue of US$25 billion, 88,000 employees and phone company customers across the world.

The New York Times reports (3 April) that the deal comes in response to the increasing competition Western telecommunications firms are facing from low-cost Asian manufacturers, as well as the growing size and purchasing power of a few large phone companies. If Alcatel and Lucent are successful at combining their far-flung operations, which analysts say will be a significant challenge, it could prompt competitors like Ericsson, Nortel Networks and Siemens to seek their own deals so they can keep up, says the newspaper.

The newspaper says that the combined company, which has yet to be named, would be based in Paris, where Alcatel has its headquarters. Lucent's legendary Bell Labs research center would remain in Murray Hill, N.J. Serge Tchuruk, Alcatel's chairman and chief executive, would be the nonexecutive chairman, and Patricia F. Russo, Lucent's chairman and chief executive, would become chief executive of the new company.

Executives said they would lay off about 9,000 people, or 10 percent of their combined staff, in the next three years as part of an effort to cut costs by US$1.7 billion, reports the NYT.

{mospagebreaktitle=Movies to keep arrive on the internet}Movies to keep arrive on the internet

In the US., six major studios plan to begin selling movies over the internet today that buyers can download and keep for watching at any time.

The New York Times reports (3 April) that until now, the only downloads the studios have offered have been online rentals, which can be watched only for a 24-hour period — an idea that has not caught on with consumers. But the high prices and technological limits of the new permanent downloads suggest that they may not be an instant hit.

New movies will cost about US$20 to US$30 to download; older titles will cost as little as US$10. The downloads will be available on the same day that the DVD is released — quicker than rentals, which are put online about 45 days later and cost US$2 to US$5.

The newspaper says that the studios hope that more people will want to own digital copies of movies, just as more people pay to download songs than sign up for online music subscription services that require a monthly fee. Download sales have been discussed for several years in Hollywood, but the studios have been spurred to action by the success of television programs sold through Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store.

{mospagebreaktitle=Pipex unveils plans for UK wireless broadband service}Pipex unveils plans for UK wireless broadband service

UK ISP Pipex is hooking up with Intel to launch a wireless broadband service in the UK's major metropolitan areas, starting with London and Manchester.

The Register reports (3 April) that Pipex is already running trials of its WiMAX service with Airspan Networks at the US-based firm's test facility in Stratford-upon-Avon. Now it's launched a joint venture with Intel Capital - the chip maker's venture capital VC outfit - to create Pipex Wireless. As apart of the deal, Pipex has transferred its entire 3.6GHz UK spectrum license to the new wireless business.

According to The Register, with the US$25m investment by Intel, the new wireless service is looking to begin its network roll-out in London and Manchester in 2007 with eight areas targeted by 2008. Ultimately, Pipex has ambitions to roll-out the service to around 50 of the most densely populated areas of the UK.

{mospagebreaktitle=Microsoft patches IE after Eolas ruling}Microsoft patches IE after Eolas ruling

Microsoft has confirmed an April release date for a patch designed to ensure that Internet Explorer can work around a disputed patent for technology allowing web browsers to access interactive application programs.

The Register reports (3 April) that,in a blog posting, the firm warned that the ActiveX-related patch could disrupt existing uses of the technology and advised developers to test the updates on their systems.

According to The Register, the patch has already been made available for download for this purpose, but the forthcoming April update will install the patch on all remaining systems.

Microsoft has included a compatibility feature in the update that will allow developers to switch off the ActiveX related changes for a maximum of two months, allowing them a brief opportunity to address any compatibility issues, says The Register.

The update is the result of a dispute with the University of California and tiny tech firm Eolas Technologies, both of whom sued Microsoft for patent infringement in 1999.

{mospagebreaktitle=Man charged over click fraud scheme}Man charged over click fraud scheme

A US man has been charged with conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud over a 'click fraud' scheme allegedly carried out against an internet firm that rewards subscribers who complete online surveys and view banner ads.

The Register reports (3 April) that US Attorney Kevin Ryan said Allen Tam, of Daly City, California, was indicted on Tuesday, after an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

According to The Register, click fraud is a general term that describes the practice of skewing pay-per-click data by generating illegitimate 'clicks' or 'hits' on internet ads. It is more often discussed in connection with search engine ad schemes, such as Google's AdSense Service, where unscrupulous website owners sometimes try to increase the fees paid to them by Google by ensuring that third party adverts displayed on their site are clicked as often as possible.

