2nd October 1998 Archive
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Roundup: Markets on 1st October
All fall down again...
Fear of recession gripped Wall Street yesterday, causing the Dow to drop 210 points (2.7 per cent) and Nasdaq 82 points (4.8 per cent, which would be the equivalent of 377 Dow industrials points, showing that the high-tech market suffered more than NYSE). As a result, money is flowing from equities to bonds, but the 30-year …
Business 2 Oct 1998, 07:13
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Update: Siemens, CA to push Unicenter in Europe
Update Siemens to bundle, CA to set up development centres
More details have emerged on Computer Associates' just-announced partnership with Siemens AG to push its Unicenter platform in Europe (see CA buys Siemens TransView, development team). The deal that provoked this was CA's acquisition of Siemens' TransView product for SAP R/3 management, which will run on top of the Unicenter TNG …
Business 2 Oct 1998, 07:16
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NEC execs charged in Japan defence case
Prosecutors allege we've been padding our prices...
Japanese prosecutors have charged two NEC executives and two from a business partner with breach of trust in connection with an ongoing Defence Agency purchasing scandal. Nine people in total have so far been charged, and although NEC is not the company accused of directly overcharging for equipment, it is claimed to have co- …
Business 2 Oct 1998, 08:50
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Boeing fined $10 million in tech export case
Feds claim broke export licence terms 207 times
Aerospace giant Boeing is to cough up a $10 million fine payment in consideration of having broken the terms of a US export licence in the course of a collaboration with Russia and the Ukraine. The company is accused of having shared technical information with RSC-Energia and KB Yuzhnoye/PO without a State Department …
Business 2 Oct 1998, 08:52
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Logica buys US call centre software company
UK company plans further US expansion
UK software outfit Logica is to boost its US operations with the acquisition of Carnegie Group for $35 million. The US company produces call centre software, and is a spin-off from Carnegie Mellon University. Carnegie Group was founded in 1983, and made pre-tax profits of $200,000 on revenues of $29.4 million last year. It has …
Business 2 Oct 1998, 08:54
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Microsoft takes Virgin-line stance on dictionary
Lingua franca Encarta
Microsoft is doing a Virgin again -- putting one of its brand names to a product to which it has made no contribution. This time it's for the Encarta World English Dictionary. Craig Bartholomew, general manager of Microsoft's learning business unit, said at the launch in London yesterday that Microsoft is making no financial …
Business 2 Oct 1998, 09:25
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Microsoft demands academics hand over Netscape, AOL info
Scholar's privilege may not be protect Harvard, MIT profs
Microsoft yesterday asked a federal judge in Boston to compel Michael Cusumano of MIT and David Yoffie of Harvard to hand over tapes and transcripts from their interviews with Netscape and AOL executives. These form the basis of a book entitled Competing on Internet time: lessons from Netscape and the battle with Microsoft. The …
Business 2 Oct 1998, 09:43
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Samsung introduces network version of SRAM
Toshiba, NEC join in initiative
Samsung Electronics said it has released samples of synchronous RAM (SRAM) aimed at the high speed networking market. The memories, called NtRAM are intended for network switching applications and are 8Mbit parts that run at 150MHz. The company said it will release a 16Mbit part in 1999. The 8Mbit samples cost $79.85, and …
Business 2 Oct 1998, 09:47
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Apple drops out of UK's only Mac show
Mac maker joins list of major vendors not attending
Apple has pulled out of the UK's only Mac-oriented event, Apple Expo, less than two months before the show is scheduled to take place. The move could kill the show, which has now lost the right to use the Apple name. Dissatisfied with the approach taken by show organiser Emap Trenton, Apple has said it is planing a Mac show of …
Business 2 Oct 1998, 10:37
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Winbond move to DRAM not surprise
Set to take advantage of next year's stability
A Taiwanese components company is to start manufacturing DRAM at a time when existing suppliers are feeling memory pain. Winbond started producing DRAM last July, according to reports, but will step up production to a point where by the year 2000 it will have two fabs. The company has struck a deal with Toshiba, where Winbond …
Business 2 Oct 1998, 10:40
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UK home Internet usage accelerating
E-commerce is driving demand
