News

Data centre hardware

October 03, 2005 03 Oct'05
Linux advances in datacentre but poses no desktop threat to Microsoft

Linuxworld: The open source operating system is becoming more widespread within the enterprise for use on servers. But even its advocates believe desktop Linux is some way off
October 03, 2005 03 Oct'05
Sun high-end server chip to ship early

Sun Microsystems has said it is ahead of schedule for delivering a chip for its high-end servers that will have eight processor cores to speed performance.
October 03, 2005 03 Oct'05
Met Office scraps chief information officer role to focus on end-users

The Met Office, a user of some of the most advanced IT in the UK, has scrapped the role of chief information officer.
October 03, 2005 03 Oct'05
Whitbread to simplify the IT function

Leisure group Whitbread will announce the restructuring of its IT function when it publishes its latest results this month.

October 03, 2005 03 Oct'05
Intel Xeon dual-core chips power Dell performance-boosting range

End-users are finally being offered performance-boosting dual-core 32-bit processors from Intel with the first dual-core Intel Xeon-based servers and workstations from Dell.
October 03, 2005 03 Oct'05
Tech briefs

Short takes from this week's tech news
October 03, 2005 03 Oct'05
How to break into a computer that is right at your fingertips

Stressing the importance of physical security, Joel Dubin explains how a hacker can bypass a BIOS password and break into a computer.
September 29, 2005 29 Sep'05
BlackBerry maker harvests 57% rise in profits

RIM, the manufacturer of the BlackBerry push e-mail mobile device, has posted a 57% jump in second-quarter profits as it fights off increasing competition in the market.
September 29, 2005 29 Sep'05
Find out how to bridge the communications gap

Communications between the business and IT will be the subject of the next meeting of the Computer Weekly 500 Club (CW500).
September 27, 2005 27 Sep'05
AMD cranks up dual-core speed

AMD has increased the speed of its dual-core Opteron server processors in an attempt to stay ahead of Intel in the market.

September 27, 2005 27 Sep'05
Big Blue updates IBM Director

IBM has unveiled IBM Director 5.10 to help companies manage complex IT environments more easily.
September 27, 2005 27 Sep'05
Intel promotes cool with more single-core Xeons

Intel has introduced more single-core Xeon processors, which consume less power and reduce overheating in datacentres.
September 27, 2005 27 Sep'05
Major suppliers combine in Itanium software push

A number of major companies have formed a partnership to speed up the development of software for servers equipped with Intel Itanium processors.
September 26, 2005 26 Sep'05
Financial advisers battle to file online returns

Thousands of independent financial advisers have spent the past 10 weeks battling to file online regulatory returns with the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
September 26, 2005 26 Sep'05
Marketing campaign can't mask difficult times for the national programme for IT

The government's Connecting for Health agency has launched a publicity campaign for IT modernisation of the NHS, but major questions remain unanswered
September 26, 2005 26 Sep'05
PDAs and mobiles left open to 'Bluesnarfing'

Businesses are at risk of losing confidential data to hackers asoffice workers leave their Bluetooth-enabled PDAs and mobile phones unsecured.
September 26, 2005 26 Sep'05
Gates to be guest speaker at BCS Elite Group event

Microsoft founder Bill Gates will be guest speaker at a specially convened meeting of the British Computer Society Elite Group of IT directors and senior user-oriented IT professionals.
September 26, 2005 26 Sep'05
Online shopping growth goes on as public sharpen computer skills

Online shoppers are starting to desert the High Street, according to a new BCS study - but it also shows that many people are being excluded from electronic services.
September 22, 2005 22 Sep'05
Sun pulls ahead on eight-core Niagaras

Sun Microsystems says it is ahead of schedule for delivering a high-end server chip with eight processor cores to speed up performance.
September 21, 2005 21 Sep'05
Apple unwraps internet groups service

Apple Computer has launched an internet groups service to rival those from the likes of Yahoo.
September 20, 2005 20 Sep'05
Intel plugs laptop power leaks

