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29th January 1999 Archive

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  • MS mounts Linux sales pitch in trial video

    Our old friend from Halloween loves it, apparently...

    The personal appearance in the Washington courtroom by Paul Maritz was preceded by three commercials on videotape. The presenter of the messages was John Warden, the self-confessed non-techie lawyer on Microsoft's team. At the start he tried to pass off a document that purported to be an IBM strategy document entitled "Network …

    Business 29 Jan 1999, 08:17

  • Office the ‘perfect club’ to use on Apple – MS

    Fear and loathing at the conference table, seven months into the 'alliance'

    Further evidence of deterioration of relations between Apple and Microsoft emerged in court yesterday, as Paul Maritz was confronted with a February 1998 email saying that "MacOffice is the perfect club to use on them [Apple]". Maritz had been on the CC list for this message, sent by Don Bradford to Ben Waldman (head of …

    Business 29 Jan 1999, 09:17

  • Dell using Alpha chip in servers

    Updated It's an OEM agreement but is it traitorous?

    The Dell Corporation, perhaps the staunchest of Intel's customers, is producing large file servers using the Alpha chip, it has emerged. Terry Shannon, editor of Shannon knows Compaq broke the information this week. A company called Net Appliance is selling the boxes as servers for thin clients. According to Shannon, the company …

    Business 29 Jan 1999, 10:00

  • Qualcomm to drop Eudora?

    Updated And Microsoft machinations could be behind it all

    Qualcomm looks set to sell or close its Eudora Internet software division, according to anonymous sources cited on US Web site MacOS Rumors and allegedly confirmed by sources at Apple and Qualcomm. However, Franklin Antonio, Qualcomm's CTO, denied the rumours. "Eudora division is not closing nor being sold. We are very proud of …

    Business 29 Jan 1999, 10:05

  • Parry shoots from Portable

    Girling in at Datrontech sub

    As revealed here last year, Nigel Parry has left Datrontech subsidiary Portable Add Ons. He will be replaced by marketing director Clive Girling, who spent many years with Apple UK. Girling has recruited Justin Stokes to be his sales director. Parry, who founded Portable Add Ons before it was acquired by Datrontech, is expected …

    Business 29 Jan 1999, 11:34

  • More legal wrangles hit Microsoft

    Stan won't need to buy a map to find the court house this time

    Microsoft has been hit with yet another lawsuit. This time the writ has been issued by electronic mapping company Civix-DDI, which holds a number of technology patents in this market. Other parties hit by Civix-DDI's writ include AOL and Yahoo!, along with other companies offering mapping and mapping software over the Web. The …

    Business 29 Jan 1999, 11:37

  • MS ordered to hand over Win98 uninstall data

    And how come an MS attorney was claiming the data 'does not relate' to the testing?

    Microsoft was yesterday ordered to hand over documents relating to its testing of Edward Felten's uninstall program to the DoJ, after their existence was revealed in an email earlier this week (See Story). The data seems to include an Excel spreadsheet giving details of functionality shared between browser and shell in Windows …

    Business 29 Jan 1999, 11:48

  • Kyocera starts shipping sat handsets

    But all that glitters is not Iridium

    Japanese company Kyocera has started shipping its Iridium handsets. The company is the only Iridium partner apart from Motorola and has two models, one which operates in dual mode. According to the company, it has 15 gateway operators around the world. Earlier this week, Iridium itself turned in poor financial results. Earlier …

    Business 29 Jan 1999, 12:26

  • CompuServe UK loses its head

    Turner off to consider other options

    Martin Turner, the MD of CompuServe UK, has stepped down from the post after two years in the job. CompuServe UK declined to disclose any more details except to say that he is considering a number of options within the industry. He has been replaced by Michael van Swaaij, who was responsible for the company's operations in the …

    Business 29 Jan 1999, 12:27

  • BT gets green light to bid for 3G wireless

    Which should put the going rate for a franchise up considerably...

    British Telecom has been given the green light to bid for a third generation (3G) wireless licence, and to increase its stake in the UK's current number two player, Cellnet, beyond 60 per cent. The Department of Trade and Industry announced the relaxation of restrictions on BT in the wireless market this morning, effectively …

    Business 29 Jan 1999, 12:40

  • PlayStation emulator developer to fight Sony lawsuit

    Connectix launches upgrade and ramps up production for retail sales

    Connectix yesterday announced it was commencing mass production of its PlayStation emulator, Virtual GameStation (VGS), in preparation for the software's retail launch. The announcement was the company's first strike against moves made by PlayStation developer Sony on Wednesday seeking to block sales of the software in …

