9th September 1998 Archive

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FTC grounds man in online fraud case

Defendant agrees first ever lifetime e-commerce ban

The defendant in an alleged Internet fraud case has agreed to be grounded from Internet commerce for life as part of a settlement with the US Federal Trading Commission (FTC), according to a report in today's New York Times. The Florida man is claimed to have collected thousands of dollars from buyers in online auctions without …

Business 9 Sep 1998, 07:34
Motorola may delay full Iridium service

Limited trial now likely from September 23 deadline

Motorola is backing away from full commercial availability of its Iridium satellite phone system this month, according to US reports. Iridium is due to go into service on September 23, and the launch of five satellites yesterday brought the network closer to completion, but the deadline seems to be too tight. Although the …

Business 9 Sep 1998, 07:36
Microsoft says had Sun permission to modify Java

Opens case taking Sun claims head-on

Sun's case against Microsoft opened yesterday with testimony from Microsoft applications and tools group VP Robert Muglia. Muglia claimed that in negotiations with Sun's Alan Baratz in 1996 Microsoft had repeatedly said that it intended to modify Java code. This meets Sun's case head-on. Sun is seeking a preliminary injunction …

Business 9 Sep 1998, 07:38
Andersen Consulting thinks Europe is a ball game

Study suggests Euro execs dumb

"Most European executives fail to understand the linkage between electronic commerce and current business issues," claims a study just released by Andersen Consulting at the IDC European Forum. Rather naively, Andersen suggests that this would "jeopardise the continent's long-term competitiveness" -- as though Europe were some …

Business 9 Sep 1998, 08:17
Novell: Romancing the Stone

Company not asleep - simply dozing

Chris Stone, senior VP of strategy and corporate development for Novell, was the founder and guiding light of the Object Management Group, and is therefore a thoroughly-structured person. His day trip from Boston brought a simple and direct message to the IDC European Forum: directory services had the power to transform the …

Business 9 Sep 1998, 08:22
Jan Baan: Calvinistic man with attitude

Tells the world about ERP, corrals IDC

The Baan Company is a company with attitude, and Jan Baan, the Calvinistic founder and Chairman, offered his view of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software to the IDC European IT Forum in Paris. Of the several hundred ERP players, Baan saw only a few surviving. Baan's philosophy towards enterprise software differed from …

Business 9 Sep 1998, 08:25
McNealy goes all touch and feely (by satellite)

The DoJ needs him, wants him

Scott McNealy, Chairman, President and CEO of Sun Microsystems (does that add up to three salaries?) appeared by satellite transmission to deliver his one-liners for the IDC European Forum in Paris. His physical presence had apparently been requested by Department of Justice lawyers in Washington in a matter close to his heart. …

Business 9 Sep 1998, 08:29
Cyrix slashes chip prices

Says MII-333 part is now shipping in quantity

Cyrix has slashed the price of its processors in a further bid to weaken Intel's hold on the processor market. The company said today that the price of its new part, the MII-333, will be $135/1000, while the MII-300 will drop to $75/1000. The 6x86MX will now cost $45 in quantities of 1000, while the PR266 will now cost $72. …

Business 9 Sep 1998, 11:24
IDT suffers from gross overcapacity

Will take additional charge in Q2

IDT is still producing too many chips. Today it announced details of its plans to restructure its business following poor financial results for its second quarter. The company, which makes the x.86-compatible range of WinChips, as well as a number of other semiconductor products, said it was still suffering from overcapacity, …

Business 9 Sep 1998, 12:02
Europe will lead on growth

For HP, at least

Europe could become the dominant IT marketplace, beating even the US. That's how Hewlett-Packard CEO Lewis Platt sees the situation. Taking questions after a speech given at IDC's European IT Forum in Paris yesterday (see HP's Lew lays down Lew's Laws), Platt admitted he was pinning his hopes for HP's success on Europe following …

Business 9 Sep 1998, 12:27
SK government gets angry at Hyundai, LG

Management differences delaying chip merger

The South Korean government is putting pressure on LG Semicon and Hyundai to resolve their differences over management of the merged semiconductor company they will form. According to reports in tomorrow's edition of the Korea Herald, the Minister of Finance and Economy, Lee Kyu-sung said that ambiguities in the chaebols' …

Business 9 Sep 1998, 12:29
Internet server market set to double

ISPs buying more iron than ever

The market for Internet servers is set grow by 114 per cent 1998, according to new research from Dataquest. The market will hit $13.27 billion this year, more than twice the $6.27 billion worth of servers sold in 1997. Leading the market will be mid-range systems going primarily to ISPs. This sector alone will grow to $41 …

