18th May 1999 Archive

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X.Org takes over X Windows stewardship

Sign that Open Group is getting back to basics

The stewardship of the X Window system, part of the X Protocol developed in the mid-1980s, has passed to the newly-created X.Org, which is part of the Open Group. The technologies for which the Open Group has been custodian also include Motif (the graphical user interface used by more than 200 platforms), CDE (common desktop …

Business 18 May 1999, 07:19
Could judge's ‘free OEMs’ suggestion herald MS trial deal?

MS on Trial Reports point to the kind of settlement that might be made

It now seems certain that the Microsoft trial will not restart before Monday 1 June. When we visited Judge Jackson's drugs trial recently, witnesses were being questioned interminably. The public area of the courtroom (not the one used for the Microsoft trial) was separated from the court by a bullet-proof glass screen, which …

Business 18 May 1999, 07:22
MS trial opponents allowed to share information

MS on Trial And Microsoft's move to delay Bristol trial is denied

Microsoft had a bad day yesterday when federal Judge Janet Hall ruled in the district Court in Bridgeport, Connecticut that MS would not be granted any further delay in the case brought by Bristol Technologies. Bristol complains that Microsoft has anticompetitively manipulated access to Windows APIs, in contravention of the …

Business 18 May 1999, 07:29
Heads roll at Compaq Alpha factory

900 staff gibbeted at Alpha plant

When Ben Rosen put Eckhard Pfeiffer out of a job recently, he was at pains to insist that no restructuring at Compaq was needed. Did we believe that at the time? No. And now Compaq has taken the first step in what looks like a big restructuring plan, laying off 900 people at its Alpha factory in Salem. Factories cost a lot of …

Business 18 May 1999, 07:30
Philips takes 50 per cent slice of LG's LCD biz

Gets Dutch company out of a CRT hole

As predicted here at the weekend, Philips has taken a cut in LG's liquid crystal display business. The Dutch company yesterday confirmed it had signed a letter of intent to take 50 per cent of Lucky Goldstar's TFT screen business, and is paying $1.6 billion for the privilege. While LG already has a fair chunk of market share in …

Business 18 May 1999, 07:37
CDMA group jostles for position in G3 cellular battle

A year ago Show us your intellectual property, big boy...

From The Register May 1998 (a year ago) Political infighting over next generation cellular standards intensified this week, following a statement made by Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDMA Development Group (CDG). LaForge was allegedly "welcoming" the announcement of support for CDMA technology "by GSM interest groups …

Business 18 May 1999, 07:46
France Telecom sues Deutsche Telekom for billions

Italian merger effectively terminates alliance, says FT

Jilted phone giant France Telecom is claiming "several billion Euros" from Deutsche Telekom over the latter's wrecking of the pair's nice alliance. FT's claim translates neatly into a little over several billion dollars, and if the other member of the old triple alliance, US Sprint, cares to chime in, this could get expensive …

Business 18 May 1999, 08:49
Aplio to launch Linux-based Internet phone

Company reckons Linux ideal to standardise on

Internet telephony outfit Aplio is to standardise on Linux as the operating system for future Internet appliances and embedded systems. The company's first Linux-based product, it says, will be out this summer. Despite recent growth, Linux hasn't so far made any major breakthroughs in the appliance and/or embedded arenas. The OS …

Business 18 May 1999, 08:51
GSM will continue to dominate handset sales

Report It's just got too far for CDMA to catch up

Annual cellular phone handset sales will virtually double by 2003, but although it will show the highest growth rate, the CDMA digital standard isn't going to make breakthrough. According to a new report from Cahners In-Stat, of the 392 million units sold in 2003 (up from 207 million this year), 203 million will be GSM. The …

Business 18 May 1999, 09:25
MS Office virus could infect without you opening attachment

If your browser automatically executes a CALL function, then all sorts of horrid things may be possible

Israeli security outfit Finjan Software has warned of how a potentially serious Excel-related virus could spread and inflict damage without the recipient opening an email attachment. Finjan says that "All 3.x and 4.x versions of the Microsoft Internet Explorer Browsers and Netscape Navigator browsers 3.x and 4.x (except …

Business 18 May 1999, 10:21
Half a2b staff jump ship to Reciprocal

Saw which side their online bread was buttered

Over half of the staff at AT&T's digital music subsidiary, a2b, have walked out to join Microsoft-backed content rights management software developer Reciprocal. To make matter worse for the telecoms giant, the mass defection was led by a2b co-founders Larry Miller and Howie Singer. Miller said he and his co-defectors made the …

Business 18 May 1999, 10:24
CDnow to launch digital music sales site

Retailer bullish as major music labels prepare own online efforts

Online CD retailer CDnow is to launch a digital music delivery service in the autumn. It's not yet clear what mechanism and music format the company will use, but with over two million customers (it claims) it does have a head start on the major players, coming online later this year. Sony will get there first, with a plan to …

Business 18 May 1999, 10:41
Fraud charges follow abuse of BT 0800 test number

User allegedly clocks up 680 hours online –- now facing hefty bill

An anonymous Net user has been accused of fraud and threatened with legal action for using a toll-free number to access the Web that was reserved for use by BT staff. A letter, purportedly sent by BT customer relations manager Keith Lawton, orders the unnamed customer to cough up for the 680 hours and 45 minutes spent online …

