The Register - On-Prem

So you've built the best tablet, Apple. Show us why it matters (Mon, 20 May 2024)
Has Cupertino been trolling us all along? Opinion  Apple! What the hell were you smoking? How can a market leader worth $2.9 trillion make such a massive marketing mistake as the advert for the latest iPad?…
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Techie invented bits of the box he was fixing, still botched the job (Mon, 20 May 2024)
This is why all-nighters are a bad idea Who, me?  Greetings and salutations, dear readers, and welcome to the sunny spot on the interwebs we like to call Who, Me? in which Reg readers share their tales of tech tasks gone awry.…
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Chinese telco gear may become <i>verboten</i> on German networks (Mon, 20 May 2024)
Industry reportedly pressuring digital ministry not to cut the cord Germany may soon remove Huawei and ZTE equipment from its 5G networks, according to media reports.…
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Google Cloud shows it can break things for lots of customers – not just one at a time (Mon, 20 May 2024)
Deleted about 40 networks that services needed, causing late Friday fun In the week after its astounding deletion of Australian pension fund UniSuper's entire account, you might think Google Cloud would be on its very best behavior.…
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Among AI infrastructure hopefuls, Qualcomm has become an unlikely ally (Sun, 19 May 2024)
The enemy of my enemy is my best friend Analysis  With its newly formed partnership with Arm server processor designer Ampere Computing, Qualcomm is slowly establishing itself as AI infrastructure startups' best friend.…
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An attorney says she saw her library reading habits reflected in mobile ads. That's not supposed to happen (Sat, 18 May 2024)
Follow us down this deep rabbit hole of privacy policy after privacy policy Feature  In April, attorney Christine Dudley was listening to a book on her iPhone while playing a game on her Android tablet when she started to see in-game ads that reflected the audiobooks she recently checked out of the San Francisco Public Library.…
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Gawd, after that week, we wonder what's next for China and the Western world (Sat, 18 May 2024)
For starters: Crypto, import tariffs, and Microsoft shipping out staff Kettle  It's been a fairly troubling week in terms of the relationship between China and the Western world.…
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Leasing North American datacenters before they're finished is so hot right now (Fri, 17 May 2024)
Yup, demand's that strong Since 2023, the leasing rate for datacenters in North America that haven't even been fully built yet has shot up and now stands at 84 percent for the first quarter of this year.…
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Underwater datacenters could sink to sound wave sabotage (Fri, 17 May 2024)
Ensure there are no sperm whales in the area Underwater datacenters have yet to take off in any meaningful way, but it seems they could prove vulnerable to attack using sound waves, according to researchers.…
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Toshiba to shed 4,000 jobs as part of revitalization plan (Fri, 17 May 2024)
Over-50s to get early retirement offer Toshiba says it will cut up to 4,000 jobs within Japan, a number that accounts for six percent of the company's national workforce, by offering early retirement packages.…
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China sets goal for local carmakers to get a quarter of their chips domestically by 2025 (Fri, 17 May 2024)
Yet another technological self-sufficiency target for China The Chinese government says the country's car manufacturers should aim for a quarter of their chips to be sourced from China-based foundries by 2025.…
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Baidu's robotaxi division to wheel into profit next year (Fri, 17 May 2024)
Expansion set for Wuhan. Chances this will go smoothly? Chinese tech giant Baidu expects its robotaxi wing, Apollo Go, to be profitable next year.…
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AT&T formalizes deal for space-based cellular service on unmodified mobiles (Fri, 17 May 2024)
AST still only has a single test satellite in orbit, so don't hold your breath Not to be outdone by Starlink and T-Mobile, AT&T and AST SpaceMobile have finalized a deal to eventually bring a space-based connectivity option to AT&T, too. …
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Datacenters looking to renewables, nuclear, and gas, in quest for more power (Thu, 16 May 2024)
Bit barns might end up adding to the grid's capacity Updated  Even before the AI revolution (or bubble) took off in 2023, datacenters already used a decent amount of electricity. And the industry's increasing appetite for machine learning will require even more power.…
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Tesla self-driving claims parked in court (Thu, 16 May 2024)
Judge gives green light to lawsuit over autonomous ambitions Tesla is facing a lawsuit over claims made about its self-driving technology after a US judge rejected the company's motion to dismiss the case.…
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Dell latest to enjoy speculative soar as AI bubble builds (Thu, 16 May 2024)
Now that traders are drinking the Kool-AI-d, companies can either fuel the hype or face the consequences Comment  Dell's share price surged sharply on Wednesday as market analysts telegraphed their confidence in the OEM's ability to capitalize on the AI market.…
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Nvidia chief Huang given 60% pay increase amid AI hysteria (Thu, 16 May 2024)
After a smashing fiscal '24, we're surprised he didn't get more Nvidia's chief Jenson Huang received a 60 percent pay bump in the corporation's fiscal 2024 on the back of a massive rally in the share price based on demand for AI, and triple digit growth percentages for revenue and operating profit.…
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Aleph Alpha enlists Cerebras waferscale supers to train AI for German military (Thu, 16 May 2024)
