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14th May 1999 Archive

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  • NSI beats-off domain legal challenge

    But grumbling about its hold on the 'Who is' database continues

    Network Solutions (NSI), the former exclusive domain name registrar for .COM, .EDU, .NET, and .ORG, breathed a sigh or relief after it successfully defeated yet another legal challenge - from two rival birthday balloon vendors who both wanted the same domain name. NSI managed to persuade federal judge David Hamilton to dismiss …

    Business 14 May 1999, 08:28

  • AOL, Hughes to team to compete with Gates' Teledesic

    Steve Case and his merry men join the broadband data from space race

    AOL is discussing a $1 billion investment in Hughes Network Systems to help the development of a two-way satellite service for high-speed Web access, Spaceway. This would give the company a stake in one of the next century's broadband satellite networks, and further the "AOL Anywhere" goal. Today, satellite communication has …

    Business 14 May 1999, 08:34

  • Allaire Confusion for Linux after MS deal

    Allaire was doing it, but Allaire is friends with MS, and now it's all going quiet. Funny that...

    Further to our story about Microsoft's friend Jeremy Allaire (Allaire scores DNA deal), some interesting additional information has come to light, for which we thank reader Case Roole. It seems that Allaire liked the idea of porting to the non-Windows world, but its ColdFusion server, which was developed for NT and Solaris was …

    Business 14 May 1999, 08:39

  • Nokia-Bridge deal delivers mobile finance data

    Track your portfolio from bars, restaurants, public transport - until somebody hits you

    Nokia has announced a deal with Bridge Information Systems that will allow mobile phone access to Bridge's real-time financial information systems. Wisely, the partners are pushing the service first in Asia-Pacific, home of obsessive interest in stock and currency movements. The deal allows the BridgeConnect financial …

    Business 14 May 1999, 09:25

  • Qualcomm-MS bid for cellular data starts trial

    BackOffice Everywhere plan kicks off in Canada

    Wireless Knowledge (WK), the Microsoft-Qualcomm wireless joint venture company, has announced the first trial of its Revolv mobile data service, in conjunction with Canadian outfit Bell Mobility. Although WK says it isn't committed to particular standards, the Bell Mobility trial strokes both partners adequately. The Canadian …

    Business 14 May 1999, 09:27

  • Creative denies move into European PC sales

    Will it eventually sell boxes in Europe?

    Lisa Peres, European channel marketing manager at Creative, said today that her company has no plans to extend sales of PCs into Europe. But the fact that it is already doing so in Singapore and South America has caused disquiet amongst rival graphics board manufacturers. One UK distributor of rival graphics products said: "How …

    Business 14 May 1999, 09:36

  • More details leak on Matrox G400

    Korean site benchmarks details

    The nice people who run hardware site Kbench in Korea have pointed out to us it has a set of Matrox G400 32Mb benchmarks on its site. And indeed it has. According to Kbench, the benchmarks used a Pentium II overclocked from 400MHz to 448MHz, a Gigabyte GA-BX 2000 board using the 440BX chipset, 128Mb of six nanosecond SDRAM, a …

    Business 14 May 1999, 09:44

  • MDR flees Ziff for Cahners

    When did that happen then?

    MicroDesign Resources, the people who publish The Microprocessor Report, seem to have been sold by Spliff Davis to the Cahners Electronic Group. We know this because we received an invite to a seminar on June 10 where Dirk Meyer, chief architect of AMD's K7, will demonstrate the beast. According to MDR, Meyer will present new …

    Business 14 May 1999, 09:58

  • ASA sinks teeth into channel advertisers

    Slapped wrists for Simply, AC Computer Warehouse, Granville, Sage and Eidos

    The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) minefield exploded in the face of several IT companies this month. Objections were raised to a Simply Computer’s ad in a glossy supplement claiming: "We won’t be beaten on price." Yes, you know the one –- guarantees to refund the price difference if the product was found cheaper at a …

    Business 14 May 1999, 10:09

  • MS marketing spins and respins in Linux attack

    Updated Rampant versionitis strikes as readers bombard the small print

    Confirmation that Microsoft accidentally shipped the beta of its attack on Linux (MS declares war on Linux) has arrived, in the shape of a further goof from the marketing department, followed by a swift amendment. Not counting any changes that have got by us, we calculate we're now on MS Linux War 3.0. When version 1.0 shipped, …

    Business 14 May 1999, 10:20

  • Intel aims to be number 2 server manufacturer in Europe by year end

    Intel World domination latest...

