20th May 1999 Archive

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Unnamed 550MHz chip is a K7

Anand reckons he'll review it soon

Last weekend we reported that an "unnamed processor" benchmarked against Pentium IIIs on the AnandTech web site was likely to be a K7. The link to the benchmark is in our original story. Now Anand himself has stepped into the fray and has claimed that the benchmarks do, indeed, relate to an engineering sample of the K7. He said …

Business 20 May 1999, 07:21
MSN scraps charges in free access u-turn

Not because it is haemorrhaging members though, oh no

It appears that the penny has finally dropped at MSN after it announced today that it is to abolish subscription charges for its service in the UK. Finally acknowledging that the market has changed, a spokesman for MSN said the online service and Net access provider was "moving with the times". The decision comes five months …

Business 20 May 1999, 07:29
IBM Micro to go Slot One in 1999

A year ago We look for the smoking pistol

From The Register, 20 May 1998 IBM Microelectronics will produce a Slot One microprocessor in 1999, prompting speculation as to whether it is using an Intel licence, a licence from National Semiconductor-Cyrix, or has entered an unholy alliance with AMD. See the whole foil (70K) here. The company will introduce Slot One models …

Business 20 May 1999, 07:35
AOL chief bizarrely predicts MS trial memory lapse

MS on Trial AOL's answer to Bill Gates could have trouble remembering the question

AOL chairman Steve Case looks like rivaling Bill Gates in the stonewalling stakes when his deposition is taken by Microsoft lawyers tomorrow. Microsoft's defence reckons that AOL's takeover of Netscape is vital evidence (a lead lifebelt, we'd say), while Case yesterday maintained that he'd have nothing to contribute. Images of …

Business 20 May 1999, 07:39
Buy my digital nervous systems, Gates tells CEOs

But it isn't a sales pitch folks, honest...

Earlier this week Bill Gates' spin-doctors said the boss wouldn't be making a sales pitch at his CEO Summit. Yesterday Bill stood up and - made a sales pitch. In his opening speech, entitled "Knowledge workers without limits" he told a stack of the Fortune 1000 CEOs about some "practical steps" that they could take, and these …

Business 20 May 1999, 08:08
Oracle NC outfit changes name, plans IPO

Liberate plans lucrative new life in set-top box arena

Isn't the Web wonderful? Go to NCI's Web site today, and you are automagically redirected from nc.com to liberate.com, because NCI has a new name, more backers, and an IPO on the boil. The IPO, provided it can hold onto existing customer commitments and maybe announce a couple more big deals like the AOL one, could be a runner. …

Business 20 May 1999, 08:10
Web-via-satellite deal exclusive for Microtronica

Takes on sole distribution in Europe for BroadLogic

Microtronica has netted a deal to be the first distributor in Europe for BroadLogic. It will distribute BroadLogic's Satellite Express range of products in the UK. These are cards that enable Internet access to PCs via satellite. The cards, fitted to the motherboard, offer higher speed and more cost effective Web access, …

Business 20 May 1999, 09:57
SME resellers given credit boost by Samsung

Korean giant will underwrite sales to smaller businesses

Samsung will launch a credit scheme to finance SME targeted computer purchases from resellers. Called Samsung Refresh, the scheme is designed to make it easier to sell networking kit and services to small and medium sized businesses. It will let authorised resellers supply customers on credit. The programme will be underwritten …

Business 20 May 1999, 10:20
Compaq filing shows firm on sticky wicket

Analysis Share price down to $26 but company now undervalued

The share price of Compaq closed at $26 on Wall Street last night, reflecting the concern of the markets about its overall position. The nature of the problems it faces in the future were outlined in some detail in the 10-Q form it filed with the US Securities and Equities Commission (SEC) earlier this week. One of the problems …

Business 20 May 1999, 10:25
Hitachi unveils DRAM, Flash killer

Researchers demonstrate new memory technology with very long name

Hitachi has developed a new type of memory chip that promises to offer the characteristics of both regular DRAM and Flash memory. Scientists as Hitachi's Cambridge Research Lab call the new memory Phase-State Low Electron Drive Memory (PLEDM). That mouthful essentially means the new chips use the state of electrons held in …

Business 20 May 1999, 10:32
Rock to quit Intel board…

Five weeks ago ...and so he has

From The Register, 11 April 1999, just to show that we can trash news.com and Techweb, which only reported this information last night... Arthur Rock (72), a board director for Intel since 1968, will stand down from the Corporation on May 19th, when there’s an annual general meeting of the chip giant. He will become an advisor …

Business 20 May 1999, 10:43
Amazon.com files $2 billion cash boost

Bookstore seeks further funding as losses mount

Amazon.com is seeking to raise $2 billion through the sale of debt and securities, according to a statement filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The self-styled world's largest bookshop didn't specify what it will use the money for -- "general corporate purposes", was all it said -- but when you're continually …

Business 20 May 1999, 10:48
Burger King chips in with Net access

But BK Web will be sauce-free

Great Satan of Grilled Meat Products, Burger King, is to branch out into the cybercafe business -- in one branch. The company yesterday said a new outlet, opening in Hartford, Connecticut, would provide 20 PCs for punters to surf the Web while sampling their Whoppers. Certain meals will come with certain amounts of online time, …

