24th August 1998 Archive

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Imaging software firm warns of hardware difficulties ahead

Peerless says outlook not good until year 2000

An imaging software company has issued a profits warning which it said will extend into the year 2000 because OEMs which use its products in their products are failing to sell as many machines as they had anticipated. Peerless Systems reported that while its second quarter results showed an increase in net profit and turnover …

Business 24 Aug 1998, 06:16
Oracle buys into convergence

Versatility and call centres name of the game

Database giant Oracle bought a convergence-based software company on Friday for $12 million. The company acquired Versatility, a US company which manufactures call centre software, in a bid to beef up its front office products, compete wth PeopleSoft and SAP and also meet a demand for a market which is showing firm signs of …

Business 24 Aug 1998, 06:48
Hyundai, Samsung and LG ready to swap

But will they swap DRAM businesses?

Local newspaper The Korea Herald said Saturday that the top five conglomerates in South Korea will announce their plans to swap businesses on September 10. But there is still doubt whether Hyundai and LG will be ready to do much more than exchange minor businesses, putting further pressure on already enervated DRAM prices …

Business 24 Aug 1998, 06:50
US magazine reports Y2K problems with NT 4.0

Real time clock in PCs the key to compliance

InfoWorld said Friday that tests it had performed in its laboratories showed a potential problem when Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 applications accessed the real time clock (RTC) on PCs. According to the magazine, many applications, particularly in the financial and manufacturing field, directly access the RTC, which still has …

Business 24 Aug 1998, 06:52
Ikon buys Rockliff

Privately owned specialist

Flying in the face of a class action suit and other allegations back home, US owned Ikon Office Solutions has snapped up another UK reseller. Last year saw Ikon buy Manchester-based Redbox, with turnover estimated to be around £5 million. This time round, the object of Ikon’s attentions was Rockliff Computers, another north west …

Business 24 Aug 1998, 08:48
Koreans hit back at allegations of dumping

Not using IMF money, trade association claims

The Korean Semiconductor Industry Association (KSIA) has hit back at allegations by the CEO of Siemens that IMF funding and "suicidal pricing" was responsible for the decision to close a fabrication plant in Tyneside. In a letter in today's Financial Times, Hye-Bum Choi, director of the KSIA, said that the Korean semiconductor …

Business 24 Aug 1998, 09:50
Big Blue claims encryption breakthrough

Boffins come up with "unbreakable" method

IBM said today that it has achieved something many software developers thought impossible, unbreakable encryption to provide security for e-commerce and other transactions. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and mathematicians from IBM's research labs, have worked together to create a technology called the Cramer Shoup …

Business 24 Aug 1998, 10:27
Informix cocks snook at Bull

Fills vital European position

Informix has re-shuffled its European management structure by appointing Richard Snook as president of its Emea group, reporting directly to CEO Bob Finocchio. Snook was poached from Bull Information Systems in the UK, where he held the position of chief executive officer. He had worked for Bull since 1989. Before then, Snook …

Business 24 Aug 1998, 10:48
Tiddler's expansion plans come unstuck

IAT Multimedia takeover goes away

Poorly rated paper has put the kybosh on IAT Multimedia's agreed takeover of US distributor Atec. Swiss tiddler IAT said it "terminated" the $77 million-stock acquisition following accountants' advice on both sides that the transaction would dilute future earnings. So much for IAT's wildly ambitious expansion plans. IAT, which …

Business 24 Aug 1998, 11:10
HP beefs up CD-RW line

Storage beefed up

Hewlett-Packard has strengthened its portfolio of storage products with a line of CD-Rewritable (CD-RW) products that "redefines the price/performance equation in this rapidly growing market". Products include new top-of-the-range the HP CD-Writer Plus 8100 (shipping from September 1), an internal IDE CD-RW drive, and the …

Business 24 Aug 1998, 11:12
ATI wins big chip deal

General Instrument will built 15 million set top boxes

ATI Technologies has won a major deal to supply graphics and video semiconductors to General Instrument for set top boxes. According to a press release from the company, GI wants to build 15 million set top boxes which will use the ATI chips. That is likely to guarantee ATI a steady stream of revenue over the next five years …

Business 24 Aug 1998, 11:50
UK online banking to lose out to competition

Offerings poor, says survey

Seven million people will be banking online by 2003, but UK companies could lose out to new competitors by not offering enough to consumers. According to a report from Fletcher Research, the Web’s potential in the financial market is huge, but online offerings are currently poor. The report’s findings show that as UK customers …

Business 24 Aug 1998, 12:01
Channel to get educated by IT Net

Specialist videos from Web site

IT Network is to educate the channel. The company is providing specialist IT training videos from its Web site, designed to provide resellers and end users with relevant and concise information about the information technology world. Richard Williams, editor of the IT Network, said: “In an information age where having immediate …

Business 24 Aug 1998, 12:04
HDD market set to steady

Christmas season will help

The hard disk drive (HDD) market will level out in the next six months, buoyed up by the Christmas season and the manufacturers cut backs earlier in the year. Prices will continue to fall, but the rate of the decline will decrease as availability falls in line with demand. The industry has been suffering from a chronic …

Business 24 Aug 1998, 13:43