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6th January 1999 Archive

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  • Memory man Gates doesn't understand Intuit restrictions

    In what is possibly his farewell video, Bill is well up to the mark, as usual

    In what is probably the last extract from his videotaped deposition, Bill Gates was as obstructive, petulant and 'forgetful' as usual. Unless he has a medical condition that is completely unknown, it is inconceivable that he could be as ignorant of significant developments for Microsoft as he purports to be. Any normal company …

    Business 6 Jan 1999, 10:10

  • Happy Old Year

    intro

    The Register was thrilled to see that this morning’s post brought with it 1999’s first issue of PC Dealer, the weekly channel newspaper. But as soon as we had wrestled off the cellophane wrapper we began to feel slightly uneasy. "6 January 1998" it said on the front page. Hmm, funny old thing deja vu. So, we’ve got to go through …

    Business 6 Jan 1999, 10:58

  • British retailers wasting e-commerce opportunities

    No sign of virtual high street

    British retailers aren’t doing enough to set up shop on the Internet and are threatening the development of e-commerce in the UK. Unless they start developing Web sites and building similar levels of brand loyalty on the Web, as they have on the high street, they're in danger of missing out on a market that could be worth £3.1 …

    Business 6 Jan 1999, 11:49

  • UK consumers still paying too much for PCs

    Don't blame us, say manufacturers

    Higher taxation and stricter consumer laws are the excuses given by PC manufacturers accused of over-charging UK consumers. These comments come from, among others, Compaq in response to a study by ComputerActive magazine which found UK customers often paid much more for PCs, handheld computers and printers. The ComputerActive …

    Business 6 Jan 1999, 12:03

  • Tech site reveals SGI's new workstations

    And they seem to be pretty groovy, too...

    Despite SGI's best efforts, full details of the workstations the company intends to launch on Monday have finally escaped, and the Ars Technica site has published an ecstatic review. The machines, the Visual Workstation 320 and 540, will come in at under $4,000 and - according to Ars Technica - do a good job of translating SGI …

    Business 6 Jan 1999, 12:44

  • Compaq to go product mad in three weeks

    New name for D/UX, new lamps for old, StorageWorks et al

    Compaq is preparing for a product blitz at the beginning of February and will roll out a new name for Digital Unix on the first of the month. But, at the same time, Compaq UK said it was unlikely to roll out its 21264 Alpha workstations, dubbed the X-Treme Performance XP 1000 series, until much later this quarter Compaq's big …

    Business 6 Jan 1999, 13:18

  • Gates fingered as running predatory strategy

    Final prosecution witness attempts to bring it all back home

    The DoJ's final witness, MIT economist Franklin Fisher, has produced a blockbuster 'summing up' piece of testimony which endeavours to show clearly first that Microsoft is a monopoly which engages in predatory conduct, and second that this conduct is driven by Bill Gates, not 'loose cannon' subordinates. In written testimony …

    Business 6 Jan 1999, 14:33

  • ‘Phone Bug’ could cripple UK businesses

    Only one in 10 ready for change

    An independent IT consultancy is warning firms that they need to start planning now -- or face severe disruption -- when the "The Big Number" telephone changes come into effect in June. Hampshire-based Commslogic says that companies failing to take notice of the "phone bug", as senior consultant Jonathan Tucker puts it, face …

    Business 6 Jan 1999, 14:50

  • Shell shocked by eco break-in

    Web terrorists to face injunction

    Protesters who broke into Shell's London headquarters and barricaded themselves inside executives' offices continued to load images and text onto their Web site even after police cut power and phone lines to the eco-warriors. Using a digital camera, laptop computer and portable phone, the thirteen protesters kept a unique record …

    Business 6 Jan 1999, 15:03

  • Live liposuction on the Web

    Lose those fatty deposits while millions watch agog

    If you're quick, you should be just in time to catch a 34 year old mother of two having liposuction, live on the Web. Kim Dang of Denver, Colorado will be having fat removed from her stomach, legs and buttocks live on onlinesurgery.com at 7.30am Pacific Standard Time today. Kim was the lucky winner selected from hundreds of …

    Business 6 Jan 1999, 15:03

  • Games pirates get slapped wrists

    Industry says: 'Make them walk the plank'

    Manufacturers and industry bodies were in uproar today after a Sheffield gang of software pirates was let off the hook when trading standards ran out of cash to prosecute. £1 million worth of counterfeit CD computer games, some of which were believed to be for Sony Playstations, were seized last October along with £30,000 of …