The publication says that this case, however, concerns internet firm FreeRide, which at the time of the alleged scam offered a rewards program to internet users based on various online activities that subscribers engaged in on the firm's website.

{mospagebreaktitle=Microsoft claims breakthrough in Brussels}Microsoft claims breakthrough in Brussels

Microsoft claimed a breakthrough at its meeting with European Commission last week.

The Register reports (3 April) that Brad Smith left Friday’s meeting on the EC’s 2004 anti-trust ruling against Microsoft claiming the firm had been encouraged by EC trustee Neil Barrett’s “plan to move forward”, according to the New York Times. Microsoft has bemoaned a lack of guidance from the EC on how to comply with the ruling, and said discussions with Barret “answers some of the questions that have had for some time”.

{mospagebreaktitle=UK Government backs Europe-beating supercomputer}UK Government backs Europe-beating supercomputer

The UK project to build Europe's fastest computer has received a cash boost from government. The High-End Computing Terascale Resource, Hector, will get an extra £52m and will be completed next year.

The Register reports (3 April) that Hector will run at 100 teraflops.

According to the report, climate simulation and molecular structure problems will be among the Very Hard Sums to be taken on by the new megacalculator.

Announcing the cash injection, USscience minister Lord Sainsbury said: “The computational limits of the existing facilities are now being reached.”

The Register says that existing supercomputing facilities at the Universities of Manchester and Edinburgh are set to be decommissioned over the next two years. The new machine will act as a replacement.

The current IBM-built European champion at Julich Research Centre, Germany, runs at 46 teraflops.

{mospagebreaktitle=Japan launches digital TV for cell phones}Japan launches digital TV for cell phones

Digital TV broadcasts for mobile phones equipped with special receivers began in Japan's major urban areas Saturday, following several months of test broadcasts.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (1 April) that finding new phones in stores proved hard as eager consumers have already snapped up the limited number of handsets on the market. Japan's major mobile carriers say sales are good, but have not disclosed numbers.

AP says that Japan's mobile TV service is not the world's first - South Korea, Britain and several other nations offer a similar service, although with different technologies. Mobile users in some parts of the United States can also tap into digital broadcasts.

But the new service in Japan, which is free, will potentially reach the broadest market yet through the country's terrestrial digital broadcast system, which relays images through the air via TV towers, not satellites.

It also uses broadcasting air waves, rather than an Internet connection, to relay streaming video.

Japan's 90 million mobile phone users already play video games, download music files, exchange e-mail, read news, trade stocks, store digital photos and surf the Web - all on tiny handset screens half the size of a business card.
 

{mospagebreaktitle=Poll: cell phones irritating, invaluable}Poll: cell phones irritating, invaluable

Cell phone users get irritated at others who yak on their portables about their personal business in public, according to an AP-AOL-Pew poll, reports The Mercury News.

The Mercury says that the poll the found the offended don't think they are among the callers who get on other people's nerves. Most cell users find their phones very useful, with half keeping them on all the time.

But, the survey found that almost nine in 10 say they encounter others using those phones in an annoying way. Only 8 percent of cell users acknowledge their own use of cell phones is sometimes rude.

The newspaper reports that the survey also found that more than two-thirds of cell phone users say it would be hard to give up their portable.  The survey is one of the most extensive news surveys of cell phone users yet.

The report adds that about a fourth of the cell phone users polled, 26 percent, said they can't imagine life without their cell phone. Three-fourths of cell users say they have used it in an emergency.

{mospagebreaktitle=China stands by verdict on virtual thief}China stands by verdict on virtual thief

China has upheld a guilty verdict and fine against a man who stole and sold players' games IDs and online equipment amid growing calls for more concrete virtual property laws, state media said Monday.

Reuters and CNet report in The New York Times (3 April) that a court in Guangzhou, the provincial capital of China's southern province of Guangdong, dismissed an appeal by Yan Yifan, 20, found guilty of selling stolen passwords and online equipment from 30 players of the online historical quest game "Da Xihua Xiyou" last year.

The report says that, upholding Yan's original 5,000 yuan (US$620) fine, the court said that online game players had spent time, energy and money gaining the game's equipment and adding value to the virtual goods, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to Reuters & CNet, Yan stole players' personal information while working at US-listed Chinese internet company NetEase.com and sold counterfeited identity cards and other online possessions to other players for more than 4,000 yuan (US$500), Xinhua said without giving details.