15th October 1998 Archive

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Motorola launches PowerPC G4

Look out, Katmai -- here comes AltiVec...

Motorola's next-generation PowerPC processor, the G4, is on course to go into production by the middle of next year, the company said today. Speaking at the Microprocessor Forum in San Jose, California, Motorola PowerPC project manager Paul Reed, said the chip, aimed at the embedded market as well as the PC arena (Apple, at any …

Business 15 Oct 1998, 03:29
IBM readies Gigaprocessor PowerPC for server lines

But will it ever finish the PowerPC 620?

In the months since IBM fell out with Motorola over the direction of PowerPC development, it has been busily working on a server-oriented version of that platform, it has emerged. Unimaginatively codenamed Gigaprocessor, the new design is set to replace the chips currently used in Big Blue's RS/6000 and AS/400 lines, and will be …

Business 15 Oct 1998, 03:32
Intel doctors Foster to extend life of IA-32 architecture

Post-Merced IA-64 line announced too

Intel revealed details of its future IA-32 processor technology, codenamed Foster, at this year's Microprocessor Forum. The company also discussed its positioning of the IA-64-based Merced and its successors, McKinley, Madison and Deerfield. Foster is set to ship late 2000/early 2001 and, according to Intel Microprocessor …

Business 15 Oct 1998, 03:34
Apple ships 278,000 iMacs

But other lines don't do so well

Apple shipped 278,000 iMacs in the first six weeks of the machine's availability, interim CEO Steve Jobs claimed today after announcing the company's Q4 resultsmaking the consumer computer the fastest selling Mac in company's history. At the same time, Jobs revealed the results of a survey of 1900 iMac buyers. The stats suggest …

Business 15 Oct 1998, 03:39
Apple posts $106 million profit

Doubles all round as Mac maker celebrates first year in profit since 1995

Apple today posted a fourth-quarter profit of $106 million on revenues of $1.56 billion, ensuring the Mac maker not only saw its fourth consecutive quarter of profit but its first full year in the black since 1995. For the whole of fiscal 1998, the company achieved a profit of $309 million on revenues of $5.9 billion. However, …

Business 15 Oct 1998, 03:42
Roundup: Markets on 14th October 1998

Dow stable, but it looks like the latest Japanese rescue plan won't work

The Dow was marginally up, and Nasdaq was up 2 per cent because of a dearth of bad news, although the rally looked a little fragile. The Nikkei was down 1.3 per cent yesterday in thin trading, and was down again this morning. The Japanese government's plan to recapitalise the banks with Y60 trillion looked as though it would not …

Business 15 Oct 1998, 08:00
Now Microsoft plans to integrate database in the OS

Gates telegraphs next expansionist moves while defending the last ones

Having Bill Gates doing the 'vision thing' while Ballmer and Co run Microsoft may end up generating a heap of trouble for the company. In his memo to staff, published earlier this week (Microsoft leaks its own memos), he set down several technological objectives that would have massive implications, and yesterday he was at it …

Business 15 Oct 1998, 08:02
Gates under fire over upgrade pricing, licence policies

Apparently concurrent licensing was unpopular, so Microsoft dropped it. Unpopular with Microsoft's beanies, was that?

In between defending Microsoft over the current DoJ action and telling the DoJ where it should point the next one, Gates seems to have been taking some flak over Microsoft's NT Terminal Server licensing policies, and its upgrade pricing. Speaking at the Gartner Symposium in Florida yesterday he fielded claims that Microsoft has …

Business 15 Oct 1998, 08:38
Intergraph counter-attacks low-cost Intel workstations with fab deal

Small, perfectly-formed workstation designer meets manufacturing giant, goes after commoditisers?

Embattled workstation company Intergraph is pulling out of manufacturing, outsourcing production to computer industry manufacturing specialist SCI. The 300 Intergraph employees involved in building workstations will be offered jobs at SCI, but we think this is an aggressive move, not a defensive one. Intergraph's core …

Business 15 Oct 1998, 09:01
Jackson turns down Microsoft request for trial delay

And the DoJ has filed a tantalising list of 1,300 documents we're not allowed to see yet

Judge Jackson refused Microsoft's request to have the trial delayed, and it is now looking as though Microsoft made the request to add strength to any subsequent appeal. Microsoft is being allowed to depose the substituted Apple and Sun witnesses, however. The DoJ has filed its list of 1,300 documents, but regrettably the …

Business 15 Oct 1998, 09:19
Integration and ISP deals drive Explorer gains, says Zona

Netscape is holding onto user mindshare, but corporate policies are swinging against it

Following swiftly on research indicating that Microsoft was winning the browser wars (earlier story), the latest study from Zona Research suggests the company is actually losing. Zona concentrates its study on enterprise customers, and concludes that 60 per cent of users say Netscape Navigator is their browser of choice, despite …

Business 15 Oct 1998, 10:59
Acorn rebuffs dealer bid

Bring on the Dutch

Acorn’s relationship with its dealers has hit the rocks following a “sudden, unexpected and unpredictable change in (its) negotiating position”, over attempts to keep the RiscOS alive. The Four Wise Men, members of the Steering Group formed on behalf of the Acorn dealer and developer community, said they had “reluctantly stepped …

Business 15 Oct 1998, 11:03
What's bad for Microsoft is bad for the US

Breaking up Microsoft is as ludicrous as breaking up . . . whoever wins the World Series

While the federal court winds up its elastic in Washington, the Court of Public Opinion has been hearing some propaganda from chairman Bill Gates during a whistle stop tour of the US. After fielding a couple of awkward questions yesterday at the Gartner Symposium in Florida (Gates under fire over upgrade pricing; Now Microsoft …

Business 15 Oct 1998, 12:24
HP waves goodbye to NetFire

Takes on HP Office Centre direct

HP has junked Netfire, the UK franchise operator for its Office Centre dealer programme. It has bought out the remainder of the franchisor’s term for an unspecified amount.. And it will now deal directly with the 65 Office Centre resellers based in the UK. HP said it is making the move in response to a dealer survey, which “ …

Business 15 Oct 1998, 13:44
EU rattles Microsoft's cage

Formal complaint against company may be on the cards

The legal threats to Microsoft's business practices also come from outside the US. Two separate events this week have brought home just how universal is this concern. In Budapest, Karel van Miert, the commissioner for DGIV, the EU competition directorate, said that the EU was "watching very closely what Microsoft is doing in …

Business 15 Oct 1998, 16:10
How Intel and HP shield patents from prying eyes

A strange Californian Institute seems to 'look after' them for them, out if sight of rivals

If you've ever wondered what Intel and HP might be doing together in the microprocessor design area, then be sure to drop by the Institute for the Development of Emerging Architectures (IDEA) in Cupertino. Last year it was awarded a patent, US-5652859 for a "Method and apparatus for handling snoops in multiprocessor caches …

Business 15 Oct 1998, 16:14
Update; Acorn, Apple sell-off prompts ARM stock fall

We got the details this time

ARM's share price fell 65p to 845p, a fall of 7.1 per cent, following a secondary placing of 6.5 million shares at 800p organised by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. The shares fell again Thursday to 810p. Acorn and Apple, ARM's two major shareholders used the occasion for a little profit taking. Acorn flogged 600,000 shares …

Business 15 Oct 1998, 16:38
Highams dons Trainers

intro

Highams, the AIM-listed VAR, has extended its service portfolio with the acquisition of technical training company Trainers Ltd. Highams is paying up to £2 million for Basingstoke-based Trainers, with £735K upfront (£497K in cash, and the balance through the issue of new shares). The rest is performance related, working on a PE …

Business 15 Oct 1998, 17:30