    Business 6 Jan 1999, 15:54

  • In brief: BSG gets exclusive deal

    Bolsters links into finance houses

    SRA International has struck a deal with London-based reseller Business Systems Group (BSG) to be the exclusive reseller of its market-leading Assentor software. BSG will offer Assentor to UK-based financial services firms to use as part of their compliance review process, screening and archiving broker's incoming and outgoing …

    Business 6 Jan 1999, 15:58

  • $50,000 pay out for lucky Net gambler

    Bandit player says thanks a slot

    A high roller on a lucky streak has won $50,000 on a digital slot machine at a Web casino. Details about the cybergambler are being kept secret and all that's known is that he (or she) won the jackpot over the New Year. The owner of the GalaxiWorld casino (www.galaxiworld.com) -- based in the West Indies -- admitted that he's …

    Business 6 Jan 1999, 16:35

  • In brief: Name change for Micro Focus

    Acquisition brings change of identity

    US/UK software developer, Micro Focus, is changing its name to Merant. The proposed name change will be voted on at a shareholders’ meeting on 4 February. The company said that it wants to shed the old name to reflect the change in its focus, in the wake of its £322 million acquisition of Intersolv back in June. ®

    Business 6 Jan 1999, 17:04

  • Software Stan confirms Office 2000 prices

    Free upgrades on offer for new Office 97 purchases

    Microsoft has set pricing for Office 2000, due to ship during the second quarter of 1999, along with free upgrades to encourage new year sales. The software giant said Office 2000 Professional, Standard and Small Business suites would be consistent with Office 97 prices. And punters who buy Office 97 between January 1 and the …

    Business 6 Jan 1999, 17:07

  • This one is definitely not worth writing Dome about

    intro

    WebCams -- how bad can they get? The BBC -- Gawd bless 'er -- has finally lost it. After being criticised for blowing half a million pounds on its new hot air balloon TV trailers, and blasted for a £250,000 spending spree on a dandelion logo to represent its Millennium series of programmes, it's now decided to install a DomeCam …

    Business 6 Jan 1999, 17:10

  • Pressure to adopt euro begins

    First of many US firms tells customers to be euro ready

    Tektronix has said it will encourage all European business transactions to be conducted in the euro by 1 June, making it one of the first US computer companies to grasp the new currency nettle. The Oregan-based printing and networking manufacturer offered the option of doing business in euros from the 4 January changeover date. …

    Business 6 Jan 1999, 17:30

  • Apple drops iMac pricing restrictions

    Resellers win right to charge what they like for consumer Mac

    Apple is understood to have ended the restrictions is places on the prices US retailers can charge for iMacs. According to US newswire TechWeb, citing a source at MacWorld Expo in San Francisco, Apple has lifted its Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) scheme, allowing retailers to charge whatever they like for the consumer computer. …

    Business 6 Jan 1999, 20:19

  • AppleStore opens throughout Europe

    Euro adopted as standard currency by Dell wannabe

    Apple is expanding its Web-based build-to-order AppleStore across Europe. Already offering a Dell-style service to UK, Irish and Swedish customers, AppleStore will this week open its doors to buyers in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Holland and Belgium. The company will also be pricing computers in Euros, though British buyers …

    Business 6 Jan 1999, 20:21

  • Palm at fives and sevens over release schedule

    Will the successor to the Palm III be the Palm VII or the Palm V?

    Palm Computing seems just as confused about its product release schedule as the rest of us, if comments from the company's European general manager, Neville Street, are to be believed. According to Street, quoted on a UK newswire, the next version of the Palm handheld organiser to be released in Europe will be the Palm V, which …

    Business 6 Jan 1999, 20:23

  • Latest on Compaq Europe – talks go on

    French and Germans resisting cuts

    As we went to press late today, we heard more about the putative redundancies at Compaq France and Germany, and more, too about revised Ts&Cs worldwide. A representative phoned The Register and told us that the works councils in Germany and France were actively resisting the layoffs. France and Germany have different (better?) …

    Business 6 Jan 1999, 23:14

  • Updated: Silicon threatening planet – official

    Costs many, many gallons for one wafer

    Factual details have emerged about the high cost of producing a single eight inch wafer of silicon -- and it's bad news for the planet. According to Web site The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, it takes many thousands of gallons of water for any fabrication plant to produce a single eight inch wafer. It estimates nearly 3,000 …

    Business 6 Jan 1999, 23:29