The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

28th April 1999 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

  • Compaq to spin off OEM group

    Finds buyer for $300 million arm

    Sources close to Compaq said that the firm will soon sell its OEM division, based in Shrewsbury, MA. The OEM group looks after Compaq PCI, embedded and single board computing products, with turnover of around $300 million. The deal was supposed to happen towards the end of last year but was delayed. There is no information as to …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 07:11

  • SCO boss climbs down over Linux assault

    He didn't say it. Well he can't remember saying it. Well he was just imagining somebody else saying it then

    SCO boss Doug Michels has made a partial climbdown and apology over his apparent massive assault on Linux and Linus Torvalds. Responding to a query about the interview, Michels says he can't remember referring to the Linux community as "punk kids," and that it was by no means a complete report of his original discussion with …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 08:32

  • Compaq gives online resellers thumbs up

    Reverses decision made at court of King Eck two months ago

    It's all change down at Compaq since the Great Teufel of Haircuts left town. A little more than two months ago, the world’s most prolific PC vendor pulled the plugs on the growing army of online resellers selling Compaq kit. Now it looks set to incorporate some -- but not all -- of the spurned Web dealers into its channel …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 08:36

  • VA spins off Labs for ‘Trillian’ Linux IA-64 port

    Company splits into two divisions, and has big plans for linux.com

    VA Research is splitting into two divisions plus a portal operation, following its acquisition of Linux Hardware Solutions and Enlightened Solutions earlier this week. The LHS deal will spawn a Linux systems division, to be known as VA Linux Systems, but the reorganisation of R&D under the name VA Linux Labs is probably of …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 09:05

  • 550MHz Pentium III has overheating problems

    Chip too hot to trot

    The new Pentium III is hot stuff. And that's for sure. Early reports from OEMs sampling Intel's stopgap 550MHz Pentium III (see Camino cockup panics Chipzilla) indicate that there are serious thermal issues with the new top-end desktop chip due for launch on May 16. "We've cooked several already," said one assembler who asked …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 10:39

  • No free upgrade deal for PCs with Win2k beta preinstall

    Dell, for one, seems to have gone suddenly cold on the coupon idea, so you pay twice, it seems

    As PC companies prepare to sell systems with Windows 2000 beta 3 preinstalled later this month, the vagueness of the terms and conditions of the Microsoft preview deal is slowly becoming apparent. What, precisely, is it you get if you buy a beta 3 machine? The best answer we can give right now is, not a lot, apart from beta 3 …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 10:41

  • BSkyB boss says B off to Microsoft millions

    $100 million package not tempting enough

    Despite the promise of a golden handshake, megabuck salary and share options worth an estimated $100 million, BSkyB CEO Mark Booth has turned down the chance to head Microsoft's Internet operations, choosing instead to mind Mr Murdoch's new media outfit, e*partners. If working for the Dirty Digger is that much more attractive …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 10:49

  • Sony preps HiFD for PlayStation 2

    Erstwhile floppy replacement to become consumer storage standard

    Sony is preparing to have another go at beating Iomega at its own game, when it relaunches its HiFD next-generation floppy disk format later this year. According to a report on CNet, Sony will re-introduce the 200MB HiFD drive in the autumn, with versions for connection to parallel, USB and PC Card ports. A FireWire/IEEE1394 …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 10:56

  • Prudential fails to put all its Eggs in one basket

    Should be called Geg -- its ecommerce message is definitely scrambled

    Egg -- the lifestyle-branded banking service from the UK's Prudential Corporation -- is taking a soft-boiled approach to ecommerce, even though it would like people to think it was a major player in the digital ballpark. From today if you want an Egg account you can only rustle it up if you apply via the Web. According to the …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 10:59

  • Cisco deal boosts ITG service

    Now it's one of the big boys of the UK ISP market

    Internet technology Group (ITG) has signed a $6 million deal with networking giant Cisco that should help it service more than two million Net users in the UK. The company claims that the expansion will make ITG one of the UK's largest Internet Service Providers (ISPs) with a total 33 points of presence (POPs) throughout the …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 11:00

  • Intel “disappointed” by AMD's K7

    Let AMD live and prosper -- unofficial

    Impeccable sources at Intel have described AMD's floating point (FP) performance as disappointing. Last week, an engineer at AMD told us that a K7-500MHz scores an FPU Winmark of 2767, compared to a Winmark of 2562 for a Pentium III/500. (See story) That is if these figures are true. A senior figure working at Intel Israel who …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 11:04

  • AMD samples isotopically pure wafers

    Silicon-28 gives faster performance, isotypically

    Isonics Corporation, which has a licence with Yale University to intellectuall property rights for isotopically-pure silicon-28, said it has shipped wafer samples to AMD. According to Isonics, AMD will test the performance of wafers using the technology on device performance, evaluation of overall chip yield and speed sorting, …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 11:22

  • ATI move on chipset market targets Intel

    Chromatic Research buyout starts to make sense at last

    PC graphics specialist ATI yesterday signalled a move into the chipset market. The announcement marks the latest stage in a strategy hatched last year, which led to the acquisition of PC-on-a-chip developer Chromatic Research last October. ATI is well known for its graphics acceleration products, such as the Rage Pro and Rage …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 11:42

  • Secrets of Intel's IA-64 roadmap revealed

    Updated Northwood to reach 3000MHz, Deerfield a consumer chip

    Reliable sources said yesterday that a future Intel IA-64 chip called Northwood would hit 3000MHz at its release. At the same time, it emerged that McKinley is likely to launch using P858 aluminium technology. The source who requested anonymity, works at Intel's R&D centre in Israel. He said that all generations of …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 11:48