Also demonstrates success accelerating molecular dynamics Even as world leaders raise alarm bells about the impact of AI in war, waferscale startup Cerebras is joining forces with Aleph Alpha to develop sovereign models for the German armed forces.…
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Microsoft's carbon emissions up nearly 30% thanks to AI (Thu, 16 May 2024)
Company will require certain suppliers to run on 100% carbon-free electricity ... by 2030 Microsoft has increased carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 30 percent since 2020, making its goal of becoming carbon-negative by 2030 even more difficult, and it looks like AI is to blame.…
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Samsung takes bite out of Apple over its mega marketing misstep (Thu, 16 May 2024)
'We would never crush creativity,' says South Korea megacorp If Apple thought it could forget about last week's marketing disaster — which saw the tech giant roundly slated for appearing to crush human creativity in the name of computing progress — it was wrong.…
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Tax helpline callers left on hold for nearly eight centuries (Thu, 16 May 2024)
HMRC forgot to tell Brits about its digital support channels Appalling service levels at Britain's tax collector meant customers phoning in with inquiries were collectively left on hold for 798 years in fiscal 2023.…
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HR expert says biz leaders scared RTO mandates lead to staff attrition (Thu, 16 May 2024)
So why not drop the policy? Productivity bias or productivity paranoia perhaps Evidence is mounting that tech companies' policies demanding staff return to the office are only serving to drive out the talent that became accustomed to remote work.…
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Apple on track for quarter of all iPhones to be made in India by 2028 (Thu, 16 May 2024)
IT minister boasts of tech titan building network of local vendors Apple is expected to have a quarter of all iPhones made in India by 2028, according to the country's IT minister.…
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US senators' AI roadmap aims for $32B in R&D spending (Wed, 15 May 2024)
'Reads like it was written by Sam Altman and Big Tech lobbyists,' say critics A quartet of US senators have released an AI legislation roadmap that calls for billions of dollars in research funding, but largely kicks the can down the road on determining federal AI legislation.…
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Aghast iOS users report long-deleted photos back from the dead after update (Wed, 15 May 2024)
Apple might be hanging on to nuked iPhone snaps for a while Some iPhone users are reportedly seeing photos they had previously deleted resurface on their devices ever since updating to the latest version of iOS.…
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Qualcomm warms bed for Linux on Arm PCs (Wed, 15 May 2024)
One eye on Windows, the other winking at penguins Qualcomm may be leading the push for Windows on Arm systems, but the corporation also has an eye on Linux support with a roadmap for updates to enable the OS to boot on its Arm-based PC hardware.…
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Biden cranks up the heat on China with wall of tech tariffs (Wed, 15 May 2024)
It's not just EVs – semiconductors, batteries, and solar cells all hiked The Biden administration's Chinese tariff hikes were formally announced on Tuesday including, among other items, a doubling on semiconductors and solar cells and a more than tripling on batteries.…
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Modernizing storage for the age of AI (Wed, 15 May 2024)
How Dell is boosting storage performance for AI with PowerScale Sponsored Feature  You might have already analyzed AI use cases for artificial intelligence (AI) within your business and identified potential efficiencies, revenue opportunities and more.…
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Japan may need 50% more electricity for hungry, hungry AI and chip fabs (Wed, 15 May 2024)
While Tokyo pours billions into revitalizing chipmaking sector, it might want to check out the grid Japan reckons it may need to generate 50 percent more electricity by 2050 because of growing local demand from chipmaking and datacenters running AI. The move follows a warning by DigitalBridge that it may run out of power within two years.…
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Brexit border system outage puts perishable goods transport in peril (Wed, 15 May 2024)
Saturday's power failures toppled border-check system offline A power outage affecting one of the IT systems used to process imports to the UK has caused delays to perishable goods crossing the border, which businesses have described as a "disaster."…
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Raspberry Pi prepares to boot up a London listing (Wed, 15 May 2024)
The little computer that could gets ready for an IPO Raspberry Pi Ltd is considering an Initial Public Offering and today published figures showing just how important commercial customers have become to the company.…
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Raspberry Pi M.2 HAT+ here at last with a $12 price tag (Wed, 15 May 2024)
Speedy storage for your Pi 5 The Raspberry Pi M.2 HAT+ has finally put in an appearance, allowing Pi 5 owners to connect M.2 M-key peripherals to their computers and take advantage of NVMe drives.…
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Global EV sales continue to increase, but Plug-in Hybrid momentum is growing (Wed, 15 May 2024)
PHEVs make a lot of sense for traditional automakers faced with battery-powered losses Global passenger electric vehicle (EV) sales have continued to grow. However, plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) sales have significantly increased year-on-year, leaving their battery-only counterparts trailing.…
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Google says its 'Trillium' TPUs are ready to power the next-generation of AI models (Tue, 14 May 2024)
Promises 4.7x performance boost over its older silicon I/O  Google blew the lid off its sixth tensor processing unit (TPU) codenamed Trillium, designed to support a new generation of bigger, more capable of large language and recommender models.…
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US watchdog chases Waymo robocars to catch violations (Tue, 14 May 2024)
