28th March 2008 Archive

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Mac is the first to fall in Pwn2Own hack contest

CanSecWest Safari's bad-hair week

A brand-new MacBook Air running a fully patched version of Leopard was the first to fall in a contest that pitted the security of machines running OS X, Vista and Linux. The exploit took less than two minutes to pull off. Charlie Miller, who was the first security researcher to remotely exploit the iPhone, felled the Mac by …

Channel Register 28 Mar 02:20
Blu-ray 0, SDHC card 1, THX Chief Scientist predicts

In-store downloads, not discs, the future

Blu-ray Disc will never win mass appeal - we'll all be buying out HD movies on Flash cards instead. That, at least, is the verdict of THX Chief Scientist Laurie Fincham. Fincham's comments come by way of UK magazine Home Cinema Choice, relayed by website DVD Town. Says Fincham: "I think it's too late for Blu-ray. I think …

HD 28 Mar 09:59
Phone loss equals social catastrophe, claims carrier

Lock up your datas

Dropping your iPhone down the lav is bad enough, but losing friends’ numbers and downloaded music could be social suicide. A report by network operator O2 has uncovered that many of us are suffering as a result, simply because we don’t back up our phone content. O2 questioned just over 1000 people, aged between 16 and 44, and …

Phones 28 Mar 10:06
Asus releases application kit for Eee PC coders

SDK to boost Xandros app list

Asus has posted a Software Development Kit (SDK) for the Eee PC, the better to help coders write new programs to run on the elfin laptop's Xandros Linux distribution. The SDK centres on a development environment called Eclipse, and includes TrollTech's Qt for interface design. Asus is also supplying VMWare-compatible code to …

PCs 28 Mar 10:35
HD DVD promo body dissolves itself

Format's life-support facility unplugged

High Definition DVD is officially dead. The HD DVD Promotion Group this week formally dissolved itself, marking the termination of the format. Toshiba's decision to end HD DVD hardware production, announced last month, put the format on life-support. The signals began to slow and fade as the likes of Microsoft, Universal …

HD 28 Mar 10:51
Levi's rivets up limited edition handset

Only 100 available

Given the numerous styles of Levi’s jeans currently available, Register Hardware half expected the denim designer’s latest phone to either be ‘skinny’ or ‘engineered’ with that funny twist. Instead, Levi's has updated its existing handset with a limited edition look. Levi's ultra-limited edition handset: new design, same …

Phones 28 Mar 11:38
Hackers mug gamers in Playstation Store

Pockets purportedly picked, info supposedly swiped

PS3 gamers may have had cash stolen from their online wallets, Sony has warned. They may also have had their passwords changed by hackers and personal information taken, the games giant admitted on Thursday. Sony said it found that hackers might have gained access to its PlayStation Store, a part of the PlayStation Network, …

Consoles 28 Mar 12:16
Archos 705 Wi-Fi mobile DVR

Review Except it's not a DVR

While Apple, Samsung, Creative and the like squabble over the mass market for MP3 players, Cowon and Archos have become engaged in a fight for the premium end of the market. The latest shot in this battle is from Archos: the fifth-generation 705 Wi-Fi. On introduction to the 705 your first thought will almost certainly be 'wow …

Media players 28 Mar 12:29
Shocking phone patent features heart-start smarts

Stand clear

We’ve all had some shocking news delivered through a mobile phone. But if you’ve got a dodgy ticker, thank your lucky stars that someone’s applied to patent a handset with an integrated defibrillator. A patent application for a mobile phone-cum-defibrillator The application for a “wireless communication device with …

Phones 28 Mar 14:25
Sharpcast syncs PCs, Macs and mobiles

Online backup with a syncing feeling

Startup Sharpcast has entered the remote storage battlefield with a new service that backs up data over the internet, and then syncs it across PCs, Macs, and mobiles. SugarSync is an appealing chimera, with pieces of automated backup, folder synching, remote access, cross-platform sharing and mobile phone backup fused into a …

Storage 28 Mar 15:27
Nvidia drivers named as lead Vista crash cause in 2007

Lawsuit documents spill beans

Nvidia, not Microsoft, is apparently responsible for the drivers that caused the most Windows Vista crashes last year. That's if documents posted as part of a lawsuit probing PCs' ability to run the new OS are anything to go by. The files in question are a batch of Microsoft emails, available to read in a single PDF here. …

Bits 'n' Chips 28 Mar 16:11
Apple to revamp iPod as personal fitness trainer

ITunes me body up

Apple may have an existing exercise product partner, Nike, but several Apple patent applications have sprung-up online describing the company’s designs for a physical fitness system of its own. Apple's exercise software: log-in and get fit The exercise software appears to be based around iTunes and works like a personal …

Media players 28 Mar 16:17
Reviewer puts prototype Nokia N96 to test

Conclusion: stick with your N95

Nokia's N96, the follow up to the popular N95, isn't even out until the summer, but someone's got his hands on a prototype and given it a write-up. The conclusion: don't chuck out your N95 just yet. Nokia's N96: really any better than the N95? The pre-release N96 was picked up by Russian site Mobile Review, and it's really …

Phones 28 Mar 16:44