Intel has announced a new power technology to reduce battery power wastage and allow users to run laptops and other mobile devices longer.
September 20, 2005 20 Sep'05
Vodafone to surpass 3G network speeds

Vodafone says it plans to introduce data access technology that is faster than 3G to its networks early next year.
September 19, 2005 19 Sep'05
Doctors and nurses may not use national IT systems, studies show

Two independent studies of the health service's IT-based modernisation plan suggest that some costly systems may go unused by many doctors and nurses - a risk little mentioned by officials when the programme was launched in 2002.
September 19, 2005 19 Sep'05
Sun unveils Opteron servers

Sun Microsystems has launched the first of its Galaxy servers, which use AMD Opteron processors rather than Sun's own Sparc chips.
September 19, 2005 19 Sep'05
BDO boosts workforce mobility with 3G system

Accountancy firm BDO Stoy Hayward is rolling out a £2m system to increase the mobility of its workforce and boost productivity. BDO's 2,500 partners and staff will be equipped with a range of products supplied by Orange and Research In Motion.
September 19, 2005 19 Sep'05
Security is a culture thing, says Cisco

Network equipment supplier Cisco told the ISSA conference that creating a security culture is a more important factor in protecting an organisation from cyber attacks than earmarking a specific budget for IT security.
September 19, 2005 19 Sep'05
Spy vs. Spy

Excerpt from Chapter 6 of Spies Among Us: How to Stop the Spies, Terrorists, Hackers, and Criminals You Don't Even Know You Encounter Every Day.
September 16, 2005 16 Sep'05
Dell to phase out Itanium servers

Dell is phasing out its Intel Itanium-based servers, as it chooses to concentrate on lower-cost models.
September 15, 2005 15 Sep'05
Microsoft shows web design tools

Microsoft has unveiled a suite of website design and graphics software that gives .net developers a set of tools that rival those already available from companies such as Adobe and Macromedia.
September 14, 2005 14 Sep'05
Vodafone offers shared 3G laptop data card

Vodafone has launched a system to allow users of its 3G/GPRS Mobile Connect laptop data card to share their connection with up to four other users.
September 13, 2005 13 Sep'05
Product roundup: Security tools abound in wake of new Microsoft offerings

Here's a collection of this week's product and service announcements for small and midsized companies.
September 13, 2005 13 Sep'05
Publish reports on troubled tax credits IT system, demand MPs

MPs from the three main political parties have called for Gateway reviews of the tax credits system to be published after the Commons Public Accounts Committee released a highly-critical report on the scheme last week.
September 13, 2005 13 Sep'05
Your shout: Kneejerk reactions, thin clients save the world, and when is a crank a genius?

Readers' views on the week's news
September 13, 2005 13 Sep'05
Questions that could provide vital lessons for future major projects

Computer Weekly has put a series of questions to HM Revenue and Customs on issues arising from last week's Public Accounts Committee report into the administration of the tax credits scheme. We will analyse their replies in future issues. Here we ...
September 13, 2005 13 Sep'05
BDO adopts £2m mobile data system

Top five accountancy firm BDO Stoy Hayward is rolling out a £2m mobile data system to mobilise its workforce and increase productivity.
September 13, 2005 13 Sep'05
Plans into action

IT managers must provide clear usage policies and address issues of infrastructure, training and support if mobile operations are to run smoothly. John Kavanagh reports.
September 13, 2005 13 Sep'05
EBay to acquire Skype for up to £2.4bn

EBay is acquiring the world’s biggest voice over IP operator for up to $4.1bn (£2.41bn) to improve connectivity between buyers and sellers on its network.
September 12, 2005 12 Sep'05
Hidden dangers: Careless mobile use could jeopardise company data

Viruses are yet to become a major threat to mobile devices, but careless users and poor configuration could jeopardise company data. Helen Beckett reports
September 12, 2005 12 Sep'05
Sun launches first Galaxy servers

Sun has announced the first members of its new Galaxy server family, which use Opteron processors from AMD instead of Sun’s own Sparc processors.
September 11, 2005 11 Sep'05
VoIP turns up the heat on firewalls

