9th March 1999 Archive
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AMD comes a cropper on chip yields
Jobs will be axed as loss predicted
An unspecified problem in manufacturing microprocessors led AMD to warn it will make a loss yesterday, as it announced 300 jobs will go. Rumours had circulated ever since the beginning of this year that a yield problem was affecting AMD K6 production. Last week, we reported that there was already a dearth of its newest K6-III …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 08:29
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Bill consults agony aunt
Four years ago Has problem with new suit
From The Register No. 13, March 1995 BILL WRITES MIKE "Dear Mike, I am writing to make it clear how disappointed in the lack of candor and honesty Apple has shown in dealing with Microsoft during the last several months," writes an embittered Bill G. to The Register's resident Agony Aunt. "...On Thursday without talking to me …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 09:15
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Intel, itself, warns PIII ID number not secure
So why is Chipzilla bothering?
A kindly reader has taken the trouble to read through Intel's application note literature on the Pentium III and has discovered the company has no faith in its own serial number technology. The reader said: "Today I was perusing through to bone up on CPU ID and PSN of the Pentium III and found the following interesting …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 09:23
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K6-III drought continues – but not in Japan
Why launch something if you can't supply it?
The K6-III is still in desparately short supply in Europe, The Register has learned. A letter from AMD to a dealer confirms that there are problems supplying the parts. AMD said yesterday: "The K6-III is unfortunately not yet available from stock (and the K6-III Processor-in-a-Box hasn't been launched yet), but the AMD-K6-2/ …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 10:45
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Cyrix gets knickers in a twist over pix
Rant follows as Cyrix Japan pulls pix down
For the last couple of days, we have badgered Cyrix to give us some kind of statement about the MII-366 pictures we found on the Web. This is our original story: Hard core multiple Cyrix chips found in cyberspace But despite a stream of phone calls, so far no-one has taken the trouble to call us back. The only official statement …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 11:03
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Free Web access every weekend
But last night's trial is slammed by disgruntled users
A trial last night offering toll-free telephone access to the Internet is being extended until the end of March. A statement issued last by pioneering Internet Service Provider, The X-Stream Network, said: "X-Stream's free call day has been so successful that we are extending the offer of free calls again this weekend starting …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 11:08
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Apple, HP US retail sales surge
Both vendors' sales grow well above industry average. Compaq didn't though
Hewlett-Packard and Apple both experienced retail surges in January, according to the latest figures from market research company Intelect ASW Marketing Services. Apple saw sales through US retail outlets in January grow by 176 per cent on the sales it achieved for the same period last year. HP's retail sales increased by 111 …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 11:09
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MS gains entry to Hong Kong ATM network
But there's probably more prestige than revenue to the deal
Microsoft has announced a joint venture called Zoom with Hong Kong Telecom, but how much each side will be investing, and when there will be a service have not been formally announced. Gates was in Hong Kong for the launch. Hong Kong has the world's largest ATM network, so Microsoft is evidently keen to use it as a testing …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 11:23
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Double discounts on new Gates book
This is the sort of thing that happens when you don't have a monopoly...
Bill Gates new book Business@the speed of thought has set some new records by being twice discounted before publication. Online bookseller Barnes and Noble has increased its discount of the $30 tome from 30 per cent to 40 per cent, and is throwing in automatic entry in the Bill Gates' Sweepstakes - a trip to Microsoft's HQ for a …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 11:26
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Debian 2.1 open source OS released
Versions now available for Alpha, Sparc, 68k and x86
Release 2.1 of the Debian operating system, codenamed Slink, became available for free downloading this morning (Download sites listed here). CDs will be produced at low cost by a number of distributors. There are now Debian versions for the Alpha, Sparc, and Motorola 680x0 and Intel x86. Debian was created by Deborah and Ian …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 11:31
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EU complains to WTO over Korean trade
Dispute not about bananas
English-language newspaper The Korea Herald is reporting in tomorrow's (Wednesday's) edition that the European Union plans to complain to the World Trade Organisation over unfair trades. The list of items is long and topped by alcohol, cars, chemicals, food and logistics, the paper reports. ®
Business 9 Mar 1999, 11:45
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Intel sidesteps FTC probe
Analysis Intergraph will be harder to avoid
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was supposed to begin its legal case against Intel Tuesday but reached a settlement late Monday, thus denying us the courtroom dramas witnessed in the trial between the Department of Justice (DoJ) and Microsoft. The FTC had based its case on the proposition that Intel effectively holds a …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 11:55
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Receivers sued by slightly miffed creditor
Dispute over retention of title after BasCrown took a fall
Two Manchester administrators have found themselves on the receiving end of the law after taking over the affairs of a defunct PC dealer. Computer parts vendor PC Partner of Hong Kong is suing Dermot Power and David Swaden of BDO Stoy Hayward, Manchester, alleging it still owns £160,000 worth of components that were delivered to …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 12:29
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Encryption is not a loaded gun, UK gov't told
It's time to stop obsessing about crime and free up the Web
The government is being urged not to view encryption as the IT equivalent of a sawn-off shotgun in the hands of villains using the Internet for criminal activity. Instead, it is being asked to broaden its horizons and consider the wider social and political issues associated with encryption, instead of just being fixated with …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 12:46
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Lycos/USA Networks deal hits more stormy weather
Don't know why, there's no sun up in the sky….
