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16th November 1998 Archive

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  • Comdex a year ago: Bill tells it to the marines

    The DoJ of war are barking at the moon

    The US government is on Bill Gates' tail in the shape of the DoJ, so the lad's new-found intimacy with the Marine Corps may be ominous - military coups, anyone? Following-up a goodly slab of mom, apple pie, my wonderful daughter and why the PC is great, Gates' Comdex keynote last Sunday (see Footnotes some more) drafted Major …

    Business 16 Nov 1998, 07:43

  • Microsoft claims DoJ hand-picked IE critics

    But one of the critics, Boeing, turns out to be a Microsoft showcase corporate customer

    Microsoft has attacked the written testimony of computer consultant Glenn Weadock, who is due to take the stand at the antitrust trial today, as "a collection of opinions, not a statement of facts." In a statement Microsoft claimed that companies Weadock had talked to for his testimony had been hand-picked by the government. "It …

    Business 16 Nov 1998, 09:23

  • French government publishes details of Thomson stakes

    But they're still not talking about how much Microsoft et al are paying

    The French government has released details of the sell-off of slabs of government-owned Thomson Multimedia to Alcatel, DirectTV, NEC and Microsoft, but the bottom line remains secret, apparently. The four companies are to each buy a 7.5 per cent in the ailing operation, and on Friday the French Economic Ministry filed a legal …

    Business 16 Nov 1998, 11:42

  • Iomega to update Zip to 250MB

    Anti-Sony, Samsung spoiler tactic could also sidestep 'click of death' suit

    Iomega will this week announce the successor to its popular 100MB Zip drive in a move designed to spoil Sony's soon-to-ship 200MB HiFD drive and Samsung's announcement of its forthcoming 123MB Pro-FD drive. The new Zip drive and media will offer a capacity of 250MB. However, it's not yet clear whether it will provide an …

    Business 16 Nov 1998, 11:53

  • Who wants to be a BillGatesionnaire?

    Bill does...

    Records filed with the US regulatory body the Security & Equities Commission (SEC) show that Bill Gates has sold nine million of his shares in Microsoft in the last few weeks. The biggest transaction was completed on Friday the 13th, when Gates disposed of five million shares. On Friday, Microsoft shares were trading at between …

    Business 16 Nov 1998, 12:20

  • NWL restructure to affect Wales

    Far East crisis blamed, not semiconductor industry

    South Wales is bracing itself for another set of job losses after the semiconductor silicon wafer foundry Newport Wafer-Fab Ltd confirmed it was to undergo a period of restructuring. Chief executive Steve Byars said that the business was "fundamentally sound" despite the difficulties in the semiconductor industry but declined to …

    Business 16 Nov 1998, 12:26

  • Oracle courts Dell, Compaq, HP for Microsoft challenge

    New 'Raw Iron' database to run on hardware with minimal (Microsoftless) OS

    Oracle is negotiating with Sun and a range of PC manufacturers to produce thin server appliances which use the company's 'Raw Iron' implementation of Oracle8, a 'no operating system' version of the database which Oracle intends to ship in Q1 99. Over the weekend Oracle boss Larry Ellison invited reporters into his beautiful home …

    Business 16 Nov 1998, 12:37

  • 3Com spins corporate direction for Palm

    Benhamou also says watch out for more acquisitions

    In the wake of Palm Computing founders and 3Com defectors Donna Dubinsky and Jeff Hawkins announcing details of their new company, Handspring, 3com, the current owner of Palm has engaged in a bit of spin control in an attempt to scotch rumours that the departure of Hawkins and Dubinsky, and with them several key Palm engineers, …

    Business 16 Nov 1998, 12:44

  • AMD introduces 400MHz part

    Used in Compaq Presarios

    AMD has formally announced the introduction of its 400MHz K6-2 chip. And the company claimed that Compaq, which uses the chip have combined forces to offer the first broadband Internet-ready PCs. That might be true in the US but there are still problems with DSL technology in Europe, as reported here earlier. Introduced today, …

    Business 16 Nov 1998, 12:46

  • Gates lampoons DoJ in Comdex Keynote

    Comdex loves Bill Gates (True)

    Boy, he’s rich and he’s got a sense of humour too. “My last year has been really exciting,” said Bill Gates, kicking off this year’s Comdex Fall keynotes. A quick video of his year’s highlights and he soon had the 5,000-strong audience -- most of whom had queued at the Las Vegas Hilton Theater for more than two hours for the …

