15th January 1999 Archive
Browse by publication date, or search the site.
-
MS gets into trouble with another judge
For some reason, he's been implying to the attorneys that their client is outrageously arrogant...
It's the week for judges to shout at Microsoft, apparently. The other day Judge Jackson told the company's lawyers off for talking out of class (Earlier Shout), and yesterday another one, in Seattle this time, told another set of lawyers to go and talk their client into behaving reasonably. This one is what you might call the …
Business 15 Jan 1999, 09:27
-
MS expert used Gates-inspired dodgy survey figures
Bill 'Enver Hoxha' Gates came up with the results, then they did the survey
Some of the testimony of Microsoft witness Richard Schmalensee is based on research whose findings appear to have been determined in advance by Bill Gates. In an 'ambush' email produced by DoJ attorney David Boies yesterday, Schmalensee was confronted by a Gates email which said: "It would HELP ME IMMENSELY to have a survey …
Business 15 Jan 1999, 09:33
-
A year ago: Katmai lands amongst pigeons
Great Stan tells journalists something
Intel has released details about its up-and-coming Katmai processor, so confirming facts written here in The Register some months ago. In a SURPRISE email from Intel, journalists were told that Katmai will include 70 new instructions including single instruction multiple data architecture for floating point data. What is this? …
Business 15 Jan 1999, 09:41
-
Microsoft leaks Merced details
So much for detente...
An unholy row is set to break out between Intel and Microsoft after the software company revealed details of the up-and-coming Merced architecture. According to reports in the newsgroup COMP.ARCH, Microsoft has "accidentally" issued some binaries on CDs they have sent to their ISVs. One of the pieces of code, dubbed IAS, IA-64( …
Business 15 Jan 1999, 10:04
-
MIPS chips dismisseth us
Oh dear, oh dear -- Cray platforms for artists...
Silicon Graphics made no bones about the fact it wanted shot of its MIPS division last year but now, according to reports, it's all got a little closer. The first fracture came the day Compaq's CEO Eckhard Pfeiffer arrived at a posh hotel in London the day the company took over Tandem. Some exec, obviously not press trained, …
Business 15 Jan 1999, 10:29
-
LG Semi strikes threatened
They're not happy workers in bunny suits
Reliable reports said that LG Semi workers are set to take strike action Monday next because of uncertainty over their future. At the end of last month, Hyundai and LG struck a reluctant deal, forced by the South Korean government, in which the former would take over the latter's semiconductor business. LG reacted in fury to the …
Business 15 Jan 1999, 10:43
-
Libel poses problems for UK ISP
But mirror sites still carry allegations
A Brighton-based Internet Service Provider (ISP) is defending its decision to close down a Web site after it was threatened with legal action by a Winchester-based property company. The ISP, K-Web, received a letter from solicitors acting on behalf of Oakleigh Property Management (OPM) Ltd which said that a site it was hosting …
Business 15 Jan 1999, 11:24
-
Electronic Arts recalls golf game invaded by South Parkers
Oh my god, they killed Tiger Woods. Bastards...
Games publisher Electronic Arts (EA) has demanded the return of all US copies of the Playstation version of its Tiger Woods 99 PGA Tour golf game. The reason? Officially, it's because the disc contains unauthorised material that's "objectionably to customers". In fact, the CD contains a digitised version of the Spirit of …
Business 15 Jan 1999, 12:34
-
Greek users strike over access charge hike
Beware of Greeks bearing GIFs...
Greece has become the latest target for Internet users angry at the high cost of dial-up access across Europe. Yesterday, Greek users held a 24-hour boycott of the Net, following similar strikes held in Germany, Spain, Portugal, the UK and France. The Greek action was specifically intended to protest against new tariffs, due to …
Business 15 Jan 1999, 13:08
-
Rambus profits, revenue up
But don't expect any further growth for a while, warns memory specialist
Rambus posted profits of $2 million on revenue of $9.4 million for its first quarter of fiscal 1999, yesterday. But while those figures represent growth of 25 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively, the company warned that it expects its earnings to remain static over the next two or three quarters. The company blamed a season …
Business 15 Jan 1999, 13:54
-
Integration sucks
Taylor Made
Moves are afoot to convince the world's PC assemblers that Intel's processors and Microsoft's operating systems are both now so powerful that they can dispense with 'obsolete' hardware like sound cards and modems. In raw news terms this isn't new -- Microsoft announced this direction at last year's winhec conference. The idea is …
Business 15 Jan 1999, 14:01
-
The King and IBM
IBM gives channel the Horn over handheld device -- shock!