Domestic Internet use in the UK grew by nearly 40 per cent during the last six months, according to new research from BMRB International. And more and more users are going on time to buy books, CDs and computer software. "Nearly 7.5 million people, representing 16 per cent of the UK's adult population, have used the Internet in …
Business 2 Oct 1998, 10:51
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Symantec to axe five per cent of workforce
Slow summer sales blamed
Symantec has confirmed it plans to lay off 100 employees next year. The company blamed slow summer sales. The job losses are part of a cost-cutting exercise, said Symantec senior spokeswoman Amy Savage, and will take in five per cent of the company's 2500 workforce. "Sales have been soft for a couple of months, and that has an …
Business 2 Oct 1998, 11:47
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Users don't rate retailers
PC chains slammed by buyers, says Which? survey
Retailers and helplines have come in for some harsh criticism from Which? magazine after it collected the experiences of UK home computer users. The survey found that 20 per cent of new buyers have major problems settuing up their PC purchases, and 40 per cent experience diffulties during their first year of ownership. And …
Business 2 Oct 1998, 12:09
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PC vendors climb aboard LCD bandwagon
ATI hoist the digital flat panel flag (it's a stiff as a board)
Fifteen PC manufacturers will incorporate a new digital interface for LCD monitors in their PCs this autumn, according to graphics card vendor ATI Technologies. The new LCD monitor interface transmits digital signals directly from a graphics board to the monitor. The current analogue interface in use today is inferior because …
Business 2 Oct 1998, 12:10
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Let's see those Bill Gates movies, says judge
Video killed the Supreme Court candidature, as we recall...
Judge Robert Bork has called for the release of the videos of Bill Gates' testimony to the Department of Justice, arguing that if one Bill has to endure public exposure, then the other one shouldn't be allowed to hide behind confidentiality clauses. It is however doubtful whether Bill G's depositions would command quite as large …
Business 2 Oct 1998, 13:36
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IBM introduces Power3, promises gigachip by 2001
Spate of RS announcements to arrive Monday
IBM will on Monday announce a spate of products based around its RS business unit including iteration three of its Power processor intended for serious number crunching. Future iterations of the Power 3 will use CMOS 7S copper interconnect technology, and silicon on insulator (SOI). A gigachip will arrive in 2001. The company …
Business 2 Oct 1998, 14:35
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Acer's Shih hands over day-to-day control to Simon Lin
Move could signal flagging interest in Acer America
Acer's CEO, Stan Shih, has relinquished control of the day to day running of his company and will retire in six years time, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Simon Lin, currently CEO of Acer Inc, the Taiwanese company's the US division, will step into his shoes, the newspaper said. But that news could signify the …
Business 2 Oct 1998, 14:58
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Court considers cooking cookies' book
US citizen sues US city for refusing to reveal cookie contents
In a bizarre case in a federal court, the secrecy of cookie files has become an issue. The case concerns the US Freedom of Information Act right for the public to access government-held information. Some 80 miles east of Nashville, Tennessee, Geoffrey Davidian, who produces an online newsletter called The Putnam Pit, has sued …
Business 2 Oct 1998, 15:09
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Siemens completes restructure
Nixdorf nomenclature sorted out
Siemens AG and Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG finally became one yesterday. The retail and self-service products sector will continue to operate as Siemens Nixdorf, a subsidiary of Siemens, and retain the SN logo because of the recognition of the brand name. SNI is mostly now part of Siemens Public Communication Networks …
Business 2 Oct 1998, 15:12
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Aureal responds to Creative Labs suit
Agreement sought on acceptible levels of misinformation
Soundcard specialist Aureal has responded to arch-rival Creative Labs' allegations that it engaged in false advertising and made misstatements about Creative products (see Creative sues Aureal. Again). Aureal suggests both parties come to the table and hammer out their differences regarding the claims each has made about the …
Business 2 Oct 1998, 15:51
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Memory Corp licenses IP rights to Taiwanese, US companies
Will expand presence in the US market, CEO says
Memory Corp has licensed elements of its intellectual property rights to a Taiwanese and a US company. At the same time, it has revealed it will expand its presence in other territories, including the US. The UK company, which is listed on the AIM stock exchange, signed a deal with Vincom, in which the Taiwanese company will pay …
Business 2 Oct 1998, 15:54
