6th October 1998 Archive

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Roundup: US markets on 5 October

Dow down, Nikkei static

There was disappointment that the Group of Seven meeting at the weekend in Washington reached no firm conclusions. Nasdaq took a pasting yesterday, falling five per cent, resulting in 30-year US Treasury bonds slumping further to 4.72 per cent interest -- the traditional haven after investors sell their shares. The Dow closed …

Business 6 Oct 1998, 09:43
Bristol files reply in Microsoft suit

Microsoft's own documents show predatory intent, developer claims

Bristol has filed a reply brief in its case against Microsoft for anticompetitive behaviour, manipulation of access to Windows APIs, and antitrust offences. Bristol wants a preliminary injunction forcing Microsoft to carry on providing NT source code on reasonable terms. The hearing will start on 15 October in the federal court …

Business 6 Oct 1998, 11:09
Argentine IBM defendant found hanged

One of the executives charged in connection with a major bribes scandal is dead, in an apparent suicide

The IBM-Argentina bribery scandal has taken a grisly turn with the news that a key suspect has been found dead. The body of Marcelo Cattaneo was discovered hanging on a Buenos Aires building site on Sunday - police are currently presuming he committed suicide. Cattaneo was one of a large number of officials from Banco Nacion, …

Business 6 Oct 1998, 13:03
Lycos to offer credit cards to members

An affinity card for Web users? No doubt the first of many...

Lycos has upped the stakes in the Web wars with the introduction of its own-brand credit card, a Lycos Network affinity card arranged through US Visa and Mastercard card issuer Fleet Credit Card Services. From the beginning of next year Lycos sites will be allowing members to apply for the cards, and depending on the success of …

Business 6 Oct 1998, 13:10
NCI makes breakthrough into Web-enabled appliance market

By pitching at embedded devices, the company has a target market in the hundreds of millions

Network Computer Inc (NCI) has made a crucial breakthrough into the embedded market with the release of eNavigator, software for embedded operating systems which allows low-resource hand-held devices and appliances to be used for email, general connectivity and Web access. Effectively, the move into embedded provides NCI with an …

Business 6 Oct 1998, 13:12
Seagate storage management arm to merge with Veritas

Merger to create world's largest network storage management company. Gosh

Seagate's Software subsidiary has sold its Network and Storage Management Group to rival storage management specialist Veritas Software for $1.6 billion. The two operations will be merged into a single company headed by Veritas CEO Mark Leslie (as CEO and chairman) and Seagate Software president Terry Cunningham (as president …

Business 6 Oct 1998, 13:49
AMD scores Sony consumer PC design win

Quarterly loss expectations improve

Sony is to use AMD's K6-2 processor in its forthcoming line of consumer PCs. The news comes one day before AMD is due to release its latest quarterly results. The Japanese consumer electronics giant will be using the 350MHz K6-2 in its Vaio Compo line due to go on sale at the end of the month. Sony's decision to use the AMD …

Business 6 Oct 1998, 13:52
Wired's last bastion falls to Lycos

The last tribunes of the electronic frontier have gone corporate

Lycos has bought Wired Digital, what was left of Wired's pioneering attempt to carve a slice for itself out of the electronic frontier, for $83 million worth of stock. The operation was originally an offshoot of the formerly seminal Wired magazine, which was itself sold to 'straight' publishers Conde Nast for $75 million earlier …

Business 6 Oct 1998, 14:04
Intel 450MHz Xeon ships, but four- and 8-way slip

Intel is now talking about four-way implementations for 99

The first systems based on Intel's 450MHz Xeon CPU will ship this month, following today's announcement of the processor, but four-way implementations won't be out till next year - very early next year, said a spokesman, while eight-way Xeon is still a way off. The 450 MHz Xeon is designed for use in dual processor workstations …

Business 6 Oct 1998, 14:44
Microsoft unveils cordless phone

Microsoft as a Binatone for the 90s -- discuss

Microsoft has released its first phone -- the Microsoft Cordless Phone, to be precise, designed for PC users "seeking a convenient, versatile tool for managing home-based personal and business calls", according to the company. That, of course, easily describes every other phone on the planet, but we'll let that pass. The kit …

Business 6 Oct 1998, 14:50
Viking doubles European DRAM capacity

Vikings invade Dublin...again

Memory giant Viking Components is planning to set up an authorised reseller programme across Europe while doubling its manufacturing capacity in Dublin, as a result of sales growth. Viking has confirmed it is talking to its distributors, including CHS, Actebis, Ingram and Northamber about qualifying resellers for an …

Business 6 Oct 1998, 15:20
SheepShaver to bring Mac application support to Linux

Baa-baa humbug?

German BeOS developer SheepShaver is porting its MacOS runtime environment, also called SheepShaver, to Linux. The software, which currently only runs on PowerPC-based BeOS installations, creates a MacOS virtual machine in which users can work with any out-of-the-box Mac applications. It's not yet clear whether the Linux version …

Business 6 Oct 1998, 15:22
Server sales slow down

Don't panic, IDC says

PC server sales ran out of steam in the first half of the year, according to research firm IDC. It found that Q2 worldwide shipments were down one per cent from the first quarter, the first time sales have gone backwards. Year on year, growth has levelled out at 17 per cent but IDC has claimed there is no need to panic. Third …

Business 6 Oct 1998, 15:40
Germans to boycott Net over high dial-up costs

Don't mention the Internet -- I did, but I think I got away with it

A band of German Net users are calling on fellow Germans to boycott the Internet. Their target: Deutsche Telekom. Their complaint: DK is charging way too much for local dial-up Net access. The group, DarkBreed, wants Germans to refrain from accessing the Internet for 24 hours on Sunday 1 November. DarkBreed's preferred date …

Business 6 Oct 1998, 16:14
Entegra appoints Hudson to build European USB channel

USB market ripe for picking

USB company Entrega Technologies has appointed former US Robotics managing director Clive Hudson as vice president and general manager. The appointment coincides with the company's drive into Europe and the setting-up of a European headquarters in Reading. Hudson joins Entrega after seven years with modem maker USR and will …

Business 6 Oct 1998, 16:18
Lynx merges training units, rebrands distribution arm

Apps and Unix techie stuff rolled into one

Lynx Group has bundled its training operations, Lynx IT Training and Sphinx CST Education, into a single company. The combined operation turns over £5 million, employs more than 70 staff out of seven training centre and will trade as Lynx IT Training. Lynx IT Training was formed through the acquisition of Clifton Reed Training …

Business 6 Oct 1998, 16:38
IBM scores development deal for France's Minitel 2

Which looks like it'll be the Internet with very French characteristics...

An alliance between IBM and France Telecom announced today appears intent on pulling off an interesting double - strengthening IBM's position in the appliance/Network Computer arena while reinforcing France Telecom's on the hearts, minds and wallets of France's e-commerce friendly public. The central paradox of the French …

Business 6 Oct 1998, 16:59
ISS buy UK security software developer

Cash and shares deal

Internet Security Systems is to acquire March Information Systems, the privately held UK developer of security assessment technologies for the Windows NT and Unix platforms. The company is to combine March's technology with its SAFESuite adaptive network security control system. Nasdaq-quoted ISS is paying $4.75 million cash and …

Business 6 Oct 1998, 17:08