IT Week (UK) articles from October 2005

IT Week (UK) archives from October 2005

VoIP challenges grow as broadband spreads.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Dave Bailey and James Murray. Service provider Be launched the UK's first 24Mbit/s consumer broadband package last week. But such services could encourage home workers to use consumer voice over IP (VoIP) systems rather than those...

Search tools provide bigger choice.
October 3, 2005... Byline: David Neal. Google and Yahoo both expanded their search offerings last week, adding more indexed pages and a desktop search tool respectively. However, experts said that when choosing a search engine, enterprise users should...

Comment - Can IT risks be regulated away?
October 3, 2005... Byline: Madeline Bennett. Given that many firms are still failing to take basic steps to combat threats to IT, is it time for the government to apply some gentle persuasion? The US government is considering tax breaks and other...

Sun delivers StarOffice 8.
October 3, 2005... Sun has released StarOffice 8, taking the battle to Microsoft Office through closer links to the dominant desktop suite and support for a new document standard that makes exchanging files simpler. StarOffice 8 software supports the...

IBM server gets four-core boost.
October 3, 2005... IBM on Tuesday will launch a new pSeries server fitted with a four-core version of its flagship Power 5 processor chip - the first time a four-core chip has been used in a mainstream server system. IBM's pSeries systems run IBM's AIX Unix...

Europe calls for security changes.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Phil Muncaster in Budapest. IT security leaders last week called on European states to improve the flow of information between government bodies, academic institutions and the private sector to tackle threats, and said that there...

Integrated messaging comes to smartphones.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Daniel Robinson. A new integrated messaging tool from Intellisync lets mobile staff access a range of applications including email, instant messaging (IM), text messages, voice communications and contacts, all from a single client...

Partners push blade benefits.(collaboration by ClearCube Technology Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... ClearCube Technology has formed a network of partners to encourage more large firms to deploy its PC blade systems. The ClearCube Solution Network (CSN), to be unveiled today, includes Tablet PC maker Motion Computing and thin client maker...

London IT investment body.(Gateway2investment formed)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... A consortium of firms and government bodies joined forces last week to launch a new investment scheme to turn London into a global centre for IT. Backed by the mayor's London Development Agency, it is hoped that the [pounds sterling]3m...

Symantec unleashes Panther.
October 3, 2005... Symantec last week launched two new backup and availability products developed by recent acquisition Veritas. Formerly codenamed Panther, Symantec Backup Exec 10d for Windows Server features a continuous protection server for Windows files,...

Apple patches Mac OS X.
October 3, 2005... Apple has released 10 patches to stop remote and local attackers executing arbitrary commands, causing a denial of service, accessing information or getting elevated privileges when running Mac OS X desktop and server versions 10.3.9 and...

NCircle prioritises flaws.(nCircle IP360 6.5 launched)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... Network security vendor nCircle has updated its vulnerability management system to help IT managers set priorities for fixing flaws in their systems. Version 6.5 of the nCircle IP360 appliance adds a Topology Risk Analyzer tool, which rates...

BindView secures web access.
October 3, 2005... Security compliance firm BindView last week launched BV-Control for Internet Security 8.1. BV-Control gives IT administrators a detailed view of their network, automatically auditing applications and devices, the firm said. Improvements to the...

Bottlenecks threaten 3G services.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Martin Courtney. Mobile operators' plans to expand the capacity of current 3G mobile data networks to accommodate more subscribers may come a cropper when bandwidth runs out in backhaul networks, experts warned last week. All...

Wintel boost for HD-DVD.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Martin Veitch. Intel and Microsoft last week gave their support to HD-DVD, but the pledges are unlikely to hasten the end of the format's battle with Blu-Ray to become the leader in next-generation optical storage media. As...

Fossil puts Palm on wrist.
October 3, 2005... Fossil's Palm-based wristwatch has finally made it to the UK and is available now for [pounds sterling]70. Branded as the Abacus by Fossil Wrist PDA, the device runs familiar contact, diary, memo and to-do list applications. More apps can...

Storage guru seeks data consensus.(political activity of Dave Hitz)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Martin Veitch. The founder of storage giant Network Appliance is to meet global politicians to discuss the harmonisation of data retention rules. Dave Hitz, now an executive vice-president of the firm, plans to discuss data...

Office 2003 SP2 available.
October 3, 2005... Microsoft has released Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Office 2003. The update includes changes to prevent phishing attacks, plus many fixes and enhancements for Office applications. Windows SharePoint Services and InfoPath 2003 have been updated to...

