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20th January 1999 Archive

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  • Microsoft earnings hit new records – keep it quiet though

    Staggeringly good numbers, but we don't want the wrong people getting staggered...

    Microsoft last night reported record results for its second quarter, but the announcement was more subdued than for any previous quarter. Even 11 hours after the announcement, there was no press release via PRNewswire, as usually happens, and no available recording of the financial analysts conference call with CFO Greg Maffei. …

    Business 20 Jan 1999, 09:34

  • Intel apologises to Dixons for high price jibe

    But UK retailer still after pound of Fujitsu's flesh

    The Great Stan of Chips has apologised to Dixons after its CEO, Craig Barrett, accused the UK high street giant of selling PCs at inflated prices. A source at Dixons is reported to have said: "We've actually received a letter of apology from Intel and we're satisfied with that." Barrett's comments about "ludicrous" pricing were …

    Business 20 Jan 1999, 11:28

  • 3Com and MS team to build NT into networking gear

    And the alliance seems to put the pair squarely in competition with Intel

    Microsoft has won 3Com backing for its embedded NT strategy, with the announcement yesterday of a broad-ranging alliance between the two companies. 3Com is to open a development centre near Microsoft’s Redmond HQ, and the companies propose a range of converged products incorporating 3Com and Microsoft NT/Windows 2000 technology …

    Business 20 Jan 1999, 11:57

  • Research into cost of Web access shown to be wrong

    Six month old survey fails to take world's fastest growing ISP into account -- whoops!

    Datamonitor, which claims to be one of the largest IT and communications research firms in Europe, has fallen victim to the sheer pace of the Internet and to its own sluggishness at publishing reports. Yesterday, the Financial Times led the business and IT press in a wave of coverage that swallowed Datamonitor's research hook, …

    Business 20 Jan 1999, 12:08

  • Linux drives growth of server OS market

    And that probably explains why everyone's buying fewer PC servers

    The 1998 PC server market was driven not by hardware but by software, according to the latest data from market research company IDC. While the hardware side of the business slowed down considerably -- revenue growth hit just eight per cent, well down on 1997's 42 per cent and 1996's 50 per cent -- sales of server operating …

    Business 20 Jan 1999, 12:30

  • Citrix and ASPs to build on Microsoft licensing changes

    Now MS allows concurrent use across the Web, they're making their move

    Citrix and its business partners are poised to benefit from Microsoft’s revision of Windows NT Terminal Server pricing earlier this week (Earlier Story). Terminal Server is based on Citrix technology, and the new Microsoft licensing structure will allow Citrix’s MetFrame product to be rolled out across the Web. The key change …

    Business 20 Jan 1999, 12:39

  • Sun signs Sony, Philips to bring Jini into the home

    Home networking alliance planned to score one over rival Microsoft offering

    Ahead of next week's official launch of its Java-based Jini networking technology, Sun yesterday announced partnerships with Sony and Philips to bring the technology into the home networking arena. The agreement centres on establishing a development effort to allow Jini devices to communicate with HAVi, a Philips-devised …

    Business 20 Jan 1999, 13:35

  • Online organiser Jumps at chance to make your life less hectic

    Latest in long line claims to be unique -- they all are, aren't they?

    An online personal organiser complete with diary, e-mail and address book has been launched by Internet start-up Jump Networks. The free service is designed to make busy lives less hectic and can be accessed by anyone with a connection to the Internet. Jump! is being billed as the only free and completely connected calendar, …

    Business 20 Jan 1999, 14:44

  • IBM to offer Rambus alternative

    Our customers want PC133, so we'll ship it, says Big Blue

    Following yesterday's reports that a number of chip-set vendors, including VIA, Acer and SIS, are backing the PC133 SDRAM specification as a short-term alternative to Rambus' Direct DRAM (see Chip-set vendors prepare for Rambus shortage), it has emerged that IBM will be producing 133MHz SDRAM memory products. According to US …

    Business 20 Jan 1999, 14:56

  • Online jobs site looking to boost share of market

    One of few Web ventures claiming to be making money

    UK recruitment Web site Taps.com has advertised more than 50,000 jobs since June 1996 and the company is currently generating revenues of more than a million pounds a year, the company has claimed. Backed by a consortium of companies including Harvey Nash, TCS Advertising, Delphi, Hyperlink and Robert Walters, the site is …

    Business 20 Jan 1999, 14:57

  • Western Digital to cut 750 jobs

    Q2 loss forces company to extend cost-cutting scheme with plant closure

    Storage specialist Western Digital is to axe 750 jobs, nearly six per cent of its worldwide workforce, after announcing a loss of $82.3 million for its second quarter on the back of declining sales. That sales slowdown saw revenue for the quarter fall to $738.6 million from the $969.6 million is recorded for the same period last …

