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30th November 1998 Archive

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  • GEC and Alcatel plan £30 billion merger

    They've some things in common, but it looks a remarkably bad fit

    The UK's General Electric Company (GEC) and France's Alcatel are considering a £30 billion merger, according to a report in yesterday's Sunday Times. Merger negotiations have come out of partnership talks the companies have had over the past few months, according to the report. But although the two companies have a certain …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 07:47

  • Chinese sabres rattle Taiwan again

    Red China won’t rule out bloodshed - Fuwa

    In a parting shot before he left Tokyo on Friday, Chinese communist president Jiang Zemin said his country was willing to use force to stop Taiwan’s independence. The Japan Times reported that he had met the chairman of the Japanese communist party, Tetsuzo Fuwa, and had told him that the island of Taiwan was not in the same …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 07:55

  • A year ago: Microsoft spells it out to the judge

    All very DoJy indeed

    Last Friday, Microsoft attorney Richard Urowsky neatly summed-up the company's case for the DoJ action hearing in Columbia district court, and from what he said it's now crystal clear where the battle-lines lie. Microsoft contends that the rider it had added to the 1995 consent decree allowing it to integrate features into the …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 08:15

  • French prepare further France Telecom sell-off

    More cash for the deficit, and a few billion for FT too

    The French government is selling another 13 per cent of France Telecom, bringing its holding down to around 62 per cent. This assumes that the 2 per cent being bought by Deutsche Telekom for 8 billion francs will not be controlled in effect by France Telecom, because - surprise, surprise - FT is buying a share of DT for, you …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 10:18

  • How Microsoft backed down in the face of Japanese FTC

    Microsoft's 'victory' was won through the abandonment of a range of dodgy activities

    Last week we elaborated on Microsoft's interesting way of reporting how it had "won" its antitrust battle in Japan. (Earlier story) We now have the full text of the Japan Fair Trade Commission decision, which makes interesting reading. The JFTC found that since March 1995, Microsoft Japan "unjustly has tied its word processor …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 10:25

  • Original Celeron bites dust

    And so do PII 233, 266 and 300, too

    The original Celeron is discontinued, Intel confirmed today. The processor, launched in spring this year, gave way to later revisions of the brand name with a faster Mendocino core. And Intel has also decided to discontinue the PII/233, the PII/266 and the PII/300. It will continue to supply the processors to those with existing …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 10:35

  • Micron signs Microtronica in UK

    Will concentrate on 64Mbit SDRAM parts

    Microtronica is to distribute Micron products in the UK and Ireland. Les Billing, MD of the company, owned by Arrow Computer Products, claimed that Micron's products were "among the first" to be approved for new designs. "Micron is a close partner of Intel in the specification of devices for the latest motherboards and chipsets …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 10:58

  • Microsoft is world's second most-respected company

    Mind you, US CEOs and the IT business don't seem totally convinced

    Microsoft achieves a respectable second place in today's Financial Times survey of the world's most respected companies. But curiously, the closer the respondents come to the company, the worse Microsoft seems to do. According to the survey, which was carried out by Price Waterhouse Coopers, Microsoft scored half the votes of …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 11:15

  • Respect 2: Gates and Lucky Luciano share Time mag honours

    Fragrance, software and sub machine guns figure in weird 'most influential builders' list

    Are there no limits to the honours and awards being placed on the young -- well, perhaps middle-aged -- shoulders of William Henry Gates III? Time Magazine and CBS News have decide that Gates is one of the titans or "most influential builders" of the century, but the company he keeps in the list may disappoint him. There's a …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 11:20

  • Eleven DRAM vendors pledge support for DDR

    But Direct Rambus likely to win the day

    Eleven DRAM manufacturers have pledged their support for the DDR (double data rate) SDRAM standard, despite the rise and rise of Direct Rambus. Fujitsu, Hitachi, Hyundai, Big Blue, LG, Micron, Mitsubishi, NEC, Samsung, Siemens and Toshiba all said they would use the standard, which was developed by the Joint Electronic Device …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 11:30

  • Oasis' record label plans pay-per-download music sales

    But will Sony Music let it?

    UK independent record company Creation, best known as Oasis' label, is to begin distributing music via the Internet next year, reports the Financial Times. The move follows the announcement by IBM that it is working in the US with five of the world's leading labels to develop a Web-based music distribution system (see Major …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 11:36

  • Intel, VIA settle chipset row

    Will now produce parts under licence

    Intel and VIA have settled their dispute over chipsets for the Pentium II family, it was confirmed today. Under the terms of the agreement, Intel will receive royalties from the Taiwanese company and will have rights to build its Apollo chipset. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Earlier this year, Intel raised …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 11:48

  • NatSemi launches single scanner chip

    Will integrate 20 functions for colour scanning

    NatSemi will today announce it has succeeded in integrating around 20 scanner functions on a single chip. The LM9830, claimed NatSemi, includes all the functions of a colour scanner, including an analogue front end, sensor clock generation, microstepping motor control, data buffering and parallel port on one IC. NatSemi's CEO, …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 11:58

  • Infoseek, Netscape rearrange relationship

    Portal reduces dependency on Netcenter for visitors

    Netscape and Infoseek have renegotiated their agreement over the extent to which the portal's search engine is promoted in Netscape's own Internet access point, Netcenter. Netcenter allows users to search the Web using a variety of the leading search engines and Net directories, including Infoseek, Lycos, Excite and Alta Vista. …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 12:06

  • Lou the Boots sells lotsa shares

    We got the info from intimate contacts...