    Business 29 Jan 1999, 12:41

  • Sony Japan to trial Internet music downloads

    System based on MiniDisc, not PCs, apparently

    Sony Music Entertainment's Japanese wing is preparing to sell music via the Internet, according to reports in Japan's Asahi newspaper. The paper claims the company will offer a range of tracks from its own artists which could be downloaded for a fee, apparently straight on to MiniDisc. It's not clear, however, when the scheme, …

    Business 29 Jan 1999, 12:57

  • Rogues’ gallery goes online

    London's finest put crims on the Web

    Mug shots of London’s most wanted criminals will soon be accessible from the Metropolitan Police Web-site. The new section, which Scotland Yard estimates should be up and running in the next few months, will also feature details of suspects alleged crimes. This announcement comes just two weeks after a man, wanted for the brutal …

    Business 29 Jan 1999, 13:48

  • So, who c@me first

    intro

    And we're not talking chicken and egg here, either. Of course, AOL's romantic involvement in the movie You've Got M@il, which stars Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, was not the first time a service provider has played cupid. Last night, the UK's newest terrestrial TV station, Channel 5, broadcast the soft porn movie E-Mail which relayed …

    Business 29 Jan 1999, 14:27

  • Don’t give up your d@y job

    And stop giving away those freebies

    AOL may be the world's leading Internet access company but its taste in T-shirts ain't up to much. It obviously blew most of its marketing budget when it splashed out on a champagne reception for 20 or so journos at a private screening of You've Got M@il. For the T-shirts it gave away afterwards to publicise the launch of its …

    Business 29 Jan 1999, 14:32

  • Big Blue buckets

    You could even call ‘em ebuckets

    Big Blur's sprung a leak. Nothing the IBM corporate police need worry about, although if the truth were known, they've probably got other things on their minds at the moment. No, IBM has sprung a leak -- literally. At the company's Portsmouth HQ -- a shrine to 70s-style concrete construction -- they're shelling out some of the …

    Business 29 Jan 1999, 14:33

  • Infoseek sees losses improve

    Set to get worse next quarter though

    The fourth biggest Internet portal, Infoseek, reported a net loss of $18.2 million for the first fiscal quarter of 1999 despite announcing record revenues of $30.2 million for the same period. According to some reports, the loss was less than expected although Infoseek added that while it expected revenue to increase "modestly" …

    Business 29 Jan 1999, 14:38

  • Linux will ship on our servers – SGI

    But it won't say when

    Silicon Graphics has confirmed its plans to offer server products running Linux on Intel-based hardware, though the company would not say when the product will be released. Nor were details on the specification of that hardware forthcoming. "We will lead the low-end server market with full support for Linux," said John Vrolyk, …

    Business 29 Jan 1999, 14:58

  • Web stock boom will end tears

    Head of Federal Reserve hits nail on head

    Alan Greenspan -- chairman of the US Federal Reserve -- has added his voice to the growing debate over the current speculative euphoria concerning Internet stocks. In an address to the Senate Budget Committee yesterday, he agreed there was a valid comparison to be made between the stock market and a lottery. Yet that supposes …

    Business 29 Jan 1999, 15:37

  • AMD wins NEC deal

    But claim to eight out of ten OEMs should really be seven

    NEC Japan has started using AMD K6-2 chips only a few weeks after Toshiba said it would start using the microprocessors. AMD is now boasting eight out of the top ten PC OEMs as its customers. This is possibly stretching it a bit as it counts Packard Bell separately from NEC when they aren't, really. The other OEMs in the AMD …

    Business 29 Jan 1999, 15:38

  • Worldwide PC market grew 15 per cent in 1998

    Dataquest says Compaq top PC dog, but Satan's dog Dell still giving them Hell

    The global PC market grew by 15 per cent last year, according to market research organisation Dataquest. That growth was led by the West, with the European and US markets accounting for 65 per cent of all PCs sold. However, the company's parent, the Gartner Group, warned that Dataquest's figures were only based on "preliminary" …

    Business 29 Jan 1999, 15:42

  • Faster Celerons released faster

    433MHz swiftly followed by 466MHz, while Intel introduces price fork on Slot 1 vs PPGA

    Sources close to Intel confirmed today that a 433MHz Celeron is likely to be released before the end of February. In fact, the date will be the 28th of February, so precipitating the usual round of price cuts as less speedier chips enter Intel's Gulag. And the 433MHz Celeron will be swiftly followed by a 466MHz, although other …

    Business 29 Jan 1999, 16:21

  • Price of Pentium II mobiles plummets

    It's the new ones, you see...

    The introduction of Intel PII/mobiles has meant that prices on members of its former notebook family have plummeted. The 300MHz PII/mobile, which cost $637, now costs $340. The 266MHz part, which cost $391, now costs $207. The prices are for units of 1,000. The price cuts represent a 47 per cent decrease and we can now expect to …

    Business 29 Jan 1999, 17:18