15th February 1999 Archive

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MS exec evasive on ISPs and downloads

MS on Trial Myhrvold's views seem flexible, to say the least

Cameron Myhrvold, VP of the Internet customer unit, strategic relationships, is something of a street fighter in his role at Microsoft. He was far from alone in not being able to get Microsoft Word working properly, so that the paragraph numbers in an HTML printout of his direct testimony were correct: seven times his numbering …

Business 15 Feb 1999, 09:05
How MS-AOL deal resulted in 90 per cent share for IE

MS on Trial And how, when the contract ends, the position could easily be reversed

It seems pretty clear that Microsoft witness Cameron Myhrvold was instructed by his boss Brad Chase to defer questions about the Microsoft-AOL relationship to him -- but Chase did not set the rules for the court. Myhrvold began a retreat into an I'm-just-a-salesman role, and therefore ignorant and don't know about AOL. So far as …

Business 15 Feb 1999, 09:10
Trial documents reveal nature of MS-Pipex deal

MS on Trial There are some missing bits, but a story can still be pieced together

The trial transcript and some exhibits have thrown additional light on just what the UUNet Pipex and Microsoft sweethearts were up to in their dealings. At issue was not just a sweetener for Pipex to switch from Netscape to IE. It turns out that CEO Sidgmore had asked for $3.3 million, but agreed to accept $500,000 and money-off …

Business 15 Feb 1999, 09:14
IDT, Rise face uphill struggle in 1999

Intel-AMD fight could leave minors the scraps from x.86 table

The continuing scrap between Intel and AMD to dominate the lower end market is set to make times tough for late entrants like Rise and IDT. And NatSemi-Cyrix too will be squeezed. Joe D'Elia, senior microprocessor analyst at Dataquest Europe, said today that that both IDT and Rise are "bottom feeders" in the marketplace. "Rise …

Business 15 Feb 1999, 10:27
IBM jumps from fire into frying pan

AS/400 puts fat on its dry bones in National Chip Week

It is National Chip Week in the United Kingdom. This is nothing to do with semiconductors and everything to do with what people in the US call French Fries. We call them chips in Blighty. A senior executive at IBM EMEA called Paul Fryer (it's true) is masterminding a campaign in which we'll see AS/400 advertised on the side of …

Business 15 Feb 1999, 10:47
Pentium III free (expensive) at last (nearly)

Now what do you do if you've just bought a PII?

Intel has its famous "preview" day for the Pentium III this Wednesday and on that date it will persuade every type of vendor to support its new platform. Just a matter of days after it formally announced the Pentium III on the 24th of February, Intel will slash prices on its PII/350, PII/400 and PII/450, making them an …

Business 15 Feb 1999, 11:22
Mitsubishi claims 500MHz SRAM breakthrough

Not so many cosmic ray errors any more

The Mitsubishi Electric Corporation said today it has developed synchronous SRAM which will work at 500MHz/ Further, the technology is 100 times more resistant to cosmic ray soft errors than previous chips. According to Mitsibushi, soft errors caused by cosmic rays have plagued the semiconductor business and caused problems for …

Business 15 Feb 1999, 12:30
Qualcomm may kill apps to save Eudora

Division said to be saved from sell-off, but various applications will go

Qualcomm appears to have finally reached a decision on how to bring its Eudora software division back to profitability. According to many company insiders, cited on the MacOS Rumours Web site, who claim the announcement was made via in internal email, Qualcomm will not be selling its Eudora Software division. Instead it will …

Business 15 Feb 1999, 12:30
Digital cameras start selling at last

Survey Worldwide shipments rise by 43 per cent a year

A US market research firm said today that worldwide shipments for digital cameras will be worth over $4 billion by the year 2002. That will be good news for vendors which have struggled to sell the units over the last few years. According to InfoTrends Research Group, the market for low end digital cameras is growing at …