    Lou's famous electronic boots, which don't work unless you are in very close proximity to Lou himself, i.e. snogging him, tell us that he has flogged off over 400,000 of his valuable $150 shares in the past month or so. There are rumours that IBM stock will split soon...if so, why he done that?

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 12:09

  • Palm delays release of next-generation handheld

    Palm developers conference won't now see first demo of Razor/Palm IV

    3Com appears to have delayed the next version of the Palm organiser, codenamed Razor. Instead of a pre-Christmas release, as originally planned, the new machine will ship sometime next year. Information leaking out regarding the preparations for the December Palm developers conference suggest that the new device will not be …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 13:27

  • Plastic industry attracts DTI support from Right and Left

    Emitting plastics like there's no tomorrow, except in Centre

    Plastics company CDT managed to attract serious DTI attention today. Current DTI minister Peter 'I'm only here for the peer' Mandelson shook hands with previous DTI minister now Lord Young of Graffham, as all of them looked at a £1.5 million "clean room". The Lord of Graffham was a DTI minister under the auspices of Baroness ( …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 15:42

  • Con artist sent down for scamming US ISPs, telcos

    The penalty: 30 years in chokey and $1.5 million fine

    A California con artist has pleaded guilty to cheating ISPs and telephone companies out of $9 million in a toll-free number scam. Fraudster Gregory Evans operated ICB Telecommunications, also known as Connect America, and signed up for 125 toll-free '800' numbers. Net service providers bought the lines, but were left facing …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 15:43

  • PointCast launches UK, German editions

    British Telecom backs troubled push provider in Britain

    Troubled push provider PointCast has launched a UK versions of its Internet broadcasting system with the backing of British Telecom. It has also announced a German version of the service. BT will sponsor the service and act as the local broadcaster. It will also nab all the highest-profile advertising slots, including multimedia …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 16:13

  • British Telecom threatened with two cyberstrikes

    Two groups of militant Net users ramp up campaigns to cut phone charges

    Internet users in the UK are being urged to down modems and take part in a pan-European cyberstrike next year, even as they are also being asked separately to desist from access the Net in December. The strike, which could be the largest of its kind if it goes ahead, will seek fairer Internet charging by telecoms operators in EU …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 16:17

  • Software piracy police bust AOL UK

    It's a fair cop, says Netscape owner -- we'll come quietly

    Red-faced executives at AOL's London offices have been busted for using illegal software after the industry enforcer, the Business Software Alliance (BSA), moved in after an anonymous tip-off. AOL Bertelsmann Online -- the UK arm of AOL, jointly funded by German media giant Bertelsmann -- was caught red-handed using unlicensed …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 16:29

  • Solar cells to power Iridium phones and more

    Special to The Register: Japanese take great leap forward

    Solar cells are on the verge of becoming economical enough to be used in both commercial and domestic environments. And panels that will power satellite phones and notebooks are in production. But the economies of scale are such that it may be two or three years before manufacturers, including Siemens and Japanese company …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 16:37

  • Ideal Hardware pinches Penny

    Ex-Omni Solutions MD must pay company's debts or be declared bankrupt

    Former Penny & Evans MD, Mike Penny, will be forced to pay his debts via an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) thanks to an Ideal Hardware bankruptcy petition over his latest channel debts. The IVA request came at Ideal's petition hearing for Penny's bankruptcy following his personal guarantee for the £30,000 owed by his …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 16:40

  • Touchstone shows strong results after flotation

    Software maintenance revenue boost leads sales growth

    Touchstone Group, the specialist accountancy software reseller, has reported strong figures since its flotation. The results for the six months ended 30 September showed pre-tax profits at £460,000, compared to the previous full year profit of £841,000. The Hertfordshire-based reseller's turnover was £3.5 million, up 17 per cent …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 16:45

  • Updated: Chip cloner AMD sort of responds to The Register pressure

    Faces flak from Software Satan, however

    AMD has decided to take a stance against Microsoft and give away the Win95 patch that cured the crippling of its K6-2 chips after The Register revealed it was frit of the software company. Two weeks after we wrote the story, it started appearing on American wires too, but without attribution to us. But now the Great Satan of …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 17:02

  • Samsung ramps up third-gen. Alpha production

    1999 CPU sales target set at $100 million, as company reduces dependency on memory sales

    Samsung is about to begin volume shipments of the latest version of the Alpha processor. The company added that it expects to make $100 million in sales of the new CPU throughout 1999. The chip will also form the mainstay of the companies non-memory semiconductor business, and will spearhead Samsung's strategy to reduce its …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 17:39

  • Gateway contract shows OEMs have choice, says Microsoft

    But Gateway's Windows OEM contract has made a remarkable transition from minor breakthrough to key evidence...

    In court today Microsoft attorney Michael Lacovara produced his client's distribution agreement with Gateway as evidence that OEMs have a choice when it comes to the browsers they want to bundle. Whether this can be termed remarkable cheek, remarkable ignorance, or both, is up to you and the judge to decide. Just over a week …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 21:26

  • Acorn mulls RiscOS spin-out

    Back at the negotiating table

    What the hell is a "limited press release"? In Acorn's case it's an announcement concerning plans for Risc OS 4 that: a) doesn't get sent to the press b) is nowhere to be found on its web site -- or buried very, very deep c) takes five days to get posted on Acorn Cybervillage, Stuart Halliday's fine Web site and the fount of all …

    Business 30 Nov 1998, 23:15