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23rd March 1999 Archive

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  • LSI promises 233 million transistor system-on-a-chip

    A year ago High integration strategy for combo consumer devices

    From The Register No. 70 LSI Logic has unveiled a new high-integration technology that will allow 233 million transistors on a chip, plus the ability to include mixed signal, logic, embedded memory and radio frequency components. The company will be producing prototypes using its new G12 technology by the fourth quarter, with …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 08:09

  • AMD thrashes Intel, again

    Bashes chip giant in US retail market

    Market research company PC Data said yesterday that AMD had taken over 50 per cent share of the US desktop retail market in February. That is two months in a row that AMD has trashed Intel's retail share. The figures show AMD at 51.4 per cent, Intel at 38 per cent and Cyrix at 10.4 per cent. Perhaps it's time that AMD started …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 08:22

  • Compaq Merced designers flee coop

    "A big dress up for a party that never happened"

    Designers who worked for Compaq on its Merced programme are circulating their CVs as it becomes apparent there is nothing for them to do. Sources from inside Compaq told The Register: "It's not more or less bad stuff happening to Merced; it's nothing happening for Merced. It's like one big dress-up for a party that never …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 09:27

  • Rumours of MS settlement hype from shareholders

    Will Bill Gates resign?

    The rumours of settlement talks between the DoJ and Microsoft are just that: Microsoft does not have the slightest intention of settling at the moment, but it is pretending to be willing to settle so that it can get the best possible result in the District Court from Judge Jackson. Lawyers from both sides had been advised by the …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 09:38

  • Intel to slash Pentium III prices on 11 April

    Meanwhile, PII/333 will enter chip gulag

    Distributors close to Intel's plans have passed us details of price cuts the company will make on April 11 next. There will be "sizeable" cuts in mobile Pentium IIs and Celerons, but the exact prices have not yet been finalised, the source said. The PII/333 will disappear as an Intel part on that date, while other Pentium IIs …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 09:45

  • Intel-FTC settlement ignores price fork

    Analysis Important issues still need airing

    Before Intel reached its infamous settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last week, there were rumours that further investigations into how it priced its processors were under way. We are still waiting for the final ratification by the board of the FTC of the agreement, but perhaps they might care to reflect that …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 10:07

  • Yahoo bid rumour boosts Broadcast.com share price

    Portal giant to snap-up content provider

    The world's leading portal, Yahoo!, is poised to make a bid for Broadcast.com, the online sport, news and music provider. Speculation over the bid has pushed Broadcast.com's market value up to around $3.9 billion, as its share price jumped by an impressive 37 per cent yesterday on Nasdaq. By turn, Yahoo! saw its share price fall …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 11:46

  • Sub-$600 PCs see massive growth

    Latest PC Data stats show sales of ultra-cheap PCs have grown 657 per cent

    Budget PC maker eMachines' cut-price computer policy is clearly working -- according to market researcher PC Data, the company grabbed a 9.9 per cent share of the US computer retail sector in February. That figure makes it the fourth best-selling vendor behind Compaq, Hewlett-Packard and IBM. Their shares of the US PC retail …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 11:50

  • VA Research buys IBM's favoured Linux consultancy

    Hardware company to use Electric Lichen to bolster marketing efforts

    VA Research, the Linux hardware vendor Intel invested in last month, has bought Linux marketing consultancy Electric Lichen. Details of the deal were not revealed, but it's clearly a sensible move on VA's part. VA's business is based on selling computers specifically designed to run Linux, which it tweaks to support the hardware …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 12:15

  • Consumer bulk buying to rattle channel’s cage

    Web-based purchase plan seeks big discounts by going direct

    The dealer channel is under fire from a US company planning to use consumers’ combined demand to win big discounts from manufacturers. Called Accompany, the idea behind the initiative is simple and can be effective. Customers will be invited to register at a Web site and use the power of bulk purchasing to go direct to the …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 12:34

  • MS to unveil digital music delivery system next month

    MP3-killer music format plus rights management software to be integrated into Windows 2000

    Microsoft has confirmed it is to build a complete digital content encryption, management and tracking system into Windows 2000, and that it plans to unveiled the technology at next month's Audisee 99 show to be held in Los Angeles. The system will be primarily aimed at the Internet-delivered music market and the emerging for Net …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 12:46

  • Sony to offer music downloads by satellite

    But it's more about selling MiniDisc players and satellite TV subs than MP3

    Sony will allow Japanese music fans to download tracks via Rupert Murdoch's Sky digital satellite TV service next month. The consumer electronics giant will offer a set-top box that connects a hi-fi system to Sky's Asian PerfecTV service to receive and record CD-quality music. Sony is a partner in PerfecTV, alongside Murdoch's …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 13:18

