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12th February 1999 Archive

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  • A year ago: EU plans Internet Charter, but hits US flak

    Ira Magaziner should change his name to Weber

    The European Union's pious plans to further global Internet co-operation have bumped into harsh reality, as US presidential Internet adviser Ira Magaziner (old technology - he should change his name to Weber) said the US would fight the international application of the EU's privacy directive. The stuff that is winding Ira up is …

    Business 12 Feb 1999, 08:09

  • Chase denies Gates said ‘How much to screw Netscape’

    MS on Trial But it's not entirely clear what the lad did say, then...

    Bill Gates never said to AOL executives: "How much to screw Netscape," according to Microsoft VP Brad Chase. But he confirms that the Microsoft people at the meeting were "aggressive", and that it was therefore possible for the AOL people to derive this kind of meaning from whatever it was Bill said. Not that Bill is admitted to …

    Business 12 Feb 1999, 08:12

  • More home computers to be given away as direct-marketing tools

    iMacs better than junk mail, but won't fit through your letter box

    US ISP One Stop Communications has joined the computer give away bonanza, announcing it is to offer 25,000 iMacs "free of charge". FreePc.com, which, earlier this week, offered 10,000 free computers to anyone willing to subject themselves to a barrage of advertising has been inundated with requests for machines -- it received …

    Business 12 Feb 1999, 10:22

  • Lycos/USA Networks merger collapses

    Investor unrest cited as possible cause

    The proposed buyout of Lycos by USA Networks has been called off, The Register can exclusively reveal. Sources close to the deal confirmed that the paperwork surrounding the proposed buy-out had been ripped up and thrown in the bin even before the ink was dry. Neither company was prepared to comment the news that the deal had …

    Business 12 Feb 1999, 11:44

  • 3Dfx unveils Voodoo3 2000, 3000 and 3500

    Full details finally released

    3Dfx has finally decided how it's going to offer its forthcoming Voodoo3 technology. The company intends to make the information public later today, but details of the announcement were leaked to the SharkyExtreme Web site. The company's entry-level product, the Voodoo3 2000, will now contain memory running at 143MHz, up from …

    Business 12 Feb 1999, 12:26

  • Programmers slam ‘useless’ UltraHLE source code

    No chance of desired Linux port with this code, claim software authors

    Programmers were yesterday angry with a fellow software writer who posted what he claimed to be C++ source code for controversial UltraHLE Windows-based Nintendo N64 emulator. Programmer 'GossiTheDog' admitted the code, a conversion into C++ of the original UltraHLE source, was "nowhere near complete" and "does not compile", but …

    Business 12 Feb 1999, 12:57

  • Ingram Micro sees turnover and profit up for '98

    Figures up across the board

    Ingram Micro’s worldwide results for the year ended 2 January showed turnover up 33 per cent to $22 billion. The broadline distributor posted net profit also up at $245.2 million, or $1.64 per share, a 27 per cent increase on the previous year. The fourth quarter showed turnover of $6.22 billion, up 21 per cent over the same …

    Business 12 Feb 1999, 13:03

  • MS trial over by August? The Register predicts…

    MS on Trial But if we get this horribly wrong, blame Graham, OK?

    We believe it is highly probable that the District Court in Washington will be in recess for March. Judge Jackson has a commitment to hear a criminal trial, and because of the Speedy Trial Act (we joke not), the start cannot be delayed beyond the Spring. It is not known how long this trial will last. Judge Jackson has stressed …

    Business 12 Feb 1999, 13:06

  • Telcos to follow PC suit by giving away calls

    It must be bandwagon season

    Following this week's free PC bun-fight, a US telecomms firm has hit upon the idea of giving subscribers free international calls. The catch? Yes, you guessed it, the user must withstand a barrage of advertising interrupting their calls. Start up telco, Cortex, will let callers place free overseas calls, in exchange for the …

    Business 12 Feb 1999, 14:35

  • Cupid stunts to boost Valentine e-commerce

    Show us your softer side, and your wallet while you're about it

    A little over six weeks ago Web pundits were frothing at the mouth as e-commerce received a festive shot in the arm from people buying Christmas gifts online. For the last few weeks, a similar fervour has gripped e-tailers selling everything from flowers and chocolates to lingerie -- and all in the name of luurve. Yes, it's …

    Business 12 Feb 1999, 14:37

  • Canadian company develops browser that hides your identity

    Two cheers for anonymity

    A company with the uninspiring name Zero Knowledge claims to have a new browser, Freedom 1.0, that will ensure 100 per cent anonymity on the Net. Demonstrated yesterday at the Demo99 technology conference in California, Freedom 1.0 hides a user's identity with a combination of encryption, re-routing and username aliases. The new …

    Business 12 Feb 1999, 14:38

  • Asian PC market bounces back to pre-crisis point

    Not all good news though -- Korea and Hong Kong still suffering

    PC shipments in the Asia/Pacific region were up at the end of last year, according to an IDC report released today. The results suggested a rebound in some regional markets, with shipments for the fourth quarter increasing seven per cent on the same period last year and 11 per cent on Q3. Total regional PC shipments totalled 2. …