Itanium fans join forces.
October 3, 2005... Loyalists to Intel's Itanium chip are teaming up in an effort to foster development. The Itanium Solutions Alliance, which brings together server makers including HP and Unisys and software vendors such as Oracle and BEA, will lure developers...

Widescreen laptops toughen up.
October 3, 2005... Lenovo has added two widescreen laptops to its ThinkPad range. The ThinkPad Z-Series models have widescreen TFT screens and an armoured "roll cage" chassis for extra protection. The Z60m has a 15.4in display and costs from [pounds sterling]455,...

Lightweight Tablet PC.
October 3, 2005... Fujitsu Siemens has announced a new Tablet PC that it claims is the lightest convertible model available. Shipping in November, the Lifebook P1510 has an 8.9in rotating screen and weighs 1kg. It is based on a 1.2 GHz Ultra Low Voltage Pentium M...

RIM to use Intel's XScale.
October 3, 2005... BlackBerry maker RIM will switch to Intel's XScale mobile processor for its next generation of wireless devices, the company said last week. The firm is the first major customer for Intel's new XScale PXA9xx processors, codenamed Hermon. RIM...

Comment - Keep it simple, not stupid. When technology providers skimp on necessary add-ons to their products they will pay a price.(production management of information technology services industry)(Column)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Lem Bingley. Of all the sins IT vendors can commit - and they're an unholy bunch - the worst is to make the customer feel like a fool. That may sound like an odd statement, but then I've had an odd weekend. A business trip,...

Chargeback is the way forward. Chargeback schemes can allocate IT resources more efficiently, and they provide other benefits.(management of information technology departments)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Martin Butler. What IT systems do firms need, how should they be used, how much should be spent on them, and who should foot the bill? These are important but tricky questions because the answers will change over time. The...

Special report - Online applications - Enterprise software becomes a service. In the first of a two-part report, IT Week examines how application hosts are changing the face of software.
October 3, 2005... After a disastrous start in the 1990s, application service providers (ASPs) have bounced back to become one of the fastest growing phenomena in business technology. This relatively new model - providing software as a subscription-based online...

Enterprise Week - IBM Director adds Linux control tools.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Roger Howorth. IBM last week announced version 5.1 of its Director server management tool. More than a third of IBM xSeries customers use Director to monitor or deploy their IBM hardware. The new version adds a streamlined user...

Enterprise Week - MySQL suite improves support for standards.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Roger Howorth. Open-source database giant MySQL has issued the first release candidate of its version 5 upgrade. This latest release includes improvements to better support compliance with the Ansi SQL standard; plus new storage...

Enterprise Week - Comment - Multicore chips await a faster bus. As chips gain more cores, the contention for RAM could slow performance. Intel and others must address this issue quickly.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Roger Howorth. The trouble with Windows and Linux is that neither works well on systems with more than four processors, which would be fine except that in a few years you won't be able to buy a server that has less than eight...

Internet Week - O2 launches iMode mobile net platform.
October 3, 2005... Byline: David Neal. The iMode mobile internet platform that has proved popular in Japan is launching in the UK this week. O2 will be the only UK company offering handsets and services for iMode, but the firm has lined up many content...

Internet Week - Comment - Unmoved by the mobile internet. O2's iMode service promises a host of online services - but issues of cost and usability limit its appeal.
October 3, 2005... Byline: David Neal. This week I attended the launch of "the mobile internet". I had to go to it, of course; it wasn't mobile enough to come to me. What I was presented with was O2's iMode service, which gives users the ability to surf web...

Client Week - Palm puts Windows on the Treo.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Daniel Robinson. Palm last week unveiled a new model of its Treo smartphone running Microsoft's Windows Mobile software in place of the Palm operating system. The move is part of a new strategic partnership with Microsoft that will...

Client Week - Next Bluetooth chips to boost call quality.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Daniel Robinson. Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR) has announced a new generation of its Bluetooth chips, adding enhancements to boost the quality of voice calls made with Bluetooth headsets. The company is also adding support for...

Client Week - HP supports Microsoft on iPaq models.
October 3, 2005... Byline: IT Week staff. HP has updated its range of handhelds to support Windows Mobile 5.0, the latest version of Microsoft's platform for PDAs and smartphones. The devices keep the design of existing models, so users do not have to...

Client Week - Comment - The case for satellite navigation kit. The falling cost of GPS tools means more firms should take advantage of satellite navigation.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Kelvyn Taylor. GPS navigation is one of those things that everyone wants in their car these days, but few want to pay for. Given that a factory-installed unit might cost you the thick end of [pounds sterling]1,000, that's not...