New research shows that many organizations are increasingly concerned about VoIP security and plan to augment their firewalls within the next year, changing the landscape of the firewall market.
September 09, 2005 09 Sep'05
Intel maintains third-quarter revenue forecast

Intel is predicting third-quarter revenues of between $9.8bn (£5.34bn) and $10bn, in line with earlier estimates.
September 08, 2005 08 Sep'05
Cisco patches IOS flaw

A serious flaw in Cisco Systems’ switch software puts computer networks at risk of cyber attack.
September 07, 2005 07 Sep'05
Linux starting to deliver says Gartner

Linux is now an established enterprise operating system, but it still has to do more to convince users that it is suited for more demanding business areas, analyst Gartner has said in a report.
September 06, 2005 06 Sep'05
Performance per watt becomes growing issue in the datacentre

Power consumption in the datacentre has come under the spotlight following last month's Intel Developer Forum, where it was a key theme.
September 06, 2005 06 Sep'05
Newham benefits from strategic partner

A year has gone by since Richard Steel, head of ICT at Newham Borough Council, began a 10-year strategic partnership with Microsoft to refresh the council's IT infrastructure.
September 06, 2005 06 Sep'05
Automatic online fault reporting for printers

Canon has launched an automatic fault reporting service that sends incident reports from users' printers to its Japanese headquarters.
September 06, 2005 06 Sep'05
IT industry prepares to 'bop at the Palais'

The IT industry is gearing up for this year's Intellect ICT Industry Charity Ball, which was postponed to October 4 following the London bombings on 7 July - the day it was to have taken place.
September 06, 2005 06 Sep'05
Barnet social staff get mobile data sharing

Barnet Council has equipped more than 200 social workers with mobile devices for sharing data on the move.
September 05, 2005 05 Sep'05
Users warned of mobile virus threat

IT security consultancy F.Secure has issued an alert regarding a virus that targets mobile devices. Called Commwarrior-B, it affected one of F.Secure's clients in Scandinavia.
September 05, 2005 05 Sep'05
Extending perimeters

The news that, up until 2006, 70% of successful wireless local area network (WLAN) attacks will be because of the misconfiguration of WLAN access points and client software is disquieting on a number of levels.
September 02, 2005 02 Sep'05
Drowning detection system saves swimmer

A computer-aided detection system has helped lifeguards rescue a teenager from drowning at a swimming pool in Wales.
August 31, 2005 31 Aug'05
Canary Wharf to offer full Wi-Fi coverage

London business district Canary Wharf will go live with one of Europe's largest Wi-Fi zones, spanning a 97 acre site, at the end of September.
August 31, 2005 31 Aug'05
Hitachi researchers make quantum leap

A team of researchers at Hitachi-Cambridge has developed a silicon device to facilitate quantum computing.
August 30, 2005 30 Aug'05
Intel promises to ease spiralling datacentre power consumption

Intel is promising to ease the problem of spiralling power consumption in datacentres.
August 30, 2005 30 Aug'05
Kent Council pays £10m upfront for five-year IBM hardware deal

Kent County Council has paid IBM £10m to replace 9,000 client devices and then maintain them for five years.
August 26, 2005 26 Aug'05
Cheshire Council and NHS pick IBM and Esprit for new system

NHS and social care organisations in Cheshire have chosen IBM and web-based information management firm Esprit to build a computer system to help 1,000 staff assess the needs of vulnerable elderly people.
August 25, 2005 25 Aug'05
How do you manage your mobile workforce

How do you manage your mobile workforce? What are the essential items that will allow you give your mobile workers access anytime, anywhere to the business critical applications that will win deals and improve the running of your company? This ...
August 25, 2005 25 Aug'05
Canon introduces automated printer fault reporting

Canon has launched an automatic fault reporting service, which sends incident reports from its customers’ printers to its Japanese headquarters.
August 25, 2005 25 Aug'05
York University uses Apple 64-processor cluster at its neuroimaging centre

