27th November 1998 Archive
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Court documents reveal MS moves to lock-in OEMs, users
Chase wanted 'proprietary hook' to keep MS sign-up in the boot sequence
Another batch of documents has been released by the DoJ over the past few days. Here are some highlights. The document reference numbers are given in each case -- GX means government exhibit, followed by the number. Boot-up Sequence Microsoft VP Brad Chase wanted a "proprietary hook" (aka an undisclosed call) in Windows that …
Business 27 Nov 1998, 08:42
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DoJ data reveals Intel and Microsoft's slices of PC cake
The amount of money Microsoft and Intel get per PC has been increasing -- and even more so as a percentage of price
A document recently released by the court [GX439] shows that both Microsoft and Intel have been steadily getting a higher and higher proportion of the cost of a system. Microsoft's operating system cost has increased 2.6 times, and Intel's share of systems' cost increased 2.2 times, over the period 1990 to 1996. Microsoft must …
Business 27 Nov 1998, 10:12
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Siemens preaches insurrection with Trekkie PC
Left ear, right ear and final frontier
Tesco's exclusive Christmas PC launch with Siemens is targeting both old time Trekkies and the new generation. The supermarket giant will sell Star Trek themed computers, a limited Siemens edition boasting the first infra-red head-activated joystick. In anticipation of Paramount Pictures' Star Trek: Insurrection, Siemens has …
Business 27 Nov 1998, 10:20
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Share sales by MS high command
A million here, a billion there. But there's plenty more where that came from...
November Securities and Exchange Commission reports for Microsoft share trading show that Bill Gates sold $1.7 billion of Microsoft shares last month. The selling dates were in late October, after the trial had commenced. The first Gates videotape extract was played in court on 2 November, so the sale was not an emotional …
Business 27 Nov 1998, 10:52
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Korean companies see exports rising through slump
But local economic conditions will remain bad into 2001
Korea's electronics industry will slowly dig itself out of the mire next year, against a background of continued domestic slump, says the Electronics Industry of Korea. The EIA says exports will grow 8.2 per cent in 1999, although the Korean economy itself isn't expected to start turning around until the middle of the year. …
Business 27 Nov 1998, 11:36
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Psion founder steps back, appoints CEO
Potter now to concentrate on strategic development
Psion founder David Potter, currently company chairman and CEO, is to hand over the latter role to a certain David Levin from 22 February. Levin is currently COO of Euromoney Publications, which he joined as group financial director in 1994. According to Psion, Potter now intends to concentrate on strategic development, leaving …
Business 27 Nov 1998, 11:54
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Intuit Q1 loss widens
But it's just the time of year, says Quicken developer
Personal finance software developer Intuit, producer of the Quicken family of products, has posted a net loss of $49.2 million for its Q1 results. Sales for the quarter, ended 31 October, were $112 million, an increase of 17 per cent on the same period a year ago. Intuit blamed the loss, which included a goodwill charge of $22.8 …
Business 27 Nov 1998, 12:09
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Compel guns for Sun
Franchise worth tens of millions
Compel has announced an agreement with Sun Microsystems that threatens existing Sun dealers' position in the mid-range hardware arena. Hamilton Systems, Compel Group's subsidiary mid-range reseller, will resell and rent Sun systems and associated services in a multi-million pound deal. UK-based Compel yesterday issued a …
Business 27 Nov 1998, 13:20
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AOL speaks out on Mozilla support
CEO Case's statements seem to reiterate status quo
AOL CEO Steve Case has made his first official statement on the future of Mozilla, the open source browser project set up by Netscape earlier this year. According to Eric S Raymond, president of the Open Source Initiative (OSI), a self-appointed body that seeks to promote open source software, who claims to have been in …
Business 27 Nov 1998, 16:21
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Viglen shareholders jump for Sugar offer
They don't buy undervalued argument
Viglen Technology's shareholders have ignored executive chairman Alan Sugar and accepted his bid to buy them out of the company. Shareholders accounting for 22 per cent of the company accepted the purportedly reluctant takeover bid of Sugar's wholly-owned holding company, Amshold. Sugar's 24p per share offer for the PC builder …
Business 27 Nov 1998, 16:45
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Move over IMF, World Bank – here comes Larry Ellison
Oracle loans Moscow $360 million to buy Oracle software
Never let it be said Larry Ellison doesn't think big. Oracle is to lend ailing city Moscow $360 million to allow them to build a unified computer network, Russian daily newspaper Izvestiya has reported. The system will be based on Oracle software -- clearly, this is a 'here's the money to buy our software' deal, reminiscent of …
Business 27 Nov 1998, 17:06
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Sega issues ‘Dreamcast bonds’ to fund console launch
The name's Bond... Dreamcast Bond
Sega has come up with a curious method of financing the launch of its next-generation video games console, Dreamcast -- it is selling what it calls 'Dreamcast bonds'. The Japanese company today issued Y10 billion ($81 million) of bonds, each with a three-year term and a 2.15 per cent rate. Every bond comes with a Y500 card that …
Business 27 Nov 1998, 17:08
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Ericsson support fails to make contact
Yes, there's a defect, yes, we'll fix it - but no, we didn't tell our channels about it
In September Ericsson confessed to an embarrassing problem with its top-of-the-range SH888 handset. The defects, the company said, had related to early production models "mainly in the Swedish market," and would be dealt with "at no cost to the customer." No doubt this was the case in Sweden, but defective units would appear to …
Business 27 Nov 1998, 18:15
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Kyocera rejigs printers with Mita mate
Channels will be extended
Kyocera is to extend its Ecosys printer brand by licensing the products to OEMs. But Koji Seki, director of the Japanese firm's printer business and now trustee of the bankrupt Mita group, claimed the move will not weaken the Ecosys brand. He said that Kyocera wanted to penetrate markets where it currently has no presence and …
Business 27 Nov 1998, 18:19