Client Week - Review - Pentax PocketJet 3 - Mobile printer shows its quality. The Pentax PocketJet 3 Plus is highly portable and produces sharp A4 printouts.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Daniel Robinson. Pentax's PocketJet 3 Plus is a highly portable printer designed to let mobile staff produce hard copies of documents while out in the field. Its small size means the printer can easily be carried in a briefcase...

Network Week - Cisco upgrades security systems.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Dave Bailey. Cisco last week announced a slew of new security products, including a new Incident Control System (ICS), which is based on malware-recognition capabilities from antivirus vendor Trend Micro. Cisco updated other...

Network Week - HP updates datacentre kit.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Dave Bailey. HP last week announced upgrades to its Adaptive Edge Architecture to boost datacentre performance and improve the management of user access and wireless LANs (WLANs). As part of the move, HP announced forthcoming...

Network Week - Fixed-mobile roaming tools gain polish IT Week staff.(Persona OnePhone 2.0 launched by Persona software Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... Persona software last week launched version 2.0 of its OnePhone software that lets mobile users roam seamlessly between Wi-Fi and cellular networks. Persona chief marketing officer Rob Fugetta predicted that next year this type of...

Network Week - Comment - Being inclusive is good business. Communications tools that can be used by disabled people reflect well on firms that deploy them.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Bill Pechey. As I've mentioned before in these columns, disabled people often have difficulty in using communications equipment and network services. This is largely because designers have not considered their needs when developing...

Management Week - South Africa joins boom in outsourcing.
October 3, 2005... Byline: James Murray. South Africa will establish itself as one of the top three locations for offshore outsourcing over the next two years as UK firms move more call centre and technical support functions to the country. That is the...

Management Week - Easier systems push BI further.
October 3, 2005... Byline: James Murray. Business Objects will tomorrow follow the lead of other business intelligence (BI) software vendors by upgrading its tools to make BI functionality more accessible to non-technical users. Experts said that...

Management Week - Standards to underpin international compliance.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Phil Muncaster in Budapest. Experts last week argued that multinational firms need to make a bigger effort to follow agreed industry standards if they are to comply with a wide variety of national regulations. Speaking at the...

Management Week - Report - IT outsourcing - Structural change ahead. Firms may soon be replaced by networks of outsourcers.
October 3, 2005... Byline: James Murray. The way large firms operate is changing, according to a recent report from consultancy the Global Future Forum. It predicts that large enterprises will increasingly have a fragmented structure - and within a few years...

Management Week - Comment - Time to switch on to mobile television. Media scare stories about mobile TV's potential to corrupt kids obscure the technology's many advantages for business users.
October 3, 2005... Byline: James Woudhuysen. Front-page headlines in the Evening Standard proclaim the arrival of 24-hour TV through mobile phones. The National Union of Teachers warns that this means the dumbing down of schoolchildren. Meanwhile, the...

Being inclusive is good business.
October 3, 2005... Being inclusive is good business Communications tools that can be used by disabled people reflect well on firms that deploy them As I've mentioned before in these columns, disabled people often have difficulty in using communications...

The case for satellite navigation kit.
October 3, 2005... The case for satellite navigation kit The falling cost of GPS tools means more firms should take advantage of satellite navigation GPS navigation is one of those things that everyone wants in their car these days, but few want to pay...

Mobile printer shows its quality.
October 3, 2005... Mobile printer shows its quality The Pentax PocketJet 3 Plus is highly portable and produces sharp A4 printouts Pentax's PocketJet 3 Plus is a highly portable printer designed to let mobile staff produce hard copies of documents while...

Palm puts Windows on the Treo.
October 3, 2005... Palm puts Windows on the Treo Daniel Robinson Palm last week unveiled a new model of its Treo smartphone running Microsoft's Windows Mobile software in place of the Palm operating system. The move is part of a new strategic partnership...

Unmoved by the mobile internet.
October 3, 2005... Unmoved by the mobile internet O2's iMode service promises a host of online services -- but issues of cost and usability limit its appeal This week I attended the launch of "the mobile internet". I had to go to it, of course; it wasn't...

Keep it simple, not stupid.
October 3, 2005... Keep it simple, not stupid When technology providers skimp on necessary add-ons to their products they will pay a price Of all the sins IT vendors can commit -- and they're an unholy bunch -- the worst is to make the customer feel like...

Next Bluetooth chips to boost call quality.
October 3, 2005... Next Bluetooth chips to boost call quality Daniel Robinson Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR) has announced a new generation of its Bluetooth chips, adding enhancements to boost the quality of voice calls made with Bluetooth headsets. The...