  • Dell hit by Far Eastern competition

    Other big names will suffer

    Dell yesterday saw shares drop 5.9 per cent over worries that the US direct selling giant may be shipping less kit than expected this quarter. Early trading had seen stocks dip by as much as seven per cent, making it one of the most active US shares. Kevin McCarthy, an analyst from Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette Securities said he …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 13:26

  • iMac famine paves way for newer, cheaper version

    Apple appears to be entering inventory clearing mode

    Sources in the US suggest Apple is already running down stocks of the multi-colour iMac line in preparation for the release of the next version, codenamed C2, less than three months after the current machine's introduction. According to Web site MacOS Rumors, US retail giant CompUSA is already listing all five flavours of the …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 13:39

  • Kyocera hit by Xerox writ at CeBIT

    Row over consumables hits show floor

    A row over the cost of laser printer consumables has resulted in Xerox taking an injunction out against Kyocera and forcing it to cover up part of its stand display. Xerox took out an injunction against Kyocera after the latter used comparative advertising suggesting its machines used less toner and were cheaper than its rivals …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 14:10

  • Sun's Serengeti brain dead yeti?

    It's veldt it's not Starfire compatible

    Reports from insiders at Sun have told The Register of a possible problem with the Serengeti platform. Serengeti is Sun's follow-up to its Starfire high end platform but the source is suggesting that it will be incompatible with its predecessor. The platform uses a memory architecture dubbed COMA (cache only memory architecture …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 15:23

  • Lycos takes on Korea

    Produces localised content

    Lycos has formed a joint venture with the Korean technology company, Mirae Corporation, to form Lycos Korea. The new online community will provide localised versions of Lycos.com, Tripod and MailCity. Lycos will provide its search, navigation and community technologies to Lycos Korea. Mirae will manage the day-to-day operations …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 15:42

  • Attack of the Killer Laptops

    You too can have neck strain, musculo-skeletal injuries, more stress, and an increased risk of getting mugged

    The Health and Safety Executive will spend over £100,000 on a one-year study to examine the health risks of using portables. A team of five researchers at ergonomics consultancy System Concepts is conducting the investigation, which started two weeks ago. The joint effort plans to establish the effects on health of using …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 16:00

  • Mobile phones fry your brains

    European Parliament want health warnings for brain cell phones

    The European Parliament has recommended that mobile phones be labelled with health warnings similar to cigarette packets. Following recent scare stories of brain damage and memory loss, MEPs in Strasbourg have voted to back Italian MEP Gianni Tamino’s recommendation. The law now rests on final approval from the Council of …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 17:15

  • Madame Tussaud's makes a dummy out of Bill Gates

    And you really won't be able to tell the difference

    Bill Gates is so busy promoting his new book he hasn't got time to be photographed and measured for his very own waxwork by sculptors at Madame Tussaud's. Due to be included in Madame Tee's New York exhibition when it opens next year, the artist chosen to recreate Gates has to work from two-dimensional photographs instead. "We' …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 17:24

  • Sony confirms Linux to be PSX2 development platform

    Open source OS ousts Windows for official PlayStation 2 development hardware, tools

    Sony has confirmed that it has selected Linux running on Intel-based hardware as the development platform for PlayStation 2 games. Speaking at last week's Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Jose, Sony Computer Entertainment's Phil Harrison mentioned in his keynote that all future PlayStation 2 releases would be developed …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 17:30

  • MSN offers free house with $125,000 PC

    Mortgage your future with Microsoft

    Microsoft has come up with a cunning plan to put a new spin on the "free PC" saga. From today, customers choosing a mortgage with US-only MSN HomeAdvisor will receive a computer into the bargain. Through the "Get a Loan. Get a Free PC" Spring Giveaway, the software giant is offering 1000 Concentric Systems AOpen PCs worth $900. …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 17:50

  • Lou Gerstner not short of a bob or two…

    But still fails to execute on his boots

    US wires are reporting that IBM supremo Lou "Boots" Gerstner got nearly $14 million salary in 1998, a monumental 70 per cent rise on 1997. This was in a year when Gerstner, formerly a tobacco baron at Nabisco, did a u-turn on the company's channel policy and said ne'er a word about his famous magic boots. The boots, long- …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 18:58

  • PC industry optimism at ‘five year high’

    Has Deloitte and Touche gone mad?

    What has Deloitte & Touche been drinking? The publicity happy accountancy firm claims that short-term optimism for the PC industry is at a five-year high, At the same time, D&T tells us that "customers hold the power". This is enough to make any self-respecting PC builder feel very miserable indeed. Basing its analysis on 1998's …

    Business 23 Mar 1999, 19:39