The reign of the PC as king of the desktops has been challenged by one of its most faithful subjects, IBM. Big Blue apparently thinks the days of the desktop PC are numbered and that the loveable machines will have to abdicate in favour of newer portable and embedded devices. That's the opinion of IBM researcher Paul Horn, who …
Business 15 Jan 1999, 14:42
-
WH Smith sets sights on becoming portal
Recent acquisitions point in direction of online trading
The UK high street's biggest newsagent, WH Smith, refused to confirm today whether its decision to buy new-media company Helicon Publishing Group was part of a wider strategy to create a new UK portal around its Internet Bookshop Web site. News of the £5.6 million acquisition -- along with a report that the newsagent is …
Business 15 Jan 1999, 14:59
-
Freeserve – the goose that laid Dixons' golden egg
Floating the world's fastest-growing ISP would bring huge rewards
Dixons may cash in on the success of Freeserve -- the world's fastest growing Internet Service Provider -- amid analyst reports that it could be worth a staggering £886 million. That's not bad progress for a service that didn't even exist 16 weeks ago. But as US investors turn their attentions to the UK where they feel Net …
Business 15 Jan 1999, 15:07
-
Microsoft denies NT failed crypto tests
But some form of compliant module appears to be in the works anyway...
Microsoft has hotly denied claims that Windows NT 4.0 has failed US government cryptography tests (see earlier story), and has posted a response on the NTbugtraq mailing list. According to Microsoft, the module submitted for evaluation has not yet undergone final testing, and -- QED -- cannot have failed. The Microsoft riposte …
Business 15 Jan 1999, 15:23
-
France to end severe encryption restrictions
Liberte, egalite, fraternite... cryptologie
The French government looks set to dramatically open up its cryptography laws and allow Gallic computer users to work with encryption technology with whatever level of security they want. According to a report in the French online publication Liberation, French minister for the economy and finance, Domenica Strauss-Khan, has …
Business 15 Jan 1999, 15:43
-
Xmas e-commerce turned out to be a turkey after all
UK spending online barely registers on the radar. No surprises there then...
Bargain hunters spent £250,000 on Christmas presents at AOL's UK shop during the last quarter, the online service provider has revealed. It may be just peanuts in the great scheme of things -- especially compared to all the e-shopping hype generated across the pond -- but at least AOL has got the stomach to publish the figures. …
Business 15 Jan 1999, 15:53
-
Apple caught charging crafty FireWire fee
But at just $1 a port, what really is the fuss all about?
Apple's decision to demand licence fees from PC, peripherals and consumer electronics companies for the use of the FireWire connectivity standard, has drawn much criticism. Unfortunately, there's been comensurate little understanding shown of the way this kind of thing actually works. Apple, of course, devised the technology in …
Business 15 Jan 1999, 16:34
-
AMD screws up on lithography
Expensive $50 million mistake
The biggest surprise in AMD's results earlier this week was the effect of a problem with high speed K6-2s which went unnoticed by everybody apart from US chip title Electronics Buyers' News. Well done those people. We should have noticed it -- but were affected by Sydney A/B flu. Don't try this brand of flu yourself, it's …
Business 15 Jan 1999, 17:50
-
1400 Compaq-DEC jobs disapparu in France
Ooh la la
Reports reached The Register earlier this week that the final score in the DEC carnage in La Belle France amounted to 1,400 jobs. The jobs that went were mainly Digital jobs, we are given to understand, but the pattern does vary across Europe. For example, all sorts of people we used to know at Compaq UK seem to have disappeared …
Business 15 Jan 1999, 17:57