Business 20 May 1999, 11:07
Hyundai-LG Semi – the deal is on

Whew…that took a while…

The protracted discussions between Hyundai and LG Semi have reached a conclusion, forming a new world giant in memory manufacture. The deal was concluded in Korea today, with Hyundai paying $2.1 billion for 59 per cent of LG Semicon. And the president of Hyundai, at the signing ceremony in Seoul, said that there will now be an …

Business 20 May 1999, 11:14
US Senate moves to ban bomb info on Web

Move threatens freedom of information, critics say

The US Senate is the middle of political minefield that could blow the First Amendment wide apart if it succeeds in banning the publication of bomb making information on the Net. Two senators from either side of the political divide joined forces yesterday to add an amendment to the Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender …

Business 20 May 1999, 11:23
Deep Blue MD on trial

Three months set aside for case starting next month

The former managing director of the now defunct Deep Blue Technologies, James Willard, is to appear in court next month. The case -- Regina v James Willard & Others –- is scheduled to be heard at Bristol crown court, starting Monday 7 June. It is believed the trial could last for up to three months. ®

Business 20 May 1999, 11:44
Database set up to take kids to school

Government wants to cut number of parents driving children to and from school

A national software database will be set up to tackle traffic jams on the school run, the government said yesterday. Schools minister Charles Clarke announced the £200,000 scheme to trim the number of kids ferried to school by private car every day. This will effect over one million children in Britain, and 20 per cent of rush- …

Business 20 May 1999, 11:47
Linuxcare opens Linux compatibility lab

Tech support vendor joins KeyLabs' standardisation efforts

Linux tech support provider Linuxcare has become the second vendor to offer a vendor-neutral certification programme for hardware and software designed to work with the open source OS. According to Linuxcare's CTO, David Sifry, the company's testing efforts, to be promoted under the Linuxcare Labs brand, will be vendor- …

Business 20 May 1999, 11:47
Bomb victims lobby ISPs

They call for an end to access to bomb-making sites

The victims of bombings made a passionate plea to Net companies yesterday to rid the Web of any information that would help anyone make a bomb. The appearance of David Kaczynski, the brother of convicted Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski, Marsha knight, whose daughter died in the Oklahoma City explosion, and Unabomber bomb-blast …

Business 20 May 1999, 11:58
Russian Merced Killer to achieve 600MHz

Mini-fab will produce silicon early next year

Elbrus, the Russian microprocessor company which secured funding from the Moscow government and others, is likely to produce its 64-bit running at 600MHz early next year. The processors will be produced at a small fabrication plant which will use .35 micron process technology on Applied Materials kit, as reported here earlier. …

Business 20 May 1999, 12:03
Linux helping WordPerfect gain against MS Office?

Prices, amnesties and free downloads may be adding up into a come-back

It is now clear that WordPerfect is making progress against Microsoft Word in North America, although there's been a little spat over US over government sales. Corel claims 22 million seats at the end of 1998, quoting PC Data, with 40 per cent of the federal government and 53 per cent of state and local government using WP. Not …

Business 20 May 1999, 12:19
AOL planning satellite-DSL broadband combo?

Adding DSL as the return pipe for satellite data could be a winner

AOL yesterday fleshed-out its next generation network plans by promising high speed DSL access across the United States. The company, which was briefing analysts, didn't specify either when this would happen or when broadband access outside of the US would be offered, but the scheme seems a plausible fit for the company's …

Business 20 May 1999, 12:23
Japanese-English Web translator comes on stream

It could be the answer to all our Happy Cat stories…

After The Register said that it urgently needed Babelfish to translate hot chip stories breaking on Japanese Web sites, we were pointed to a site which has a fair crack at the problem. Jim Breen's WWWJDIC server, allows Japanese text to be typed or pasted into a box. The software then goes away for a little think and comes back …

Business 20 May 1999, 12:24
European Web market stunted by metered calls

Latest raft of research calls for call charges to be scrapped

The number of European households in Cyberspace will triple over the next four years to 47 million, but time spent online will stay low. This is because local phone costs are charged by the minute in Europe, according to a study by Jupiter Communications. In the US, users pay a monthly fee for access and no call charges. …

Business 20 May 1999, 12:27
BT makes £136 profit per second

Number of local calls placed doubles thanks to Web access boom

Internet users helped British Telecom make £136 ($220) profit a second after it reported that its profit had jumped 36 per cent from £3.15 billion to a whopping £4.3 billion. But despite having money coming out of its ears, BT said that it won't cut the cost of Net access in the UK. A spokesman for BT said: "Our pricing …

Business 20 May 1999, 12:32
The Register storms into Web Top 20

Setting our sites on the Top 10, not half pop-pickers

It's official -- The Register is one of the most popular Web sites in the UK. According to extensive research by 100hot.com, The Register comes in at number 13 in the hit parade, way above the likes of MSN UK (17), The Times (24), Amazon.co.uk (33) and the London Evening Standard’s Web site ThisIsLondon (46). And before you say …

Business 20 May 1999, 13:02
PR bunnies take it out on their own

intro

My mother said I never should play with the vultures in the wood.... A little bird has told The Register how a very pleasant PR bunny (who spent the day with us to see what it's really like working in the real world) has been branded a traitor by the other rabbits in her warren. That can't be right, can it? Anybody would think …

Business 20 May 1999, 15:09