The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

3rd December 1998 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

  • Mandelson spins like a gyroscope do

    Siemens everything not what it seems

    A little underground creature (The Lambton Worm) tells La Registra that the deal between Siemens and the Departure of Trade and Industry (DTI) including Chinese consortia could have fallen through already. Reports selectively leaked to The Sunday Times by some Lambton style worm could easily be as flakey as we thought when the …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 00:17

  • Two years ago: Register guddles trout while Intel goes fishin’

    And talking about the First Amendment...

    Intel has some interesting things afoot but surely one of the most intriguing is what to tell its end users and its OEMs about the Klamath and Deschute designs up-a-coming. Two British magazines were brave enough to stand up to threats emanating from Intel's legal department last month and published information about its plans …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 08:24

  • Urinate on Java? Nope, Bill doesn't know what this means…

    The latest Gates video transcripts reveal a Zen-like state of hands-off management. Apparently...

    The bailiff in the Washington courtroom was hard-pressed yesterday to keep order - again, the Gates video extracts had the audience rolling in the aisles. As usual, as soon as the extracts were finished, the tape was rushed out of court to the waiting TV vans to be relayed to the nation, except that some channels may have found …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 09:12

  • PC will take over the industry – Gates

    Largely unchastened Gates resumes world domination plans

    Bill Jekyll has been giving halting, forgetful and obfuscating testimony on video, but it seems Bill Hyde is still available for funerals, weddings and bar mitzvahs, if reports of a lunchtime gig yesterday are to be believed. Speaking at a lunch organised by the Manhattan Institute, which we understand is a libertarian …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 11:17

  • Diamond countersues US music industry association

    But proving a trade body's chartered actions equals an anititrust conspiracy will be tricky

    Diamond Multimedia is suing the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) over the latter's earlier attempt to sue Diamond. In the peripherals arena from which Diamond hails, suits against you, invariably citing patent infringement, are usually responded to with a countersuit of your own, and it looks like Diamond's …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 11:57

  • Alarm bells ring at Big Blue brekker

    It's a direct betrayal of the channel

    Just before Doug LeGrande, general manager of IBM's PSG Emea was about to stab his business partners in the front, the fire alarm went off at the Sherlock Holmes Hotel, Baker Street. Two fire engines duly turned up to put out the non-existent fire and we returned to the basement to watch LeGrande perform his act of virtual arson …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 12:23

  • Cutthroat LCD competition grinds to a halt

    Some prices rising

    The freefall in LCD prices is coming to an end, with forward contracts for the 12.1 inch notebook form factor rising for the first time. Prices for 14 and 15 inch monitors are stabilising, Stanford Resources analyst Sweta Dash revealed. Speaking at the firm's 15th annual Flat Information Displays conference, Dash noted that the …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 12:58

  • Fujitsu and Toshiba pool DRAM efforts

    The Japanese companies will co-operate on one gigabit development

    Fujitsu and Toshiba are to pool their efforts in DRAM development, the two companies announced in Japan earlier today. According to Japanese reports, the two companies will co-operate in DRAM development from one gigabit upwards, and also intend to cover next generation products, including flash memory. Earlier this year Fujitsu …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 12:59

  • Dell raises storage aims

    Re-badges other vendors' kit in attempt to make big noise in high end storage market

    Dell is inching its way into the high end storage market with the launch of three new products next week. The great Satan of direct vendors is increasing its storage portfolio on Monday by unveiling the PowerVault 200S JBOD, the PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller 2 and the PowerVault 130T tape library. As with previous storage …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 13:06

  • Bungs, browsers and bow-wows

    Staff offered incentives to stay at Netscape

    Netscape is wooing staff with cash and perks for their pets to stop them jumping ship before AOL's takeover comes into being. One of the bung-like incentives on offer is an extra month's pay, as the browser giant attempts to ward off industry poachers. AOL CEO Steve Case told Netscape's 2300 staff in Mountain View, California, …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 13:38

  • 3Com opens PalmOS to developers

    But it's still way, way off becoming Open Source

    3Com subsidiary Palm Computing announced yesterday at the Palm Worldwide Developers Conference (DevCon) that it will open the PalmOS source code to third-party developers. Details of how developers will gain access to the code and what they'll be allowed to do with it are scare, but that hasn't stopped many members of the Open …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 13:41

  • Dixons stunts DVD market, ex-Intelers claim

    We've got broad shoulders, company says

    Dixons has been accused of inflating prices -- again. This time, the high street retailer is being blamed for the lack of interest in DVD (digital versatile disc) technology because it is charging too much for titles. Bryan Welsh, MD of online retailer DVDplus, believes that manufacturers and retailers have a responsibility to …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 13:46

  • E-business gone sour for IT professional

    E's are bad, e's are bad...

