The Register

Still, up to 180,000 units sold under pre-order and China gray market prepping locals The old joke among less experienced tech product reviewers is that writing the review starts with opening the box. In the case of Apple's Vision Pro, critics are finding that the, er, box lacks the aestethics that a buyer might expect given the hefty price tag....

Plus a big change for Linux folks - native .deb packages The latest Firefox has a raft of modest but desirable improvements for everyone, and a more significant change, external to the app itself, that will be helpful for most Linux users....

Tough luck non-Americans, the cops can still see your footage Surveillance doorbell maker Amazon Ring on Wednesday announced it is discontinuing an option that allowed law enforcement agencies to request video footage without a warrant....

Firefox maker about five years too late Mozilla has decided to be more vocal about the ways in which Apple, Google, and Microsoft set technical requirements that have hindered development of its Firefox web browser, and therefore harmed competition....

Big Blue will move two VMs in each five-hour window offered to those willing to stay IBM Cloud has advised customers who run Power Systems Virtual Servers in its Toronto Canada (TOR01) datacenter of an upgrade to the facility, and outlined a not-so-cloudy process for tenants who make the move....

This may be the best bad news we've had all year Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but South Korean memory-maker SK hynix has posted a surprise profit....

Moscow-backed Cozy Bear may have had access to the green rectangular email cloud for six months HPE has become the latest tech giant to admit it has been compromised by Russian operatives....

They have the hardware, now they just need models that don't, ah... suck? Comment Apple's efforts to add generative AI to its iDevices should surprise no one, but Cupertino's existing uses of of the tech, and the constraints of mobile hardware, suggest it won't be a big feature of iOS in the near future....

Search giant faced potential damages of over $5B but terms haven't been disclosed Singular Computing's multi-billion dollar patent infringement lawsuit against Google was cut short on Wednesday after the search giant agreed to settle the case for an undisclosed sum....

Judge says anti-hacking laws fits Pegasus case "to a T" A US court has rejected spyware vendor NSO Group's motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Apple that alleges the developer violated computer fraud and other laws by infecting customers' iDevices with its surveillance software....

Lawsuit claims top execs made fake accounts to study and copy competing products for years AI-powered dashcam maker Samsara sued rival startup Motive Technologies in US federal court on Wednesday, accusing top execs of IP theft, patent infringement, fraud, false advertising,and more....

There's more than one way for these things to crash Deliveries of Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter jets to the US military are being delayed again and despite all the metal, software is the culprit....

International Energy Agency has some chilling global figures in latest report Global electricity demand from datacenters could double by 2026, with IT infrastructure adding the equivalent power requirements of another Sweden or Germany. However, low-emission sources are expected to account for almost half of the world's electricity generation by the same time....

Code assistance is like having a weird intern who memorized the docs AI Software Week Simon Willison, a veteran open source developer who co-created the Django framework and built the more recent Datasette tool, has become one of the more influential observers of AI software recently....

That old kit isn't our fault Boeing tells us Another day, another incident with a Boeing passenger jet, this time when a landing gear wheel popped off a Delta Airlines 757 while it was waiting to take off out of Atlanta....

Longer lead times, extra costs and more freight coming via air Logitech reckons the conflict in the Red Sea where Houthi rebels are attacking container ships will add some delays to logistics and potentially some cost too....

1 million members still searching for answers as IT issues floor primary digital services The UK's Caravan and Motorhome Club (CAMC) is battling a suspected cyberattack with members reporting widespread IT outages for the past five days....

9% of workforce getting boot after execs hired too many during pandemic Tat bazaar eBay is laying off 1,000 employees, or 9 percent of the workforce, claiming that general hiring and overhead costs are outpacing the wider commercial growth of the company....

Launch National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource to help non-corporate boffins play catch-up The US National Science Foundation has hooked up with tech companies to help academics secure computing power, data, and more to build their own AI models....

How's low Earth orbit for the edge? An updated version of HPE's Spaceborne Computer-2 is set to launch to the International Space Station (ISS) this week....

Ancient path traversal exploit offers remote attackers admin access Security experts are wasting no time in publishing working exploits for a critical vulnerability in Fortra GoAnywhere MFT, which was publicly disclosed just over a day ago....

Problematic Microsoft Edge package could affect System Preparation Tool Microsoft is confirming that an issue with update KB5032278, which brought Copilot to Windows 10 machines at the end of 2023, could throw up a system preparation tool error....

Extremely key kitmaker does predict good times in 2025, though Chipmaking kit maker ASML grew 30 percent last year and the order book more than tripled in calendar Q4 as customers rushed to invest in new tools - yet the business remains cautious for 2024 amid stringent export restrictions....

Plans announced as profits fall and revenues rise German software giant SAP has announced a restructuring program likely to hit 8,000 jobs worldwide....

You have to be dominant to draw attention of the regulators, or so say sources Microsoft has issued a Windows 10 patch to address EU regulators' concerns about its ubiquitous OS as industry chatter swirls around Edge and Bing potentially dodging antitrust watchdogs due to a lack of dominance....

'Affordable' for the neighborhood With an interior decked out in sterile tones of corporate gray, the 1,540 sq ft rental bungalow at 10704 NE 28th St in Bellevue, Washington, is rather unremarkable compared to the imposing facades of its neighboring properties....

