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28th May 1999 Archive

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  • FTC investigators recommend action against Intel

    A year ago Limited scope to start with, but this one could grow big

    From The Register, a year ago The US Federal Trading Commission is likely to decide to bring antitrust charges against Intel next week, following a recommendation to this effect by FTC investigators. This recommendation will be placed before the five FTC commissioners, and although Intel is said to be lobbying intensively, it …

    Business 28 May 1999, 07:28

  • Intel's pricing fork gets sharper

    Battle with AMD to get yet bloodier

    Our friends at Techweb are reporting that Intel now intends to pull its pricing forward, in a bid to both put pressure on rival AMD and to sell more parts. According to the report, Intel will also push forward the release of its 500MHz Celeron. Cuts intended for July and September have been dragged forward to early June and …

    Business 28 May 1999, 07:40

  • Direct Rambus further delayed

    Volume slips back into Q4

    Intel may now be forced to revise its chipset plans, following information from a reliable source that Direct Rambus yields are likely to be slim in Q3. Earlier this year, Intel said that there would be a slight delay to Direct Rambus parts, with shipments coming on stream in Q3. But our source, close to Intel's future plans, …

    Business 28 May 1999, 07:52

  • MS play the standards game with BizTalk

    It's all perfectly open. Honest...

    When Microsoft says it is working "with the industry" to create the BizTalk framework, you get suspicious. In a keynote to the TechEd developers meeting in Dallas this week, Microsoft VP Paul Maritz showed how Microsoft was "driving the standard" (in this case XML) as the way to ensure that aspects of the standard enter a cul-de …

    Business 28 May 1999, 08:29

  • Maritz at TechEd – still embracing and smothering

    Opinion Trial or no trial, MS carries on screwing-up the standards

    Paul Maritz, self-demoted in March to looking after developers, had his first major outing at Microsoft's TechEd meeting in Dallas this week. It's interesting to see how his role has evolved, since he was one of the two principal Microsoft mastiffs (the other being Steve Ballmer). It is quite understandable that after the …

    Business 28 May 1999, 08:32

  • Oftel to force BT to cut cost of Web calls

    But don't hold your breath -- it'll be a long time coming

    BT is to come under mounting pressure from the telecoms regulator, Oftel, to cut the cost of Net access in the UK. But before anyone gets too excited, it will be at least two-and-a-half years before any agreed cuts would be introduced. Oftel has just started its review of a new pricing formula for BT's virtual monopoly, a …

    Business 28 May 1999, 09:31

  • Hagan to take Fujitsu to uncharted waters

    Not content with supermarket and petrol stations, Fuj is to boldly go, blah, blah, blah...

    Fujitsu Computers has brought in Brad Hagan as product business manager for its UK consumer channel. Hagan joined from rival PC manufacturer Acer, where he was PC product business manager for the home and business channels. His responsibilities will include boosting notebook and desktop sales, and creating new consumer channels …

    Business 28 May 1999, 09:54

  • IBM exec outlines MS plan to throttle OS/2, Lotus

    MS on Trial Ship the wrong stuff and you got 'IBM prices' - apparently

    IBM exec Garry Norris yesterday detailed a Microsoft campaign to throttle OS/2 in the run-up to the launch of Windows 95. IBM and other PC companies, including Compaq, were threatened with higher prices if they shipped rival products as well as Windows. Norris, program director for software strategies with the IBM PC Co, was …

    Business 28 May 1999, 10:02

  • Memory chips sold at less than cost

    Price rises inevitable

    Taiwanese manufacturers are being forced to raise prices as a result of swingeing tariffs imposed earlier this week by US authorities. And, at the same time, Taiwanese and other memory companies are being forced to sell their processors below cost, a UK distributor has claimed. Mosel Vitelic responded to anti-dumping tariffs by …

    Business 28 May 1999, 10:06

  • BTInternet and the free call fiasco

    Opinion Our man on the spot finds BT getting its wires crossed

    Subscription-based ISP BTInternet is still telling people that it will start offering toll-free access to the Net as of five June. A customer services operator told me this morning that BT was going ahead with the offer after I phoned to say I had received my BTInternet software but that there was no mention of the free offer. " …

