20th November 1998 Archive

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Microsoft's plan to levy annual rental fee for Windows

Top OEM VP lays out plan to secure old age with 'annuity' scheme

Microsoft has considered charging an annual fee for Windows use, according to a memo to Bill Gates produced in court yesterday. The document, from December last year, came from senior VP sales Joachim Kempin, and was headed: "Licence for limited time and create annuity business." Kempin suggested the scheme could start in 2001, …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 09:43
Judge damns Gates as ‘unresponsive witness’

And suggests Gates'own lawyers can't believe it either...

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates was yesterday characterised as a lousy witness by Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, who damned the world's richest man as he rejected a Microsoft motion intended to put a stop to the DoJ's 'Gates TV' series (Earlier Story). The DoJ has been showing excerpts from Gates' videotaped deposition, and these …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 10:28
Japan's FTC decides not to bust Microsoft

These day, champagne corks pop whenever somebody doesn't sue...

Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith has hailed the end of a Japanese investigation of the company as a victory, and in a piece of spinmeistering above and beyond the call, has claimed that as antitrust laws are tougher in Japan than in the US, Microsoft is particularly pleased by the decision. No doubt it's good news for …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 11:14
Ingram deal takes Red Hat Linux into Best Buy

Distie giant to sell 5.2 with 90 day installation support package

Red Hat Linux is going retail, with the announcement of a Red Hat authorised reseller programme and a deal with distribution giant Ingram Micro that will take Red Hat Linux 5.2 into major retail chains, including Best Buy and Electronics Boutique. Wider retail availability for Linux should cause furrowed brows in Redmond, and …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 11:15
DoJ deploys antitrust expert to prove Microsoft misuse of monopoly

Warren-Boulton looks like being a tough nut for Microsoft to crack

Yesterday the DoJ reached its central allegation: that Microsoft is a monopolist (not illegal in itself, but denied by Microsoft), and that Microsoft monopolises markets by exploiting its operating systems dominance. Its witness was Dr Frederick Warren-Boulton, a consultant economist and scholar with an impressive twelve-page CV …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 11:24
Apple ponders cross-platform future for MacOS

Mac apps and UI on Linux, Windows, Solaris, et al

Apple appears to be seriously considering taking the MacOS down a platform-independent path. Sources close to Apple's senior executives say they are exploring plans to extend the next major version of the Mac operating system, MacOS X, to a wide range of platforms, according to Mac-oriented Web site MacOS Rumors. Linux, Solaris …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 12:11
Column: It's a con

Watch out for that dodgy DRAM

Well, we have been saying it for ages, but now, the reality of the situation has hit the memory market. There is a shortage of memory, especially older technology products. In these lean times the "wide boys" hit the market with a passion. Normally most buyers would not touch their products with a barge pole, but market forces …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 12:15
A year ago: Comdex – Golden Egg Goose in steroid scare

Please put a penny in the old man's hat

There is no truth in the rumour that Softbank, Japanese owner of Comdex, Ziff Davis and Kingston, among others, is so worried about the reputation of the Japanese banking industry that it's changing its name to Safebank. But it looks like it's changing the name of Comdex, and although it claimed more visitors than ever to Vegas …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 12:24
Sega six-month sales, profits plummet

Corporate fingers are crossed that Dreamcast will recapture company's former glory

Sega's irritation over the delay it has experienced in shipping its next-generation Dreamcast games console became clearly understandable when the company announced it latest half-year results, yesterday. The figures were not inspiring. Net profits fell from Y5.03 billion for the same period last year to Y1.21 billion, a fall of …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 12:26
Pseudo-spook sues Qualcomm

KGB ruffled my feathers, says Sneaky Beak

Wireless phone company Qualcomm is being sued by one of its employees after he was arrested for spying in Russia last year. Qualcomm said it is resisting the charges. It has already rejected a demand for $1 million from lawyers acting on behalf the technician, Richard Bliss. Bliss, who still works for Qualcomm (though perhaps …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 12:31
TI to shut Portuguese fab

Over 700 jobs to go

Portugal is the latest country to suffer from the worldwide slump in DRAM after Texas Instruments said it would shut a fab plant there. The fab, jointly developed with Samsung Electronics, will close in March next year with over 700 jobs lost and TI will move production to Malaysia, a report in the Financial Times said. The …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 12:32
Lycos revenues up, loss narrows

And it reckons it's the second most-visited portal

Lycos has reported revenues of $24.8 million -- a 166 per cent jump on the same period last year -- but still posted a loss of $2.4 million for latest results, for Q1 1999. The loss, 6c per share before amortisation, one-time merger-related expenses and a gain on sale of equity securities, narrowly beat the 7c per share loss …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 12:41
Palm readies PalmOS for new markets