Business 9 Sep 1998, 12:35
Hi-tech leaders seek cash for domain name body

Worldwide computer network needs $500,000. Please give generously

IBM, Netscape, BT, MCI and nine other leading IT and telecoms companies have banded together to take over the Internet's domain name system. The 13 will soon jointly announce the formation of the Global Internet Project, an organisation that will seek $500,000 donations from major Internet companies. The money will be used to …

Business 9 Sep 1998, 12:37
Gates stunned by success of Windows 98

Which means he's definitely not of this planet

Dawdling on his way back from Paris, Bill Gates has apparently been telling the Portuguese that windows 98 sales so far have been far better than Windows 95's early sales were, and that they've exceeded all his expectations. Readers with non-goldfish memories will however recall that the run-up to the Windows 95 rollout was …

Business 9 Sep 1998, 14:39
Deutsche Telekom adds ECI to ADSL team

Company to supply broadband access system

Deutsche Telekom has added ECI Telecom to the list of suppliers for its ADSL network. ECI will be working through its local German partner DeTeWe and will be supplying its ADSL-based Hi-FOCuS Broadband Access to the Home system. The Deutsche Telekom system is intended to provide broadband Internet, video and multimedia services …

Business 9 Sep 1998, 14:41
IBM readies Flash-beating hard disk

Big Blue, tiny drive

IBM is set to take the wraps off the world's smallest disk drive. Dubbed the Microdrive, the tiny unit, which weighs less than a single Walkman battery, will have a capacity of 340MB. Due to ship in the middle of next year, the drive will be aimed at highly-portable products like digital cameras and electronic organisers as an …

Business 9 Sep 1998, 14:52
Intel headbutts gang of three over PCI

Great Stan preens peacock feathers

Reports on the US wires last week that Intel was being precluded from a gang of three of the biggest PC vendors, were firmly rebutted by Intel today. Stories said that Compaq, HP and IBM were pressing ahead with a specification called PCIX, while Intel was dragging its heels. The spec, allegedly the result of Compaq and HP …

Business 9 Sep 1998, 15:00
IBM fails to keep up with Toshiba and Compaq

IBM fails to produce 300MHz/PII mobile ThinkPad

As predicted here early in August, Toshiba and Compaq duly rolled out re-vamped version of their notebook lines, to coincide with the launch of the PII/300 mobile chip from Intel. But IBM does not have a ThinkPad using the chip, the company admitted today. That will mean future channel conflict, as the few distributors who sell …

Business 9 Sep 1998, 15:05
ARM ships inexpensive evaluation board

Only $150 to flex ARM

ARM has released a low-cost board created to help system engineers evaluate ARM processors quickly and easily. The AEB-1 (ARM Evaluation Board) costs $150 and ships with connection cable, power supply and basic documentation. It also comes with version 2.11a of ARM's software development kit (SDK). However, this is only licensed …

Business 9 Sep 1998, 15:12
US company claims S/390 mips breakthrough

Claims $1,999 per mainframe MIPS

A Fremont company has claimed it will offer commodity based mainframe MIPS. Fundamental Software claimed it had "redefined" the low end of the S/390 market. It is using what it claims are "standard" high volume enterprise grade server hardware as the basis of its offering. FS' systems, called the FLEX-ES product line, competes …

Business 9 Sep 1998, 15:24
MSN gets revamp

Doesn't mind if scuttlebuttish Private Eye gets arsey

Microsoft Network (MSN) is launching an update of its Portal site, msn.co.uk 1.6. The changes to the site, designed to make it easier to navigate, have been based on feedback from users in the UK. The new version will be launched 16 September. The feedback came in the form of emails from users and research using focus groups. …

Business 9 Sep 1998, 16:30
Lass gets rusticated at Oxford University

Professors do understand modems - honest

At Oxford University, the president of the Students Union was alleged to have used her PC to cheat on an exam. For one question, she allegedly downloaded an essay she had, in true BBC programme Blue Peter-style, prepared earlier. A spokeswoman for the university said that she had no idea how a student could get online - if she …

Business 9 Sep 1998, 16:34
09/09/98 Daily Digest

RBR Networks founders trouser £15 million each

RBR sale “on the verge” RBR Networks founders Rory Sweet and Ben White are on the verge of “another mega-deal which could net them nearly £15 million each”, according to the News of the World. Channel speculation has centred around the imminent acquisition of RBR by Datatec, the South African-owned networking equipment reseller …

Business 9 Sep 1998, 17:09