    Business 28 May 1999, 10:14

  • Nintendo profit hits six-year high

    Next year's going to be good too, company reckons

    Nintendo appears to be doing rather better than its video game rivals, Sega and Sony. Yesterday, it announced the highest profit it has reported in the last six years. Profit for the year ended 31 March reached Y165.2 billion ($1.35 billion), up 4.9 per cent on last year's figure. Revenue increased by a slightly higher margin, …

    Business 28 May 1999, 10:16

  • Sony adds data protection to 1394

    Firewire finally ready to become digital consumer electronics standard

    Sony is to build copy protection protocols into its next IEEE 1394 (aka FireWire) chips, the CXD-3204 and CXD-3205. Sony's chosen security scheme is the Digital Transmission Content Protection (DTCP) protocol, also backed by Matsushita, Intel and Toshiba. Getting DTCP into shipping product will give the technology a major lead …

    Business 28 May 1999, 10:41

  • IBM exec reveals MS sales quotas for Win95

    MS on Trial And a 20 per cent price hike if you missed them

    Inside information on Microsoft's determination to push Windows 95 into the market in its first year was revealed yesterday via - strange but true - questioning from Microsoft's attorneys. In questioning IBM exec Garry Norris the defence team seems to have been trying to show that IBM hadn't met its Windows 95 commitments, but …

    Business 28 May 1999, 10:46

  • K6-III/500 shipping, will cost £299

    Updated Slated for June, in volume

    A number of hardware sites are claiming that AMD has already started shipping a K6-III/500MHz chip. The reports say that the part will be available in .25 micron, with the price likely to hover just over the $475 mark. The processor will cost £299 in the UK. You can find that information by going here and doing a quick search on …

    Business 28 May 1999, 10:48

  • Intel's Merced may never see the light of day

    But don't worry, Foster could fill the gap

    While awfully clever folk argue about Merced's emulation of IA32 –- will it be software or hardware? (It'll be full-blown hardware, guys, just trust us on this one), they're ignoring a far more interesting question. After Willamette, Chipzilla's next IA32 part is codenamed Foster and is scheduled to appear alongside Merced in …

    Business 28 May 1999, 11:10

  • AMD trademarks own name

    This has got to be trademark-blunder of the year

    In what appears to be a colossal oversight, AMD has only just registered the words Advanced Micro Devices as a trademark. The application for the trademark was taken out on the 12th of March last. Just think what hay others might have made out of the oversight. Other trademarks recently registered include GigaNIC. So we'd better …

    Business 28 May 1999, 11:16

  • Iridium one step from bankruptcy

    Company pins hopes on restructure -- if its creditors will let it

    Troubled satellite mobile phone service Iridium yesterday admitted the full seriousness of its financial crisis and confessed that bankruptcy was one of the very few options left open to it. As the company prepares to face the music -- it is about to explain to its bank how it intends to pay back the $800 million it owes, a …

    Business 28 May 1999, 11:17

  • Big Blue secretary busted for insider trading

    Saw details of Lotus takeover while photocopying and told all her friends

    An IBM secretary, who saw details of an upcoming takeover deal when photocopying documents, is being sued after she and a group of friends netted $1.3 million. Through Lorraine Cassano the gossip spread to 25 people, including a pizza man, a gynaecologist and an ex-teacher, all of who now stand accused of making profits from …

    Business 28 May 1999, 11:32

  • FBI site still down after hack attack

    Spooks tagged by Global Hell bandits

    Two days after dissident hackers trashed the FBI's Web site there's still no sign of life at spook central. A group calling itself Global Hell (gH) broke into www.fbi.gov on Wednesday in retaliation for nine of its members being arrested by the FBI for other government-related hacking offences. Reports also suggest that those gH …

    Business 28 May 1999, 14:01

  • UN body moves to ban Web squatters

    But ruling on trademark infringement could favour big businesses say critics

    It looks like time is running out for cybersquatters after officials attending the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) conference in Berlin endorsed plans to outlaw the practice. But the vote of confidence by board members of ICANN is still subject to change. ICANN is the new body responsible for domain …

    Business 28 May 1999, 14:04

  • No breach of confidentiality, says Freeserve

    Accusations of passing personal details on to PC World are flatly denied

    Freeserve has denied passing information to one of its sister companies, after allegations that some customers had received unsolicited calls from PC World sales staff. Two months after The Register reported on this alleged breach of the Data Protection Act, Freeserve has finally completed its internal investigation into the …

    Business 28 May 1999, 14:05

  • Web ad watchdog with no email

    ASA says it take a whole year to get an email account set up -- yikes!

