Short takes from this week's news
Computer users warned of bird flu Trojan
Users have been warned about a Trojan that claims to offer
details of bird flu in an attempt to entice PC users to open an
e-mail attachment containing a computer virus. Once opened, the
attachment unleashes a virus that can automatically modify, create
and delete files on the user's computer and allow hackers to take
control of the system remotely.
Olympus consolidates accounts with Hyperion
Electronics manufacturer Olympus is to use software from
Hyperion to consolidate financial data across its operations. The
system, which replaces Hyperion Enterprise, will create monthly and
annual budgets for executive teams, help Olympus to comply with
legal and managerial accounting requirements, and integrate its
financial reports into its existing SAP R/3 system.
Low profits mean 'good deals from
suppliers'
IT departments may be in a good position to secure deals from
suppliers as they come under increased financial pressure,
according to accounting firm Ernst & Young. The number of
profit warnings issued by UK-quoted tech firms in the three months
to September 2005 rose from seven to 12 in the second quarter.
"Sophisticated purchasers have a good understanding of the
pressures on their suppliers and will time their purchases to
coincide with the end of a significant accounting period in the
knowledge this may enable them to secure a better price," said
Chris Harrison, European technology leader at Ernst &
Young.
Microsoft releases public beta of CRM 3.0
Microsoft has released the public beta of CRM 3.0. The supplier
said its customer relationship management product was integrated
more tightly with Microsoft Office. It also includes an improved
range of customisation tools. Microsoft has skipped version 2.0 and
gone straight to 3.0 after its upgrade plans were delayed.
Hounslow outsources to Liberata in £50m
deal
The London Borough of Hounslow has signed a 10-year, £50m
contract with IT supplier Liberata to outsource its revenue and
benefits services. The deal will involve 100 staff at the council
transferring to Liberata.
Microsoft and Nokia in security
collaboration
Microsoft and Nokia are jointly developing a unified threat
management appliance. The device will handle traffic running over
both fixed and mobile networks and will include virtual private
network protection to smartphones linking with the Exchange e-mail
server.
HSBC deploys Fraud Predictor technology
HSBC bank has implemented Fraud Predictor technology from Fair
Isaac in a bid to cut card fraud levels. It is using the Fraud
Predictor with its merchant profiles system to generate transaction
information and a fraud history for millions of merchants. Merchant
profiles will be updated and provided to HSBC on a weekly
basis.
Sun's develops RFID for non-networked items
Sun is planning a radio frequency identification system that
will combine the abilities of its existing IT asset management
platforms with RFID to track non-networked items such as hospital
equipment and office furniture. Sun and its partners have named the
technology, which is still under development, Sun RFID Industry
Solution for Physical Asset Tracking.
HP releases Itanium 2 blade server system
Hewlett-Packard is offering Itanium 2 versions of its
Bladesystem and Integrity servers running the HP-UX Unix operating
system that it said could cut datacentre running costs. The HP
Integrity BL60p is the company's first blade server to support the
HP-UX 11i operating system and Intel's Itanium processors.
Dual-core processors way forward, says
Intel
Intel has projected that by the end of next year more than 70%
of desktop and mobile Pentium processors and 85% of server
processors shipped will be dual-core. The company has also
confirmed it will no longer ship two planned add-ons to the Xeon
processor family: the Reidland platform will not now ship in 2007,
and it is cancelling the Whitefield processor.
£10m warehouse for Tesco's e-shoppers
Tesco is planning a £10m warehouse to supply its online
customers in the South East. Tesco will use the warehouse rather
than individual stores to supply goods to online shoppers.
Old Baily deploys text and online system
The Old Bailey is running a system to provide information on
hearings online and by text message. The London court is using the
Xhibit court information system to give police, prosecutors and
witness groups access to case updates.
Former HP chief joins Cybertrust
Former HP chief executive Carly Fiorina is joining the board of
computer security company Cybertrust. Fiorina was ousted from HP at
the beginning of this year after losing the confidence of the board
over her strategies for the business.
All US passports to have RFID chips next
year
All US passports will contain radio frequency identification
chips from October 2006. The Bush administration believes such a
move will help improve air travel security, although the decision
has angered privacy advocates. The 64Kbyte chips will allow
officials to electronically read the name, date, place of birth and
a digital photo of the passport holder.
Unisys to build Intel-based mainframes
Unisys is to produce mainframe systems that run on Intel
processors following a deal with NEC. The high-end server
development alliance, which covers extensive research and
development, includes a potential migration away from Unisys'
mainframe Clearpath CMos processor to Intel-based systems.
Road pricing schemes to use proven
ITsystems
The government will use proven technology for road pricing
schemes, according to transport secretary Alistair Darling. It is
to consider "piggy-backing" on IT systems already used by the
private sector in its efforts to set up national congestion
charging schemes. These include by pay-as-you-go insurance systems
and navigation systems.
Staffordshire signs Microsoft licensing
deal
Staffordshire Council aims to save £1m with a three-year
Microsoft licensing deal covering 5,000 desktops. The council will
standardise PCs, which currently run systems from Windows 98
onwards, onto Windows XP. The first project will see 500 PCs in
social services upgraded before the end of 2005.