4th November 1998 Archive

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Government victimising Gates, says Microsoft

Beating up Bill on video is cowardly - they should face him in person, apparently...

Bob Herbold, Microsoft COO, said in his introduction to Microsoft's videotaped response to Gates' deposition that the government's case was becoming "an unfair attack on Bill Gates, one of the great innovators of this century." (Yes, we listened twice to be sure we had that right.) Herbold accused the government of using a …

Business 4 Nov 1998, 09:06
PC age over, says IBM

But maybe Big Blue has admitted war is over

Lou Gerstner, CEO and president of IBM, said earlier this week that the age of the PC is over. But in a speech he gave to the Japanese press, the highlight of which was Lou demonstrating a ThinkPad that fits on your head, rather than on your feet, he failed to elaborate on whether it was just IBM that took that stance. Gerstner …

Business 4 Nov 1998, 09:25
Olivetti saga not over yet

When the moon's in the sky like a big pizza pie...

A report in London's Financial Times said that the chief executive of Olivetti has pulled together a fresh set of investment. Robert Colaninno, who took over operations at Olivetti after convicted fraudster Carlo de Benedetti stepped down last year, has persuaded Luxembourg company Bell had taken an eight per cent stake in the …

Business 4 Nov 1998, 09:49
Hyundai unit spin off will retard LG merger

Move will appease government but enrage LG

The long-postponed merger between South Korea companies LG and Hyundai looked further off than ever today. Hyundai has made a decision to beef up its chip production and dump other computer units, including its LCD and telecomms business. It will also drop its notebook business. While that will go some way towards appeasing …

Business 4 Nov 1998, 10:06
Sun tries to head-off HP real time revolt

Is the great Java standards schism upon us?

In what looks remarkably like an exercise in shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted, Sun has announced "the intent to develop real-time extensions to the Java platform". On Monday HP, Microsoft, Siemens and 12 other embedded companies formed a breakaway group to push for ""an open, vendor-neutral standards process …

Business 4 Nov 1998, 10:17
New York e-cash experiment flops

Nobody seemed to care about it, but they'll be back...

Citibank and Chase Manhattan have pulled the plugs on one of the largest electronic cash pilots to date, having failed dismally to generate significant enthusiasm from the public. The two banks issued 100,000 people with cards, but discovered that the users averaged an annual spend of less than $20. Heads are being scratched …

Business 4 Nov 1998, 10:58
Europe losing the plot on Web, says Gartner

The problem seems to be that Europe consists of lots of different countries. Egad...

This month's 'Europe is falling behind on the Internet' story comes from the Gartner Group conference in Cannes, where research director Alexander Drobik claimed electronic business in Europe was between 12-18 months behind the US. Gartner reckons the usual suspects are to blame. Slow liberalisation, cost of Internet access and …

Business 4 Nov 1998, 11:01
Microsoft misses rush to register Windows 2000 trademark

NT 5.0 may have to stay NT 5.0. Doh...

History is repeating itself. When Microsoft launched Internet Explorer, it quickly emerged it didn't actually own the name, and the Beast of Redmond was forced to make hasty financial reparations to ensure it could continue using the name. Now, less than a week after announcing that Windows NT 5.0 will be released as Windows …

Business 4 Nov 1998, 11:19
Microsoft readies embedded version of NT

But where are they going to shove all those millions of lines of code?

Microsoft has an embedded version of NT in alpha, and intends to go into widespread beta with the product in the first quarter of next year, the company claimed yesterday. The product, which is based on NT 4.0, is intended to ship later next year. This will be followed up by a version of Windows 2000 embedded, which will ship …

Business 4 Nov 1998, 11:48
Microsoft, Qualcomm to challenge mobile phone outfits

The unpopular pair are poised to launch their riposte to Symbian next week

Microsoft and Qualcomm are to form a joint venture wireless data operation next week, according to US reports. The ostensible aim of the company, which will be independent of the two founders, will be to promote wireless and computing convergence, but it will inevitably be seen as a vehicle for the pair to recoup lost ground in …

Business 4 Nov 1998, 11:50
Diamond to add Liquid Audio to Rio

Deal suggests Diamond is caving in to the music industry

Diamond Multimedia and Internet music specialist Liquid Audio have agreed to work together to promote "secure downloadable music" to the mainstream. In essence, the deal is all about incorporating Liquid Audio's music encryption technology into Diamond's Rio digital music player. Both companies are portraying the agreement as a …