Did your org already start baking AI into systems? Watch out. Staggered timetable for compliance expected after draft leaked Users and builders of AI systems face a race against time to comply with incoming European legislation if lawmakers continue on their current trajectory....

Senator Wyden tells The Reg this latest security lapse is 'inexcusable' Comment For most organizations - especially security vendors - disclosing a corporate email breach, in which executives' internal messages and attachments were stolen, would noticeably ding their stock prices....

You could go all-in on Nvidia for the lower latency. Or tough it out with less exotic kit and tolerate slower training Growing demand for AI will see the datacenter switching market grow by 50 percent, according to Dell'Oro analyst Sameh Boujelbene, who has also predicted considerable innovation in the switching arena....

IBM's SAA and CUA brought harmony to software design... until everyone forgot Retro Tech Week In the early days of microcomputers, everyone just invented their own user interfaces, until an Apple-influenced IBM standard brought about harmony. Then, sadly, the world forgot....

It looks like a fine product, but it's the ecoystem that will determine success Column As we wait for Apple's Vision Pro to arrive after pre-orders opened in early January, complete with a promise of 'spatial computing' perfected, Cupertino's spotty history in the third dimension offers a useful counterweight to the reality distortion field accompanying the device's launch....

Calls for clouds, and scientists, to take care they're not aiding Pyongyang North Korea is investing in its AI capacity, and a think tank has called on cloud computing service providers to do more to ensure the hermit kingdom can't rent the infrastructure it needs to advance its capabilities....

Now that's a Dutch crunch A password-less database containing an estimated 1.3 million sets of Dutch COVID-19 testing records was left exposed to the open internet, and it's not clear if anyone is taking responsibility....

That means Brit spies want the ability to do exactly that, huh? The idea that AI could generate super-potent and undetectable malware has been bandied about for years - and also already debunked. However, an article published today by the UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) suggests there is a "realistic possibility" that by 2025, the most sophisticated attackers' tools will improve markedly thanks to AI models informed by data describing successful cyber-hits....

Another 50-plus products also binned in move to big bundles Broadcom has killed off a VMware software-as-a-service product, despite also moving the virtualization giant's other wares to subscription-only licenses - the sort of arrangement at which SaaS excels....

Five mighty qubits, delivered before deadline, but they won't stop imports of alternatives Taiwanese research institute Academia Sinica has connected a home-brew quantum computer to the internet....

Buyers in Samsung's home will be offered cheaper Galaxies South Korea on Monday decided to abolish its ban on smartphone subsidies - in part to make premium devices more affordable....

Owner pledges to try again once software update improves performance Video A Tesla Cybertruck owner who took his wheeled wedge off-road ended up with busted wheel fairings and self-detaching wheel covers for his trouble - and all without the thing being able to make it up a challenging hill....

Man, 61, cuffed and allegedly attacked after 'faulty' AI software blundered A 61-year-old man is suing US retail giant Macy's and the parent biz of chain store Sunglass Hut for $10 million, claiming he was mistakenly arrested in a robbery case after an inaccurate facial-recognition identification match, and subsequently sexually assaulted in jail....

FTC slams TurboTax's marketing as deceptive Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, is no longer free to tout its tax filing software as "free" when it isn't free to most customers....

Plans for life without the 737 Max 10 after CEO rated door plug blowout 'the straw that broke the camel's back' United Airlines, which boasts one of the world's largest fleets of Boeing aircraft, is considering a future without the next version of the American manufacturer's troubled 737 jet series, the Max 10....

Clock is ticking, in more ways than one Twenty-nine former IBM employees who were denied the opportunity to sue the IT giant for age discrimination by arbitration agreements have petitioned the US Supreme Court to let them bring their claims to court....

Space eggheads invent tools just to get that precious dust After struggling for months, NASA has finally cracked open the canister storing a dirt sample scooped off the surface of an asteroid....

Election officials, judges, politicians, and gamers are in swatters' crosshairs CISA Director Jen Easterly has confirmed she was the subject of a swatting attempt on December 30 after a bogus report of a shooting at her home....

Fancy updating it? Just click in a fresh unit - or that's the idea anyway... Europe's first exascale supercomputer will be delivered as a modular datacenter consisting of container units intended to allow for easier updates or replacement of single modules in future. An Early Access Program has also opened for potential applications for the upcoming system....

Claims FCC's justification for ditching Starlink 'utterly false' Elon Musk has reacted angrily to the Biden administration pledging millions of dollars to bolster high-speed internet access....

Gotta fund that war somehow, eh, Vlad? Apple has paid a fine of 1.2 billion ($13.5 million) to the Russian government after Moscow decided the company violated its antitrust laws by preventing iOS users from going outside the App Store for in-app purchases (IAP)....

More than 5,000 victims claimed over a 3-year period but filing reckons accused didn't even use a VPN A Baltimore man faces a potential maximum 20-year prison sentence after being charged for his alleged role in running an online service that sold personal data which was later used for financial fraud....

Industry vets specialize in the development of small modular reactors Microsoft has hired a director of nuclear technologies to oversee a program to develop small-scale atomic reactors to power datacenters as an alternative to fossil fuels....

Creator of the Network Time Protocol that holds the internet together Obituary Professor David L Mills, one of the original wizards who built the internet, has died at the age of 85, leaving a remarkable technological legacy....