    It will be at least a year before the advertising watchdog is fully tooled up with an email address to receive complaints about ads on the Internet. Earlier this month the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) complained that it didn't receive enough complaints about Net-based advertising. It's possible that since then it's …

    Business 28 May 1999, 14:16

  • Craig Barrett caught outside Log Cabin

    Yee Hah

    If you’re a lookin' for a restful kinda' hideaway where you can sorta get yo' stuff together, why look further than good ole uncle Craig’s Li'l House on the Prairie? Y'all can chill out with a spot of fly fishin', sink a few cool ones, or even develop a marketing strategy designed to consign AMD to the lowest pit of Hell where …

    Business 28 May 1999, 14:35

  • C2000 brings back old hand to replace Cook

    They'll be playing meine Klein is back music

    Computer 2000 has re-hired Julian Klein, who will replace sales director Paul Cook. The Basingstoke-based distributor said Cook had resigned "to pursue new opportunities." Graeme Watt, Computer 2000 MD, said the group was sad to lose Cook, who had been at the company for three years. Klein left Computer 2000 two years ago to …

    Business 28 May 1999, 14:59

  • Panic at Chipzilla central

    Move those goalposts, chaps

    Chipzilla likes to keep its OEMs appraised of price changes and new product introductions well ahead of time. Hardly ever does the chip behemoth move the goalposts. Well, hardly ever. The Register has in its possession detailed roadmaps and price lists stretching out far into the future (nine months at least) about clock speeds …

    Business 28 May 1999, 15:26

  • IBM confirms druggy E its trademark

    Trademarks of the week Hasn't Big Blue heard about the Drug Czar?

    IBM has obviously finally settled its difficulties with someone who said it owned the E-mark. We don't know if it's true outside the UK, but here the letter E is widely associated with hallucinogenic drug Ecstasy. Earlier this week, IBM managed to file the e-mark in the US and this is what it looks like. But IBM also managed to …

    Business 28 May 1999, 15:28

  • Usenet demands ‘death penalty’ sentence for AOL

    Online service doesn't do enough to hinder spam, claim German Usenet administrators

    A group of German Usenet administrators are threatening to boycott AOL -- the so-called Usenet Death Penalty -- because of the online service's poor record on spam prevention. Their argument is that AOL's offer of up to 650 free hours of Internet access gives spammers the opportunity they need to get online, mail all and sundry …

    Business 28 May 1999, 15:39

  • Missing Iridium ‘suit’ located

    Updated Mystery man alive and well and living in... obscure Iridium.com directory

    The Register's request for information as to the identity of the Iridium executive known to the company only by the mysterious moniker 'suit2.jpg' has already proved fruitful. One reader, Mat Simpson, sent us proof that the Mr Suit2 does exist, lurking hidden deep within the ailing satellite mobile phone company's Web site. Here …

    Business 28 May 1999, 15:50

  • PalmPilot at the helm as 3Com takes new shape

    Time to cast off low margin kit, says Benhamou

    3Com is to turn its back on some of its traditional product divisions in an attempt to boost profitability. The networking giant turned in disappointing results for its third fiscal quarter, and may sell older units and concentrate on higher margin business. CEO Eric Benhamou said the company needed a revamp to boost sales …

    Business 28 May 1999, 17:08

  • The naked civil servant – online Down Under

    Ozzie government workers use office IT systems for cybersex

    Red-faced politicians in Australia will have to sort out their own back yard before preaching to the rest of the country against accessing adult material on the Net. For Net users working within the Aussie government bearing .gov.au domains have been indulging in cybersex right under the noses of their prim politicians. Earlier …

    Business 28 May 1999, 17:09

  • Toshiba sets its sights on system builders’ business

    New range of SME PCs will be co-branded with resellers

    A range of white box PCs due to be launched early next month, will see Toshiba competing directly with SME-friendly system builders. The move, planned only for the US at present, will target the SME market, which is currently largely supplied by smaller, independent system builders. This is a change of tack for Toshiba, which …

    Business 28 May 1999, 17:23