    Business 20 Jan 1999, 15:13

  • 56-bit crypto code cracked in a day

    Previous record of 56 hours beaten hands down

    The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and a worldwide team of Web users has succeeded in cracking the 56-bit Data Encryption Standard (DES) in under 23 hours. That record-setting figure beats the previous attempt, made by the EFF alone, which took 56 hours by around 33 hours 45 minutes. The code was broken using the EFF's …

    Business 20 Jan 1999, 15:35

  • Microsoft witness claims Netscape browser share hardly fell at all

    Which means that a lot of earlier published Microsoft market share data must be rubbish...

    Microsoft witness Richard Schmalensee yesterday made the interesting claim that despite Microsoft's best efforts, Netscape's share of the browser market only lost five percentage points from the beginning of 1996 through to the third quarter of 1998. Practically any survey you'd care to name puts Netscape in a downward spiral …

    Business 20 Jan 1999, 15:38

  • We're neck-and-neck with Yahoo!, claims Lycos

    But it's still way behind AOL when it comes to Web visitors

    Lycos has moved into spitting distance of taking the number one Internet portal position, the company claimed today, citing the latest statistics from market research agency Media Metrix. MM's figures show the percentage of Web users accessing Lycos rose by 15.4 per cent between August and December 1998, from 40.3 per cent to 46 …

    Business 20 Jan 1999, 16:00

  • Energis to become takeover target

    Sale by National Grid will open door to future bids

    National Grid's decision to sell-off Energis could leave the telecoms group open to a take over in the next couple of years, analysts have predicted. By selling off between 71 and 75 million Energis ordinary shares -- around a third of its stake -- National Grid has been accused of merely cashing in on the telecoms boom. But …

    Business 20 Jan 1999, 16:27

  • IBM and AMD join Microsoft-led home standards group

    Windows for lightbulbs gains general acceptance, apparently. And why does Compaq join everything?

    The battle to set standards for smart devices in the home has become even more fiendishly complicated with the news that a clutch of 28 "participants" including AMD, IBM and Diamond Multimedia have added their support to the barely-known Home API Working Group. Home API was formed to general disinterest last October, the …

    Business 20 Jan 1999, 16:52

  • Pat Boone to front Arizona Y2K campaign

    Experience of outdated records probably helps...

    They sure take the Year 2000 issue seriously in Phoenix, Arizona. According to Y2KNET this week will see the first of a series of Y2K preparedness events to be held in the Phoenix area. The two day Phoenix Town Hall meeting will have singer Pat Boone as master of ceremonies. Boone, it says here, "has been actively involved in …

    Business 20 Jan 1999, 17:14

  • Ideal signs up Soyo

    Move marks a return to motherboard business

    Ideal Hardware is making a fresh foray into the motherboard business. At the Computer Trade Show in Birmingham today, we learnt that it will recruit Taiwanese motherboard manufacturer Soyo as one of its vendors this Friday. The distributor formerly sold Elite motherboards but the Soyo deal means it will be able to supply more …

    Business 20 Jan 1999, 18:37

  • Maxdata moves into notebooks

    German flotation due in June

    Maxdata launched into the notebook business at the Computer Trade Show today. The company has sold monitors in the UK for the last two years and is set to float on the German stock market in June. The company is part of large German Metro group, which at one time owned Vobis and Peacock as well as Maxdata. Peacock was sold last …

    Business 20 Jan 1999, 18:39

  • Microtronica unites with MMD and Multichip

    Single grouping to address four channels

    Microtronica, part of large worldwide components distributor Arrow, today announced it had completed its plans to unify its own business with MMD and Multichip. Les Billing, MD of the company, said today that it will bring all three companies under the same roof and now will address four sales channels. Those include corporate, …

    Business 20 Jan 1999, 18:40

  • Revolving door hits Compaq server manager

    The path to HP is getting a little worn

    The brain drain from Compaq UK is continuing. Graham Stewart, who replaced Hugh Jenkins as the server product manager at Compaq UK is leaving to join Hewlett Packard. In the past few months, a number of senior executives have left Compaq UK as part of the world wide restructuring caused by the merger of Compaq, Digital and …

    Business 20 Jan 1999, 18:42

  • Intel to launch high speed home network products

    Didn't MS and 3Com just say they were doing that too?

    Intel is to launch a range of high-speed DSL home networking products this spring, the company revealed at the Yankee Group Networked Home Symposium earlier today. The products will be compliant with the Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (HomePNA) specification, which uses existing telephone wiring to connect computers and …

    Business 20 Jan 1999, 19:18