    Intel plans to be #2 to Compaq in European servers by the end of 1999. Chipzilla, as every schoolboy knows, doesn’t make computers, oh dearie me, no. It makes the bits that go inside the things and it's the OEMs that actually build systems. Except, that is, for the server market where the chip behemoth has been quietly selling …

    Business 14 May 1999, 10:21

  • Microsoft allies with broadband outfit to push NT

    Not many users for At Home yet, and no mention of billions this deal, either

    We've no price tag on today's Microsoft cable deal as yet, but it's an alliance with would-be broadband cable Internet provider At Home Corp., the US outfit that's aiming to provide services to small and medium-sized cable operators. As announced the deal is a strategic technology partnership intended to "accelerate the …

    Business 14 May 1999, 10:55

  • Intel and Silicon Storage settle lawsuit

    A mediator has mediated

    Silicon Storage Technology (SST) and Intel have settled their legal differences out of court. SST and Intel entered into the legal fray in November 1997 over flash memory technology. But now the lawyers have been sent back to their offices after both parties agreeed to a neutral mediation, with Intel and SST both saying they are …

    Business 14 May 1999, 11:02

  • Cyrix sale rumour mill ramps

    TSMC is either interested or it's disinterested

    There were conflicting reports on US wires yesterday evening that Taiwanese foundry TSMC was considering buying the Cyrix fab. One wire quoted a TSMC executive as saying it was interested in buying the fab while another wire quoted a TSMC executive as saying wasn't interested in buying the fab. But, in the process, a National …

    Business 14 May 1999, 11:08

  • Creative unwraps 3dfx Wrapper

    Run Voodoo Glide games on your nVidia TNT card -- but is it legal?

    Creative Technologies yesterday released the first beta Wrapper, a utility that maps calls from one 3D acceleration chipset's API to another's, in this case to allow 3dfx Voodoo-based games to run on nVidia's Riva TNT chip. However, the company is being very cautious about the release, even going as far as to claim the software …

    Business 14 May 1999, 11:14

  • Linux fans never do any work

    They spend all their time reading Linux stories on the Web

    Employers beware. When hiring new techies, think twice before giving the job to an applicant wearing a Linux beanie hat. Exhaustive research by The Register's statistics division has revealed that any news story posted on the Web containg the L word is immediately pounced on by Torvaldians worldwide who obviously have little …

    Business 14 May 1999, 11:17

  • Freeserve adds share buying to its service

    Takes a stake in GlobalNet for $15 million

    Dixons has just forked out $15 million for a 13 per cent share in GlobalNet Financial.com to bolster the content provided by its highly successful ISP Freeserve. Within months it appears the electrical retailer-come-Internet company will start offering an on-line sharedealing service to rival established firms such as Charles …

    Business 14 May 1999, 11:33

  • Developer community to standardise PowerPC Linux

    Post Red Hat 6.0-based Reference Release for distributors

    A gang of independent programmers developing PowerPC versions of Linux are seeking to unify established and emerging Mac-oriented distributions of the open source OS. Described as "a loose coalition of developers", the LinuxPPC Developers (LPD) organisation wants to ensure future releases of LinuxPPC (no relation), Yellow Dog …

    Business 14 May 1999, 11:34

  • DRAM prices plummet

    Crisis hits market once more

    English language newspaper The Korea Herald is reporting that prices of memory chips are dropping through the floor. Quoting a Ministry of Commerce spokesman, the Herald says that spot prices of 64Mbit parts are hovering around the $9 level but could drop to $8 apiece. And it's SDRAM which is giving most cause for concern. Eight …

    Business 14 May 1999, 11:38

  • Don’t buy an Intel Inside PC

    … at least until Monday

    The Register Advisory Group (RAG) would like to remind readers not to buy a new Intel PC until after the weekend. As listed here, Chipzilla is chopping prices on Monday to make room at the top for the hot (literally) new P3 550 which will debut at $744. Other parts take a dive at the same time – the P3 500MHz drops from $637 to …

    Business 14 May 1999, 11:39

  • Mobile phone can save you from a heart attack

    So now you know what to buy for the man who has everything

    Medical check-ups could soon be carried out via mobile phones, thanks to German technology. That's right, based in the town of Essen, heart specialist Dr Stefan Sack has come up with the perfect gift for affluent hypochondriacs everywhere -- a mobile phone that can tell you that you're having a heart attack. It's called "Handy …

    Business 14 May 1999, 12:25

  • Launch of Mirror's ic24 sees IBM steal a jump on Compaq

    It's a funny old world...