  • Creative profits plummet 60 per cent

    Sound card Stan pins hopes on Rio clone

    The Great Satan of Sound Cards, Creative Technology, yesterday reported its profits slumped by a massive 60 per cent during its third quarter while revenue rose by just over five per cent. For the three months to 31 March, Creative notched up sales of $313.7 million, up from the $298.4 million it recorded in the same period last …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 12:08

  • Aureal posts Q1 earnings

    Revenues rise by 250 per cent, net loss falls to $4.1 million

    Audio company Aureal said that its Q1 1999 figures showed a rise in revenues of 250 per cent compared to the same period last year, amounting to $12.6 million. The net loss for Q1 1999 was $4.1 million, compared to a net loss of $5.5 million in Q1 1998. Gross margins rose to 34 per cent in Q1, a rise of 22 per cent for the same …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 12:11

  • Statue of Turing spurned by US IT giants

    Believe it or not, the computer was not invented by an American

    Skinflint US computer companies that have made trillions out of the industry are too stingy to find a measly £55,000 to erect a humble memorial to the father of computer science, Alan Turing. Sculptor Glyn Hughes has sent letters to all the major IT companies requesting donations so that he can complete the bronze work. But …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 12:43

  • Flat screen monitors will poison the planet

    Recycler warns of hidden dangers and unknown chemicals

    A leading UK recycling company has warned that the current trend for flat-panel monitor screens may turn into an environmental disaster for future generations. Technical Asset Management, (TAM) said that no one really knows which chemicals and compounds are used in the manufacture of flat-panel screens which means no one knows …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 13:13

  • AMD confirms Raza to ramp up activities

    Sanders to go to back end of bus

    An AMD spokesperson today confirmed that at a board of directors meeting on the 29th of April, it will be proposed that Atiq Raza will become president and chief operating officer (COO) of the company. (See story: AMD's Sanders to take back seat) That effectively means that Jerry Sanders III will stay as chairman of the company …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 14:00

  • What the Hell is… an Endian?

    Updated There's big ones and there's little ones, y'know

    When The Register first started as an email newsletter nearly five years ago, our motto was "The only good Endian is a dead Endian." But readers keep asking us questions such as "What is an Endian"? One of our readers has been good enough to provide us with a clear explanation of the topic. And another reader, has added his …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 14:00

  • Lycos/USA Networks deal in limbo, VP says

    Top Lycos exec likes the deal but admits the market doesn't

    At least one senior executive at Lycos doesn't hold out much hope of the proposed merger between Lycos and USA Networks going ahead. In a frank exchange about the turmoil that has thrown Lycos into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, VP Bo Peabody touched upon the difficulties of the last two months. "We've had a little …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 14:39

  • Quantum's 1999 revenues decline

    Q4 shows massive profit burst

    Hard times in the hard drive industry have caused Quantum to turn in reduced revenues and net profits for its 1999 financial year. But its Q4 financial figures show a dramatic and sensational turnaround, with the company turning in net profits of $56.7 million, compared with $2.7 million in the equivalent quarter of 1998. That …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 14:42

  • Cisco buys Amteva

    Voice, email, fax integration specialist swallowed by Great Stan of Routers

    Cisco's acquisition spree continues -- today it snapped up privately held US operation Amteva Technologies. Amteva develops software that brings together voicemail, email and fax data over IP networks into a single user access point, and that's bang in the centre of Cisco's vision of what the network should offer. Ameteva's …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 14:51

  • Direct Rambus shows no gains over current memory technology

    Paper claims 100MHz SDRAMs beat "800Mbps" Rambus parts

    A paper that will be presented at the 26th International Symposium on Computer Architecture next month will claim that Direct Rambus memory has no performance advantage over 100MHz SDRAMs. The paper, titled A Performance Comparison of Contemporary DRAM Architectures and written by university professors, can be found in PDF …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 14:59

  • US service companies to clean up in Europe

    Study reveals Europeans way behind in the service skills stakes

    Europe is set to provide rich pickings for US service providers, according to market analysts, IDC. The European market for services is blossoming like never before, thanks in part to the euro and the general increase in links between European countries. The market is growing at an annual rate of 10 per cent and IDC reckons the …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 15:21

  • Samsung MP3 player goes global

    The man from Samsung, he say Yepp

    Korean combine Samsung has finally launched its Yepp MP3 player to the rest of the world. And it is promising an entire line of MP3 devices, including in-car systems and a standalone hardware-based CD and cassette ripper. The 58mm x 85mm x 17mm device emerged last year round about the time Diamond Multimedia was being taken to …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 15:50

  • Intel's Barrett's spoof diary

    We imagine what he might write, if he was a journalist

    30 April 1999 Some bastard disturbed me in my cubicle while I was having a nap and said that punk cybertrash rag The Register is publishing lots of future information about our plans. Goddamn. Thought I'd taught them a lesson three years ago when I authorised Intel to sue them for breach of intellectual property. Called Dunlap. …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 23:38

  • Hamidi loses to Intel

    Not allowed to bombard employees with email or trespass

    Local US newspaper The Sacramento Bee reported today that Ken Hamidi has lost his fight against Intel. Although Hamidi, as reported here earlier, had forced Intel to back down on sueing him for money, or for being a nuisance, a judge in Sacramento said today that he was not allowed to bombard Intel employees with email. Intel …

    Business 28 Apr 1999, 23:48