    Business 12 Feb 1999, 14:52

  • Free-PC blasted by rival for giving PCs away

    It'll be tears before bedtime

    The president of budget PC maker Microworkz, Rick Latman, has lashed out at Free-PC for giving away computers filled with advertising, declaring: "No one should have to sell their soul for a PC." Latman made the comment shortly after Free-PC had announced received around 500,000 requests from people apparently perfectly happy to …

    Business 12 Feb 1999, 15:06

  • Intel to demo 1GHz chip by year end

    Company already ramping 0.18 micron silicon

    Chip company Intel has started manufacturing 0.18 micron silicon at its fab 20 chip plant and is likely to demo a 1GHz processor by year end, it said today. Pierre Mirjolet, architecture marketing manager at Intel EMEA, would not be tied down to when samples will go out to customers but his slide presentation showed that could …

    Business 12 Feb 1999, 15:08

  • No copper for Intel until 0.13 micron

    But is it because they'd have to junk everything?

    There is no need for Intel to implement copper interconnects in its processors until 0.13 micron process technology arrives, a senior executive said today. Pierre Mirjolet, architecture marketing manager at Intel EMEA, claimed that while copper does have a resistivity less than 40 per cent than aluminium, Intel's interconnect …

    Business 12 Feb 1999, 15:09

  • Intel confuses world+dog over 0.18 micron

    Is 0.13 micron 0.18 micron, and which companies are A, B and C?

    Chip Goliath Intel claimed this morning that its 0.18 micron technology is really 0.13 micron technology and that puts it ahead of the chip rat-pack. Said Pierre Mirjolet, architecture marketing manager at Intel's European HQ in Munich: "The 0.18 micron generation is a path set up by the industry. We're achieving better …

    Business 12 Feb 1999, 15:27

  • Compaq thumps Win64 tub

    Endian shock horror hits future plans

    News reaches us from our US insider at Compaq that the company has opened a Win64 porting centre in Bellevue. It is asking people it likes to sign a non-disclosure agreement and join it in planning ahead. The plan will be formally unveiled in April but early adopters have already been formally courted by Compaq executives, our …

    Business 12 Feb 1999, 15:39

  • Sluttish Merced still undead

    Clings on to life a little like General Franco did

    Intel's Merced processor is still on track for release in the middle of next year, the chip goliath still insists. But stories that it and Microsoft have fallen out over compilers has spurred a barrage of reports on comp.arch and comp.sys.intel that the chip is deader than a dead dodo. Chip designers, according to a source at …

    Business 12 Feb 1999, 15:48

  • Nintendo will sue UltraHLE developers

    Great Satan of Plumbers decides to play the heavy

    Nintendo has confirmed it will take legal action against the two developers of UltraHLE, a Windows-based N64 emulator. The move comes a week after Sony failed to get Connectix's Mac-based PlayStation emulator, Virtual GameStation (VGS), banned while the console vendor prepares a legal case against the developer. In a statement …

    Business 12 Feb 1999, 16:16

  • Lycos/USA Networks merger collapses

    Update Concerted effort from key investors brings deal to an end

    A tremor of unease that in turn triggered an avalanche of investor dissatisfaction appears to lie at the heart of the failed merger between the diversified media company USA Networks and the Web portal Lycos, as revealed earlier today by The Register. Both companies appeared to have underestimated the reaction of Lycos investors …

    Business 12 Feb 1999, 16:23

  • HMV to explore digital music distribution

    Deal with IBM will ready retailer to exploit the results of the Madison Project

    UK-based worldwide music retail chain HMV today announced it is to work with IBM on the development of Web sites to sell music over the Internet. But while the retailer was keen to stress the sites will initially be used as a cassette and CD sales mechanism, expanding the service to provide digital distribution can't be far …

    Business 12 Feb 1999, 17:05

  • Online angels hit out at their non-virtual counterparts

    Trouble in paradise -- there's lyres and then there's liars

    The founders of the CyberAngels, the online version of the vigilante good-guys, are suing the Guardian Angels and its founder Curtis Sliwa for fraud, copyright infringement, libel, breach of contract, misleading tax advice, defamation and unpaid debts. Colin Gabriel Hatcher and Dominie Judge Kitaj, who filed the suit in the US …

    Business 12 Feb 1999, 17:13

  • Sex pest caught after Internet chat room meeting

    UK man travels to US to marry 15 year old girl

    According to reports on Reuters, a 37 year old man from the UK has been arrested in the US after he travelled to Ohio, hoping to marry a 15 year old girl he had met over the Internet. According to police, Ian Waddup, from Newcastle upon Tyne, who has a history of sex offences against children, was arrested on Tuesday after they …

    Business 12 Feb 1999, 18:48