    The Register is shocked to hear that a £60,000-a-year regional manager for an "unnamed" American computer company has been busted for dealing his own version of e-business. Gareth McGee, from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, narrowly escaped a jail sentence after he bought ten ecstasy tabs with intent to supply them to his wife and …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 14:07

  • 3Com unveils wireless-equipped Palm VII

    Connect to the Net wherever you are, says 3Com -- but expect to pay extra for the privilege.

    3Com has finally unveiled the next version of the Palm handheld computer, ending months of speculation over what it might come up with. The new machine is not, as anticipated earlier this year, the slimline device codename Razor, but a modified version of the current Palm III offering. The Palm VII -- what ever happened to IV, V …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 14:14

  • ICL balm soothes Memory Corp Easdaq knockback

    Memory for tills

    Memory Corporation has bounced back from last month's disappointing EASDAQ debut with a £3 million Europe-wide deal to supply memory upgrades for Epos machines built or serviced by ICL. The contract is described as a "breakthrough" deal for Memory Plus, the bespoke assembly subsidiary of Memory Corporation. Scottish-based Memory …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 14:55

  • Videologic loss shrinks 87 per cent

    PowerVR 2 royalties drive turnaround -- PowerVR 250 begins sampling

    Videologic has cut its loss by 87 per cent over the last six months. Reporting its first-half results, the company revealed it was only in the red to the tune of £378,000, down from £2.93 million in the same period last year. The news came as Videologic and partner NEC announced they were sampling the latest chip in the PowerVR …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 15:43

  • PointCast strategic investor becomes buyer

    Telcos, portals lined up as potential PointCast owners

    Internet push technology specialist PointCast is set to announce its acquisition by an unnamed Internet backbone provider, according to reports in the US media quoting "knowledgeable" industry sources. The revelation follows the company's announcement last week that it was close to signing a strategic investor (see PointCast …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 16:18

  • 3Com to buy EuPhonics

    Musical modems, anyone?

    3Com is to buy audio software developer EuPhonics for $8.3 million, it has emerged. According to 3Com officials, the company will use EuPhonics expertise to bring sophisticated sound processing technologies to its modem and network interface cards (NICs). The first products to include EuPhonics products will appear in Q2 1999, …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 16:58

  • Cars trek down from Samsung to Daewoo

    Means all sorts of unsorted deals, particularly on the telco front

    As part of a big deal in South Korea, Samsung will transfer its cars to Daewoo while the former will take over its electronics business. Who knows if telecomms are involved? Or President Kim's limo? Daewoo Electronics, a little known division of the major South Korean chaebol, is likely to allow Samsung to take its electronics …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 17:03

  • New top dog at Big Blue

    Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

    IBM has appointed Carl Symon as chairman and chief executive for the UK and Ireland. Symon is one of those trusty employees who has been at IBM since time immemorial (1969 to be precise). Starting his colourful career at Big Blue in Kingston, Jamaica, as a marketing representative, he moved through the ranks, working in the …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 17:17

  • MacOS 8.5.1 fixes bug Apple claimed wasn't a problem

    Hard drive, Sherlock glitches solved in update due this month

    Apple is preparing an update for MacOS 8.5, due to ship early next year, but possibly in line to appear later this month. The new release, MacOS 8.5.1 interestingly appears to solve a problem that Apple had previously denied existed, despite numerous complaints from users. Since the release of 8.5, many Mac owners have informed …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 17:24

  • French companies claim chip lead

    It were ever thus...

    ST Microelectronics (formerly SGS Thomsen) and the Bull Groupe said today they had made a breakthrough in chip technology. The surprise announcement (both companies are French) is related to the European Eureka project. The so-called "Deep Submicron CMOS Process with Advanced Computer Application" is part of an operation …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 17:26

  • Microsoft Europe to pay staff in Ecus

    Will start from Jan 1 next year

    An email sent to staff in Microsoft Europe has disclosed that they will be paid in Euro currency from the first of January next year. But that has raised questions about currency exchange, given that the United Kingdom (UK) has not yet settled a rate for exchange. The insider claimed that the email meant UK staff would lose out …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 17:28

  • Cabletron in dire straits

    Company warns of third-quarter loss -- analysts foretell doom

    Any hopes that Cabletron had picked itself up after a disappointing year has been squashed after the third biggest producer of computer networking equipment warned of a fiscal third-quarter loss. Cabletron said it would report a loss of around ten cents a share, before charges, despite earlier predictions that it was expected to …

    Business 3 Dec 1998, 17:37