York University is using a £175,000 Apple high-performance computing cluster to help analyse and store data at its new £5.2m neuroimaging centre.
August 24, 2005 24 Aug'05
IBM to launch cheaper xSeries server

IBM is planning to launch the four-processor xSeries 260, a variation of the larger xSeries 366 server that offers more storage capacity.
August 23, 2005 23 Aug'05
Novell releases latest version of cost-controlling ZENworks

Novell has started shipping the Novell ZENworks 7 Suite, the new version of its systems management solution for Linux- and Windows-based systems.
August 23, 2005 23 Aug'05
PC shipments set to grow

World PC shipments will grow 12.7% to 206.6 million in 2005 and will continue to increase 10.5% to 228.29 million in 2006 according to analyst Gartner.
August 23, 2005 23 Aug'05
Concern over HMRC attempts to constrain directors' public speech

HM Revenue and Customs is under fire from parliamentarians for apparently attempting to stop board directors revealing the full extent of its challenges.
August 23, 2005 23 Aug'05
Your shout: Views on NHS coverage and the Editor's reply

Readers' views on the latest news
August 18, 2005 18 Aug'05
Intel focuses on mobile device chips

Intel is making a bigger effort to develop powerful PC chips suitable for smaller handheld and mobile devices.
August 17, 2005 17 Aug'05
AMD ships new 64-bit notebook chip

AMD has started shipping a new 64-bit chip for high-performance notebooks, including a new 64-bit notebook from Fujitsu Siemens Computers.
August 17, 2005 17 Aug'05
Apple releases 44 security patches for OS

Apple Computer has released one of its largest ever security updates to fix 44 flaws in its new Tiger operating system and older versions of its main OS.
August 16, 2005 16 Aug'05
Intel shipping of dual-core processors

Intel says it will introduce its new dual-core processors for servers ahead of schedule, with the first products being shipped this year instead of next.
August 16, 2005 16 Aug'05
UPS invests in RFID asset tracking

Parcel giant UPS has taken a stake in US-based G2 Microsystems, which makes radio frequency identification (RFID) chips for managing and tracking mobile devices over Wi-Fi networks.
August 11, 2005 11 Aug'05
Dell profits top $1bn for second quarter

Dell has posted profits of $1.02bn (£56m) for the second quarter, up 28% on the same period last year.
August 09, 2005 09 Aug'05
HP and Red Hat to offer new-style software licence

Hewlett-Packard and Red Hat have agreed from next month to simplify software licence management in blade servers, by charging by the chassis rather than per server.
August 08, 2005 08 Aug'05
AOL extends mobile wireless business with Wildseed acquisition

America Online (AOL) has bought privately held Wildseed, which produces Linux-based software accessories for mobile devices.
August 08, 2005 08 Aug'05
Next generation HTML adds flexibility of XML to the 'lingua franca of the web'

Where is it used? HTML was known as "the lingua franca of the web". XHTML will replace it as the benefits promised from XML become widely appreciated.
August 08, 2005 08 Aug'05
Awards to recognise women's IT success

An awards scheme to recognise the achievements of women working with IT has been launched by Research In Motion, the company behind the Blackberry personal digital assistant.
August 08, 2005 08 Aug'05
Balfour Beatty speeds up site health and safety audits with mobile data system

Balfour Beatty's health and safety auditors are processing up to a third more audits since the construction company rolled out a mobile data management system from O2.
August 06, 2005 06 Aug'05
Trusted Computing Group releases server specs

The Trusted Computing Group released a new set of trusted server specifications it hopes will help vendors protect their platforms against security breaches.
August 04, 2005 04 Aug'05
Critical defects fixed in new Linux core

Critical flaws have been ironed out of the latest version of the open source Linux operating system code, according to software quality experts Coverity.
August 03, 2005 03 Aug'05
PDA sales reverse three-year decline

Worldwide shipments of PDAs are nearly a third higher than last year and showing a revival after three years of decline, according to industry analyst Gartner.
August 02, 2005 02 Aug'05
BlackBerry launches women in technology awards