Business 18 May 1999, 10:44
Loki game for Linux

Myth II, Railroad Tycoon II coming soon -- five more major titles promised by year end

Linux games developer Loki Entertainment will follow up its release of Civilization: Call to Power with Linux ports of Myth II: Soulblighter, Railroad Tycoon II and Eric's Ultimate Solitaire. The company didn't specify when the three new titles would ship, other than a cautious "available in 1999". However, Loki's programmers …

Business 18 May 1999, 10:54
Intel confirms Pentium II dead

Six months down the line

We have been predicting the demise of the Pentium II for some time now, as Intel shifts its customer base to the Pentium III and introduces Coppermine technology. But now it is official. Intel has confirmed that the Pentium II will die in six months time, according to wire Asia Pulse. The news service quotes Intel India director …

Business 18 May 1999, 11:38
PlayMedia sues MP3.com

$15 million damages sought for offering allegedly copyright-infringing MP3 player

MP3 player software developer PlayMedia's $20 million copyright infringement suit against its rival, Nullsoft, has been extended to take in MP3.com, mere days after the MP3 music distributor publicly announced its upcoming IPO. PlayMedia's beef with Nullsoft centres on allegations that the latter used code from PlayMedia's Amp …

Business 18 May 1999, 11:38
Flood of enquiries slows down LocalTel freebies

Telco apologises to subscribers for delays to free calls service

LocalTel has apologised to subscribers of its new toll-free Net access service for delays in issuing documents to compete the registration to screaming.net. In an email to Net users, customer service manager for the telco, PA Jenkins, said: "The response to the service has been overwhelming and this is why it has taken so long …

Business 18 May 1999, 11:48
Irish eyes are smiling thanks to Taiwanese investment

Two factories to create 500 much needed jobs

Taiwan’s first foray into Ireland will create 500 jobs over the next four years, the Irish government said today. Hon Hai Precision Industry plans to invest over 8 million Irish punts (£6.7 million) to set up two factories in Mullingar, Westmeath, the first investment by a Taiwanese company in the Emerald Isle. The first will be …

Business 18 May 1999, 12:18
Children’s author found guilty of kiddie Web porn crimes

Judge dismisses claims of legitimate research as ‘humbug’

A children's author and former TV director for the BBC has been convicted of peddling kiddie porn on the Internet. Ian Strachan, 60, told Shrewsbury Crown Court that he downloaded explicit material from the Net as part of research for a book he was writing on child pornography. But Strachan's plea was thrown out by Judge Michael …

Business 18 May 1999, 12:26
US govt’s pay-to-search scheme falters

Only live for a matter of hours before it is pulled

The US government’s fee-based Web search engine has been halted only a few hours after going live. The facility was intended to allow anyone to search through the US government’s databases to find information, documents and so on. The facility carried a $30 per month, or $15 per day, fee for access, which prompted some criticism …

Business 18 May 1999, 12:57
Child porn banned in Japan

Stemming the 'Lolita' trade

Japan has banned child pornography. It is now illegal to produce, distribute, sell, possess or trade in child porn. As reported by The Register last month, the bill was widely supported and not expected to meet much opposition. It's hoped the move - which applies to all aspects of the "Lolita trade" in Japan and not just the …

Business 18 May 1999, 12:58
E-bumpkins doomed to chew e-cud as wired world leaves them behind

Report says e-business will separate the wheat from the chaff

The world of ecommerce is inhabited by Global Village Gods -- those who embrace wired technology -- and Global Village Idiots -- um, those who don't. That's according to author Martin Butler, head of Butler Group, in his new book The E-Business Advantage in which he tries to spell out the opportunities for businesses in the …

Business 18 May 1999, 13:15
Microsoft says Win2K will run fine on Celerons

Updated But still make your chip buying decisions carefully

Microsoft said today that Windows 2000 will run "fine" on Intel Celeron processors. A Danish computer magazine had alerted us to the fact that Win2K will only run on processors with 256K level two cache or more, following advice from Microsoft in Denmark. But Frances Fawcett, Windows 2000 product manager at Microsoft UK, said: " …

Business 18 May 1999, 13:25
HP bucks trend with strong PC sales

Profits surge despite being late-comer to e-commerce

Hewlett-Packard turned in surging second-quarter profits at over $900 million, bolstered by strong PC and printer sales. The figures topped analysts’ expectations, recording earnings of $918 million, for the three months ended 30 April. This was up on last year’s $685 million. Sales grew 3.3 per cent to $12.4 billion, and orders …

Business 18 May 1999, 15:55
SGI gets new channels manager

Goes at it like a bull, sources say

Silicon Graphics (SGI) will name Greg Goelz, formerly of Iomega, as head of its channels programme, according to US-based online news bunnies CMP. Goelz was Iomega VP of worldwide sales and marketing for the professional products division, and has 13 years in the storage business under his belt. He will be VP of worldwide …

Business 18 May 1999, 16:01
Chip market stability helps Siemens

Sales up as German group tries to put last year’s woes behind it

Siemens saw sales jump 17 per cent for the six-months ended 31 March. The German company recorded turnover of $33.6 billion, against $28.7 billion for the same period the previous year. Pre-tax profit was $764 million, slightly up on last year’s $753 million. The electronics giant said new orders climbed 10 per cent, largely in …

Business 18 May 1999, 16:40