    Business 16 Nov 1998, 15:03

  • Apple extends iMac hire purchase scheme to UK

    Own an iMac for £29.95 a month

    Apple has brought a variation of its 'own an iMac for $29.95 a month' deal to the UK. Over here, buyers put down a £50 deposit, are given a five-month deferred payment period, then pay £29.95 a month for 42 months. So you can now slap down a Visa or Mastercard and pay £999 (inc. VAT) for a machine there and then, or choose the …

    Business 16 Nov 1998, 15:35

  • Comdex/Fall goes Intel 370-pin crazy

    Taiwanese troup through 370 Intel gulf

    Soyo is readying a 370 pin motherboard as a number of manufacturers in Taiwan and in the Far East seek to obey Intel's dictat, according to sources close to the company's plans. The company has just released a MicroATX format board based on familiar socket systems but The Register understands that all Taiwanese companies are …

    Business 16 Nov 1998, 16:00

  • DSP filters down to PCs with Aztech

    Comdex unveils a heap of fresh arrays

    Aztech has initiated a fresh release of its PCI 386DSP sound card using Qsound technology. The company said that its card was a DSP breakthrough and did not depend on the processor to supply the usual functions including 3D positioning and wavetable synthesis. The card also uses Environmental Audio Extensions (EAX) and Qsound …

    Business 16 Nov 1998, 16:20

  • Citrix scores big hit in Vegas

    New property management system keeps horses' heads out of beds

    Citrix shouldn't be short of accommodation in Vegas this week, having just announced the deployment of a 1,200 terminal WinFrame/MetFrame system across the four hotels in the Mirage Resorts empire. These are the Mirage, home of the volcano and Siegfried and Roy; Treasure Island, where a ship full of dubious English accents sinks …

    Business 16 Nov 1998, 16:26

  • Employee of distributor Westcoast hits employee of dealer Action

    New robust channel strategy

    Friday the Thirteenth proved unlucky for a top Westcoast employee when he was sacked after hitting an Action Computer Supplies member of staff on the nose at a company function. The nose was not, apparently, broken. David Gully, the Westcoast account manager responsible for Action, lost his job on the fated day after the fracas …

    Business 16 Nov 1998, 16:45

  • Cable & Wireless unveils $1 billion European network

    ATM backbone first, then fibre-optic links

    Cable & Wireless has announced a five-year, $1 billion plan to build a voice and data network across Europe, linking 40 of the continent's largest cities in 13 countries. Work on the network will commence with the delivery of a high-speed (155Mbps) Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) backbone across Europe linking "key European …

    Business 16 Nov 1998, 16:59

  • Compaq disappoints Europe

    Or is it Europe disappoints Compaq?

    Compaq has launched a new range of PCs which come ready equipped with DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) technology 300 times faster than standard 56k modems. Priced at $1,599 (£960) and only available in the US, the PCs will not be available in the UK until one of the carriers offers DSL-compatible connections. There is a further …

    Business 16 Nov 1998, 17:07

  • Cyrix demos $300 wireless Internet tablet

    The MediaGX-based low-cost device could be in production by mid-99

    In Las Vegas today Cyrix demonstrated prototypes of an x86 compatible wireless Internet access device, WebPAD, which the company says could be in production at a price of $300 by the middle of next year. The WebPAD is one of the earliest fruits of Cyrix's PC-on-a-chip design efforts. It weighs three pounds, has a 10.4in LCD, a …

    Business 16 Nov 1998, 17:30

  • Gates: He's just a guy who can't say N… N…

    Court laughs as memory man fails to comprehend line of questioning, apparently...

    The Bill Gates video excerpt has become a welcome commercial break from DLL-heavy testimony at the Microsoft trial, but today his Billness surpassed himself, as the court watched him determinedly avoiding saying the N word. A bemused Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson smiled wanly as the Good Ship Gates sank gently beneath the waves …

    Business 16 Nov 1998, 21:42

  • Delegates bribed to watch Pfeiffer speak

    It wasn’t that bad. No, really…

    Compaq set up a soup kitchen today at the Las Vegas Hilton Theatre. Unsure of CEO Eckhard Pfeiffer’s Keynote speech pulling power, the Texas computer giant bribed attendees with free lunch boxes. Only, as Pfeiffer said himself, there is no such thing as a free lunch… delegates had to sit through his speech first. Self- …

    Business 16 Nov 1998, 23:47