    The Mirror Group, Cable & Wireless Communications, Compaq and Microsoft stood shoulder-to-shoulder in a show of unity today to explain why the new ic24 subscription-free ISP service and portal was set to break new ground. Such a show of strength by some of the industries biggest heavyweights is indeed a sight to behold. The …

    Business 14 May 1999, 12:32

  • Slapped wrists for Dell and Micron over ads

    Feds take dim view of hidden leasing details

    Dell Computer and Micron Electronics have been scolded over misleading PC leasing ads. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleged that the two direct sellers’ adverts violated federal laws. Its complaints covered Dell's Internet ads stating that users could buy a new PC via low monthly payments. What the ads failed to show …

    Business 14 May 1999, 12:39

  • Toll-free Web access doomed to fail

    Cable & Wireless turns nose up at free model

    Cable & Wireless Communications has no plans to introduce toll-free Net access in the UK and doesn't believe that the model is financially viable. Lance Spencer, MD of IP customer solutions and IP strategy at CWC made it clear at a press conference today that there was little future in toll-free access, although he did stress …

    Business 14 May 1999, 12:47

  • Iridium woes worsen

    Official: subscriber ramp-up, revenues lower than expected

    Satellite phone service Iridium admitted yesterday it does not expect to gain the number of subscribers it promised its investors it would attract. At the same time, the deeply troubled company hired investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette to advise it on cutting costs and restructuring its debt. Iridium has until the end …

    Business 14 May 1999, 12:47

  • Can Linux avoid Microsoft's NT trap?

    Opinion MS wants to fight Linux on ground of its choosing, so accept the challenge, but change the battlefield

    Microsoft's spinmeisters are no doubt highly satisfied with the progress of their assault on the Linux community so far this week. The 'put up or shut up' challenge is of course a trap - but yes, what is the Linux world going to do about it? Discussions of this so far seem pretty rational and realistic. It's generally accepted …

    Business 14 May 1999, 13:02

  • Shareholders’ lawsuit pushes Merisel $21m into the red

    Years of legal scrapping take its toll on results

    Merisel has blamed its $20.5 million loss on years of legal wrangling with shareholders. First quarter net income for the US distributor was $491,000 without the charge. Sales for the quarter rose to $1.3 billion. This compared to the previous quarter’s $1.1 billion turnover and net income of $3.6 million. The company stated …

    Business 14 May 1999, 13:21

  • Intel holds line on Direct Rambus

    But where's its backup strategy?

    Once more, Intel has maintained that it will not use PC-133 or PC-266 memory, despite increasing signs that Direct Rambus DRAM's horizon is receding. As reported here earlier, Intel will adopt a half-way house strategy to the slight delay in DRDRAM by introducing a PC-100 version of the i820 chipset. But sources close to the …

    Business 14 May 1999, 13:23

  • Ballmer muses on opening up NT source code

    And from the length of the answer to a simple question, it seems he's been musing a lot

    Microsoft President Steve Ballmer suggested during a speech to CIOs and information industry executives yesterday that Microsoft might release some NT source code. His comments came when a questioner managed to slip one in about Linux. This is by no means the first time Ballmer has mused out loud about open source, without …

    Business 14 May 1999, 14:12

  • Tests cited by MS prove flaws in Linux study – Linux Today

    MS says PC Week tests support Mindcraft, but the numbers undermine Mindcraft

    An article published earlier today by Linux Today fires back at Microsoft's challenge to Linux. Author Larry J Blunk points out that the PC Week benchmark cited by Microsoft in its challenge in fact supports the Linux community's objections to the earlier Mindcraft study. Mindcraft had been employed by Microsoft to conduct a …

    Business 14 May 1999, 15:16

  • You want God’s email address – we got it

    Well, not exactly, but we know a Bishop who has

    A chaplain at one of the UK's most hallowed academic institutions has been accused of blasphemy after using the word "God" in his email address. The Rev Bruce Kinsey, (god@dow.cam.ac.uk) who looks after his flock at Cambridge University, shrugs his shoulders at those who condemn him for heresy and thinks they've blown it out of …

    Business 14 May 1999, 15:42

  • Software spin-off put on hold by Acer

    Uncertainties plague yet another business venture by Taiwanese giant

    Acer has put plans for a software spin off on the back burner due to worries over the new arm’s profitability. The Taiwanese PC manufacturer has delayed plans to expand the division as a separate software company due to no guarantee over earnings for the venture. An Acer representative said: "We want the software division to be …

    Business 14 May 1999, 16:11

  • Intel's Otellini says Ray Lane good president for Compaq

    But Otellini himself is a refusenik for Pfeiffer's ex-post

    Senior Intel VP Paul Otellini came to London yesterday and saw us reading a newspaper called Shannon knows Compaq. He obviously had seen the newsletter before. He said: "Who is going to be the new CEO of Compaq?" We said: "Maybe Ray Lane but we don't think so, because he's earning enough already." Otellini was in a bad mood. He …

    Business 14 May 1999, 16:31