16th December 1998 Archive

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A year ago: Mobile group spawns Java PDA

Power to the peephole, right on

British computer and mobile phone distributor Hugh Symons Group is to launch a PowerPC-based JavaOS mobile NC next year. Symons did the port of JavaOS to PowerPC for Motorola earlier this year, and has a long – if not yet entirely lucrative – association with the chip, having launched its own range of PPC workstations a few …

Business 16 Dec 1998, 08:26
Apple plans Linux-Mac launch for MacWorld

Could this be the killer combination? Yes, but...

Apple's new Macs, due for announcement next month at MacWorld, will include one that runs Linux, according to US paper Computer Retail Week. The report quotes unnamed retail sources as saying the new machine will not be a retail product, however. Apple launching a machine that runs Linux is not, however, news, and whatever it is …

Business 16 Dec 1998, 09:11
Great Software Satan sued for abusing mice

Little US company wants $1 billion from Microsoft

Microsoft is facing a $1 billion law suit from a US company for allegedly nicking a mouse design. According to US title Infoworld, Goldtouch has taken the action against Microsoft for alleged theft of trade secrets, fraud and patent infringement. The mouse design in question is the so-called ergonomic mouse, a curvy 1995 design …

Business 16 Dec 1998, 09:24
Dell boy starts VC venture

Wants to invest in startups

US reports said that Michael Dell, CEO of the mighty Dellistopheles Corporation, has plunged some of his loot into an outfit which funds startups. His VC company, says the Wall Street Journal, has funds of $1 billion and will concentrate on helping IT firms reach the fruition of all their desires. Mikey Dell has already used …

Business 16 Dec 1998, 09:34
Nazi past claims prompt Bertelsmann review

The AOL and Barnes & Noble partner has withdrawn its history, pending an investigation

German media giant Bertelsmann's corporate history is down for engineering, following claims by a Swiss magazine that the company had been less than honest about its business during the 1930s and 1940s. The Nazis closed the company down in 1943, but Die Weltwoche claims that Bertelsmann was the largest supplier of books for the …

Business 16 Dec 1998, 10:18
NeoMagic sues Trident

Trident disappointed as suit appears out of blue

NeoMagic has launched a legal action against Trident Microsystems, claiming infringement of its patents. But Trident has hit back and said the litigation was filed without any warning and will be defended vigorously. Frank Lin, president and CEO of Trident, was quoted in a public statement as saying: "It is disappointing that …

Business 16 Dec 1998, 10:19
Gates TV: Killer apps and hit teams remembered, sort of

Some good, and some very silly, stuff in the latest episode

In yesterday's video Bill Gates was confronted by one of his own emails referring to browsers as applications - as, in fact, "the latest confirmed killer apps." We also saw mail from Joachim Kempin, VP of OEM sales, showing a tough and legally interesting approach to IBM when IBM decided to sell Notes. He wrote in an email to …

Business 16 Dec 1998, 10:22
Are you sitting comfortably, then we'll begin

intro

Hats off to Cable and Wireless. Obviously unsure of the calibre of hack attending it's little soiree on e-commerce yesterday it included a little yellow book in its press pack entitled Internet Commerce for Dummies. Anyone accusing them of being just the teensy-weensiest bit patronising should have their mouths stuffed with deep …

Business 16 Dec 1998, 11:27
Who needs to watch paint dry?

intro

The editor of Newswatch -- which is now supplying yesterday's news today to shamed portal 2b after it was caught nabbing stories from Newsnow -- takes the whole idea of intellectual property very seriously. "I am very opposed to anyone ripping off another site's material," said John Cookson soberly. "As you know 2b have just …

Business 16 Dec 1998, 11:40
Secure Digital Music Initiative launched to kill MP3

Which, of course, it won't

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) yesterday formed the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) to define an alternative format for music downloaded via the Internet, as anticipated. The SDMI has a lot of weight behind it. In addition to the 'big five' music labels -- Sony Music, Time Warner, EMI, Bertelsmann …

Business 16 Dec 1998, 12:21
Careless Sage spreads virus

Who are you calling a stupid jerk?