Business 15 Feb 1999, 12:36
Microsoft UK claims 50 per cent anti-piracy hits

Other OEM halves evade them -- unfortunately

Distributors re-selling old OEM stock discarded from Microsoft's vendors face a clamp-down, it has emerged. David Gregory, who heads up the UK anti-piracy group at Microsoft, said today that cases of distributors selling OS software, despite the fact it had been pre-installed on PCs, faced tough prosecution. That emerged after …

Business 15 Feb 1999, 15:45
HP weak link in Merced chain

There is a house in Albuquerque where the endians live

Sources close to Hewlett Packard said today that it was pursuing its own course on re-iteration of the PA-RISC chips, despite the company's close connection with Intel, on Merced. The problem is complex and has puzzled many senior members of the comp.arch forum on Usenet. Some say Merced is dead but Intel is still insistent it …

Business 15 Feb 1999, 16:29
Dixons court case postponed until year 2000

Founder of PC World facing six year old writ

Dixons’ court case against the founder of PC World - for allegedly misrepresenting financial performance around the time of its sale six years ago - has been postponed until the year 2000. Some might argue that Dixons got a bargain when it paid £8.5 million for the PC World retail chain back in February 1993. But Jan Murray- …

Business 15 Feb 1999, 16:41
Dell goes non-stop with Tandem

Puzzling? Not really...

How does Dell actually manage to make its supply chain so good? The answer is it uses a Himalaya non-stop solution -- now of course owned by Compaq. It would be funny if it weren't laughable... ®

Business 15 Feb 1999, 16:43
UK company gambles on US success

Tax-free betting to reap big rewards

A British company is planning to launch a tax-free online gambling service that will tap into the heavily regulated betting industry in the US. Sportingbet.com -- the trading name of NetBet -- is planing to launch the service in the US in March. The site is currently undergoing beta testing. A similar service for the UK has been …

Business 15 Feb 1999, 16:49
SAP on Linux trail

Finds interest from all sorts of people

Sources close to German company SAP's plans told The Register today it is actively exploring Linux as the basis for its app software in the future. That will chime some bells with Intel, which has, in the past few months, recruited many SAP programmers and committed itself to Linux. But the news is likely to cause despondency at …

Business 15 Feb 1999, 16:53
Nintendo to go 2GHz Wintel – rubbish!

...or is just a mad rumour?

Rumours reach us from the antipodes that beleaguered Japanese company Nintendo is set to release a 2GHz Wintel emulator for its Gameboy platform. That would be surprising. It would also be very surprising if they released a cut-down version of Microsoft Office. But not particularly surprising. We know for a fact that Sony has …

Business 15 Feb 1999, 17:07
More legal woes for Info'Products

Reseller being sued for unpaid sales commission

Info’Products is facing yet more legal action from former staff via a county court summons for unpaid commission. The proceedings have been issued against Info’Products by Ryan Diblee, who is suing Info’Products for unpaid wages, according to Chelmsford County Court. Diblee, a former account co-ordinator at the reseller, lost …

Business 15 Feb 1999, 17:08
Pink Elephant under attack from poachers

UK support services firm sees red over headhunters' actions

Pink Elephant is accusing "unscrupulous recruiters" of trying to head-hunt its desktop support staff. The Reading-based company alleges that its helpdesk staff -- who are trained by Pink Elephant before being contracted out to work on company helpdesks around the country -- have been targeted because of a chronic skills shortage …

Business 15 Feb 1999, 17:16
Microsoft preps Cool to tool on Java

The Great Stan prepares its Java exit strategy

Microsoft is building a Java-like development framework for the C++ language as it attempts to distance itself from Java following its legal defeat by Sun for breaching its Java contract. However, while the new technology, codenamed Cool, has been widely described as an alternative to Java, it doesn't seem to be the fully …

Business 15 Feb 1999, 17:16
Safetynet MBO puts CEO in charge

New owners buoyant about future

Safetynet, the computer disaster recovery company, has been bought in an £85 million management buy-out led by venture capitalist 3i. The deal put the £20 million company in the control of chief executive Paul Barry-Walsh, who upped his stake from 38 to 50 per cent. Safetynet, now owned by newly formed business Safetynet Group, …

Business 15 Feb 1999, 17:55