HP supports Microsoft on iPaq models IT Week staff n HP has updated its range of handhelds to support Windows Mobile 5.0, the latest version of Microsoft's platform for PDAs and smartphones. The de vices keep the design of existing models, so users do no.
October 3, 2005... HP supports Microsoft on iPaq models IT Week staff n HP has updated its range of handhelds to support Windows Mobile 5.0, the latest version of Microsoft's platform for PDAs and smartphones. The devices keep the design of existing...

Multicore chips await a faster bus.
October 3, 2005... Multicore chips await a faster bus As chips gain more cores, the contention for RAM could slow performance. Intel and others must address this issue quickly The trouble with Windows and Linux is that neither works well on...

Enterprise software becomes a service.
October 3, 2005... Enterprise software becomes a service In the first of a two-part report, IT Week examines how application hosts are changing the face of software After a disastrous start in the 1990s, application service providers (ASPs) have bounced...

Hosts with the most.
October 3, 2005... Hosts with the most n Capital expenditure. Because companies do not need to buy and deploy their own servers, storage and enterprise software, their capital expenditure is hugely reduced. n Tariffs. ASPs typically ask for a regular...

Standards to underpin international compliance.(Brief article)
October 3, 2005... Standards to underpin international compliance Phil Muncaster in Budapest Experts last week argued that multinational firms need to make a bigger effort to follow agreed industry standards if they are to comply with a wide variety of...

Easier systems push BI further.
October 3, 2005... Easier systems push BI further James Murray Business Objects will tomorrow follow the lead of other business intelligence (BI) software vendors by upgrading its tools to make BI functionality more accessible to non-technical users. ...

South Africa joins boom in outsourcing James Murray n South Africa will establish itself as one of the top three locations for offshore outsourcing over the next two years as UK firms move more call centre and technical support functions to the coun.
October 3, 2005... South Africa joins boom in outsourcing James Murray n South Africa will establish itself as one of the top three locations for offshore outsourcing over the next two years as UK firms move more call centre and technical support...

Structural change ahead.
October 3, 2005... Structural change ahead Firms may soon be replaced by networks of outsourcers The way large firms operate is changing, according to a recent report from consultancy the Global Future Forum. It predicts that large enterprises will...

Time to switch on to mobile television.
October 3, 2005... Time to switch on to mobile television Media scare stories about mobile TV's potential to corrupt kids obscure the technology's many advantages for business users Front-page headlines in the Evening Standard proclaim the arrival...

O2 launches iMode mobile net platform.(Brief article)
October 3, 2005... O2 launches iMode mobile net platform David Neal The iMode mobile internet platform that has proved popular in Japan is launching in the UK this week. O2 will be the only UK company offering handsets and services for iMode, but the...

Fossil puts Palm on wrist.
October 3, 2005... Fossil puts Palm on wrist Fossil's Palm-based wristwatch has finally made it to the UK and is available now for [pounds sterling]70. Branded as the Abacus by Fossil Wrist PDA, the device runs familiar contact, diary, memo and to-do...

HP updates datacentre kit.
October 3, 2005... HP updates datacentre kit Dave Bailey HP last week announced upgrades to its Adaptive Edge Architecture to boost datacentre performance and improve the management of user access and wireless LANs (WLANs). As part of the move, HP...

Cisco upgrades security systems.
October 3, 2005... Cisco upgrades security systems Dave Bailey Cisco last week announced a slew of new security products, including a new Incident Control System (ICS), which is based on malware-recognition capabilities from antivirus vendor Trend Micro....

Fixed-mobile roaming tools gain polish IT Week staff n Persona software last week launched version 2.0 of its OnePhone software that lets mobile users roam seamlessly between Wi-Fi and cellular networks. Persona chief marketing officer Rob Fugetta pred.
October 3, 2005... Fixed-mobile roaming tools gain polish IT Week staff n Persona software last week launched version 2.0 of its OnePhone software that lets mobile users roam seamlessly between Wi-Fi and cellular networks. Persona chief marketing...

IBM Director adds Linux control tools Roger Howorth n IBM last week announced version 5.1 of its Director server management tool. More than a third of IBM xSeries customers use Director to monitor or deploy their IBM hardware. The new version adds a s.
October 3, 2005... IBM Director adds Linux control tools Roger Howorth n IBM last week announced version 5.1 of its Director server management tool. More than a third of IBM xSeries customers use Director to monitor or deploy their IBM hardware. The new...