Business 4 Nov 1998, 12:24
Web security wholly inadequate, company claims

Only two per cent of breaches revealed

Mark Fabro, head of the professional services division of Secure Computing, said that companies were woefully ignorant about security, not only with the Internet, but at every level, including operating systems. The company numbers intelligence agencies and other blue chip firms as its clients. "Web servers across the world are …

Business 4 Nov 1998, 12:33
Liquid Audio, Adaptec unveil Net-to-CD music pact

Download the tracks, save them on CD

Adaptec and Liquid Audio have agreed to cooperate on the integration of the latter's music encoding system into the former's CD burning tools, Toast and Easy CD Creator, to allow users to download music tracks and save them on audio CD. The deal mirrors a similar agreement announced between Liquid Audio and Diamond Multimedia ( …

Business 4 Nov 1998, 15:11
4 November 1998: DRAM prices

Our daily DRAM update from Dane-Elec

Prices kindly supplied by Dane-Elec Click here for more stories

Business 4 Nov 1998, 15:16
CAP proposes stamp of approval for Web advertising

'Trustmark' to indicate legal, decent, honest and truthful ads -- when they can find some...

The advertising industry's self-regulation organisation, the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) is proposing a scheme to ensure UK Internet advertising is, in the words of the law, "legal, decent, honest and truthful". The CAP's plan is to institute a kind of kite-mark for banner ads, used to indicate those companies whose …

Business 4 Nov 1998, 15:22
NTT takes law into own hands over NEC allegations

Scandal breeds moral rectitude

Asia's economic woes may be responsible for a new wave of bizarre business ethics after Japan's largest phone company said it is going to cut its orders to NEC after it emerged that the latter deliberately overcharged the country’s Defense Agency. Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT) wouldn't say by how much it would …

Business 4 Nov 1998, 15:27
Yahoo! climbs into bed with BT

Pay-as you-go service just a click away

BT and Yahoo! are flexing their corporate muscles in the ISP marketplace to create pay-as-you-go access to the net via Yahoo!’s UK’s web site. With no monthly subscription or registration process, users of Yahoo! Click will simply be charged a penny a minute above their normal phone tariff for net access. The fee is added to …

Business 4 Nov 1998, 15:32
ICM Computer Group makes ‘healthy gains’

Good formula for growth

ICM Computer Group plc is quietly confident about its financial progress over the past year and expects to increase its market share as it strengthens its contract client base, according to chairman George Hayter. Speaking at the company’s first AGM since it floated on the Official List in May 1998, Hayter said the company had …

Business 4 Nov 1998, 15:38
OMG objects to Linux

Software equivalent of Viagra, source says

A press release issued by the Object Management Group (OMG) was described today by a source close to the group as a farrago. The release, headlined "Corba on Linux gains momentum", was "stupid and senseless", the source said. "Linux is freeware while Corba costs money," she said. "This is silly, just plain silly. Linux is the …

Business 4 Nov 1998, 15:43
Mita executives busted

But move will not affect Kyocera's plans

A further twist in the ongoing saga of photocopier company Mita came yesterday when three senior executives were arrested in Japan. Yoshihiro Mita, the president of the bankrupt firm and two of his senior executives were arrested on suspicious of paying ¥872 million in illegal dividends. But the arrests are unlikely to interfere …

Business 4 Nov 1998, 16:06
Siemens prepares to rid itself of semiconductor business

Semiconductor op. be listed on stock exchange, 60,000 jobs to go -- many to outer space, apparently

In a bid to pre-empt leaks -- "Our experience has shown we can't keep such things secret," said president and CEO Heinrich Pierer -- Siemens today announced its fiscal 1998 results and revealed details of its plan for sustainable growth. Central to the strategy is the company's withdrawal from the components business. The key …

Business 4 Nov 1998, 16:08
NEC admits it delayed Sega Dreamcast

We had problems modifying PowerVR for Dreamcast, confesses NEC exec

NEC has responded to Sega's complaints that the company was responsible for significant delays to the manufacturer's forthcoming next-generation console, Dreamcast. The company responded to an email from an investor in Videologic with an admission that it was indeed to blame. "We had some trouble modifying the PowerVR 2 [ …

Business 4 Nov 1998, 16:24
AMD executives parade round in flowerpots

Can anyone explain this to us?

At VNU's prestigious PC Dealer awards we were not a little perturbed to recognise AMD spin doctors wandering around with flowerpots covering their heads. Can anyone explain this one to us?

Business 4 Nov 1998, 16:51