The company behind the BlackBerry device is launching a new awards scheme to recognise the achievements of women in technology.
August 02, 2005 02 Aug'05
IT directors urged to prepare for growing mobile demand

Enabling mobile workforces will become the top priority for businesses over the next three years, according to analyst firm Gartner.
August 02, 2005 02 Aug'05
Consultants save time with tablets

Nuneaton's George Elliot Hospital Trust has deployed tablet PCs to 20 of its clinicians, including consultants doing ward rounds.
August 02, 2005 02 Aug'05
BCS finalists go forward

A record number of IT professionals are to go forward for the final judging stage of the British Computer Society's third IT Professional Awards.
August 02, 2005 02 Aug'05
IT ball moves to Hammersmith following bombing disruption

The IT industry has rallied round to ensure the Intellect ICT Industry Charity Ball takes place this year despite being disrupted by the terrorist attacks in London on 7 July.
August 01, 2005 01 Aug'05
AMD launches low end Athlon 64 processor

Hardware manufacturer AMD is pushing its Athlon 64 dual core processor family out to a wider market with a cheaper product for mainstream consumers.
July 29, 2005 29 Jul'05
Lenovo to challenge IBM for fastest supercomputer

Chinese manufacturing giant Lenovo is aiming to build a supercomputer 10 times more powerful than the fastest computer in the world today, IBM’s BlueGene/L.
July 29, 2005 29 Jul'05
Record numbers go for gold in BCS IT Professional awards

A record number of IT professionals are to go forward for the final judging stage of the British Computer Society’s third IT Professional Awards.
July 29, 2005 29 Jul'05
ICT Charity Ball is rescheduled

It is take two for A Night at the Movies, the theme of the grand Intellect ICT Charity Ball, after the original event had to be called off following the terrorist attacks in London on 7 July.
July 28, 2005 28 Jul'05
Smart phones eclipse PDAs, says IDC

Sales of handheld computers are slowing down as people switch to converged devices or smart phones, according to new figures from market analyst IDC.
July 28, 2005 28 Jul'05
Dell puts businesses in control of sensitive data with no-return offer

IT supplier Dell has launched a “keep your hard drive” service for corporate users across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, in a bid to improve security.
July 27, 2005 27 Jul'05
Secure servers standards launched

The Trusted Computing Group has announced an open specification for trusted servers to allow manufacturers to offer better data and transaction security.
July 25, 2005 25 Jul'05
Tax credit payment mistakes cost Inland Revenue 15m last year

HM Revenue and Customs spent 15m last year trying to sort out problems caused by incorrect payments under the tax credit system.
July 22, 2005 22 Jul'05
Mobile devices and users

Keep mobile working safe, secure and under control
July 22, 2005 22 Jul'05
Orange launches SPV M500

Orange has announced the availability of its new signature PDA, the SPV M500TM
July 22, 2005 22 Jul'05
Lewis Silkin Solicitors

Lewis Silkin Solicitors (LSS) is a commercial law firm with offices in London and Oxford.
July 22, 2005 22 Jul'05
UK companies failing to put basic security measures in place for smart handhelds

Forty per cent of businesses feel they do not secure handheld devices to the level they secure laptops, according to new research from Orange and the analyst house Quocirca.
July 21, 2005 21 Jul'05
Top five engines attract nearly all search traffic

The top five search engine companies now account for over 98% of all search traffic.
July 18, 2005 18 Jul'05
Tech Data: New section brings latest product news and analysis

Computer Weekly this week launches a new section to the magazine - Tech Data
July 18, 2005 18 Jul'05
Managers warned on hazardous waste rules

IT managers face new hazardous waste regulations which came into force last week.
July 18, 2005 18 Jul'05
New date to be set for the ICT Charity Ball

The terrorist bombing in London forced the postponement of the annual Intellect ICT Charity Ball, which was due to take place on the night of 7 July.
July 13, 2005 13 Jul'05
.mobi domains to appear next year

Microsoft, Nokia, Vodafone, the GSM Association and others will start issuing .mobi top-level domain names from the first half of next year.