And it's looking for licensees to take it there

3Com subsidiary Palm Computing is lining up tailored versions of the Palm OS for different devices and applications, an acquisition programme, and a licensing drive for 1999. Janice Roberts, Palm's acting general manager, quoted on CNet, said the company is preparing not only an upgraded version of the Palm handheld organiser, …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 13:21
Corporate IT spending to slow down through 1999

Y2K fixes take cash from other IT projects

Corporate IT spending is expected to slow next year, according to a survey by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. Although hardware purchases will increase by between four and six per cent, this is less than the seven to nine per cent growth rates the industry has witnessed during recent years. However, of the Fortune 500 companies …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 13:25
Samsung to show off 4Gb DRAMs

And introduces .18 micron technology

South Korean DRAM giant Samsung is expected to announce early December that it is close to achieving the ability to manufacture 4Gb memories. And yesterday the company said that it had successfully created a .18µ (micron) process technology for 256Mb and 1Gb parts. Samsung is not expected to be able to produce 4Gb memories for …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 13:28
Brussels to build single cybermarket

No national restrictions on buying sprouts via the Net, demands EC

The European Commission wants to establish a single market on the Internet to help develop e-commerce within the EU. If accepted, the proposals would eliminate national restrictions on the use of electronic media, enabling people to trade freely. Online businesses would be allowed to offer their services anywhere in the EU as …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 13:33
Intel says there is shortage of Pentium IIs

And senior exec puts foot in mouth and says Intel has 'run out of chips'

Intel has confirmed there is a shortage of Pentium II processors, particularly of the 350MHz flavour. That transpired after Intel's chief technology officer Andy Bryant briefed Wall Street analysts yesterday and told them his company had "sold out of chips" for the fourth quarter. An Intel representative said: "There is a …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 14:01
Microsoft attacks ‘ivory tower’ expert

Antitrust guy don't know about software, says software outfit that don't know about antitrust

Microsoft yesterday produced a long press release attacking Frederick Warren-Boulton's testimony. But it was notable that there was no attempt to defend the company against the charge of monopolisation, beyond a blanket denial and a vague gesture towards the need to innovate to stay alive. Microsoft instead described W-B as an " …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 14:20
Consumers' Association calls for investigation into Dixons

Says UK customers suffer from Dixons' stranglehold

The Consumers' Association was yesterday calling for a government investigation into an alleged Dixons monopoly on PCs. (Earlier story: Dixons claims Intel losing budget PC market share) The association claims British customers suffer from Dixons grip over half the high street PC business, with the electrical retailer keeping …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 14:24
Qwest goes Dutch over European fibre IP network

US telco partners with the Netherlands' KPN in $700 million JV

US telecommunications company Qwest is to extend its high-capacity fibre-optic IP-based network to Europe through a joint venture with Dutch telco KPN. The two companies are investing $700 million in existing assets in the JV, which will be ownded equally and called KPNQwest. KPN will be providing its Europe-wide fibre backbone …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 15:05
Shiva locked with Shiva shareholders in class action

Shareholders say Shiva breached fiduciaries

Shiva today named its directors as defendants in an action that threatens to wreck its proposed acquisition by Intel. The class action claim, brought by Shiva’s shareholders, alleges breach of fiduciary duties in connection with the chip maker’s planned buyout. It seeks injunctive relief and unspecified damages. The action …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 15:36
Online retail making breakthrough, says report

In the US it'll be worth $108 billion by 2003. Why is it always 2003 these days anyway?

Forrester Research says that online retail sales are moving into an upward spiral that will take them to $108 billion in the US by 2003, when 40 million US households will be shopping online. The prediction is based on improving consumer acceptance of online shopping and on this year's data, which suggests that breakthrough …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 15:47
Toshiba's balance sheet carmine colour

Lost a load of dosh in six months

Electronics giant Toshiba yesterday went into the red on a consolidated basis for the first time in 23 years. The Japanese vendor said it lost ¥23.6 billion ($197 million) in the six months ended September 30, against last year’s ¥9.6 billion profit. Toshiba was another company to blame the Asian crisis for the poor results, …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 16:01
Gates' memory problems causing concern

So we're publishing some more transcript as an aide memoire for him...

The Gates deposition is a cause for concern in the Microsoft camp, and very interestingly, to Judge Jackson as well. Microsoft lawyers had asked for a conference in the judge's chambers, to complain about the repeated playing of short extracts rather than one long extract. Jackson said he "found it very effective to have Mr …

Business 20 Nov 1998, 16:37