Lycos' proposed merger with USA Networks has hit yet another snag after a director at the portal's biggest shareholder announced his resignation from Lycos' board earlier today. David Wetherell, a director of Lycos since the beginning and the chairman and CEO of CMGI, said the resignation was effective immediately. "After …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 12:57
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Intergraph to pursue Intel to bitter end
Meadlock won't give up
One of the witnesses in the FTC case versus Intel, which was dropped yesterday, said it will carry on with its own anti-trust case against the chip giant. Intergraph said it hoped Intel would now change its behaviour to give "fair and equal treatment" to its partners and said it also hoped that the chip giant will now behave …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 14:07
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Raise for Pfeiffer makes hair stand on end
Return on investment means better haircut, probably
Eckhard Pfeiffer, CEO of Compaq and dubbed the Great Satan of Haircuts, has had a pay rise that is enough to make your hair stand on end. And the employees laid off by Compaq over the last six months will certainly be scratching their heads. Reports said that Pfeiffer now earns a paltry $30 million a year or so, despite the fact …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 14:17
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Journalist guilty in kiddie porn case
Judge rules out claim that he was just doing his research
A journalist in the US has been convicted of peddling child pornography, even though he insisted it was part of ongoing research into paedophiles on the Net. Believed to be the first hack to be convicted for trafficking child pornography, 54-year-old Larry Matthews pleaded guilty to the offence after the Judge refused to allow …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 14:25
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OFTEL to rule on unmetered UK calls
Report expected tomorrow
OFTEL has confirmed that it will publish its consultation document on interconnect charges tomorrow. A spokesman for OFTEL refused to reveal any detail before the formal launch tomorrow but any significant changes to current telecoms pricing structures could make subscription-free ISPs financially unsustainable. Erol Ziya, a …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 16:05
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Dawes open for Cellnet
Mobile phone giant snaps up last of the big UK independents
Cellnet made a Warrington businessman a millionaire when it bought his mobile phone company for £130 million. Martin Dawes, for it was he, sold his 54 per cent stake in Cheshire-based Martin Dawes Telecommunications, to the telecomms giant yesterday. The company that started as a television rentals group in the 1960s has now …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 16:20
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LineOne admits it's going free – at last
My old man said follow the bandwagon and don't dilly dally on the way
Dithering UK online service provider - LineOne - has finally confirmed that it is to become a subscription-free service after more than a month of dilly-dallying over the decision. See earlier story. The new service will be launched next Monday although existing subscribers will only be billed up to 15 February. A new logo and …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 16:58
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MS may cut a deal to avoid antitrust break-up
MS on Trial But if it does, that's a big camel it has to swallow...
Following Intel's shock deal with the FTC, Microsoft and the Department of Justice are considering a possible settlement, according to Bill Gates' local newspaper, The Seattle Times. But although Microsoft's share price kicked upwards on the news, from what the paper has to say talks seem to be in decidedly pre-talks mode. It's …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 17:15
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Year 2000 bug-busters bust up in UK brouhaha
Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough
A fight has broken out in the UK year 2000 bug-busting fraternity. Robin Guenier, head of Taskforce 2000 - an independent body - has blasted the government's Action 2000 for … well, a lack of action. Guenier is reported to have said that Action 2000 had failed in its mission to educate businesses and the public about the serious …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 17:45
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Permanent free Web access plan unveiled
X-Stream in bullish mood after UK trial
UK Internet users could be on the brink of nation-wide free Net access following the success of a trial last night using a freephone 0800 number for dial-up access. Paul Myers - the MD of the service provider, The X-Stream Network, which originally pioneered subscription - free Net more than a year ago-said he had not ruled out …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 18:05
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More big names invest in Red Hat
Linux distributor adds IBM, Compaq and Novell to growing list of backers
Red Hat today revealed that IBM, Compaq and Novell has joined Oracle, Netscape and Intel as investors in the fast-growing Linux distributor. It also announced that Oracle had increased its equity stake in the company. Terms of the investments weren't disclosed, but that's less important than the fact these companies are …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 18:47
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S3 to power Intel PC-on-a-chip's 3D graphics
Meanwhile, Savage4 gains many more supporters
Intel's favourite 3D graphics specialist, S3, today announced a heap of statistics to show it's growing strength in the PC graphics arena. Hints also emerged about the company's future products, including a possible 3D-enabled PC-on-a-chip part, jointly developed with Intel. The numbers centred on the success S3 is having with …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 18:53
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Intel takes stake in Sitara
More investment in Internet technology
Internet company Sitara said today it had licensed Intel's Web caching and compression technology. In return, Intel has taken an equity stake in the Waltham, Mass, company. Sitara said it will use Quick Web technology in products aimed at large businesses. ® Intel Developer Forum coverage The coverage includes an interview with …
Business 9 Mar 1999, 19:27