Reports of collisions with stationary objects and failing to obey traffic laws The US National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) on Monday opened an investigation into self-driving car maker Waymo following reports that its robocars have not been complying with traffic laws.…
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SiPearl updates specs for Rhea1 processor set to power Europe's exascale dreams (Tue, 14 May 2024)
More cores, more memory, more delays ISC  Chip designer SiPearl has issued updated specs for its Rhea1 processor that will power Europe's first exascale system and is working with Samsung to integrate high-bandwidth memory (HBM) into its design.…
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AWS CEO logs off after three years at the helm (Tue, 14 May 2024)
Adam Selipsky off on new adventures. What those are, we'll have to wait and see Amazon Web Services CEO Adam Selipsky is stepping down to pursue new ventures. The cloud giant's future now rests in AWS veteran Matt Garman's hands.…
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Google, Apple gear to raise tracking tag stalker alarm (Tue, 14 May 2024)
After years of people being victimized, it's about time Google and Apple are rolling out an anti-stalking feature for Android 6.0+ and iOS 17.5 that will issue an alert if some scumbag is using a gadget like an AirTag or similar to clandestinely track the user.…
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The UK reveals it's spending millions on quantum navigation (Tue, 14 May 2024)
First commercial flight trials of a quantum-based system that could be a backup for GPS The UK has just completed commercial flight trials of quantum-based navigation systems that are designed to be immune to conventional jamming and spoofing.…
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Brit publishers beg Apple not to hurt online ad revenue (Tue, 14 May 2024)
Breaking news, perhaps literally: AI content blocking tool in Safari for iOS The UK News Media Association (NMA) has written to Apple, warning that its reported plan to provide AI-powered ad blocking in iOS 18 threatens the revenue of news publications.…
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Nvidia PUE-PUEs datacenter efficiency ratings, calls for application-specific metrics (Tue, 14 May 2024)
What good is great power use effectiveness if your DC is packed with inefficient kit? ISC  Power use effectiveness – PUE for short – has long been the spec by which datacenter efficiency has been measured. But after nearly two decades Nvidia believes it's time for a new metric.…
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Green500 shows Nvidia's Grace-Hopper superchip is a power-efficiency beast (Tue, 14 May 2024)
Three most energy-friendly systems all driven by Nv's CPU-GPU chip. AMD's APU could soon change that Analysis  Despite growing alarm over spiraling datacenter power consumption, this spring's Green500 ranking of the world's most sustainable publicly known supercomputers shows that the same energy-hungry server accelerators behind the AI boom are also driving sizable improvements in efficiency.…
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As one Apple Store votes against forming union, another may go on strike (Tue, 14 May 2024)
Staff in Maryland want better pay and steady schedules; New Jersey doesn't want to rock the boat It's been a labor-(movement)-intensive few days for Apple, which found out it faces a potential employee strike at one store, while elsewhere defeating another union organizing vote about which its organizers are calling foul. …
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Biden admin shells out $120M to return chip startup to US ownership (Mon, 13 May 2024)
Korean-controlled silicon slinger could be coming back to the fold Not everything in the semiconductor industry is about shearing off every last nanometer, which is why the Biden administration is splashing out CHIPS Act funding to those pursuing less cutting edge processor production. …
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Rear-end crashes prompt probe into Amazon's Zoox self-driving cars (Mon, 13 May 2024)
Either they learned to brake-check or motorcycles were following too close Updated  The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating two rear-end crashes involving Amazon-owned Zoox self-driving cars and motorcycles.…
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US tariffs on Chinese EVs may grow from around 25% to 100% (Mon, 13 May 2024)
Pundit tells The Reg Intel could suffer the effects of retaliation Updated  The Biden administration is reportedly set to quadruple Chinese electric vehicle tariffs as part of an onslaught of increased taxes on imports from the country.…
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Intel reportedly seeking $11B to finance facility in Ireland (Mon, 13 May 2024)
Another huge investment for chip giant despite losses Intel is holding negotiations with private equity investor Apollo Global Management to secure $11 billion in funding for a manufacturing facility in Ireland.…
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You OK, Apple? Seriously, your silicon lineup is … a mess (Mon, 13 May 2024)
M4? The M3 is barely six months old, and what about all those Macs still stuck on the M2? When will they get some love? Comment  Apple seems to have skipped a few steps in its silicon roadmap.…
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Starlink suffers 'degraded service' from solar storm but emerges intact (Mon, 13 May 2024)
Unusually high activity from Sun may have also hastened Hubble's demise The geomagnetic storm that led to nighttime light shows over the weekend also caused problems for the Starlink satellite broadband service, disrupted GPS signals, and affected the orbit of the Hubble Space Telescope.…
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AI red-teaming tools helped X-Force break into a major tech manufacturer 'in 8 hours' (Mon, 13 May 2024)
Hint: It's the 'the largest' maker of a key computer component RSAC  An unnamed tech business hired IBM's X-Force penetration-testing team to break into its network to test its security. With the help of AI automation, Big Blue said it was able to do so within hours.…
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