Accountancy software firm Sage has found itself at the centre of allegations that its email system is indiscriminately distributing a macro virus hidden within attached documents. The problem occurs when Microsoft Word documents are sent out as email attachments by Sage staff. It labels recipients as big stupid jerks. Users both …

Business 16 Dec 1998, 12:28
Corel to release free Linux WordPerfect tomorrow

Retail package coming in two weeks', full WordPerfect Office to be released next spring

As Corel CEO Michael Cowpland promised last month (see Corel to offer Linux WordPerfect Office 2000 for free), the software vendor will this week release a gratis Linux version of its WordPerfect word processor. And next spring, Corel will release a Linux version of the full WordPerfect Office package. Following the standard …

Business 16 Dec 1998, 12:44
K6-2 set to break 20 mill mark in 1999

Sales figures say it all

AMD has claimed that it is well on the way to selling K6-2s into double figures next year. The rival to Intel’s throne claims that it sold 11 million members of the K6 chip family in 1998 and says an additional 10 million K6-2 chips will be sold by the middle of the first quarter of 1999. Actual sales figures for the K6 stand at …

Business 16 Dec 1998, 15:31
Dodgy CDs doing the rounds

Here be pirates, warns Microsoft

Microsoft today warned that up to 100,000 counterfeit software CDs are set to be circulated around the channel this week. The software giant said the fake Microsoft Office 97 Professional CDs threatened to flood the Christmas market at a retail cost of about £35 million in lost sales. The counterfeiters are claiming the CDs are …

Business 16 Dec 1998, 15:49
Forrester predicts online banking boom

E-banking to have 10 million users in Europe by 2002

Almost 10 million people in Europe will seek financial guidance via the Net by 2002. Banking applications will continue to dominate on-line financial services over the next five years. And on-line insurance sales will be held back by complicated products and powerful middlemen. But UK financial services companies are behind …

Business 16 Dec 1998, 16:27
Govt announces boost for e-commerce

But will £20 million be enough?

The government has pledged £20 million to establish an e-commerce resource centre on the Internet aimed at helping small businesses thrive in the booming digital economy. Cash is also being set aside to launch a national award to recognise excellence in digital business and develop a private sector-led initiative to deliver top …

Business 16 Dec 1998, 16:32
Apple gears up for Open Source MacOS

Or, how to turn Apple into NeXT after NeXT became Apple

Slowly but surely Steve Jobs' -- or perhaps his henchman, software VP Avie Tevanian, since Jobs is just interim CEO after all... -- plan for Apple begins to emerge. In short, Apple buys NeXT, Apple absorbs NeXT's technology and methodology, and... Apple becomes NeXT. NeXT essentially started out as Jobs' attempt to recreate …

Business 16 Dec 1998, 16:54
Microsoft bidding for publishing giant?

Are the stock markets recycling an old rumour, or is this serious?

Microsoft is once again rumoured to be on the trail of European publishing giant Reed Elsevier, whose shares kicked upwards this afternoon on expectation of a bid. The Anglo-Dutch giant was tipped as a possible Redmond acquisition earlier this year, but at that point nothing came of it. The rationale, such as it is, would be …

Business 16 Dec 1998, 17:24
IBM trials Palm-type device for home shopping

A test being run with Safeway means you never have to go out in Basingstoke again. Phew...

IBM and grocery chain Safeway are running a test of a consumer Palm Pilot-type device which allows you to produced personalised shopping lists. The device is used to scan in bar codes from groceries, and then the shopping list is sent to the store by attaching the machine to a phone line. The service is being piloted via Safeway …

Business 16 Dec 1998, 19:26
Gates memo suggests secret deals with Lotus boss

So what was it Jeff Papows didn't want people to know he was telling Bill?

In the transcript of yesterday's Bill Gates video deposition there's an intriguing exchange involving Lotus' Jeff Papows. Documentation shown to Gates during the video seems to suggest some kind of arrangement with Papows that wasn't necessarily the sort of thing his employers at IBM would favour. According to the memo, shown to …

Business 16 Dec 1998, 20:08