MySQL suite improves support for standards.
October 3, 2005... MySQL suite improves support for standards Roger Howorth Open-source database giant MySQL has issued the first release candidate of its version 5 upgrade. This latest release includes improvements to better support compliance with the...

Bottlenecks threaten 3G services.
October 3, 2005... Bottlenecks threaten 3G services Martin Courtney Mobile operators' plans to expand the capacity of current 3G mobile data networks to accommodate more subscribers may come a cropper when bandwidth runs out in backhaul networks, experts...

Europe calls for security changes.
October 3, 2005... Europe calls for security changes Phil Muncaster in Budapest IT security leaders last week called on European states to improve the flow of information between government bodies, academic institutions and the private sector to tackle...

Integrated messaging comes to smartphones.
October 3, 2005... Integrated messaging comes to smartphones Daniel Robinson A new integrated messaging tool from Intellisync lets mobile staff access a range of applications including email, instant messaging (IM), text messages, voice communications...

Sun delivers StarOffice 8.
October 3, 2005... Sun delivers StarOffice 8 Sun has released StarOffice 8, taking the battle to Microsoft Office through closer links to the dominant desktop suite and support for a new document standard that makes exchanging files simpler. StarOffice 8...

IBM server gets four-core boost.
October 3, 2005... IBM server gets four-core boost IBM on Tuesday will launch a new pSeries server fitted with a four-core version of its flagship Power 5 processor chip -- the first time a four-core chip has been used in a mainstream server system. ...

Can IT risks be regulated away?
October 3, 2005... Can IT risks be regulated away? Given that many firms are still failing to take basic steps to combat threats to IT, is it time for the government to apply some gentle persuasion? The US government is considering tax breaks...

Microsoft hedges corporate security bets.
October 10, 2005... Byline: Dave Bailey and Phil Muncaster. Microsoft will temper its move into antivirus and anti-spyware provision for business desktops with a new alliance that will see it work more closely with rival security vendors. Microsoft last...

Grids offer managers more value.
October 10, 2005... Byline: James Murray and Martin Veitch. IT giants including IBM and Sun were out in force last week promoting the business benefits of grid computing, announcing new partners and customers, and launching tools to make it easier to deploy...

Comment - Search goes on for the next big thing. Despite advances in blades, grids, Linux and web services, it is still too soon to identify the winning architectures of the current decade.(Column)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Martin Veitch. At a recent conference I was asked what I thought would be the datacentre story of the decade. I replied that, with liberal salting, you could round up the 1960s and 1970s as the era of the mainframe and...

EC slams mobile roaming charges.
October 10, 2005... The European Commission has responded to complaints about the high cost of using mobile phones abroad by launching a web site that publishes sample roaming tariffs from mobile operators in all 25 member states. Information Society and...

Expo showcases storage advances. This week's Storage Expo in London will showcase new products to help firms improve the management of data and network storage.
October 10, 2005... Dot Hill Systems is due to unveil a new storage architecture during its presentation on Next Generation Storage Architectures. Pillar Data Systems, launched in June and backed by Oracle chief Larry Ellison, will showcase its Axiom product,...

Google and Sun align for future.
October 10, 2005... Byline: Martin Veitch. Google and Sun last week announced a broad collaboration pact and hinted at a potential applications effort that could challenge Microsoft's iron grip on the desktop. The internet and Unix giants will collaborate...

Spammers to tune into audio.
October 10, 2005... Experts are warning that audio spam is set to become the next major irritant in mailboxes, with the problem then moving onto voice over IP (VoIP). UK message management specialist Email Systems last week said it is seeing a growing number...

Hyperion attaches BPM capability to BI platform.
October 10, 2005... Byline: James Murray. Hyperion will launch a new version of its business intelligence (BI) platform tomorrow, adding business performance management (BPM) tools to its traditional BI set. The launch follows consolidation in the market last...

New anti-piracy alliance.
October 10, 2005... Chief executives from many industries are forming an action group against software pirates and counterfeiters. Members of Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy include Microsoft, GlaxoSmithKline, Nestle and EMI. The group said it...

Free compliance assessment.
October 10, 2005... Compliance software specialist BindView has launched a free downloadable compliance assessment tool. The BVCAT tool uses a question-based survey and automated assessments of technical configuration criteria to produce a report outlining...

Symantec protects Nokia phones.
October 10, 2005... Nokia and Symantec are teaming up to secure phones. The duo have announced an agreement that will see Nokia's Series 60 smartphones be pre-loaded with Symantec Mobile Security. The tool protects against incoming viruses, worms, and trojans,...